Cyberpunk 2077202017 factsGame page →CD Projekt RED released its first teaser trailer for Cyberpunk 2077 in January 2013, nearly eight years before the game finally launched on December 10, 2020.en.wikipedia.orgSeries creator Mike Pondsmith personally voices the DJ of one of Night City's in-game radio stations.en.wikipedia.orgKeanu Reeves was cast as Johnny Silverhand in 2018, and after his role was expanded during development, Silverhand ended up with more recorded dialogue than any character except the player-protagonist V.en.wikipedia.orgAfter a fan shouted 'You're breathtaking!' at Keanu Reeves during the E3 2019 reveal, CD Projekt RED tracked the fan down and rewarded him with a free copy of the game.pushsquare.comThat viral E3 moment was immortalized inside the game as an achievement literally named 'Breathtaking,' unlocked by collecting every one of Johnny Silverhand's iconic items.cyberpunk.fandom.comFollowing its broken console launch, Sony removed Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store and issued full refunds — the first time it had ever pulled a major AAA title — keeping it delisted from December 2020 until June 2021.cnbc.comAt launch the game set a Steam record for the most concurrent players ever in a single-player title, peaking at 1,054,388 players.engadget.comThe buggy launch triggered a shareholder lawsuit that CD Projekt ultimately settled by paying investors US$1.85 million.videogameschronicle.comNetflix's anime 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' (September 2022) sparked an extraordinary comeback, sending the game back to the top of Steam's best-seller charts.kotaku.comMusician Grimes both voices the cybernetic pop star Lizzy Wizzy in the game and contributed an original song, '4ÆM,' to the soundtrack.consequence.netThe music of Johnny Silverhand's in-game band SAMURAI was written and performed by the real Swedish punk band Refused, who recorded a full EP of the band's fictional 'greatest hits.'stereogum.comThe game hides a secret ending, '(Don't Fear) The Reaper,' unlocked only by sitting in total silence for five minutes during a rooftop conversation with Johnny, triggering a brutal solo assault on Arasaka Tower with saving disabled.thegamer.comNight City is packed with nods to CD Projekt's Witcher series, including a magazine featuring Ciri on the cover and playable 'Roach Race' arcade cabinets named after Geralt's horse.screenrant.comCD Projekt had planned a separate GTA-Online-style standalone multiplayer mode but scrapped it to focus on fixing the single-player game, later folding those ambitions into the sequel codenamed Project Orion.kotaku.comIn one of gaming's most dramatic redemption arcs, Cyberpunk 2077 won Best Ongoing Game at The Game Awards 2023, three years after its notorious launch.cdprojekt.comIts Steam user rating climbed from 'Mostly Positive' at launch in December 2020 to 'Overwhelmingly Positive' by January 2025, mirroring the game's public rehabilitation.en.wikipedia.orgNative next-gen versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S didn't arrive until February 15, 2022 — more than 14 months after the game's original release.en.wikipedia.orgRead 15 more facts
Elden Ring20228 factsGame page →George R. R. Martin wrote the game's founding mythos — the history of the demigods and the Shattering, set roughly 5,000 years before the game — though not the in-game narrative itself.forbes.comIt was FromSoftware's first open-world game, set in the seamless world of "The Lands Between," directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki.gamingbible.comIt has six possible endings, including the Age of the Stars ending tied to the questline of the witch Ranni.eldenring.fandom.comMalenia, Blade of Miquella is widely called the hardest FromSoftware boss ever; her second phase inflicts Scarlet Rot and her "Waterfowl Dance" is her signature attack.eldenring.wiki.fextralife.comYou explore on Torrent, a spectral steed with a double-jump used at Spiritsprings to reach otherwise inaccessible heights.eldenring.wiki.fextralife.comIt won a record 324 Game of the Year awards — the most of any game tracked — and was the first FromSoftware game to top mainstream GOTY lists.forbes.comIts expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree (June 21, 2024), was FromSoftware's largest-ever DLC, with a world Miyazaki compared in size to the opening Limgrave region.en.wikipedia.orgThe main theme, by Tsukasa Saitoh, deliberately opens with sad piano notes reminiscent of Dark Souls' Gwyn theme before swelling into a heroic choral arrangement.filmmusictheory.comRead 6 more facts
Doom Eternal20205 factsGame page →Although Doom Eternal was scored by Mick Gordon, a dispute over the mixing and assembly of the official soundtrack led to executive producer Marty Stratton's June 2020 open letter; Gordon did not return, and The Ancient Gods DLC was instead scored by Andrew Hulshult and David Levy.gamerant.comThe Meat Hook mechanic was reversed in development: it originally pulled enemies toward the player, but was flipped to pull the player toward enemies to maximize mobility.en.wikipedia.orgDirector Hugo Martin described the divisive Marauder enemy as a 'black belt' demon meant to demand skilled play, pitched as a corrupted fallen Night Sentinel.pcgamer.comDoom Eternal is the best-selling game in the Doom franchise; SuperData estimated around 3 million digital copies in its first two weeks, roughly triple Doom (2016)'s launch.en.wikipedia.orgIt was the debut title for id Software's id Tech 7 engine, succeeding id Tech 6.en.wikipedia.orgRead 3 more facts
The Last of Us Part II202015 factsGame page →The Last of Us Part II is one of the most awarded games in history, winning 300+ Game of the Year awards and briefly holding the record for most GOTY wins before Elden Ring surpassed it in 2022.screenrant.comAt The Game Awards 2020 it won seven trophies — including Game of the Year — from eleven nominations, the most wins for a single game in the show's history.thegamer.comThe game shipped with more than 60 accessibility options, including customizable presets for blind, low-vision, deaf and hard-of-hearing, and motor-disabled players — a landmark for accessibility in AAA games.blog.playstation.comIts accessibility work earned the first-ever "Innovation in Accessibility" award at The Game Awards 2020.thegamer.comBlind accessibility advocate Steve Saylor said the game's text-to-speech menus made him cry for a solid 10 minutes.edition.cnn.comActress Laura Bailey received violent online death threats — some targeting her newborn son — because her character Abby kills the beloved Joel.kotaku.comNeil Druckmann initially wanted to avoid casting the already-prolific Laura Bailey, but changed his mind after an audition that emphasized Abby's vulnerability rather than her anger.gamerant.comEllie's acoustic cover of a-ha's "Take On Me" was sung by voice actress Ashley Johnson herself, performed live in the motion-capture studio.thumbsticks.comComposer Gustavo Santaolalla appears as an in-game character and later became a playable guitar-mode character in the Remastered edition.psu.comDevelopment was marked by a widely reported crunch controversy, with Kotaku documenting 12-hour-plus workdays and at least one developer hospitalized from stress.kotaku.comRoughly two months before launch, nearly every major cutscene leaked online after a Dutch hacker breached Naughty Dog's servers via an exploit in an older game; Sony confirmed the leaker was not an employee.gamesradar.comThe game was review-bombed to a user score as low as 3.4 against its 93 critic average — an episode that led Metacritic to introduce a mandatory 36-hour waiting period before user reviews can be posted.thegamer.comAt nearly 100 GB, it had the largest install size of any PlayStation 4 exclusive at the time — roughly double that of Marvel's Spider-Man.forbes.comEllie's moth-and-fern arm tattoo — which conceals her infection bite scar — was designed by real professional tattoo artist Natalie Hall after Naughty Dog struggled to design it internally.playstationlifestyle.netLev, a transgender character, is voiced by transgender actor Ian Alexander in what is widely regarded as a first for a major big-budget video game.nbcnews.comRead 13 more facts
