Dec 10

'Dune: Spice Wars' is a strategy game set in Frank Herbert's sci-fi universe

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On the heels of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, a new 4X strategy game set in Frank Herbert’s seminal sci-fi universe is coming to Steam Early Access next year. Shiro Games, the studio behind real-time strategy game Northgard, is on development duties. Like Civilization or almost any other 4X game, you’ll choose one faction to lead. Naturally, you can pick House Atreides or House Harkonnen, though there will be other two factions to choose from as well. It’s then up to you to lead them to victory on Arrakis.  

There hasn’t been a new Dune game since 2001’s Emperor: Battle for Dune, which was one of the last projects legendary real-time strategy developer Westwood Studios worked on before EA shut it down in 2003. Dune also has a special place in the RTS genre. Alongside Blizzard’s Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, Westwood’s Dune II helped establish many of the of tenets the genre. 

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Dec 10

Xbox Game Pass for PC is now just 'PC Game Pass'

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Microsoft has rebranded one of its game subscription services. Xbox Game Pass for PC is now just PC Game Pass. 

The move could help to avoid some confusion, since Xbox Game Pass is a separate plan with a different library of games. It should also be clearer that games on the PC plan aren’t necessarily playable on consoles.

Xbox Game Pass includes more than 100 console games, with Xbox Game Studios titles joining on release day. PC Game Pass has its own selection of games, including first-party titles and access to EA Play.

Meanwhile, Game Pass Ultimate offers the best of both worlds. It includes PC and console games, Xbox Live Gold (which console gamers need for multiplayer titles that aren’t free-to-play), EA Play access and cloud gaming. 

The PC Game Pass logo still includes an Xbox icon, though. That makes the connection to Xbox and Microsoft clear, but some folks might still call it “Xbox PC Game Pass.” C’est la vie.

Meanwhile, Microsoft revealed a few more games are coming to PC Game Pass on their release day: Sniper Elite 5, Pigeon Simulator, the gorgeous-looking samurai side-scroller Trek to Yomi and an unannounced Hugecalf Studios game. 

Also, for a limited time, YouTube Premium members can get three months of PC Game Pass access for free. As 9to5 Google notes, Google is sending the invitation to subscribers via email. The US-only offer is available until the end of the year. 

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Dec 10

First trailer for the Halo TV series shows Master Chief in live action

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A Halo TV series is heading to Paramount+ after years in development hell, and today we got our first taste of the show. The first trailer for the Halo series is dramatic, seemingly taking a serious, Dune-like approach to the franchise, and showing off Master Chief in his full, dusty glory.

Paramount+ stole the series from Showtime earlier this year, but this thing has been in development for nearly a decade. It was first announced in 2013, and it’s now slated to come out in 2022.

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Dec 10

Alan Wake is finally getting a sequel after a decade of waiting

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<img width=”1280″ height=”720″ src=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/alan-wake-sequel-confirmed-1280×720.jpg” class=”webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image” alt=”Alan Wake in rain” style=”margin: auto;margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%” data-attachment-id=”701810″ data-permalink=”https://www.slashgear.com/alan-wake-is-finally-getting-a-sequel-after-a-decade-of-waiting-09701802/alan-wake-sequel-confirmed/” data-orig-file=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/alan-wake-sequel-confirmed.jpg” data-orig-size=”1440,810″ data-comments-opened=”0″ data-image-meta=”{“aperture”:”0″,”credit”:””,”camera”:””,”caption”:””,”created_timestamp”:”0″,”copyright”:””,”focal_length”:”0″,”iso”:”0″,”shutter_speed”:”0″,”title”:””,”orientation”:”0″}” data-image-title=”alan-wake-sequel-confirmed” data-image-description=”” data-image-caption=”

