CRI Middleware is expanding its engine support with full Godot integration, announced on July 8, 2026, and discussed at CEDEC2026. The company holds over 10,000 game licenses and is positioning itself as a key middleware provider for Japan's game development community.
CRI Middleware, a major Japanese middleware vendor with over 10,000 game licenses, announced full support for the open-source Godot engine on July 8, 2026. At CEDEC2026, CRI Middleware senior managing executive officer Naoaki Oikawa joined Godot Foundation executive director Emilio Coppola to discuss the partnership and the engine's growth in Japan. The move signals a turning point for Godot adoption in the country, even as Coppola insisted the foundation is not pursuing direct competition with Unity or Unreal Engine, focusing instead on serving current users.
The announcement comes amid a period of active middleware and engine developments in Japan, as studios seek alternatives and expand their toolchains. CRI's existing license base of over 10,000 games gives it substantial reach, and its entry into full Godot support is a practical step for developers using the engine. The company's role as a middleware provider for audio and video solutions positions it to support Godot-based projects with its established technologies.
Coverage of CRI Middleware in this cluster is limited to this single CEDEC2026 discussion and the July 8 announcement. The details of the Godot support, such as which CRI products are integrated or the timeline for rollout, were not specified in the available stories. The partnership is framed primarily as a response to developer demand rather than an aggressive market play.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the cited Yomimono stories below, each itself sourced, then editorially reviewed. Every fact links the story it came from.
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Furyu released a playable demo of CRYMELIGHT on Nintendo Switch 2 and PS5 on October 22. The demo covers the opening of the main story through the end of Chapter 1, runs 1.5 to 3 hours or more, and matches the demo already distributed on Steam. It is available only until the full release on November 5. The roguelike action game uses a poker-style build around five-card hands.
Shueisha Games pushed Chronoscript: The Endless End from 2026 to early summer 2027, adding Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC to the previously announced Steam and PS5 versions. The Steam demo holds an 85% positive rating across roughly 90 reviews. Producer Masami Yamamoto and Deskworks director Tom Fujii say user feedback led to changes in dodge invincibility timing, input buffering, and how the story is delivered.
Pearl Abyss released a six-and-a-half-minute preview video for Charting the Unknown, the Crimson Desert expansion that moves the action from the land of Pywel onto the open sea. Players build and customize a ship, sail between islands, explore underwater ruins, and fight hostile factions in naval battles. It launches October 30 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
CRITICAL REFLEX released Filthy Eden's psychological horror game Cucina Stellata for free on Steam on October 21, 2026. The first-person short game is set in the 19th-century Italian countryside of Romagna, where a reclusive writer and gourmet cooks traditional dishes in a low-polygon kitchen. Cooking involves ingredients not found in the original recipes, and the protagonist is drawn into a hunger that deepens with every meal as his body and mind begin to change. The Steam version adds new story content and improved playability over the earlier itch.io release. CRITICAL REFLEX, which published Mouthwashing and No, I'm not a Human, picked up the title in April 2026 after the improved Steam version was announced in September 2025. The game supports Japanese and carries a content warning for violence, self-harm, and disturbing imagery. A paid supporter pack, Curiosities and Recipes, is also available, with production background, the work's inspirations, and recipes from Romagna.
Shueisha Games announced on October 21, 2026 that Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, and Xbox Play Anywhere are now supported platforms for Chronoscript: The Endless End. The exploration-style action adventure comes from developer DeskWorks and is scheduled for release in early summer 2027. The Xbox version was announced during the ID@XBOX x IGN October Showcase 2026, which aired at 2:00 JST, alongside an Xbox announcement trailer. The game casts the player as an editor trapped inside a manuscript, working through a story of an end that has run for 1,000 years across a 2D manuscript-paper space and a 3D Western-style mansion. It is already listed for PC and PlayStation 5, and the new Xbox listing adds a further set of Microsoft platforms. The supported languages span Japanese, English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, French, Italian, Spanish, and German. A demo is available on Steam.