Ori and the Will of the Wisps20206 factsGame page →Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a direct sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest (2015), built in Unity by Moon Studios, an approximately 80-person distributed team.en.wikipedia.orgIts 'shard' upgrade system was inspired by Final Fantasy's materia, while the overall design draws on Rayman and Metroid.en.wikipedia.orgIt launched day-one on Xbox Game Pass (11 March 2020) and shipped as an Xbox Play Anywhere title.en.wikipedia.orgIt reached over 2.8 million players by November 2020, including those playing through Game Pass.en.wikipedia.orgThe Ori series (Blind Forest and Will of the Wisps combined) surpassed 15 million units sold by March 2025.vgchartz.comIts orchestral soundtrack was composed by Gareth Coker, with vocals by Aeralie Brighton.iam8bit.comRead 4 more facts
It Takes Two20216 factsGame page →Josef Fares famously offered $1,000 to anyone who got bored of the game: 'It's impossible, and quote me on this, to get tired of this game… I can literally give 1,000 bucks to anyone who says I'm tired of this game.'pcgamer.comPublisher Take-Two Interactive opposed Hazelight's 'It Takes Two' trademark over the name's similarity to its own — Hazelight abandoned the application one day before launch, keeping the name but not the trademark.pcgamer.comThe free Friend's Pass means only one player ever needs to buy the game — the second player downloads a free pass and plays the entire adventure at no cost.en.wikipedia.orgDr. Hakim, the living Book of Love, is voiced by Joseph Balderrama (who also voices Cody) — director Josef Fares performed the character's motion capture but not the voice.gamepur.comMost of the gameplay was written in AngelScript via Hazelight's own open-source Unreal Engine integration, rather than standard C++ or Blueprints.en.wikipedia.orgIt became 2021's most-awarded game — sweeping GOTY at both The Game Awards and D.I.C.E. — and an Amazon film adaptation with Dwayne Johnson's production company followed, written by the Sonic the Hedgehog screenwriters.variety.comRead 4 more facts
Deep Rock Galactic20204 factsGame page →'Rock and Stone!' is the game's iconic dwarven battle cry and community catchphrase.store.steampowered.comIt surpassed 10 million units sold worldwide by February 2025, up from 3 million in November 2021.vgchartz.comIts soundtrack is 1980s-style cinematic synthwave, influenced by John Carpenter, Blade Runner and The Terminator.devtrackers.ggIt launched in Steam Early Access on 28 February 2018 and reached its full 1.0 release on 13 May 2020.en.wikipedia.orgRead 2 more facts
Resident Evil Village20217 factsGame page →Lady Dimitrescu is officially 2.9 meters (~9'6") tall including hat and heels — confirmed by art director Tomonori Takano after she became a pre-launch internet phenomenon that Capcom leaned into for marketing.psu.comMaggie Robertson's Lady Dimitrescu swept the performance awards — winning at The Game Awards, the Golden Joysticks and the D.I.C.E. Awards — exceptionally rare for a supporting antagonist.capcom.co.jpCapcom staged the demos like an event: the PS5-only 'Maiden' showcase, then two 30-minute timed demos (Village and Castle) each playable only inside an 8-hour window, before a combined 60-minute demo at launch week.pushsquare.comThe game shipped first-person only — third-person mode arrived 17 months later in the Winters' Expansion, and a free February 2023 update made the full campaign playable in PlayStation VR2.residentevil.comDirector Morimasa Sato described Ethan Winters as deliberately faceless — 'a camera for the player' — so players could imagine themselves in the role; his face is never clearly shown even in Village.en.wikipedia.orgIt became the fastest Resident Evil game ever to sell 10 million copies (June 2024) — reaching 14.9 million by March 2026 per Capcom's official Platinum Titles list.capcom.co.jpThe whole plot is framed by 'Village of Shadows', an animated dark-fairy-tale storybook opening scored by Witcher 3 composer Marcin Przybyłowicz as a guest contributor.lacedrecords.comRead 5 more facts
Valheim20216 factsGame page →Valheim shipped from a roughly five-person Swedish team, built on Richard Svensson's spare-time side project originally titled 'Fejd' (Swedish for 'feud').en.wikipedia.orgIt sold 1 million copies in its first week and 5 million within a month — one of the fastest-selling survival games in Steam history.gamedeveloper.comThe premise casts you as a fallen Viking sent to Valheim, a purgatorial tenth Norse world, to slay Odin's ancient rivals.en.wikipedia.orgDesign director Henrik Törnqvist says Breath of the Wild inspired the world's physicality — 'rolling, falling trees, and stuff like that' — with Skyrim and Terraria as further influences; the PS1-era look was born of solo-dev necessity.inverse.comComposer Patrik Jarlestam wrote the entire score in about four months, blending Swedish folk with metal influences like Meshuggah and Dream Theater.patrikjarlestam.bandcamp.comIts deliberate biome-by-biome Early Access roadmap — Hearth & Home (2021), Mistlands (2022), Ashlands (2024) — culminates in the Deep North at the 1.0 launch, five and a half years after Early Access began.thefpsreview.comRead 4 more facts
Baldur's Gate III20238 factsGame page →It spent nearly three years in Early Access — Act 1 launched October 6, 2020 — before its full release on August 3, 2023.en.wikipedia.orgIt is an official adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition; CEO Swen Vincke said Larian ported the Player's Handbook ruleset "as faithfully as we could."newsweek.comLarian says the game has roughly 17,000 variations on its ending; a team spent over a year just on endings and their descriptors.gamesradar.comEvery line of interactive dialogue was recorded with full voiceover and body motion-capture using 248 actors — for all NPCs, not just companions — across thousands of recording hours.pcgamer.comIt became the first game ever to win Game of the Year (or its equivalent) at all five major ceremonies — The Game Awards, Golden Joystick, GDCA, D.I.C.E. and BAFTA.gamesradar.comThe druid companion Halsin can use Wild Shape to become a bear during a romance scene — a much-memed moment Larian used to highlight the game's player freedom.thegamer.comThe signature theme "Down by the River" was the first piece composer Borislav Slavov wrote — originally just guitar and his own voice — and later became the bard Alfira's in-game performance.thegamer.comIt was directed by Larian founder and CEO Swen Vincke, building on the studio's Divinity: Original Sin CRPG pedigree.pcgamer.comRead 6 more facts
