Summer is upon us, and the heat’s on the rise.. This year has already seen a number of great games, but there are still more to come. While July’s release slate isn’t packed with household names, there are more than a few titles you might recognize here.

We’ve got over 30 games that are coming out this month, so let’s get movin’.

Synapse – July 4

NDDREAMS LTD / PlayStation

Play it on: PS VR2 (VR only)
Genre: VR FPS

If you have a PS VR2 and are looking for a first-person shooter to flex its fancy new capabilities, you might want to check out Synapse. Not only does it feature typical FPS action,, it will let you control your telekinetic powers with the PS VR2’s newfangled eye tracking: Simply look at an object, pull a trigger, and boom, you throw it., Synapse sounds like a compelling VR experience. The game launches on July 4.

EchoBlade – July 5

Sunset Arctic Games / PlayStation

Play it on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch
Genre: First-person dungeon crawler

EchoBlade comes to consoles on July 5 (it initially launched on Steam in 2022). It simulates the experience of navigating a dungeon without being able to see. You’ll play as a knight who must echolocate their way through puzzles and combat.

City Limits – July 6

SpaceMyFriend / RPG Sekai

Play it on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch
Genre: Puzzle

Released on PC a year earlier, City Limits brings its chill, tile-based, city-constructing puzzle challenges to PlayStation, Xbox, and the Switch.

GYLT – July 6

Tequila Works / GameSpot

Play it on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Windows
Genre: Stealth, puzzle, and adventure

GYLT is surviving Stadia’s demise with a multiplatform release on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC on July 6. It features creepy monsters and stealthy gameplay.

Necrosmith – July 6

Alawar Premium

Play it on: PS5, Switch
Genre: RPG and strategy

Originally released on PC a year ago, Necrosmith is coming to Nintendo Switch and PlayStation on July 6. Necrosmith bills itself as “an indirect necromancer simulator,” in which you’ll collect body parts, use magic abilities, and survive against large gatherings of enemies.

Scarf – July 6

Uprising Studios / THQ Nordic

Play it on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One
Genre: Puzzle and platformer

Having been released a few years ago on PC, SCARF is coming to PlayStation and Xbox with its shapeshifting scarf, pretty music, and a variety of platforming and puzzle challenges.

Feeble Light – July 7

Panda Indie Studio / Games Asylum Trailers

Play it on: PS5, Switch, Windows
Genre: Shmup

Feeble Light is a neo-retro shoot ‘em up featuring three-tone pixel art and a vertical orientation. It launches on PlayStation, Switch, and PC on July 7.

Garlic – July 7

Sylph

Play it on: PS5, Switch
Genre: Platformer

Having lived on PC for a few years, Garlic will arrive on PlayStation and the Nintendo Switch on July 7. You’ll take on the role of an onion-headed boy on a quest to meet the Cyber Goddess. You know, normal onion-headed boy business.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie – July 7

Nihon Falcom / NIS America

Play it on: PS5, PS4, Switch, Windows
Genre: RPG

The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie is the latest in the story-heavy RPG series, following characters caught up in a post-war scenario. It features tactical combat and a procedurally generated dungeon to test your mettle. The Legend of Heroes: Trails Into Reverie releases on July 7.

Oxenfree II: Lost Signals – July 12

Night School Studio / Netflix

Play it on: PS5, PS4, Switch, Windows
Genre: Adventure

Oxenfree II is set five years after the first game. You’ll investigate strange radio frequencies that create wild, paranormal effects on the world. Your decisions affect various story outcomes, as well as relationships with other characters. Oxenfree II comes out on July 12.

Battle Bows – July 13

WIMO Games

Play it on: Meta Quest, Windows (VR only)
Genre: VR FPS

Battle Bows is a VR-only game on Steam and Quest with a very simple premise: Grab a bow and arrow and pop some sentient balloons! That might sound a little disturbing, but it does offer single-player and co-op challenges.

Gravity Circuit – July 13

Domesticated Ant Games / PlayStation

Play it on: PS5, PS4, Switch, Windows
Genre: Platformer

Gravity Circuit is a fast-looking retro-style action platformer that pits you against hostile robots. The game’s got a neat-lookin’ Transformers meets Mega Man style and some fun music. Gravity Circuit launches on July 13.

Testament: The Order of High Human – July 13

Fairyship Games / IGN

Play it on: Windows
Genre: First-person action adventure

Testament: The Order of High Human describes itself as an action-adventure game with some Metroidvania and RPG features. Combat implements include bows and arrows, swords, and magic. The game also features some puzzle and platforming elements. Testament: The Order of High Human launches on July 13.

Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg – July 13

Gust / PlayStation

Play it on: PS5, PS4, Switch, Windows (one day earlier)
Genre: RPG

If you’ve ever wondered about the Atelier games but weren’t sure where to start, you might want to check out this new remake of the first Atelier-series game. Originally released in 1997 on the PSX, you’ll take on the role of a failing alchemy student who is given a final chance to prove herself. Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg arrives on July 13.

Maniac Mechanics – July 13

4J Studios / Nintendo of America

Play it on: Nintendo Switch
Genre: Party

Maniac Mechanics is a four-player co-op party game in which you weave mechanical chaos across Octane Isle, building things, destroying things, and racing vehicles. Maniac Mechanics launches on July 13.

Exoprimal – July 14

Capcom

Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Windows
Genre: Co-op shooter

Folks have wanted a new dinosaur game from Capcom for a while. And while Exoprimal might not be the specific one we were looking for, it might yet prove to be fun in its own right. Join up with some friends and get ready to shoot hordes and hordes and hordes (and hordes) of dinosaurs. Exoprimal releases on July 14.

Jagged Alliance 3 – July 14

Haemimont Games / THQ Nordic

Play it on: Windows
Genre: Tactical RPG

In Jagged Alliance 3, you’ll set out to fight in tactical skirmishes in a post-apocalyptic world. It also features an RPG-based story that you’ll have influence over the outcome of. Will this finally be the quality sequel series fans have been waiting decades for? Jagged Alliance 3 arrives on July 14.

My Friendly Neighborhood – July 18

John Szymanski, Evan Szymanski / Ducky Dev

Play it on: Windows
Genre: FPS

Everyone told me I was wrong to suspect the worst of those damn tv puppets. If you’ve ever worried that, unsupervised, puppets for children’s TV shows would turn into murderous evildoers, My Friendly Neighborhood looks like it’ll validate you. The game launches on July 18.