The publisher announced the console launch of Mouthwashing for October 29, an Xbox version of Arctic Eggs out today plus PS5 and Nintendo Switch versions soon, and No, I'm not a Human for spring 2027 across Xbox, PS5, and Nintendo Switch. It also showed two new games, amFM and KEYKRUNCHER.
NIS America will release the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA on February 25, 2027 local time. The port runs at up to 120fps and supports local and online co-op through the hardware's GameShare feature. A Nintendo Switch version already exists. As of writing, no Japan release of the Switch 2 version has been announced.
Sony Interactive Entertainment announced the October 2026 overseas Game Catalog lineup for PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers. The list is split across three dates. The Midnight Walk, a claymation horror adventure from Fast Travel Games that supports PS VR2, arrives October 15. On October 20, Mafia: The Old Country from 2K, Horizon Forbidden West from Sony Interactive Entertainment, and the four-player co-op shooter Mycopunk from Devolver Digital join. October 27 brings Tales of ARISE - Beyond the Dawn Edition from Bandai Namco Entertainment, Poppy Playtime: Chapter 2 from Mob Entertainment, and Monster Energy Supercross 25 - The Official Video Game from Milestone. In the Classics Catalog for Premium members, Capcom's Dino Crisis 2 and RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Complete Edition are both listed for PS5 and PS4. Release dates differ by title. Titles without a specified date become playable from October 20.
COVER Corporation announced Shattered Legends, a Daggerheart actual play campaign made with Critical Role. The series premieres mid-November 2026, sponsored by Ultra PRO, and continues the world of Exandria. Matthew Mercer is the Game Master. Four hololive members join as players: Nerissa Ravencroft, Mori Calliope, Shiori Novella, and Gigi Murin, alongside Critical Role co-founder Marisha Ray. The campaign runs as a mini web series on Critical Role's YouTube channel, Nerissa Ravencroft's YouTube channel, the hololive English YouTube channel, and Beacon. Episode 0 covers character creation and backstories, and after-episode cooldown talks go to Beacon and Nerissa Ravencroft's YouTube membership. Every YouTube episode carries Japanese subtitles. Character names appear in English and Japanese announcements: Ravencroft plays Siliun Faell, Calliope plays Kaz Oogod, Novella plays Marchen Rosemyne, and Murin plays Giryn. A promotional convention tour across North America, Europe, and Asia is planned, with merchandise details to come.
Hololive's English account posted new footage for Shattered Legends, the project revealed on September 30, 2026. The video shows Cover representative Motoaki Tanigo shaking hands with Matthew Mercer, the game master of Critical Role. A 20-sided die in the earlier teaser had already pointed toward a TRPG connection. On October 7, four Hololive English talents posted character silhouettes, and the full picture is set to be revealed over the coming weeks.
Curve Games announced Lazare's Sacrifice during the Triple-i Initiative Showcase. Dream Reality Interactive develops the story-driven deckbuilder for PC via Steam, with a Spring 2027 release. It is co-created with Damien Monnier, designer of the original Gwent. Players are Lazare Hoche, a betrayed general awaiting the guillotine in the Carmes Prison during the French Revolution, where card duels decide whether they survive the night.
The ABEMA Channel will launch on October 9 at 7:00 PM to mark the tenth anniversary of the KonoSuba TV anime. It carries all 33 episodes from Season 1 through Season 3, the spinoff 'An Explosion on This Wonderful World!', and the film 'Legend of Crimson', streaming free daily for five days. Each title stays free for two weeks after it airs. Season 4 arrives in 2027.
Developer Farelas released the co-op survival horror game The Crimson Hunt on Steam for PC at 1,600 yen, discounted 20 percent until October 21. Set in a mansion deep in a remote forest, it follows Victoria, a vampire hunter haunted by her past, and Eleanor, a young woman abducted by an ancient vampire. The game has local split-screen co-op, third-person combat, resource management, and environment-based puzzles. A major update is planned with costumes and new elements.
