Starfield’s Tiny Cities, An Escape From Tarkov Debacle And More Of The Week’s Gaming News

Image: Square Enix, Bethesda, Bethesda / Kotaku / BravissimoS (Shutterstock), Capcom, Kotaku / Crytivo / NinaMalyna / Stokkete (Shutterstock) (Shutterstock), Bethesda/Excel, Square Enix, Screenshot: Battlestate Games

This week, we’ve got stories on Square Enix eating significant losses and shifting its strategy, a look back at Dragon’s Dogma 2’s wild first month, and more. Click on for a roundup of the week’s biggest stories.

Image: Square Enix

Square Enix’s games have been hit or miss for years, and now the publisher behind Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and other blockbuster RPGs says it plans to be more careful about which projects it invests in. The company expects to “recognize extraordinary losses pertaining to abandonment losses associated with its content production,” it warned investors in a new financial filing. – Ethan Gach Read More

Image: Bethesda

Fallout 76, Bethesda’s MMORPG set in the Fallout universe, is probably more popular today than ever thanks to Amazon’s new TV series. So it makes sense that in a recent interview, Bethesda executive producer Todd Howard was asked about Fallout 76 and crossplay. And while the ability for PC and console players to mingle sounds off the table, Howard at least seemed more positive about cross-progression. – Zack Zwiezen Read More

Image: Bethesda / Kotaku / BravissimoS (Shutterstock)

Starfield, Bethesda’s large open-world space RPG released last year, is set to receive a big new update later this month. One of the big features being added is 3D surface and city maps, something the game has needed since its launch. But these new maps also reveal that Starfield’s biggest cities are actually pretty tiny. – Zack Zwiezen Read More

Image: Capcom

Fans of the original Dragon’s Dogma never dreamed the wonky fantasy RPG might get a sequel. Over a decade later, Capcom delivered a successor that improved on the flaws of the first without shaving off the sharp edges that earned it a cult following to begin with. – Ethan Gach Read More

Image: Kotaku / Crytivo / NinaMalyna / Stokkete (Shutterstock) (Shutterstock)

On April 29, an in-development farm sim from Crytivo called Farm Folks shared a now-deleted post about breast jiggle physics on its official X/Twitter account that kickstarted a firestorm, emboldened gaming’s baddest actors, and wreaked havoc in the game’s official Discord. The team behind the studio has since apologized, but the aftermath lingers, leaving confusion and doubt about the company’s true intentions in its wake. – Alyssa Mercante Read More

Image: Bethesda/Excel

If you thought that Excel spreadsheets were just for mind-numbing office work, think again. A gaming hobbyist has created an Excel-based RPG game that he based on the popular post-apocalyptic game Fallout. It’s the end of the world, all over again. – Lucas Ropek Read More

Screenshot: Battlestate Games

Multiplayer tactical shooter Escape From Tarkov caused much upset in its passionate community last week when it announced it would be adding PvE to the game, but only for those who spent an astonishing $250 on a new bundle, The Unheard Edition. This was made even worse after those who’d previously bought the Edge of Darkness edition had been told all future DLC would be theirs for “free.” – John Walker Read More

Image: Square Enix

Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix’s Disney x Final Fantasy crossover, has been around so long it’s surprising we haven’t gotten some kind of animated series or film before now. Things got close at one point about 20 years ago, and you can find a rough animatic of the pilot featuring the original game’s voice talent. But according to the rumors, something on a much bigger scale might be in the works over at Disney: an animated theatrical film. – Kenneth Shepard Read More

Halo’s Joseph Morgan On The Joys Of Halo Co-Op

The James Ackerson actor loves to tackle the original Halo with friends

Halo’s Joseph Morgan On Playing Nuanced Characters And The Flaws of Season 1

The actor played James Ackerson in Season 2 of the Paramount+ show