French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir, with support from the Stop Killing Games initiative, has filed a lawsuit against Ubisoft over the 2024 shutdown of the racing game The Crew. An announcement on the UFC-Que Choisir (Google translated) says Ubisoft's decision to close the game and revoke licenses "violated fundamental consumer rights," and that "players were never fairly informed about the potentially temporary nature of access to the game they were buying."

The Crew launched in 2014, but became unplayable in April 2024 after Ubisoft closed the servers it depended upon; adding insult to injury, it began stripping people's licenses to the game a few weeks later, presumably to prevent them from playing it on then-hypothetical fan servers. It proved to be a PR botch of truly epic proportions, to the point that Ubisoft promised to never, ever do it again—even as it doggedly defended the initial decision by reminding gamers that they don't actually own their games.

The Stop Killing Games initiative, launched by YouTuber Ross Scott, is maybe the biggest thing to come out of the whole mess. What initially looked to me like a long-shot campaign to squeeze some promissory pleasantries out of game publishers has exploded into something much larger: An EU Citizens Initiative started by STG drew 1.3 million verified signatures and is due to be debated by EU politicians in April, and in February the group announced that it's launching NGOs in Europe and the US.

The UFC-Que Choisir lawsuit is also meaningful. Founded in 1951, the group describes itself as "France's leading consumer association," providing everything from product comparison tools and buying guides to investigative reports, legal advice, lobbying, and direct legal action like this.

The goal of the lawsuit isn't to force Ubisoft to bring back The Crew, but rather to keep this sort of thing from happening again "by obtaining a pioneering decision essential to clarifying the obligations incumbent upon videogame publishers." UFC-Que Choisir said in the lawsuit announcement that it is seeking an end to "harmful practices," a removal of clauses in terms of service agreements that enable publishers to shut down games without warning or recourse, and an acknowledgement of the harm done by these practices.

In the meantime, if you just really wanna play The Crew, you can: Modders brought it back to life in 2025. Just think of all the hassles that could've been avoided if Ubisoft had done that itself in the first place.

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, ZA/UM's Disco Elysium-like game of espionage and human frailty, is set to launch on PC on May 21, on Steam, the Epic Games Store, and GOG. It's not yet reflected on the Steam page but ZA/UM said Zero Parades will be Steam Deck verified at launch, and a PS5 version is set to follow later in the year.

Zero Parades will launch with full English voice acting and text localization in English, German, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Spanish (Latin America). Eight additional languages—French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Traditional Chinese, and Turkish—are set to follow in free updates through 2026 and 2027.

"It took nearly five years to deliver the full slate of localizations for Disco Elysium, and our players deserved better than that," ZA/UM studio head Allen Murray said. "This time, we're launching with five languages on day one and committing to a faster cadence. Additional language support begins rolling out at the end of 2026 and continues through 2027. We want every player to experience Zero Parades in their language—and we don't want them waiting half a decade for it."

That's a nice touch, but more important is that Zero Parades shows signs of the narrative brilliance that made Disco Elysium such a surprise hit. ZA/UM has said it doesn't want to "invite too many comparisons" with its groundbreaking debut game, and that's especially understandable given the messy breakup that saw the departure of numerous Disco creatives. It's also very optimistic: PC Gamer's resident Marx scholar Joshua Wolens said the Steam Next Fest demo released in February "felt very Disco-Elysium-shaped indeed," although that's certainly not a bad thing.

But while Zero Parades bears more than a passing similarity to its predecessor, it also appears set to do its own thing: Senior editor Wes Fenlon said a bigger build he played at GDC in March "delivered some fantastical spycraft situations that I think embody the ideal of Disco-with-a-twist."

"The writing is consistently fun," Wes wrote, "and suggests ZA/UM has plenty of ideas for how to turn the act of spycraft into a handful of text choices that rocket off in surprising directions."

If you're not sure what it's all about, you can still sample that Next Fest demo on Steam, with two full quests, "side activities," and open exploration of the game world: ZA/UM is leaving it up until April 13.