Staff at Ninja Theory have begun reporting job losses and redundancy on LinkedIn, according to posts reviewed by VGC. Those affected include technical sound designer Alessio Mellina, gameplay programmer Katrin Mair, performance capture technical staff member Xoe Subari, and technical director Loong-Wei Ding, with roles spanning sound design, senior technical art, character art, and principal sound design. Microsoft and Ninja Theory have made no official announcement, and the total number affected is not clear.
Microsoft released MAI-Transcribe-2-Streaming on October 1, 2026, its first real-time transcription model. Analysis by the third-party organization Artificial Analysis found it has the lowest error rate among the real-time transcription models tested. It has shorter latency than models of equivalent accuracy. The model is available through an API at $0.54 per hour until the end of 2026.
Mega Crit's September 2026 Neowletter says the Slay the Spire 2 team has returned from vacation and is working on bug fixes, playability improvements, and unannounced features, game modes, and content. The next patch's timing is unstated, but the elements in preparation are "fairly large-scale" and most are already being tested in-house. A newly discovered area in the spire comes with a monster silhouette.
CRITICAL REFLEX brought TANUKI: Pon's Summer to Tokyo Game Show 2026 at Makuhari Messe, where the studio's Ari of DENKIWORKS said development is 95 percent complete. The game casts a tanuki courier on a BMX restoring a desolate shrine before the Tanuki Festival, repairing torii gates, chozuya purification pavilions, ema votive plaques, and komainu guardian dogs with funds from delivery work and errands.
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said at the Snapdragon Summit in Maui, Hawaii, that smartphones will not disappear, and that what follows them is another smartphone rather than a new device category. He framed the coming period as the AI agent smartphone era, a phone that acts through an agent rather than simply running apps. Watches, VR goggles, and smart glasses had been floated as candidates for the post-phone device.
CRITICAL REFLEX began distributing a demo of Inkblood, a detective adventure by Hey Bird!, on Steam on October 2, 2026. The player is an inquisitor investigating murders tied to a suspected cult, working from inside a carriage he cannot leave. The demo includes three cases, among them a rebuilt version of "The Murder at the Burned-Down Inn" with a changed solution method.
ChillyRoom and CritTeam announced on September 24 that No Such Place will enter early access on October 14, 2026, for PC via Steam. The game is a 2.5D top-down PvE extraction shooter where players take the role of agents from the Unknown Research Association and deploy into other-dimensional spaces called Dimensional Fragments. Solo play is supported alongside online co-op for up to four players. Exploration areas include abandoned facilities, outposts, a burning forest, and highland snowfields. Players collect weapons, medicines, equipment, ancient relics, biological samples, and encrypted documents, then extract within a time limit. Death during a mission means losing carried items except those stored in a safe box. A Gunsmith weapon modification system lets players combine gun bodies with magazines, barrels, grips, stocks, and scopes. A Corruption mechanic can grant equipment special properties, sometimes allowing attachments that are normally incompatible to be combined. A demo is currently available on Steam, and inventory and characters carry over to early access while mission progress resets. Japanese in-game display and subtitles are planned.
Pearl Abyss said on September 30, 2026 that the release of Charting the Unknown, the first large-scale DLC for the open-world action adventure game Crimson Desert, has been moved from October 15, 2026 to October 30. The studio said it needed additional development time to deliver higher-quality content and a stable play experience, and apologized to players who had been waiting. In the Asian region including Japan, distribution is scheduled for October 30, 2026 at 7:00 JST. The DLC adds new adventures by sea and underwater, housing, and deeper interaction with NPCs. Pre-orders are open, with the Unknown Explorer Diving Suit Set for Cliff and Unka and the Unknown Explorer Lightweight Diving Suit Set for Damiane. The DLC is set for PC via Steam, the Epic Games Store, and the Microsoft Store, plus PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. App Store sales are undecided, with Pearl Abyss to provide separate information when a decision is made.
