Page 174 – Mein-MMO

Famous LoL pro fails military service before the most important tournament, touches fans with emotional message

Famous LoL moderator fights against stereotypes even after many years in e-sports, having played longer than some of you have owned a PC

Pokémon GO: Community Day with Forgita – How to make the most of the event

Despite the sporting failures, Eintracht Spandau regularly generates attention. Recently, they were able to excite fans with an unusual crossover with a comedy series: HandOfBlood officially collaborates with South Park, wants to save LoL, dissing NoWay alongside: “I need a whole season of that”

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Trainer frees a Pokémon in Pokémon GO that has been trapped for almost 2 years, celebrated as a hero

Paul Kutzner 9. November 2025 Reading time 2 minutes

In Pokémon GO, your monsters can end up stuck in a gym for a long time. Fortunately, there are players who can help with this.

In Pokémon GO, you can defeat gyms owned by an opposing team. If you succeed, you can place your own Pokémon in the gym. This is the only permanent way in the game to earn free coins. You can earn 50 coins this way daily.

However, to get the coins, your monster must also be defeated and kicked out of the gym. If this doesn’t happen, your monster can spend a long time in a gym and you cannot use it in battles during that time.

A player is currently being celebrated on social media. He is rescuing monsters that have been separated from their trainers for ages.

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Pokémon GO: The Season “Stories of Transformation” in the Trailer

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“You are a hero”

What is the trainer doing? A trainer posted on Reddit. He writes that he is currently traveling through rural areas in India. Apparently, there are gyms that are not visited very often.

Therefore, the trainer seizes the opportunity and defeats the gyms that contain monsters that have been sitting there for ages. He attached 2 pictures of such monsters to his post.

Here are a Jiutesto and a Flampion. While the Jiutesto has been in the gym for more than 647 days, the Flampion has even been there for 723 days. So, it has been stuck in the gym for almost 2 years.

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How is the community reacting? The trainer’s rescue operation is met with enthusiasm in the community. Some of the comments under the Reddit post are:

“May you always have fresh water in your glass, a comfortable pillow for your head, and someone who loves you as much as you deserve,” writes Desitur
“Not all heroes wear capes! GG,” comments ameraudur
“You are a hero,” says SearchGullible5941
“Someone freed two of my Pokémon, may their socks never get wet,” comments meansupport97
“Meanwhile, the person getting their 723-days Flampion back after they received their 50 coins that day: ‘No, why now?! I’ve already received my damn coins for today!!!'”, writes InsidiousLeaf

More on the topic

von Max Handwerk

“In my country, no one plays Pokémon GO”: Trainer plays completely alone but finds help in the community

von Max Handwerk

Tournament winner disqualified in Pokémon GO for celebrating incorrectly, fans could save him now

von Paul Kutzner

Various events are regularly held in Pokémon GO that bring different content into the game. These include raids and spotlight hours, among others. You can find out what content is expected in the next weeks in our overview with all events in November 2025 in Pokémon GO.

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A series on Netflix showed how to create a good video game adaptation 4 years before Arcane and Fallout

Niko Hernes 9. November 2025 Reading time 3 minutes

More and more adaptations of video games are being released. Whether movies or series. Among the most well-known representatives are probably Fallout, Arcane, and The Last of Us. However, as early as 2017, Netflix showed how to adapt a game really well. MyMMO editor Niko can recommend a series to anyone.

Which series is it about? With Castlevania, an animated series was released that not only adapts the games but creates something of its own. The series started back in 2017, four years before Arcane.

Video game adaptations seem to be the new trend. Series like Arcane or Fallout are not only popular with fans of the games, but they also reach a large audience outside their bubbles. The most important thing is: They must be well executed.

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Castlevania: Trailer for the TV series

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This is how animation for adults works

What is Castlevania about? Anyone who knows the game series knows that, apart from the two Lords of Shadow titles, very few titles focus on the story. Usually, Dracula is the villain, and as a member of the Belmont family (or sometimes a relative of the vampire), you must defeat the prince in a castle.

This basic idea is picked up by the Netflix series and tells the story of Trevor Belmont. The vampire hunter family is now an outlawed part of history, and the world is overrun with monsters and demons. The drunken Trevor meets the sorceress Sypha, and together with Dracula’s son, Alucard, they try to stop the prince of vampires’ forces.

What makes Castlevania so good? A major factor in the animated series is Dracula himself, at least in the first season. The backstory is told, and how he came to hate humanity. The vampires are still malicious, but they gain additional layers and structures through enough screen time.

It is particularly exciting to see what intrigues and plots arise within the vampire community. But the three protagonists are also interesting characters.

All three have a different relationship with the monsters, and the dynamic is reminiscent of an adult version of the protagonists from Avatar – The Last Airbender or Naruto. There are often quiet moments that make the characters more relatable. Anime and action fans can also have a lot of fun in the four seasons of the series, as the battles are impressive.

Castlevania Netflix Trevor and Sypha — The main characters not only fight differently, they have a strong dynamic with each other (Image source: Netflix on YouTube)

The fights are convincing, especially thanks to the setting

How are the fight scenes? The fights are quite good, and thanks to various monsters, weapons, and techniques, they never get boring. The setting is well incorporated. The attacks are dark, but never so brutal that they seem overly violent.

They are choreographed in such a way that they appear believable within the shown world. There is no illogical pity, which makes the animated series always adult in nature. But humor should not be missing.

Especially Trevor likes to joke or lighten situations with cheeky remarks. It’s not quite as exaggerated as in Devil May Cry, which allows the series to find a nice balance so that the gothic horror setting remains dark.

More on the topic

Netflix competes with legendary anime studio, brings old Ghibli classic in a sci-fi world

Der neue Film über Frankenstein auf Netflix ist nicht perfekt, übertrifft das Original aber beim wichtigsten Teil

von Christoph Waldboth

A miniseries on Netflix was watched for 48 million hours in just 4 days, performing better than some of the big names in the catalog, even though it came out of nowhere

Do you need to know the games to watch the series? No. You can enjoy the series entirely without prior knowledge; however, those who like the mood and the fight against Dracula should take a look at the game series. Another Netflix recommendation can be found here: On Netflix, starting tomorrow, you can binge 6 seasons of a fantasy series that should especially interest fans of Supernatural

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These are the 6 strongest mortal Champions of Chaos in Warhammer – Place 1 has even destroyed the whole world

Benedict Grothaus 9. November 2025 Reading time 6 minutes

The world of Warhammer lives by being constantly just one greater conflict away from complete destruction. The sometimes greatest danger in all settings: chaos. Since the gods rarely intervene directly, they have champions. We introduce you to the strongest ones here.

