🎮 Persona 4 Announcement, The Witcher 3 Might Get Another DLC and New Details About RE Requiem...
Persona 4 Announcement, The Witcher 3 Might Get Another DLC, New Details About RE Requiem, Sony Vows Not To Repeat Concord Disaster With Marathon and more!
Hello friends,
Today is June 24th 2025 and I hope you’ve had a great week 🙌
In today’s news:
🎮 Persona 4 Announcement
🎮 The Witcher 3 Might Get Another DLC
🎮 New Details About RE Requiem
🎮 Sony Vows Not To Repeat Concord Disaster With Marathon
⚡ Lightning Round!
🫡 True Tribute!
😄 Personal Update
All of this is brought to you in a 5 min format ⏲️
Let’s dig in!
🎮 Persona 4 Announcement
Another hugely anticipated game made its way to the Summer Games Fest this year, and it’s a remake of Persona 4!
Considering how successful Persona 3 Remake was, the remake of the 4th game was almost inevitable. So, Atlus and SEGA, after months of speculations, finally decided to show the people something. The teaser itself is quite brief and unfortunately doesn’t show much, but this is at least a confirmation that everybody was waiting for, that the game is indeed happening.
Fortunately for all of us, the game will be released on PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. However, there is no information available at this time regarding the timing of this release, with Atlus promising to share more details about the game in the coming months.
While I love Persona 5, I still haven’t played all the other games in the series, which is quite a miss on my part. With that said, I’m still looking forward to Persona 4, as according to some of my friends who are huge fans of the entire franchise, it’s just as good as 5 or 3.
What are your thoughts on this remake announcement?
🎮 The Witcher 3 Might Get Another DLC
I’m getting a little tired of saying this, but according to MP1st, CDPR is working on a third major DLC expansion for the beloved Witcher 3 while everybody has their eyes on the 4th.
The information originally surfaced by Polish podcasters Rock and Boris, and since then was confirmed by several other sources. The DLC was outsourced to a different company and will continue where Hearts of Stone and Blood & Wine left off.
From the information we have collected, it turns out that the announced, mysterious project by CD Projekt Red, made by Fool’s Theory, is a story DLC for The Witcher 3. This is confirmed information from several independent sources.
What we know is that this is a DLC for The Witcher 3. Based on one piece of information, I can’t confirm it any further, but the earliest it could be is in the future year. We also more or less know the order of the releases: first, mods for consoles, then the DLC for The Witcher 3, then The Witcher 4, and finally, the remake of The Witcher 1.
That being said, CDPR has yet to officially confirm this rumour.
This, in combination with some rumours about The Witcher 1 remake, got me very excited! I wonder if this is the part where they explain what happened to Ciri between the end of The Witcher 3 and the start of The Witcher 4. Maybe we’ll see the Trial of Grasses, or maybe the final chapter in the story of Geralt and some teasers of what to expect from the next game. Whatever it is, I’m looking forward to it!
What do you think is going to happen in this new DLC?
🎮 New Details About RE Requiem
With the floodgates of Resident Evil 9 (or Requiem) being opened now, new updates just keep coming. For example, according to IGN, which managed to see some gameplay during a behind-closed-doors presentation at Play Days, the game will be playable at both first and third-person perspectives.
According to the outlet, while the majority of the gameplay they saw was in first-person, at the very end, they saw a pause menu open with the option to toggle between the two.
The rest of the gameplay we saw at the showcase was very, very familiar Resident Evil. We got to watch the new protagonist, Grace Ashcroft, pick up where the reveal trailer left off — strapped to a gurney in an old, decrepit hospital. We watched her escape and slowly explore the abandoned building, finding Resident Evil staple items like a lighter, a screwdriver, and a fuse that helped her progress, and eventually running into a few messed-up looking creatures that chased her around as she tried to escape.
The only thing they didn’t see was Leon Kennedy, which many fans speculate might be the actual main protagonist of this game, with other characters contributing to the main plot.
Honestly, this is a bit of relief for me. This is no secret that I’m a huge fan of the third-person perspective, and I generally prefer my games that way. So, I’m glad they’ve decided to make that change, even if the game would be more action than horror. I’m also looking forward to discover more about it and to see how different it would be in comparison with previous games, honestly hoping that they would pick a lane by that point instead of jumping from one set of stories to the next…
What would you prefer for a RE game? 3rd person or 1st?
