Coliseum

It’s uncontroversial to call The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt one of the most beloved games of all time, but since it came out over 11 years ago, it’s beginning to look a little dated, even with a next-gen update dropping in 2022. With a new DLC expansion on the way, many gamers are likely to jump back into the base game to refresh their memories ahead of the new content, and today, CD Projekt Red surprised us with an announcement. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered is a free, massive upgrade coming out next month. Check out the reveal trailer, featuring overhauled graphics and mechanics, below.

In addition to a general graphical facelift, The Witcher 3: Remastered features “enhanced combat” with new finisher animations and new effects for Witcher signs, “improved traversal and movement,” with modified mantling and climbing mechanics, “enhanced monster behaviors,” a new skill tree, an expanded photo mode, and transmogrification, which allows you to pick the stats of one item while visually equipping another item. The trailer also includes a quick scrolling list of other new features, but to save you the trouble of pause-buffering, here’s everything listed:

• Cross Platform Mod Support
• Immersive Meditation
• Refined Animations
• New Quest Tracking
• UI Improvements
• Looting Rework
• Refreshed Motion Blur
• New Accessibility Features
• Updated Textures
• Foliage Shading Rework
• Tutorial Modernization
• HDR Improvements
• GTAO
• Improved Menu Navigation
• Ray Tracing Improvements
• Global Lighting Rework
• New Shading Model
• Subsurface scattering
• New Tone Mapper
• PS5 Pro Support
• Xbox Play Anywhere Support
• Nintendo Switch 2 Exclusive Features
• NVIDIA DLSS 4.5
• AMD FSR 4
• Intel XESS 2.0
• Path Tracing on PC
• Ray Reconstruction on PC
• Raytraced Hair
• Native DX12
• Rendering Parallelization

The Remastered game also includes both previously released expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. What’s especially crazy about this, however, is that the upgrade is free for all owners of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (though Switch 1 is notably absent from the platform listings I’ve found online), and any players who don’t own the DLC already can download those packs for free as well. The free upgrade drops September 29, five weeks from today, on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC.

For more Witcher, I’ve got great news for you: The Witcher IV, starring Geralt’s daughter Ciri, will launch in 2028.

It’s uncontroversial to call The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt one of the most beloved games of all time, but since it came out over 11 years ago, it’s beginning to look a little dated, even with a next-gen update dropping in 2022. With a new DLC expansion on the way, many gamers are likely to jump back into the base game to refresh their memories ahead of the new content, and today, CD Projekt Red surprised us with an announcement. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered is a free, massive upgrade coming out next month. Check out the reveal trailer, featuring overhauled graphics and mechanics, below.

In addition to a general graphical facelift, The Witcher 3: Remastered features “enhanced combat” with new finisher animations and new effects for Witcher signs, “improved traversal and movement,” with modified mantling and climbing mechanics, “enhanced monster behaviors,” a new skill tree, an expanded photo mode, and transmogrification, which allows you to pick the stats of one item while visually equipping another item. The trailer also includes a quick scrolling list of other new features, but to save you the trouble of pause-buffering, here’s everything listed:

• Cross Platform Mod Support
• Immersive Meditation
• Refined Animations
• New Quest Tracking
• UI Improvements
• Looting Rework
• Refreshed Motion Blur
• New Accessibility Features
• Updated Textures
• Foliage Shading Rework
• Tutorial Modernization
• HDR Improvements
• GTAO
• Improved Menu Navigation
• Ray Tracing Improvements
• Global Lighting Rework
• New Shading Model
• Subsurface scattering
• New Tone Mapper
• PS5 Pro Support
• Xbox Play Anywhere Support
• Nintendo Switch 2 Exclusive Features
• NVIDIA DLSS 4.5
• AMD FSR 4
• Intel XESS 2.0
• Path Tracing on PC
• Ray Reconstruction on PC
• Raytraced Hair
• Native DX12
• Rendering Parallelization

The Remastered game also includes both previously released expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. What’s especially crazy about this, however, is that the upgrade is free for all owners of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (though Switch 1 is notably absent from the platform listings I’ve found online), and any players who don’t own the DLC already can download those packs for free as well. The free upgrade drops September 29, five weeks from today, on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC.

For more Witcher, I’ve got great news for you: The Witcher IV, starring Geralt’s daughter Ciri, will launch in 2028.

We got a good new look at Ontos in today’s Opening Night Live presentation. The new game from Frictional, the makers of Amnesia and Soma, seems to follow in suit with some of the disturbing psychological horror that helped define its earlier projects. 

Actor Stellan Skarsgård helps lead the voice cast in the game, which sees an engineer exploring an abandoned hotel on the moon. The game focuses on puzzles and moral narrative choices that shape the game’s outcome.

In the newly revealed gameplay sequence, players encounter a horrifying experiment in which a human’s mind has been uploaded onto a server made up of live rats. The visuals and audio connected to that concept are as troubling as you think they might be.

Ontos is on the way to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC sometime in 2027. 

Watch the new trailer to witness the uncomfortably graphic experiment for yourself. 

We got a good new look at Ontos in today’s Opening Night Live presentation. The new game from Frictional, the makers of Amnesia and Soma, seems to follow in suit with some of the disturbing psychological horror that helped define its earlier projects. 

Actor Stellan Skarsgård helps lead the voice cast in the game, which sees an engineer exploring an abandoned hotel on the moon. The game focuses on puzzles and moral narrative choices that shape the game’s outcome.

