Video Game News Roundup – March 20, 2025
Welcome to our daily digest of the freshest video game news! Today’s highlights feature:
- An exhilarating clash of over 110 players and 10,000 units as a popular free RTS game celebrates its burgeoning multiplayer scene with some of the most massive multiplayer battles ever witnessed.
- The ultimate skills to master in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
- Warframe’s latest addition: a fire-shooting guitar warframe released today, along with a range of metalcore-inspired skins. This release further establishes Warframe’s descent into Y2K madness.
Now, let’s dive into the specifics of today’s exciting happenings in the gaming world.
Over 110 Players and 10,000 Units Engage in Epic Battles in This Free RTS Game Celebrating Its Growing Multiplayer Community
Source: PC Gamer – March 20, 2025
Have you ever wondered what the largest possible match in an RTS (Real-Time Strategy) game could look like? While 4v4 battles might seem large, and matches with 16 or 32 players might seem absurd, imagine a staggering 110 players exchanging artillery barrages and nuclear missile attacks. This mind-boggling scenario is a perfect example of what you can find in Beyond All Reason, an increasingly popular, free indie RTS game inspired by the mega-scale mech war classics Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander. If witnessing a massive number of robots exploding is your idea of fun, then you are in the right place.
Typically, matches of this magnitude aren’t feasible due to the extensive processing power required, which only a few high-end gaming rigs can handle. However, to celebrate their community Discord reaching 40,000 users, the developers behind this passionate project decided to push the boundaries. They hosted a series of mega-scale battles last month, with a theoretical limit of 160-player matches and over 15,000 units shared between them.
Read the full article at PC Gamer →
Mastering the Best Skills in Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Source: PC Gamer – March 19, 2025
With two dynamic characters, each boasting six unique skill trees, players are certainly spoilt for choice in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The game offers a wide array of skills, ranging from destructive counters to a clever bamboo shoot function for underwater stealth. However, selecting the best skills is no easy feat, particularly considering that many of the high-level skills come with their unique unlock requirements. Moreover, players are limited to having only two weapon skills and two character skills equipped simultaneously, necessitating some strategic decision-making. Initially, players only require mastery and knowledge points to unlock new skills. However, as players progress and aim for more potent skills, they will also need to achieve specific quest milestones.
Read the full article at PC Gamer →
The Fire-Shooting Guitar Warframe Debuts Today Alongside a Series of Metalcore-Inspired Skins, Pushing Warframe Further into Y2K Chaos
Source: PC Gamer – March 19, 2025
If Warframe’s sleek, otherworldly sci-fi aesthetic ever deterred you, it’s time to reconsider. The game is currently embracing a nostalgic twist in its 1999 version, trading its cyborg ninja theme for a rock and roll vibe on an alternative history Earth. The latest update, Techrot Encore, carries on this unique trend with the introduction of a new playable Warframe: Temple. While this is the second music-themed character in the game, Temple is the first to wield a fire-shooting guitar, vanquishing enemies with the sheer force of distorted metalcore riffs.
Read the full article at PC Gamer →
Arrowhead’s Johan Pilestedt Highlights the Importance of Pre-production in Game Development
Source: PC Gamer – March 19, 2025
The annual Game Developers Conference is well underway, offering a platform for developers to share their experiences, challenges, and advice with their peers in the industry. Among the insightful talks this year was Arrowhead CCO Johan Pilestedt’s panel titled “Helldivers 2: Capturing Lightning in a Bottle”. In his talk, Pilestedt reflected on the triumphant launch of the co-op shooter, Helldivers 2, which despite its success, ended up taking four years longer than planned to develop due to a lack of pre-production.
Pilestedt emphasized the importance of “doing your homework” before investing heavily in game development — a lesson learned the hard way. Despite the objective to streamline production and avoid previous complexities, the sequel’s development encountered significant delays due to skipping the crucial pre-production phase.
Read the full article at PC Gamer →
RTX 4090 Single-Handedly Cracks Akira Ransomware Attack in a Week
Source: PC Gamer – March 20, 2025
Brute force is generally a term associated with malicious activities in the computer world. More often than not, it’s linked to hackers demanding money or to some troublesome old Xbox game. However, in a recent twist of events, brute force has been used for a beneficial purpose. An Akira ransomware attack was successfully cracked in a mere seven days, all thanks to a single RTX 4090. This noteworthy achievement was spotted by Tom’s Hardware, who attributed the success to Tinyhack, the mastermind behind the exploit. In a detailed blog post, Tinyhack narrates the thrilling adventure of assisting a company to restore its data post-attack using brute force methods.
Read the full article at PC Gamer →
Ubisoft Releases Day-One Patch for Assassin’s Creed Shadows Amid Japanese Concerns
Source: IGN – March 20, 2025
IGN has reported that Ubisoft has discreetly launched a day-one patch for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, introducing several significant changes, notably to the game’s temples and shrines. Ubisoft shared the patch notes of this update with IGN, details of which were not made public.