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🎮 Sony Vows Not To Repeat Concord Disaster With Marathon
Among other things, Sony finally acknowledged that their upcoming live-service game with Bungie is getting some “varied” feedback, but with that, they vowed to address everything and promised they are not going to repeat the mistakes of the infamous Concord.
Marathon already had a rocky start to say the least. There have been multiple allegations from various artists that their art was used in the game without Bungie either paying them or giving them credit, and according to Sony’s CEO, the most recent Alpha test feedback wasn’t all great. That’s why Hermen Hulst decided to address some of the questions personally during an investor-focused interview.
Live service, we really see that as a great opportunity for us. But with this great opportunity are some unique challenges associated. We talked about some early success as with Helldivers 2. We’ve also faced some challenges, as with the release of Concord.
As I said earlier, we’ve introduced much more rigorous processes for validating, for re-validating, our creative, our commercial, our development assumptions and hypotheses, and we now do that on a much more ongoing basis. That’s the plan that will ensure we are investing in the right opportunities at the right time, all while maintaining much more predictable timelines.
For Marathon, it’s our goal to release a very bold, very innovative, and deeply engaging title. It’s going to be the first new Bungie title in over a decade. So we’re really excited for that release. We’re monitoring, we’re going through the test cycles. We’re monitoring the closed alpha cycle the team has just gone through. We’re taking all the lessons learned, we’re using the capabilities we’ve built and analytics and user testing to understand how audiences are engaging with the title.
Some of that feedback, frankly, has been varied. But it’s super useful. That’s why you do this testing. The constant testing, the constant re-validation of assumptions that we just talked about, to me is just so valuable to iterate and to constantly improve the title, so when launch comes, we’re going to give the title the optimal chance of success.
Looks like they really are putting all their eggs in this basket. Personally, I don’t know if it’s the right move since everything that I saw about Marathon doesn’t really sound all that amazing, and I’m feeling about this game somewhat the same as I’ve felt about Concord. Everybody is doing their extraction shooter, which means that we will have the same situation as we had with MOBAs and Battle Royales. We are going to have a few games dominating the genre, and then we are going to have hundreds of mediocre copies that nobody is playing. Of course, Marathon could be the next big thing, but somehow I still doubt that it’s going to dethrone Tarkov, for example…
What are your thoughts on Marathon?
⚡ Lightning Round!
1…2…3…Go!
🎮 Killer Inn Announcement
Just a few more surprises left from Summer Game Fest, and this time it’s from Square Enix with a brand new IP - Killer Inn.
Surprisingly, it’s a multiplayer game for 24 people with a murder mystery action, of all things. According to the official information:
24 of you will take part in this one-night-only murder mystery game. Some of you will take on the role of wolves, while the rest play as lambs.
Wolves must disguise themselves amongst the lambs, hiding their true nature as they wait for the right moment to strike. But do not fret dear lambs, the numbers favor your side.
Lambs collect clues—such as hair, fingerprints, and fragments of clothing—left behind at the scene of the crime, using them to identify and eliminate the wolves responsible.
Kind of an interesting choice of direction here, and a very confusing gameplay, to be honest. Honestly, I’m a bit sceptical about it, but I’ll let you judge for yourself when you see the trailer.
🎮 Jurassic World 3: Evolution Unveiled
This one, however, is a proven quality. Frontier Developments is back with another Jurassic World game showcased during Summer Game Fest. And with a set release date of October 21st 2025.
The next entry in the award-winning series, Jurassic World Evolution 3 puts you in control of building and running your very own Jurassic World.
Help life find a way by synthesising, breeding, and nurturing prehistoric species. Manage each species and allow them to thrive, while helping your dinosaurs raise families and pass their genes onto future generations.
Create incredible havens for your dinosaurs to help them flourish, build exciting new attractions to amaze guests, and maintain control when disaster inevitably strikes.
Based on the description of the game, it looks like the same game they did twice already, but with even more content, new tools and dinosaurs, and of course new campaign.
To be honest, I skipped the second part, but I’ve been meaning to get back to it. Looks like now I don’t have to, I just need to wait till October for the new one 😅
🎮 “Nobody is Interested In Playing A Game Made with AI”
Following up on Tim Sweeney’s position that soon AI will be able to help small studios make Zelda-level games, Insider Gaming chatted about AI with Neil Newbon at the BAFTA Games Awards.
I think the point is making awareness of it and saying it’s absolutely not cool, that is a big part of the fight, because ultimately, it comes down to the consumer of the games, the player of the games. Are they going to be as satifsifed with really substandard performances, because I personally think that narrative is the same as gameplay now.