CRITICAL REFLEX brought a playable demo of Inkblood, the new mystery adventure game from Hey Bird!, to Tokyo Game Show 2026, held at Makuhari Messe from September 17 to 20, 2026. Players take the role of Inquisitor #134, who is both an inquisitor and a prisoner confined to a carriage, investigating brutal murders and traces of blasphemous rituals in a town where suspicion falls on a cult. The carriage interior holds investigation devices, including the Echo Mirror, also called the Reverberation Device, which recreates past events when dragged over a scene, and an old-fashioned camera used to photograph suspects. Reports are filed using a rotary-dial telephone. The demo opens with a corpse by the roadside, then moves to a case at an inn that burned to the ground with multiple deaths, where four members of a musical troupe must be assessed. Inkblood is scheduled for release within 2026 for PC via Steam, with Japanese display planned.
Critical Reflex showed playable demos of two titles at Tokyo Game Show 2026: Militsioner, an adventure game from Russia-based developer TALLBOYS, and the Metroidvania Altered Alma. Militsioner is scheduled for Steam (PC) and Xbox Series X|S within 2027. Its protagonist is framed for a crime he does not remember and tries to escape a city watched over by a giant policeman. The event build supported Japanese.
At Tokyo Game Show 2026, Critical Reflex founder and CEO Rita Lebedeva spoke about the publisher's lineup. She said 'No, I'm not a Human' passed 1 million copies sold and called its reception meaningful for expanding the range of games the label handles. She also said a new update for that title is in development, announced around its September 15 one-year anniversary, with a deeper story, new endings, and character-focused content.
Critical Reflex is showing a playable demo of Being and Becoming at Tokyo Game Show 2026. The Metroidvania is developed by Ichthys and set in a kingdom held together by a Collective Dream produced by thousands of martyrs. The protagonist is a nun who is a lucid dreamer, and the demo includes the Sublime Axe-Hatchet, sliding, and wire actions.
The 3D turn-based RPG Tougen Anki Crimson Inferno, developed by Com2uS from the TV anime Tougen Anki, will carry an original story and original characters that appear only in the game. The development team told 4Gamer that the split between anime-based content and original content is effectively about half and half, after original elements went unshown at Tokyo Game Show 2025.
GIMMIKO is an action roguelite where players embed Gimmicks into the faces of dice and use them to fight. The game drew attention at the 2022 GMTK Game Jam, and development continued after that. It appeared at the CRITICAL REFLEX booth on the first day of Tokyo Game Show 2026, which opened September 17 in Japan.
A conversation with Cristina Vee and Yussef Benelbar, the English voices of Sitara and Mohammed in Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia, closed the second season of Something Genuine. The episode was recorded during a Crunchyroll press junket. The two discuss their connections to their characters, pursuing creative careers, and bringing their own backgrounds into their performances. Jaadugar is available to stream on Crunchyroll, and its finale has aired.
Kotobukiya is producing a 1/8 scale painted figure of Ren Bright in her The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II -CRIMSON SiN- outfit. The figure shows her holding a scythe. It is listed at a reference price of 25,300 yen including tax, with a Rakuten Books sale price of 22,498 yen including tax. Preorders are open at Rakuten Books.
Nicalis began a free giveaway of Crystal Crisis on Steam on September 14, running until 15:59 on September 22. The crossover puzzle game normally costs 2,050 yen. Anyone who adds it to their library during the window keeps it after the giveaway ends. The roster includes Astro Boy and Black Jack from Osamu Tezuka's works, plus Quote and Curly from Cave Story and Umihara Kawase.
Square Enix showed two Final Fantasy VII trailers during Wednesday's Nintendo Direct. Final Fantasy VII Revelation, the third and final game in the Remake trilogy, got a new trailer featuring Sephiroth. The company also announced Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion for Nintendo Switch 2, releasing the same day.
The Attack on Titan official account announced on September 9 that the theatrical films Crimson Bow and Arrow and THE LAST ATTACK will be re-screened in SCREEN X, 4DX, and ULTRA 4DX formats. Crimson Bow and Arrow screens from October 23, 2026. THE LAST ATTACK is scheduled for 2027. The re-screening is one of 99 news items released for the newly designated Attack on Titan Day.
