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Video Games Weekly: It's weird that esports is segregated by gender

Welcome to Video Games Weekly on Engadget. Expect a new story every Monday or Tuesday (Or, I dunno, Thursday), broken into two parts. The first is a space for short essays and ramblings about video game trends and related topics from me, Jess Conditt, a reporter who's covered the industry for more than 13 years. The second contains the video game stories from the past week that you need to know about, including some headlines from outside of Engadget. Please enjoy — and I'll see you next week.

Is Hollow Knight: Silksong too hard? Well, it depends on what you mean by “hard.”

For seven years, the discussion around Hollow Knight: Silksong focused on the cult-like levels of devotion among fans patiently waiting for the sequel. Now that Silksong has been available for about a week, though, that discussion has turned decisively toward seemingly endless takes on the game's relative difficulty (or lack thereof). The discussion has gotten so loud that the developers at Team Cherry have vowed to implement a "slight difficulty reduction in early game bosses Moorwing and Siste

Little Nightmares 3 Hands-On: a Creepy Co-Op Game Arriving Just in Time for Halloween

After about an hour playing Little Nightmares 3, I'd used a person's bisected halves to solve a puzzle, gotten a high score in a carnival shooting game and escaped the murderous claws of a deranged baby. As a 2-foot-tall youth trying to survive the morbid dangers of one demented area after another with my co-player, I was terrified and delighted. I've only sampled the first two Little Nightmares games, but in my brief preview of Little Nightmares 3, it felt like a refined version of the series'

We Finally Know What ‘Star Wars’ Is Doing in ‘Destiny 2’

Back in May, Bungie teased some kind of pseudo-crossover between its shared-world shooter Destiny 2 and Star Wars. Not another skin pack like before, but a full-on expansion subtitled Renegades that would see Guardians explore a sandy planet and wield a laser sword. In a new livestream, the developer pulled back the curtain on Renegades, which was made in collaboration with Lucasfilm. Guardians will explore the Lawless Frontier of Mars, Europa, and Venus and meet the Jedi-like Praxis Order to f

Building a DOOM-like multiplayer shooter in pure SQL

DOOMQL: A DOOM-like multiplayer shooter in pure SQL I recently stumbled across Patrick’s excellent DOOM clone running in a browser powered by DuckDB-WASM. Ever since I’ve read that, I wanted to push his awesome idea to the logical extreme: Build a multiplayer DOOM-like shooter entirely in SQL with CedarDB doing all the heavy lifting. During a month of parental leave (i.e., a lot of sleepless nights), I tried exactly that. Here’s a sneak peek at DOOMQL: Your browser does not support the video ta

Marvel Rivals Season 4 Release Time: Angela Abilities and Balance Changes

Marvel Rivals season 4 is about to begin, bringing a one-winged angel of vengeance to the free-to-play game's roster of playable heroes. No, we're not talking about Sephiroth: The next vanguard is Angela, the former Image Comics angelic bounty hunter and current Marvel Comics Asgardian goddess. While the radiant new tank is the centerpiece of the season 4 update, a new map, hero balance changes, cosmetics and live events will also shake up how the game plays over the next two months. If you've

‘Hollow Knight: Silksong’ Is Already Causing Online Gaming Stores to Crash

After six years of waiting, Team Cherry’s long awaited Hollow Knight sequel, Silksong, launched globally today at 10 am eastern. Unfortunately, fans may have to wait a little longer to play the action-adventure game. Online retailers such as the Xbox and PlayStation stores, Steam, and Nintendo eShop, are rife with loading screens and error messages as people rush to buy it. On Steam, players trying to add the game to their cart or complete their purchase are being met with the same message: an

What Is Complexity in Chess?

Pacto Visual May 2020 an interesting proposal was suggested. I provided some constructive criticism on research paper A Metric of Chess Complexity by FM David Peng, as well as constructive criticism on the codebase used to validate this experiment. For many months I have refrained from further comment, and although code has not progressed, two things have: 1. Public interest in "complexity" as determined by ACPL (yuck). 2. Lichess has a blogging platform where I can properly address deficien

Elden Ring Nightreign Is About to Get Tougher With New 'Deep of Night' Mode

Since Elden Ring Nightreign, the online multiplayer spinoff of 2022's Elden Ring, launched in May, its developer has ramped up the difficulty. Now, Nightreign is about to get even more challenging. A new "high-difficulty challenge mode" called Deep of Night is set to launch on Sept. 11, according to a post from publisher Bandai Namco. Players who take on the challenge will be rewarded with new relics and the self-satisfaction of taking on another challenge put forth by developer FromSoftware.

