Cornell Otto

Valve’s standalone headset, codenamed “Deckard”, has long been rumored, and speculation has continued since data miners first discovered relevant information in January 2021. Recently, the whistleblower and data miner “Gabe Follower” once again broke the news that Deckard will be released before the end of 2025 and priced at $1,200.

Gabe Follower posted on his X platform: “Multiple sources have confirmed that Valve plans to release a new standalone wireless VR headset (codenamed Deckard) by the end of 2025. The current price of the complete package is $1,200.”

Gabe Follower also revealed that Valve will release “finished” games or demos specifically for Deckard.

Notably, Gabe Follower pointed out that the $1,200 price “will be sold at a loss” and speculated that Deckard will use the same SteamOS as Steam Deck handheld, but adapted for VR.

Gabe Follower claimed that “one of the core features is to play flat games already on Steam Deck on VR big screen, without the need for a PC.” He also said that closed-door demos may begin soon.

Gabe Follower has accurately leaked multiple Valve projects in the past, including information about Counter-Strike, Half-Life and Valve’s upcoming PC shooting MOBA game Deadlock, but still recommends treating this news with caution.

Even if this leak is not inside information, Valve is clearly preparing XR-related products. Leaked 3D models hidden in the November 2024 SteamVR update appear to show a new VR motion controller called “Roy”.

Roy controller is different from the standard VR motion controller layout and seems to provide a more traditional gamepad-style button layout, which will enable a 1:1 input experience between flat games (in a virtual environment) and Steam Deck.

Persistent rumors claim that Deckard may include PC VR wireless streaming capabilities, eye tracking, and perspective AR capabilities, which may make it a competitor to Meta Quest and/or Apple Vision Pro.

This is not the first time Valve has tried gaming peripherals. Valve released the Valve Index in 2019, which was the best VR headset on the market at the time and priced at $999. The headset was bundled with Half-Life Alyx, but sales were poor. Valve’s Deckard may be able to bring new surprises to the gaming industry, but how many players will really buy it is unknown.

As a huge game company, Hasbro has developed many popular games, among which Monopoly Go is the most popular. Players always have sharp eyes, and they know what they like, so what kind of charm does Monopoly Go have that attracts so many players?

Monopoly Go Brings Huge Value To The Company

As a game loved by players, Monopoly Go has brought a lot of laughter to players with its leisurely and entertaining game attributes, and also brought unexpected value to the company. According to reports, Hasbro's digital game revenue in 2024 is 472 million US dollars, and Monopoly Go alone has brought it 112 million US dollars, which shows the weight of Monopoly Go in the company.

In addition, there are also rumors that the developer of Pokémon Go is planning to sell it to the developer of Monopoly Go. Although the transaction was not successful, it also reflects from the side that the company has a good business model and strong commercial value.

Why Is Monopoly Go So Valuable?

First of all, it is because of the attributes and nature of the game itself.

As a leisurely online game, Monopoly Go is not like other games, with endless tutorials, skills that cannot be learned, and dazzling equipment. Just look at the game instructions and players can quickly get started. It is the best choice for players who have no patience and cannot learn complex operations to kill time.

This game is similar to reality. In the game, players can get MG Stickers of different rarities by completing mini-games, which is like a collector who loves antiques in real life winning rare treasures at an auction.

Compared with other games, this game is relatively peaceful. Probabilistic events often happen, and many things are uncontrollable. You can't predict what will happen in the next stage. You can only make the best choice at the moment when you have more currency in your hands.

In addition, in this game, the player's progress is largely determined by Monopoly Go Dice. This dice is like our life. Every step will happen, and new things will happen. Because dice are important, when you are short of dice, you can also win dice through other activities. For example, if players unlock a level in Altruistic Auction event, they will get 17,000 dice rolls.

Most importantly, the developers did not stay out of it, but worked hard to fulfill their promises, adjusted the company's operating model and rigorously predicted the future direction of the game, providing solid support for players.

Joint Ventures Drive Brand Benefits

Although the popularity of a game depends largely on itself, no game can always be popular. Joint ventures with other brands can not only increase brand awareness, but also attract more players.

