The story of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was highly praised this year and rewarded with several awards. The game’s lead writer did not even orient herself to creating a story for a game.
How strong is the story of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33? The RPG Clair Obscur not only won at the Game Awards this year, but also received further awards that recognize the game’s story: In addition to the Game Award for Best Narrative, it also received the Golden Joystick for Best Storytelling.
The responsible lead writer of the game, Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, explains (via GamesRadar+), that it could be due to her unique approach, which is rather atypical for a game and even sounds counterproductive at first: Because she didn’t try to write a story for an RPG at all.
Here you can see the trailer for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33:
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – JRPG with French Flair has Release Date
“I didn’t think of it as writing an RPG”
How did the team approach the development of the content? Svedberg-Yen explains that the team faced some challenges, as many contributors to Expedition 33 previously had no background in game development. However, this also turned out to be their strength, as they could not rely on previous approaches but brought their own perspectives that occur outside of gaming.
The success of Svedberg-Yen’s story proves this, written by a writer who, as she herself admits, “doesn’t really play video games” (via GamesRadar+).
What did the writer orient herself by instead, if not by other games? Since Svedberg-Yen had rather little experience with video games, she found her inspiration for writing in other media such as TV series or books. She explains that she loves science fiction and epic fantasy stories that harbor particularly large, immersive worlds and cultures, which have influenced the worldbuilding for Expedition 33.
In the actual writing process, she focused less on creating a story for an RPG and saw her work as an entirely different approach: “I felt like I was writing an HBO drama” (source: GamesRadar+).
Clair Obscur had a lot of success this year at various award shows, but one of their victories was rescinded because they communicated information incorrectly. The incorrect statement ultimately led to them losing their title as Best “Debut Game” at the Indie Game Awards: Expedition 33 wins the Game Awards but loses an already won award due to the use of AI
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Many developers have been inspired by other works to create their video games. Now one has revealed what thought brought him into the industry.
Which legendary developer is it about? Hideo Kojima is a well-known developer who created the “Metal Gear Solid” series under Konami. After his time at Konami, he founded his studio “Kojima Productions” in 2015.
With the studio, the development of the action-adventure “Death Stranding” also began. The second part of Death Stranding was released in 2025 and was nominated for Game of the Year.
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Hideo Kojima presents Death Stranding 2 in a 10-minute long trailer
Kojima was excited about Super Mario, but wouldn’t play it today
Which gaming classic inspired Kojima? In an interview with WIRED on YouTube, the legendary developer talks about his inspiration that brought him to video games.
Hideo Kojima says he neglected his classes to be able to play. Furthermore, he talks about the classic Super Mario Bros. and writes the following: “Without Super Mario, I probably wouldn’t have ended up in this industry.”
While he sent the plumber from left to right to rescue Princess Peach, one of his thoughts was: “When I saw this, even though it was pixel graphics without a story, I felt that this medium would one day surpass movies. This conviction brought me into the game industry.”
Why wouldn’t the developer play Mario today? In the same interview, Kojima says that he wouldn’t play the classic nowadays.
As the main reason, he cites the gameplay of Super Mario and says the following: “At the moment, I can’t really do much with it. It’s a side-scroller. Mario just runs from left to right, in the end, you just jump.”
In Pokémon GO the last Spotlight Hour before Christmas is coming up. MeinMMO has looked into whether it is worth it for you.
What is it? The Spotlight Hour is a 60-minute event that you can find in Pokémon GO every Tuesday. During this time, there is at least one Pokémon that is the focus, as well as a bonus.
In the edition on December 23, 2025, Seemops, the Pokémon from Generation 3, will be featured. It has the Ice and Water types and can evolve into Seejong and then into Walraisa.
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Pokémon GO shows its new season in the trailer
Spotlight Hour on December 23, 2025 – Start and Bonuses
What time does it start? As usual, the event starts at 6:00 PM. It ends an hour later at 7:00 PM.
What bonus is active? If you evolve Pokémon during the 60 minutes, you will receive double the amount of experience points.
Can you catch Shiny Seemops? Yes, with some luck you might encounter the Shiny variant of Seemops as well. However, the chance for that is not increased.
Is the Spotlight Hour worth it? If you are looking for one of the best attackers in Pokémon GO for your raid teams, you may not get your money’s worth during this Spotlight Hour.
If, on the other hand, you want strong attackers for the battle league, you should take advantage of the hour. While Seejong is among the current top 10 in the Super League, you will get a top 20 attacker in the Hyper League with Walraisa.
Seejong should know the moves Powder Snow, Surf, and Body Slam. For Walraisa, you should focus on the moveset Powder Snow, Ice Spear, and Earthquake. For Powder Snow and Ice Spear you will need top TMs.
Additionally, you can take advantage of the event bonus if you are actively leveling up and want to snag some extra experience points through evolutions. If you use Lucky Eggs during this, you will even receive four times the amount of experience points for each individual evolution.
Events are an integral part of Pokémon GO. Even at the end of the year, there’s another one that will carry into the new year. And it not only gives you a higher chance of a Shiny but also a lasting opportunity to obtain more Lucky Pokémon: all information about New Year 2026 in Pokémon GO.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Stardew Valley is a source of relaxation and joy. Unless, you do everything wrong. Just like MeinMMO author Max Handwerk.
Ah, the Stardew Valley! A magical, idyllic place characterized by the community of its inhabitants, the daily work on the farm, a few adventures in mysterious caves, or an extensive fishing trip by the sea.
This place particularly delights my wife and me in this cool winter. Instead of letting the rainy, cold weather outside bring us down, we currently enjoy spending a few hours on the couch, sipping tea and playing Stardew Valley in wonderful split-screen co-op.
For those who haven’t tried it yet, due to the graphics or anything else: It’s really the perfect game to get through the winter together. That the game still ranks number 2 in the best-rated Steam Games doesn’t surprise me at all (even though we play on the PS5).
But! One should not confuse Stardew Valley entirely with a cozy game. Sure, it’s not Dark Souls or anything, but there are quite a few tough challenges that require skillful planning or time. And if you don’t meet those, you have to wait a long time until you can proceed again.
It’s particularly frustrating when you think you’ve done everything right, only for the success to be thrown straight into your own trash can. Or rather: into the cooking pot.
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Stardew Valley Trailer
Goodbye, beloved eel
In Stardew Valley, one of the great tasks is to rebuild the town’s Pelican Community Center. To accomplish that, you have to produce, mine, or find a lot of resources and goods and deliver them in bundles to the Community Center.
The difficult part: Many of these goods can only be obtained if you have already met certain prerequisites. Or only in certain seasons. And that was the catch.
One of the last things we needed for our finished Community Center was a regular eel. You can catch it in Stardew Valley in both spring and autumn. However, only in the ocean, only when it’s raining, and only between 4 PM and 2 AM.
You have to figure that out first. No wonder I spent ages fishing to catch an eel from the sea. While my wife took care of the cows and goats, slayed monsters in the caves, and maintained social relationships with the village, I joined Fisher Willy to catch the slippery fish.
The eel successfully hid for a long time
It took a while, but eventually it happened! There it was, fresh from the sea: An eel, just as the Community Center could wish for. I was thrilled with the success and set off. But not to the Community Center.