Chaos is a cosmic power that seeks to destroy order and is known for granting great power to its followers – if they are worthy. Particularly strong followers become champions or even have the chance to ascend to daemonhood.

What is ranked here? In the ranking, we list for you those champions who are still mortal (meaning “human”). The strongest traitor primarchs from Warhammer 40,000 have already been ranked.

You will also find not only champions from one world but from all three worlds of Warhammer: Fantasy, Age of Sigmar and 40,000. Chaos is the only constant between these worlds.

This is how we created the ranking: To determine which champion is truly the strongest, we considered not only the individual combat power but also the danger posed by each champion. That means: How likely is it that they can destroy the world?

For the ranking, we referred to various sources, including the Lexicanum, fan discussions, and official information from books and rule sets. We analyzed the sheer volume of data using AI and then individually rated the ranking.

Start video

The makers explain what Warhammer actually is

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Place 6: Typhus, Herald of Nurgle

In the last place of this ranking is the current champion of Nurgle, Typhus. Born as Calas Typhon on Barbarus, the home planet of the primarch Mortarion, the former human-xenos hybrid was accepted into the Death Guard Legion.

Even as a child, Typhus had strong psychic powers, which were suppressed during training, but his powers were later enhanced. He succumbed to chaos even before Mortarion or even Horus himself, similar to Erebus, the first heretic.

However, Typhus’ strength comes not only from his psychic abilities but from a combination of several things:

He is an excellent fighter and wields a weapon that is said to have been dipped directly into Nurgle’s plague cauldron.
His mere presence generates a deadly plague, the “Destroyer Plague,” which can annihilate entire planets. It is considered the cruelest disease in Nurgle’s arsenal and can even kill Space Marines.
Due to Nurgle’s blessing, Typhus is already extremely resilient and resistant to all sorts of attacks, diseases, and poisons. Additionally, he wears Terminator armor, which is nearly impervious to anything.

Typhus is one of the few chaos champions who regularly holds a higher favor with his god than the respective daemon prince – here Mortarion. His mere appearance is enough to wipe out worlds.

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A new role-playing game from China shows what the MMORPGs of the future could look like – Our expert gets creeped out thinking about it

Karsten Scholz 9. November 2025 Reading time 4 minutes

With Where Winds Meet, we can expect a particularly ambitious role-playing game on November 14, 2025, which aims to bring a lot of sake dreams under a bamboo hat. The developers also have a new take on the MMORPG genre.

The new role-playing game Where Winds Meet is hard to grasp. It aims to appeal to solo players, co-op buddies, and MMORPG fans alike… and offers an unusually wide range of modes, options, and content.

For example, you can first dive solo or with friends into the cinematically staged story campaign, which at its best moments recalls Wuxia classics like Tiger & Dragon or House of the Flying Daggers.

Meanwhile, or afterwards, various multiplayer contents await you, such as PvP arenas, a battle royale mode, dungeon and raid challenges, minigames, or events. You can also explore a modified version of the game world in a special multiplayer mode, where you will encounter numerous other players.

Where Winds Meet is so packed with features and content that we have broken down in a separate article how much MMO is actually in the role-playing game. How much fun all this is, I can only reveal to you with the lifting of the embargo.

First, I want to talk about the basic structure of Where Winds Meet, which could set a standard. But I want to start by looking at the MMORPG genre of recent years.

Start video

Where Winds Meet excites 15 million players in China, now a new gameplay trailer shows how it should work in the West

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On Destiny and The Division …

In my article The Great Drought of MMORPGs and the Flight into More Lucrative Genres, I have already explained: After countless failed attempts, many developers and publishers have turned away from the expensive and risky genre of online role-playing games – especially in the West.

Many sought their salvation in other genres in order to implement alternative service strategies with lower investments. Titles like League of Legends (2009), World of Tanks (2010), DOTA 2 (2013), or Hearthstone (2014) paved the way for hits like Fortnite, PUBG, Warframe, or Path of Exile.

Partially, the executives also took large budgets into their hands to create ambitious MMO hybrids, such as a Destiny, The Division, or Anthem. These games (and their successors) rely on limited social hubs instead of a coherent, persistent world where hundreds or even thousands of characters roam around.

At the same time, they offer a lot of what players expect from MMORPGs: PvE challenges for groups, PvP content, guilds, loot progression, and chats. All of this is there, but compared to many online role-playing games, it somehow feels… shrunk. As if someone had put the content through the washing machine at too high a temperature for too long.

This fits well into the current daily routine of many players – admittedly. Smaller groups are found more quickly, especially when one knows that the desired content is completed in half an hour at the latest. Sounds familiar? Of course. For years now, many modern MMORPGs have also relied on such a comparatively flexible offer for small time windows.

… follows Where Winds Meet

What stands out is that developers are increasingly avoiding the MMO term in online role-playing games as if it were the plague. As if Lord Voldemort himself were the creator of the genre that one does not speak of in public.

This was suddenly the case with New World, which became an online action RPG with the Aeternum remake and console version. Online action RPG… so do the developers of XL Games prefer to call their current project ArcheAge Chronicles, which is set to be released next year.

More on the MMO content of ArcheAge Chronicles:

ArcheAge Chronicles should earn its place in your library by being fun, fair, and worth your time – XL Games on Pay2Win and MMO content

Creators of Genshin Impact announce new MMO in Unreal Engine 5, bid farewell to the anime look

In the open-world RPG Crimson Desert, it seems that they have completely distanced themselves from the originally communicated MMO elements. And even on the Steam product page of Where Winds Meet, the term MMO is not mentioned at all, although the developers are certainly less shy in the game itself and even offer MMORPG options – for quest tracking and controls.

Moreover, the MMO DNA is clearly visible in the Wuxia RPG from Everstone Studio – with the multiplayer mode, guilds, and various group activities. However, it is a rethought variant of MMO. An option that one can use but does not have to, and which is clearly separated from the campaign and quests. The more important pillars of the game are clearly the single-player and co-op experiences.

The Future of MMORPGs?

