The legendary Billy and Jimmy Lee return as playable characters this summer!

Valencia, Calif. – April 25th, 2024 – LET’S GO, BROS! Independent game studio WayForward, in conjunction with Arc System Works, is thrilled to announce that the iconic stars of the Double Dragon franchise, Billy and Jimmy Lee, are joining the playable cast of open-world beat-’em-up River City Girls 2 as downloadable content. These legendary martial artists are busting out of their dojos and will hit the streets of River City on all platforms the game is currently available, including Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. This premium DLC is expected to arrive this summer.

Originally debuting in the 1987 smash-hit Double Dragon arcade game, Billy and Jimmy Lee have been two of the most requested playable characters in River City Girls 2 since the game’s debut. The twin brothers jump into action as distinctive fighters, each with a bone-shattering arsenal of punches, kicks, throws, and special attacks, including trademark moves from their past adventures, such as the spinning cyclone kick, rising knee, and much more. Both characters are also thoroughly integrated into River City Girls 2’s story mode, with full VO from returning voice actors Dan Avidan (Billy) and Arin Hanson (Jimmy) of the Game Grumps. The DLC also adds an epic new vocal song performed by Hanson and Avidan (with music by series composer Megan McDuffee), plus a new dojo master to stand in for Billy and Jimmy while they’re out bustin’ heads.

In addition to the premium content, a free update will be made available to all River City Girls 2 owners, delivering an all-new Double Dragon-themed motion comic, two new shops, new accessories, and more. Further details on this content will be revealed closer to the DLC’s release.

These new inclusions are on top of River City Girls 2’s already robust combat and deep feature set, which includes six existing playable characters, a vast world with eight distinct regions, four-player co-op, online gameplay, numerous weapons, personality-packed bosses, RPG-like character growth, recruits that assist you in battle, dozens of items and accessories to buy and equip, spectacular pixel-art graphics, an anime-style intro, and a critically acclaimed soundtrack. River City Girls 2 launched digitally in December 2022, following the release of the first River City Girls in September 2019 and River City Girls Zero (a localized version of 16-bit classic Shin Nekketsu Koha: Kunio-tachi no Banka) in February 2022. For more information on the River City Girls series, please visit www.wayforward.com and follow @wayforward on Twitter and Facebook.

About WayForward

Based in Valencia, California, WayForward was founded in 1990 and has remained an independent game developer for more than 30 years. It is home to many talented individuals including programmers, environment artists, animators, modelers, illustrators, audio wizards, designers, and team leaders. With new avenues for distributing games directly to fans, they are finally able to make the games they have always wanted to.

About Arc System Works

Arc System Works is a developer and fighting game specialist from Japan – best known for the Guilty Gear series of games and, more recently, the BlazBlue series – that has garnered international critical acclaim for its innovative fighting system and spectacular 2D artwork. For more information, please visit the official website at www.arcsystemworks.com.

Nice Dream Games’ new innovative narrative adventure announced as part of the 2024 Tribeca Festival

LOS ANGELES – April 25, 2024 – Skybound Games and Nice Dream, the Los Angeles-based studio recently founded by the co-creators of the BAFTA Award-winning Before Your Eyes, are thrilled to announce their latest collaborative project: Goodnight Universe. The newly revealed title will take part in this year’s Tribeca Games Festival, part of the Tribeca Film Festival.

In the narrative adventure Goodnight Universe, you’ll play as Isaac, a six-month-old baby developing mysterious psychic abilities. What you want most is to be loved and accepted by your family, but a secretive tech corporation wants you for their own. The game will also feature an immersive “face-tracking” mode, expanding on the innovative use of camera-based technology that the team is known for. 

Nice Dream was founded by childhood friends and developers Graham Parkes and Oliver Lewin, who served as writers and directors on Before Your Eyes, also published by Skybound Games. The studio is a natural progression for the duo, whose talents have proven that gamers crave a unique form of storytelling that can only be found through interactivity.