As soon as I left the beach, something must have distracted me. In any case, I completely forgot what I was planning to do within moments. I only realized my mistake later: When I cooked a huge batch of sashimi in the kitchen of our farm.
This recipe uses random fish from the inventory. And so my eel ended up not in the Community Center, but in the sashimi for village trader Pierre, which he had requested.
A mistake with a learning effect. Really!
When I noticed the mistake, I could hardly believe it. All that work! For nothing! My wife was laughing, but now the hunt for the eels was back on. Now that I knew what to do, everything went a bit faster.
I had learned my lesson, of course. Never again would something so stupid happen to me. After all, I wanted to finish the Community Center.
From now on, I would pay very close attention to what I throw into the cooking pot.
Do you know what else you need for Stardew Valley’s bundles? A pufferfish! And you can only get it in summer. Unfortunately, it wasn’t summer when I realized this. And that meant: We would have to wait a long time to be able to fish this rare fish for our bundles.
But we were lucky! At some point, the traveling cart actually had a pufferfish for sale – even though it wasn’t the season! What luck! I bought the fish right away, planning to deliver it to the Community Center.
At least that was the plan. But, as it is in Stardew Valley: Something seems to have distracted me. Because when I returned to the Community Center a few hours later to deliver items, the pufferfish was conspicuously missing.
Honestly: This time I don’t even know what I did with it. Maybe I threw it away, ate it, or… cooked it again. The fact was, it was no longer there, and we had to wait for summer to come again.
It took a while, but today the Community Center is finished – with a complete aquarium
Today my Community Center is completed, but it was a long road. The one that, with a bit more attention, could have been a lot shorter.
But that’s something in Stardew Valley: Amidst all the relaxation, you really have to be careful. Recently, for example, I blew up all my mayonnaise machines because I accidentally equipped a mega bomb and laid it down instead of putting an egg in the mayo machine. It happens! Have you made similar mistakes? Tell us in the comments! And if you want to see what happens to a Stardew farm after 1,000 years, check this out.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Dungeons & Dragons, heroes, antagonists, and ordinary inhabitants can adorn themselves with tattoos that are either purely cosmetic or can invoke their own powers. In this list, we want to present you the best of these tattoos.
In the book “Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything,” which contains the accumulated knowledge of the namesake Tasha, the famous sorceress introduces all the well-guarded secrets she has collected during her career on her adventures. In addition to new artifacts, spells, and even goodies, it also includes explanations of magical tattoos, which she explains as follows:
Magical tattoos combine magic and artistry with ink and needles, bestowing wondrous abilities upon their bearers.
The tattoos are initially bound to magical needles, which transfer their magic to a being.
Once inscribed on the body of a being, damage or injuries no longer impair the function of the tattoo, even if it becomes defaced.
During the tattooing of a magical tattoo, a being can customize the appearance of the tattoo. A magical tattoo can look like a brand, a carving, a birthmark, a scale pattern, or any other cosmetic alteration.
The rarer a magical tattoo is, the more space it typically occupies on a being’s skin. The sizes of the tattoos required for a particular rarity are as follows:
Common: One hand or foot, or a quarter of a limb
Uncommon: Half a limb or the head
Rare: One limb
Very Rare: Two limbs or the chest or upper back
Legendary: Two limbs and the torso
All listed tattoos can be found in “Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.” We have ranked them here based on their utility, their impact on gameplay, and of course – not to be underestimated – their coolness factor. After all, it’s about tattoos.
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The Mighty Nein – First Sneak Peek of the New Fantasy Series on Amazon Prime
The Spellwrought Tattoo
Brief: It allows for a one-time casting of a spell
Rarity: Varies by spell level (cantrip and level 1 = Common, level 2 to 3 = Uncommon, level 4 to 5 = Rare)
Appearance: Self-chosen design
The tattoo enables the bearer to cast a predetermined spell without needing material components. It can range from a cantrip to a level 5 spell.
The utility of this tattoo resembles that of a spell scroll, but unlike that, it is usable by any bearer, even if they do not belong to the class on whose list the spell is found.
When used, the tattoo glows faintly before it eventually fades from the skin. It is definitely not a useless tattoo, but it is significantly less spectacular than the others on this list.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The joy of World of Warcraft is being hindered. For errors from the past are now particularly painful.
For several weeks now, the housing craze has erupted in World of Warcraft. This has led to beautiful homes, while also revitalizing the old game world. For everywhere you can encounter characters visiting former factions or gathering old resources to buy decorations for their homes.
But this also clearly shows the problems the resources that had to be farmed in the past cause. Because there is far too little of them – and that hasn’t changed to this day.
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So gestaltet ihr in WoW einen Weihnachtsbaum für die Feiertage
What is the problem? Many of the old resources are exhausting to farm. They require either a lot of time or stamina over days and weeks. Because often these resources are also limited, so you cannot “infinitely” farm them. This is a problem when there are many new rewards like decorations for the house, but old rewards are also not exhausted yet.
This is also described by the player Goldman_sax in the WoW Subreddit in the post titled “We do not complain enough about Resonance Crystals/Dragon Isles Resources and Anima”:
The core idea behind these currencies is that you receive them while playing daily. The catch is, I’ve played The War Within almost every day since launch and gathered about 110,000 [Resonance Crystals], but I still need 830,000 to buy every item once (and you often want to buy decorations multiple times).
This leads me to two points:
1. If the idea behind these currencies is that you receive them while playing, why are these currencies not part of core gameplay activities like M+, raids, or PvP? Why are they only received from world activities that you typically no longer engage in once you are reasonably well equipped?
2. Why is there no good farming method for these currencies? Nearly all the fastest methods are blocked by daily or weekly variants through timegating, and the amount is low. To give an example, the fastest Anima grind is from the rare mobs in Zereth Mortis, which give about 7,000 – 8,000 Anima per day and hour. I still need over 600,000 Anima to buy everything once, which means I have to farm for another 75-85 hours and 75 days.
Which resources are particularly problematic? The biggest problems have already been addressed by Goldman_sax. Especially the following resources are problematic:
War Supplies (Battle for Azeroth)
Anima (Shadowlands)
Resources of the Dragon Isles (Dragonflight)
Resonance Crystals (The War Within)
These are all resources that you mostly receive in small amounts from weekly tasks or world quests. However, the required amount for rewards is usually in the thousands, so a single item can correspond to the effort of 10 or 15 quests. Particularly frustrating for items needed in large quantities when planning something specific in housing.
The community has several solutions: How to solve the problem is also being discussed within the community. Some of the suggestions include the possibility of exchanging resources for others. Some also advocate for converting all “old” resources into a unified “Legacy Content” resource that can be used everywhere, as Whatifyoudidtho describes:
I believe the solution to this is (if they don’t just drastically increase the amount received), ironically, another currency.
A currency that you can only use for old content, for example, for exchanging Anima or War Supplies or whatever. The acquisition can be through all old content – timewalking, visiting old dungeons/raids, old quests, events, and so on.
This would not only fix the currencies that are incredibly hard to farm, but would also simply require playing the game to acquire them.
