31 | Writer and Games Journalist (seen on @Rogue_site, @GinxTV, @PlayDay_One, and more!) | Kayak paddler | Bungie dork, Halo dweeb, #WeWantDestiny3
Articles by Austin Ford
Bungie talks Destiny 2 unvaulting, teases Destiny 1 remaster and Destiny 3
Everyone who plays Destiny 2 knows that the game’s biggest pain point has been the Destiny Content Vault, referred to as the DCV, originally introduced in Beyond Light in 2020. The DCV is where Bungie stuffed all of the year 1 content in an effort to keep the game’s file size manageable. In a blogpost today, Bungie spelled out their plans for bringing back the vaulted D2 content, a potential Destiny 1 remaster, and the future of the franchise. Here's our breakdown.
PowerWash Simulator is now a competitive mode in Fortnite with Splashout
The beloved, chill-vibes game PowerWash Simulator took the internet by storm when it released back in 2022. Its sequel, PowerWash Simulator 2, saw just as much love last year with crossover levels from franchises like Star Wars, Final Fantasy, and Warhammer. Now, it's PowerWash Simulator that is crossing over into Fortnite.
Cyberpunk 2077 Update 2.5 isn't a story expansion, but is packed full of goodies
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EA is shutting down BioWare in baffling decision, 400 jobs cut globally
Image: EA Initially reported by Bloomberg, EA has made the decision to lay off 3% of its global workforce and shut down legendary studio BioWare, creators of Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Dragon Age. This comes via a company-wide memo from Cam Weber, president and CSO, and David Tinson, president and COO. This brings sweeping changes to the company's operations, including the cancellation of the upcoming Mass Effect game.
That's right, the Shrek 2 remake has finally been announced
Image: Aspyr One of the worst kept secrets over the last month or so has finally been announced today with a stylish GTA6 cover reveal-inspired trailer. No, you're not dreaming: Shrek 2 Remastered is real. A remake of the 2004 Shrek 2 movie tie-in game, Shrek 2 Remastered has been announced by Aspyr on social media today.
New Cyberpunk Edgerunners 2 inspired update coming to Cyberpunk 2077 this week
All 10 episodes of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 are now available on Netflix and this week, CD Projekt Red is bringing a new update to the game that started it all. Releasing on October 22nd, the Cyberpunk 2077 Edgerunners 2 Update, or Title Update 2.5, is bringing with it "new items and features," the studio revealed in a social media post earlier today. A follow up post on Twitter also revealed that the update will be coming with new arm attachments, dual-wielding builds, and more.
Thank You Bus Driver is an immaculate, chaotic ride and I can't get enough
I hate to admit it, but Double Fine’s games have largely flown under my radar. I played a tiny bit of Psychonauts here and Brutal Legend there while visiting friends, but that was about it. I’ve admired them from afar for the last several years. (Watching all of PsychOdyssey in a weekend was a transformative experience and I know I’ll get around to playing both of the Psychonauts games one of these days, but I keep pushing that deadline further and further back).
Xbox Labs is a new initiative announced after the rapid rise of AI decompiling tools
Image: Xbox Today, Asha Sharma sent a company wide email out to the entire Xbox staff announcing their newest initiative: Xbox Labs. This new stand-up is an arm of "game makers, engineers and scientists" within Xbox to continue to pursue new technologies when it comes to the way that games are made, preserved, and experienced. As stated in the email, this is directly in response to the massive storm of recent decompiled and rebuilt games, most of which have included some amount of vibe coding.
Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii has unfortunately made a GenAI game
Yuji Horii, the creator of legendary franchise Dragon Quest and classic adventure game Portopia, has been excited about Generative AI and its usage in video games for some time. Specifically, he's been interested in the idea of things like NPCs in games being controlled by AI chatbots to help them be "a friend to each individual player." One of these AI chatbots, called Slimey, was announced to be added to the japan-exclusive Dragon Quest X MMO earlier this year but hasn't released yet.