“The success of Before Your Eyes showed us that there is an audience of like-minded people out there who seek out games to emotionally engage them in ways other mediums simply can’t,” said Parkes. “We founded Nice Dream Games to continue to make games for that audience, which push the limits of what interactive storytelling can do.”

Before Your Eyes debuted on PC in 2021 before coming to mobile via Netflix, as well as VR as part of PlayStation VR2’s launch slate. The title won the Game Beyond Entertainment prize at the BAFTA Awards. It was also nominated in the Games for Impact category at The Game Awards, as well as for Best Narrative at the DICE Awards.

A “spiritual follow-up” to Before Your Eyes with a sci-fi twist, Goodnight Universe will fuse impactful storytelling with mechanics that push the boundaries of interactive entertainment. The Nice Dream team reunites numerous notable talents behind Before Your Eyes while bolstering the roster with new foundational additions to the studio’s growth.

“We are so excited to work with Graham and Oliver and the talented team behind Nice Dream Games again. We are incredible admirers of their creative use of technology to deliver first-of-its-kind gaming experiences,” said Ian Howe, Managing Partner of Skybound Games. “Both Skybound and Nice Dream are dedicated to bringing compelling stories to everyone and feel that interactive entertainment is a medium capable of conveying powerful stories that can’t be told any other way. Before Your Eyes is a prime example of this, and Goodnight Universe is shaping up to be yet another boundary-breaking video game.”

For more information about Goodnight Universe, follow Nice Dream Games on X, Instagram and Discord.

About Nice Dream Games

Nice Dream is a Los Angeles-based independent game development studio from the creators of the BAFTA Award-winning game Before Your Eyes. Founded by childhood friends, the team is built around a mission to craft games that pursue storytelling and innovation in equal measure, to broaden the narrative potential of video games.

About Skybound Games

Skybound Games publishes, produces, and distributes video games across every genre, including the blockbuster The Walking Dead video game series and BAFTA award-winning Before Your Eyes. In November 2023, we launched our first original game in the Invincible universe, Invincible Presents: Atom Eve, to critical acclaim. In 2024, Skybound will build a cutting-edge in-house gaming production studio, further enhancing our capacity to shape the future of gaming entertainment. Skybound Games is a part of Skybound Entertainment, a creator-first company focused on bringing amazing comics, TV series, audio series, film, and video games to dedicated fans.

Jaeger and Kaiju battle once again, now in pinball form, coming May 16!

SAN FRANCISCO – April 25, 2024 – Go big or go extinct. Prime your senses for a neural handshake and step into the cockpit of a Jaeger. It is on you to cancel the apocalypse when Pacific Rim Pinball comes to Pinball FX on May 16!

Play through all the excitement of the first Pacific Rim movie and use your pinball skills to strengthen the link between Raleigh and Mako while resisting the double event of Leatherback and Otachi – if you can get the ball to the bumpers you may even drift with the Kaiju! Wield those flippers well and you might even overload the reactor of Gipsy Danger and seal the Breach once and for all.

“The scale and the stakes are always big in Legendary Entertainment’s franchises,” said Mel Kirk, COO of Zen Studios. “Translating the epic action of the film into the confines of a pinball cabinet proved quite the challenge, and we might have failed – this pinball experience will burst out of the machine and your screen!”

Pacific Rim Pinball becomes available May 16 for Windows PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, as well as on PlayStation 5|4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

For more information and updates, visit zenstudios.com.

‘Pinball FX’ is a trademark of Zen Studios, Ltd. Game code © 2007-2024 Zen Studios, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

About Zen Studios

Zen Studios is a leading global producer and publisher of interactive entertainment software for all major digital game platforms. Recognized as one of the premier gaming studios in the world, Zen has worked with some of the most iconic entertainment studios, including Lucasfilm, Marvel Entertainment, NBC Universal, and FOX Digital Entertainment.