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Dec 10

Wonder Woman’s first solo game was just announced and no one saw it coming

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<img width=”1280″ height=”720″ src=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/wonder-woman-tga-1280×720.jpg” class=”webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image” alt=”” style=”margin: auto;margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%” data-attachment-id=”701801″ data-permalink=”https://www.slashgear.com/wonder-womans-first-solo-game-was-just-announced-and-no-one-saw-it-coming-09701800/wonder-woman-tga/” data-orig-file=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/wonder-woman-tga.jpg” data-orig-size=”1440,810″ data-comments-opened=”0″ data-image-meta=”{“aperture”:”0″,”credit”:””,”camera”:””,”caption”:””,”created_timestamp”:”0″,”copyright”:””,”focal_length”:”0″,”iso”:”0″,”shutter_speed”:”0″,”title”:””,”orientation”:”0″}” data-image-title=”wonder-woman-tga” data-image-description=”” data-image-caption=”

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Dec 10

Lady Gaga brings ten of her hits to 'Beat Saber'

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No, Meta and Beat Games still aren’t done adding big-name musicians to Beat Saber. They’re releasing a 10-song Lady Gaga Music Pack that, as you’d imagine, brings some of the pop superstar’s best-known songs to the VR rhythm game on Quest and Rift headsets. There aren’t any surprise picks here — the collection ranges from early hits like “Poker Face” to the Ariana Grande collaboration “Rain on Me.” Still, you might appreciate slicing to Gaga’s beats with a Chromatica-inspired backdrop.

The pack should be available tonight (December 9th) at $13 for the whole bundle, or $2 per song. Completists could undoubtedly poke holes in the selection (you won’t get singles like “Applause”), but it’s hard to object loudly when Gaga’s dance pop should lend itself well to Beat Saber‘s gameplay.

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Dec 10

'Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade' heads to PC on December 16th

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As expected, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is coming to PC. At The Game Awards, Square Enix announced it will release the title to the Epic Games Store on December 16th. Announced at the start of the year, Intergrade initially came out on PlayStation 5 on June 10th. On top of adding a new chapter featuring Yuffie, the enhanced port featured improved graphics, including sharper textures and more realistic lighting and fog effects.  

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Dec 10

'Lord of the Rings: Gollum' reveals new gameplay footage

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Gollum promises to be a journey through Middle Earth through the eyes of one of its least heroic inhabitants. Now we’re getting to lay eyes on how it’ll look in action, thanks to a new trailer released during the Game Awards.

We’ve been teased with some idea of its locales already, like the fire and brimstone of Mordor, and the lush forest of Mirkwood. It’s also been revealed that dialog options will allow players to carve a narrative path based on the choices of either the bitter and debauched Gollum, or his timid but moral alter-ego Smeagol. 

Initially scheduled for release in 2021, Daedalic Entertainments Gollum is set to come out at some point next year, and will be available for PC, Playstation, Xbox, and Switch. The company has also claimed it will be the first in a series of games set in Tolkien’s worlds.

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Dec 10

There's a Wonder Woman game coming from the 'Shadow of Mordor' studio

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Monolith Productions, the studio responsible for Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel, is working on a new game in the Wonder Woman franchise. It features an original storyline where players will “become Diana of Themyscira in the fight to unite her Amazon family and the humans from the modern world,” Monolith says. 

Publisher Warner Bros. Games showed off a teaser for the new project during The Game Awards.

Wonder Woman is being billed as “a new third-person, open-world action-adventure” game, according to Monolith, and really, that’s no surprise. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor was a third-person action RPG with the Nemesis System, a clever orc-management mechanic, tacked on top of it. It was very well-received when it came out in 2014, and it was followed in 2017 by Shadow of War. 

Wonder Woman will use the Nemesis System as well, allowing players to “forge deep connections with both enemies and allies as they progress from a heroic fighter into a proven leader,” the studio says.

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Dec 10

'Slitterhead' is a new horror game from the creator of Silent Hill

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We finally know what Keiichiro Toyama has been up to since leaving Sony. At The Game Awards, Toyama’s Bokeh Game Studio revealed Slitterhead. It’s a horror-action game that will see you fighting grotesque skeletal monsters. Beyond that, the first trailer the studio shared didn’t reveal much about the game’s plot. Toyama is best known for his work on Silent Hill and more recently the Gravity Rush series. Also working on the project is Devil May Cry character designer Tatsuya Yoshikawa. 

Slitterhead does not have a release date currently.

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