Assassin's Creed Valhalla202013 factsGame page →Players choose to play Eivor as male or female — or select a third 'Animus' option that auto-switches between them at story beats. Female Eivor is voiced by Cecilie Stenspil, male Eivor by Magnus Bruun.en.wikipedia.orgIn-game, Eivor is canonically female; the male appearance is an artifact of the Animus reading the Isu DNA of Odin within Eivor, sometimes rendering Eivor as Odin.screenrant.comSettlement-building returns to the RPG-era trilogy: players grow and upgrade a home base, Ravensthorpe, in England.en.wikipedia.orgThe game spans Viking-Age Norway and England (872–878 AD) with cities like Winchester, London and York (Jorvik), plus the mythical realms of Asgard and Jotunheim.en.wikipedia.orgValhalla had the biggest launch in Assassin's Creed history, outselling every prior entry in its first week and setting Ubisoft's all-time record store sales.news.ubisoft.comIt is the first Assassin's Creed game to cross $1 billion in revenue and the franchise's highest-grossing entry.vgchartz.comValhalla received the longest post-launch support in AC history — its final content update, 'The Last Chapter,' arrived on 6 December 2022, over two years after release.pcgamesn.comA December 2021 free crossover mission, 'A Fated Encounter,' has Eivor meet Odyssey's Kassandra on the Isle of Skye — bridging two games set roughly 1,300 years apart.blog.playstation.comWardruna co-founder Einar Selvik drew on decades of Nordic ethnomusicology to write genuine Old Norse songs for the score.news.ubisoft.comThe score of the 'Dawn of Ragnarok' expansion (by Stephanie Economou) won the first-ever Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media in 2023.en.wikipedia.orgReal historical figures appear, including King Alfred the Great and the sons of Ragnar Lothbrok (Ivarr the Boneless and Ubba), grounding the story in the Great Heathen Army's invasion of England.en.wikipedia.orgReleased November 2020, Valhalla was a launch-window title for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, spanning two console generations.en.wikipedia.orgIt was a massive globally-distributed production, developed by Ubisoft Montreal with around 14 supporting Ubisoft studios.en.wikipedia.orgRead 11 more facts
Ghostrunner20207 factsGame page →Ghostrunner's one-hit-kill design cuts both ways: enemies and the player both die to a single hit — a deliberate tension rooted in Hotline Miami and the studio's own God's Trigger.gamesradar.comThe May 2020 demo drew over 100,000 players who racked up more than 6 million total deaths — one player died over 1,000 times in a single run.allingames.com505 Games initially declined to buy the Ghostrunner IP before launch, then made an 'irresistible' EUR 5 million offer to All in! Games after the game's surprise success — barely five months after release.gamedeveloper.comThe game recouped its roughly EUR 2.5 million production cost on its first day on sale.gamedeveloper.comFree post-launch updates added a roguelike Wave Mode, an accessibility-focused Assist Mode, Photo Mode, Kill Run and a Hardcore mode, alongside the paid prequel expansion Project_Hel in which you play the boss Hel.gameinformer.comThe darksynth soundtrack by Daniel Deluxe (20 tracks) was released on vinyl as a 180g gatefold double LP, and the Project_Hel expansion added six more of his tracks.danieldeluxe.bandcamp.comGhostrunner 2 was announced in May 2021 — barely a month after 505 Games bought the IP — with Kraków studio One More Level returning at roughly double the original budget.pcgamer.comRead 5 more facts
Risk of Rain 220204 factsGame page →It sold over 1 million copies within one month of its Early Access launch (March-April 2019).pcgamer.comIt surpassed 4 million copies on Steam/PC alone by March 2021.gamespot.comGearbox acquired the Risk of Rain IP from Hopoo Games in November 2022; Hopoo later went on hiatus, with founders Duncan Drummond and Paul Morse moving to Valve.gamedeveloper.comThe series' 2D-to-3D shift was inspired by fan art depicting collected items on the characters.en.wikipedia.orgRead 2 more facts
Mass Effect Legendary Edition20217 factsGame page →ME1's Pinnacle Station DLC is missing because its source code was lost: the files from original DLC developer Demiurge Studios turned out corrupted, and Mac Walters said rebuilding it from scratch would have taken about six months.pcgamer.comOver 30,000 textures were upscaled (~4x, some up to 16x) using an AI up-res program plus custom batch tools — an effort personally driven by environment & character director Kevin Meek.screenrant.comBioWare used community mods as a 'minimum bar' benchmark for the remaster — aiming to beat what modders had achieved, with the advantage of access to uncompressed source art.pcgamer.comThe infamous ME1 Mako got retuned speed and physics, and ME1 combat was overhauled with aim assist, a dedicated melee button and rebalanced weapons and enemy AI — by far the deepest changes of the three games.en.wikipedia.orgThe unified character creator made the iconic 'default FemShep' (ME3's marketing face) selectable across the whole trilogy for the first time, alongside expanded skin tones and hair options.inverse.comMass Effect 3's multiplayer — once tied to the ending's 'Galactic Readiness' — was removed entirely, making the Legendary Edition single-player only (readiness was rebalanced to compensate).en.wikipedia.orgIt was teased on N7 Day (November 7, 2020) — the same announcement that first teased the next Mass Effect game — and includes a new Sam Hulick track, 'Resynthesis', in its bonus content.blog.bioware.comRead 5 more facts
Hogwarts Legacy20238 factsGame page →It is set in the 1890s — roughly 100 years before Harry Potter starts Hogwarts — so it uses no established Wizarding World protagonists, letting the player author their own story.screenrant.comYou play a rare fifth-year student who arrives late to Hogwarts and can see and wield mysterious "ancient magic," the power at the center of the plot.en.wikipedia.orgPlayers are Sorted into one of the four houses, and the Room of Requirement returns as a customizable personal base for brewing, growing plants and housing rescued magical creatures.en.wikipedia.orgSirona Ryan, the proprietress of the Three Broomsticks, is the first canonically transgender character in the Wizarding World.forbes.comIt launched amid a high-profile boycott over J.K. Rowling's comments about transgender people; Rowling was not directly involved in development.forbes.comIt was the best-selling game of 2023 worldwide — the first time since 2008 that neither a Call of Duty nor a Rockstar title topped the annual chart.kotaku.comIt set a Guinness World Record for the most-watched single-player game on Twitch, peaking around 1.28 million concurrent viewers during early access.en.wikipedia.orgDespite being the year's best-seller, it received zero nominations at The Game Awards 2023 — a widely reported "snub."gamerant.comRead 6 more facts
Factorio20204 factsGame page →Factorio famously never goes on sale — Wube has held a strict no-discount policy since its 2016 Steam launch, yet it still sells around 500,000 copies a year.pcgamer.comA scorpion species, Neobuthus factorio, was named after the game by Frantisek Kovarik, father of lead designer Michal Kovarik.en.wikipedia.orgIt was originally funded via Indiegogo (January-March 2013), raising EUR 21,626 against a EUR 17,000 goal.en.wikipedia.orgIt had sold over 3.5 million copies by December 2022, and its PC Metascore of 90 makes it one of Steam's highest-rated games.gamingbolt.comRead 2 more facts
