Gaming

State of Play 2024: Death Stranding 2, Judas, Rise of the Ronin

And a lot more!

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Right as January ends, Sony has hosted its first State of Play for the year. As always, the PlayStation has a lot teases for its upcoming games. If you missed the showcase, here’s a quick rundown of the biggest trailers from the event.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Though the new title was the last one announced during the event, it took center stage, taking up 10 minutes of the approximately 45-minute event. The long trailer gave the most comprehensive look at the upcoming sequel.

Humanity is still in danger. Sam (Norman Reedus) is back to undertake a new expedition beyond the United Cities of America. With him are new companions, starring Léa Seydoux, Elle Fanning, and Troy Baker.

There’s not much else to say about the game. As always, Death Stranding 2 is… unusual, to say the least. The trailer features another baby, a talking doll, new enemies, and the wackiest battle scene featuring a Joker-like enemy with an electric guitar as a weapon.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is set to launch in 2025.

Silent Hill: The Short Message

Surprise, surprise. As soon as State of Play ended, Konami released a new Silent Hill game absolutely free to play. The short-form title, Silent Hill: The Short Message features a new protagonist navigating through a terrifying building. A beacon in the light in the darkness, she has a phone which constantly buzzes her with text messages.

Again, it’s free and available now. Besides the new title, Konami also teased new footage for the upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake.

Until Dawn Remake

Horror seems like the main focus of this January’s State of Play. Sony announced that it is developing a remake of the popular horror title Until Dawn. Featuring branching choices and multiple endings, players are faced with tough decisions on who gets to live or die.

A bright spot in 2015, the original title had stellar performances from Rami Malek and Hayden Panettiere. It will be rebuilt for the PlayStation 5 and PC later this year.

Metro Awakening

Capping off the event’s horror section, Metro Awakening brings players back to post-apocalyptic Moscow. Featuring a new story set before the events of Metro 2033, Awakening will set players into the shoes of Serdar, a doctor in search of his missing wife.

As usual, the title will have human and otherworldly enemies. Adding to the horror, the game will be available through PS VR2. It’s coming later this year.

Judas

It’s been a while since the Bioshock series. Though Irrational Games has since been rebranded to Ghost Story Games, the studio has not forgotten its roots. In Judas, players are once again trapped in an experimental city. This time, it’s the Mayflower, a seafaring city where social boundaries are frayed by constant snooping on one another.

Plus, rather than focus on plain shoot-em-ups, Judas will feature more character work. Through their actions, players can influence whom they get close to. It also has a similar power system like the Bioshock series.

Judas is scheduled to launch in 2025.

Rise of the Ronin

Sekiro, Nioh, Ghost of Tsushima. These three games brought medieval Japan to life on modern systems. Now, the creators of Nioh, Team Ninja is back with Rise of the Ronin. The game is set in 19th-century Japan, a time when the historically isolated country started opening its borders to Western trade.

As such, besides just the normal fare of Japanese tools, players will also have access to Western-influenced tools such as a flamethrower-esque Fire Pipe. Traversal is likewise augmented with a grappling rope and the Avicula, an air glider.

Rise of the Ronin launches on March 22.

Dave the Diver x Godzilla

Dave the Diver was one of the standout titles of 2023. The fishing-slash-restaurant simulator is back with a new partnership to add more content to the game. Coming in May, the game will host Japan’s favorite kaiju, Godzilla. The kaiju will join the forces from Dredge as welcome additions to the small title.

And one other thing…

Before the State of Play ended, Hideo Kojima appeared in the flesh to deliver exciting news from Kojima Productions. To celebrate the developer’s 40th anniversary of his game production work, Kojima is returning to the action-espionage genre.

Sounds familiar? For the first time since Metal Gear Solid V, Kojima is revisiting the genre that earned him so much popularity. Naturally, Kojima can’t use the Metal Gear Solid franchise itself. As such, the upcoming game, currently named PHYSINT, will be an original IP.

Kojima also teases that the title will be a massive bridge between film and video games. He also says that it is the “culmination of my work.”

Gaming

Valve unveils price of the Steam Frame

The VR headset starts at US$ 1,059.

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The trifecta is complete. Almost a year after announcing their new hardware, Valve has finally unveiled the price tag of the Steam Frame, complementing the Steam Machine and Steam Controller revealed a few months ago.

Whereas the Steam Machine is a console of its own, the Steam Frame is a traditional VR headset with a pair of controllers for both hands. Unfortunately, despite being in a different segment, the headset is not immune to the rising prices of technology. The Steam Frame will start at US$ 1,059 for a 256GB model and can go up to US$ 1,299 for the 1TB model. On the plus side, each box will come Half-Life: Alyx packaged along with the headset.

Here’s a more detailed rundown of what you’re getting. The Steam Frame will ship with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, paired with 16GB of RAM. Each eye comes with a 2160 x 2160 LCD screen, putting out images at up t0 a 144Hz experimental refresh rate. As mentioned above, the headset will start with 256GB of storage but can go up to 2TB. It will come packaged with SteamOS 3 and a rechargeable 21.6Wh battery.

This might be a hard buy for some. The industry currently has more affordable options, for one. Also, virtual reality isn’t the most thriving segment of gaming today.