Xenonauts 2 – July 18

Goldhack Interactive / IGN

Play it on: Windows
Genre: Tactical RPG

Xenonauts 2 is a globe-spanning strategy game that tasks you with handling an alien invasion of earth. The game is set in 2009 after an alternate history timeline that sees the Cold War still in effect. You’ll take on both aliens and human threats alike. Xenonauts arrives on July 18.

LISA: Definitive Edition – July 18

Serenity Forge / ID@Xbox

Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch
Genre: RPG

LISA: The Definitive Edition is an updated version of 2014’s memorable side-scrolling RPG set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The new version updates the visuals, as well as adds new enemies, narrative content, and music. LISA: The Definitive Edition launches on July 18.

Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening – July 20

Koe Tecmo

Play it on: PS5, PS4, Switch, Windows
Genre: Strategy

It’s time to get to work unifying Japan in Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening. The latest in a 40-year-old series of grand strategy games, Awakening lets you command armies at a massive scale and launches on July 20.

Pikmin 4 – July 21

Nintendo

Play it on: Nintendo Switch
Genre: Strategy

Pikmin 4 arrives on July 21, bringing with it brand-new features to the Nintendo franchise. This time, you’ll be able to venture out at night and there are even some elemental-based Pikmin you’ll need to use to tackle different puzzles and enemies.

Mr. Run and Jump – July 25

Graphite Lab / Atari

Play it on: PS5, Switch, Windows
Genre: Platformer

In Mr. Run and Jump you’ll be, uh, running and jumping! This neon-themed platformer features the typical maneuvers including jumping, dashing, and double jumps. You’ll also get a pet dog named Leap the Dog. Mr. Run and Jump launches on July 25.

Remnant 2 – July 25

Gunfire Games

Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows
Genre: Shooter

The sequel to Remnant: From Ashes, Remnant II’s July 25 release brings with it a new set of co-op shooter challenges that’ll have you be chasing ever-better loot, taking down vicious monsters in macabre worlds.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PC Release) – July 26

Insomniac Games / PlayStation

Play it on: Windows
Genre: Platformer

The latest in the ongoing Ratchet & Clank series, Rift Apart arrives on PC on July 26 with its dimension-hopping shenanigans. This Windows version will support 21:9, 32:9, and 48:9 monitor support as well as full DualSense controller features.

Arcadian Atlas – July 27

Twin Otter Studios / IGN

Play it on: Windows
Genre: Tactical RPG

If you’re in need of a tactical RPG fix, you might want to check out Arcadian Atlas when it launches on July 27 on PC. The game features a delightful art style that easily brings to mind Final Fantasy Tactics.

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons – July 27

Secret Base Pte Ltd / PlayStation

Play it on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, Windows
Genre: Action

199X was a good year, right? Well, get ready to go back to it with Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons on consoles and PC. Rise of the Dragons features local co-op and 13 different playable characters. Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons releases on July 27.

Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara – July 27

Chibig / GameTrailers

Play it on: PS5, PS4, Switch, Windows
Genre: Platformer

Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is a cute-looking platformer set on a collection of islands depicted in colorful levels. Koa releases on select consoles and PC on July 27.

Lunacy: Saint Rhodes – July 27

Stormling Studios / Iceberg Interactive

Play it on: Windows
Genre: Survival horror

Your family’s been murdered. Well, in Lunacy: Saint Rhodes, that is. Now you’ve got a flashlight and apparently no aversion to wandering around dark creepy areas. That means it’s time to get to work figuring out What Happened. Lunacy: Saint Rhodes hits PC on July 27.

The Expanse: A Telltale Series – July 27

Telltale

Play it on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Windows
Genre: Narrative

The Expanse: A Telltale Series sees you take on the role of the series’ best character, Camina Drummer as, yet again, the solar system is on the brink of war and complete political collapse. Hopefully that darn protomolecule doesn’t make things worse. Largely taking its stylings from the successful TV adaptation of James S.A. Corey’s novels, this has all the fast-paced ship combat, zero-g brawls, and solar system exploration this franchise has become known for.

Disney Illusion Island – July 28

Disney / Nintendo of America

Play it on: Nintendo Switch
Genre: Platormer

With a striking art style and Disney franchise characters, Disney Illusion Island offers up to four players an adventure featuring platforming, puzzle solving, and boss battles. You can play as Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, or Donald Duck. Disney Illusion Islands hits the Nintendo Switch on July 28.

F1 Manager 2023 – July 31

Frontier Developments / F1 Manager

Play it on: PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Windows
Genre: Racing Sim

The latest in the ongoing series of Formula 1 racers, F1 Manager 2023 pulls information from real races in “Race Replay,” a series-first feature that lets you play a role in some of this year’s most defining F1 races. F1 Manager 2023 hits select consoles and PC on July 21.

Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition – July 31

NightDive Studios / GameTrailers

Play it on: PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, Windows
Genre: FPS

Nightdive Studios sure loves bringing back classic shooters. This time, 1994’s Rise of the Triad sees its classic, sprite-based FPS action brought to the modern era with a level editor in addition to all the original episodes. Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition is due out on July 31.

And that’s a wrap for our epic list of games coming out this July. Which are you most likely to grab first?

Hunt: Showdown is oppressive to the extent that fear is oppressive, turning vines into snakes and the wind into spirits. But the game never lets you catch your breath and realize that the spider slithering up your leg is just a shadow, and the sudden darkness around you is no sign that you’re dying, but that sunset has come and gone without you noticing.

Even if you were entitled to a few seconds looks, the PvPvE first-person shooter makes sure that your every natural angst comes true. The 19th-century Louisiana bayou in which it is set is a sweltering, humid stage for betrayal and cosmic horror, and the bounty-hunting game’s new boss – she’s the fifth and first to be female. – Rotjaw only makes it more punishing. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be Hunt: Showdown, Developer Crytek told me in an email.

Hunt: Showdown’s first female boss

“If it’s not scary and you’re not nervous from the start of a game, [worrying] about other hunters and things that gnaw at night then it’s not Hunt,” said narrative director Richard Danksy.