Monopoly Go developers know that a single game model cannot bring freshness to players, so they actively cooperate with other brands to expand the coverage of intellectual property rights. For example, in Teddy Snatch event just lasted a week, players can get corresponding points by grabbing teddy bears. Although this method is full of high risks, it also brings extreme excitement to players.

As one of Hasbro's games, Monopoly Go has set a good example for other games and provided a template for similar games in the same field. Rather than profit, game developers should pay more attention to how to enhance the stickiness of old players on the basis of attracting new players. This is a question worth thinking about.

Currently, 5.4 version is still in full swing. In the current version, you can not only return to Inazuma and celebrate various festivals with old friends in Genshin Impact, but also have fun and get Genshin Impact Genesis Crystal by participating in various activities held by humans and monsters!

As far as we know, Genshin Impact 5.5 will be released on March 26. At present, the latest beta version of Genshin Impact has leaked some information, including new characters, new maps, and opponents that may be encountered in the new maps. Here are some details.

New Characters

Snezhnaya is the last of the seven countries in modern Teyvat, and Winter Tzar is the former ruler of Snezhnaya. Before Tsar era, Ice Land was led by Winter Tzar. The first noble torchbearer he promoted played an important role in uniting the people of NodKrai against Abyss. Winter Tzar promised to protect them forever, but then broke his promise and was called Wild Hunt in Snezhnaya.

Combined with the game's plot, Dottore is expected to remain as a major character, and the developers have confirmed on social media that Varesa and Ianson will appear as playable characters in version 5.5. However, Genshin Travelers still hope that Columbina, Tartaglia, and Arlechino will appear. Perhaps after the release, the developers can really meet the psychological expectations of players?

New Natlan Map Area

Version 5.5 will introduce Genshin Impact's penultimate Natlan map expansion, in which players will be able to challenge a new Artifact Domains. The new Natlan map area should be Great Volcano of Tollan that has always existed and is currently inaccessible. The area is said to contain Collective of Plenty, the sixth and final tribe of Natlan, which has not yet been introduced in the playable map and reputation system.

According to the developers, the recent test version added descriptions for the two upcoming Artifact Sets, accidentally revealing a lot of lore related to NodKrai and Snezhnaya as a whole. The leak about the new Natlan map area even showed a new exploration feature in Genshin Impact 5.5 that could enhance gameplay.

Possible Opponents

The new world boss in version 5.5 is called Lava Dragon Statue, also known as Stoneheart Final Form of Flowing Flame. According to the leak, it will have two different forms. The first of which is called Earthman Form, which features a stone block, two short legs, a short arm, and a large arm. The second leaked form is called Lava Dragon.

In the second state, the world boss appears to cover part of its body with lava and creates a base made of lava for it to move around. The two world boss forms leaked in Genshin Impact 5.5 also seem to have specific game mechanics.

The leak also mentioned that the new world boss has 70% resistance to all types of damage in the game. Therefore, players need a specific type of team combination to defeat it and collect its items, including Ascension Materials, which can be upgraded through Genshin Impact Top Up if necessary.

The above is all the leaked information we have learned. Although travelers will definitely look forward to the 5.5 update, the current version 5.4 still provides everyone with a variety of activities. I hope everyone has fun!

Warner Games has had a very bad fate in recent years. The consecutive failures of Suicide Squad and Gotham Knights have made them tighten their game business, and many games that are being developed or operated have announced their cessation. Wonder Woman, which was still in normal development some time ago, also received bad news.

Development Termination

Warner Bros. recently confirmed that Wonder Woman game produced by Monolith Productions has been canceled, and studios such as Monolith Productions, Player First Games and WB San Diego will be closed.

Warner said that this decision was based on “strategic direction adjustment” and that it would re-examine the development studios and investments in the future, focusing on core IPs - Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones and DC, to create better game content.