Skyblivion, the massive mod that aims to rebuild all of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion in the swanky new(er) tech of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Special Edition, is once again asking for help. A message posted on Nexus Mods (via RPS) says the dev team is "on the hunt for the final, vital members of their development team to bring this massive undertaking to life."

The team is looking for "experienced mod authors and developers" with "highly specialized skill set[s]" for roles in quest creation, navmesh, interior level design and QA, 3D art, sound design, and "implementation," which requires "a high level of expertise with NifSkope and Blender (specifically using the pyNifly plugin for this phase)."

"They’re not just looking for those with technical skills, but also the ability to work collaboratively as the team regularly talks to each other, writes things down, records all tasks and issues in a shared tracker, and engages in peer review," the post states. "Because the team is in the final, critical stages of development, they are strictly looking for veterans who can hit the ground running."

It probably goes without saying, based on all that, but just in case there's a note that says it: If you're just getting into modding, "this particular recruitment drive might not be for you."

That sounds to my admittedly inexperienced ear like a lot of work left to do for a mod that was slated to go live in 2025, until a last-minute delay pushed it into 2026. An incomplete navmesh was one of the causes of that delay, and while most of '26 still lies ahead, the fact that the team is still looking for developers to take on that particular task, among numerous others, seems less than optimal.

Naturally, the call for aid has also sparked drama in the comments on the post, which have since been locked. The bulk of the responses are supportive and encouraging, and several people point out that the dev team is working on Skyblivion for free, and will give it away for free when it's done, which is pretty much where I come down. But others ask, not entirely unreasonably, if perhaps the mod isn't as close to the finish line as it seemed last year, and suggest that perhaps even a 2026 release might not happen.

I've reached out to Skyblivion project lead Rebelzize to ask about the likelihood of further delays, and will update if I receive a reply. In the meantime, here's 25 minutes of a fall forest in Cyrodiil—you have to admit that whether it's this year or not (or even beyond that), Skyblivion looks (and sounds) pretty great.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is getting a New Game+ mode as part of a free anniversary update that's set to go live on October 10—and yup, that's tomorrow.

First things first: You may be thinking that this is not an anniversary of any sort for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which came out on December 9, 2024. And you would be correct. But it is the 15th anniversary of developer MachineGames, and that's a pretty big deal in its own right.

So, to the update: The New Game+ mode will unlock once you've completed the game, enabling you to replay the entire adventure with all your collected and unlocked Adventure Books, as well as any unspent Adventure Points, local currency, and medicine bottles from your previous playthrough.

You will of course be a lot more powerful all kitted out like that, so MachineGames suggests increasing the difficulty for the NG+ playthrough, but you do you—as long as Nazis are getting socked in the chops, all is well. As a reward for your efforts, completing the Great Circle in NG+ will unlock an all-new ending sequence that rolls after the credits.

The update will also add a new "Cairo outfit," enabling Indy to travel the blistering heat of the desert without wearing his incredibly ill-suited-for-the-weather leather jacket, and will let players mix and match any of the game's nine voice languages with its 14 text languages—so you can, for instance, play with German voices and Korean subtitles.

The anniversary update makes a handful of other fixes, all of which are run down in the patch notes below. The Indiana Jones and the Great Circle MachineGames Anniversary Update, as it is fully known, drops on October 10 and, just to be sure everyone caught it, is free.

General Fixes

• Fixed an issue where enemies might linger in their “stumble” animation if you punched them while they’re breaking out of your grab.
• Fixed an issue where pushing a grabbed enemy into a tight space could leave the enemy detached from Indy but still in the “grabbed” animation state.
• Fixed an issue with a specific “finisher” animation where the camera would clip through Indy’s arms.
• Fixed an issue where you could enter wall squeezes while downed and using the “Lucky Hat” ability that resulted in you standing up and unable to progress properly.
• Fixed an issue that could cause a control-lock if restarting a checkpoint during the middle of a save.
• Fixed an issue where using the “push” button to open “disguise doors” could prevent you from being able to walk through the door.
• Fixed an issue where, if you left a level while holding an inventory item, it would be stuck to your hands when revisiting the level

