THQ Nordic has confirmed the release date for South Park: Snow Day via a new trailer.

• READ MORE: How ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ got narrator Amelia Tyler through “very dark times”

South Park: Snow Day was first teased back in 2022 and properly announced during the 2023 THQ showcase. 

The co-op multiplayer will see players take charge of a team of new kids who must join in the battle between Stan, Kyle and Cartman. A press release describes it as a “quest to save the world and enjoy a day without school [after a] blizzard of epic proportions” covers the town.

Players will also be able to take part in both melee and ranged combat, with each character fully customisable using “iconic cosmetics, from beanies to Cheesy Poof T-shirts to chin balls” alongside a variety of special abilities.

A new trailer from THQ Nordic confirms that South Park: Snow Day will be released March 26 for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Pre-orders are now live, with the base game costing £25 while a deluxe edition featuring an extra game mode, more weapon types and cosmetics is available for £40. A physical edition of South Park: Snow Day comes with a snow globe, talking toilet paper holder and a beanie and will set players back £190 (via Eurogamer).

South Park: Snow Day is the first console South Park game to be released since 2017’s South Park: The Fractured But Whole, which was developed by Ubisoft San Francisco.

In other news, It’s been revealed that Rockstar Games was hacked by a teenager using an Amazon Firestick, a hotel TV and a mobile phone.

Last September, 90 clips from Grand Theft Auto 6 were leaked online, with the 18-year-old hacker and member of “digital bandit” member Lapsus$ now sentenced to an “indefinite hospital order” after a 6 week trial.

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It’s been revealed that Rockstar Games was hacked by a teenager using an Amazon Firestick, a hotel TV and a mobile phone.

• READ MORE: The 20 best games of 2023

Last September, over 90 videos and screenshots from Grand Theft Auto 6 surfaced online ahead of the game’s public reveal.

Rockstar Games confirmed the “early development footage” had been “illegally accessed and downloaded”. Later that month, a teenager in Oxfordshire was arrested in relation to the hack.

In July, it was confirmed that 18-year-old Arion Kurtaj would face 12 offences, including six charges under the Computer Misuse Act, three blackmail charges, and two counts of fraud but was deemed “unfit” to stand trial.

Earlier this week, Kurtaj was sentenced to an “indefinite hospital order” with a judge ruling that his skills and desire to commit cyber-crime meant he remained a high risk to the public (via BBC). He will remain at a secure hospital until he is no longer deemed a danger. His involvement as a key member of international “digital bandit” crime gang Lapsus$ was also confirmed.

Kurtaj was sentenced alongside a seventeen-year-old accomplice, with the Lapsus$ members involved in the $4million (£3.1million) ransom of data stolen from Nvidia and BT/EE.

During court proceedings, further details about Kurtaj’s crimes were revealed. The jury was told that Kurtaj was in police protection at a Travelodge hotel when he hacked Rockstar. At the time, he was on bail for hacking both Nvidia and BT/EE.  Police had confiscated his laptop, but Kurtaj managed to steal 90 clips of Grand Theft Auto 6 using an Amazon Firestick, his hotel TV and a mobile phone.

He used Rockstar’s internal Slack channel to blackmail the company before sharing clips and the source code online, via the username TeaPotUberHacker.

Despite his defence lawyer arguing that the huge success of Grand Theft Auto 6’s reveal earlier this year meant that Kurtaj’s crimes had little impact, Rockstar claimed his actions had cost the company over $5million (£3.95million) as well as thousands of hours of labour.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is set to launch 2025 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S and will see players return to world of Vice City.

In other news, Bethesda Softworks has shared its 2024 plans for Fallout 76, with a string of updates introducing seasonal events alongside new quests, maps and rewards.

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Bethesda Softworks has shared its 2024 plans for Fallout 76, with a string of updates introducing seasonal events alongside new quests, maps and rewards.