No Man's Sky just keeps going, and this time, it's coming to iOS
In usual Hello Games fashion, Sean Murray has put out a video on social media today revealing a "little side project" 3 years in the making: No Man's Sky is coming to iPhone and iPad. In the video, Murray says that the game is aiming for console-level graphical fidelity. The game also supports a remarkably small download for everything that is "being generated at run time", only taking up 4GB at release. The App Store page shows it's even smaller than that, however, at just 3.8GB.
Star Wars Zero Company developer Bit Reactor has begun bringing its furloughed employees back Original
Image: Bit Reactor Back in September, we reported on Star Wars Zero Company developer, Bit Reactor, furloughing around 80% of its employees in the leadup to launch. This means they have gone without pay for months now, as many of them have been furloughed since June of this year. Now, CEO Greg Foertsch has said that the studio has "started the process of returning more of our team at Bit Reactor". This is in an effort to continue to support Zero Company following its critical success.
The Studio X and Dungeons and Dragons teams are pushing to join the union at Wizards of the Coast
Image: Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro The teams behind Dungeons and Dragons as well as Studio X—the team that makes Magic: The Gathering and Dual Masters—have joined United Wizards of the Coast - CWA (Communications Workers of America), the union founded by members of the Magic: The Gathering: Arena team back in April of this year.
Stone Kite is the new transmedia studio from Bungie Co-founder Jason Jones and Margaret Stohl
Officially announced today, Stone Kite is the newest studio co-founded by author Margaret Stohl, CEO, and Bungie co-founder, Jason Jones. Based in Santa Monica, CA, Stone Kite plans to build properties across multiple mediums, working with 250 creators globally.
PUBG extraction shooter Black Budget has been cancelled
Image: PUBG Corporation The upcoming extraction shooter from Krafton and PUBG Corporation, PUBG: Black Budget, has been cancelled according to a development update shared to the game's Steam page earlier today.
Ubisoft reorganization folds Tom Clancy franchises and new IP under Massive Entertainment
Earlier this year, Ubisoft named Christoph Hartmann as the new General Manager of Creative House 2, the studio behind the Tom Clancy's The Division, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell franchises. Following his appointment, Hartmann has now renamed the umbrella label for these games and their studios to Massive Entertainment, it was announced in a press release today. The newly dubbed Massive Entertainment has been a part of Ubisoft since 2008 after being acquired from Activision.
Bungie expands on the future of Marathon with new developer insights
Bungie has been fighting an uphill battle with Marathon since its release earlier this year. After a less than stellar launch and low player retention, the studio has been hard at work pushing new features and gameplay options that players have largely enjoyed. Today, Bungie has expanded on what Marathon's future will look like going forward with a new blog post and developer insights video, and the future looks bright.
Xbox layoffs and reorganization continue, with 268 people cut across Halo Studios and first-person developers
Following the announcement of 3,200 layoffs earlier this year, Xbox has posted a new blog post containing a company-wide email titled 'Continuing Our Reset' this morning. The post reveals a further 268 people working across Halo Studios, Xbox first-party studios, and the "XGS management and central functions layer" have been laid off. In tandem with the layoffs, Xbox is also reorganizing its teams, refocusing on the company's biggest first-party titles.
Bungie announces a return for Destiny 2's vaulted content and a new future for the studio
In late May of this year, Bungie announced that Destiny 2 would be going into maintenance mode and that the Monument of Triumph update on June 9th would be the last major update for the game. Shortly after it released, Bungie layed off hundreds of employees, most of whom were on the Destiny team. The studio did not say that the Destiny IP would be dormant forever, instead hinting that the folks still at Bungie were incubating future projects in the franchise.
1666 Amsterdam is definitely an early access game
Look, I wanted to enjoy 1666 Amsterdam. Coming from Patrice Désilets, the father of Assassin’s Creed and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, I had set my expectations to a reasonable level, but nothing outrageously high. After digging into 1666 Amsterdam, I think I came away completely whelmed. The premise of the game is interesting enough: you play as Noa, a member of the Zaindaris tribe of witches and the newly ordained Collector.