In the newly revealed gameplay sequence, players encounter a horrifying experiment in which a human’s mind has been uploaded onto a server made up of live rats. The visuals and audio connected to that concept are as troubling as you think they might be.

Ontos is on the way to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC sometime in 2027. 

Watch the new trailer to witness the uncomfortably graphic experiment for yourself. 

Developer Daniel Mullins of Daniel Mullins Games (creator Inscryption and Pony Island) is back with their next strange experience that will undoubtedly be full of twists and play with your expectations. The previously announced Pony Island 2: Panda Circus has a release date: April 27, 2027.

We also learned that the game will feature FMV performances from Sungwon Cho, Arian Moayed, Caitlin Reilly, and Kevin Saxby. The game is self-described as, “A voyage through time, myth, divinity, and video games.” The actual game looks like you might be playing a series of arcade cabinets each with unique mechanics and visuals.

For more on Pony Island 2: Panda Circus, head here.

 

Developer Daniel Mullins of Daniel Mullins Games (creator Inscryption and Pony Island) is back with their next strange experience that will undoubtedly be full of twists and play with your expectations. The previously announced Pony Island 2: Panda Circus has a release date: April 27, 2027.

We also learned that the game will feature FMV performances from Sungwon Cho, Arian Moayed, Caitlin Reilly, and Kevin Saxby. The game is self-described as, “A voyage through time, myth, divinity, and video games.” The actual game looks like you might be playing a series of arcade cabinets each with unique mechanics and visuals.

For more on Pony Island 2: Panda Circus, head here.

 

There are some genres that feel like a perfect fit for the gradually-expanding Lego video game umbrella, but perhaps none feel more obvious than a city builder. Lego Skylines looks like that exact dream come true, putting players in charge of a growing city built out of Lego bricks and populated by yellow minifigures. Take a look at the reveal trailer, which just debuted at Gamescom’s Opening Night Live event, below.

Lego Skylines is developed by Iceflake Studios, the developer currently in charge of Cities: Skylines II. While Skylines II was initially developed by Colossal Order, the studio parted ways with the game’s publisher, Paradox Interactive, in November of 2025. Paradox retained the rights to the Cities: Skylines brand, however, and recruited Iceflake Studios to take over active development. Now, Iceflake and Paradox are partnering again with Lego Skylines. 

“Cover the basics like electricity, food, and water,” the Lego Skylines steam page reads. “Then make it a place your citizens will love. Give them homes that one-up the neighbors. Good jobs. Great parks. Donut shops on every corner because that would be awesome. A frankly absurd amount of buildings, decorations, and other cool stuff (customization stuff) will make it easy to create a city that’s got your fingerprints all over it.”

“LEGO Skylines puts you in charge of, well, everything. Remember hospitals to keep everyone in one piece. Wheat for the donuts. Garbage collection, sewage, and all the other things that make a city click.”

Lego Skylines has no release date window. When it does launch, it will come to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC. For more Lego, check out my reviews of Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight and Lego Voyagers.

There are some genres that feel like a perfect fit for the gradually-expanding Lego video game umbrella, but perhaps none feel more obvious than a city builder. Lego Skylines looks like that exact dream come true, putting players in charge of a growing city built out of Lego bricks and populated by yellow minifigures. Take a look at the reveal trailer, which just debuted at Gamescom’s Opening Night Live event, below.

Lego Skylines is developed by Iceflake Studios, the developer currently in charge of Cities: Skylines II. While Skylines II was initially developed by Colossal Order, the studio parted ways with the game’s publisher, Paradox Interactive, in November of 2025. Paradox retained the rights to the Cities: Skylines brand, however, and recruited Iceflake Studios to take over active development. Now, Iceflake and Paradox are partnering again with Lego Skylines. 

“Cover the basics like electricity, food, and water,” the Lego Skylines steam page reads. “Then make it a place your citizens will love. Give them homes that one-up the neighbors. Good jobs. Great parks. Donut shops on every corner because that would be awesome. A frankly absurd amount of buildings, decorations, and other cool stuff (customization stuff) will make it easy to create a city that’s got your fingerprints all over it.”

“LEGO Skylines puts you in charge of, well, everything. Remember hospitals to keep everyone in one piece. Wheat for the donuts. Garbage collection, sewage, and all the other things that make a city click.”

Lego Skylines has no release date window. When it does launch, it will come to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC. For more Lego, check out my reviews of Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight and Lego Voyagers.

Path of Exile 2 has been coming together in PC early access since December 2024, and developer Grinding Gear Games has announced its 1.0 release date will arrive almost exactly two years later. 

The sequel to Path of Exile boasts the isometric action RPG blueprint popularized by the Diablo series and is set in the dark continent of Wraeclast. Players battle all manner of evil forces and native dangers alone or with up to six players in co-op. Path of Exile 2, like its predecessor, is a free-to-play title and this will remain the case when the game launches in full. Check out the latest trailer below. 

When Path of Exile 2 hits 1.0, it will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. 

Path of Exile 2 has been coming together in PC early access since December 2024, and developer Grinding Gear Games has announced its 1.0 release date will arrive almost exactly two years later. 

The sequel to Path of Exile boasts the isometric action RPG blueprint popularized by the Diablo series and is set in the dark continent of Wraeclast. Players battle all manner of evil forces and native dangers alone or with up to six players in co-op. Path of Exile 2, like its predecessor, is a free-to-play title and this will remain the case when the game launches in full. Check out the latest trailer below. 

When Path of Exile 2 hits 1.0, it will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.