How do you deal with old resources in World of Warcraft? Do you farm them with a pained expression? Do you simply ignore the rewards? Or are you waiting for Blizzard to “finally cave” and come up with a better solution for the resources of the old expansions? What grand houses are already possible now, a neighbor shows with a truly bizarre house.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Eldegarde has been in Early Access on Steam since February 2025. Former developers from Blizzard are involved in the title. Here, Arc Raiders meets a setting with wizards, warriors, and rogues.
What is Eldegarde? Imagine the extraction shooter Arc Raiders in a classic fantasy setting. Then you have a rough idea of what to expect in Eldegarde:
You choose a class that you know from many role-playing games. Each class has unique abilities – for example, priests can hover over dangers, and warriors break through walls.
After that, you dive into a PvPvE roleplaying tumult, alone or with friends. On the map, you will need to search for treasures, level up, and eliminate mobs as well as other players.
At the upcoming launch, there will also be a pure PvE mode if you don’t feel like facing human opponents.
In the town, you can use the looted items for elixirs and retreat to your private quarters in the tavern.
When will it be released? Eldegarde has been in Early Access on Steam since February 2025. As the team from Notorious Studios announced, the game will be released for PC next month. Version 1.0 will celebrate its release on January 21, 2026, on Steam.
Alongside the announced release, the developers have released a new trailer. The fights from the game are in focus here.
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Eldegarde sieht aus wie ein Mix aus WoW und Arc Raiders
Eldegarde is developed by former Blizzard developers
Which developers are involved? The development studio Notorious Studios was founded by Blizzard veteran Chris Kaleiki. He has contributed to several parts of World of Warcraft, including the original game, Wrath of the Lich King, and Mists of Pandaria.
For the past 11 months, he has worked with the community to give Eldegarde sufficient polish. He said in a press release we have:
Initially, it was a purely hardcore PvPvE game, but over time we learned that players also wanted a PvE experience, something like a “mini-MMO,” if you will. Eldegarde is an example of those efforts. It is the name of the world in the game, which now offers a variety of experiences, including PvE, PvP arenas, a social hub, and PvE dungeons, and welcomes both new and returning players.
How is it being received so far? On Steam, the title currently holds 70% positive ratings from 3,902 votes. The colorful graphic style, the class system, and the fights are highlighted positively. The interesting genre mix is also well received by fans.
However, there is also criticism. One of the most common negative points is the technical condition. Players report crashes, performance drops, and server issues. Moreover, the controls are still a bit clunky and newcomers find it hard to win against veterans.
Currently, you can buy the Gold-Trimmed Trader Brutosaur again in World of Warcraft. The price for the mount is so steep that a player has built an alternative.
Special features of the Gold-Trimmed Trader Brutosaur include two NPCs offering unique services. While one helper gives you mobile access to the auction house, the other acts as a useful postman – and all of this anywhere you are allowed to summon mounts. For comparable alternatives some WoW players have dug very deep into their gold pockets.
The housing feature is really popular within the WoW community:
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In WoW könnt ihr Häuser anheben – Pimp Your House Edition
“Brutohausus”
What alternative has a player found? Wuqingji uploaded a picture of his new Brutosaurus on Reddit. However, this is not the expensive mount, but a self-built home in the shape of a dinosaur. His comment on the picture: “If you can’t afford a Brutosaurus …”
How does the community react? With over 2,800 thumbs up and a lot of praise.
LeJewBringer summarizes on Reddit succinctly: “Brutohausus.”
Novirtue celebrates on Reddit the building: “The creativity of some people really impresses me.”
Thoragh comments on Reddit: “If it’s cheaper to own a house in the shape of a Brutosaurus than a real Brutosaurus… then you know the economy is upside down.”
No_Issue_8224 jokes on Reddit: “Something frightened this budget Brutosaur, and now it’s pretending to be a house.”
How do you like the Brutosaurus house? Let us know in the comments! By the way, WoW demon Cortyn recently sneaked through the neighborhood. One house in particular became especially impressive – and it was open. What Cortyn found there, you can read here: My neighbor in WoW has the best house of all
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
A player was recently able to pressure the developers of Arc Raiders into an unusual update with his collection passion. However, his small collection has now evolved into an army of rubber ducks …
What’s behind the rubber ducks? Rubber ducks are items in Arc Raiders that can be found throughout the post-apocalyptic map of the extraction shooter. These cute bath companions are a type of artifact from a bygone era and can either be sold for $1,000 or thrown to create a small distraction.
If you hear the name BigBootyTom, you might also consider the yellow rubber ducks priceless collectibles that should be preserved for posterity. This player already had 600 of these ducks in his inventory in November 2025. At that time, he complained: You can only display 9 ducks on the shelf!
ARC Raiders zeigt im Launch-Trailer, wie der Kampf Mensch gegen Maschine aussieht
“That would be a great addition to Arc!”
What does the collection look like today? It has now grown to 4,200 rubber ducks, as BigBootyTom shows on Reddit. In his post, he explains that he is looking forward to the upcoming expeditions, as he will then have 12 more storage slots available to accommodate 180 additional ducks.
How is the community reacting? With over 1,500 thumbs up and a new request to the developers of Arc Raiders:
Nfl_porn_throwaway writes on Reddit: “Rubber ducks should have their own storage space so that they can be kept and displayed in the room without taking up space in the actual inventory.”
Numerous_Vegetable_3 thinks it’s a great idea: “It would generally be nice to have separate storage for items. I really hope they add something like this.”
ENEYEL8 points out on Reddit: “Tarkov has a Hall of Fame where collectibles can be stored and displayed. That would be a great addition to Arc!”
Austoman expresses shock on Reddit: “Wait, someone else did this too? Damn, I only have around 100 ducks.”
The two YouTubers Robert Hofmann and David Hain talk about the new movie Avatar: Fire and Ash in their podcast “Two Like Luck and Chatter”. They draw a comparison to World of Warcraft, but not a positive one.
What does Avatar 3 have to do with World of Warcraft? The third part of the Avatar series has just premiered in theaters. The two YouTubers have already seen the film and rated it 2.5 out of 5 points.
However, Hain adds that the DLC could be completed in just 14 minutes. For him, there is far too little of the new race and their homeland to see. You would have seen exactly one volcano, one unidentifiable burned tree, and a bit of ash.
The new Fire race would not be seen for half the time. It seems as if James Cameron had no interest in them.
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Avatar: Fire and Ash – The trailer for the third part of the Na’vi story
The movie is received worse than its predecessor
What do the two praise? Not much. The movie was a 3:17-hour disappointment. After watching, Hain felt like a sack with the air let out. One of the few positive aspects they mention is the “cool visuals”. But even they catch some flak.
What do they criticize in detail? Part 3 uses the HFR technology, which stands for High Frame Rate. It usually has 48 frames per second or more, while 24 frames per second is typically the standard in cinema.
However, such images appear like a telenovela because they are so smoothed out. The two compare it to video game sequences like from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
In part 3, there is also always the same loop: Someone gets lost, gets captured, and there is a fight. The same conflicts from part 2 are continued, with the same characters. There is no escalation or development, as seen in other movie trilogies. In addition, the immersion into the world present in part 2 is missing.