Helltaker20204 factsGame page →Helltaker is completely free; the developer's only monetization is an optional $9.99 'Artbook + Pancake Recipe' DLC that includes the real recipe for the game's in-fiction chocolate pancakes.store.steampowered.comIts Mittsies soundtrack was one of five nominees for Best Soundtrack at the 2020 Steam Awards, losing to Doom Eternal.store.steampowered.comA free anniversary chapter, 'Helltaker: Examtaker,' launched on 11 May 2021 — exactly one year after release — adding harder stages and story.en.wikipedia.orgDespite being a roughly one-hour free game, it is 'Overwhelmingly Positive' on Steam (~97% of 120,000+ reviews) and spawned a huge fan-art, cosplay and meme community.store.steampowered.comRead 2 more facts
Half-Life: Alyx202018 factsGame page →Half-Life: Alyx was Valve's first full-length Half-Life game in 13 years, since Half-Life 2: Episode Two (2007).en.wikipedia.orgThe game is VR-only by design and served as the flagship 'killer app' for Valve's Index headset.en.wikipedia.orgIt runs on Valve's Source 2 engine (in production since 2016), with its physics handled by Valve's Rubikon physics engine.half-life.fandom.comAlyx was made by the largest team in Valve's history (around 80 people), including staff from Campo Santo, the Firewatch studio Valve acquired in 2018.en.wikipedia.orgIts signature 'Gravity Gloves' (nicknamed 'Russells' in-game) let players flick distant objects through the air into their hands.combineoverwiki.net'Jeff', a blind, sound-sensitive infected creature, anchors a celebrated stealth-horror chapter that exploits VR's sense of physical proximity.en.wikipedia.orgReloading is a physical VR action — you eject the magazine, grab a fresh one and slap it into the gun — widely praised over a simple button press.en.wikipedia.orgThe ending has Alyx meet the G-Man and rewrites the Half-Life 2: Episode Two cliffhanger, setting up a future game with Gordon Freeman.en.wikipedia.orgLongtime Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw, who retired in 2016, confirmed he did not work on Alyx.en.wikipedia.orgValve released Steam Workshop mod tools and the Hammer level editor for Alyx on May 15, 2020, enabling community-made campaigns.en.wikipedia.org'Levitation', a free fan-made campaign of about four hours released via Steam Workshop, was widely praised as matching Valve's own level design.pcgamer.comA community 'NoVR' mod, playable through the full campaign by 2023, lets players finish the entire game without a VR headset using mouse and keyboard.moddb.comWith a Metascore of 93 (universal acclaim), Alyx is the highest-rated VR game on Metacritic.metacritic.comThe game was free to everyone who owned a Valve Index headset or controllers, part of Valve's strategy to drive VR hardware sales.uploadvr.comClassic enemies got hands-on VR interactions — players physically pry barnacle tongues, and catch, throw or rip headcrabs off their own face.tvtropes.orgA native Linux version of Alyx shipped on May 15, 2020, about two months after the March 23, 2020 Windows launch.en.wikipedia.orgDuring development Valve prototyped and then abandoned a VR version of Portal because the portals caused motion sickness and disorientation in VR.en.wikipedia.orgValve sold roughly 103,000 Index headsets in Q4 2019 after Alyx was announced — the best-selling PC VR headset that quarter — and the headset sold out worldwide.forbes.comRead 16 more facts
Crusader Kings III20204 factsGame page →It had the highest launch-month sales of any Paradox Interactive title at its release.en.wikipedia.orgIt passed 1 million copies within about a month of its November 2020 launch, reaching 2 million by 2022 and 3 million by 2023.en.wikipedia.orgIt surpassed 4 million copies worldwide by April 2025.en.wikipedia.orgIt runs on the Clausewitz Engine with the new Jomini toolset and was the first Paradox grand-strategy title to use 3D character portraits with genetic inheritance.en.wikipedia.orgRead 2 more facts
Capcom Arcade Stadium20216 factsGame page →Each game runs inside a 3D arcade-cabinet presentation with CRT-style filters, plus emulation luxuries the originals never had: rewind, adjustable difficulty and game speed.en.wikipedia.orgCapcom drew backlash in May 2021 for selling a ~$0.99 per-game 'invincibility' cheat as paid DLC — a feature retro compilations traditionally include free, especially with rewind already built in.destructoid.comIn late 2021 card-farming bots exploited the free base game's Steam trading cards, briefly pushing it to ~478,000 concurrent 'players' — the third most-played game on Steam above Apex Legends and PUBG, and the highest concurrent count ever for a Capcom title, until Valve patched it.automaton-media.comGhosts 'n Goblins was temporarily free at launch on Switch to promote Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection, which released the same day (25 February 2021).nintendolife.comThe emulated classics received historical/regional edits: the Rising Sun flag was removed from E. Honda's Street Fighter II stage, and Fei Long's Hong Kong flag became a China flag.en.wikipedia.orgA direct successor, Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium, followed in July 2022 with 32 more games — SonSon free this time.en.wikipedia.orgRead 4 more facts
Spiritfarer20204 factsGame page →The game handles death and grief personally: director Nicolas Guerin drew on his own losses (the character Giovanni is based on his grandfather), and the team spent a month researching at end-of-life care facilities.en.wikipedia.orgIt is entirely hand-drawn and animated frame-by-frame, earning nominations for BAFTA Animation and a DICE Outstanding Achievement in Animation in 2021.en.wikipedia.orgIts core premise reimagines the Greek ferryman Charon: you play Stella, the new 'Spiritfarer,' ferrying spirits to the afterlife through the 'Everdoor.'gamereactor.euIt contains around 90,000 words of spirit narrative and features 2-player local co-op as the cat Daffodil.en.wikipedia.orgRead 2 more facts
Horizon Forbidden West202214 factsGame page →Horizon Forbidden West cost about $212 million to develop over five years with a peak team of over 300 people — figures that became public through a poorly redacted Sony filing in the FTC v. Microsoft case (June 2023), not a voluntary disclosure.axios.comThe game sold more than 8.4 million copies by April 2023, pushing the Horizon franchise past 32.7 million units.videogameschronicle.comTwo Hollywood stars joined the cast: The Matrix's Carrie-Anne Moss voices the mysterious Tilda van der Meer, and Angela Bassett voices the rebel Tenakth leader Regalla.en.wikipedia.orgLance Reddick returned as Sylens but died in March 2023, a month before the Burning Shores DLC. Guerrilla added a holographic memorial to him in the DLC, placed on the first island where Aloy meets Seyka.videogameschronicle.comThe Burning Shores expansion is PS5-only because the PS4 couldn't handle its real-time volumetric cloud system — clouds stored as true 3D volumes you can fly through — or the SSD streaming speeds its aerial traversal demands.thegamer.comAloy remains a composite of two women: Ashly Burch provides the voice and performance, while Dutch actress Hannah Hoekstra — who is also the face of Elisabet Sobeck — provides her scanned facial likeness.pushsquare.comIt won the BAFTA Games Award for Technical Achievement in 2023.bafta.orgAt The Game Awards 