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Rocksteady’s long-in-the-makingSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League game finally has a firm release date. The studio has revealed that its villains-doing-good title will be available on May 26th, 2023. And, as the trailer below shows, it will be memorable for more than just gameplay. This is the curtain call for one of voice acting’s best-known stars.

The upcoming game will have the Suicide Squad take on Batman, voiced by none other than the late Kevin Conroy. This is his last turn as the iconic hero, and it’s an interesting twist at that. Like Superman and other major DC Comics champions, Batman has gone bad — enough so that he’s breaking one of his cardinal rules. Naturally, it’s up to Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark and Captain Boomerang to deal with the Dark Knight.

The game is headed to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. It’s too early to say if this will live up to the reputation Rocksteady made for itself with the Arkham Batman games. However, Suicide Squad will have been delayed three years by the time it (presumably) arrives. The developers are clearly willing to take their time, and this hopefully won’t represent a repeat of the so-so Gotham Knights.

 

The Last of Us Part I will officially hit PC on March 3rd, 2023. This follows the game’s launch on PlayStation 5 earlier in 2022. 

Part I is a modern remake of the original The Last of Us, Naughty Dog’s dramatic zombie-adjacent game that came out in 2013 and quickly became an industry darling. There’s since been a sequel, an upgraded version of that game, a remastered version of the original title for PS4, and probably a few other iterations we’re forgetting, plus an HBO series coming out in January. 

We found The Last of Us Part I on PS5 to be gorgeous yet achingly faithful to its source material. For fans of the series, that’s not a terrible outcome, and soon PC players will have the chance to judge for themselves.

 

Hideo Kojima’s next project is Death Stranding 2. The reveal trailer for the sequel shows Fragile, played by Léa Seydoux, and Sam, played by Norman Reedus, in a world still infested with lethal BTs. There’s no word on a release date, but according to the trailer’s YouTube description, it’s heading to PlayStation 5. 

Kojima took the stage during The Game Awards to introduce Death Stranding 2. Its cast is just as star-studded as the original, featuring Elle Fanning, Shioli Kutsuna and Troy Baker alongside Reedus and Seydoux.

Death Stranding came out in 2019 and it steadily became the industry’s favorite walking simulator (despite the fact that it may have been a better movie than a video game). By the end of 2022, more than 10 million people had played Death Stranding. Its primary gameplay innovation was an online system that allowed players to communicate with each other, even though it was a single-player experience. Death Stranding was the first title out of Kojima Productions, the studio Kojima himself founded after parting ways with his longtime employer, Konami. 

Ahead of The Game Awards on December 8th, Kojima tweeted some teases for the show, including an image that seemed to be Fragile from Death Stranding. The tweet included the text, “How come?” and Kojima added, “‘WHO’ ‘WHERE’ ‘HOW’ and now ‘WHY’.”

We now know what Kojima was talking about — not that he asked.

Footage of what appeared to be Kojima’s next project leaked online in early November in the form of a super strange video. It showed a character resembling Mama from Death Stranding traversing creepy corridors with a dark presence at her back, and ended with a title screen reading, “Overdose.” It also included the reflection of a lounging shirtless man recording the footage off-screen, but that’s likely unrelated to any gameplay mechanics. Today at The Game Awards, Kojima said his studio is also working on a second, completely new project with an experimental edge, so there’s still some hope for whatever this was.

 

The Game Awards is often full of surprise announcements and reveals but one thing we knew going into this year’s ceremony is that it would provide a first look at Star Wars Jedi: Survivor gameplay. The game takes place five years after the events of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Fittingly, the trailer shows an older and more rugged Cal Kestis, who’s now a Jedi Knight. 

You’ll journey to new planets in the Star Wars galaxy, each of which has unique biomes and enemies. You’ll have fresh gear, skills and abilities at your disposal to help you survive these worlds. For one thing, Cal will be able to wield two lightsabers at once. He’ll also have an ascension cable for vertical traversal and the ability to tame and ride creatures.

The trailer for the next entry in Respawn’s Dark Souls-inspired series closed with a release date. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will arrive on current-gen systems on March 17th, adding another prominent title to what’s shaping up to be a busy first quarter for major game releases.

 

Although it only snagged a single nomination at The Game Awards, Vampire Survivors is a true game of the year contender. It arrived on Steam in early access a year ago and it recently landed on Xbox. Now, you’ll no longer need a Steam Deck or Xbox Cloud Gaming access to play it anywhere or at any time. 

As spotted by Polygon, Vampire Survivors has suddenly arrived on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Unlike the myriad clones that have popped up on both stores throughout the year, this is the real deal. What’s more, the mobile versions are free — Vampire Survivors costs $5 on Steam and it’s included with Game Pass. 

The timing suggests that the mobile release was going to be a surprise announcement at The Game Awards. Perhaps we’ll hear word of PlayStation and Nintendo Switch versions soon too.

For the uninitiated, Vampire Survivors asks you to choose a character with a locked starter weapon and perk, then sends you out into the Castlevania-inspired world to face an endless stream of enemies (but no vampires, oddly) and stay alive as long as you can. Your weapons auto-fire and all you have control over is your movement and the ability to choose a weapon, perk or upgrade when you level up. It’s immensely enjoyable, and you can download it on your phone, gratis, right now. In addition, you can play the mobile versions in vertical or horizontal mode.

Meanwhile, developer Poncle will release the first paid Vampire Survivors expansion on December 15th. Legacy of Moonspell will cost $2 on Steam and Xbox. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the DLC pop up on the iOS and Android versions as well.

 

You’ll have to wait a while longer to give Street Fighter 6 a spin. Capcom revealed at The Game Awards that its modernized brawler will be available June 2nd, 2023 for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC (via Steam). Pre-orders are available now.