In China, Where Winds Meet has been breaking through with its concept since December 2024. More than 15 million players are diving into the many contents of the free-to-play role-playing game. If this success is confirmed globally, this concept will likely spread to other developers and publishers – that’s how the market has worked for many years.

Normally, I’m open to additional options that can make the player experience accessible to a larger audience. In this case, however, I hope that Where Winds Meet does not show how most online role-playing games of the future might look.

This is simply because the multiplayer mode lacks substance without opponents and quests. It’s like a big, empty social hub where you can meet many other players, but apart from certain activities like joint yoga sessions or group therapies, there’s hardly anything to do.

The really important contents like dungeons and raids will likely be accessed by most players through the corresponding menu and group search. In the end, that’s just too little MMO experience in the open world for me.

I hope that Where Winds Meet remains an exotic outlier and that studios continue to emerge that develop real MMORPGs – even if the genre is currently struggling heavily. What do you think? Here and there, however, we can fortunately still report on bright spots, especially when looking at Pantheon: The future of a new PvE MMORPG on Steam is secured, receiving multi-million funding

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Throne and Liberty apparently accidentally gave away currency worth millions of dollars, has been in emergency maintenance mode for hours

Niko Hernes 8. November 2025 Reading time 2 minutes

On 08.11.2025, Throne and Liberty suddenly went into maintenance mode, which has already lasted several hours. While no concrete reasons are officially given, the community suspects it is due to a bug related to the real money currency.

The Amazon MMORPG Throne and Liberty is currently in maintenance mode. While the auction house was only disabled at 01:16 AM German time, an unexpected server maintenance was announced at 02:03 AM on x.com. It can also be seen on SteamDB that the player numbers dropped drastically at 01:00 AM.

The maintenance is still ongoing (as of 08.11.2025, 14:13) as well. In the latest post on x.com, it states: Our teams are making good progress in resolving the issue, but we expect it will take a few more hours before we can end the maintenance.

The developers have not provided a specific reason so far. They only mentioned a server problem. However, the community suspects it is related to a currency issue caused by faulty compensation.

Start video

The new update of Throne and Liberty brings housing and a new weapon to Solisium

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A wrong currency as compensation might have caused the problem

What does all this have to do with currency? The current suspicion was elaborated by YouTuber Aragon in a new video. He explains that the prices of various items skyrocketed before the server maintenance. Items that should cost less than 1,000 Luzent were offered for up to 500 times the price.

These high prices occurred, according to Aragon, because too much Luzent was sent to one guild. This was probably a compensation for not receiving a Sollant reward at an event. According to a screenshot posted by the user Silkenvada on Reddit, members of a guild allegedly received over 187 million Luzent… instead of Sollant.

If you want to buy Luzent in the PSN store, you pay €100 for 6,000 Luzent. The guild members (50 in total according to the message in the post) thus received Luzent worth over 3,000,000 Euros each.

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According to the user, the members then purchased the most powerful items with Luzent, regardless of the price, which would explain the extremely high prices in the auction house before the maintenance.

How could the problem be solved? Although it is only a suspicion that it relates to the distribution of Luzent, such an issue could probably only be resolved through a rollback. However, a rollback also brings other problems, which could explain why the maintenance is taking so long.

More on the topic

After the end of New World, a developer now has bad news for the MMORPG to The Lord of the Rings: “You would have loved it”

von Caroline Fuller

In 2024, an MMORPG in the style of WoW wanted to conquer the global market, but now the servers are offline forever

The new game from the makers of Genshin Impact looks like my dream game, feels like Animal Crossing in space

This problem comes at a rather inconvenient time. Recently, Amazon Games announced that they would end New World and shift their focus away from the MMO business. Although they would still like to operate as a publisher for titles like Throne and Liberty, the current problem casts another bad light on the company: Amazon wanted to be a big player in gaming – The end of New World completes a sad story of failure

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Creators of Genshin Impact announce new MMO in Unreal Engine 5, bid farewell to the anime look

Niko Hernes 8. November 2025 Reading time 2 minutes

When people hear HoYoverse, they probably think directly of various Gacha titles that stand out with their colorful anime aesthetics. The most well-known game is probably Genshin Impact. But now the developers are announcing a new, ambitious MMO that visually differs significantly from their other titles.

The Chinese development studio miHoYo has released several successful Gacha titles under its HoYoverse umbrella. All of them rely on colorful anime aesthetics:

The Genshin Impact that strongly resembles Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The turn-based RPG Honkai: Star Rail
The two action titles Honkai Impact 3rd and Zenless Zone Zero

The titles have been generating high revenue for miHoYo for years thanks to their Gacha mechanics. According to businessofapps.com, Genshin Impact alone managed to generate $710 million in revenue in 2024.

With a newly announced title, they seem to want to move in a different direction. The department of miHoYo responsible for recruiting new staff posted a short teaser for an upcoming fantasy MMO project on a Chinese social media platform (via Eurogamer). It seems they have ambitious plans.

The teaser already shows that the game is intended to look quite different from the previous titles:

Start video

Genshin Impact: Trailer shows gameplay for Natlan

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Realism and AI

What can be seen in the teaser? In the short teaser (via boss.mihoyo.com), one can see a form of underground river, and wave-like structures can be seen on the ceiling. In the background, two persons can be seen riding horses. The vegetation, water, and a small river creature look visually significantly more realistic than what one is used to from other miHoYo games.

The X-account @hxg_diluc posted an official banner for the announcement and translated the Chinese information. According to the user, various features are advertised:

Unreal Engine 5
Realism and fantasy
Open world
MMO
PvP
A simulated ecosystem by AI
Boss battles
Intellectual NPCs

This is quite an ambitious undertaking, for which the company seems to want to rely heavily on AI. The greater focus on multiplayer also seems to be a new approach.

When can we expect the game? Based on the short teaser, which shows almost nothing, the project seems to be in its early stages. As can be read on miHoYo’s job application page, they are still looking for reinforcement for the gigantic project. The development of an MMO is not only a monetary but also a time-consuming endeavor. One can thus assume that it could take years until new information becomes available.

Additionally, miHoYo has several other titles in development. Among them is Honkai: Nexus Anime. The game seems to be a mix of Pokémon and Teamfight Tactics. So even for anime fans, there will still be new Gacha games.