Key highlights from Assassin’s Creed Shadows day-one patch notes include:
– Players will no longer become trapped inside movable objects after executing forward dodges and interactions in kofuns.
– Procedural weapons will no longer be erroneously removed when selling items.
– Adjustments have been made to stop players from exiting the game’s boundaries when prone against objects.
– Horse navigation has been improved to reduce issues related to turning and blocked paths.
– Lighting for cave, kofun, and architectural entrances/exits has been adjusted.
– Cloth clipping issues on Yasuke’s outfits (while riding) and Naoe’s outfits (while crouching) have been rectified.
– Unarmed citizens will no longer bleed when attacked, minimizing unintended bloodshed in temples/shrines.
– Tables and racks in temples/shrines have been made indestructible. Note: Certain objects like drums or bowls may still be broken as they are common across the game world. Tables, while indestructible, remain dynamic objects and can be moved or pushed by players.
Read the full article at IGN →
Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s Gaming Chief, Announces More Xbox Game Adaptations for Film and Television, Despite Halo’s Lackluster Performance
Source: IGN – March 20, 2025
Despite the unsuccessful TV adaptation of Halo, Microsoft remains undeterred in its pursuit of transforming more video games into film and television adaptations. This commitment comes directly from Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s gaming chief, who assures fans that they can anticipate more adaptations in the future. Spencer’s comments were made during an interview with Variety, leading up to the launch of ‘A Minecraft Movie’, a highly anticipated, big-screen adaptation of the popular sandbox video game owned by Microsoft, featuring Jack Black. If the film performs well, there’s potential for sequels. This adaptation is the latest in Microsoft’s effort to transition their video games into film or television series, following the trailblazing success of the Fallout Prime Video series, which already has its second season in production.
Read the full article at IGN →
The Latest Teaser of American Truck Simulator Baffles Fans with a Mysterious Sound Effect
Source: PC Gamer – March 19, 2025
In the most recent teaser of American Truck Simulator, SCS Software invites you to lend an ear. The teaser comprises roughly thirty seconds of an engine sound that’s devoid of any context, followed by an enigmatic tagline: “The future sounds a little bit different, right?” Now, I won’t claim to be an automobile expert—I wouldn’t be able to distinguish a carburetor from an alternator, or anything beyond identifying the truck that most resembles Optimus Prime. However, I can assure you that the sound in the teaser doesn’t remind one of the thunderous roar of a typical big rig engine that one would associate with a game like American Truck Simulator. Instead, it’s a refined ‘vroom’, clear and graceful, far removed from the cacophonous whirlwind of a Mack truck.
Read the full article at PC Gamer →
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Outperforms Original with Fivefold Increase in First Month Sales
Source: PC Gamer – March 19, 2025
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 proved to be a remarkable success for Warhorse Studios. The game skyrocketed, exceeding one million sales on its launch day alone, and later reaching two million copies sold by the end of February. Comparatively, how did this sequel perform against its predecessor? It is clear that it has outdone the original, but by how much? Mat Piscatella, the executive director of the industry analysis firm Circana, provided a specific answer. In his highlights of the US gaming market for February 2025, Piscatella revealed that Warhorse Studios’ sequel sold five times more than the original Kingdom Come: Deliverance.
Read the full article at PC Gamer →
Microsoft Launches Controller-Friendly Virtual Keyboard for Improved Windows Handheld Gaming PC Experience
Source: PC Gamer – March 19, 2025
Last September, we reported that Microsoft was testing a controller-oriented virtual keyboard layout. We’re thrilled to announce that this feature has now been officially released in the latest Insider Release Preview build on Windows 11 24H2 Build 26100.3613. Microsoft has stated, “We have enabled the Gamepad keyboard layout for the touch keyboard in Windows 11. This update introduces the ability to use your Xbox controller to navigate and type, including button accelerators like the X button for backspace and the Y button for spacebar. The keyboard keys have also been aligned vertically to enhance controller navigation.” Simply put, this update will make it easier to navigate the Windows virtual keyboard using a controller.
Read the full article at PC Gamer →
Palworld’s Crossplay Update Enhances Gameplay with Photo Mode, Drafting Table, and ‘Dimensional Pal Storage’
Source: PC Gamer – March 19, 2025
Pocketpair’s survival blockbuster, Palworld, launched a new update earlier today. Aptly named the Crossplay Update, its key feature allows players to interact with the game’s Pokémon-like “Pals” across all platforms. However, this is not the only enhancement the Crossplay Update offers, as it also introduces a multitude of other features. Notably, it has added two new storage-related functionalities. Palworld now includes a Global Palbox, a feature that allows players to store Pal data for transferring Pals between different worlds. In addition, the update introduces the intriguing “Dimensional Pal Storage”.
Read the full article at PC Gamer →
Join the Discussion
What gaming news caught your eye today? What do you think about the Minecraft Movie? We’d love to hear your thoughts. Share them in the comments section below!