How is the movie generally received? Depending on the review platform, the ranking of the Avatar films is mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes, Avatar 3 ranks last of the three films with a 68% recommendation rate from critics. However, among cinema-goers, it looks different: Avatar 1 is rated the worst here, with 82% recommendations. Avatar 3 gets 91%.
On IMDb, the films are all rated similarly. They range between 7.9 (Avatar 1) and 7.5 (Avatar 2) out of 10 possible points. Avatar 3 lands with a 7.6 between the two films.
Keep in mind that the ranking can change in the future. As the two YouTubers suggest, the Avatar films have only experienced a significant increase after the holidays.
At the beginning of 2024, Johanna Faries succeeded Mike Ybarra as President of Blizzard. She has now spoken about the company’s future and the focus of its upcoming games.
What is Blizzard planning for 2026 and beyond? Under Johanna Faries’ leadership, Blizzard aims to focus on its existing franchises to tap into their untapped potential.
We have iconic brands, and in many ways, they still have a lot of room to grow. So let’s focus on the cards we hold. That doesn’t mean we won’t explore new places and territories, but right now we are concentrating on all the iconic potential that we still have in the tank at Blizzard.
What brands are they? Since the studio’s founding as Silicon & Synapse in 1991, many different games have been released, but Blizzard has mainly represented three universes since the mid to late 1990s:
Warcraft
StarCraft
Diablo
With Overwatch, Blizzard introduced the first new Blizzard brand in 18 years in 2016. Other releases like Heroes of the Storm and Hearthstone also clearly revolve around Blizzard’s core IPs.
WoW Midnight will likely be a highlight for many fans in 2026:
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Der Cinematic Trailer zur WoW Erweiterung Midnight verrät, wie es in Azeroth weiter geht
Movies about Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo?
What is Blizzard specifically planning? Johanna Faries reveals a few more details in the interview. The goal is to have at least one or two really big releases in each calendar year. Additionally, they want to find a good balance between new games and fresh content for their various live services.
The President emphasizes that currently, work is being done on every brand in the Blizzard portfolio (including StarCraft, for which the last major release was already 10 years ago with StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void) and that in the coming 5 years, they also want to implement things related to these universes that are not about games.
The vision I share is that we want to be the best gaming and entertainment company in the world, not just the best gaming company. I would put Blizzard’s brands up against any entertainment company. That’s a great starting position, as many different entertainment companies are very interested in how linear media could look for our portfolio. We have the right people for this. We have many former Hollywood folks at Blizzard, so they know exactly how to navigate there.
Johanna Faries also emphasizes that Blizzard is considered a jewel within Team Xbox and that Blizzard management has the freedom and main responsibility for upcoming projects as long as they prove to Microsoft that everything is running smoothly within the company.
The year 2026 is set to be filled with releases for role-playing game fans. On this occasion, MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz visited the GameStar Talk to discuss the most exciting titles of the upcoming year.
Who is present at the GameStar Talk and what is it about? In this episode, alongside GameStar host Lea Herfurtner, there are also GameStar editor Fabiano Uslenghi, Michael Graf, and MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz, who is also our expert on MMORPGs.
This time, the game played is “Pick or Kill”: Two role-playing games will duel, and the guests of this episode must decide which title they currently find more exciting – and thus also which game they would prefer to talk about at this point.
You can watch the complete talk here on YouTube:
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You can find more video talks directly at GameStar Talk on GameStar.de and on the YouTube channel of the colleagues, which you can of course also subscribe to. The GameStar podcast is also available on Spotify. It’s worth checking out!
The Great Duel of Role-Playing Games
Who wins in the duel between the Gothic remake and the new Fable? Will Witcher return in 2026, or does the new year belong to the new role-playing game The Blood of Dawnwalker, developed by former employees of CD Projekt Red?
However, it also raises the question of what constitutes a role-playing game in 2026. Is GTA, which is essentially a clear action game but has a large roleplay scene, a role-playing game? And how important are dice for a true RPG?
After the resounding victory at The Game Awards, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was also awarded the title of Game of the Year at another show. However, the award has now been revoked – because the game did not adhere to the rules.
What is this award? “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” would have won two awards at The Indie Game Awards. This still doesn’t come close to the many awards it won at The Game Awards, but at least the award for “Game of the Year” would have been included here as well.
In addition, Expedition 33 was supposed to be awarded as “Debut Game”. However, because the development team allegedly lied about one issue, the awards were revoked. Instead, “Blue Prince” has now been promoted to Game of the Year, and “Sorry We’re Closed” to “Debut Game”.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 hinterlässt bei den Spielern eine Leere
Clair Obscur did not adhere to the rules
What is the problem? As the Indie Game Awards team states on their site, they had a strict stance regarding the use of generative AI. The development team from Sandfall Interactive initially made false claims regarding this:
When submitting for review, a representative from Sandfall Interactive confirmed that no generative AI was used in the development of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Since Sandfall Interactive confirmed the use of generative AI art in the production on the day of the Indie Game Awards 2025, this leads to the disqualification of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from the nomination.
The award show team adds that the “questionable elements” have already been removed from the game. Nevertheless, this violates the existing regulations. Therefore, the nomination committee has decided to withdraw the awards.
Where was AI supposed to be used? As X-user Nyanomancer discovered, it appears that AI was used in a newspaper column. The screenshot shows that the articles have a fantasy language and the images do not resemble real locations or people.
Here you see the alleged AI texture.In the final game, it was probably replaced.
In a second post, the same user explains that those were just placeholders. The textures have been replaced in the finished game with self-designed newspaper articles. Additionally, another AI asset from the starting area was removed upon release.
Moreover, François Meurisse, producer of Clair Obscur, confirmed the use of AI. With this technology, things became possible that one couldn’t have even thought about a short time ago. You can read the statement from User GenePark on X.
In the industry, it is unclear which games use AI and which do not. Just recently, there was a major outcry regarding Baldur’s Gate 3, as Larian Studios also relies on this technology. The CEO, Swen Vincke, believes: There is no problem. Head of the new Divinity relies on AI, has already used it for Baldur’s Gate 3
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In recent months, there have been times when more new players joined simultaneously than at any point since our debut on Steam (which already marked a peak). Veteran players have returned in droves, and player activity is now higher than it has been in years. Observing such a surge gives us new energy, and our expectations have been exceeded in almost every way.
Here you can see the trailer for Guild Wars 2 – Visions of Eternity:
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Guild Wars 2 sets sail for a new adventure in the announcement trailer for ‘Visions of Eternity’
The first Guild Wars also had a great year
What else happened in 2025? With the 25th anniversary of ArenaNet and the 20th birthday of Guild Wars, this year saw two big parties for the studio. This resulted in two gifts for the community:
Guild Wars 2 was never the MMORPG with the most players on Steam due to its own launcher, but it has always been one of the most popular online RPGs on Valve’s platform. Currently, only one other genre competitor has better reviews: The 10 MMORPGs on Steam with the best ratings in December 2025
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
We wanted to know from you how good the housing in World of Warcraft is – and you voiced your opinions loudly.