Missions & Quests

• DLC
  • Fixed another issue that might cause pipes to be placed incorrectly during the Gladiator puzzle.
  • Fixed the animation of the blackshirt being dropped from the bridge near the entrance to the Gladiator puzzle.
  • Fixed many minor graphical glitches through the whole story.
• Peru
  • Fixed an issue where audio was missing in the Main Menu if you quit the game during the opening cutscene.
• Gizeh
  • Fixed an issue where the clothes of certain villager NPCs would not animate when the character moved.
• Sukhothai
  • Fixed an issue that might cause the boat engine sounds to never stop when you arrive at the rebel village at night.
• Iraq
  • Fixed an issue where skipping the cinematic where Indy frees Gina might result in the Siren sounds to never stop.

UI

• The price of guides and books now show correctly when inspecting them from one of the vendors.

PC Specific Fixes

• Fixed an issue where binding the interact/use key to be the same as the “buy” button from vendors, it could prevent you from buying items.
• Fixed an issue where setting Reflections to the lowest quality made certain objects look completely black.

Localization

• In Arabic, fixed the alignment of the quick-inventory warning text about restricted zones.

It's going to take a little longer than expected for Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, the throwback turn-based strategy game announced in 2024, to be ready for its early access release. Instead of rolling out this year as planned, Unfrozen and Hooded Horse now say the game will arrive sometime in 2026.

This is actually the second time HOMM: Olden Era has been delayed. It was originally set to launch in the second quarter of 2025, but developers said in June—very near the end of that release target—that they were postponing to later in the year, "to ensure we give Olden Era the care it deserves."

As it turns out, that wasn't quite enough time to get things done, as the team now says it wants to "conduct more tests, improve the UI, and redesign some of the units," which is going to push it out into 2026.

The good news amidst the bad is that a demo for HOMM: Olden Era is now available on Steam, offering players access to the game's tutorial and three different singleplayer modes, using four "very different factions" of the six planned for the early access release. There's no time limit on the demo, so you can play as much as you like.

"We'd love to hear your thoughts after trying the demo," the developers wrote. "Your reviews and feedback help us identify what works, what doesn't, and where we can improve for the Early Access release." All of the above can be shared with the dev team and other Heroes of Might and Magic fans on the Unfrozen Discord.

Reviews for A Minecraft Movie were a bit mid, as PC Gamer's resident movie pro Chris Livingston put it, and that 47% critics consensus tells no lies. But the people loved it, and there was never any real question that it would get a sequel once that record-setting opening weekend hit. In fact, it was just a week later that Warner Bros Pictures co-chairman and CEO Mike De Luca confirmed that a deal was being done.

Well, now it's official, and not only that, we've got a date too: A Minecraft Movie 2, or whatever it ends up being called, is set to hit screens on July 23, 2027.

A Minecraft Movie director Jared Hess is returning for the sequel, according to a Deadline report, which is nice because he said he wanted to, and will also co-write the script along with Chris Galletta, one of the screenwriters on the first film.

A cast hasn't been announced, but Jason Momoa, who was outfitted in some interesting wardrobe choices in A Minecraft Movie, is listed as one of the executive producers on the sequel, so I would expect he'll return. And given the call-the-cops popularity of chicken jockey, and his evident enthusiasm for the whole thing, I can't imagine the sequel happening without Jack Black coming back too.

A Minecraft Movie may not have been great cinema, but it was a massive box office hit: Chris predicted before the film debuted that it would "make a trillion dollars" and he may have over-estimated a bit in dollar terms but he was spot-on spiritually: The Deadline report says A Minecraft Movie is the top-grossing film of 2025 in the US and the second-highest worldwide, with its total box office now approaching $1 billion. Who knew? (Jack Black knew.)