2022 it earned seven nominations including Game of the Year — tied with Elden Ring for the second-most of the night — but lost GOTY to Elden Ring.variety.comMachine Strike, a full board-strategy minigame played with miniature machine pieces, can be played against opponents in settlements across the map.en.wikipedia.orgThe story's antagonists, Far Zenith, are surviving members of a trillionaire futurist consortium who fled Earth for the Sirius system before the apocalypse — and their storyline sets up the trilogy's final chapter.gamerant.comTo build the buried Las Vegas of 'Dunehollow', Guerrilla quest designer Samantha Schoonen researched the real Vegas Strip and its casinos; the quest has Aloy reactivating the flooded city's ancient water systems, showing off the game's new underwater exploration.blog.playstation.comThe PC version arrived on March 21, 2024 as the Complete Edition, ported by Nixxes Software — part of Sony's growing PC-port pipeline.en.wikipedia.orgIn Burning Shores, the Quen marine Seyka becomes the series' first explicit romance option for Aloy.en.wikipedia.orgThe franchise expanded into LEGO Horizon Adventures (2024), a co-production between Guerrilla and Studio Gobo retelling Zero Dawn's story in LEGO form, which grew out of a 2022 physical LEGO Tallneck set partnership.en.wikipedia.orgRead 12 more facts
Loop Hero20216 factsGame page →Loop Hero was born at a game jam that 'didn't work': the Ludum Dare 45 (October 2019) prototype, built for the theme 'Start with nothing', had a hero walking the loop but combat wasn't functional yet.gamedeveloper.comThe four developers are literally the game's secret final bosses: Blinch, Deceiver, theRandom and Finlal appear in-game as the 'true creators'.loophero.fandom.comAfter 2022 sanctions cut the Russia-based team's access to Steam revenue, Four Quarters told players who couldn't buy the game to 'raise the pirate flag' and posted a torrent link — and publisher Devolver Digital publicly backed the statement '100 per cent'.pcgamer.comPart of the art was drawn in MS Paint on Windows XP, alongside Aseprite; the music was made in FL Studio and the game in GameMaker Studio 2.gamedeveloper.comThe synth-heavy OST by blinch became Devolver's fastest-selling soundtrack at the time and received a 30-track deluxe double-vinyl release.merch.devolverdigital.comIt sold 500,000 copies in its first week and passed 1 million on Steam within about nine months.gamedeveloper.comRead 4 more facts
Dirt 520207 factsGame page →Dirt 5 was made by the reborn Evolution Studios team: Codemasters Cheshire is staffed by the ex-Evolution developers behind Driveclub, MotorStorm and Onrush.thesixthaxis.comUnusually for a Codemasters racer it does not use the EGO engine — it runs on the evolved engine the Cheshire team built for Onrush.en.wikipedia.orgThe career mode is framed as an in-game show, 'The Dirt Podcast', hosted by real Donut Media podcasters James Pumphrey and Nolan Sykes, with Troy Baker as your mentor AJ and Nolan North as rival Bruno Durand.pcgamesn.comIt was an Xbox Series X|S launch title (10 November 2020) and an early PS5 showcase with an up-to-120fps mode.en.wikipedia.orgThe Playgrounds mode is a built-in arena creator letting players design, share and race custom gymkhana, Smash Attack and Gate Crasher arenas.operationsports.comDirt 5 was the last game Codemasters published as an independent company: EA completed its ~$1.2 billion acquisition on 18 February 2021 after outbidding Take-Two.ir.ea.comThe 40+ track licensed soundtrack was curated with Universal Music's Globe division and features The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Stormzy, The Killers and Foals; its PEGI 12 rating comes from mild language in the song lyrics.nme.comRead 5 more facts
Wasteland 320205 factsGame page →It was funded via Fig equity crowdfunding, raising $3,121,716 from 17,707 backers (October-November 2016), 113% of its $2.75M goal and hitting the goal in about three days.wasteland.fandom.comMid-development, Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios acquired inXile (2018) and bought the publishing rights; Fig paid a lump sum to Wasteland 3 investors as a result.gamedeveloper.comComposer Mark Morgan returned to score Wasteland 3, having previously scored Wasteland 2 as well as Fallout and Fallout 2.en.wikipedia.orgIt was nominated for Best RPG at The Game Awards 2020 and RPG of the Year at the 24th D.I.C.E. Awards, losing both to Final Fantasy VII Remake.en.wikipedia.orgThe setting shifted from the Arizona desert of Wasteland 2 to a frozen, post-apocalyptic Colorado; by December 2021 the game had over 2 million players.en.wikipedia.orgRead 3 more facts
Watch Dogs: Legion20207 factsGame page →The 'play as anyone' system runs on a relational-database tech called Census that procedurally generates every NPC's name, appearance, skills, backstory, relationships and daily schedule — making roughly 9 million unique Londoners recruitable and playable; the tech took about four years to build.gamedeveloper.comAn optional permadeath mode means that if every recruited operative dies or is lost, the campaign can effectively end.en.wikipedia.orgIn October 2020 the Egregor ransomware gang breached Ubisoft and leaked an archive of roughly 558 GB claimed to be Watch Dogs: Legion source code — ironically for a game about the hacker group DedSec.videogameschronicle.comThe BBC conducted what it billed as the world's first in-game interview: journalist Marc Cieslak, in a mocap suit, interviewed creative director Clint Hocking's avatar inside the game near Piccadilly Circus.videogameschronicle.comUK rapper Stormzy appears as himself in the launch mission 'Fall on My Enemies', and his 'Rainfall' music video was produced entirely in the game engine using motion capture.nme.comWatch Dogs protagonist Aiden Pearce (Noam Jenkins) and Watch Dogs 2 fan-favourite Wrench (Shawn Baichoo) both return as playable leads in the Bloodline DLC (July 2021).videogamer.comIt launched in October 2020 on the old consoles and then served as a launch title for both Xbox Series X|S and PS5 weeks later, with hardware ray tracing among its next-gen features.en.wikipedia.orgRead 5 more facts
God of War Ragnarök20228 factsGame page →It concludes the Norse era of the God of War saga, set three years after God of War (2018), following Kratos and his now-teenage son Atreus.en.wikipedia.orgThe primary antagonist is the Aesir god Odin, with Thor as a secondary antagonist; Christopher Judge reprises Kratos.en.wikipedia.orgThe score is by Bear McCreary (returning from 2018), and the title song "Blood Upon the Snow" was a collaboration with Hozier.blog.playstation.comIt led The Game Awards 2022 with a field-topping 10 nominations and won 6 (including Best Narrative, Best Score and Best Performance for Christopher Judge), but lost Game of the Year to Elden Ring.gamerant.comIt became the most-nominated game in BAFTA Games Awards history.gamedeveloper.comIt won TGA 2022's Innovation in Accessibility award, shipping with more than 70 accessibility options.en.wikipedia.orgA free roguelite epilogue DLC, "God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla," was released at no charge on December 12, 2023.blog.playstation.comIt runs on Santa Monica Studio's proprietary in-house engine — the same technology base as God of War (2018), extended for the PS5.gdcvault.comRead 6 more facts