Player Reaction

The cancellation of Wonder Woman has sparked a lot of discussion among players. Vara Dark released a video commenting on the current status of Warner’s game business. She pointed out that Warner Games has been in a state of turmoil in recent years, with multiple projects performing poorly, including a loss of $100 million for Multiverse Battle Royale, and the huge losses brought by Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. The total impairment of the entire game business has exceeded $300 million. She believes that the cancellation of Wonder Woman has undoubtedly made the situation worse.

Vara Dark also mentioned that many players, including herself, were disappointed with the decision, especially for Rocksteady’s Batman series. She believes that Warner has obviously allowed “suspicious people” to control these studios, Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad has problems, and Monolith is facing a similar fate, and even the studio has been closed. This means that we may never see Monolith bring new works such as First Encounter Assault Recon or Middle-earth. She thinks this is both regrettable and sad.

Vara Dark also recalled Nemesis system introduced by Monolith in Middle-earth. This innovative mechanism gave the enemy a unique personality and behavior pattern, greatly enhancing the immersion and playability of the game. Although Monolith has applied for a patent for this system, this idea may now be buried by Warner.

Vara Dark also questioned Warner’s strategy of building games around core IPs. Because both Wonder Woman and Middle-earth are developed based on these IPs, the practice of shutting down Monolith seems extremely contradictory. She pointed out that since Wonder Woman debuted in 2021, Warner has hardly publicly shown any gameplay or character models, and the game has undergone multiple remakes. She speculated that Warner may have planned to transform it into a live service game from the beginning, but after seeing the poor performance of games like Multiverse Smash, it chose to return to the stand-alone mode. Frequent direction adjustments ultimately led to the game’s difficult birth.

Warner Bros.’ plan is to continue developing Batman series of games. This time the game will be set in the future and accepted by the studio that created the Batman Arkham series. The game is expected to be released after 2027. I hope this Batman will not suffer the same fate as Wonder Woman.

Every trailer of Phantom Blade Zero is impressive, so good that people can’t believe its authenticity, but its actual game demo is even better than the trailer, which makes players look forward to it more and more.

The producer of Phantom Blade Zero recently talked about the design direction of the game in an interview with VICE, saying that it “combines the exploration experience of soul-like games and the combat experience of traditional action games.”

What Kind Of Game Is Shadow Blade Zero?

The producer said that Phantom Blade Zero was not a soul-like game from the beginning, but it is not a traditional action game either. It is a new type of game structure derived and designed by S-Game itself, which may combine the exploration experience of soul-like games and the combat experience of traditional action games.

There are a lot of cultivation and collection elements in the game, and the plot is far more complicated than ordinary action games. Phantom Blade Zero’s predecessor Rainblood: Town of Death is even a turn-based RPG. It has side quests, multiple endings, weapon upgrades, skill trees, and complex three-dimensional maps. This is also different from the pure hack-and-slash games that players usually understand. S-Game does not follow the established pattern of any specific genre, but derives a new type of game from scratch.

The producer also talked about that Phantom Blade Zero has a simple difficulty suitable for novices and an extremely difficult difficulty suitable for experts (harder than Souls games). The amazing, high-speed battles in the promotional video can actually be completed with only a few buttons, no combination keys, no rubbing moves, but there is still a gradual learning curve and a very deep practice depth.

S-Game will try its best to ensure that the game runs at 2k 40~60fps on PS5, and it will be clearer and smoother if it is on PS5pro or PC equipped with high-end graphics cards. The producer confidently stated that according to the actual feedback from last year, Phantom Blade Zero is not only as smooth as it looks but also smoother than the visual effect in actual operation.

What Kind Of Combat Experience Can Shadow Blade Zero Bring?

When playing Phantom Blade Zero, players will fight at a very high speed, with fast movement speed and high attack frequency. Players can control the character to climb pillars, run horizontally against walls, and suddenly flash behind the enemy with ghostly movements. From time to time, a special execution will appear, causing the camera to suddenly pull to a wide angle or close-up.

In this process, players will feel a little dizzy. Although we try to make everything on the screen pleasing to the eye, you still need to stay rational in this blood-pumping battle in order to deal with the enemy’s attacks again and again and fight back. You will constantly switch between rational observation and impulsive adventures, and everything happens very quickly. If you lose control, you will fail instantly and try again as soon as possible.