Two years after the release of Cities: Skylines 2, and more than a year after it was originally supposed to arrive, the big Bridges and Ports expansion is finally almost here. Paradox and Colossal Order announced today that the big, twice-delayed DLC will finally go live on October 29.

Bridges and Ports was originally expected to launch in mid-2024, a few months after the release of the Beach Properties asset pack earlier that year. But Beach Properties was such a mess that Paradox eventually apologized for the whole thing and just gave it to everyone for free, and ultimately delayed the expansion into the second quarter of 2025 so it could focus on the main game, which was also a mess. Then it delayed Bridges and Ports again, to near the end of 2025, because everything was a mess.

But apparently now that's all been sorted, at least enough that the expansion can be unleashed on the public. The Bridges and Ports expansion will add 20 new drawbridges and lift bridges, customizable ports, a new Ferry Transport System, "expanded maritime industries"—fishing, offshore oil rigs, that sort of thing—and three new maps, more than 100 assets, and new achievements.

Paradox and Colossal Order really need to get this one right. After two years of work, Cities: Skylines 2 remains mired in a "mixed" rating on Steam, with just over half of the user reviews, both recent and overall, coming in positive. Concurrent player numbers also continue to lag behind those of the 10-year-old Cities Skylines.

It's a state of affairs reflected in the reaction to the Bridges and Ports release date announcement on Steam, which at this point is dominated by complaints about the game. The absolute last thing Cities: Skylines 2 needs right now is yet another whiff—even something that's just kind of half-assed will be very bad news, I think.

We'll see how it goes in a couple weeks. Cities: Skylines 2 – Bridges and Ports is set to roll out on October 29 and will go for $20/£17/€20. Also coming that day is the Cold Wave Channel radio station, "with minimalist beats and icy vibes," which you can pick up bundled with Bridges and Ports for $22.49/£18.89/€22.49, or separately for $5/£4.49/€5 if you want the chill tracks without all the added infrastructure.

Well, this is something you don't see every day: With Arc Raiders now three weeks from launch, developer Embark Studios has lowered the price of the game in several regions on Steam "to ensure a fairer experience for everyone."

You've probably noticed that our coverage of games typically includes pricing info in US dollars, pounds, and euros—and maybe Australian dollars if Shaun or Jody are on the job. But regional pricing on Steam supports an awful lot of other currencies, allowing for local costs that are, ideally, better for consumers in other parts of the world than converting to US dollars.

In reality, though, the system works out better for some gamers than others: Some regional prices end up being cheaper than a converted price, but others can be significantly more expensive.

The price of Battlefield 6 in Chinese yuan, for instance, is ¥268 according to SteamDB, which works out to a little under $38, quite a discount on its $70 price in the US; at the other end of the scale, though, are gamers in Israel, who are going to have to fork over 299 new shekels, which converts to nearly $92.

There will be variance in converted pricing on Arc Raiders too, but following this pre-release price shift, the gap is not as wide as it could have been.

"We've been working on reducing the price of ARC Raiders across multiple locations to ensure a more fair price point for all," Embark wrote on the Arc Raiders Discord. "If you already made the purchase in one of those locations, you will receive a refund automatically, though this can take a few days depending on the platform."

The price of Arc Raiders has been lowered in Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, Uruguay, and Vietnam, and you can see the change in action thanks to SteamDB's price history function: The cost in Brazil, for instance, went from R$235 to R$172, while in Vietnam gamers will pay 746000₫ instead of 1040000₫.

Global economic disparity means there will never be across-the-board equity with this sort of thing, at least until we do something about global economic disparity: Prices in some countries may be higher than others, but at the same time much lower (and thus much more affordable) as a percentage of disposable income. The elimination of regional pricing in Turkey and Argentina in 2023, for instance, resulted in price increases that had a particularly pronounced impact because the average minimum wages in those countries are so much lower than they are in wealthy Western nations.

Still, this is at least a little bit of movement in the right direction, and credit to Embark for doing it—if we're lucky maybe we'll see more publishers taking more care with their own regional prices in the future. Arc Raiders, by the way, is set to launch on October 30.