Manga Up! Global added three manga to its service this week: Dragon and Flower: The Timid Princess and the Ice Sword's Loyalty, I Was Sacrificed to a Vampire, But He Spoils Me Instead!, and Wildcard Alchemist: Building the Ultimate Guild With a Divine Fluffy Beast and Random Alchemy Skill. The titles arrived on Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday, and all three already have compiled volumes shipping in Japan.
Thomas Mahler, CEO of Moon Studios, launched VideoGamesCritic on September 2, a review aggregation site that weights user reviews at least two-thirds against media scores. Mahler criticized Metacritic and OpenCritic for favoring media scores and for keeping launch ratings fixed. The site also publishes a trust score for media outlets, calculated by comparing their reviews to concurrent Steam user ratings.
During the State of Play broadcast on September 3, 2026, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced three titles for the PlayStation Plus Classics Catalog, a service for Premium plan members. Mega Man X: Command Mission arrives in September, while Dino Crisis 2 and the original Ratchet & Clank are scheduled to join within 2026. The Classics Catalog lineup for the second half of 2026 was the focus of the announcement. The additions were revealed alongside other news from the stream, which included Mycopunk, a four-player cooperative FPS set to hit the Game Catalog at launch. The three Classics titles span different eras and genres, from the turn-based RPG spin-off of Mega Man X to the survival horror sequel and the platforming series debut. Sony did not provide specific release dates for the two later arrivals, only the window of later this year. The announcements were part of a broader State of Play presentation that covered multiple upcoming PlayStation offerings.
Kotobukiya is making a 1/8 scale figure of Renne Bright in her outfit from The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II -CRIMSON SiN-. She is 17, the student council president of Aramis High School, and the figure shows her holding a large scythe. It releases April 2027 for 25,300 yen. The Kotobukiya Shop version includes an expression replacement part. The prototype is by Salle cato.
ProbablyMonsters released Crimson Moon on September 2, 2026, for PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. The gothic 3D action RPG, developed by Team Metal, was first announced during a State of Play presentation in February 2026 with a fall release window. Players take on the role of a Nephilim, a hybrid of human and angel, fighting for the Crimson Moon Knights to defend the fallen land of Guildenark against demonic forces. The game features soulslike melee combat, two-player online co-op, high-risk high-reward missions, and dynamic difficulty adjustment that scales rewards to challenge. Shortly after launch, players reported the inability to freely remap keyboard and controller buttons, plus camera control issues. ProbablyMonsters acknowledged the complaints on official X and Steam News, stating that developer Team Metal is working on a quick initial implementation of keybinding, with a preview image shared and a promise to deliver an early version within the week. The studio also directed players to a known issues page for other reported problems. According to SteamDB, the game peaked at 10,273 concurrent players, while Steam reviews sat at 56% positive out of about 1,300 reviews, earning a mixed status.
Pearl Abyss is offering a free 20-minute playable demo of Crimson Desert on Twitch that runs directly in a PC web browser with no download required. The open-world action adventure, developed by the South Korean studio behind Black Desert, was announced at gamescom Opening Night Live 2026. Players take on Kliff, a character with a gray mane, and explore wilderness, hidden ancient ruins, and the Abyss. The demo starts in the air with equipment, skills, and companions already set up, and players can switch between companion characters. Game Spark verified the demo works with an Xbox wireless controller. The demo is streamed through Amazon GameLift Streams, and at startup it notes that the optimal experience regions are the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The game language was set to English, and the Game Spark author, accessing from Japan, reported no lag. Pearl Abyss marketing representative Will Powers said the experience may vary depending on internet environment and geographic conditions. The distribution period has not been disclosed.