Back in the day, the gameplay was the thing, narrative was sort of shoved in there a little bit, not always but a lot of the time. Now, I think that people have the appetite for great narrative as well as great gameplay, but I think that’s a big part of defending against misuse of AI, because people just don’t want it, ultimately.
Some of the people I’ve spoken to, nobody is interested in playing a game that’s made by AI.
I’m not sure I agree with Neil 100%, but I agree that some areas of game development should be protected against the misuse of AI.
What do you think?
🫡 True Tribute!
Today I wanted to salute
and !
As usual,
brings another great analysis of the beloved franchise to the table. I haven’t seen Bad Batch yet, but I do love both Captain Rex and Cody. I kind of expected Rex to win the prize, as Cody is somewhat underrepresented in all the shows and movies, but because he almost killed Obi-Wan, I agree with this ranking 😅😄 Personal Update
While we are still working on getting ready for the release date for Bounce, I found myself again in a situation where I don’t know what to play next 😅
Fortunately, the Steam Summer Sale will start quite soon, and I’m looking forward to buying some stuff. Surprisingly, the first thing on my list is DLCs for Warhammer 3. My friend gifted me this game a while ago, but I only recently started really getting into it.
At first, this game looked very intimidating, but it gets easier every time I play it. The only thing is that I honestly despise Creative Assembly for their monetisation strategy with this game. I get what they are trying to do, but it’s just abysmal. I checked, and buying all DLCs (and only DLCs) for this game without any sales would cost me about 400 Canadian dollars. How is this normal? And the worst part is that they are not the only ones who are doing this sort of thing, releasing a base game with a bare minimum of content and then releasing dozens of DLCs for you to buy…
This makes me want to cry.
This is all the news I have for you folks today.
Thanks for making it this far! 🙌
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Have a great week!
Alex from Gamedev Relay.
Okay, thanks for reminding me about the Steam summer sale. I think I will pivot Fridays post to include games to pick up for this sale.
The AI in gaming is the same dilemma every industry is facing.
Does it make life easier? Then use it.
Does it harm workers by doing so, then lets find out how to mitigate this.
Blanket statements of gamers don't want AI in gaming doesn't help anyone. It's more of a gaming culture issue. AI isn't going anywhere, and the real question is: how do we work together with it rather than resist it causing more friction.
The debate surrounding the use of AI in game dev is starting to look like a Donald Trump speech about wondering why people hate Russia and not Germany or Japan. Long story short: It sounds like bullshit.
Let me clear things up for those of you who want to listen:
- AI is a tool. Whether you want it or not, it will stay. And for the most part, it is a good thing.
- Yes, teams are too big. And AI helps keep it down. That's not a bad thing. The larger the staff, the higher the amount of salaries that need to be paid, and the greater the risk if a game fails. A smaller team means "few-ish" salaries, which means games won't have to fight for tremendous successes to survive.
- Layoffs did not start with AI. They were there before, and it all comes down to risk management. And risk management is all about money. And if you don't have the money because you cannot earn it fair and square on making games, then how the hell are you going to pay those salaries? The fact that we have layoffs is a result of a greedy and insultingly stupid pandemic of over-employment by companies that wanted to earn more but needed more people. Now they not only don't earn more, but they also have salaries to pay. And they don't earn the money to pay them.
- I'm not saying these people should work lose work. If it were up to me, I would just divide them into small teams that use AI and need to make money off their own new games. That could actually free up some creative spirit. Will that happen? I doubt it. Nobody up top thinks this way. They want to save money, not save lives. I say: save both.
- Yes, nobody wants to play a game made entirely by an AI. Or better yet, nobody wants AI to write the script. But you know what? Nobody wants to make a shit load of tasks crucial to finishing a game. Especially the game developers. They want tools to make this easy, so they can focus on the fun part of gamedev: the art, the game design, the script writing. This is what is not highlighted. What AI is actually used for, and what it can be used for?
- Yes, we should protect the artists. If we want to use AI for art, we should do it so that artists are protected. Training an AI in art generation requires large amounts of data and money, so it's definitely not going to be easy for indies to create a solution for that. But maybe someone can. Like companies that have a lot of money and want to save gamedev. Like Tim Sweeney? Gabe Newell? If the photo market could create stock photo galleries where artists can earn from subjecting their art for others to use, it should be possible to do it in gamedev as well.
Just remember, in most of those Terminator movies, the team consists of humans, and only one Terminator on the good side. That proportion will remain.