More on the topic

Fan hacks into a large Gacha game, flooding the world with his favorite character

von Cortyn

A gacha game that you may have never heard of makes approximately twice as much money as Genshin

Arnold Schwarzenegger played a wrestling legend for 12 years a prank, needed only 6 words for it

Even though new MMOs are regularly announced, fans of the genre do not have it easy. After the demise of New World, work on another ambitious MMORPG was also halted: The studio behind the new PvE MMORPG for Warhammer is at its end – fans complain: “The genre is cursed”

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mmorpg.org.pl

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This movie is considered by many fans to be the best of all time, only available this weekend on Prime

Karsten Scholz 8. November 2025 Reading time 2 minutes

3.1 million fans can’t be wrong. “The Shawshank Redemption” is the highest-rated film on IMDb of all time. If you want to enjoy this classic, now 31 years old, for the first time or the umpteenth time, you can still do so via Amazon Prime for just a few more hours.

What is “The Shawshank Redemption” about? The classic by director Frank Darabont from 1994 is based on the novella “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” by Stephen King. Unlike many other King works, this is not horror, but a thrillingly told drama.

At the center is bank manager Andy Dufresne, who is accused of murdering his wife and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 142 minutes, we follow how Andy copes with the harsh prison daily life, makes new friends, and ultimately takes his fate into his own hands in clever ways (while also getting back at the nasty warden Norton and the sadistic guard Hadley).

On IMDb, not only are the best films selected, but also the biggest flops:

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The 5 worst video game movies of all time according to IMDb

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Can be watched repeatedly

What makes “The Shawshank Redemption” special? Above all, the great cast. Tim Robbins shines as Andy Dufresne, Morgan Freeman as his buddy “Red.” Clancy Brown gives a wonderfully nasty performance as Hadley. Old hands like Bob Gunton, William Sadler, James Whitmore, and Jeffrey DeMunn complete the ensemble.

Fun fact: Tom Hanks, Kevin Costner, and Tom Cruise were also discussed for the role of Andy Dufresne.

“The Shawshank Redemption” also shines with the story of a deep friendship between two men, and due to the narrative style, the 142 minutes fly by. The twist at the end is also cleverly constructed, rewarding both Andy and the viewer with a heartwarming happy ending.

Unfortunately, despite 7 Oscar nominations, there was no golden statue in the end. The main reason: Forrest Gump dominated in 4 of the 7 categories.

On the film website imdb.com, however, “The Shawshank Redemption” has been at the top of the Top 250 list for what feels like forever, thanks to more than 3.1 million ratings that come to a score of 9.3 out of 10. If you want to see the classic for the first time or again, you should hurry. “The Shawshank Redemption” is only available this weekend (November 8th/9th, 2025) on Amazon Prime.

More about movies and series:

von Christoph Waldboth

The best Marvel in a long time can be found not in the cinema, but on Disney Plus

Where Winds Meet: All information about release, start time, price, and gameplay

Morgan Freeman demonstrates, by practical example, that it’s never too late to start a career in acting. Today, Freeman is among the best actors of his time, thanks to “The Shawshank Redemption.” In the following article, we’ve listed 10 well-known actors who only made it big internationally after 30+: 10 actors who had a late breakthrough

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New mega hit from China lets role-playing fans not only chat freely with NPCs, they can also immortalize their own dances as emotes

Niko Hernes 8. November 2025 Reading time 3 minutes

Finally, the promising action RPG Where Winds Meet is coming to the West. The RPG has been available in China for quite some time. In a new video, a user showcases an innovative feature.

What is Where Winds Meet? Where Winds Meet is an open-world RPG that relies on an action combat system. Fitting to the setting in the 10th century in China, the free game incorporates Chinese martial arts and various roles that players can take on. Where Winds Meet sounds quite ambitious:

There will be an extensive story that can be played together or solo.
A multiplayer mode.
Elements typically found in MMOs (such as housing, guilds, world bosses).
A massive open world with many gameplay possibilities.
Players can freely interact with many NPCs, thanks to AI, characters respond appropriately to your remarks.

The game was already released in China in December 2024 and the mobile version, which was released a month later, managed to earn over 1.4 million US dollars in just three days. As we reported on August 22, 2025, the game is said to have attracted over 15 million players in China.

On November 14, Where Winds Meet is finally set to be released in the West as well. In a video on X, a user already showcased an innovative feature that allows you to create your own emotes.

Start video

Where Winds Meet excites 15 million players in China, now a new gameplay trailer shows how it should work in the West

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Dances like in Fortnite and you only need a video

What kind of feature is this? On X, user @lofi_lover0930 posted a video of a dance feature in the game from the Chinese version. He explains that you can upload a 15-second clip into the game, and your character will mimic the movements from it. In his video, he shows a TikTok clip and his game character performing the dance.

In another video (source: x.com), he shows how to upload the video. In the Chinese mobile version, it seems he navigates to a dance feature in the menu. There, there is an upload function. He selects a clip, uploads it, and shortly after, his character performs the dance. You can thus record your own dances and see them realized as emotes in the game.

Even X user @Reschiie demonstrates an example of this in his video. The music from the clip is even played, and his character dances to the song Soda Pop from the movie KPop Demon Hunters.

The impressive part is the animation itself, as it looks quite good. Only the facial animations are not always appealing. How exactly the feature works technically is unclear, but it could provide players with nearly endless possibilities to interact with their characters.

Is Where Winds Meet the first game with such a feature? No. As The Game Post reported on October 24, 2025, the Destiny spin-off Destiny Rising has a similar feature. In this shooter, you can also turn videos into in-game dances.

More on the topic

von Alexander Mehrwald

The new mega-hit from China has everything my RPG-loving heart desires – and that might be exactly what could hurt it in the West

von Leya Jankowski

New action RPG on PS5 convinces me after only 5 seconds, reminds me of Kung Fu classics that my father and I used to devour

More than just dances

The dances in Where Winds Meet are just a small part of the very ambitious project from China. On November 7, 2025, there was a nearly 1-hour stream on the Where Winds Meet YouTube channel, where various aspects of the game were introduced. Among other things, the following aspects were presented:

Various weapons (sword, dual swords, spears, MO blades, fans, umbrellas, a rope weapon)
Combat system
A specific boss fight
Aspects of the story
Side activities like fishing

Despite its many single-player contents, the title possesses many MMORPG elements and aims to function as a service game. MyMMO editor and MMORPG expert Karsten took a closer look at it: Where Winds Meet: How much MMORPG is in the new mega-hit from China?