If you’re still decided on buying one, however, Valve is using its lottery system. Interested customers can sign up from now until September 17. The company will then randomize the purchasing order. Those who draw the first ones in the lottery can get a purchase email as soon as September 18. Meanwhile, anyone who registers after September 17 will automatically be put at the back of the queue.

SEE ALSO: Valve announces its own console called the Steam Machine

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Gaming

BlizzCon 2026 announces World of Warcraft: Forever and Diablo V

StarCraft, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and more also get news

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Blizzard Entertainment kicked off BlizzCon 2026 with a packed Opening Ceremony featuring new games, major expansions, updates, and other announcements across its biggest franchises.

Blizzard Entertainment President Johanna Faries opened the event at the Anaheim Convention Center, celebrating the community behind the company’s games and the teams that bring its worlds to life.

World of Warcraft: Forever and Diablo V

The biggest announcement was World of Warcraft: Forever, a new World of Warcraft experience launching November 5 AEDT, with its beta beginning September 18 AEST. The new experience will feature three zones, more than 1,000 quests, nine dungeons, two raids, and a new Skyborne race.

Blizzard also officially announced Diablo V, marking the next era of the franchise. The game is set to launch in North America in Spring 2029, with Sanctuary having fallen and Diablo having won.

StarCraft is also returning with a new story-driven, open-world shooter. The game is currently planned for a Spring 2030 release in North America.

Beyond games, Blizzard revealed that an animated series set in the Diablo universe is in development with Netflix. The company says this is only the beginning of its plans to expand its universes beyond gaming.

For Warcraft III Reforged, the new Forsaken Kingdom campaign is available today. It marks the Warcraft RTS series’ first new storyline in more than 23 years and explores the fall of Lordaeron and the origins of the Undercity. The accompanying 3.0 update also brings graphical improvements and a revamped World Editor.

Heroes of the Storm is adding Xal’atath as its newest Hero. She arrives in the Nexus on September 29 AEST, with her PTR release scheduled for September 15 AEST.

Existing games updates

Meanwhile, Diablo IV is preparing for its next major content drop. Season of Hell’s Legacy begins September 16 AEST and celebrates the franchise’s 30-year history with the return of the Prime Evils and Deckard Cain, alongside themed rewards and gear.

The legendary Amazon class will also arrive in the first half of 2027 as part of Diablo IV’s first class pack. The Diablo IV: Age of Hatred Collection is additionally coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on September 16 AEST with cross-platform play and cross-progression.

For World of Warcraft, Blizzard teased the next major update for Midnight. Eclipse (12.2) will see Xal’atath move closer to her goal of claiming Azeroth’s Worldsoul. Blizzard also offered another look at The Last Titan, the next expansion in the Worldsoul Saga and a major culmination of more than two decades of Warcraft storytelling. More information is coming early next year.

Overwatch is getting a major update with Season 5. The season introduces new Support Hero Doctrine, reworks for Sombra and Roadhog, and the new Watchpoint: Grimsvötn map. It will also conclude The Reign of Talon, Overwatch’s first year-long narrative arc.

LE SSERAFIM & YOASABI

BlizzCon also featured performances from YOASOBI and LE SSERAFIM. YOASOBI will perform during the first-ever esports halftime show at BlizzCon, while LE SSERAFIM will return to the Main Stage to close the weekend. A new LE SSERAFIM in-game collaboration is available now, with another Overwatch Spotlight scheduled for February 2027.

Finally, Hearthstone is getting its first new class in more than six years. The Monk arrives in 2027, while the upcoming Reign of the Black Empire expansion takes players back to the earliest age of Azeroth. It introduces the Assemble keyword, which combines two cards into a new one. Battlegrounds is also adding Aberrations as a new minion type.

BlizzCon 2026 is now underway, with Blizzard promising more announcements and details throughout the weekend.

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Gaming

Xbox saves Kojima’s PHYSINT after PlayStation drops support

PlayStation says the separation was mutual, but Kojima hints otherwise.

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Things aren’t going well in the PlayStation camp. After two months of frankly questionable decisions, the company adds another to the pile by dropping support for Hideo Kojima’s PHYSINT.

For a while now, Kojima and PlayStation were in a very productive relationship with the Death Stranding duology, a critically acclaimed collection of titles for the platform. When things looked like they were going well, Kojima announced PHYSINT, an espionage-themed game which reminded fans way too much of Metal Gear Solid.

If you were investing in a PlayStation 5 to play Kojima’s latest thriller, you might want to move your chips elsewhere now. PlayStation has just dropped support for the espionage game, meaning PHYSINT will no longer be a first-party title for the platform.

Though PlayStation claims that the decision came after “careful consideration,” Kojima himself has said that the move was “unexpected,” going against PlayStation’s assurance of a mutual separation.

Very quickly, Xbox has announced that their platform will support PHYSINT instead. It’s a big get for the competing brand because Xbox Game Studios is already supporting OD, Kojima’s other upcoming horror project starring Sophia Lillis.

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to say more. As is tradition, Kojima will not explain much more about his upcoming titles. In fact, OD’s trailer barely says anything. One thing’s for sure, though: we’re all in for quite a ride.

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