Zen’s Pinball FX franchise has defined video game pinball excellence since 2007, and critically acclaimed titles like Circus Electrique and Operencia: The Stolen Sun have proven their devotion to creating captivating RPGs. For more information on Zen’s library of titles, visit zenstudios.com.

About Legendary Entertainment

Legendary Entertainment is a leading media company with film (Legendary Pictures), television and digital (Legendary Television and Digital Media) and comics (Legendary Comics) divisions dedicated to owning, producing and delivering content to worldwide audiences. Legendary has built a library of marquee media properties and has established itself as a trusted brand which consistently delivers high-quality, commercial entertainment including some of the world’s most popular intellectual property. In aggregate, Legendary Pictures-associated productions have realized grosses of nearly $20 billion worldwide at the box office. To learn more visit: www.legendary.com.

About Embracer Group

Embracer Group is a global Group of creative and entrepreneurial businesses in PC, console, mobile and board games and other related media. The Group has an extensive catalog of over 900 owned or controlled franchises. With its head office based in Karlstad, Sweden, Embracer Group has a global presence through its eleven operative groups: THQ Nordic, PLAION, Coffee Stain, Amplifier Game Invest, DECA Games, Gearbox Entertainment, Easybrain, Asmodee, Dark Horse, Freemode and Crystal Dynamics – Eidos. The Group has 111 internal game development studios and is engaging more than 12,000 employees in more than 40 countries.

Embracer Group’s shares are publicly listed on Nasdaq Stockholm under the ticker EMBRAC B.

Join The Foreigner and explore the depths of the Underground in Firenut Games dark fantasy adventure game.  

Spain – 25th April 2024. Publisher Firenut Games and developer Trigger the Monster are thrilled to announce the release of S.O.L Search of Light a steampunk / dark fantasy adventure game that also introduces resource management, narrative mechanics, and tower defense into the gameplay. S.O.L Search of Light is available via digital stores today for PC via Steam, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch for £19.99GBP/$19.99USD/€19.99EUR with a limited-time 10% discount on Steam. 

Watch the S.O.L Search of Light Out Now trailer below:

Play as The Foreigner, the enigmatic main character who must ascend through levels of the Underground to reveal the mysteries hidden on the surface. To achieve his goals, The Foreigner must rely solely on his ingenuity and the help of the domestic robots that work as assistants to the remaining inhabitants of the Underground. 

By exploring the dark environment of the Underground, The Foreigner will discover new resources to fortify his village against the hordes of enemies that attack your base every ‘night’. Defend, improve, explore and discover the truth behind the mysteries of this dark narrative. 

Features of S.O.L Search of Light

• Tower-Defense – Hordes of enemies will attack your base, so you must use your domestic robots to help you gather resources to fortify and improve your base little by little. 
• Customisation – Improve and customise your character by using different resources and random objects that will discover by exploring the Underground. Each time you play will be a fresh gameplay experience. 
• Exploration – The Underground allows you to choose your own way as you hunt for resources to improve your base and your character. But be careful, as you will face different randomly generated puzzles, traps and enemies that stand between you and the valuable resources you need. 

S.O.L Search of Light is out today for PC via Steam, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch for £19.99GBP/$19.99USD/€19.99EUR. 

###

About Firenut Games 

Firenut Games is a European video game publishing company for PC and Consoles that aims to support great talents and launch video games with a unique essence. Our philosophy is to produce video games focused on gamers.

New Update Brings Lots of new Content and Updates Together with a 50% Discount on Steam

25.04.2024, Earth/Europe, Jupiter/Europa – The notorious co-op hit Barotrauma is one of those games where playing the villain is quite enjoyable. And with the new update even more so: The overarching theme of today’s Blood in the Water-update is that various systems and gameplay-elements get more difficult, and also customizable in many new ways. The game is also on an active 50% discount at Steam. With all the content updates since its release last year, this is now the perfect opportunity to grab your dearest co-op enemies and create some beautiful, nuclear and sinister havoc. Trust us: there will be blood in the water. 