Marathon is leaving seasons behind and introducing Deathmatch, permanent PvE, and more
Image: Bungie Season 3of Marathon has been retooled and delayed from its original September 22nd release date, Bungie announced in a blog post today. Bungie is adjusting the content release schedule of Marathon, separating the next patch into two updates— one refresh update on October 6th and another major content update on December 8th — and eliminating the seasonal model of content delivery all together.
Polyarc, the studio behind Moss, is closing its doors
Image: Polyarc Polyarc, the studio behind the hit VR titles Moss and Moss: Book II, is closing down after nearly 12 years, the studio announced today via LinkedIn. The post reads: Today is the end of an era for Polyarc. After nearly 12 years riding the joyous rollercoaster of emotions that is making video games, our time together has come to an end. As we wind down active development, we are saying our farewells to each other. Working together over all of these years has been an honor.
Xbox will publish Kojima's next action-espionage game Physint
Image: Kojima Productions | Xbox Originally announced at the January 2024 State of Play, Physint is an upcoming action-espionage game from Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions. The title is a return to form for the game developer auteur, returning to the genre after spending most of his career as the visionary behind the Metal Gear franchise at Konami before the two parted ways.
No Man's Sky Cosmos update lets you visit the sun and build your own space bases
The No Man's Sky 7.0 update, Cosmos, is available now and brings some long requested additions and improvements. Let's cover some of the highlights. In Cosmos, players can become a space station Director. This gives players freedom to customize their own space station for other travellers to visit by building ancillary rooms and intricate decorations aboard the station and giant superstructure-like additions to the exterior.
A breakdown of all the Zelda news from the 40th Anniversary Direct
Image: Nintendo This year marks the 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda and to celebrate, Nintendo hosted a Direct livestream full of Zelda goodies, including a 15-minute gameplay demo for the upcoming Ocarina of Time remake. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Gameplay The star of the show is the Ocarina of Time remake gameplay demo featuring 15 minutes of gameplay hosted by producer Eiji Aonuma.
Double Fine reveals their first self-published indie game after splitting from Xbox
As if launching a Kickstarter this week wasn't a big enough splash, Double Fine Productions has revealed Thank You Bus Driver, their first indie game under their new publishing division, and it looks like a hoot. Thank You Bus Driver puts you at the wheel as you drive around town, picking up passengers, delivering them to their destination, and enforcing the rules of the bus as you see fit.
Xbox Cloud Gaming is about to start limiting your play time... unless you pay extra
Xbox's Cloud Gaming service has changed a ton since it crawled out of its xCloud cocoon. It's a service that I've enjoyed a lot since I got rid of my Xbox a few years back. It's still the only way to play 2015's Halo 5: Guardians, for example. More than that, Xbox Cloud Gaming has been a great part of the Game Pass ecosystem for those times when I'm away from home for a stint and leave my Steam Deck behind.
Double Fine launches a Kickstarter for their next big Indie game jam and the pitches rule
Multiple studios regained independence from Microsoft and Xbox amid the unprecedented layoffs earlier this year. One of those studios is Double Fine Productions, known for Psychonauts, Brütal Legend, and Costume Quest. Now, newly independent, the studio has announced a new Kickstarter campaign. You ready for a mouthful?
Star Wars Zero Company developer Bit Reactor saw mass furlough before launch
Image: Bit Reactor The most exciting time for any game developer is when they finally get that satisfying pay off of getting the game they've poured their blood, sweat, and tears into for years in the hands of players. Unfortunately for the team at Bit Reactor, the release of their debut game Star Wars Zero Company last week was preceded by most of the team being furloughed.
After 31 years at Housemarque, co-founder Ilari Kuittinen is retiring
Housemarque is responsible for some of the most fun and frenetic shoot 'em ups of the last 30 years. Titles like Super Stardust, Dead Nation, Resogun, and Alienation all come to mind, as do their most recent AAA hits, Returnal and Saros.
Marvel's Wolverine might be a bloody mess, but it doesn't have to be!
Image: Insomniac Games | PlayStation Studios The latest trailer for Insomniac's Marvel's Wolverine is here to show off a slew of cool new features like cosmetics, skill trees, New Game+, and accessibility options — including family-friendly toggles! There's a good amount of people that have fallen in love with Insomniac's version of the Marvel Universe thanks to their three Spider-Man games across the PS4 and PS5 generations.
