GamingBolt

Self-discovery is often associated with defining one’s core values and purpose, but what about actually meeting yourself, much less conversing with them, working side by side and at times, annoying them because of the “wrong” dialogue choice? Such is the dilemma that The Alters, 11 bit studios’ sci-fi survival game, posed last year when Jan Dolski ended up stranded on a hostile planet and created Alters of himself from the mysterious substance, Rapidium.

You can almost always count on one company to revisit the same mistakes, ignore the lessons staring it in the face, and then find another way to squeeze more money out of its audience. We are, of course, talking about Activision and Call of Duty, two names that increasingly feel trapped in a cycle of recycled ideas, questionable pricing, and minimal effort dressed up as something new.

The original Backyard series of sports games were a great way for me as a kid to enjoy these sports, be with Backyard Soccer, Backyard Basketball, or Backyard Hockey. The original 1997 release of Backyard Baseball was essentially the first time I even saw the appeal of baseball as a sport.

While the colourful explosions and ink blasting spectacle are instantly recognisable, Splatoon Raiders marks a significant diversion from the shooter series’ competitive multiplayer roots. Instead of firing ink at each other, you’ll undergo repeatable raids across a mysterious group of islands in a spin-off which blends exploration, long-term progression, and single player action into a swashbuckling adventure that still feels unmistakably Splatoon.

After more than two years in early access, Palworld has officially launched as version 1.0. This isn’t a mere release patch either; oh no, Palworld 1.0 touches almost every major system in the game. The headline additions – newly explorable biomes, fresh story content, dozens of new Pals, and so on – we covered in our “Palworld 1.0: Everything You Need to Know Feature” already, so now we’re going to get into the nitty-gritty of why this update matters.

When it comes to personal ranged combat, Edward Kenway can select from a number of Pistols in Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag Resynced. Unlike Swords, there are no sub-classes, and the differences in naming convention are purely cosmetic. However, there are tiers of rarity, specifically Common, Rare, and the very best tier: Legendary, which has a unique perk for every weapon.

Edward Kenway has a number of cosmetic costumes to choose from in Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag Resynced. While they have no actual utility in-game other than to look fabulous, you can cosplay as several familiar characters from across the Assassin’s Creed universe, including Ezio and Naoe. This Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag Resynced guide is a complete listing of every single Legendary Outfit in the game, and their locations or unlock requirements.

There is an entire upgrade tree for your ship in Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag Resynced, but the absolute best upgrades are unavailable to you until you first acquire the associated ship plans for a selection of them. Finding these Ultimate Ship Plans is a task unto itself, and even the upgrades themselves require a great deal of resource hunting and Reales.

July isn’t half over, but plans are already underway for Gamescom 2026. Opening Night Live returns as usual, but you can also look forward to the next iteration of the Future Games Show. As revealed by GamesRadar, it will take place on August 26th. Timings have yet to be revealed, but it promises new trailers, deep dives with developers and even some world premieres. Following the event, FGS Live from Gamescom will begin, offering more announcements and interviews from the trade fair.

In light of the recent mass layoffs across Microsoft – including around 1,600 job cuts at Xbox alone – the company has since started facing more backlash due to its decision to hire more employees through H-1B visas.