Key Note Gaming

CD Projekt Red co-CEO Michał Nowakowski thinks the studio has yet to complete a "full redemption arc" after the "heartbreaking" launch of Cyberpunk 2077 , but he's hoping it can win back some fans with The Witcher 4 . Nowakowski reflected on the Poland-based game developer's journey during a recent conversation with Edge (via GamesRadar ). The interview saw him open up about how "heartbreaking" the launch of Cyberpunk 2077 was for the team – and for fans. "I'm not 100 per cent convinced we went through the full redemption arc," Nowakowski said. "I'm convinced that we lost the faith of some people indefinitely, and that's a fair thing." It's been nearly six years since Cyberpunk 2077 undid much of the goodwill CD Projekt Red had accumulated following the release of its 2015 hit, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt . Years of excitement for the futuristic dystopian RPG quickly fizzled out after launch-day players were met wit...

Xbox has rolled out a new label for console exclusive games, visible now on your Xbox Series X/S dashboard. This month, Xbox confirmed it had decided to make the upcoming Gears of War: E-Day a console exclusive when it arrives on October 6. Clockwork Revolution will also be a console exclusive when it launches in 2027. Now, Gears of War: E-Day features a brand new "EXCLUSIVE" label, similar to other previous game labels that denote a game is optimized for Series X/S, or featured as part of a subscription service such as Game Pass or Ubisoft+. The label certainly makes clear the game will no longer be arriving for PlayStation 5 (as had once been planned), though it's worth remembering that the title will still also launch on PC. Still, the label will likely prove useful helping mark out the titles that Microsoft has decided it will make exclusive — something chief content officer Matt Booty has said will be chosen on a "case-by-case basis" , but not include ...

Analysis of a new PlayStation business document has highlighted an official change to Sony's multiplatform release strategy, with PC no longer described as part of the company's first-party launch focus. The change, picked up from Sony's latest 229-page filing to the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission by Game File, is the clearest sign yet of what has previously been reported — that PlayStation is backing away from launching its first-party games on PC, at least when they're single-player. Just yesterday, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier relayed comments from an internal meeting chaired by Herman Hulst , in which the PlayStation CEO stated that single-player narrative games would only launch on PlayStation consoles in future. This means there will be no PC port of Insomniac Games' upcoming Marvel's Wolverine , Santa Monica Studio's God of War Laufey, or Naughty Dog's Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Online live-service games will still get PC la...

A new game called TBH: Task Bar Hero has emerged out of nowhere as one of Steam's most played games, but there's also a lot of drama surrounding it. The new game was released on Steam last month for free, and it currently has over half a million concurrent players, making it the third most-played game on Steam behind Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2. The new game is unique in that you don't actually have to play it. As the name implies, Task Bar Hero embeds itself into your PC's taskbar, and little pixel characters go on adventures, fight foes, and collect loot all while you work, browse the web, or leave your PC running. Of course, you can take control yourself if you want to, but it's an RPG that is constantly active so long as you open the game. The loot can even be sold on the Steam marketplace for real money, which can then be used to buy other things on Steam. However, there's a lot of controversy surrounding this new viral game. Users are reporting false ban...

Hold onto your Sheckles. Grow A Garden 2 was released just last week on Roblox but has already amassed over 300 million visits. The sequel adds a nefarious nighttime stealing mechanic, meaning that during the 2:30 minute long darkness you can trespass into another player's farm, grab some plants, and hightail it back to your turf. The catch? Your intended victims could be at home and ready to enact some vigilante justice with a shovel, have set traps, or have invested in a garden gnome to attack intruders. There was theft in the original Grow A Garden, but it cost Robux. Now you can live your vegetable heist dreams, and the only cost is the danger of getting caught. Grow A Garden 2 also adds props, which can be purchased in the center of the market area at the Prop Shop. They can range from the mythic Teleporter Pad Crate, which costs 50,000,000 Sheckles to a Ladder Crate, which is common and costs 30,000. For a list of all props and item chances in Grow A Garden 2 you can check ou...

Final Fantasy 14 players in Japan now have the opportunity to get in-game cosmetics and items by paying their real life taxes, as reported by Famitsu . These rewards include the online MMORPG’s Megashiba Mount. Japan has a Hometown tax initiative (Furusato Nozei), which allows people to redirect portions of their residence tax to other areas of the country, even if they don’t live there. In return, you can choose a special gift from the region (everything from local snacks and traditional handcrafted items, to hotel stays and local cultural experiences). The scheme launched back in 2008 with the aim of directing tax funds back to rural, less-populated areas, but now almost every municipality in the country offers some kind of reward via the scheme. It’s a win-win as local governments receive more funds, while taxpayers receive presents in exchange for tax money they would have had to fork out anyway. In recent years, some areas have started offering digital rewards. For example, last y...