Game Spark reports on a hands-on session with Chronoscript: The Endless End, an exploration action adventure from Shueisha Games and developer Desk Works, shown at gamescom 2026. The game mixes 2D Metroidvania-style action on manuscript paper with 3D mansion exploration, featuring character design by Mari Shimazaki.
At CEDEC2026, Godot Foundation executive director Emilio Coppola and CRI Middleware senior managing executive officer Naoaki Oikawa discussed the open-source engine's growth and their partnership. CRI announced full Godot support on July 8. Coppola said Godot does not aim to compete with Unity or Unreal Engine, focusing instead on serving current users.
Square Enix released the final chapter of 'Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-' for 'Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis' on August 27. The game is scheduled to end service on October 7, leaving about one month to experience the 2004 feature phone RPG, which had no other way to be played since 2018.
Chronoscript: The Endless End is a metroidvania set inside a world of manuscript paper, shown in a playable demo at gamescom2026. All graphics are hand-drawn pen art, from backgrounds to enemies to the protagonist. The story follows an editor trapped in a manuscript while editing. A demo version is available on Steam.
CRITICAL REFLEX and TALLBOYS released a new trailer for the immersive sim 'Militsioner' on August 28, 2026, and confirmed a 2027 release window. The game is set in a city where a giant police officer named Militsioner, tall enough to pierce the clouds, sits at the center. Players control an ordinary civilian arrested for a crime they have no memory of, aiming to escape the city under the officer's surveillance. The core gameplay is first-person stealth action, but the sources emphasize multiple solutions for every problem, including running, hiding, lying, stealing, and even informing on residents. A Tamagotchi-like relationship system lets players influence the moods of characters, including the giant officer, through conversation and gifts. Anger them and they may turn you over to the authorities, but it is also possible to date the giant, though caution is advised when he is on duty. The dynamic world features residents on their own schedules, real-time floods that open new areas, and a surprise during a solar eclipse. 'Militsioner' is scheduled for PC via Steam and Microsoft Store, and Xbox Series X|S, with Xbox Game Pass support. A demo is being prepared for Steam.
Google announced Gemini 3.5 Transcribe, a speech recognition model that converts raw audio into clean, formatted text in real time while automatically removing filler words like "um" and "uh." The model also reflects speaker self-corrections and applies formatting such as bullet points and parentheses, turning rambling speech into polished prose. It is available through two APIs: the Live API for continuous bidirectional streaming with sub-second latency, and the Interactions API for recorded audio with speaker identification and word-level timestamps. Google reports a word error rate of 4.0% for streaming and 2.6% for non-streaming, as measured by Artificial Analysis, and a 70% reduction in time to final transcription compared to the earlier Chirp 3 model. The model supports over 85 languages and allows custom vocabulary for technical terms. Gemini 3.5 Transcribe is already integrated into Android's Rambler voice input and the macOS Gemini app's Speak to Window feature. Developers can access it through Google AI Studio, Google Antigravity, and the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform. Pricing is estimated at about $0.005 per minute for recorded audio and $0.009 per minute for real-time, with free tiers available.
Pearl Abyss announced and released the free update "Crimson Desert Enhanced" for its open-world RPG "Crimson Desert" during the gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 digital event on August 26. The update, which raises the game version to 2.00.00, revises main story progression and connections, adds new cutscenes and story scenes to main quests, and includes voice acting in five languages, including Japanese. The skill acquisition system has been improved with the addition of "Abyss' Bond" as a currency, and eight new skills for protagonist Kliff. Existing skill acquisition status resets on first launch after the update, with a per-character reset option. The game is available on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, Mac App Store), PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. A limited-time 20% discount sale for the game is underway, priced at 7,744 yen including tax. Since its release on March 20, "Crimson Desert" has received 17 updates, adding over 20 new features, over 120 types of pets and mounts, and over 70 types of costumes and equipment.
