Key Note Gaming

Bethesda Softworks’ former senior vice president of global marketing and communications, Pete Hines, says gaming subscription services like Xbox Game Pass are “worth jack s***” if the game developers who create content for them are not properly supported. The ex-Bethesda figurehead, who announced his retirement in 2023 after 24 years with the company , opened up about the state of the gaming industry during a new interview with DBLTAP . In addition to touching on the early days of the company behind Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, Hines spoke about what he feels the future of services like Game Pass looks like. He admits his retirement from the Microsoft-owned Bethesda means his view on the matter may not be up to date. However, Hines says he witnessed what he “considered to be some short sighted decision making several years ago” that now appears to be “bearing out the way I said.” “Subscriptions have become the new four letter word, right? You can't buy a product anymore,” H...

Most of the time, a game based on a successful manga is made after the anime adaptation has been airing for some time, but that wasn’t the case with Kaiju No. 8 The Game. (You can read our hands-on impressions here , by the way.) It tells its own story within creator Naoya Matsumoto’s world, as well as referencing pivotal events from the mainline narrative, and is one of the rare instances in which the game and anime were being developed in parallel. “When this game began its development, the manga was only getting started,” says Kaiju No. 8 The Game’s Producer Shinya Fujita. “So there was still a lot of information that we didn’t know yet. And also at the same time, the manga was to be adapted into an anime as well. So this made it very difficult.” The team started working on Kaiju No. 8 The Game more than two years ago, and the anime only started airing in mid-April last year. This meant that the game development team and the anime production effort (which involved both Producti...

In many ways, Visual Concepts’ long-running NBA 2K series mirrors the careers of players it works so hard to emulate. Sometimes, it’s a flash of potential: a hotshot rookie catching fire after putting up duds in consecutive games. Others, it’s more comparable to a wily veteran nearing retirement – we see a glimpse of talent, a peek into what it could still be. That’s what keeps me, for better or worse, coming back for more each year. Now, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about being let down again. But unlike the soul-crushingly mediocre Phoenix Suns who I stubbornly root for every season, NBA 2K26 did not disappoint this year. It’s both flashy and old school, like a “how do you do, fellow kids” teacher who wears different Jordans to class every day, and it has enough cool new kicks, fits, and gimmicks to make it a much more interesting and enjoyable experience than last year’s entry. Of course, “cool” probably isn’t the right word to describe that teacher, let alone NBA 2K26...

Stardew Valley creator Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone has a cameo role in Team Cherry’s new mega hit indie game, Hollow Knight: Silksong . The sequel to Team Cherry’s original bleak and beloved metroidvania game finally launched across PC and consoles earlier today, bringing an end to more than six painful years of anticipation . As what is sure to be millions of fans swarm to see if the wait was worth it, The Verge has pointed out that the Hollow Knight: Silksong credits tease a special cameo from one of the most notable indie developers of the last decade. Those who navigate to the Hollow Knight sequel’s credits – which can be found in the “extras” option on the main menu – will notice that Barone is featured among the shortlist of names included under “Additional Character Voices.” It means that, if you know where to look, you’ll be able to hear the mastermind behind farming sim sensation Stardew Valley among those lending their voice talents to the land of Pharloom and all of its...

Hollow Knight: Silksong is out today, over six years after its initial announcement. Fans who have been waiting that entire time for the game finally have their hands on it in what is sure to mark an exciting new era for a community that’s driven itself to often-surprising lengths of hype and anticipation. But for one fan in particular, today is not just a beginning, it’s an ending, an ending of a nearly five-year project that’s become a staple part of the Silksong community during the long wait for Team Cherry’s game. Today, September 4, 2025, marks the final video for the YouTube channel Daily Silksong News . Daily Silksong News is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a YouTube channel run by Silksong community member Araraura, where he publishes a daily video covering what, if any, news about Hollow Knight: Silksong has surfaced on that day. But simple as the premise is, Daily Silksong News is impressive due to Araraura’s sheer dedication. Since the start of the channel, Araraura ...

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has its long-awaited Patch 10 across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. This is the big anniversary update that makes a number of significant changes and additions to Saber Interactive’s explosive third-person action game. It’s worth noting that while Patch 10 is live now, Season Pass 2 and the Black Templars and Imperial Fists cosmetics do not go live until later today, September 4. Patch 10.0 adds new game modes and maps, along with the Chaos Armour Pack, Champion Customisation, new weapons, and more. The Chaos Armour Pack is available for free. You can finally change the armour set of your Heretic Astartes in PvP, but you have to unlock the set first. Each class requires you to score a certain amount of kills per match to unlock the corresponding skin. The new PvP mode is Helbrute Onslaught, which is playable on all maps. Two teams of Chaos Marines fight to control strategic areas, but also to take control of the Helbrute. The firs...