Rotjaw is a biter by birth. The frighteningly sized alligator smacks its deadly mouth at you despite the twisted metal cage constricting it (she wears it more like a sundress than a lapel for her powerful, bloated body). She came with the game Tide of Shadows Live Eventwhich runs until August 23 and adds story content and new weapons.

But while Rotjaw is fresh meat, ever since Hunt was released in 2018, its developers “knew [a gator] was an essential element for the dark bayou setting we wanted to create,” says lead character artist Hugo Guerra.

The idea just needed to be refined. At first, “we struggled with the technical aspects of implementing Rotjaw within the confines of our game,” Guerra explains. Crytek was sure he wanted Rotjaw to be Hunt’s first “wild target”, meaning he wouldn’t be confined to an enclosed space. “compound” area like the existing bosses. “It added an extra level of complexity in terms of rigging and navigation.”

Finally, the team made a technical breakthrough in 2022. Rotjaw was able to start clinging to its final form after Crytek created “a quick mock-up that served as a proof of concept” and decided to “[dive] head first in development,” Guerra continues.

She didn’t have to struggle too much – some things about her were predetermined. “A good antagonist should fit well into Hunt’s core loop,” says design director Dennis Schwarz. “It’s not just about fighting them, it’s also about tracking them down and securing your[[[[bounty token reward, on which other players can try to kill you]. “Most of the drama of Hunt: Showdown takes place in its PvP elements, making bosses “first and foremost enablers and keepers of the world.” [bounty] everyone wants to claim.

Bosses “cannot be too easy, but also not too hard for players to kill. At the end of the day, […] coming up with a plan on how to extract their bounty is what matters,” continues Schwarz.

Fight Rotjaw

Hunters who find Rotjaw will quickly discover that she likes to bite. Then she likes to rip, bark, and send sky-blue electricity around her like she lives in a protective storm cloud, not a vulnerable stream of gray water.

She gently turns around after a few well-timed attacks, but those willing to read her story might feel bad about it. Rotjaw is “very motherly, nurturing and protective,” says Danksy. “We’ve never had a female target before, so the time seemed right to add one.”

A mutant alligator might not be your perfect mom, but her character model should inspire some empathy anyway. While Rotjaw only insidiously emerges at night or under a newly added sheet of rain from Hunt, players can still see the dull reflection of the shattered metal cage that failed to contain her, but weighed her down.

“Often we combine different elements in our monsters to create something new and fresh,” said art director Stefan Heinrich. “That’s where the idea for the cage came from, along with the partially rotten, skeletal appearance of the alligator. One can only imagine the kind of horrific experiences that were inflicted on this poor creature that filled her with so much rage.

When encountering, Rotjaw appears to have black holes for his eyes, but you can see them fill with sky-blue electricity if you get too close. Electricity crackles around its wide-open mouth as well, and the bayou heightens the danger. But you, his money-loving enemy, keep approaching.

Rotjaw’s been through some shit before. She is sensitive to it. So, as you work your way through Hunt: Showdown to find her first female target, make sure you don’t underestimate her. You could shed blood in its water.

Mars First Logistics, released last week in Early Access on Steam, is a game with a very simple setup. You drive little robot vehicles around the surface of Mars, do jobs for people, and those jobs require you to build your own cars (or whatever!) in a way that gets the job done.

Let’s say you get a contract where you have to transport a steel beam from one small Martian base to another. You open a nice little build screen – very reminiscent of LEGO instruction manuals – and, from a limited selection of parts, start building. You’ll need something to hold the steel, which can ideally transport it across the surface of Mars, and you’ll also need something to reposition the steel when you arrive for delivery.

So you do that – or at least something that you think will do – and you drive. And within 20 seconds you know you messed up. This little car is not going to transport anything anywhere, it’s a disaster, your wheels are spinning everywhere, the steel has fallen off and it’s not the first time in this game that you will come back and spend a lot of time at, the plank to drawing.

Mars First Logistics is, at its heart, a physical puzzle. If you’ve ever blasted a rocket off the Kerbal Space Program launch pad or driven a warped buggy off a cliff in Tears of the Kingdom, you’ll be right at home here. It’s not the challenge itself that you really want to master, but how that challenge is portrayed in a world that has an unforgiving awareness of its own gravity:

March First Logistics Steam Early Access Release Date Trailer

All that fuss, broken cars, and repeated failures could have been frustrating, but as the video above shows, Mars First Logistics is anything but. Thanks to a combination of its floating gravity, cheerful visuals, and – I can’t quantify this, so trust me – cute handling, playing it for periods of time is like being at the helm of a adorable little blooper reel, every jammed payload or spinning set of tires eliciting more of a “haha, we’ll get them next time” than a “fuck it, I hate that”.

Please note that I don’t mean to somehow belittle or dismiss the confusing Mars First Logistics references by just focusing on the fact that it’s funny (although, compared to the deeply unfunny standards of the game , it is a comic masterpiece). It’s funny because it’s so difficult, and that humor does a fantastic job of defusing the trial and error that could so easily have frustrated in a game like this. Even Tears of the Kingdom’s toughest boobies are a breeze compared to some of the challenges here, which don’t just take a lot of you to complete – delicately balancing an ever-staggering payload as you drive it over bumpy hills – but preparing for them in the first place.

You see, Mars First Logistics isn’t an open-ended sandbox game, it earns you that. You don’t start it with every tool at hand, every part available in unlimited quantities. You get money for doing courier jobs, and then you can spend that money to unlock more coins. So there’s an economy in play, allowing you to focus on what kind of vehicles you want to build and how fancy you want to make them.

I found myself spending most of my time not in the game’s open world but in its LEGO-like building screen, endlessly tinkering with wheels, control arms and servos that can be arranged just like you like them, or at least like you think you can do a job.

It’s fun to play with and can allow for immensely precise creations, but I think the real joy of Mars First Logistics is that it doesn’t need you to be perfect. You can shoot it, sure, but ultimately you’re here to do a job, and as long as you do, the game is happy.

Take the steel beam job I mentioned above. I could have spent an age agonizing over the most economical and functional vehicle possible, which the game definitely allows for and a path some players might feel compelled to force themselves. What I ended up doing after a few hilarious failures, however, was creating a buggy that could just drag the beam precariously through the countryside, which worked as long as I drove very carefully.

A good video game would have forced me to make an economical and functional one. A really good one would allow me to do whatever I want. A good video game lets me do what I want and makes it fun while I mess it up.

