Metroid movie not in production
Nintendo claims that "misleading" reports prior to E3 painted completely the wrong picture of the project, although John Woo is still attached to some degree.
Nintendo producer Yoshio Sakamoto has denied that the film adaptation of Metroid has moved into production in the latest issue of Japanese magazine Nintendo Dream, describing reports to that effect as "misleading".
A month prior to the Electronic Entertainment Expo, The Hollywood Reporter said that John Woo planned to co-produce the movie with an option to direct. "This type of story has a proven track record of success with film audiences," the report quoted him as saying, adding that the finished product could be on the silver screen by Christmas 2005. However, according to Sakamoto, "There's been no progress."
"There were some misleading reports before the E3 that Metroid's production was confirmed," he said. "But to be accurate, it's that the company that John Woo works for has gained the rights to negotiate with Nintendo of America to make Metroid into a movie. Metroid's production hasn't been officially decided yet, and there's no release plans for it," he said in clarification.
Crimson Desert's PS5 trophies have been revealed, and they read like riddles (which is both exciting and scary)
Good luck out there.
Crimson Desert is arriving in just two days, and everybody who has been keeping track of its journey is either super excited or praying it's not a jumbo-sized disappointment. Ahead of the launch, we now have a first look at the open-world game's trophy list, and it's a baffling one.
Polish gaming site PPE shared the trophy list (hat tip to Push Square), which seemingly comes from physical PS5 copies of the game already in the wild. While players can't play Crimson Desert until the game is unlocked and has finished downloading the required install files, it appears you can look at the trophies list just fine.
Whereas trophies like 'Expert Storyteller' ("Every thread of Pywel's narrative now forms a complete story") sound normal, other gold achievements like 'Unvanquished Strategist' are absolute head-scratchers: "Command of battle's momentum makes the entire field yours to orchestrate." What? Are we meant to acquire every combat skill? It this about chaining a big combo?
Trophies like 'Master Camper' try to sound mysterious, but are actually easy to understand: "A safe haven now stands ready for you and your comrades." Build a base, got it. But again, keep scrolling and you get even bronze-level rewards that come off as riddles. A good example is 'Maze Pathfinder' and its mention of "tangled paths" which "fail to lead you astray." Is this tied to several mazes? Is it just a story mission trophy? Hard to say... 'Pilgrim of Wonders' also stands out, as it talks about the "hidden beauty of Pywel," whatever that is. Story trophy? Something off the beaten path? Anything could happen!
To be fair, every achievement which references weapon masteries seems clear enough, so there's that, but 100-percent completion might require some guide-reading or lateral thinking.
Regardless of what ends up happening to trophy/achievement hunters, it looks like Crimson Desert is set to make a huge splash on 19th March, as it's amassed over 3 million wishlists on Steam alone. The console footage released so far looks promising too, so maybe Pearl Abyss will stick the landing (at least on the technical side), after all.
PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Nvidia reveals DLSS's AI upscaled graphics filter, gets roundly mocked by pretty much everyone on the Internet
Art direction? In this economy?
As concerns of a growing "AI bubble" continue to pile up while half the world is on fire, tech and gaming giants are trying their hardest to push AI-enabled "innovations". Nvidia is the latest company attempting to justify its massive investment in AI with DLSS 5, an "AI-Powered breakthrough in visual fidelity for games."
Though most people learned about the new tech via Digital Foundry's in-depth hands-on preview, Nvidia also shared a look at the early footage (which you can watch below) that highlights how the new AI-powered DLSS version can add an optional filter which appears to 'yassify' every living being it touches.
If you were dreaming about the day when Bethesda NPCs could become photorealistic sleep paralysis demons, it seems that day has finally come. Also, Resident Evil Requiem co-lead Grace Ashcroft is victim of perhaps the worst implementation of this tech, as the DLSS 5 filter takes her face and seems to enlarge her lips, give her more make-up, and airbrush away what you can safely assume is the original vision of the developer. Somehow, the new filter even managed to make Leon S. Kennedy look bad too, which is quite the feat.
"Twenty-five years after NVIDIA invented the programmable shader, we are reinventing computer graphics once again," said Jensen Huang. A big statement, to be sure.
The biggest shock, post-reveal, comes in the form of glowing endorsements from big triple-A figures like Bethesda's Todd Howard, who (supposedly) "can't wait" for Starfield players to apply this weird, AI-flavoured sheen to their space adventures. Other notable reactions come from Capcom's Jun Takeuchi, executive producer and executive corporate officer, who reportedly said it's okay to overwrite the creative direction of developers to help players "become even more immersed in the world of Resident Evil." All of these statements feel completely detached from the public reaction to the tech, which has been unanimously critical.
