Video Game Historians Open an Online Library

Dig into old press kits, development materials, and more.

Author

Robert Scarpinito
January 31, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

In partnership with

Can You Believe It’s the End of January?

February’s upon us, a big month where most of you are likely excited for at least one game. Civilization VII? Kingdom Come: Deliverance II? Avowed? Pirate Yakuza? Monster Hunter Wilds? Hell yeah.

I wanted to open up this week’s newsletter (and maybe future ones) with some good news in the industry. Things are… heavy out there, and we could all use a breather. I’d like to offer that space to you, too.

Of course, unfortunately, there’s always some bummers every week. Those will be toward the bottom of the newsletter. If you want to stop scrolling and go into the weekend with positive energy, there’ll be a stopping point for you.

And as a quick aside, our founder Rutledge Daugette is doing an AMA on Reddit right now about CriticDB, a new aggregator for reviews, new games, and more.

If you’ve ever wanted to dig into promotional material from yesteryears or exclusive press material for Metal Gear Solid 4, take a look at the Video Game History Foundation’s latest project. It’s still in early access, but it’s a neat (and free) resource to explore if you’d like to learn a little more about our favorite hobby.

In a win for PC gamers, Sony is making a PSN account optional for some of its PC ports, including the recent release of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (though maybe wait a little for some patches). However, multiplayer games will still need a PSN account, which isn’t optimistic news for Helldivers 3 (not that we’re getting it any time soon).

In semi-related industry news, Sony has also shaken up its leadership a little. Instead of two co-CEOs, the new hierarchy sees Hermen Hulst reporting to Hideaki Nishino.

Learn AI in 5 minutes a day

This is the easiest way for a busy person wanting to learn AI in as little time as possible:

  1. Sign up for The Rundown AI newsletter

  2. They send you 5-minute email updates on the latest AI news and how to use it

  3. You learn how to become 2x more productive by leveraging AI

For old-school Dungeons & Dragons fans, Eberron is an all too familiar name. It’s the realm before The Forgotten Realms, and this new book in August will give players new options, including a revised Artificer class.

The little game that could continues to bring out huge, free updates. Worlds Part 2 isn’t every Porter Robinson fan’s wet dream; it’s the latest update for No Man’s Sky, featuring “new mountains, deep valleys, and sprawling plains on untouched planets” that will make exploration even more exciting.

Trying to stay positive? Then this is the end of the newsletter. Go play some Marvel Rivals or something! See you next week!

Game director Jonathan Rogers admits that Path of Exile 2 has some “really obvious problems,” so it’s all hands on deck for the sequel at Grinding Gear Games. That means players of the first game shouldn’t expect updates any time soon.

With a vague “majority” gone, the future of Dauntless and Fae Farm are uncertain, though we should hear more from Phoenix Labs in the upcoming weeks.