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War20207 factsGame page →Raven Software led the single-player campaign while Treyarch handled Multiplayer and Zombies — an unusual split after Sledgehammer's original version of the project was shaken up mid-development.en.wikipedia.orgThe campaign has multiple endings based on player choices — including the option to stay loyal to Adler's team or betray them to Perseus.en.wikipedia.orgRonald Reagan appears in-game (voiced by Jeff Bergman) authorizing the black op — a rare depiction of a real named US president in the series, which drew significant commentary.comicbook.comChina banned the reveal teaser because it briefly included 1989 Tiananmen Square protest footage; an edited version replaced it worldwide.vice.comComposer Jack Wall built the main theme around a 'Soviet-sounding' choir, orchestra and genuine 1980s modular synthesizers to nail the period's shadowy feel.nme.comIt ran on a modified Black Ops III-lineage engine rather than the new IW 8.0 engine Infinity Ward built for Modern Warfare (2019), rebuilt to scale onto the new console generation.en.wikipedia.orgThe launch Zombies map 'Die Maschine' is set at a Nazi nuclear-research facility in Poland and rebooted the Zombies storyline as the 'Dark Aether' saga.en.wikipedia.orgRead 5 more facts
Astro's Playroom20206 factsGame page →Astro's Playroom comes pre-installed free on every PlayStation 5 ever sold — it was never sold separately, serving as the console's built-in DualSense showcase.en.wikipedia.orgIt began life as a series of DualSense tech demos — the team designed more than 80 controller demos during development — and only later became a launch title.en.wikipedia.orgThe collectibles are 3D-rendered artifacts of real PlayStation hardware spanning the brand's whole history — consoles, controllers and accessories from 25+ years.en.wikipedia.orgComposer Kenny Young made the PS5 itself sing to the player: the GPU Jungle track 'I'm Your GPU' personifies the console as the player's true love, and was the first song he wrote for the game.blog.playstation.comIt was the last game released under SIE Japan Studio: weeks later Sony reorganized the studio and spun Team Asobi out as its own PlayStation Studios subsidiary (April 2021).psu.comIts success led directly to Astro Bot (2024), which won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024.pocket-lint.comRead 4 more facts
Hitman 320216 factsGame page →Hitman 3 was IO Interactive's first fully self-published game after splitting from Square Enix in 2017 — and the gamble paid off: it recouped its entire development cost in less than a week.gamedeveloper.comIts 12-month Epic Games Store PC exclusivity ended in a rocky Steam launch (January 2022) that was review-bombed over full pricing; IO apologized and issued free upgrades to Steam buyers.videogameschronicle.comDartmoor's 'Death in the Family' mission lets 47 play detective in a Knives Out-style whodunnit — but the developers say the murder-mystery mansion was conceived before the film existed; they embraced the parallels afterwards, adding a baseball Easter egg as a nod.washingtonpost.comIn January 2023 IO merged all three trilogy games into a single product, 'Hitman: World of Assassination', folding Hitman 1 and 2's locations into the Hitman 3 base.pcgamingwiki.comThe game launched with full PlayStation VR support, added PC VR in 2022, and later reached Meta Quest 3 (2024) and PS VR2 (2025).en.wikipedia.orgHitman 3's success let IO move its James Bond game into full production — the project announced as 'Project 007' eventually shipped as 007 First Light.windowscentral.comRead 4 more facts
Resident Evil Resistance20205 factsGame page →It was revealed under the working title 'Project Resistance' at Tokyo Game Show 2019, then renamed Resident Evil: Resistance before launch.blog.playstation.comIt was not sold standalone — it shipped bundled free with the Resident Evil 3 (2020) remake, which Capcom acknowledged had less content than the RE2 remake.en.wikipedia.orgIt was NeoBards Entertainment's debut game, developed by around 120 staff across offices in Taipei and Suzhou.siliconera.comBecause it uses peer-to-peer networking rather than dedicated servers, it remained playable even after its sibling spin-off Re:Verse shut down in June 2025.pcgamesn.comIts playable 'Masterminds' include established series villains such as Ozwell E. Spencer, Annette Birkin and Alex Wesker.residentevil.fandom.comRead 3 more facts
Moving Out20204 factsGame page →Its accessibility 'Assist Mode' lets players add extra time, vanish objects on delivery, remove obstacles, make objects lighter, or skip levels entirely.en.wikipedia.orgIt won Game of the Year at the 2020 Australian Game Developer Awards.agdas.com.auThe concept began when co-developer Jan Rigerl helped a friend move and became fascinated with the strategy involved, later partnering with SMG Studio (of Death Squared).en.wikipedia.orgIt was followed by a sequel, Moving Out 2 (15 August 2023), which added online co-op.en.wikipedia.orgRead 2 more facts
Desperados III20204 factsGame page →It is a prequel to the original Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive (2001), telling the origin of gunslinger John Cooper, set in the 1870s American West.en.wikipedia.orgIt was made by the Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun team (Mimimi Games), reusing that game's real-time-tactics and stealth formula in a Wild West setting.en.wikipedia.orgDeveloper Mimimi Games announced its closure on 29 August 2023 (after Shadow Gambit); Desperados III was one of its final titles.techradar.comIt won the Deutscher Computerspielpreis 2021 award for Best German Game.en.wikipedia.orgRead 2 more facts
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart20216 factsGame page →The dimension-hopping is a deliberate PS5 SSD tech demo: rifts yank you into entirely different worlds mid-combat with virtually no loading — something Insomniac says was impossible on spinning drives.axios.comRivet — the series' first playable female Lombax — is voiced by Jennifer Hale, Mass Effect's Commander Shepard.gamesradar.comIts accessibility suite — game-speed slowdown to 70/50/30%, high-contrast per-entity shaders, full DualSense remapping — earned a TGA 'Innovation in Accessibility' nomination.gamespot.comA 'Performance RT' mode delivering 60fps WITH ray-tracing was added at launch — rare for early PS5 titles, cementing its status as a graphics showcase.tomsguide.comCaptain Qwark was recast (Scott Whyte) because longtime voice actor Jim Ward could not return due to health issues.en.wikipedia.orgThe alternate-dimensions premise was inspired by the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life, per creative director Marcus Smith — and at the 2022 D.I.C.E. Awards it was the night's most-awarded game with four wins.gameinformer.comRead 4 more facts