But let’s talk about the update itself: Blood in the Water will allow new players to get familiar with the game, while providing added difficulty for veteran players. Besides additional difficulty options, the update adds new content to Barotrauma: Two new monsters, and with them a more aggressive behaviour for all monsters, an event system overhaul, medical system rework and many more. An in-depth list of changes and additions is available on the Barotrauma-Website.

Need a refresher on Barotrauma? Watch our 1.0 release video and explainer here:

Barotrauma is a 2D co-op submarine simulator set on Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter, featuring survival horror and RPG elements. The game has multiplayer as well as single player capabilities and a very active community with more than 2.5 million people owning the game. Barotrauma is known and loved for the amount of freedom and complexity it grants, especially in its well-balanced, sometimes hilariously chaotic multiplayer mode.

About FakeFish and Undertow Games

Barotrauma, an underwater, outer-space game of teamwork and ever-present Danger, reached 1.0 in March 2023 after several years in early access on Steam, and continues to receive regular updates. Embracing mod-ability and open development, Barotrauma is built in close communication with its players, and its Steam Workshop hosts over 50,000 fan creations. Barotrauma began as a freely downloadable project by Undertow Games, the solo developer of the free open-source horror game SCP – Containment Breach. Later, the award-winning fellow indie studio FakeFish joined the project with their team of industry veterans and fresh talents to launch Barotrauma on Steam. Based in Turku, Finland, the joint studio continues to support Barotrauma with further updates while also developing future game titles.

About Daedalic Entertainment

Daedalic Entertainment is a renowned publisher supporting indie developers  for over 17 years, bringing their titles to  every major gaming platform. The line-up of games is comprised of a diverse variety of unique titles, focusing on 4 distinct areas: story-telling, strategy, co-op-games, and wholesome games. With an international team of around 45 employees, Daedalic is currently working with various development studios to create a new line-up of innovative games across consoles and PCs to market. Recent hits include New Cycle, Barotrauma, Unrailed!, Potion Tycoon, Deponia, Shadow Tactics, Inkulinati, Hidden Deep, Fling to the Finish! and more. In regards to future titles please look out for upcoming games like Reveil, Capes, Woodo, Magin: The Rat Project Stories, Edge of Sanity, Wild Woods, and many more. Since April 2022 Daedalic Entertainment has been  a subsidiary of the French publishing house Nacon.

Neon-lit arcades, nostalgic trips down memory lane, all in a VR headset near you!

Watford, United Kingdom — April 25th, 2024 |  Arcade Paradise VR, the highly anticipated VR adaptation of the console classic, is out now! Taking players on an empowering journey from virtual rags to arcade riches, they will transform the decrepit ‘King Wash’ Laundromat into a thriving arcade business! Alongside this, the ‘Out of this World’ Jukebox Expansion, featuring a whole host of tracks inspired by the 90’s era, is set to release later this year.

Under neon lights, players can immerse themselves in a world gone by as they step into a virtual reality like no other. Strapping on a headset will be like putting on a time machine, as they craft their very own arcade, chock full of titles that have been specifically created to be experienced in VR. 

Arcade Paradise VR features 12 fully realised VR cabinets alongside 27 traditionally controlled games from the original release. From intense basketball action to games that will push players to the physical limit, Arcade Paradise VR will also include 6 new VR-specific titles – including the ‘Future Home: Enter Reality’ cabinet. 

Watch the Arcade Paradise VR Launch Trailer below:

“We are absolutely thrilled to announce the launch of Arcade Paradise VR on Meta Quest,” said Andreas Firnigl, CEO and Game Director at  Developer Nosebleed Interactive. “Arcade Paradise VR represents the culmination of our passion for pushing the boundaries of original games and showcasing what our talented development team can create. We’ve poured our hearts and souls into every aspect of the game, and we can’t wait for players to dive in and experience it for themselves”.