By the time you reach Final Fantasy XVIafter a minimum of 35 hours, protagonist Clive Rosfield can call upon the power of eight different magical beings called Eikons, each the guardian of a specific element. Phoenix fire offers several different ways to scorch enemies, and Shiva’s ice can freeze them solidly. But if you want to be ready for what awaits you in the endgame, you’ll need to prepare with a very specific build. In fact, it’s such a good build that you can take it in pretty much any encounter, whether it’s a high-level hunt or a side quest.

Some Eikon abilities are great for crowd control. Others are great for single target damage. Therefore, the best abilities for a given battle depend on what you will encounter. Without spoiling too much, the final gauntlet of battles is against a single target that’s roughly Clive’s size. It is therefore similar to the fights against Lord Commander Sleipnir of the Kingdom of Waloed or the battle against Odin’s Dominant, Barnabus Tharmr. As such, the best kit is going to focus on counter attacks and single target damage.

With all that in mind, here are the Eikons you’ll want to channel:

If you’ve upgraded all of the best Eikonic abilities enough, you’ll be able to equip them regardless of which three Eikons you channel (or equip). The only reason you would channel any Eikon is to take advantage of his Eikonic Feat, the innate feature like Phoenix Shift teleportation.

Channeling Titan is a must, especially against single enemy fights so you can take advantage of the innate Eikonic Feat Titanic block. Tapping the circle at the right time triggers a precision block that launches a three-hit counterattack that fills up Clive’s Limit Break gauge at an accelerated rate and deals a solid amount of damage.

Learn more: Final Fantasy XVI: 8 useful settings to adjust for the best experience

With Arm of Darkness, the circle button allows Clive to wield Odin’s sword. All attacks charge the Zantetsuken gauge to be an ultimate attack that slows down time and deals a lot of damage.

These are the Eikonic abilities you want:

PulseAir BlastRising FlamesRanging FistsGigaflareDancing Steel

Bahamut’s Pulse has great DPS bonus potential as it sends out multiple spheres that track targets and deal continuous damage, and it has a very reasonable cooldown. Whether you’re going up against a crowd of enemies or a boss, it’s a solid choice. Garuda’s airburst summons a tornado that deals a massive amount of Willpower damage, so it will stun enemies faster than anything else and stalk enemies…just like Impulse!

Phoenix’s Rising Flames is a must-have for any build at any stage of the game. Although its damage is lacking compared to most other abilities, it has one of the shortest cooldowns of any attack and is easy to land. Spam it as often as possible between regular attacks. Titan’s Raging Fists is a good game to pair with Rising Flames as it has a modest cooldown that is reduced by 50% if you execute a well-timed block against enemy attacks. In theory, if you time your blocks well, you should be able to spam both of these attacks. And that gives you a counterattack option on two of your three Eikon channels.

Odin’s Dancing Steel is an excellent ability that summons twin blades for a flurry of attacks that charge the Zantetsuken Gauge. So you’ll want to channel Odin so you can capitalize on access to Zantetsuken, part of his Eikonic feat which deals a huge amount of damage with two powerful slashes. Gigaflare is by far the absolute best Eikonic ability. Not only does it get top marks in raw damage, but it also has a slowing effect while Clive summons wings of Bahamut and blasts enemies in a straight line with a massive beam of energy.

Final Fantasy Gear You’ll Need Bahamut’s Mercy – Reduces Gigaflare cooldown by 6.0 seconds. Genji Gloves – Increases damage dealt to enemies by 5%. Berserker Ring – Temporarily increases attack skill with each precision dodge.

Gigaflare’s big downside is its long cooldown, so equipping Bahamut’s Mercy mitigates that significantly. It’s a reward for completing the “A Tail to Tell” quest, in which you find a flower for Harpocrates to give to Dion at the very end of the game.

Increasing all damage by 5% with the Genji Gloves is also better than pretty much any other damage increasing accessory. (Most of them increase the damage of a single ability by 10%.) This one is a reward for reaching 2365 Renown at Boss’s Whisper, so if you miss out, complete more side quests and hunts until so that you can earn it from the NPC Désirée in the mess.

Learn more: 15 critical tips to know before playing Final Fantasy 16

The Berserker ring is also a great choice, as it improves attack skill with each successful precision dodge, something you’ll want to do constantly anyway. This is the first Patron’s Whisper reward at 85 fame. If there’s one item you can swap for something else, it’s this one.

The strategy to bring it all together in FF16

Always start with Aerial Blast then Impulse. This will deal a solid amount of Willpower damage that will cause the enemy to stagger. And, if necessary, use Titanic Block against any attack that comes your way.

Then it’s time to switch to Phoenix to use Rising Flames and go for a Raging Fists block. But as soon as that’s done, go straight to Odin and unleash Dancing Steel. This will recharge Zantetsuken a lot. If you were successful in staggering the enemy, now is the time to start blasting with Gigaflare. Otherwise, you might as well use Odin’s Arm of Darkness for a while, focusing on the Flash of Steel precision dodge counterattack and Steel Counter parry. (That’s where that Berserker Ring will come in handy.) Pop Zantetsuken as soon as it’s ready. And keep going through your abilities in this way.

You’d be hard pressed to find a more effective combat flow than this to handle just about anything Final Fantasy XVI can throw at you.

If you’ve been on the internet between December 2020 and now, you’ve probably heard of Cyberpunk 2077’s supposed revival. to the point that some people, maybe you included, are wondering if it’s time to jump on the Cyberpunk 2077 bandwagon, or if you should just wait for the September 26 release date. That’s a good question, and as someone who’s spent a few hundred hours in the original game, and already played a bit on the expansionI have ideas and can hopefully help you make an informed decision on when or whether to head to Night City.

What changes Phantom Liberty?

According to CD Projekt Red, Phantom Liberty is in the process of overhauling several systems in the base game, to the point where parts of it will play completely differently to not just the game as launched, but as it exists. now for almost three years and a few patches later. This includes new skill trees, new gear, new quest types, enemy type overhauls, new features like vehicular combat, and new tactics and tweaks to how the police react to your crimes. A lot of that is done by gutting the old game and putting something new in the space left behind. Your old version will likely require respec, and you’ll also have new options in those skill trees. Basically, as CD Projekt Red describes, your style of play will be quite different after Phantom Liberty launches.

