An interview with Bandai Namco EU CEO Arnaud Muller might hint that the upcoming Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, is set “to release soon”. No release date has been provided - ‘soon’ could mean anything - and it might just be presumptuous phrasing by the author, but… let’s gooo!

Unity have attempted to apologise and walk back some of their recent ridiculous, disastrous changes. Personal plan remains free, no Runtime Fee for Unity Personal games, raised revenue limit to $200,000USD, and no more mandatory splash screen. Fee applies only to forthcoming 2024 LTS version, and you get to choose between 2.5% revshare or a calculated Runtime Fee. Broadly, devs are cautiously pleased by the changes, but in reality, the damage is done.

In an unassuming press release and a single tweet, Ubisoft announced that Tom Clancy’s The Division 3 is in the works; developed by Massive Entertainment, the original creators of The Division series. The Swedish studio, known more recently for Star Wars Outlaws and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, is currently assembling a team. Julian Gerighty, creative director of Star Wars Outlaws, now serves as the executive producer for The Division franchise.

In a bafflingly incompetent turn of events, emails and other internal documents were leaked as part of the ongoing Microsoft vs Federal Trade Commission (FTC) trial. One particularly interesting email reveals Phil Spencer’s desires to buy Nintendo (!) and/or Valve, among others - “getting Nintendo would be a career moment and I honestly believe a good move for both companies”, he wrote. Crazy.

In a statement today, Valve announced their plan to discontinue the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) after the 2023 season, but reassure the community that their annual tournament The International will continue. Launched in 2017, the DPC aimed to clarify & formalise invites for The International, but Valve now claim it led to a less varied and exciting competitive Dota scene.

Bryan Intihar previews the expanded NYC and ‘next-gen’ gameplay of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which is coming out October 20. Looks stunning, visually - and damn, that loading time (or lack thereof) on fast travel is unreal.

In their latest Direct, Nintendo provided an update on its work to convert an old plant in Kyoto into a museum celebrating its history. Set to finish by March next year, they also reveal plans to paint the iconic question block on the museum’s roof. Cool.

Supergiant has provided an update on the much anticipated Hades II. Early Access is set for Q2 2024, and a limited technical test is planned. Much like the first one, major updates post-launch to expand content and story. Can’t wait.

Valve are celebrating the 20th anniversary of Steam, which launched on September 12, 2003. As well as games being on sale, there’s a neat retrospective site that looks back through the annual highlights. Love the artwork by Claire Hummel!

Game engine Unity has announced their plan to implement a monthly “Runtime Fee” for game installs, effective Jan 1, 2024. This would mean that developers are required to pay based on - among other things - how many times their game is installed, including for instances like free Game Pass installs, or even people reinstalling. Catastrophically stupid.