• READ MORE: Veteran composer Inon Zur talks 20 years of Bethesda: “‘Starfield’ is my best score to date”

Posting on the official blog, Fallout 76 producer Jon Rush confirmed that 17million players had experienced 2020’s Wastelanders update and promised a string of new updates due to come to the game throughout 2024.

Kicking off the year will be the second instalment of Fallout 76’s recent Atlantic City update. The first, Boardwalk Paradise, came earlier this month and introduced two new expedition missions in a new location. Atlantic City: America’s Playground is due for release spring 2024 and will feature an additional mission, “in which players will confront the legendary Jersey Devil” alongside new story driven quests, more areas to explore and “plenty” of rewards.

“Later in 2024, we’re expanding our map southward, deep into the wooded heartland of Shenandoah. This uncharted, once-tranquil expanse in the heart of Virginia will bring a new questline, factions and rewards,” said Bethesda.

Rush also confirmed that developers would be “shining a greater light on Fallout 76’s beloved seasonal events” over the next 12 months. “We’re looking forward to running them much more frequently and offering a host of new rewards with each event,” he said before adding: “There are also plans for new seasonal events to round out our roster, so get ready to pencil in those calendars in 2024.”

Bethesda is also planning on releasing “additional features and improvements that benefit our avid builders and adventurers alike.”

He then went on to discuss Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming Fallout TV series, which is set to launch in the spring. “This episodic series represents a collaboration between the creative minds at Bethesda Games Studios and Kilter Films – showing an expanded look at the Fallout universe like never before, breathing the world to life with new stories, characters, and moments for both fans and newcomers come to join us on these country roads.”

Earlier this week it was revealed that Bethesda Softworks rejected multiple proposals from Obsidian Entertainment to create more games in the Fallout series, after the release of their Fallout: New Vegas in 2010.

In other news, Epic Games Store has changed its own rules to allow blockchain games to be sold on the platform.

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Epic Games Store has changed its own rules to allow blockchain games to be sold on the platform.

• READ MORE: Riot Games on Heartsteel: “The Baekhyun and Ezreal collaboration was a dream”

Epic Games Store had a blanket ban on all Adults Only titles, but it has recently adjusted its own rules to allow blockchain games.

As it stands, all games based on blockchain technology or utilising NFTs are rated Adults Only by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) because of how they offer rewards that can be converted into real-world currency.

“Products with Adults Only ratings cannot be distributed on Epic Games Store [which also] treats unrated products as having a mature (18+) rating,” said the store’s rules but earlier this week, an amendment was added. “The Epic Games Store makes an exception for products in cases where an [Adults Only] rating was applied solely due to the usage of blockchain or NFT technology.”

Blockchain games must still comply with Epic Games Store’s own technology Guidelines and can’t include things such as “pornography, gambling, and hateful content.”

Heads up: Gods Unchained and Striker Manager 3 have returned to the Store after a change in our content policy regarding ratings for blockchain-based games. Learn more: https://t.co/RQGGzWGeG8

— Epic Games Store (@EpicGames) December 19, 2023

The change came about after NFT card game Gods Unchained was removed from the Epic Games Store, three months after it was first listed, because it was re-rated by the ESRB.I t was given an Adults Only rating because of its various play-to-earn elements. Play-to-earn multiplayer football game Strike Manager 3 was removed at the same time, but both titles have now been returned to the Epic Game Store.

“Some blockchain-based games are receiving Adults Only [AO] ratings from industry ratings bodies for their particular implementation of blockchain,” Epic Games explained. “We’ve updated our Epic Games Store content policy to allow for games that are rated AO solely due to the usage of blockchain or NFT technology.”

“Web3 gaming is officially back on Epic Games Store, said publisher Immutable following the policy change. “At Immutable, we have taken a proactive approach to advocate for fair policies for web3 games. We are pleased with Epic Games’ policy decision. We are committed to collaborating with gaming, tech, and web3 leaders to unlock the next player experience for the 3 billion players worldwide.”

“This policy change shows that the space recognises the experience of web3 gaming, and we are one step closer to adoption,” they added.