What happens if I play Cyberpunk 2077 before these changes?

At this point, playing Cyberpunk 2077 before Phantom LIberty is playing a mostly upgraded version of the game that launched in 2020. Basically, the game is still the same as it was, but it’s held together by a better base. There’s an argument to be made this game cannot be recovered, even as CD Projekt Red has rolled out a ton of free patches and updates over the past three years. And to some extent, I agree with that. Having a game that crashes less doesn’t make its combat encounters more engaging, it doesn’t improve its rancid and cynical politics, and it doesn’t make Night City feel like more than a very, very pretty skyline. of the city that beckons toward possibilities it cannot realize. But Phantom Liberty seems like a serious attempt to deliver on some of the mechanical promise the game had before launch.

Learn more: Your Cyberpunk 2077 love story will continue in Phantom Liberty

The skill tree changes alone made Cyberpunk 2077 a different game when I played it. I was given a build that most closely resembled something like Overwatch’s Genji, with dashes, deflecting bullets with my arm blades, and brutal finishes that gave me a reason to approach. I didn’t have as many options in the base version of the game. Whether these larger game ideas really come to fruition remains to be seen, but I’m more enthralled with the game offered by CD Projekt Red than the one I can play right now, and it’s coming from someone who somehow loves the base game as it exists today.

On top of that, you won’t have to pay for a lot of system changes, because they will be part of the main gamefor free, so the initial investment amount you’ll have to pay when you get started for what the studio is positioning as the best experience is much smaller than it will be if you buy the $30 Phantom Freedom before trying all these new changes.

What reason is there to play Cyberpunk 2077 now?

If for some reason you haven’t played Cyberpunk 2077 yet, knowing that a revised version of the game is just a few months away should be reason enough to give you pause before buying it now. But as someone who watched the game go from an absolute disaster to a mostly mundane RPG with a real heart beneath the rot has been fascinating. That’s what makes changes like the ones that Phantom Liberty promises to be interesting to watch, because I have the context of what 2077 once was to look back and distinguish how things changed and didn’t. have not changed. Truly, the story of Cyberpunk 2077 as a gem that needed polishing was one of the most gripping things about it. Wondering whether or not there’s merit to the story the internet loves to tell is as entertaining an experience as playing the game can be when it gets it right.

But if that’s not how you engage in video games, I see no reason to play Cyberpunk 2077 right now, when many of its fundamentals are going to be significantly changed in just a few months. If you’ve been waiting nearly three years to jump into Night City, an extra three months won’t hurt. If Phantom Liberty delivers on its promise of a revitalized game, ignorance of what it once was may be its own bliss. But while the video game industry continues to release games that look fundamentally different years later, Cyberpunk 2077 as a product is as compelling a tale as anything Night City offers.

But if you decide not to take that advice and jump into Cyberpunk 2077 anyway, be sure to check out Kotaku’s guides at quests to watchhow find love in night cityAnd general tips from someone who has played the game more than once.

Like moths to a bright, roaring flame, anime fans are drawn to heroes who share the same unwavering quality as Attack on Titan’s Eren Jaeger: a willingness to commit unspeakable acts of violence in the name of their own freedom. But often fans don’t understand that sometimes cartoons with non-violent stories can be just as meaningful and exciting. That’s why I found it so vexing that fans who once celebrated the violence in Vinland Saga, a series that shares animation studios Mappa and Wit with AoT, are abandoning the series altogether because the “farming arc” of its second season is not as flashy and violent as its first season. While many of those who dropped out of the show argue that the anime “fell” because Vinland Saga doesn’t have as much action as it did in its first season, the show’s aversion to violence is what makes it one of the best anime of the year.

Learn more: The 30 Best Anime Of The Decade, Ranked

The second season of Vinland Saga sees the fearsome Viking warrior Thorfinn plowing the land of a wealthy man’s farm as a slave. During his enslavement, Thorfinn realizes a heartbreaking truth: the long road of men he slaughtered in an effort to avenge his father’s death led to his downfall.

Thorfinn might have had that dog in him in season one, but when we reunite with the viking spitfire, we see he’s become a shell of the terrifying fighter he once was. His rebellious nature is dead. His eyes are more sullen. His body is fragile. The Pyrrhic victory of witnessing his mentor and the man who killed his father, Askeladd, to die at the hands of another man defeated his will to live. But what troubles Thorfinn more than anything else is that he feels he doesn’t deserve to live a life where he can atone for his acts of violence against others.

Crunchyroll collection

While working for his freedom, Thorfinn is surrounded by fellow slaves who have suffered as much as he has. But unlike them, Thorfinn’s baggage is all the heavier because even in his dreams he is haunted by the corpses of warriors and civilians who desperately ask why he had to kill them. In the past, Thorfinn could justify his violence as a way to curry favor with Askeladd and earn another opportunity to kill himself in a duel. Now Thorfinn isn’t even sure he can explain why he mindlessly murdered so many people.

Thorfinn is far from the only person on Ketil’s farm to have suffered. His fellow slaves Einar (who is also his best friend) and Arnheid have endured as much if not more than Thorfinn, because violent men like him are the reason they are slaves in the first place. Einar and Arnheid both saw loved ones murdered by bloodthirsty vikings.

While the bloodshed works as a reason why Einar and Arnheid despise war, such atrocities for vikings like Thorfinn were never a bad thing at all. Alternatively, the war for the Norsemen serves as a proving ground where the victors reap the spoils on the merit of how many people they have slaughtered and sold, or compete for the death of a warrior who would allow them to enter the Valhalla. This self-destructive mentality is something perpetuated by anime protagonists in shows that cover similar thematic territory to Vinland Saga.

Crunchyroll collection

The cycle of violence is rarely broken in popular anime

Thorfinn isn’t the first anime character to orchestrate inhumane violence against opponents and innocent bystanders. You can see Thorfinn’s path of devastation reflected in characters like Code Geass Lelouch vs. Britannia or more recently, AoT Eren Jäger. Like Thorfinn, Lelouch and Eren spend the majority of their youth seeking revenge. Lelouch hopes to one day free his nation from his father’s tyrannical rule while Eren aims to wage war on the entire world for allowing his people to be subjugated and enslaved. Along the way, both leads sacrifice innocent people and their loved ones in order to achieve their goals and meet their untimely demise once they get their revenge.