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Everyone is currently celebrating KPop Demon Hunters, but 5 years ago there was already another fictional band that was even better

Jasmin Beverungen 8. November 2025 Reading time 3 minutes

Songs like Golden or Soda Pop from the movie KPop Demon Hunters are currently playing on the radio and streaming services non-stop. Also, MeinMMO editor Jasmin is a big fan of the music from the film – but there is another fictional K-Pop band she will probably never forget.

The HUNTR/X trio from KPop Demon Hunters has broken one record after another. The movie is still holding a spot in the top 10 most-watched films on Netflix several weeks after its release, partly because of the music.

The songs from the film all have great earworm potential. Especially Golden has been hard to forget from the charts for a long time. In it, protagonist Rumi closes her secret double life and finally starts enjoying life and shining.

Also, the other songs like How It’s Done and Free are just lovely to sing along to. My personal favorite is Takedown, as the song is a bit more upbeat than the rest and has more rap parts.

But such songs have existed for several years from a girl group from Korea that also isn’t real but only has their voices lent by real singers. And when I compare the two bands, I must say: The girls from back then appealed to me more.

Select a MMO video…

I hate League of Legends, but the girl group K/DA has captivated me

In 2018, the girl group K/DA was “founded”. It consists of several singers who are actually champions from League of Legends and were intended as advertising for skins. I can’t do much with the game itself – in my first round, I was told to go and delete myself, and I complied with that request immediately.

The following singers lend their voices to a character:

Ahri is sung by Miyeon, who is part of the K-Pop band I-dle
Bandmate Soyeon lends her voice to Akali
Madison Beer is a successful solo artist and responsible for the vocals of Evelynn
If you like listening to Kai’Sa, you’ll enjoy the voice of Jaira Burns
Later, the Chinese singer Lexie Liu also appeared as Seraphine in the song More, which reached 2.2 million listeners immediately

The band made its debut with the song Pop/Stars and it was love at first sight for me. I’ve probably watched the music video in the hundreds, because I found the part where Akali raps in the neon light so cool.

You can find the mentioned scene in the following YouTube video starting at 1:22:

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At first glance, the two bands have many similarities: They are not real, they are sung by Korean idols, and they have great success with their songs. K/DA was indeed the first fictional K-Pop girl group to reach platinum with a song.

Even the color scheme of the girls is quite similar, at least when comparing KPop Demon Hunters with the song Pop/Stars. Many gold and purple tones can be found here. However, there are also differences, which is why I would personally rank K/DA ahead of HUNTR/X.

In general, the songs from K/DA are darker and more mature than those from the film KPop Demon Hunters. This is partly due to the arrogant attitude of the girl group, which sees itself as the baddies:

In Pop/Stars, the girls sing that they always win and no one can beat them
In The Baddest, they openly admit that they break hearts and rules
The song Villain already reveals in its name that it’s about villains

The aggressive songs from K/DA simply appeal to me more than the poppy sound of Golden. The variety of music genres in HUNTR/X is greater, but K/DA gives me more of what I already listen to.

Even the appearance of the champions already shows how much murderous intent they have. That the HUNTR/X demons can slaughter is proven in KPop Demon Hunters – but I can simply see more quickly that nasty opponents are no problem for the girls of K/DA. One reason for this is the avoidance of overly large round eyes.

Don’t get me wrong with this article: I love both bands, but K/DA simply has the edge for me. I own merchandise from both bands and who knows, maybe I’ll wear my KPop Demon Hunters shirt with my K/DA sweatpants for the next meeting – thanks to home office!

More on the topic

I have seen the currently biggest bands in K-Pop live and I will tell you whether the boys or girls were better

Fans are excited about LoL legend Faker in a new music video of a successful K-Pop band, where he is only seen for 3 seconds

“Too Many”: Developer comes from a place with 1000 inhabitants, sells his first Steam game 250,000 times

Which band do you think is better and do you have a favorite song from both bands? Feel free to write it in the comments!

The girls of HUNTR/X also have something to offer, after all, they prevented a takeover by the demons. This raises the question of which of the girls contributed the most to that. In a separate article, we rank the K-Pop band by their strength: KPop Demon Hunters: Which member of HUNTR/X is the strongest?

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14 years ago Gabe Newell took a photo with fans demonstrating in front of Valve’s HQ for Half-Life 3 – Community jokes: They are still sitting there today

Karsten Scholz 8. November 2025 Reading time 3 minutes

Gabe Newell, the head of Valve and Steam, is incredibly popular among many gamers. This is currently reflected in a lighthearted discussion in the community about a 14-year-old picture.

What is the picture about? ChiefLeef22 recently posted it on Reddit. The shot shows Valve and Steam head Gabe Newell, who joins 2 fans lounging in front of the headquarters in Bellevue, Washington.

One fan holds a piece of cardboard with the inscription “Canada is for the release of Half-Life 3”, while his companion subtly asks: “Half-Life 3 … is it Left 4 Dead?” The latter is a reference to the popular co-op shooter that had great success on Steam in 2008.

The two players were then demonstrating for the 3rd part of the Half-Life series, of which there has been no trace four years after the release of Half-Life 2: Episode Two, despite the frustratingly open ending. See for yourself:

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Half-Life 3 … still a title that moves in 2025

The picture could have been taken today: Because even in 2025, there is no official announcement for a Half-Life 3 or an Episode 3 of Half-Life 2. Instead, a (very good) virtual reality spin-off called Half-Life: Alyx was released in March 2020. Would the two dudes have headed to the Valve headquarters with this knowledge back then?

Yet, although so much time has passed, not a year goes by without rumors and supposed leaks about Half-Life 3. In January 2025, we reported that according to an insider, the game is supposed to be far advanced. There may even be an announcement this year, so the report goes. Well, there isn’t much time left when we look at the calendar.

How does the community react to the picture? With over 35,000 (!) thumbs up and more than 420 comments. This shows, on the one hand, that Half-Life 3 still matters in 2025 (even if many have lost hope for an announcement), and on the other hand, how popular Valve head Gabe Newell is among many gamers.

