Selamat Hari Raya in advance to all our Muslim readers, viewers, and gamers! Here are this week’s top collection of news. 

The Big Picture

As we reach the week of Hari Raya, we have to remind ourselves that this holiday is a time of gift-giving, prayers, festive meals, and family/social gatherings. Instead of spending time alone the coming week, why not play together with friends and family? 

We would also like to thank everybody behind the recent years of promoting Southeast Asian-made indie games. Events like the Southeast Asian Games Showcase and Indie Jam help amplify the reach of these titles, together with the content works and outreach of the local games media. 

Short Beats

The Southeast Asian Games Showcase will be partnering with Summer Game Fest to highlight Southeast Asian games at a global level. Developers can sign up here to be featured. 

The third edition of Indie Jam will be hosted in Xsolla Curine Academy, KL Eco City this 26 to 27 April, and will showcase Southeast Asian games. 

Malaysia’s Lemon Sky Studios has gone through yet another round of layoffs.

World-famous football player Cristiano Ronaldo will be in the upcoming 2D fighting game Fatal Fury: City of Wolves as a playable fighter. 

Path of Exile 2, the next big action RPG from Grinding Gear Games, is adding a major update to its current Early Access build called Dawn of the Hunt. It adds in a new class, a bunch of new Ascendancies, 100+ Unique Items, and more endgame content. It will go live on 5th April. 

The often-delayed first-person role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 now has a new release date: October 2025. 

After 6 long years, Square Enix is shutting down its mobile strategy RPG title War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius. The title will be taken off mobile app stores and shut off its servers on 29 May. 

Capcom will be launching a merchandise pop-up store in Malaysia. More details will be unveiled later in the coming months.

Nintendo hosted a Nintendo Direct livestream on the 27 of March. They announced a slew of new titles such as the Dragon Quest I and II remake, Marvel Cosmic Invasion, Metroid Prime 4 Beyond, and Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army. 

Speaking of the Big N, The Legend of Zelda live-action film premieres on 26 March 2027.

JRPG game The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond The Horizon will be out in English this Fall 2025 for PlayStation consoles, PC, and Nintendo Switch. It is the third entry in the Trails Through Daybreak series in the epic The Legend of Heroes saga.

505 Games and MercurySteam just launched a new gameplay video of their upcoming action RPG title Blades of Fire.

Op-Eds

We interviewed Path of Exile 2 director Jonathan Rogers about the upcoming major update Dawn of the Hunt, and also got a quote from him regarding the “Skip Campaign” feature in action RPGs. 

Games Out This Week

Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark is the latest Inti Creates-made 2D search action title. You play as a pair of weapon-brandishing maids to help restore the power of their Demon Lord in a cutesy fantasy world filled with monsters and anime tropes. 

AI LIMIT is a new scifi action RPG title where you play as an anime girl with weapons, fighting off scifi monstrosities. This title is made in the veins of a From Software Dark Souls title, which means there are stamina bars for your actions, epic boss fights, and brutal difficulty. 

The First Berserker: Khazan is a dark fantasy action RPG in the veins of a From Software Dark Souls title. You play as the title character Khazan as you sought for revenge against noblemen who wronged you, so off you go fighting epic bosses of various scale with your sweet weapons, moves, and raw berserker powers. This title is a spin-off of the Dungeon & Fighter (DNF) MMO franchise. 

Venus Vacation Prism: Dead or Alive Xtreme is a sports and simulation combination title where you play around with the cast of the Dead or Alive series. Modest clothing optional. 

Recommended Viewing

YouTube content creator OtherFrost (formerly of Second Wind’s Cold Take) made a two-parter video linked to game-making. One is about why it’s hard to just make a good game to sell (due to the nature of the business). The other is him trying to do it himself; marketing someone else’s game and the pitfalls surrounding it.