Lelouch and Eren had gone too far the moment they both came face to face with the cruel acts they had subjected others to in pursuit of their own fiery dreams. Thorfinn, however, realizes that just because he’s done terrible things doesn’t mean he’s unable to change. It’s a realization that most anime characters never get a chance to ponder.

Crunchyroll collection

Vinland Saga breaks the cycle of violence

It is at Ketil’s farm that Thorfinn constructs a new life plan: to rid the world of war and slavery. Revealing his revelation to Einar, Thorfinn admits that his lofty new goal is pleasant to dream of and impossible to achieve. However, Thorfinn believes that setting out on a trek to find Vinland, a prosperous land his father once heralded as having no need for weapons or slavery, along with others wishing to live in such a paradise, will usher in a change. positive for the world. Thorfinn wants to atone and to do this he believes he must give back to the world more than he took in making Vinland a reality.

When presented with the opportunity to take his balloon and leave Ketil’s farm before an all-out war breaks out near the end of the second season, Thorfinn instead chooses to stay on the farm a bit longer to talk to his former captive and new king of Denmark. , canute, to attack the men guarding Ketil’s farm. I won’t say whether Thorfinn’s attempt to speak without jutsu bears fruit or not, but I will say that his valiant efforts to end the cycle of violence that has plagued his life and the lives of those around him are hit harder fought and glorious than any battle he fought in the show’s first season.

The best part of Thorfinn’s story is that he hasn’t finished growing. Not by far. That’s why I hope fans who dropped out of the show are ready to pick it up, so they can be as excited as I am on the shores that Thorfinn is sailing to the next one, should the anime ever be renewed for a possible third season. Shores Thorfinn would never have thought possible to reach without the vital, hard-won lessons he learned while toiling on a farm for 24 grueling and beautiful episodes.

There’s a lot to admire about Layers of Fear, Polish studio Bloober Team’s new reimagining of its (relatively) excellent surrealist, psychological adventure horror series.

Developed alongside Anshar Studios, which previously helped Bloober expand its sci-fi horror watcher in 2020, this new version of Layers of Fear composes the original 2016 game, its DLC, Layers of Fear 2, a new DLC and a new story intended to fill in the gaps in a beautifully complex decaying rose. But while the series has never looked better, Layers of Fear was made with Unreal Engine 5– its narrative is contrived, sometimes choking on its own ambitious complexities.

My disappointment is poetic. Most of the characters the game lets you choose from – The Painter, his wife The Musician, The Actor, and The Writer, who is introduced to the series for the first time in this game – suffer from the same ailment: getting run over by unattainable aspirations. Through the divided chapters of Layers of Fear, I play each of them in first person and piece together their harrowing pasts through notes and their own commentary.

Letters with names crossed out, sentimental found objects like a cracked conch shell, and a barrage of cryptic voiceovers tell me the cast of Layers of Fear have already achieved success in the art, and so they’re determined to keep going. striving, however unreasonable their goals, begin to be felt in the game’s transforming houses. Only dull things can hold them back, earthly things, like the brown liquor The Artist depends on, or damaged skin painfully stretched over the burnt fingers of the Musician.

But these are temporary setbacks – the splendor of their artistry and genius cannot be contained by something as small and imperfect as a body, the characters suggest. So they turn to the rat queenthe series villain officially introduced in 2019’s Layers of Fear 2, with her long teeth and black marble eyes, and she forces them on her supernatural path to greatness.

Layers of Fear is my favorite walking simulator

With the emphasis on discovery and room-by-room exploration, there isn’t much typical “gameplay” in Layers of Fear, so I spend the majority of my time digesting this information. The series has often been called, somewhat mockingly, a “scary walking simulator,” and that’s what I spend over 10 hours doing – walking and, at times, screaming at sudden sounds, like dissonant, resonant piano chords.

There are no options to do much more. In addition to walking, I can run – or, more accurately, walk with more DualSense feedback – and pick up objects by pressing the right trigger. I can zoom in on the secret codes and puzzle solutions since they’ve all been changed from their original iterations, and in the Layers of Fear 2 section I can crouch in the vents.

The most significant gameplay adjustment between this Layers of Fear and previous titles is the introduction of a portable light source. It’s not particularly shocking, but it does break the show’s tradition of passivity, as the lights aren’t just practical, they’re violent. Pressing both triggers causes my beam to become incendiary and I use it to create a new type of puzzle – it appears as a blur and obscures exits and key elements – as well as approaching enemies. For The Artist, who shunned electricity in his lavish 1920s home, that means pointing a glowing gas lantern at visions of my dead wife, who may or may not have deserved it, but other characters can use flashlights to illuminate the rot around them.

Anyway, I don’t mind walking. The game’s level and puzzle designs are completely unpredictable. They move when I’m not looking, and I get a nervous thrill of not knowing what will happen if I turn around. Will I find a filmed photo? A cut finger? Am I about to find myself trapped in a looping hallway, or a locked closet, or a bedroom with no windows, no keys, and no air to breathe?

That’s what makes Layers of Fear scary, and therefore entertaining. With its rebuilt graphics, the game morphs as convincingly as a terrified chameleon. If I look behind this empty picture frame, a door will appear. If I start playing this roll of film, a big white moon will descend and delight me. It’s frightening to tread purposefully into uncertainty, and Layers of Fear taps into that, sending an ocean wave of unease through me.

But, oh, my God, the story.

Layers of convoluted traditions

That’s what makes the game both annoying and appealing: if Layers of Fear were a person, they’d be living their whole life upside down. He wants, somewhere in his moving staircases and endless basements, to discover the psychology behind great art.

Since this is a horror game we’re talking about, his take on this psychology is unbearable. I quickly realize that the environments I find myself in are physical manifestations of the artists’ looping thoughts and cobwebbing instincts, tied together with metal chains and wet candle wax. A creative mind is an uncomfortable and unfulfilling place, the game tells me, and really relies on metaphor.

Layers of Fear regularly references legendary creative works like The Picture of Dorian Gray, Faust, The Shining, etc., and I’m struck by how important the art is; “Great art comes at a high cost,” says one note, “To create is to achieve chaos,” reads a voiceover. “Chaos is darkness. Hot. Soft. Tingling. He figured it out in the end. Are you going?”

Uh, not really, TBH.