Previously, Steam completely banned banned blockchain games which “issue or allow exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs” in 2021 (via Eurogamer) while earlier this year, Sega confirmed it would be stepping back from planned blockchain initiatives through fear of “devaluing” its strongest gaming properties.

In other news, Bethesda Softworks has shared a list of new and improved features set to come to Starfield throughout 2024.

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Bethesda Softworks has shared a list of new and improved features set to come to Starfield throughout 2024.

• READ MORE: ‘Starfield’ review: a dizzying adventure that shoots for the moon

In an expansive End Of Year Update shared on their website, Bethesda said that Starfield would receive new updates “roughly every six weeks” starting in February 2024.

“These updates will include everything from quality-of-life improvements to content and feature updates,” said developers, with players encouraged to join the “Steam Beta branch to be the first to try these updates as they begin rolling out”.

According to the post, Starfield players can expect new ways to travel within the game, as well as city maps, new gameplay options “that will expand beyond our normal ‘Difficulty’ setting and new ways for players to customise their ships”.

So… how many hours have YOU spent building ships?

See more stats here: https://t.co/y5WlAIyqEQ (Note: all numbers are in Earth time ) pic.twitter.com/5zPFBsytai

— Starfield (@StarfieldGame) December 20, 2023

Official mod support for Starfield will also be introduced via the launch of Creations. “Modding has always been an enormous part of our games, with incredible community-made content constantly bringing fresh new experiences. With the scale and systems in Starfield, we can’t wait to see what you come up with,” the devs wrote.

Bethesda also confirmed the first major story expansion will be released, with Shattered Space introducing new story content, new locations, new gear, and much more though further details are being kept under wraps for now.

The End Of Year update also revealed that 13million people have played Starfield since it was launched in September, racking up over 22million days worth of playtime between them. 26million of those hours were spent building ships, with close to 2billion planets visited in that time.

Last month, Bethesda started replying to negative steam reviews of Starfield, defending the title from claims it was “boring”. Earlier this year,  Bethesda confirmed that a sequel to Skyrim was in “active development” but thanks to the scope of Starfield, it won’t be the studio’s priority for a while.

In other news, a War Thunder user has been caught sharing sensitive military documents on the official forums once again.

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A War Thunder user has shared sensitive military documents on the official forums again.

• READ MORE: Best FPS games: what’s the best shooter you can play in 2023?

War Thunder is a free-to-play vehicular combat multiplayer game, developed by Gaijin Entertainment. It was released back in 2013 but still has a hugely loyal and dedicated following.

However, sometimes users will criticise how certain real-world vehicles or weapons are portrayed in the game, using official documents to back up their arguments. This has happened numerous times on the official War Thunder forums, with moderators banning the offending individual and removing the information as quickly as possible. According to military news site Task & Purpose, it has happened 14 times in recent years.

The most recent example happened earlier this month when a user uploaded two pages from the technical manual for the M2A2 Bradley Armoured Infantry Fighting Vehicle. The document allegedly had details of both the commander’s hatch and turret assembly, including information on the types of nuts and bolts used.

While the documents aren’t classified, they are only meant to be available to the United State Department Of Defense and its contractors in the interest of national security.

“As far as we know, this particular leak did not appear on War Thunder forums first. It was published online on December 8th or even earlier and has been spreading on various platforms for days until it landed on War Thunder forums,” Gaijin Entertainment founder Anton Yudintsev told Task & Purpose. “While we did our part in helping to limit the leak spreading further by deleting that post, we can do nothing with what’s happening on other platforms.”

Back in 2021, the Official Secrets Act was broken when a War Thunder user shared classified information about the Challenger 2 tank and a few months later, a user claiming to be a French army tank crewman leaked part of the Leclerc Main Battle Tank’s classified user manual. Similar events happened over the following months and in June, a new update to the rules was shared on the official War Thunder forum.

“IN BRIEF: you are not allowed to publish any Classified information and Export-restricted military-technical data,” wrote a community manager.