“We started our relationship with Nosebleed on the Switch version of Vostok Inc. They are a wild, creative bunch, and their values are similar to ours. In 2022 Arcade Paradise was released to critical acclaim, but the truth is we’d already started mapping out how to bring it to VR – it felt so right,” said Leo Zullo, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Publisher Wired Productions. “We’ve had a great campaign – we’ve seen creators and media love what we’ve shown so far and we can’t wait to celebrate with the team at Nosebleed come launch day!” 

Arcade Paradise VR launches today at 6pm BST/10am PT, you can purchase the game here. For more information, visit the Wired Website,  follow Arcade Paradise on Twitter / X, Wired Productions on Twitter / X, and Nosebleed Interactive on Twitter / X.

Players can wishlist all the games they have seen at Wired Direct ‘24 and also help celebrate Wired’s history of Indie innovation by checking out Wired Direct ‘24 on Steam.

##

About Wired Productions

Wired Productions is an independent video games publisher based in Watford, UK. Wired has produced and published award-winning titles across all major platforms and its games are curated to deliver on its mantra: ‘Driven by Passion.’ Bringing games to market in both physical and digital media, recent notable launches include: Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles, Tin Hearts, The Last Worker, Tiny Troopers: Global Ops, Arcade Paradise, Martha Is Dead, The Falconeer, and Deliver Us The Moon. Upcoming titles include Gori: Cuddly Carnage, Arcade Paradise VR and Hotel Architect.

About Nosebleed Interactive

Nosebleed Interactive is a multi-award-winning independent developer based in Newcastle upon Tyne, in the heart of the North East of England. After critical hits Vostok Inc. and Arcade Paradise, Nosebleed are working on Arcade Paradise VR as their next hit title.

The complete 19-song OST will be available as part of Heading Out’s Deluxe Edition, launching May 7 on Steam

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – April 25, 2024 – Don’t touch that dial! Saber Interactive and indie developer Serious Sim have released a new EP for Heading Out, the narrative-adventure driving game launching May 7 on Steam. Available to stream today on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube and more, the “Heading Out Soundtrack EP” features an eclectic mix of six original songs from the game’s full soundtrack, which will be included in the Heading Out – Deluxe Edition.

Heading Out EP: Listen Now

The complete Heading Out soundtrack features 19 original tracks ranging from folk and funk to hard rock and trip hop, covering the wide range of human emotions you’ll experience on your journey down America’s winding highways, including denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. The soundtrack will also be available for purchase individually on Steam as DLC.

Heading Out is a narrative adventure with roguelite elements inspired by cult-classic road movies like Thelma & Louise and Vanishing Point. It’s you, your car, and the road, as you take off down America’s cities, highways and backroads on an emotional trip of discovery blending white-knuckle racing, strategy and storytelling. Grab the wheel and choose your own route across the USA on an unpredictable thrill ride shaped by the decisions you make. It’s not about the destination – it’s about your journey.

Key Features

• Your Adventure: Each trip offers a unique balance of high-speed chases and races, treacherous hazards and challenges, and colorful characters and stories, brought to life with stylish graphic novel visuals. Outrun your fears and the law, pursue your dreams, and risk the consequences at the end of the road.
• Your Choices: Every journey is yours to define. Strategically plan out your route and resources in advance on the map, or hit the gas and fly by the seat of your pants. Each decision shapes the road ahead, including your narrative encounters, fuel consumption, car condition and wanted level.
• Your Legend: Your unique story unfolds with every pit stop across the heartland. Meet strangers, oddballs and lost souls who will influence your tale, but don’t linger too long – you’ve got to keep moving. Listen to radio hosts spread your myth to the people as it grows while an eclectic Americana soundtrack carries you down the horizon.