Battlefield 6 PC Specs Revealed, Supports 2019 Graphics Cards

After the wildly successful Battlefield 6 open beta that ran earlier in August, EA has released the specs your PC will need to play the next installment in the popular multiplayer shooter series. There aren't too many surprises on the specs list EA revealed in a blog post Thursday. Players with graphics cards as old as the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 or AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (released in 2019 and 2020, respectively) with at least 6GB of virtual RAM can play Battlefield 6. That's reasonably inclusiv

Skate Hands-On Preview: I Think It Might Be the Perfect Free-to-Play Game

It's been nearly a decade and a half since the last Skate game was released, but veterans won't have to wait much longer to tear up the streets once again. The next entry in the arcade-y skateboarding series launches into early access on Sept. 16. The franchise reboot (just named "Skate") was developed by Full Circle, a studio composed of much of the same talent that worked on the original games. After a long drought, skateboarding game fans have dined well on the compilation remakes of Tony H

Exploring the tragedy of the Counter-Strike 2 server browser

For those who enjoy Counter-Strike community servers, the situation in Counter-Strike 2 is rather dire. An avalanche of spam has rendered the server browser unusable. The transition from Global Offensive killed multiple small communities. And large server providers have taken advantage of these problems to monopolise the market. Trying to find a server either involves capitulating to these big vendors, or trawling through a trench of spam. Scraping the server browser allows us to have some in

Overwatch 2 will allow KBM on console, but you'll be up against PC players

Overwatch 2 console players will officially be able to use a keyboard and mouse starting with the release of Season 18. In patch notes posted ahead of the new season, the Overwatch 2 team says matchmaking pools will be tweaked slightly so players are sorted into a Mouse and Keyboard Pool and a Controller Pool. Those playing on a console using keyboard and mouse (KBM) inputs will be paired with PC players and other KBM console players, while the Controller Pool will be reserved only for console p

Kirby Air Riders launches November 20 exclusively on Switch 2

Nintendo has confirmed that Kirby Air Riders, a modern revival of the 2003 GameCube cult classic Kirby Air Ride, will be released exclusively on Switch 2 on November 20. The announcement came during a marathon 45-minute Nintendo Direct devoted entirely to the new game, hosted by Kirby's creator Masahiro Sakurai. Sakurai said he was asked to create Air Riders while still working on DLC for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate , and drafted a written proposal for the game at the request of Shinya Takahashi,

The 20 Best Xbox Games Right Now

Over the past two decades, Microsoft has turned the Xbox brand into a veritable juggernaut in the console gaming world. The Xbox Series X and Series S, the combined fourth generation of the Xbox, have sold over 21 million units. The Xbox One, which was still supported until 2023, sold over 58 million units worldwide. As Microsoft shifts its focus toward supporting console and PC gamers alike with the Game Pass subscription service, there's never been a larger ecosystem of Xbox consoles to choos

EA Makes Big Changes to Rush Mode in Battlefield 6 Beta

The Battlefield 6 beta is raging, with players free to jump into the fray now through the end of Sunday, Aug. 17. This is the second weekend of the multiplayer shooter's preview period, and there are a few changes that open up the beta with more modes, maps and play options. Plus, the game's developer DICE has enacted tweaks in response to player feedback. Those enjoying the beta on PS5 have to be subscribed to PS Plus to play online, but for their trouble, they're getting double experience poi

Evaluating GPT5's reasoning ability using the Only Connect game show

Given the proliferation of reasoning models, we wanted to go beyond knowledge-based benchmarks to test reasoning abilities such as pattern recognition, lateral thinking, abstraction, contextual reasoning (accounting for British cultural references), and multi-step inference. In addition to reasoning, we aimed to assess how effectively models make decisions when presented with judgment calls—such as choosing between making an educated guess based on available clues or calling a function to retri

The 20 Best PS4 Games

It has been more than a decade since Sony released the PlayStation 4, but the console is just as important as ever. Despite being released in November 2013, the PS4 is still in production today, with well over 100 million units being sold over its lifetime and some new games still arriving on it, including Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii. When it launched in 2013, Sony's eighth-gen console arrived with tech upgrades that seem du jour now, but were exciting over a decade ago. For instance

Apple Arcade just got four new games, including Play-Doh World

As promised last month, Apple today released four new titles to Apple Arcade, adding to the catalog of over 200 ad-free games available to subscribers. Here’s what’s new. Play-Doh World Play-Doh brings its magic to the digital space with Play-Doh World, allowing players to craft their own characters and watch them spring to life. From inventing wild zoo animals to styling outrageous salon hairdos, every corner of this colorful universe responds to the player’s creative whim. With dozens of int

I Played Battlefield 6: Hands-On With the Return To Big Battle Warfare

After a few hours playing the upcoming Battlefield 6, it's clear the game is designed to be a mea culpa to fans: Trust us, we're bringing back the Battlefield you remember. At a massive preview event in Los Angeles, I sat down to play a slice of the game's multiplayer mode -- and came off it suitably whelmed with a mix of raucous moments and tedious deaths. Ultimately, it feels like it will deliver the kind of big team battles players have been craving, with technical flourishes that amplify the