Drawing on his influences, the demon of Layers of Fear is the Rat Queen, who features more prominently in the added content from the writer and musician. But unlike Dorian Gray or Faust, in which men knowingly give up their souls in exchange for sex and knowledge, the characters in Layers of Fear are traumatized people whom the Rat Queen forces to pursue unattainable perfection. Accordingly, Layers of Fear is not a cautionary tale about selfishness.

I don’t really know what it is. He points out the things he wants me to feel without letting me feel them. The most egregious instance of this happening is in The Musician’s DLC, where found journal entries describe his home as a “jail.” Finally, I put a dead songbird back in its cage. Yeah I understand.

While something like Faust satirizes the tortured artist, conveying that creative people aren’t necessarily special people, that they can be as bad as anyone else, Layers of Fear seems to say that art is uncontrollable. It’s a magical, hungry force, and if a woman, sister, or daughter is caught and bloodied in its insatiable mouth, then, well. So be it.

I find that difficult to accept. I also think it’s detrimental to contextualize art as something dangerous and wild, even though Layers of Fear frames it reverently. Art is not the boogeyman. That’s not the problem – people usually are. Blaming a monster, like the Rat Queen, seems too easy to me. This is a narrative issue I’ve had with Layers of Fear since the beginning, and new stories from writers and musicians have unfortunately snowballed.

Still, I’m impressed with Bloober’s transformation of his series into a compact nightmare with white rats. The game is a show of force, despite fan reservations for the studio next remake of Silent Hill 2, and I admire a game that cares about art as deeply as its characters. I only wish it wasn’t so boring about it.

Remember when we thought star field was going to be a $60 role-playing game coming out in 2022? Good time. While we have to wait until September 6 to gain heightexplore its 1,000 worlds, and listen to its 250,000 lines of dialogue, we now have a much better idea of ​​what you’ll actually be doing in the game. And at today’s Xbox showcase, Bethesda pulled back the curtain again further, giving us our best look yet at what will likely be one of the biggest games of 2023.

There will be a more Starfield-focused show later on Sunday, but for now, you can check out a fully in-game trailer that…sounds like Fallout?

Official Starfield Story Trailer

And here is the longest deep dive in the Starfield Direct:

Starfield Direct – Deep Dive into Gameplay

What we know about Starfield

As you may already know, achieving liftoff seems to be a key concept in all of this. Unlike most portrayals of space travel, it looks like Starfield will show a grittier, more dangerous approach. This is not futuristic Star Trek. Humanity travels through the stars, but in a precarious way.

Much like other Bethesda games, the focus is on player choice. It has a classic Bethesda dialogue system, as well as a persuasion system influenced by your stats. You can choose a career background for your character as well as personality traits that will influence your build, but Todd Howard assures players that the system is pretty relaxed when it comes to allowing for different playstyles. traits that give you advantages, but each comes with some type of disadvantage to balance it out. It’s very convenient, but in many ways Bethesda wrote the playbook to begin with. And if nothing else, one reason to be excited is that this isn’t a re-release of Skyrim and it’s been a while since Bethesda released an original game!

Learn more: Everything we know about Starfield, from its world to your companions

In an interview with IGN, Howard said the developer has put off its next fantasy RPG for a bit in favor of exploring a new world, which it hasn’t been able to do in a long time. Unfortunately, this vast expanse of space not going to have a lot of sex in it. Boo.

Also, Starfield will have a very sleek controller it’s probably one of Xbox’s finest accessories to date.

Todd Howard pointed out that Bethesda didn’t have the technology to create something like this until now, allowing them to “realistically” generate the world around you.

Highlights of Bethesda’s Starfield Showcase

During Starfield’s longest showcase, Bethesda’s gameplay of a character arriving at a base, where they quickly began gunning down enemies for some XP. And then the looting began. There seems to be plenty to collect and customize, with a particular focus on food. They call the vibe of it all “NASA punk”, which you can do whatever you want. Oh, and there’s a photo mode.

The space gameplay, meanwhile, was very reminiscent of No Man’s Sky. We see a ship land on a planet, where the biggest city Bethesda has ever built (according to them) is. Their hope is to try to tell as many stories as possible in one area. We also got to meet some of the factions, including the obligatory humanity-focused one.

However, just because we’re in space doesn’t mean we can’t embrace a different aesthetic. There is civilized space, and then there are things beyond, where everything goes. We got a glimpse of a city that looked straight out of a western, and moments later something that looked like cyberpunk. Each planet will have its own gravity, and sometimes this gravity can affect you while you are shooting.

“We are pushing our cities and settlements further than we have ever done before,” Bethesda said.

Each time you level up, you get a skill point that you can use to rank up skills. You can do challenges to earn skill points. One skill, for example, lets you control the minds of aliens while another lets you boost your jet all over the place. Another skill lets you hit really, really well. But you can also sneak through the world, crawling through air vents if that’s what you prefer. Or you can blow things up. There seems to be a skill tree for almost every approach.

You can buy a ship, customize that ship, and even hire a crew to operate it. Some teammate interactions can turn into romance, although the conversation that was shown did feel a bit wooden. I guess it’s because the dialogue isn’t as fleshed out as a full-fledged companion. Just like companions, most crew members can lend a hand in the field.

Space game in Starfield

During space combat, you can redirect energy from your shields to your weapons to boost them. After destroying ships, you can loot them in the air. You can turn them into scrap metal or board enemy ships themselves. The gameplay revealed that enemy ships will often have things to shoot inside them, but if you prevail you can take control of the actual ship.

What systems will Starfield launch on?

In related news, you should know that Starfield is an Xbox console exclusive, though it will also release on PC and Steam. by Bethesda Pete Hines wants you to know he’s so sorry about itbut hey: that’s what happens when you’re bought out by Microsoft for billions of dollars.

Kotaku covers everything about Summer Game Fest, from Thursday’s main show to other events happening throughout the next week. Whether you like larger-than-life triple-A games or intimate, offbeat indies, you can follow all things SGF here.

Wicca Phase Springs Eternal—Adam McIlwee, 34-year-old songwriter who set precedents for emo music since 2005— has spent the last few years playing Red Dead Redemption 2. Well, that, and Fire Pro Wrestling World, which is “just, like, a wrestling simulatorhe tells me on Zoom.