StraightsJacket writes on Reddit: “In another 20 years, no one will understand the Half-Life references of old folks like me. However, I respect Gabe’s decision not to make Half Life 3.”
ExpressoLiberry reports on Reddit with a wink from back then: “As a former intern at Valve during that time, I can confirm that they were invited for a tour. Unfortunately, this was just a pretext to get them to upload their consciousness into Valve’s system so it could be used exclusively for testing Half Life 3. As far as I know, they are still there to fix bugs, provide feedback on new versions of carpet colors, etc.”
Raytheon_Nublinski is quite sure on Reddit: “I’m beginning to believe the protest didn’t work.”
TENTAKL1 shares important info on Reddit: “They say they’re still sitting there today.”
0rganicMach1ne adds on Reddit: “All of Canada wants this, Gabe.”

More about Steam:

The Stardew Valley with corpses suddenly announces a sequel after 8 years, gives away part 1 on Steam and PS5

von Ody

Why are Gabe Newell and Valve so popular? Firstly, the people behind Steam often act unusually generous and helpful when it comes to community requests, or they meaningfully improve their services. Some examples:

Secondly, Valve still remains a private company led by Gabe Newell after all these years, which is not publicly traded and thus does not have to justify itself to shareholders. And thirdly, Newell himself keeps popping up with sympathetic actions, here just one of many examples: Gabe Newell tells a YouTuber with 19 subscribers how the head of Valve lives and works on a boat 7 days a week.

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While Henry Cavill is working on his series about Warhammer, a trailer presents several other projects that are not only set in the 40K universe

Niko Hernes 8. November 2025 Reading time 2 minutes

During the World Championships of Warhammer, several projects for the franchise were announced. Among them was a new trailer showcasing several series.

What kind of trailer is this? The World Championships of Warhammer is an event where the Warhammer community as a whole is celebrated. As part of this, there are various announcements regarding new figures, as well as books and series.

It has been known for some time that Henry Cavill is working on an Amazon series set in the Warhammer universe, but there are no new details available yet. Still, series fans can rejoice: At the event on 08.11.2025, a trailer for several animated series was also shown, which do not only focus on the 40,000 universe.

You can see the new trailer here:

Start video

Games Workshop shows several animation projects with the trailer “There Is Only War”

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Various Styles and Approaches

What can be seen in the trailer? The trailer showcases various clips from upcoming animated series. In a fast-paced overview, various aspects of the Warhammer universe are seen, packed with action and explosions.

Instead of muscular Space Marines, the trailer features members of the Adepta Sororitas, a pure order of women. Typical for the universe, the order consists of fanatic followers resembling nuns. Unfortunately, the large invasion cathedrals are still missing from the trailer.

Not only does 40,000 find its place here. The trailer also shows a clip from the finale of the current season of Blacktalon. The series takes place in the universe of Age of Sigmar.

Besides that, there is action with vehicles and a brief clip where a large Ork fights against several opponents. But even aside from the lore, the trailer is interesting because it shows behind-the-scenes material on the production of the scenes.

Viewers can see several animators constructing scenes, as well as the motion capture for the Ork fight. This means: a human acts out the battle wearing a special suit, onto which the animated sequences are then overlayed.

Overall, there is a nice variety in the trailer for animation enthusiasts: both traditional animation and CGI sequences that differ significantly from one another can be seen. One clip is reminiscent of more realistic depictions, while another features a slight cel-shading style.

More on the topic

The studio behind the new PvE MMORPG for Warhammer is over – fans complain: “The genre is cursed”

In Warhammer 40,000 there are “normal” humans who can take down any space wizard, but no one likes them

von Benedict Grothaus

User wants to know why a Chaos worshiper is so feared in Warhammer 40,000 – fans explain the power of a Champion of Khorne

von Benedict Grothaus

Where can you watch the series? The upcoming series and many others can be found on Warhammer TV. However, you will need a Warhammer+ subscription for that. It costs €6.99 for one month, and €54.99 for an entire year.

In addition to Warhammer TV, you also get access to exclusive miniatures and various apps and lore archives.

Warhammer is a very expansive hobby with many different aspects, but it can also become quite expensive quickly, especially if you like to buy figures and paints. How to save money while doing so, you can find out here: Warhammer is known as an incredibly expensive hobby – This is how you save a lot of money on your figures

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Source(s):

Warhammer Community

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In 2021, Xbox released a new Halo that should last forever, hence it was called Infinite – 4 years later, the plan is already buried

Karsten Scholz 8. November 2025 Reading time 2 minutes

When Halo Infinite was released for PC and Xbox in 2021, Microsoft and 343 Industries had big ambitions. Now it is clear that the plan from back then is not even close to being realized.

What was that plan? When Halo Infinite was released in December 2021, it was supposed to bury the then-current first-party crisis of Team Xbox with a bang. The developers promised: The new installment of the popular shooter series was to be more than just a game. Fans were to expect a service, almost a kind of platform that would lay the foundation for all upcoming Halo content.

Hence the name: Infinite. This service was supposed to never end. There was already a plan for the first 10 years. Subsequent installments of the Halo series (as reported by teaktown.com in 2020) are no longer a topic. Now …

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The new Halo Infinite trailer reminds of one of the “best trailers of all time”

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A plan for eternity that lasts less than 5 years

What have the developers announced now? During a community livestream, the team provided insights into the future of Halo Infinite on YouTube a few hours ago. The insights from the stream:

The “Operation: Infinite” update, which will bring new multiplayer content on November 18, 2025, will be the last major content pack for the shooter. You can find details about the update on halowaypoint.com.
Next year, there will only be smaller updates in the form of challenges, ranked seasons, and community events.
Apart from these small updates, Halo Infinite will switch to maintenance mode after just 4 years.
There are said to be “multiple Halo titles in development.” The developers want to focus on these games in the future.

How does the community react to the announcement? Since the name Halo Infinite no longer fits, players have quickly come up with new titles for the game, such as Halo Finite or Halo Broken Promises.

In a post on Reddit with over 4,700 upvotes, ShadowRiku667 jokes: “To be fair, the time from then until now has actually felt like 10 years.” Burggs hopes: “The poor management of this brand across all media should be thoroughly investigated.” RMoCGLD wishes that someone would take the Halo rights away from Microsoft.

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New survival hit on Steam starts 94 percent positive, it was clear years ago that it would make the developer a millionaire

Karsten Scholz 8. November 2025 Reading time 2 minutes

The new survival game Ball x Pit has started very positively on Steam and has already generated millions of dollars in revenue. Apparently, the developer and one of his friends were clear about that years ago.

