Xbox Game Pass, like 2023, is heating up in terms of major game releases. Next week sees the arrival of the highly anticipated Atomic Heart, but in the meantime, there's some definite gold coming this week. Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, Cities: Skylines – Remastered for Xbox Series X|S, and Shadow Warrior 3: Definitive Edition.

From the team behind Skyrim Together Reborn, which added co-op to Skyrim, comes HogWarp - which looks to do the same for Hogwarts Legacy. A game that we really dug, even though we're not super into the Harry Potter franchise. Like Skyrim, it's a sprawling action RPG with a huge world and the iconic Hogwarts location. And as a single-player-only game, the idea of multiplayer will no doubt entice many wand-wielders out there.

The impressive-looking Dead Island 2 is now on track for a Friday, April 21 2023 release - a week earlier than the previously announced April 28, 2023 launch. Deep Silver and developer Dambuster Studios note that the game has gone gold, which sounds like those extra few months of polish are ahead of schedule.

DreamHack Melbourne is set to bring the gaming community together for another massive celebration of all things gaming and pop culture at the iconic Melbourne Park venue from April 28 to April 30!

We're loving the transparency and vigour coming out of startup studio, Something Wicked Games, who continue to highlight new hires and share updates -- big and small -- on its trajectory and development momentum.

Overnight it was revealed that moving forward SWG would be sharing a quarterly blog post for keen-eyed punters like us on how things are tracking at the studio, which now boasts more than 30 staff.

One of the more surprising and welcome reveals at today's Nintendo Direct was the return of one of the great rhythm games, Samba De Amigo. Rhythm games have been making a bit of a steady comeback of late, and this newest iteration of the fan-favourite, titled, Samba De Amigo Party Central, finds a perfect home on Nintendo Switch.

Pikmin 4 is set to launch on Nintendo Switch on July 21, and as part of the latest Nintendo Direct earlier today we got our first extended gameplay trailer. And yeah, it's definitely Pikmin. With a look and feel reminiscent of the first three games, albeit now with the power of Ice Pikmin.

Joining the classic Nintendo games from the NES, SNES, and N64 eras comes word that Nintendo is adding Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games to Nintendo Switch Online. As the Switch is a hybrid handheld this is awesome news, and a great way to replay some classic Nintendo handheld games.

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is the long-awaited remake of the classic Game Boy Advance turn-based strategy games for the Nintendo Switch. In fact, it was recently delayed to April 2022 due to reasons relating to the timing and real-world global conflict. As part of the latest Nintendo Direct that broadcast earlier today, we now have a new date - April 21, 2023.

Not that the story in Breath of the Wild wasn't there, but by many other modern gaming standards you could politely state that it was lite-on. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the forthcoming sequel to Nintendo's celebrated open-world opus, however, looks to be upping the narrative ante if this newest trailer is anything to go by.

Nintendo is seemingly in love with the 'shadow launch' idea, having today dropped a huge bombshell during its latest Nintendo Direct by revealing that the long-awaited Metroid Prime Remastered is available immediately in digital download from from the Ninteno eShop, with a physical edition of the re-release also coming to brick and mortar stores soon.

If you follow the Internet at all, you'll know that today people making noise over a price-listing for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and LeBron James becoming the all-time NBA scoring player, overtaking Kareem Abdul Jabar, lead most of the dialogue and excitement. And as a result of the listing, which was quickly pulled from various stores but not before being heavily-reported on, that tomorrow's planned 9AM AEST Nintendo Direct is likely to be dominated by the Zelda sequel.

Congrats, LBJ, by the way.

Another Steam Next Fest highlght has been made available in demo form, in the form of The Iterative Collection and Good Morning Games' physics-based action roguelite, Knight Crawlers. A mouthful of descriptors that should have you at least a little bit interested.

Last year an impressive Xbox showcase revealed to us The Last Case of Benedict Fox, an action-platformer with a highly stylised presentation wound together in what looks like a stellar story ad some very cool gameplay. Now we can learn for ourselves if those first impressions were right as the team has dropped a new demo for the game as part of Steam Next Fest while also sharing an all-new 16-minute developer video.

50 million is no small sum. If the game was worth $1 dollarydoo (and it's not), in today's climate versus 1899 when it was set, 50 million would be $1,787,933,734.94.

Just some fun maths to amplify the news. Not that it needs it, because one of the most heralded games of this generation has cemented itself now as a true staple of success, longevity and what it means to be indelible.

Apex Legends Revelry is the next season and instead of introducing a new playable Legend, the team at Respawn is taking the time to shake things up and dig into the existing roster whilst introducing a brand-new mode. As per the headline, it's a classic Team Deathmatch Mode that will become part of the new Mixtape playlist.

If you don't know what a 'Bleak Sword' is you're in for a bit of a lofi treat, because this game packs some seriously subdued-yet-ultra-powerful art. Coming to PC and Switch this year by way of Devolver Digital who just seem to know an Indie winner when they see one, Bleak Sword DX is the base game, all DLC and some revamped level and enemy layouts.

Hogwarts Legacy might have been one of the least games on your radar if you weren't a Potter or Rowling fan, and we can't blame you. Sometimes these licensed affairs just don't pay off. But we're here to tell you things are a bit different in this spin on the Wizarding World Universe. And that if you like your RPGs and your action-adventure games... well, this is really going to scratch that itch.

But only by a couple of weeks, with Naughty Dog announcing that the planned March 3 release for The Last of Us Part I on PC has now been pushed back to March 28. With the groundbreaking success and critical acclaim for the HBO series, interest in The Last of Us is massive right now - and we've got a feeling this one will be huge on PC.

Game Informer has posted an extended gameplay clip from the upcoming Resident Evil 4 Remake, showcasing Chapter 5 which is after Leon meets Ashley. Running on Capcom's latest tech it looks very impressive, though the rain effects are a little weird in how pronounced they seem. The action though is the highlight with new takedown moves and what looks to be a faster pace for Leon's movement.