But Rockstar Games’ Wild West simulacrum is what drove much of McIlwee’s fantastical and introspective self-titled album (out June 2with tour dates scheduled for this summer). It also opened him up to the stoic splendor of nature.

Immediately he was drawn to the parts of Red Dead that didn’t feel like they had soot of humanity on them – the “west side of the map,” he says, so “[near the settlement] Strawberryand north of Strawberry.

“If you’re listening to the record and you want to know where it’s set,” he says, with some embarrassment, “it’s mostly in that area, the western side of the map. In the game, these areas are naturally beautiful. It’s not like you were in AnnesburgOr Van Hornwhere they are depressed mining towns.

From his shyness, I can tell that McIlwee doesn’t necessarily consider himself a “player.” Really, he insists, RDR2 is what he’s been stuck on for years. It has a cold open world and what feels like endless playtime (physical copies have come with two discsand runners-up can expect to stop play after about 179 hours), and, at first, it overwhelmed him.

“I just thought it was huge and intimidating,” he says. But after a round of encouragement from friends, “I went through the first two missions on my first playthrough, then I felt comfortable enough to start exploring on my own, and it That’s really where the fun of the game is for me.”

Otherwise, RDR2 “is provocatively slow, rambunctious and unamusingly slow,” Kirk Hamilton wrote. in Kotaku Review 2018; it has “the most beautiful representations of nature […]and is happy to juxtapose that beauty with the ugly, violent human ambition that will eventually subjugate and destroy it.

Learn more: 18 months after Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar has made some big cultural changes

This tension, the gum between aggressive catharsis and splendor, has permeated Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, but it’s also been present in all of McIlwee’s music since high school.

Early Tigers Jaw, the pop-punk band McIlwee founded alongside current member Ben Walch in 2005, is imbued with the same gourmet sadness of dark chocolate. Goth Boi Clique – emo rap collective McIlwee started nearly a decade later, a temporary home for an eternally influential musician lil peep– also carries a shimmering synth in their songs like a scythe, with words consumed by dream, scars and ghosts.

Amid the luscious black plumes of campfire smoke and the all-natural iris of its butter-colored sun, Red Dead, too, invokes things beyond feeling and sight. Sometimes cloudy ghost trains panting in the middle of the night, and incomprehensible taxidermy hanging on the walls of a stranger’s cabin.

“Deer all have names and cats are soul-aware,” McIlwee decides on the hazy, trip-hop song “Twilight Miracle.” “I am human and I want what I want.”

Like RDR2, McIlwee enjoys unlocking the box and unleashing the hot breath of the occult on his music, which is otherwise rooted in painful reality, as it “lets you know that some kind of weirdness exists in the world, but that’s not what it’s about.”

You can Google anything you want to know, he says. But “stuff like the occult” – “Libra, my rising sign / […] The romance of the riverbank,” he sings in the mission statement “Mystery I’m Bound to You”-“the answers […] require an understanding of human nature that cannot be Googled,” he says. “There’s a lot of room for questions and interpretations, but no definitive answers, and that’s so appealing to me. These sorts of things are like forms of escape that exist in our reality.

And, like the music, Red Dead is an ideal pocket of life, selectively representing and emulating it. Nonetheless, like an area of ​​rugged forest, a digital environment is still one you could “get lost in,” McIlwee says.

“I basically do electronic music,” he continues, “you can think of it as the ‘graphics’ of a song. The content is the story of the lyrics – you can print any type of lyrics to shape the environment of the song, and it creates […] a struggle.

Sent in search of things big and deep by the sublime microcosm of Red Dead and his own intrinsic commitment to locking pinkies with the unknown, McIlwee hopes Wicca Phase Springs Eternal expresses that “under the right circumstances, we can go beyond- beyond the limits of […] what we know as reality […] and live life in a more wonderful way.

“The other takeaway might be, you know, you can be a city boy and find joy in riding a horse,” he says.

The Federal Trade Commission Just announced that Microsoft was fined $20 million “for unlawfully collecting personal information from children who signed up for its Xbox gaming system without parental consent.”

The decision follows a larger decision from December 2022, when Epic Games, developers of Fortnite, fined $550 million for using “privacy-intrusive default settings and deceptive interfaces that misled Fortnite users, including teenagers and children.”

In this case, the FTC says the issue centered around creating accounts for children on an Xbox console, a process that until the end of 2021 would allow a child to enter a number of personal details before asking. the help and permission of a parent. Microsoft kept this data (sometimes for “years”) even though the account had not been created, which is a violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Shield (COPPA) rule.

Microsoft has already responded to the ruling with a job on the official Xbox blog, with Dave McCarthy, CVP Xbox Player Services, saying the breach was the result of a “problem”, and that Microsoft will “continue to improve” in the future:

We recently reached a settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to update our account creation process and resolve a data retention issue found in our system. Unfortunately, we have not met customer expectations and we are committed to complying with the order to continue improving our security measures. We believe we can and should do more, and we will stay true to our commitment to the safety, privacy, and security of our community.

McCarthy goes on to explain the details of this “problem”, and how it led to the children’s data being retained despite it being “inconsistent with our policy of saving this information for only 14 days”:

During the investigation, we identified a technical issue where our systems were not deleting account creation data for child accounts where the account creation process had started but was not completed. This was not in line with our policy of retaining this information for only 14 days to make it easier for players to pick up where they left off to complete the process. Our engineering team took immediate action: we fixed the issue, deleted the data, and implemented practices to prevent the error from happening again. The data has never been used, shared or monetized.

The FTC statementas for him, says:

Microsoft will pay $20 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting personal information from children who signed up for its Xbox gaming system without informing their parents or obtaining their parents’ consent, and unlawfully keeping children’s personal information.

“Our proposed order makes it easier for parents to protect their children’s privacy on Xbox and limits the information Microsoft can collect and maintain about children,” said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Consumer Protection Bureau. . “This action should also make it very clear that avatars, biometrics and children’s health information are not exempt from COPPA.”

As part of a proposed order filed by the Department of Justice on behalf of the FTC, Microsoft will have to take several steps to strengthen the privacy protections of children using its Xbox system. For example, the order will extend COPPA protections to third-party game publishers with whom Microsoft shares children’s data. Additionally, the order clarifies that avatars generated from a child’s image and biometric and health information are covered by the COPPA rule when collected with other personal data. The order must be approved by a federal court before it can take effect.