Which game is it? Ball x Pit is a survival roguelite with fusion elements. You fight hordes of enemies with bouncing balls and collect treasures to expand your home, generate resources, and recruit unique heroes. Imagine a combination of Vampire Survivors and the classic Breakout.

The game, developed by Kenny Sun and Friends and published by Devolver Digital, celebrated its release on October 15, 2025. The nearly 9,500 reviews on Steam are 94 percent positive. According to steamdb.info, more than 35,400 players were online in Ball x Pit at peak two weeks ago. Currently, the game consistently has over 10,000 players.

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Ball x Pit: Der Release-Trailer zum neuen Survival-Roguelite-Hit auf Steam

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Success by design

Can success be planned? Additional numbers come from a report by Jason Schreier on bloomberg.com. Ball x Pit has allegedly sold over 750,000 copies on Steam. At a price of 14.99 euros per version, this already makes a gross revenue of 11.2 million euros.

Remarkably, developer Kenny Sun had a strong feeling years ago that he was developing a hit. When he showed the prototype to a friend, the friend is said to have confirmed his suspicions with the words: “This game will make a million dollars.”

With the help of Devolver. The publisher is known for having a good nose for small but fine indie gems. In the summer, they provided Ball x Pit with a 10-minute preview video titled: BALL x PIT: The Kenny Sun Story. See for yourself:

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In a time when countless games are released every day, chasing all current trends, each new project fights for attention and the players’ time, leading to a large number of flops, it is nearly impossible to develop a hit by design.

Kenny Sun seems to have succeeded. But not on the first try. The developer had previously released other games, including the roguelite platformer Mr. Sun’s Hatbox. Although it also has a strong 85 percent positive on Steam, it sold poorly.

What does the community say about the game? They especially praise the unique gaming experience and the motivating roguelite system.

Fluffless writes on Steam: “Addictive roguelike. Unique gameplay.”
Depressyv admits on Steam: “One more round … but I’m not addicted.”
Totenkreuz is surprised on Steam: “It’s way more fun than expected. The component adds a whole world of features and improvements that are very well thought out and implemented. For me, the best of its kind so far.”

If there is criticism, it concerns the still relatively low number of different levels, the short rounds that often end when you’ve built a strong combo, and the random factor that can sometimes be a bit annoying.

More about Steam:

“Too Many”: Developer comes from a place with 1000 inhabitants, sells his first Steam game 250,000 times

The Stardew Valley with corpses suddenly announces a sequel after 8 years, gives away part 1 on Steam and PS5

von Ody

On Steam, there are often indie gems that go viral and generate a lot of attention in a short time. One of these games is Buckshot Roulette. The developer of this title reported in July about his sudden success and how the hit has changed his life: Developer on Steam builds a small game in 2 months, sells it for 3 € and is now a millionaire

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WoW Quiz: How well do you know the Blood Elves and Quel’Thalas?

Cortyn 8. November 2025 Reading time 2 minutes

Are you masters of the Blood Elves in World of Warcraft? Then test your knowledge with this quiz.

The next expansion of World of Warcraft, Midnight, is slowly but surely coming into reach. As early as the beginning of 2026, we will be able to dive into the next chapter of the World Soul saga. The focus is on the attack on the Sunwell by Xal’atath and the forces of the Void.

Initial hints even suggest that in Midnight we might not emerge as the radiant heroes, but could possibly suffer a severe defeat.

But do you even know about the land of the Blood Elves? Do you know the history of the Sin’dorei and are you aware of what has happened in Quel’thalas? If so, you should be able to solve our quiz relatively easily, as it will test your knowledge of the most popular race in the Horde.

Start video

WoW Midnight shows gameplay – All new features

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Show your knowledge about the Blood Elves!

How does the quiz work? The quiz consists of a series of questions with 4 answer options each, where only one answer is correct. Depending on how many of the questions you can answer correctly, you will reach a score that reflects your knowledge about the Blood Elves and Quel’thalas.

The quiz consists of 15 questions and is designed so that the first questions are somewhat simpler, but the difficulty increases towards the end.

Note: If the quiz is not displayed correctly for you, it could be due to an ad blocker that you should disable in that case.

If you can’t answer all the questions correctly – don’t worry. Much story will be explained throughout Midnight, and maybe it’s worth creating a fresh Blood Elf and playing the quests in the Immersang Forest and the Ghostlands to refresh your knowledge.

More news about WoW:

State of Play: Where do the MMORPGs WoW, ESO, GW2, Black Desert and FF14 stand in Spring 2016?

von Schuhmann

State of Play: Where do the MMORPGs WoW, ESO, GW2, FF14, and Black Desert stand at the beginning of 2017?

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WoW has a Germany-exclusive mount – action fails, mounts already on eBay

von Cortyn

If you have no idea about the Blood Elves and their homeland, then this article might also be interesting for you: We have presented 5 of the most important Blood Elves from Warcraft in detail and there you will also find one or another solution for the questions from this quiz …

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Elden Ring Nightreign exceeded all expectations, the company behind FromSoftware comments on the DLC and The Duskbloods

Niko Hernes 8. November 2025 Reading time 2 minutes

Elden Ring Nightreign was a surprise in 2025. The unusual mix of Souls formula and multiplayer was well received by many players. And financially, it seems the game has paid off.

When Elden Ring Nightreign was announced in December 2024, the spin-off of From Software’s Souls-like surprised with its genre mix. It features roguelike and battle royale elements, co-op, and loot rarities known from Diablo.

When the game was released at the end of May 2025, it was received rather solidly, at least judging by the Metacritic score. However, financially, the title seems to have truly paid off, as a new financial report confirms.

Start video

Elden Ring Nightreign: Trailer introduces new 2-player mode

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Exceeded the original expectations by far

What kind of financial report is this? Kadokawa, the Japanese company that owns 70% of FromSoftware, has published a financial report for the second quarter of the fiscal year 2025 (July to September). There, they talk about the revenues of their various divisions, including gaming. Among other things, they mention Nightreign: FromSoftware’s Elden Ring Nightreign has exceeded the original expectations by far.

Sales of the game are said to have remained strong even after release, but they did not want to provide specific numbers in the report. Overall, sales of Kadokawa’s gaming segment are said to have decreased compared to last year. 2024 benefited greatly from the DLC for Elden Ring.