In World of Warcraft, it has been a bit quieter in recent days. There is less activity in the dungeons, finding groups in raids takes a bit longer, and participation in Legion Remix has also significantly decreased. However, this is not because the air is out of WoW, but due to the release of a new feature: housing.
A few days ago, we wanted to know how well the housing in World of Warcraft is received by you, our MeinMMO community, in order to get an accurate mood picture. Almost 2,000 of you participated in the survey, and here are the results:
More than half love housing, but a quarter hardly knows what to make of it
For the following analysis, we calculated the share of people who do not play WoW or do not yet have housing access – thus, the percentage values shift as follows:
Extremely good! It is almost perfect 20.2 % (332 votes)
Good, I like a lot 34.3 % (566 votes)
Mixed, some things are good, others are bad 22 % (363 votes)
Bad, it brings me little joy 13.5 % (216 votes)
Extremely bad! I hardly like anything about it 10 % (165 votes)
It can be seen that the majority of votes (54.5 %) are either positive or very positive towards housing. For them, the feature is a clear addition to World of Warcraft and has significantly improved the game.
Our reader Julian Saebel wrote on Facebook about this:
It’s absolutely fun and has extremely great potential for the future. I’m already looking forward to seeing what will be added. And the best part? There’s zero pressure. No player power, no “I’m falling behind”, no catch-up, no “you’re too low and won’t get taken along.” Everyone at their own pace, according to desire or not at all. You don’t HAVE to use it. For my part, I celebrate the development of the game very much!
Almost a quarter (22 %) are still not quite sure what to do with housing. They see good, but also bad aspects, and some of them want to wait for more time to pass or see how housing will change with the release of Midnight.
Our reader “The Dude” expresses the following view:
I really don’t know what this brings us now. There is absolutely nothing to do. In the garrison, there is something to do, and I have various access points to the auction house, bank, and so, here absolutely nothing. Should I now just stand under an apple tree and then?
In summary, however, it can be said that more than half of the votes now have a new incentive to spend time in the game. Like all features in WoW, housing is one that not all fans can be convinced by – but it doesn’t have to. Because World of Warcraft offers so many different contents for different types of players that not everyone can like everything.
And that’s somehow the beauty of housing: it is completely optional. Those who do not enjoy it never have to enter the neighborhoods and their own plot and can simply focus on what they enjoy the most. However, for those who can engage with it, they will find numerous hidden decorations.
Often criticized is the necessity to replay old content or to travel around the whole world, as our reader Faceless describes:
I find housing to be quite well done for a start. There are a few small weaknesses here and there, but for a new feature, it works quite solidly.
What bothers me is the surrounding circumstances.
Housing items for achievements, no problem. Housing items for some dubious quest lines, difficult but okay. Housing items for ancient resources, really terrible decision that gives every new player a middle finger in the face.
A view that our reader Zwerlin also shares:
Overall, I find it very well done, but … I find it incredibly annoying that it feels like it takes an hour to get various parts all over the world.
A nearly equally large group (23.5 %) has so far had mostly or only bad experiences with housing. Some view the whole feature as a “waste of resources”, while others miss a playful benefit in housing, as for some, “just having a nice house in the game” equates to “wasted time”.
Our reader “The Dude” expresses the following view:
I really don’t know what this brings us now. There is absolutely nothing to do. In the garrison, there is something to do, and I have various access points to the auction house, bank, and so, here absolutely nothing. Should I now just stand under an apple tree and then?
In summary, however, it can be said that more than half of the votes now have a new incentive to spend time in the game. Like all features in WoW, housing is one that not all fans can be convinced by – but it doesn’t have to. Because World of Warcraft offers so many different contents for different types of players that not everyone can like everything.
And that’s somehow the beauty of housing: it is completely optional. Those who do not enjoy it never have to enter the neighborhoods and their own plot and can simply focus on what they enjoy the most. However, for those who can engage with it, they will find numerous hidden decorations.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Ashes of Creation is one of the most ambitious and expensive MMORPGs of the foreseeable future, especially considering projects from the West. At the same time, the developers are aiming for a very specific target audience. Can this work out well?
How expensive is Ashes of Creation? Steven Sharif founded the studio Intrepid 10 years ago. In 2017, they raised nearly $3.3 million through Kickstarter for the development of Ashes of Creation. Revenue from the sale of pre-order packages and alpha access has been coming in for years – interested parties sometimes had to invest more than $500 for that.
By now, they have added an early access on Steam to the alpha running through their own launcher. Currently priced just over 40 euros, these accesses are relatively inexpensive compared to previous alpha prices, but still an investment in the future of the online role-playing game.
Who is writing here? Karsten Scholz is the MMORPG expert of MeinMMO. He has been dealing with the best genre in the world almost daily for 16 years. The first private contact occurred in 2005. Since then, he has accumulated several years of playtime in various online role-playing games and has played almost every relevant genre representative of the past nearly two decades for at least a while.
After the release, Ashes of Creation is supposed to be financially supported through a monthly subscription. There are no plans for a purchase price or additional monetization through a shop or battle pass, for example. Since the beta is supposed to start sometime in 2026 and there is still no date for the release, it could take more than a year before the subscription is activated. Maybe even one and a half or two years.
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Ashes of Creation: Early Access Guide stimmt euch auf den Start auf Steam ein
Expensive as a blockbuster, but not for the mainstream
What is the danger? A development of nearly 10 years. A team of 250 employees. Operating costs per week amounting to $800,000. Ashes of Creation is a blockbuster project with an AAA budget. And regarding the ambitions in terms of the size of the world, the complexity of the node system, or the genre-revolutionizing technological framework, that also fits.
At the same time, Steven Sharif has from the beginning planned to develop an MMORPG for a very specific target audience, and the team has stuck to this vision to this day. The pillars of Ashes of Creation include:
Ashes of Creation relies on a sandbox framework that hardly guides players. You must set your own goals and decide for yourself which content you want to tackle to reach the maximum level and contribute to the progress in the world.
PvP is an essential part in the world of Ashes of Creation. If you die, you can even lose part of your loot. If you want to avoid PvP at all costs, many of the key features of the MMORPG will be off-limits to you. This includes important PvE content such as the new Harbinger events, which often possess a PvP component despite their cooperative nature.
AoC focuses on an old-school MMORPG experience with a large world, long travel times, and a high grind factor. Many players are currently leveling in the early access version by grouping at certain locations and farming mobs there for hours. This is reminiscent of classics like Dark Age of Camelot.
With the strong focus on PvP and sandbox, they often only appeal to a rather small target audience in the MMORPG sector. Many of today’s genre fans grew up with online role-playing games like World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV, Guild Wars 2, or The Elder Scrolls Online. They often wish for a colorful theme park of content, high convenience, a focus on PvE, and purely optional PvP.
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Ashes of Creation stimmt im Trailer auf Early-Access-Start auf Steam ein
The last MMORPG blockbuster of its kind?
New World’s PvP and sandbox plan fell apart during a test phase. The loud feedback forced the developers to change their concept, but there was too little time to ensure varied quests, an enjoyable leveling phase, and well-interlocking systems. This misstep ultimately leads to the early death of New World.
