Remedy Entertainment has announced a new partnership that’ll see Annapurna Pictures financing half of Control 2 in exchange for the film and TV rights to Control and Alan Wake.

Control 2 – the sequel to Remedy’s acclaimed 2019 paranormal shooter – was officially announced back in 2022. Earlier this month, the studio revealed the project had now entered full production, and that the Control 2 team was currently “working towards developing the game to an early functional state from beginning to end.”

Remedy announced its new partnership in a statement shared on its website, confirming Annapurna will finance 50 percent of Control 2’s development budget and gain the rights to “expand the award-winning Control and Alan Wake franchises into film and television”.

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Today’s double-feature of a Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase and Indie World brought a smattering of new announcements, as the Switch heads into its final Christmas.

The shows were light on any real bombshells, perhaps to be expected with Switch 2 on the horizon. But in their place there was still plenty to keep you busy over the coming six months, with eye-catching indie games, retro game collections and a wave of ports.

You can watch the full show below, or recap it announcement by announcement underneath.

Indie World & Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase – 27/08/2024

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More Call of Duty Black Ops 6 footage has leaked online, this time purporting to be from its multiplayer mode.
Whilst the videos were eventually removed by the uploader themselves rather than a copyright claim, the footage – reportedly from the PC version – gave thousands of fans a sneaky peek before going offline.
As you may well expect by now, dozens of mirrors are popping up faster than Activision can take them down.

PlayStation live-service Concord won’t sell you a battle pass – would it be better if it did?

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Balatro, the acclaimed poker-themed rogue-like that continues to haunt my dreams, has just released a free update for PC and consoles introducing a bunch of cosmetic cameos from the likes of The Witcher, Vampire Survivors, Dave the Diver, and Among Us.

Balatro’s Friends of Jimbo update is available now and gives player the option to swap out the game’s usual Kings, Queens, and Jacks with characters from the aforementioned series. So if you’d like to spice up a run with, say, a beaming Jaskier or a vampire from the infamously vampire-free Vampire Survivors, today’s your lucky day.

In a post shared on Steam, developer LocalThunk explained Friends of Jimbo is the second of three big Balatro announcements due this summer, with the first being the recent news of a…

Good news, Nintendo fans – Super Mario and Pokémon products will be popping up in the middle aisles of Aldis everywhere this weekend.
Whilst some Teenage Mutant Ninja/Hero Turtles, Paddington Bear, and Hello Kitty stuff crept into Aldi earlier this week, from Saturday 24th August middle aisles will boast a selection of cut-price game-flavoured treats, including duvet sets, throws, and cushions.

Miyamoto on World 1-1: How Nintendo made Mario’s most iconic level

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Having been officially revealed in a very un-fanfare-y way this weekend, a Valve developer has given us all an extra peek at a prototype of the studio’s hero-shooter Deadlock.
The video itself was spotted by social media account Gabe Follower, which regularly keeps us up to date with titbits of Valve-related news (clue is in the name, really).

PlayStation live-service Concord won’t sell you a battle pass – would it be better if it did?

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Atlus’ RPGs – the likes of the Persona series and this week’s Metaphor: ReFantazio – are well known for their stylish menus, but it turns out they’re “really annoying to do”.
That’s according to director Katsura Hashino who discussed the menu design with The Verge.
“In general, the way most game developers make UI is very simple. That’s what we try to do as well – we try to keep things simple, practical, and usable,” said Hashino.

Metaphor: ReFantazio Review

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Sony has announced it’s pulling LittleBigPlanet 3 and all LittleBigPlanet DLC from sale via the PlayStation Store later this month, on 31st October.

LittleBigPlanet 3, which was developed by Sumo Digital rather that series originators Media Molecule, released for PS3 and PS4 back in 2014, meaning it celebrates its tenth anniversary this November. Instead of balloons and a nice bit of cake, however, Sony is marking the occasion with a culling, announcing the game’s imminent demise in a statement shared on X.

While LittleBigPlanet 3 and the “entire range” of DLC will be removed from sale on the PlayStation Store on 31st October, Sony notes anyone who currently owns the game – or who purchases its prior to its delisting – will continue to have access following i…