Subnautica: Below Zero202111 factsGame page →Below Zero began life as a planned downloadable expansion for the original Subnautica before its scope grew into a full standalone game.en.wikipedia.orgIn November 2019 — mid-Early-Access — Unknown Worlds scrapped and completely rewrote the game's story because the team "had trouble defining our characters' motivations clearly." The biomes stayed; the plot was redone, and players were warned their saves would be wiped when the new story shipped.unknownworlds.comThe rewrite came with a change of writers: Tom Jubert (The Talos Principle, FTL) departed, and Jill Murray (Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Shadow of the Tomb Raider) took over as lead narrative designer.techraptor.netRobin Ayou is the Subnautica series' first fully voiced protagonist — the original game's survivor was silent and nameless. Robin is voiced by Kimberly Brooks (Mass Effect's Ashley Williams).hollywoodreporter.comThe mercenary Marguerit Maida, known only through scattered lore in the original Subnautica, appears in person in Below Zero — having survived alone on planet 4546B for over a decade.subnautica.fandom.comComposer Ben Prunty (FTL: Faster Than Light) replaced the original game's Simon Chylinski, deliberately echoing Subnautica's electronic percussion, kalimba and synth palette while adding a colder sound for the Arctic. At 54 tracks and over two hours, he called it the largest soundtrack of his career.benprunty.bandcamp.comDirector David Kalina grounded the alien Arctic in real sensory research: exotic polar geology, snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and nature documentaries all informed how the frozen ocean should feel.inverse.comBelow Zero shipped its full 1.0 release simultaneously on Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch on the same day in May 2021 — a multi-platform day-one launch the small studio highlighted as a point of pride.unknownworlds.comFive months after Below Zero's launch, PUBG publisher KRAFTON acquired Unknown Worlds (October 2021) in a deal widely reported at roughly $500 million.gameinformer.comSteam users nominated Below Zero for the Steam Award for Outstanding Visual Style twice — during Early Access in 2019 and again at the 2021 awards, where it lost to Forza Horizon 5.nme.comDespite being framed as "the sequel" in early marketing, Below Zero is officially a spin-off — the numbered sequel, Subnautica 2, was announced separately years later. The Subnautica series had sold more than 18.5 million units by February 2026.vgchartz.comRead 9 more facts
Mortal Shell20205 factsGame page →It launched as a one-year Epic Games Store timed PC exclusive (August 2020), reaching Steam and GOG a year later.nme.comIt was built by the small remote indie studio Cold Symmetry, founded by four industry veterans.80.lvIts score was composed by Simon Heath under his dark-ambient alias Atrium Carceri (Cryo Chamber).cryochamber.bandcamp.comThe free 'Rotten Autumn' update (October 2020) featured original music by the Greek black-metal band Rotting Christ.en.wikipedia.orgIt sold over 1 million copies by September 2023.en.wikipedia.orgRead 3 more facts
Returnal20217 factsGame page →Returnal exists because 'arcade is dead': after Nex Machina's weak sales in 2017, Housemarque CEO Ilari Kuittinen publicly declared the studio's arcade era over — triggering the pivot to a AAA roguelike that became Returnal.axios.comThe studio abandoned ~25 years of proprietary tech to adopt Unreal Engine 4 for Returnal — director Harry Krueger admitted the game was 'unplayable for nearly half of development' and the team had to 'build our wings while falling'.playstationlifestyle.netIt launched with no mid-run save, sparking controversy — Update 2.0 (Oct 26, 2021) added the single-use 'Suspend Cycle' compromise, and players promptly discovered a cloud-save exploit to save-scum anyway.kotaku.comJane Perry (also Hitman's Diana Burnwood) won the BAFTA for Performer in a Leading Role as Selene — the game took four BAFTAs in 2022 including Best Game, one of the night's biggest hauls.en.wikipedia.orgThe true ending is hidden behind Act 3: collecting six Sunface Fragments across the biomes, finishing the House sequences and finding a car key lets Selene unlock the sunken car after re-beating Ophion — revealing the time-loop's hereditary-trauma twist.thesixthaxis.comThe free Ascension update (March 22, 2022) added 2-player online co-op and the endless Tower of Sisyphus mode with new boss Algos — doubling down on the Greek myth at the game's heart.blog.playstation.comHousemarque's next game, Saros (2026), is a spiritual successor — Returnal itself remains a standalone story.blog.playstation.comRead 5 more facts
Indivisible: Razmi Challenges20203 factsGame page →It is the first and only paid DLC for Indivisible, adding 40 bite-size platforming and combat challenges hosted by Razmi, plus two new Ajna palettes and a new achievement set.store.steampowered.comIt released shortly before the studio's demise: on 9 October 2020, about 11 days after Lab Zero Games dissolved, 505 Games cancelled all remaining Indivisible content, so planned free guest characters (Shovel Knight, Shantae) never shipped.en.wikipedia.orgThe base game's turn-based combat is inspired by Valkyrie Profile, with a score by Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana).en.wikipedia.orgRead 1 more fact
Monster Train20204 factsGame page →It reworks the Slay the Spire formula by stacking three vertical train floors that enemies climb, with a burning Pyre to protect at the top.en.wikipedia.orgEach run you fuse two of five monster clans (a Champion plus their spells and units), the core source of build variety and replayability.store.steampowered.comIts 27-track original soundtrack was composed by Jordan Chin, with guest vocals by Betsey Streeter and violin by Patti Rudisill.jordanchinmusic.bandcamp.comIt won PC Gamer's Best Card Game of 2020, and a sequel, Monster Train 2, followed in 2025.pcgamer.comRead 2 more facts
SnowRunner20205 factsGame page →SnowRunner runs on Saber's Swarm Engine — the same engine behind World War Z — replacing the VeeEngine used by its predecessors Spintires and MudRunner.spintires.fandom.comPavel Zagrebelnyy, creator of Spintires and MudRunner, served mainly as a consultant on SnowRunner rather than directing gameplay.en.wikipedia.orgIt sold over 1 million copies within about two months (by July 2020) despite launching as an Epic Games Store PC exclusive.en.wikipedia.orgIt runs on a multi-year live-service roadmap of annual Season Passes, reaching more than 15 million players by November 2024.en.wikipedia.orgIt features real licensed truck brands including Freightliner, Chevrolet, Western Star, Ford and Land Rover.racinggames.ggRead 3 more facts
FIFA 2120207 factsGame page →FIFA 21 was Kylian Mbappé's debut as the FIFA cover athlete — the first of three straight covers (FIFA 21, 22 and 23).goal.comThis was the first FIFA with Derek Rae and Lee Dixon as the primary English commentary team for all modes, replacing the long-running Martin Tyler and Alan Smith duo.goal.comFIFA 21 introduced Dual Entitlement: a free upgrade from PS4 to PS5 and Xbox One to Series X|S within the same console family, with the next-gen build adding Strand Hair Technology and DualSense haptics.en.wikipedia.orgDavid Beckham returned to the series as a FIFA Ultimate Team ICON and Volta character; anyone who played by 15 January 2021 received a free untradeable Beckham item.goal.comFIFA 21's Ultimate Team packs were at the centre of a loot-box legal storm: Dutch regulators ordered them removed (later overturned on appeal in 2022), Austrian courts classified FIFA packs as illegal gambling, and leaked EA documents obtained by CBC stated 'All roads lead to FUT'.cbc.caVolta Football returned with 'The Debut', a story mode, plus co-op Volta Squads — the only finite, 'beatable' content in an otherwise endless game.en.wikipedia.orgThe Nintendo Switch version was a 'Legacy Edition' — a roster refresh with no new modes or engine work — a long-running point of criticism for the series on Nintendo platforms.esrb.orgRead 5 more facts