If you withstand the pressure, make a few beautiful counterattacks, and successfully break the enemy’s armor, you are likely to have a whim, continue to make crazy combos, and quickly kill the enemy within the time of this armor break.

Phantom Blade Zero Production

S-Game highly appreciates Unreal Engine 5. It saves S-Game a lot of basic work, so that it can focus on content creation. In the field of content creation, S-Game is also confident that it can participate in the top competition. They also mentioned some of their own advantages:

Since S-Game is a Chinese team, S-Game can use many martial arts stunt actors. S-Game often lets many extremely outstanding martial arts masters perform in one shot at the same time, which allows S-Game to accumulate a lot of animation resources, which will present amazing effects in the game.

S-Game and Game Science have conducted numerous physical scans. Whether it is a huge temple building, a smaller dwelling, or a weapon, a small prop, when a large number of high-precision objects obtained by scanning are combined in an original way and carefully lit, the models in the game will become more exquisite and charming.

The content of this communication with S-Game is undoubtedly exciting. S-Game is steadily advancing their work, and Phantom Blade Zero is being completed step by step according to their expected progress. People are looking forward to the day when players can really play it.

It Takes Two, the game of the year that won 2021 TGA Award, has left a deep impression on many players. Hazelight Studios has once again brought out their new work Split Fiction after three years.

Hazelight Studios seems to have a special preference for two-player cooperative games. From their first successful work, A Way Out to the annual award-winning It Takes Two, Hazelight Studios has always insisted on the goal of letting players play cooperative games. This time Split Fiction is no exception.

Split Fiction

The protagonists of this game are named Zoe and Mio, who are fantasy novelists and science fiction novelists, respectively. They are two strangers who don’t know each other, but they are trapped in their own novels. They have to work together to escape from their own novel worlds. In the process, the two began to get familiar with each other gradually. The names of the two protagonists come from the two daughters of game producer Josef Fares.

Split Fiction will be released on platforms such as consoles and PC on March 7, and the game is made by Unreal 5 engine. Compared to the themed levels of It Takes Two, the level design of Split Fiction will be more imaginative. Josef Fares’ pursuit is to keep players fresh and not get bored.

The art style of Split Fiction is somewhat different from It Takes Two. Compared with It Takes Two, Split Fiction’s style is more mature. Josef Fares explained that the game style should match the content of the game. The two protagonists are writers and adults, so they will naturally present a mature design style. And the fun of the production team is to try new things. They like to design games with different styles.

Although Josef Fares said that there was no special source of inspiration when he created it, there are indeed some tribute elements to classic games and movies in the game. In addition, Josef Fares said that he likes Half-Life 2, Uncharted 2 and Mario Galaxy 2 very much. Perhaps in Split Fiction, players can find tribute eggs to these works.

Gameplay Of Split Fiction

Josef Fares told the players that there are many side quests in Split Fiction. These side quests are for the players’ good participation experience and to explain the identity setting of the protagonist. The two characters are writers in the game, so the side quests need to be in line with their professional inspiration and creative ideas. Split Fiction contains a huge and rich side quest system. Players may even accidentally miss some of them when playing. This part needs to be explored and discussed by players after the game is released.

Split Fiction is more difficult than It Takes Two, Josef Fares admitted. But he believes that although Split Fiction is challenging, it will not cause players to be unable to pass the level. Even children can have fun in this game. Regarding the situation where some couples broke up after playing It Takes Two, he thinks that this is not caused by the game. In this case, these couples should seek the advice of a relationship counselor.

Hazelight Studios will not add AI players to the game, because the core of a two-player game is to allow two players to communicate frequently and experience fun together. If AI is added, it becomes a pure single-player game, which is inconsistent with the desired goal of Split Fiction.

As for online matching, although it has not yet been added, it may be the future development direction, and its implementation is relatively difficult. Of course, players can find like-minded people from Hazelight community to play games together.

This game will not have DLC because Hazelight Studios has focused their work on the development of new games. After It Takes Two, what kind of fun will Split Fiction bring to players? Let us wait and see.