Hollow Hymn II gets a teaser, and a tone change
The first Hollow Hymn was a fast, mean action game. The 47-second teaser for the sequel is mostly birdsong and ash. We have no idea what that means. We are extremely interested.
Newsroom
Patch notes, rumours, and the quiet announcements that matter.
We don't repackage press releases. We read them so you don't have to, then we say what's actually new.
Top story · this week
A 100GB patch lands for Wanderer's Wake — and most of it is the soundtrack
The headline change is the new score from a Reykjavik quartet you've never heard of, replacing the studio's library cues. Quieter, sparser, much better. The patch also fixes the infamous "stuck in a barrel" bug, which honestly we'll miss a little.
What's new: new music for 80% of the world map, 14 fast-travel waypoints, a "no-quest-markers" accessibility toggle, three small story moments rewritten after community feedback.
Why it matters: patches that change tone (not just numbers) are rare. This one's worth a fresh playthrough.
Other things we noticed this fortnight
Layoffs continue at three mid-size studios
The post-acquisition cycle hits a third round in six months. We've collected the affected developers' personal portfolios in a single thread — if you're hiring, start here.
A wasteland-themed shooter quietly tops 80k concurrent
An almost unmarketed PvPvE shooter set in a flooded megacity has been climbing the charts. Word of mouth, mostly. Our take next week.
Stalker GAMMA gets a bigger update than most sequels
New weather, new emissions, an entire new questline written by a 16-year-old in São Paulo. The mod scene is doing more interesting work than half the industry right now.
A budget handheld can actually run STALKER 2 — sort of
At 540p, with a sensible mod pack, you can get a stable 40fps on a sub-$500 device. We did the testing so your spouse doesn't have to know.
Fan archive saves a forgotten 2009 wasteland MMO
An eight-person volunteer team has rebuilt a functional private server for a game most people never played the first time. The patch notes are oddly moving.
"A Letter to the Coast" sells 300k copies in two weeks
A six-hour walking sim made by two people in Lisbon. We reviewed it last week. We aren't surprised, but we are very pleased.
A digital storefront delists 47 games. Here's a list.
Some you've heard of, most you haven't. We're keeping a running ledger of disappeared games. It's longer every quarter.
Calendar: ten post-apocalyptic games shipping this quarter
Four indies, three AA, two AAA, one mystery. We've sorted them by "actually worth watching" rather than by hype.