In the financial report, they also talk about the future of FromSoftware titles. They aim to boost sales of Elden Ring, the DLC, and Nightreign. In this context, they also mention upcoming titles currently in development.

Currently, FromSoftware is working on a DLC for Nightreign that is supposed to be released in the fiscal year (by March 31, 2026). Next year, the Tarnished Edition of Elden Ring for the Nintendo Switch 2 will also be released, which has been postponed, along with the new title The Duskbloods, which again aims for an unusual concept. More precise release dates have not been provided.

More on the topic

Elden Ring Nightreign: All Remembrances – How to solve the echoes of the classes

von Christos Tsogos

We played the new mode in Nightreign and find: The difficulty level makes it the hardest game by FromSoftware

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Elden Ring: Nightreign – Roadmap and Upcoming Content

von Alexander Mehrwald

What exactly the DLC for Elden Ring Nightreign will include is unclear. So far, nothing has been revealed about it, except that it is coming. If you’re still a newcomer in the world of Nightreign, perhaps these tips can help you: Here are 8 tips for hidden features in Elden Ring: Nightreign that you might easily miss

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Source(s):

GamesRadar

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Sony should finally remember its old strengths for the PS5, because for years they have been doing the same thing over and over again

Niko Hernes 8. November 2025 Reading time 4 minutes

MeinMMO editor Niko has been a fan of Sony consoles since the PS2 era. Although the games have become more polished and larger, he can’t find joy in it because the PlayStation is more boring than ever.

When thinking about the games of the PS5 and PS4 today, one quickly thinks of God of War, Spider-Man, Ghost of Tsushima, or The Last of Us. And these are all really good games. They have great production values, strong voice actors, and a cinematic story that can compete with many Hollywood movies.

But even though I have played and generally liked many of them, I am disappointed with almost every State of Play, because I see the same thing every time: an extremely high-produced AAA game that focuses on the story. Just look at Wolverine recently.

I am bored. Even if games like Ghost of Yotei look damn good, I no longer buy them. I prefer to pick up an objectively worse game, but one that I will ultimately have more fun with. I am firmly convinced: Sony lost its soul with one studio.

One of the few bright spots in recent years was Astro Bot:

Start video

The new trailer for Astro Bot shows many old acquaintances from PlayStation in a crazy platformer

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Where is the nonsense? Where is the fun?

PlayStation released 3 quirky YouTube videos on November 3, 2025, with the motto It Happens on PS5. And they are wonderfully confusing. Real actors experience stories in short clips. In one story, a guy cuts himself out of a sea monster with a samurai sword. Which game this is about? No idea, but I think it’s good. It reminds me of the old PlayStation era.

One of my favorite Sony series is Ape Escape. The first part was released in 1999 on the PS1. What was special about it was that it was the first game to require the use of 2 analog sticks. At that time, the PS1 only launched with a D-pad, without any sticks.

Instead of controlling the camera with the right stick as we know it today, you used it to control weapons, mainly the capture net. In Ape Escape, you have to catch monkeys in various levels. They also come equipped with weapons or gadgets.

The stick usage is, especially from today’s perspective, innovative. Nowadays, it is mainly used for the camera. But the Japan Studios, a former first-party developer from Sony, created a unique gaming experience from it. It’s a lot of nonsense, but it’s incredibly fun. Unfortunately, the last real part of the series, Ape Escape 3, was released in 2005 (after that, there were sporadic spin-offs).

If I look at the games that Japan Studios has developed today, that’s exactly what is missing from today’s Sony for the PS5.

An amazing developer that no longer exists

If you look at the games that Japan Studio developed, you have a nice potpourri of great ideas. LocoRoco is a platformer for the PSP, where you tilt the world with the shoulder buttons to guide your round characters.

Especially notable is Tokyo Jungle for the PS3. The game was a mix of survival and roguelite mechanics, where you choose an animal species and try to survive in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo.

And as in previous games, Gravity Rush on the PS Vita experimented with control conventions and allowed you to play an action-adventure with innovative movement options.

All of these are games that may not appeal to everyone, but they are experimental and they gave the PlayStation consoles a certain flair. There were strong AAA games, but also strong, original ideas that took risks.

Although the games from Japan Studios were often loved by fans, Sony closed the studio in 2021. Former PlayStation head Shūhei Yoshida explained in an interview (via Insider Gaming) that Sony probably did not want the AA games from the studio. But therein lies potential.

More on the topic

The world record for the worst video game dialogue is held by a PS1 classic

Sony once had the chance to buy all Marvel heroes at a bargain price, but they only wanted one

AA has many advantages, not just for players

Game development is getting more expensive, and nowhere is this clearer than with AAA games. According to a leak in 2023, Spider-Man 2 was estimated to cost over 300 million USD (via Forbes). Along with a long development time comes significant risk. If such an expensive game is not successful enough, it could mean the end for a studio. Just look at Concord.

However, if you develop smaller games, not only can you take risks, but you can also recoup costs more quickly. Another advantage would be a more frequent release of first-party titles. Smaller games could fit between the big AAA releases. Nothing demonstrated this better this year than Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The game was a success and for many players the best RPG of recent years, even though it relies on an old-fashioned, turn-based combat system.

Less big-budget games would also not have to cost €80. This was shown alongside Clair Obscur by Helldivers 2. When you also look at the indie market, smaller, more experimental games like Balatro attract many players who want to experience something different. And for me, no studio represented something different as much as Japan Studio.

Is there still hope? Definitely. The mentioned games could influence the major publishers and developers, hopefully also Sony. It doesn’t always take a huge team to create something good. Sometimes a few people with an absurd idea are enough. Astro Bot showed this in 2024. The jump & run fits so poorly with the God of War and Uncharted titles, but it relies on playful finesse. The game also impressed MeinMMO editor Karsten. It even won 4 awards at the Game Awards.

And rightly so. Besides all the serious games that focus on story and characters, Astro Bot was above all one thing: a fun game with great mechanics. I want Sony to provide more of this. I want more experiments, more ideas, and more nonsense. Because in the past, PlayStation consoles have shown that both are possible.

More on the topic

von Christoph Waldboth

4 months after the disastrous beta of Marathon, Sony loses patience with Bungie and does what many fans have long feared

A new RPG reminiscent of Final Fantasy was so promising that Sony opened the money suitcase – But the release disappoints