The horrifying reveal instantly sparking a DLSS on/off meme format over on social media, which even some developers are embracing. "Make every game look like a bunch of artless idiots from Nexus Mods have had a go at it," former Eurogamer video legend Jim Trinca posted after taking a gander.
The footage shared by Digital Foundry isn't free of visual oddities, of course, as DLSS 5 seems wildly inconsistent in how it applies its "enhancements." For example, here's some Oblivion NPC morphing its eyes mid-conversation. "What if shadows didn't exist," posted Restart writer Imran Khan while sharing a screenshot of the Assassin's Creed Shadows bit of the video that shows tree shadows getting almost completely removed in exchange for more unnatural ambient occlusion.
The frustrating part of all this is that DLSS, in its basic form, has been proven to be a very useful technology to claw back performance while retaining visual fidelity through simple image upscaling. It's the tech which is allowing the Switch 2 to hit above its weight with ports like Resident Evil Requiem or Star Wars Outlaws. Moreover, recent frame generation extras can conjure up more fluidity out of thin air (as long as performance is already in a halfway-decent spot, at least). But if the next step for the tech is this nightmare-inducing, art style-bypassing mess, it seems DLSS tech has moved away from what initially made it great.
At the time of writing, Nvidia is already running damage control in the comments section of the official reveal, claiming "game developers have full, detailed artistic control over DLSS 5's effects to ensure they maintain their game's unique aesthetic." But, for many, it seems the damage is already done: it's hard to imagine most gamers coming around on the very basic idea of this AI "upgrade."
PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Nintendo Switch 2
Base PS5 footage of Crimson Desert finally emerges, and it looks OK?
It's real, at least.
The technical prowess of incoming open-world role-playing game Crimson Desert is exciting, but for every impressive video we've seen of the game, there lurks a background concern: we haven't yet seen it running on standard console hardware - on a base PlayStation 5. Now, however, we have.
PlayStation Japan this morning shared an extended look at Crimson Desert running on a PS5, in the first of what I believe will be a series of videos showing the game running on base PlayStation 5 hardware - that's what the Google-translated text seems to suggest. Across 20 minutes we see many different areas of the game, narrated by developer Pearl Abyss.
It's hard to judge from an encoded YouTube video exactly what the final quality of the game will be on PlayStation 5. The video only scales to 1080p for me and it's not at 60 frames-per-second. Digital Foundry, for reference, has already provided a detailed analysis of the PS5 Pro version of Crimson Desert. "We've yet to see anything on the base PS5 or Xbox Series consoles," DF said. "Even so, the signs are looking good - and certainly for PS5 Pro owners, Crimson Desert delivers a phenomenal experience."
PC specifications for Crimson Desert have already been released, incidentally, and don't seem outrageous to my mid-range PC-owning eye.
Crimson Desert arrives this Thursday, 19th March, amidst swelling expectations. We played it a while ago now, last spring, and weren't sure Crimson Desert had enough of its own vision to stand out. Have things changed? We haven't long to wait to find out.
PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Krafton responds to Subnautica 2 legal ruling: "we are evaluating our options as we determine our path forward"
"Krafton puts players at the heart of every decision"
Krafton has provided a statement to Eurogamer on yesterday's court ruling on Unknown Worlds and Subnautica 2. This ruling stated that the CEO must be brought back into his role, he must have control over the Steam page and Early Access launch of Subnautica 2, and the $250m performance-based bonus package must be extended.
The statement, attributed to Krafton, reads: "Krafton puts players at the heart of every decision, and that will never change. Over the past several months, KRAFTON and the Unknown Worlds team have worked tirelessly to strengthen the game and prepare it for an Early Access release, with a continued focus on delivering the best possible experience for the Subnautica community. We look forward to pushing out the newly updated version as soon as possible for players.
While we respectfully disagree with today's ruling, we are evaluating our options as we determine our path forward. Today's ruling does not resolve the former executives' claim for damages or an earnout related to Subnautica 2, with further litigation still pending. In the meantime, Krafton's immediate focus remains unchanged: delivering the best possible game to Subnautica's fans."
The Subnautica 2 leads were removed from their positions in July 2025, including game director Charlie Cleveland, as was Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill and special projects director Max McGuire. These ousted developers then launched legal action against Krafton, claiming they were pushed out and the game was delayed in order for the studio to miss revenue targets and be unlikely to receive a hefty $250m bonus package.
Krafton at the time was ready to meet these devs in court, stating decisions were made to "ensure Subnautica 2 is the best possible game and lives up to fan expectations". The company also claimed the milestone process was "rigorously managed", in response to claims to the contrary. Krafton's CEO also allegedly asked ChatGPT to "brainstorm ways to avoid paying" these milestone packages. Krafton also denied this, stating in a statement to Eurogamer back in November 2025 these claims were "simply a distraction" from the removed developers' own actions.
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