It's probably time Geoff Keighley's shows give an AI disclosure
Image: Geoff Keighley | The Game Business Events like Gamescom, Summer Game Fest, and The Game Awards are some of gaming's biggest live video game showcase events. With generative AI becoming more prevalent — and more controversial — in game development, do these shows need a disclosure embedded in the reveals?
An Exhaustingly Exhaustive List of the Gamescom Opening Night Live Trailers
Image: Geoff Keighley's Twitter Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 has come and gone, and with it a slew of new game reveals, updates, and more. We also know that it can be hard to parse through all of the trailers on YouTube or dedicate more than 2 hours of your day to watching the entire thing in real time.
The Witcher 4 won't be at Gamescom, but The Witcher 3's new DLC will be
The annual Gamescom Opening Night Live show is coming tomorrow at 8pm CEST/2pm ET/11am PT and already, we're getting drops from some of the developers about what to expect ahead of the big event. This year, Michał Nowakowski, the Joint Chief Executive Officer at CD Projekt Red, took to social media to confirm that while CDPR will have a presence at the show, The Witcher 4 will not. He did, however, reveal that the game's launch window is in 2028.
Hideo Kojima might be turning 63, but he's not slowing down anytime soon
Image: Summer Game Fest via Axios As the old saying goes, if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life. There are few people that embody that phrase as well as Hideo Kojima. Today, August 24th, marks the 63rd birthday of Kojima, the mastermind behind legendary videos game franchises Metal Gear and Death Stranding, but don't let his age fool you — Kojima has no plans of slowing down.
Dave Bautista will be Daddy Kratos in God of War following Ryan Hurst's on-set injury
You read that right: Drax himself will be taking the lead on Amazon Prime's God of War live-action television series. Reported by Variety, The former Guardians of the Galaxy star and WWE World Heavyweight Champion will pick up the reins as Kratos following the torn bicep injury, which required surgery, that Ryan Hurst received after filming only a few episodes of the upcoming series. Hurst appeared to be a great fit for the role and shared a photo of himself in his Kratos makeup and costume.
Riot is ending active development on 2XKO while keeping the lights on
Man, 2026 just keeps on swinging (negative). Back in January, Riot released their free-to-play tag-team fighting game 2XKO and they've been struggling to build momentum, or even retain players, since launch. Unfortunately, much like many other games in the live service space this year, Riot has announced their plans to sunset active development in December.
Sony confirms it still doesn't understand live-service games as it reboots Horizon Hunters Gathering
Image: Guerrilla Games Whether it's cancelling, discontinuing, or rebooting a game, Sony just can't seem to get their live-service strategy under control. According to a new report from Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, the latest title to trip over its feet before it can get out the door is Guerrilla Games' Horizon Hunters Gathering.
The next COD's beta has a story mission for some reason
Image: Call of Duty It's that time of the year again. While the summer heat is far from relenting, we march on towards the fall which means yet another entry in the Call of Duty franchise. As is tradition, this year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is getting a beta — but with a weird twist.
Destiny: Rising Is the Game I Wanted - But Not the Story I Hoped For
GINX TV > Opinion > Destiny: Rising NetEase and Bungie have announced Destiny: Rising, but how do we feel about this new Mobile Games experience so far? By Austin Ford | First Published October 21, 2024, 12:28 If you've been a fan of Destiny in recent years, you've likely heard about the rumored Destiny mobile game.
Bungie's Official Statement About The Layoffs Is Disappointing and Tone-Deaf
If you've been hanging around our Destiny 2 guides for a while, you'll surely have seen something that I've written regarding my favorite game. Bungie, the company behind the titanic MMOFPS, has been facing extreme - and justified - backlash following approximately 100 employees being laid off on Monday.