The biggest fighting game tournament is a little smaller this year — but still exciting

is a reporter who covers the business, culture, and communities of video games, with a focus on marginalized gamers and the quirky, horny culture of video game communities. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Evo 2025, the biggest fighting game tournament in North America, starts this weekend. If you tune into one of the nine different Evo Twitch channels you’ll see some of the top players in the world compete in fighting game staples like St

These Are the Switch 2 Launch Games You Should Actually Consider

The Nintendo Switch 2 hasn't been out long but it's still somewhat disappointing that not many new games are available yet to use the new hardware. Yes, Donkey Kong Bananza is probably the biggest hit for the Switch successor that everyone should pick up but aside from that and Mario Kart World, there's not much else to get. For those who are still looking for something else to play on their Switch 2, here's a list of some of the more interesting launch games to pick in the meantime. Cyberpunk

PUBG’s plan to beat Fortnite, Roblox, and every other game

Roblox and Fortnite are two of the biggest games around, and a huge part of why is because they aren’t just one game: instead, they’re vast platforms where you can party up with your friends, dress up in ridiculous digital outfits, and quickly jump from one experience to another. Back in the day, Fortnite copied PUBG by making a battle royale, and now, PUBG is mimicking Fortnite by trying to become more of a platform than a game. As part of a roadmap released earlier this year, PUBG developer K

NBA quietly trials smart basketballs with embedded sensors and AI tracking

In brief: Kinexon and other companies have spent years refining connected-ball technology to enhance sports analytics, improve training, and collect more data than ever. As professional leagues begin adopting the new tech, questions remain about potential minute changes to basketball physics. Unbeknownst to most players, about half of the NBA games played in Las Vegas earlier this month used balls equipped with smart tracking technology. The league is considering full adoption, but one company

NBA quietly tested smart basketballs with embedded sensors and AI tracking

In brief: Kinexon and other companies have spent years refining connected-ball technology to enhance sports analytics, improve training, and collect more data than ever. As professional leagues begin adopting the new tech, questions remain about potential minute changes to basketball physics. Unbeknownst to most players, about half of the NBA games played in Las Vegas earlier this month used balls equipped with smart tracking technology. The league is considering full adoption, but one company

Elden Ring: Nightreign's Duo Mode Is Coming to Save You From Matchmaking Hell

Elden Ring: Nightreign, from developer FromSoftware, at first seemed like a gimmicky spinoff of its 2022 hit Elden Ring. Since then, it's proven to be a popular game that was the best-selling title in June, and in a few days, it's going to get one of its most requested features. In Nightreign, you can play solo or in a team of three. On July 30, the option for Duo Expeditions will be available, letting players take on runs with a friend. Players have been requesting a two-player mode since Nig

The Best Co-op Games to Play With Your Friends in Every Scenario

Despite how gaming has changed over the years, one thing remains the same -- people love playing games together. Whether you're solving a puzzle, hunting monsters or escaping Hell, it's better with a friend (or three). It should come as no surprise that games like Split Fiction and It Takes Two from Hazelight Studios, which focus on cooperative play, were critical successes. Some of my best memories are marathon gaming sessions with friends, squished together on a couch or logging in online fro

The 16 Best Xbox Games Right Now

Over the past two decades, Microsoft has turned the Xbox brand into a veritable juggernaut in the console gaming world. The Xbox Series X and Series S, the combined fourth generation of the Xbox, have sold over 21 million units -- and the Xbox One, which was still supported until 2023, sold over 58 million units worldwide. As Microsoft shifts its focus toward supporting console and PC gamers alike with the Game Pass subscription service, there's never been a larger ecosystem of Xbox consoles to

A Murderer Is Among Us in Square Enix's Killer Inn

Announced during this year's Summer Game Fest, Square Enix's next game is a little different from its RPG hits. Killer Inn is an upcoming murder mystery that pits 24 players against each other in a game of deception. I went hands-on with the title for a couple of hours before the launch of its closed beta, which is releasing Friday. Square Enix The game is very reminiscent of the breakout pandemic hit Among Us, with players performing mundane tasks as they try to avoid getting murdered. Two te

The Best Co-op Games to Play With Your Friends Right Now

Playing video games with friends is intrinsic to gaming. It should be no surprise that games like Split Fiction and It Takes Two from Hazelight Studios, which focus on cooperative play, were critical successes. Despite how gaming has changed over the years, one thing remains the same -- people love playing games together. Some of my best memories are of marathon gaming sessions with friends, squished together on a couch or logging in online from different spots. Whether you're looking for a sp