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The team behind Castlevania: Belmont's Curse didn't expect Konami to greenlight their crossover, yet it happened: while working on DLC for Dead Cells they pitched a Castlevania tie‑in that ballooned into the big 2023 DLC Return to Castlevania and then the standalone Castlevania: Belmont's Curse.

COO Benjamin Laulan says the original plan was tiny, a skin or a weapon, but the publisher backed it and even offered the studio the next Castlevania project. Takeaway: just ask, sometimes publishers say YES. NO WAY 🤝

Gabe Newell still plays Dota 2 every day and shrugs off the TOXIC messages telling him to delete the game, he takes them as proof of the community's raw, crazy energy 🧡

He calls each match a compressed role‑playing adventure, a full campaign squeezed into 40 minutes where plans collapse and rebuild; that unpredictability and the game's «stickiness» keep players coming back, and he humbly calls himself a rookie next to the pros.

Stylish action Gurei lands on PC in Steam on July 23, you control Rei, a spirit warrior wandering a surreal, samurai‑tinged castle 🗡️

Non‑linear bossruns: the Kami can appear as an early trial or the final test, difficulty adapts to your chosen path. Sword combat with dodges and heavy hits, plus unlockable skills (powered attacks, healing, unique abilities). Demo and Russian text are available; screenshots on Steam. Publisher: Astrolabe Games, dev: Lobo Sagaz Studio. WILD

⚡️inZOI 0.8.0 just landed, the sim was moved to Unreal Engine 5.6 and got a smart "Performance Protection" that auto-adjusts settings under heavy load.

New careers added: architects, IT developers and freelance tracks (online sales, courier). They introduced situational looks, outfit+makeup+hair bundles, opened beauty salons as a business, and criminals at level 5 can now obtain a mask from a secret agency. SWEET 💇♀️

🔮 From Night City with fate: CD Projekt RED and Dark Horse are dropping Cyberpunk 2077: Tarot Deck & Guidebook, a legit divination deck, not a game prop: 22 Major and 56 Minor arcana. Art by Jakub Rebelka, a guidebook written in the spirit of Misty Olszewski, launch set for Fall 2026. Dark Horse has a waitlist open; new comics and a CCG for the universe are coming this year. SICK

Goodbye tactics: mobile EA Sports FC Tactical will go offline on May 7, 2026. The title, launched in a limited Asian test in 2024, never made it to a global release, RIP ⚽

Publisher Electronic Arts cites weak metrics and a mobile-optimization push. EA will also shut servers for Plants vs. Zombies HD (iOS), June 24, Madden NFL 23, July 13, and NHL 22/NHL 23, Aug 31. The company warned players ahead of time, so you can squeeze in some final matches.

🤨 The First Berserker: Khazan, over 1,000,000 copies sold and more than $50M in revenue in the first 8 months; roughly 100M media mentions. Quiet hit or FLOP?

At the same time reports say Neople's dev team has been redistributed to other projects, allegedly because sales fell short of the publisher's sky‑high expectations, so the franchise's future remains unclear.

😅 PHEW

Publisher Silver Lining Interactive and devs Square Glade Games split the launch of Outbound so it won't be swallowed by Subnautica 2. PC (Steam, Epic) and Xbox Series now release on 11 May, while PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch stay on 14 May. The Outbound demo will be pulled on 8 May

⚡️ Battlestate Games has opened the test servers for Escape from Tarkov, the build is now OPEN to everyone (including Steam) and the NDA has been lifted.

The move to Unity 6 is the big change: testers get an immersive aiming system and revamped data-storage logic. Devs are actively collecting feedback and have already started tweaking shooting mechanics based on early reports 👀

Capcom hinted Pragmata could become a franchise after a strong launch 🚀 WOW

At an iicon panel Rob Dyer, Capcom USA's COO, said the six‑year project, boosted by a demo and a timely launch on Nintendo Switch 2, paid off: the sci‑fi action, released last month, sold over 1 million copies in days. Aggregators sit at ~85, Steam reviews are 96% positive. No sequel confirmed yet, but Capcom now has a clear candidate to expand.