How To Farm Candy In Destiny 2 Festival Of The Lost
Festival of the Lost, the Halloween-adjacent Destiny 2 event, has made its annual return. That means that players only have a few weeks to collect as many of the goodies that come with it as they can. While we've gone over the new Eerie Engrams, their Loot Tables, and how Hocus Focusing works in general, we all know the best way to play Destiny isn't just chasing loot; it's all about min/maxing your time and getting the most out of it.
How To Farm Spectral and Manifest Pages In Destiny 2 Festival of the Lost 2023
Destiny 2's Festival of the Lost has landed. While you'll be spending much of your time looking to farm Candy to buy things, you'll also want to make sure that you're collecting plenty of Spectral and Manifest Pages. These pages are going to supply you with some of the best rewards the event has to offer, and a ton of them at that. Here's our breakdown of the best ways to farm Spectral and Manifest Pages in Destiny 2: Festival of the Lost.
Destiny 2 Eerie Engram Loot Table In Festival Of The Lost 2023
While Destiny 2 fans everywhere have experienced their fair share of Festivals of the Lost over the last 7 or 8 years, it's always exciting when a new little twist is brought to the event. This year, everyone's favorite holiday vendor, Eva Levante is bringing new toys and a new way to get them. Eerie Engrams are the new hotness this go-around and they're bringing with them a new way to focus engrams with Hocus Focusing. Let's take a look at what goodies these Eerie Engrams have in them.
Destiny 2 Hocus Focusing Guide For Festival Of The Lost 2023
The annual spooky Festival of the Lost has arrived in Destiny 2, and this year brings an exciting new twist to the long-running tradition. This year, Auntie Eva Levante has spent a little quality time with Uncle Rahool and they've traded some secrets.
Destiny 2 Season Of The Witch Ending, Explained
The 22nd Season of Destiny 2 has come to a middling conclusion. Sure, we were finally reunited with The Witch Queen herself, but only for Eris to drain her of eons and eons worth of Hive magic and do... something to the Hive God of War, Xivu Arath. But what does all of this mean? Did Savathun uphold her end of the bargain and show us how to follow the Witness into the Traveler? Let's break it down.
How To Complete The Imbaru Engine In Destiny 2 Season Of The Witch
Destiny 2's Season of the Witch is in full swing, and with that comes the usual seasonal missions each week. Week 5 of Season of the Witch has brought a new type of mission with it, however. What is the Imbaru Engine puzzle and how do you solve it? Let's take a look at how to complete the Test of Cunning in the Imbaru Engine Mission in Destiny 2: Season of the Witch.
Halo Infinite's Tenrai III Event Is The Best One Yet
Coming off of the success of Halo Infinite's Workshop revamped Stockpile playlist, I wasn't sure if there was anything that would get me dipping my toes into the game again until Season 5's upcoming release on October 17th. When the rumors that a third Tenrai event was coming up, I was hesitant, even relatively unphased by its inclusion in the game.
Destiny 2: How To Spend Legendary Shards Before They're Gone
Bungie has officially announced that Legendary Shards will be depreciated in Destiny 2 Season 23 and fully removed from your inventory when The Final Shape releases on February 27th. These little purple shards have been one of the game's main forms of currency since it was released in 2017 and many hardcore players have amassed tens of thousands. While the community's reaction to the news has been mixed, this will ultimately make the Destiny 2 economy a bit more manageable for everyone.
Halo Infinite's Revamped Stockpile Is Really Good
Halo Infinite is alive and well, flourishing now more than ever as a live service title. Recently, 343 has been testing out new modes with the community in its Workshop playlist. This week, the Halo developer brought a revamped version of Stockpile, one of the game's few 12v12 Big Team Battle modes available at launch. At launch, the mode was largely disliked due to the mode's more tedious objectives. Players must collect Power Seeds, which spawn in set locations, and deposit them in their base.
All Crota's End Secret Chest Locations In Destiny 2
Crota's End is all grown up and has finally made its Destiny 2 debut. After fans were a little hesitant for the "Dungeon/Strike" level Destiny 1 Raid to return to the modern day, its Day One Contest mode proved to be one of the more difficult ones in recent memory. Now that the reprised Raid's new and improved mechanics have all been figured out, it's time to start seeing what fun secrets Bungie has brought to it.
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