That there are relatively few MMORPG fans in the West who are eager for PvP and sandbox has also been noted in other regions of the world. According to Sangtae Yoon (Executive Producer of Chrono Odyssey), internal numbers show that only about 5 to 10 percent of all players would prefer PvP content. The absolute majority prefers PvE.
This explains why upcoming MMORPGs like Aion 2 and ArcheAge Chronicles are distancing themselves from the roots of their predecessors and also want to focus much more on PvE, the story experience, and content for soloists or small groups.
Ashes of Creation goes against this trend and currently alienates many genre fans who have invested a little more than 40 euros to take a first look at the MMORPG. The only 49 percent positive reviews on Steam underline this. This is, despite blockbuster budget, not a game for the mainstream, but for a quite niche target audience.
Steven Sharif is the driving force behind Ashes of Creation.
Can this daring mix work? As a genre fan who has been playing MMORPGs of all kinds with great joy for 20 years, I hope so. Especially since there are very few online role-playing games from the West with ambitions and big budgets.
However, I fear that a difficult year lies ahead for Intrepid and that someone will have to make unpleasant compromises in the end. Either because the developers need to create additional revenue streams (and may therefore bring forward the subscription), or because too few new testers are entering early access.
Or because at some point an unfinished product will go live, as there is no more money for further months of development. That would probably be the beginning of the end of Steven Sharif’s dream.
When Ashes of Creation is finally released and can excite the target audience, a mandatory monthly subscription should be able to finance further support. However, I cannot imagine that this will still allow a team of 250 employees to be paid … I expect at the latest then the unfortunately common layoffs in the industry. But one must first reach that point, which I find difficult enough. What do you think about this?
The majority of current MMORPG projects with budget and ambitions come from Asia. However, to achieve sustainable success here in the West, they must stop making the same mistakes over and over again or insisting on their peculiarities. You can read more about it here: 5 mistakes that MMORPGs from Asia must avoid if they want to succeed with us
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the interview, Witchfire Creative Director Adrian Chmielarz discusses why the era of cumbersome gaming giants is ending and how small, agile top teams are shaping a new independence for the future of gaming.
In a time when the big giants of the gaming industry are faltering, small, agile teams are proving that vision and quality weigh heavier than billion-dollar budgets. One of these teams is The Astronauts. Their new single-player shooter Witchfire is currently enjoying success in Early Access. MeinMMO editor-in-chief Leya Jankowski spoke with Creative Director Adrian Chmielarz about the current state of the gaming industry.
What to expect in the interview:
The crisis of the titans: Why Adrian Chmielarz believes the next five years will be “very painful” for AAA studios and why “big” is often a hindrance to innovation today.
Witchfire’s recipe for success: How a team of just 27 people generated 1.6 million wishlist entries.
Strict AI ban: A look behind the scenes of development – why “not a single pixel of AI” is allowed in Witchfire, even if that prolongs work by weeks.
The end of publisher power: Why developers today, according to Chmielarz, no longer need “suit-wearers” to celebrate world successes, and why the marketing of the future takes place on Reddit and YouTube.
Shooter fatigue as a myth: Why the market for high-quality single-player shooters is actually empty.
A-players instead of management ballast: A plea for radical talent gatekeeping and a work culture where the ego is dismantled.
Over 500,000 units sold in Early Access
MeinMMO:I would like to start with the numbers of Witchfire in Early Access. They are already impressive: You have sold 500,000 units and generated 1.6 million wishlist entries – which is enormous. You accomplished all this with a small team of about 27 people. Did you at The Astronauts prepare for this level of excitement given the volatile situation in the industry, or was the success a surprise?
Adrian Chmielarz: Well, we obviously hoped for it – after all, it’s our livelihood. We realized that people liked Painkiller and Bulletstorm. The latter was commercially not a success by 2011 standards, but today that would be a completely different story. It was not a disaster, just not the super hit that Electronic Arts wished for. Nevertheless, we were hopeful that people would respond to our announcement.
However, a major risk was that our previous game, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, was an adventure – often referred to as a “walking simulator.” When the same people suddenly announce, “By the way, in the next game, you’ll be shooting heads off,” that’s a bold leap.
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Witchfire: The Destiny with Witches has a trailer for the Steam release
MeinMMO:You just said that Bulletstorm would be a success today? Do you think it would be more successful than back then?
Adrian Chmielarz: Maybe. But I primarily think that the numbers achieved by Bulletstorm back then were not satisfactory for EA – but they would be today.
I don’t remember the exact numbers, but I remember that we were more or less the first victims of a tectonic shift in gaming. Namely: “We no longer want to buy eight-hour-long single-player campaigns. We need more.”
Bulletstorm was the first game to be affected by that. Others followed.
We actually worked on Bulletstorm 2 already. It was in development. But EA decided: “We’re too big for that.” They are interested in franchises that sell 10 or 20 million copies. So they cancelled it, and that was it for Bulletstorm – at least for now.
Publishers controlled the distribution – not anymore
MeinMMO:This “We’re too big for that” is an interesting point. We are currently seeing a “crisis of the giants” with layoffs at AAA studios, while small teams are celebrating successes. What is the downside of large structures compared to a team of 27 people?
Adrian Chmielarz: The quality of the team. Imagine a studio with 2,000 employees. It is extremely hard, almost impossible, to have 2,000 outstanding developers where each one is a perfect 10 out of 10. And with such a structure, you inevitably have more managers than ever before.
You have creative people who know how to make a good game. They try to do it, but they have to fight through all the bullshit from upper management that tells them: “We saw a YouTube video, that’s not cool with kids anymore, we have to do something else.”
You have a Creative Director, an Art Lead, and many other developers who want to create something great – but they just can’t. Why are creatives leaving big companies now and founding small studios that are successful? The reason is very simple: They couldn’t do it before.
This would have happened 30 years ago – if publishers hadn’t controlled the distribution. Today, through Steam and digital stores, you can be your own publisher successfully.
Of course, that’s not trivial. You need money and infrastructure.
MeinMMO: The marketing has also changed. Content creators and YouTube allow small studios to reach many people without huge budgets. Is that a crucial factor?
Adrian Chmielarz: Absolutely. In the past, publishers controlled the distribution chains and marketing – you bought ads in magazines. We don’t need that anymore today. We haven’t spent a cent on streamers or YouTubers so far.
That will probably change, as I see no problem in paying some of them. But at least in this phase, we can reach practically everyone. You just need a game that is interesting to them.
People are also suspicious of traditional advertising; they rely on word of mouth, Reddit, or channels like SkillUp. Make a good game, and you have access to this space.
An absolute ban on AI assets
MeinMMO:Another change that is currently taking place is generative AI: for cost reduction or speeding up processes. What can a team of 27 accomplish that AI cannot, to make a game like Witchfire unique?
Adrian Chmielarz: I think, at least today – by the end of 2025 – the rule is: If someone believes they can make a game with AI, they are so wrong that it’s not even funny.
Sometimes I want to generate an image internally to explain an idea. Something like: “Hey, I want this wheel in the game, and here’s an illustration.” And then I sit for an hour just to get the image somewhat right – just to show the others what I mean. That’s really not a problem AI can solve right now.
For Witchfire, there is a very simple rule at the moment: It is absolutely forbidden to use AI assets in the game. This sometimes gives us serious headaches.