The new title includes favorite series characters like Ryu and Chun-Li as well as relative newcomers like Luke, a DLC addition from Street Fighter 5 who’s a “key player” in the expanding storyline. SF6 will add new modes like World Tour and Battle Hub, and promises to be more accessible to newcomers with a “modern” control mode. You can expect new mechanics like the Drive Gauge, and real-time commentary from experts in the fighting game scene to help explain what’s happening in matches.

It’s too soon to say if SF6 will please hardcore fighting game fans. However, it’s clear that Capcom is eager to court players who’ve felt intimidated by the sometimes steep learning curve of fighting games. In theory, you’ll enjoy yourself enough to stick around for the long term.

 

You won’t need to pick up a PlayStation 5 to understand the fuss over Returnal. Housemarque has announced that a PC version of the sci-fi roguelite will be available in early 2023. There aren’t many details of what’s new at this stage, but it’s safe to presume there will be plenty of visual splendor like in the PS5 release.

Apart from its graphics, Returnal is best known for its merciless third-person action. You’re not only going to face seemingly impossible odds, you’re practically expected to die frequently (as you do in many roguelites). It’s integral to the story — you play Selene, a woman stranded on an alien planet trying to find answers every time she comes back to life. While the difficulty is at times frustrating, the mechanics are solid enough that you might enjoy repeating an extra-challenging segment.

We’d expect some technical features to carry over from the PS5 edition, such as 4K ray-traced graphics and 3D audio. It’s not clear if features like the DualSense-oriented haptic feedback will make the cut. However, there’s little doubt that Returnal will shine on a sufficiently powerful PC.

 

Dead Cells developers Motion Twin and Evil Empire are getting a chance to pay tribute to Castlevania, the series that inspired their game, with the roguelike’s next DLC. Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania is said to be the game’s biggest expansion to date, and it will be available on the PC and console versions in early 2023.

An animated trailer that debuted at The Game Awards gave a sense of what’s in store, though it didn’t provide a look at any actual gameplay just yet. You’ll be able to team up with Castlevania heroes Richter Belmont and Alucard as you battle throngs of monsters, including werewolves, in an attempt to reach the Dark Lord’s throne room. The DLC includes 14 Castlevania weapons and items, including the Vampire Killer, Cross and Holy Water. They’ve all been reworked to fit in with the fast-paced combat of Dead Cells.

The DLC includes two new biomes, including Dracula’s Castle. You’ll get to fight Death and Dracula as you make your way toward “Dead Cells’ most epic and ambitious boss battle yet,” according to a press release. On top of all that, the soundtrack features 51 original Castlevania tracks. Twelve of them are getting a Dead Cells-style makeover, including “Vampire Killer,” “Bloody Tears” and “Divine Bloodlines.”

 

Elon Musk has yet another class action lawsuit to contend with over his handling of mass layoffs at Twitter. The latest comes from two former employees who allege “women were significantly affected more than men” in the November layoffs that cut nearly half its workforce.

According to the lawsuit, a total of 57% of women employees were laid off, compared with just 47 percent of men. It goes on to note that the disparity can’t be explained “based upon a justification that Musk intended to retain more employees in engineering-related roles” because women engineers were also cut at a higher rate than their male counterparts.

It states that “63% of females in engineering-related roles were laid off on November 4, 2022, while 48% of male employees in engineering-related [roles] were laid off.” For non-engineering roles, there was also a “great disparity” between men and women who lost jobs, with 51% of women and 42% of men affected by the cuts.

The lawsuit also cites numerous tweets from Musk that show his “discriminatory animus against women,” and claims that his requirements for employees to work up to 12-hour days as part of an “extremely hardcore” Twitter 2.0 is also has a “a disproportionate impact on women, who are more often caregivers for children and other family members, and thus not able to comply with such demands.”

The lawsuit is at least the fourth class action suit brought against the company following mass layoffs in November. Former employees and contractors are also suing the company over violations of the US Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which stipulates companies with more than 100 employees must provide at least 60 days notice ahead of mass job cuts. Another former employee has brought a suit against the company, alleging that Musk’s demand forcing all workers back to the office discriminates against people with disabilities.

Elsewhere, Musk is also facing an investigation from San Francisco city officials in the wake of reports that Twitter has set up hotel-like bedrooms inside of its offices for employees. 

 

In June’s Xbox showcase, Riot Games teased that the company’s biggest titles were heading to Xbox Game Pass — and now we know when. Ahead of tonight’s Game Awards, Riot has announced that League of Legends, Valorant, Legends of Runeterra and other titles (with bonuses) will arrive on Monday, December 12th.

Starting then, Game Pass subscribers can play League of Legends on PC with all 162 champions unlocked (and first-day access to future champions) and a 20 percent XP boost. Meanwhile, Valorant brings all 18 agents (with first-day access to future agents) and a 20 percent XP boost for Battle Pass, Event Pass and active Agent Contract progress. In addition, the strategy card game Legends of Runeterra will include the Foundations Set (the game’s first cards) with your subscription. Finally, Teamfight Tactics unlocks a rotation of Tier One Little Legend avatars on PC and mobile, along with four Arena Skins available until April.

In January, Game Pass subscribers can play League of Legends: Wild Rift on mobile with all 80 champions. Like LoL and Valorant, it also includes day-one access for future champions and a 20 percent XP boost.

Starting on Monday, the Xbox App on PC will offer instructions to link your Riot Account and Xbox Game Pass accounts (or create a Riot account if you don’t yet have one). Additionally, the developer has some perks if you link your accounts before January 1st. These include a Pocket Sage Buddy in Valorant, a Masterwork Chest and Key in League of Legends, a Little Legend Rare Egg in Teamfight Tactics, Random Emote Chest in Wild Rift and Prismatic Chest in Legends of Runeterra.