In other news, controversial Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is set to leave his role next week after 32 years in charge of the company.

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The Pokémon Company has confirmed a free expansion for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet is due for release next month.

• READ MORE: How ‘Pokémon”s Nuzlocke challenge has hooked generations of fans

The news came via a brief teaser trailer titled “A new adventure in the Land of Kitakami awaits”.

The 40-second teaser, featuring footage of our plucky gang of trainers looking worried, doesn’t give much away but it does confirm that the expansion will act as an epilogue to the storyline of the two-part The Hidden Treasure Of Area Zero Expansion Pass.

The update is due for release January 11 2024 at 14:00 UTC, while another update featuring a number of bug fixes will be released late January (via Nintendolife).

To access the free epilogue, players will need to have completed the main storyline in both The Teal Mask expansion and The Indigo Disk, which was released last week.

Back in August, it was revealed The Pokémon Company was talking about slowing down the rate that Pokémon games are released.

“If you look at the past, the path we’ve taken up until now has been this constant release, always regularly releasing products on a fairly fixed kind of a cadence,” said chief operating officer Takato Utsunomiya. “I think we’re still operating in that way, but there’s more and more conversations, as the development environments change, about how we can continue to do this, while making sure that we’re ensuring really quality products are also being introduced,” he added.

Utsunomiya was speaking at the Pokémon World Championships, which also saw announcements for Pokémon Go, Pokémon TCG and Pokémon Sleep alongside extra events to promote the then-imminent launch of The Hidden Treasure Of Area Zero expansion.

Pokémon also recently released its new Netflix series, Pokémon Concierge. In a four-star review, NME wrote: “Though Pikachu and Ash have and will forever be the true mascot duo of the franchise, Concierge proves that there are endless stories begging to be told without them. Forget the battles or chasing the title of Master – and step into this fun, fluffy iteration of the world.”

In other news, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League has been delayed again, but only for Epic Game Store users.

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Controversial Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is set to leave his role next week.

• READ MORE: What the hell has happened at Activision and why should you care?

Kotick became CEO of Activision in 1991 after purchasing a 25 per cent share in the near-bankrupt company the previous year. Over the next 32 years, he headed up the company as it grew to become one of the biggest and most influential pillars in the world of video games, acquiring a number of other studios on the way.

However, it was claimed Kotick knew about cases of sexual misconduct happening within the company and kept it secret, even after state regulators started investigating the company in 2018. Following the report, The Activision Blizzard board of directors said it remained “confident in Bobby Kotick’s leadership.”

In 2021, a group of Activision Blizzard shareholders called for Kotick to quit but he was still re-elected to the board the following year.

Now though, Kotick has confirmed he will stand down as CEO of Activision Blizzard on December 29 2023, following the acquisition of the company by Microsoft. 

In an email shared with staff and posted on Activision Blizzard’s website, Kotick wrote: “As my last day leading this company inches closer, I marvel at how far the talented people at our company have come toward realising the great potential of games. You have transformed a hobbyist form of entertainment into the world’s most engaging medium. It has been the privilege of my lifetime to work alongside you as we broadened the appeal of games.”

“We are now part of the world’s most admired company. That isn’t an accident,” he continued, before praising Xbox boss Phil Spencer. “As we move into our next exciting chapter, you could not be in better hands.”

It’s also been reported (via Eurogamer) that Microsoft’s Jill Braff will now head up ZeniMax/Bethesda studios, while a majority of other Activision Blizzard executives will report to Xbox’s Matt Booty.

Earlier this week, Activision Blizzard settled a lengthy sexual harassment lawsuit with The California Civil Rights Department for $54million (£42million), with both parties signing a document that said “there was no widespread harassment or recurring pattern or practice of gender harassment” at the company. However, Activision  agreed to hire an outside consultant to look into compensation, promotion policies and training materials with $47million (£37million) set aside to pay female employees or contract workers at the company who allegedly received inequitable pay.