For example, we wanted to incorporate portraits of witches into the game. With AI as a tool, our artist might have accomplished that in a week. Not to generate everything, but to use AI to remove elements or fill in backgrounds.
But I said: No. There must not be a single pixel of AI. So, he took almost a month to create everything manually. But when we write “No AI” in the game, I want that to be true.
Will that change? Probably yes. Right now there is a strong stigma. I can hardly imagine that we will use AI for generating art, but AI as a tool – that will be completely acceptable soon.
A great example is Broken Sword. A remaster was released where they used locally trained AI that was taught the visual style of the game, to upscale the material. The quality is incredible – something that would have taken an entire team a year.
We will definitely see more of that.
MeinMMO:In Where Winds Meet, there are a few AI NPCs that you can chat with freely. What do you think of such experiments?
Adrian Chmielarz: On paper, I hate it. I believe in author-driven content. For me, a book, a game, a movie is a connection to another person. I want to consume what that person offers me. I want to take it in, breathe it.
If I know that it’s just an AI branch that some generator came up with, it’s no longer immersive for me. Because I know there’s just a generator behind it.
But never say never. Because recently there’s this completely crazy trend on YouTube with remixes of old songs. For example, Careless Whisper by George Michael as a Soviet post-punk new wave song from the 80s.
These are completely absurd rearrangements. And I have to say: Some of them are just great.
MeinMMO:Your team consists of many veterans. Does this experience help to implement innovations faster?
Adrian Chmielarz: That has been our philosophy from the start. In Bulletstorm, a lead artist from Epic once asked me: “Can I try working on the main weapon?” Three days later, he delivered not a concept, but a fully functioning weapon that we could integrate immediately. I told my partners: “This is how I want to work forever.”
When we founded The Astronauts, that was the idea. We don’t care if you are a veteran – talent is number one. If you know you’re good, and the team sees each other as great, the ego suddenly becomes unimportant. It becomes easy to criticize each other harshly without anyone taking it personally.
I once wrote a design document at night to ‘show the kids how to do it.’ I expected emojis, but in the morning they completely tore it apart from different angles. I rewrote it twice and it became so much better. That’s why we grow so slowly: We only look for people with just this level. You take the work, say thank you, and move on.
Shooter fatigue as a myth
MeinMMO:I would also like to talk a little about design philosophy and the future of the industry. A term that has often come up in the last two or three years – or even longer – is “shooter fatigue.” Shooters have supposedly had it harder in the last years. How do you see that?
Adrian Chmielarz: I believe that this is a myth and there is no shooter fatigue – at least not in the sense of single-player shooters. There might be some multiplayer PvP shooter fatigue.
Because yes, you have Valorant, Fortnite, Call of Duty, Battlefieldand so on. But when it comes to high-quality single-player shooters in the AA or AAA range, there are surprisingly few.
Even with co-op shooters – which lie somewhere between PvP and single-player – there are only a few. But if you really want to dive into a first-person shooter world, longer than a typical Call of Duty campaign – let’s say 20, 30, 50 or 100 hours – what is available? Far Cry. And then?
That surprises me because I actually consider shooters to be an evergreen genre. There are 10,000 fast indie shooters or so-called “boomer shooters.” If you want to play something like that, you will find enough.
But if you expect AA or AAA quality, there is surprisingly little. And that’s a shame. I’ll answer a bit ironically: I don’t even have games I could steal from.
MeinMMO:Witchfire mixes RPG, Souls-like, and extraction mechanics. The gunplay is reminiscent of Destiny. You once mentioned that no major publisher would have approved this mix. Why?
Adrian Chmielarz: You are right, we mix many sub-genres. The gameplay is definitely inspired by Destiny – I have spent 14,000 hours in this game. Whether you like it or not: Mechanically, the gunplay is the best there is. We decided not to reinvent the wheel because every time we strayed from it, it got worse.
But this very mix of extraction, Souls-like, and roguelite would pose a problem in conversations with a publisher. This is one of those games you have to play to understand. If you’re investing millions, you want to fully understand a project. A battle royale can be easily pitched: “Like PUBG, but with a twist.” Done.
With Witchfire, that would be almost impossible. Look at Expedition 33: Selling an RPG with static battles and arenas sounds like a design from the 90s. Everyone would say: “Are you crazy?” But they did it – and they were right.
MeinMMO:1.6 million wishlist entries are great, but they also bring pressure. Many people have expectations based on the Early Access.How does a small team like yours ensure that scope and technical stability meet those expectations at release? And how do you prevent scope creep or severe crunch, which is often criticized in the AAA industry?
Adrian Chmielarz: Sure, there is pressure – but we live for it. It motivates us. Why do you think this game has been in development for eight years?
Exactly for this reason: We know what it takes to create a high-quality game. And because we don’t want to grow too quickly, as we are very frugal and responsible, it just takes that long.
Two years ago, we were still 12 people. So this current growth is huge for us. We will release the game when it’s ready. And I see that the players support this.
They buy the game, they play it, and they say: “Okay, this is good. I’m having fun. So please don’t mess it up. Take your time. I would rather wait a year longer than rush the game.”
The game will be released in 2026, that’s for sure. Initially, we thought about 2024. But we are taking our time – and that makes sense. Early Access helps us enormously in ensuring that version 1.0 will be exactly what it needs to be.
Scope Creep refers to the uncontrolled expansion of project goals. It usually starts harmlessly: One just wants to add a small feature or a minimal change. Crunch is the phase of massive overtime to meet a fixed delivery date. Unlike a normal “hot phase,” which can last a few days, real crunch is often systemic. Scope creep is essentially the disease, crunch is the painful symptom.
Large studios must reinvent themselves – this will be painful
MeinMMO:We are currently witnessing a kind of shift of power, almost like the fall of kings, where the established AAA formula is increasingly becoming unviable and new models are emerging. How do you see the gaming industry in the coming years? And where will you and The Astronauts find your place in it?
Adrian Chmielarz: I currently see a highly scalable model for smaller studios: Keep a strong core team – that’s where the real talent is. Whether it’s 5 or 100 people doesn’t matter. You don’t need a composer for the entire five years; you bring in experts exactly when you need them. Expedition 33 has shown this: Small core, but a long list of contributors. Outsourcing today goes far beyond just assets.
Successes like ARC Raiders show: Ex-AAA developers are doing their own thing and casting a shadow over giants like Battlefield rather than the other way around. Many AAA people see this and say: “Wait a minute, I want to make games that I really enjoy and still be successful.”
As for large AAA studios: They need to reinvent themselves. The problem is that they are like titanics, very hard to maneuver. That will take many years and be a painful process.
What they are currently doing is not working particularly well; even with titles like Starfield, the excitement is no longer at the level of Skyrim.
The next five years will be very painful for Ubisoft and others. As strange as it sounds coming from an indie developer: I hope they make a comeback. I want The Witcher 4 to be great.
If you add the topic of AI, the near future will be extremely exciting.
MeinMMO:Thank you very much for your time and the fascinating insights, Adrian.
The conversation with Adrian Chmielarz makes it clear: The gaming industry is at a turning point. While the clumsiness of the giants often stifles innovation in its infancy, studios like The Astronauts are using their freedom to redefine genres.