Heading Out launches on May 7 and is available to wishlist now on Steam. For more info, visit headingout.games, and follow the game on X and Facebook.

About Serious Sim

Serious Sim – skilled craftsmen who want to tell exceptional stories. Our games focus on humanism, inclusivity and important topics like responsibility or freedom.

We like to talk about difficult issues and work together to give them justice. We’re embracing uniqueness in all its glory! Our previous game – Radio Commander – was a bold move to redefine the genre in a mature way. It sold over 400k units. For more information, visit SeriousSim.net.

About Saber Interactive

Saber Interactive is a worldwide publisher and developer consisting of 13 studios in the Americas and Europe. Creating games for all major platforms based on original and licensed IPs, Saber’s titles include Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando, Jurassic Park: Survival, World War Z, SnowRunner, and Expeditions: A MudRunner Game. Founded in 2001, Saber is known for two decades of development partnerships with leading developers and publishers, including producing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for Nintendo Switch, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Crysis Remastered, and many others.  Learn more at https://saber.games.

ANGOULÊME, France — April 24, 2024 — Baladins, the whimsical tabletop RPG-inspired co-op fantasy developed by Seed by Seed and published by Armor Games Studios, embarks on a magical, time-sensitive journey on PC via Steam on May 15, 2024. Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5|4 versions will join the party at a later date!

Choose from five distinct classes — Cook, Pyro, Dancer, Luxomancer, and Bard — to rise as the hero of this combat-free narrative adventure in the magical world of Gatherac. Adventure alone or form a party of up to four in local and online co-op to spread joy across the land. But beware, Colobra the time-eating dragon lurks in the shadows ready to thwart the heroes’ plans.

Weave a wondrous tale through choice-based dialogue and dice rolls, witnessing various scenarios unfold depending on crucial decisions. Each combination of choices throughout questlines leads to a different outcome, making no two encounters the same!

Traverse the four regions of Gatherac — Mouliac, Hortegarde, Mercazon, and Lumensac — all full of countless areas to explore. Trek through the greenery of Cork Forest, or gaze in awe at the stunning Castle of Hortegarde. Encounter wonderfully quirky NPCs along the way, each with their own beliefs and desires. Fulfill various quests, resolve townsfolk’s disputes, and help them celebrate one another despite their differences!

Use action and movement points each turn to travel to new places, accomplish tasks like brewing potions or taking a nap, gain experience, and upgrade characteristics. At the end of six weeks, bear judgment from Colobra, who determines if the heroes’ actions from the previous loop satisfy its hunger for mirth and adventure. Fail to do so, and Colobra sends the adventurers back in time to start their journey anew!

“With Baladins, we want to provide a whimsical twist on the classic CRPG while making it as accessible as possible to genre newcomers,” said Dan McNeely, CEO & Founder of Armor Games Studios. “We encourage players to embark on this approachable and inclusive choose-your–own-story melding time loop mechanics with colorful, fantastical charm.”

Baladins arrives on PC via Steam on May 15, 2024 for $24.99 USD in English, French, and Japanese. For more information, follow Seed by Seed and Armor Games Studios on Twitter/X, and visit the official game website. Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5|4 versions will arrive at a later date.

About Seed By Seed

Seed by Seed is a French studio from Angoulême founded by eight friends. They launched their studio around their first project, a family-friendly, co-op adventure called Pile Up! Box by Box. Today they continue to build innovative games that are full of imagination, bring people together, and push boundaries for all kinds of players around the world.

Seed by Seed values ethical production. They respect their players and their team. Creating bonds is important to them, and they put that into practice in how they make and market their games.

About Armor Games Studios

From its roots as a popular portal for online gaming, Armor Games Studios is a publisher that aims to work directly with and help foster talented indie developers to create unique and engaging games of all types for all platforms. For more information, visit www.armorgamesstudios.com, and follow the company on Twitter @ArmorGameStudio.