Last March, Blizzard paid $18million (£14million) to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and in February, the company paid a $35million (£27.6million) fine after Activision broke whistleblower protections and failed to disclose information to investors.

In other news, World Of Warcraft has shared a roadmap for 2024, including a launch window for the War Within expansion and news of a 20th anniversary event.

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Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League has been delayed again, but only for Epic Game Store users.

• READ MORE: Here are some of the best upcoming games we saw at Gamescom 2023

Taking to the game’s official Discord (via Eurogamer), Rocksteady Studios shared an update that confirmed Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League would be delayed in coming to the Epic Game Store.

No reason was given for the delay, with the title now releasing on the platform on March 5, 2024.

“If you pre-ordered the game on this storefront, Epic will be cancelling your pre-order and refunding customers directly,” wrote Rocksteady. “A confirmation email of this cancellation will be sent directly from the Epic Games Store Support Team.”

The studio confirmed that Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League would still be coming on February 2, 2024 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Steam users.

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League was first announced in 2020 with plans to release late 2022. The game was then pushed back to spring 2023 so Rocksteady could “make the best game [it] can”. It was delayed again earlier this year with the studio releasing a statement saying they needed to make the “tough but necessary decision to take the time needed to work on getting the game to be the best quality experience for players”.

Earlier this week, Rocksteady warned users about a number of leaked plot points from Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League that are currently being shared on social media.

“We’re looking forward to players experiencing the story we’ve crafted in Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League once the game launches in the new year. We hope everyone can play the game and feel each moment of the narrative for themselves,” the studio started.

“It is very disappointing to see details being shared ahead of the game’s release, so we can only urge you to try to avoid spoilers where you can. And please try not to impact the enjoyment of other players by posting spoilers.”

In other news, World Of Warcraft has shared a roadmap for 2024, including a launch window for the War Within expansion alongside news of a 20th anniversary celebration.

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World Of Warcraft has shared a roadmap for 2024, including a launch window for the War Within update and details about WOW Classic expansion Cataclysm.

• READ MORE: Why ‘Dragonflight’ is a homecoming for ‘World Of Warcraft’ fans

According to executive producer Holly Longdale, World Of Warcraft’s next big expansion War Within is set to launch late summer/early autumn 2024.

Before that, three more content updates are due for Dragonflight. “In these updates, we’ll be wrapping up the story for this expansion and laying the foundation for our next one. Dragonflight season four will revisit Dragonflight’s dungeons and raids, along with outdoor content, featuring updated rewards, and a few new twists,” said Longdale. The roadmap also promises holiday events, Harbinger quests and a new PVP season as part of Dragonflight season four.

Following that, alpha and beta tests will be made available for the War Within. According to the roadmap, the expansion will bring a new campaign, four new zones, eight new dungeons and a new raid. Following the launch of War Within, World Of Warcraft will also host a 20th anniversary event.

The Worldsoul Saga begins in 2024!

Our cadence continues in the year ahead with six content updates plus the new expansion, The War Within.

EP @TheWindstalker on the road ahead: https://t.co/OWi2ix0evF pic.twitter.com/ZDAt5lEmRG

— World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) December 19, 2023

Elsewhere, the blog update revealed that WOW: Classic will receive updates to Hardcore mode and Season Of Discover. “Cataclysm Classic is right around the corner in the first half of next year,” added Longdale, with sign-ups for the beta now open.

“We remain committed to delivering content in all flavors of World Of Warcraft so no matter how you play, you won’t have to look far ahead to know something is right around the corner for you,” she continued. “Above all, we are thankful for the gift of working on World Of Warcraft with you and embracing a time of evolution. We remain dedicated to continuing this amazing journey alongside you all.”

In October, World Of Warcraft was acquired by Microsoft as their takeover of Activision Blizzard was finally approved after nearly two-years of legal proceedings.

In other news, The Finals has addressed an explosion in cheaters taking to the popular free-to-play shooter with devs currently working on a fix.

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