Whether Witchfire can withstand the high expectations by the final release in 2026 remains to be seen.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The streaming group Critical Role is mainly known for Dungeons & Dragons, but has now also developed its own system. What makes it special and what the main differences are, you can find out here.
What is Daggerheart exactly? Daggerheart is a modern pen & paper role-playing game from Darrington Press, the publisher behind Critical Role. It was first made publicly playable in 2024, initially in an open beta, so the community could actively provide feedback for further development.
Critical Role created the system because they wanted a role-playing game that better supports their play style than traditional rule sets that were already on the market. The focus is strongly on shared stories, emotional decisions, and relationships between characters, while maintaining clear, modern mechanics.
Moreover, Daggerheart places great importance on fast, cinematic actions instead of heavily rule-driven combat, unlike Dungeons & Dragons. It has also been made sure that it is easily accessible and provides a pleasant entry point for role-playing beginners.
The role-playing system primarily offers you a huge sandbox, like a toolbox, to create your own stories and experience cool moments. We will explain how this roughly works and what the biggest differences compared to Dungeons & Dragons are.
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A rough summary of the rule system is provided by Matthew Mercer in this video:
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Critical Role stellen ihr neues, eigenes Rollenspiel vor: Daggerheart
Strong focus on collaborative storytelling and a quick entry
When playing Daggerheart, it quickly becomes apparent that creating an exciting story together is the top priority. There are significantly fewer stats to keep track of, and they are kept very open to accommodate a wide range of activities.
For example, you don’t have secondary stats and modifiers, such as perception that build on your primary stats, such as wisdom. Instead, you only have modifiers for agility, strength, finesse, instinct, presence, and knowledge, to which the game master can assign various skill rolls.
For instance, if you want to search for something specifically, you wouldn’t roll perception as you would in D&D, but it would depend on how and what you are looking for. The focus is primarily on the players explaining as precisely as possible how they want to approach and execute certain actions, while the game master responds and decides whether and with what modifier a roll should be made.
If you know the place or person you are searching for well, you would roll knowledge here. If you are new to the area and have to rely more on your own senses, you would roll instinct. Additionally, you have the option to attribute personal experiences or skills to your character, the modifier of which you can also use in appropriate situations.
Skills and spells are assembled through modular card sets from so-called domains, which offer significantly more freedom than the rigid class structures of D&D. Additionally, you can always carry a maximum of 5 spells or abilities actively. The maximum level is 10, keeping it manageable.
All classes can switch their abilities from their “pool” in certain situations, providing you flexibility without overwhelming you with the sheer number of options during gameplay. You can also choose races and ancestries from various cards and place them as help next to your character sheet.
Character progression is also tied to self-defined goals and personal experiences. Thus, the system primarily promotes role-playing and character development rather than solely combat successes.
The rules provide you with a lot of narrative freedom and opportunities to set nuances and shape situations in a way that serves the story as needed, without being overly restricted by rigid rules. This is also reflected in the other basic mechanics that Daggerheart brings.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Anyone looking for cool games that capture the feeling of tabletop role-playing games should definitely check out these two representatives on Steam. Because now is the perfect opportunity to get both titles for under €10.
What games are we talking about? Anyone who enjoys role-playing games in the style of Dungeons & Dragons and Baldur’s Gate 3 should not overlook the two Pathfinder games from Owlcat Games. Both Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous not only offer hundreds of hours of gameplay and an authentic tabletop feel, but are also included in the current Winter Sale on Steam.
Here’s how you can currently get them for the following prices:
There are also variants with DLCs on sale if you want to go all in and are sure that the game is right for you.
Both games are based on the tabletop role-playing game Pathfinder, which is built on the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons rule set and come with several DLCs for those who can’t get enough with the hundreds of hours of base game. Both feature a certain old-school look and text-heavy presentation, but provide a sophisticated depth with their scope.
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Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous – Trailer for the ‘Game of the Year’ Edition on Steam
Several hundred hours of content and an intricate combat system with a twist
What is special about the two Pathfinder games? The story of both games is based on the namesake campaign books, and you create your own character like in Baldur’s Gate 3, who is accompanied by various selectable companions. You will experience a comprehensive, in-depth story that you can influence and engage in tactical battles from an isometric perspective.
The twist is that you can choose at any time whether to fight your battles in a turn-based manner or prefer real-time combat. For this, you can choose from numerous races and classes, and in WotR you can pursue additional legendary paths, each bringing you exclusive storylines and abilities.
Both games also offer additional modes and features outside of the story, such as your own castle in Pathfinder: Kingmaker, which you must manage and expand, or the ability to lead crusades against demons, as seen in Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. In WotR there is even a kind of roguelite mode.
Industry veteran Rich Vogel was actually supposed to talk about whether the MMO genre is dead for AAA developers in the West. Mid-interview he shifted to GTA 6 and stated that the title could actually become a showcase MMORPG.
What does GTA 6 have to do with an MMORPG? In an interview with Wccftech, the editorial team spoke with Rich Vogel. He has previously worked on titles such as Ultima Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and New World, thus he has some experience in the MMORPG field.
He believes that GTA 6 could become an MMORPG. When asked if there are still any interested parties in the West for a large MMORPG, Vogel replied:
Yes, I believe there is a large audience waiting for the right MMORPG to come to market. Just think of the millions of players who have played and continue to play WOW, SWTOR, ESO, UO, EverQuest, Fallout 76, and other games. The problem is that currently no publisher is willing to invest the money and take the risk. My instinct tells me that the next big MMORPG will likely come from Asia and/or Europe. If what I have heard about the features and gameplay of GTA 6 is true, it could evolve into an MMORPG, as many of the planned features are typically found in MMORPGs.
So he believes that GTA 6 could actually become an MMORPG. Unfortunately, the planned features he speaks of are not yet known to the public. Therefore, it’s hard to assess whether Vogel is hitting the mark with his opinion.
However, Vogel is probably referring less to the story-driven single-player mode, but rather to an online mode like in GTA 5.
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Rockstar Games presents GTA 6 in the second trailer
GTA Online as a possible MMORPG
What is actually GTA Online? With GTA 5, GTA Online was also released. Here players create their own criminal, who must work his way up to become the boss of an underground syndicate. In a lobby, up to 30 players can play at the same time.
In addition to the multiplayer lobby, there are other features that would make it an MMORPG:
The world continues to evolve. Buildings that were construction sites before can suddenly be accessed after updates.
The character earns experience points and unlocks new weapons, clothing, and car modifications.
The game has a functioning economic cycle with its GTA$. With this, bunkers or warehouses can be purchased, for example.
Crews are the equivalent of guilds or clans. Furthermore, the heists serve as raids.
If several of the points are transferred to the online mode of GTA 6, it’s no wonder that the title could resemble an MMORPG. However, there are also differences to large MMORPGs, for example, a global economy is missing, and 30 players is relatively few simultaneous participants on a server.
GTA Online is still considered one of the best MMOs this year. In addition, there are other multiplayer games that players can check out. MeinMMO lists the best MMOs in 2025: The 10 currently best MMOs and MMORPGs 2025
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