Totally Accurate Battle Simulator20216 factsGame page →TABS was conceived at a week-long game jam in a Swedish castle in 2016 — and its rough alpha builds went viral on YouTube and Twitch years before the game officially launched.en.wikipedia.orgLandfall deliberately releases on April Fools' Day: TABS hit Early Access on April 1, 2019 and left it exactly two years later on April 1, 2021 — part of the studio's running April 1 tradition.en.wikipedia.orgIts battle-royale spin-off Totally Accurate Battlegrounds (TABG) started as an April Fools 2018 joke, racked up 3 million+ downloads within days, and later went free-to-play — on April 1, 2021, the same day TABS hit 1.0.landfall.seThere is a third 'Totally Accurate' game most players never saw: Totally Accurate Battle Zombielator (TABZ), a standalone zombie-survival spin-off released for April Fools' Day 2017 and never updated since.landfall.seThe Unit Creator and Steam Workshop let players build and share custom wobbler units, factions and campaigns — community content that has expanded the game far beyond its 130+ official units.store.steampowered.comLandfall's press kit proudly cites TABS being 'rated 20th best Steam game of all time' by review score — it sits at ~98% positive across roughly 142,000 Steam reviews.landfall.seRead 4 more facts
Cloudpunk20204 factsGame page →Set in the floating voxel megacity of Nivalis, you play Rania, a night-shift courier for the semi-legal 'Cloudpunk' delivery service, under the motto 'Don't miss a delivery and don't ask what's in the package.'store.steampowered.comA standalone expansion, Cloudpunk: City of Ghosts, launched on 25 May 2021, adding a new protagonist (Hayse), street races and multiple endings.en.wikipedia.orgA post-launch free update added a first-person on-foot mode and later a first-person in-cockpit driving view; the game has no native VR support.pcgamer.comIt won the DevGAMM 2020 Grand Prize and Excellence in Audio, and was built in Unity by the Berlin studio ION LANDS.en.wikipedia.orgRead 2 more facts
Monster Hunter Rise20217 factsGame page →Rise was the first Monster Hunter built on Capcom's RE Engine — the Resident Evil 7 engine — with director Ichinose citing its C# scripting and faster build times as reasons for the switch.en.wikipedia.orgThe series-new Wirebug enables aerial traversal, weapon-specific Silkbind attacks and Wyvern Riding — briefly mounting and steering monsters against each other.gamespot.comThe rideable Palamute dog companion never depletes stamina — a design choice made explicitly with Switch portability and pick-up-and-play sessions in mind.en.wikipedia.orgThe tower-defense-style Rampage mode, where you defend Kamura Village from monster hordes, was inspired by the Hyakki Yagyō — the Japanese 'night parade of one hundred demons' myth.esportsreporter.comFlagship monster Magnamalo began as an 'armored tiger' and 'ghost of a warrior' concept, with samurai armor and hitodama ghost-fire motifs darkened until it read as a sinister yōkai.monsterhunter.fandom.comThe 109-track score was recorded in Japan, Los Angeles and Abbey Road Studios in London, leaning heavily on vocals and traditional Japanese instrumentation.monsterhunterwiki.orgIt won the Grand Award at the Japan Game Awards 2021 and Famitsu's Game of the Year, scoring 38/40 in Famitsu's review.nme.comRead 5 more facts
Road 9620215 factsGame page →The procedural road trip assembles each teen's journey from ~30-50 minute segments — the devs counted 148,268 possible story permutations, so no two escapes from Petria are identical.80.lvIt's set in the summer of 1996 during a rigged presidential election — authoritarian incumbent Tyrak vs. opposition candidate Florres — and your accumulated choices across multiple teens' journeys can tip the nation's fate.en.wikipedia.orgCreative director Yoan Fanise cited Into the Wild, Tarantino, the Coen Brothers and Bong Joon-ho — and based lovable hacker Alex on Data from The Goonies, and bumbling duo Stan & Mitch on Porco Rosso's air pirates.goombastomp.comThe 28-track OST mixes synthwave (The Toxic Avenger, SURVIVE of Stranger Things fame, Robert Parker, Kalax) with folk act Cocoon — collectible cassette tapes unlock the tracks in-game.road96.bandcamp.comFrance took notice: it won 5 of its 7 nominations at the 2022 Pégases (the French national game awards), including Best Indie Game and Best Narrative Design.gamersheroes.comRead 3 more facts
Yes, Your Grace20205 factsGame page →Yes, Your Grace was near-solo developed by Rafal Bryks over roughly a five-year cycle in a Polish village; the landscape and harsh Polish winters shaped the game's design and setting.en.wikipedia.orgIt was Kickstarter-funded in November-December 2014, with 570 backers pledging GBP 7,192 against a GBP 6,000 goal.kickstarter.comIt grossed around $600,000 in its launch weekend, credited to an effective trailer and its many localized translations.en.wikipedia.orgDevelopment stalled for years after a publisher deal collapsed; Bryks reclaimed the rights while working a full-time job before signing with No More Robots.en.wikipedia.orgA sequel, 'Yes, Your Grace: Snowfall,' released on 8 May 2025.braveatnight.co.ukRead 3 more facts
Super Animal Royale20216 factsGame page →In the lore, Super Animals are lab-grown clones: bio-engineered by Pixile Industries researchers and born from 'Gestation Pods' invented by the character Dogna — identical DNA, no parents.wiki.animalroyale.comFounders Michael Silverwood and Chris Clogg have been friends since age 3, both studied at UBC, prototyped the battle royale in early 2016 and quit their jobs in December 2017 to build the team.mp1st.comIts signature vehicles are two-seater Giant Emus — the front rider steers and pecks while the back rider whips for speed — and rollable hamster balls that flatten opponents; every match starts by dropping from a giant eagle.animalroyale.fandom.comThe line-of-sight stealth system — players hiding in shadows and tall grass vanish from view — was built by modifying a Unity plugin for performance across 64-player matches.gamerant.comFull cross-play AND cross-save across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and Stadia shipped with 1.0 on day one — August 26, 2021.thesixthaxis.comA late-2023 Turnip Boy crossover event added limited-time quests and a permanent 'Super Apple Cat' breed — one of many themed events that keep the 2018-born battle royale alive into 2026.gonintendo.comRead 4 more facts
Rustler20215 factsGame page →Your 'radio' is a bard: you hire bards who follow you around as a 'sweaty personal radio', dynamically changing the medieval hip-hop tunes mid-battle — the game's spin on GTA's car radio.gog.comHorse theft literally reskins GTA carjacking — hence the official subtitle 'Grand Theft Horse' — with knights and guards standing in for police wanted levels.en.wikipedia.orgThe game was crowdfunded on Kickstarter in February 2020: 1,469 backers pledged CA$38,117 against a CA$25,000 goal, funding it with a week to spare.worthplaying.comIt's dense with Monty Python references: the Holy Hand Grenade, a 'Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition' quest, a Black Knight who insists ''tis but a flesh wound', and French soldiers taunting 'your mother was a hamster'.mundobytes.comThe soundtrack fuses lute-driven medieval instrumentation with rap and trap — tracks include 'Thug Life Poor Life' and 'Gangsta Guy' — composed by Paweł 'Chervinsky' Czerwiński with guest artists.gog.comRead 3 more facts