Shueisha Games brought four playable titles to gamescom 2026, which opened August 26 in Cologne, Germany. The lineup includes the newly titled survival craft RPG Wild Wild Eden, the soul triage adventure UN:Me, the boss battle action game BAKUDO, and the exploration action adventure Chronoscript: The Endless End. A fifth title, CONQUISTA: Tide of Wills, was covered separately. Wild Wild Eden, developed by Malaysia's Magnus Games Studio, offers open-world survival with a focus on taming nearly any monster as a mount or base helper. The game was announced in 2023 under a working title and received its official name in July 2026. UN:Me, from the creators of the Caligula series, had its worldwide first playable showing at the event. BAKUDO, developed by Taiwan's SAYIL GAMES, introduced a new high-difficulty boss and an ADV-style school segment. Chronoscript, from Desk Works of RPG Time fame, announced a public Steam demo for late August.
Shueisha Games released the demo for Chronoscript: The Endless End on Steam on August 21, 2026, alongside a new trailer. The demo lets players experience the opening of the exploration action adventure, in which the protagonist editor is trapped inside manuscript paper, up to the point of meeting a vampire who is a writer. The demo covers exploration of a field where hand-drawn 2D stages overlap with a 3D-rendered Western mansion, and formidable bosses appear along the way. Clearing the demo's main story unlocks Extra: Boss Challenge Battle, which allows players to take on more challenging fights and also unlocks skills. The full game is scheduled for release in Fall 2026 on PlayStation 5 and Steam. The game is developed by DeskWorks, a small team focused on unique art styles and gameplay. Supported languages include Japanese, English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, French, Italian, Spanish, and German. The demo is available on a dedicated Steam page, and a separate trailer for it has been published.
Zugalu Entertainment announced Isles of Innsmouth, a cozy horror town-building game from Crimson Herring Studios, on August 11. It launches for PC via Steam and console and mobile in Q3 2027. Players build on an island to appease the Old Gods, using cards instead of resource management.
Mega Crit released beta patch v0.111.0 for Slay the Spire 2 on August 14, 2026. The update reworks Ironclad's popular skill Battle Trance, turning it from an energy-generating card into a block-generating one. Battle Trance now costs 3 energy and grants 15 Block, plus 5 additional Block for each point of Strength the character has. Previously, it granted 1 energy for each Attack card in hand and prevented gaining additional energy that turn. The change removes one of Ironclad's rare energy sources. Another Ironclad skill, Forgotten Ritual, was simplified to grant 3 energy and Exhaust, making it easier to pick up without requiring exhaust synergy. Silent's Ink Blade was nerfed: the Ink enchantment on knives lost its additional 1 damage effect, while applying 1 Weak remains. Necrobinder's Doom was buffed by removing Exhaust, allowing repeated use against enemies with Ruin stacks. Defect's Hyper Beam was reworked: losing 3 Focus now applies only for the turn, but its area damage dropped from 30 to 24. Several enemies, including Axe Machine, Mechanite, Exoskeleton Bug, Globe Head, Ancestor Bug, and Soul Fish, received stat buffs, making the climb harder. The patch also adds idle animations for characters at low HP, Indonesian language support, and an E key confirm feature.
Pearl Abyss has released its Q2 2026 earnings materials, revealing that the first DLC for the open-world action adventure 'Crimson Desert' is aiming for a release within 2026. The DLC is intended to deliver a new gameplay experience, with specific content details, pricing, and release timing scheduled to be announced in Q3. The company has not decided the total number of DLCs or their release pace, focusing instead on the quality of the first DLC and its post-release performance. Future expansions will be determined based on user feedback, sales trends, development resources, and overall company schedules. The earnings report also showed that 'Crimson Desert' sold approximately 2.11 million units in Q2 2026, generating 136.1 billion won in revenue, about 70% of Pearl Abyss's total revenue. However, the company's overall revenue fell 41.4% quarter-on-quarter to 192.6 billion won, with operating profit down 68.1% to 67.6 billion won. In response, Pearl Abyss is preparing DLC, pricing strategies, and platform expansion to broaden the user base and achieve long-term sales growth. The Switch 2 version of 'Crimson Desert' is also in development, targeting a first-half 2027 release.