Plus Knights of the Old Republic remake gets a tiny update and new indie hit Content Warning goes viral
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SIFTER is produced by Kyle Pauletto, Fiona Bartholomaeus, Courtney Borrett, Daniel Ang, Adam Christou and Chris Button. Mitch Loh is Senior Producer and Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Audio Technica Australia for their support of SIFTER.
FIONA: Hi I’m Fiona Bartholomaeus
KYLE: and I’m Kyle Pauletto
FIONA: Welcome to Walkthrough, SIFTER’s weekly recap on the biggest news in video games.
KYLE: This week, Hollow Knight Silksong takes steps towards a release date, indie hit Content Warning was downloaded over 6 million times, and we get an update on the Knights of the Old Republic remake.
Here is the news for Sunday 7th of April. Let’s go!
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FIONA: In a sick and twisted move that’s either a multi-layered prank or insane marketing tactic, Xbox and Team Cherry made an April 1st announcement about the upcoming Hollow Knight sequel Silksong.
Amidst April Fools’ Day pranks across the gaming industry, an Xbox store page for Silksong appeared.
And for some context in case you haven’t been following the release of this game, it’s been five years of development so far and since the first announcement fans have been ravenous for any hint of a release date.
KYLE: But despite scepticism due to the timing, Xbox has confirmed the page's legitimacy, fuelling hopes that a release date is coming and that it could be dropping on Game pass day one.
I just hope that we’ll have the big release date announcement for you here on Walkthrough in the coming weeks.
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KYLE: Speaking of April Fools’ a new co-op horror game called Content Warning released on the annual prank day and has already had over 6 million downloads.
In the game, you and your friends live out your Youtuber dreams, grabbing a camera and diving down into the spooky Old World, trying to find horrifying creatures to film and upload to your SpookTube channel for views.
The team behind it made the game free for 24 hours and released it without any prior announcements, and according to SteamDB the game has reached a peak of over 204,000 concurrent players.
FIONA: It helps that you actually get to download and keep your SpookTube videos so it means players can share their content and fuel the hype around the game.
I’ve been playing a lot of this since it came out and it is so much fun. I have plenty of videos where it cuts from someone doing star jumps or giving a thumbs up, straight to a clip of someone being attacked.
It’s not the end of the road for the game either, the developers have lots more planned and have already released new items and fixed bugs. This is probably one of the best April Fools releases yet.
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FIONA: Last week Yellow Brick Games teased a new third person action game coming to PC and this week Eternal Strands was fully revealed.
Founded by former Dragon Age creative director Mike Laidlaw, the game will be the studio’s debut title and will see players take on the role of Brynn, a member of a group of magic users known as Weavers.
It’s set in a fantasy kingdom that’s been devastated by a magical event, with massive 25 metre high creatures called Arks wandering the world. You can climb and fight them too which is crazy.
KYLE: There are rumours that the game will have some kind of physics-manipulating powers, a bit similar to those in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but nothing’s for certain.
We know there will be extreme weather events that you can take advantage of in battle and a variety of fantasy creatures, but otherwise info is very limited. The game is coming sometime next year on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 so keep an eye out for a release date.
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KYLE: Star Wars fans rejoice as we finally got a tiny bit of information on what’s happening with the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake.
Saber Interactive’s CEO Matthew Karch confirmed that the project is ‘alive and well’, revealing that when Saber Interactive split from Embracer Group they took Knights of the Old Republic so the game has still been in active development.
The game has had a long history, it was announced in 2021, and changed hands multiple times, then development was stopped for a while, and then started again.
FIONA: Karch didn’t offer many details besides saying they are making sure the game will exceed players expectations.
However in an investor call after Saber left, Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors implied the remake may still be a long way away.
Either way, it’s great to know it’s still being developed and hopefully, fingers crossed, we get some more details this year.
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FIONA: That’s it for the big headlines, here are the games coming out this week.
KYLE: Gigantic: Rampage Edition is out on Tuesday. This definitive version of the MOBA hero shooter introduces new heroes, maps, game modes, and cross-platform functionality. That’s out on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S and X, and PC on the 9th.
FIONA: House Flipper 2 is coming to consoles this week. Embark on your house flipping journey in this light-hearted simulator set in a make believe fantasy world where you can afford to enter the property market. It’s already available on PC, and will come to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S and X on the 10th.
KYLE: Also out on the 10th is the indie puzzle shooter Children of the Sun. You play as The Girl, wielding a single bullet to dismantle the cult that ruined your life. This third-person puzzle-shooter blends sniping precision, puzzle-solving, and stealth in a quest for revenge. It's out on PC this Wednesday, and keep an eye on sifter.com.au for my review coming soon.
FIONA: And finally take control of The Rogue and navigate an open-world filled with absurd quests and pop-culture jests in the satirical RPG Yet Another Fantasy Title. Rally a motley crew, from a washed-up wizard to a mad halfling demolitionist, and face off against dragons, trolls, and ferocious beavers. Grab it on PC on the 10th.
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PROMO: Articles to read, videos to watch and podcasts to listen to on sifter.com.au
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FIONA: This has been Walkthrough by SIFTER, my name is Fiona Bartholomaeus
KYLE: And my name is Kyle Pauletto, thank you so much for listening.
FIONA: Now you’ve reached the end of Walkthrough, why not check out our games review show Drop Rate! Hosted by Chris Button and Courtney Borrett it features great games journalists sharing their thoughts on the newest games. Search for SIFTER Drop Rate in your podcast player now, look for the green icon. That’s SIFTER and Drop Rate.
KYLE: SIFTER is produced by myself, Fiona Bartholomaeus, Adam Christou, Courtney Borrett, Daniel Ang and Chris Button. The episode is edited by both Senior Producer Mitch Loh and Executive Producer Gianni Di Giovanni, who also is Walkthrough’s script editor.
FIONA: Thanks to Brian Fairbanks from Salty Dog Sounds for composing the Walkthrough theme tune, and Audio Technica Australia for their support of SIFTER’s podcasts.
KYLE: We’ll be back with more news next Sunday. See you then.
