The second week of February is still ringing in people’s ears – literally, with the series of fireworks and firecrackers set off since the beginning of the month.
Chinese New Year is ongoing, and everybody’s still in a festive mood during the Year of the Snake. This also means a slew of gaming news and shifting trends from around the world.
To the uninitiated, this effort is a collaboration between Twentytwo13 and Kakuchopurei.
The Big Picture
Capcom’s latest February presentation on Feb 5 was about the present and future with the spotlight on the upcoming action role-playing game multiplayer juggernaut Monster Hunter Wilds (out end of this month), and the feudal Japan demon-slaying title Onimusha: Way of the Sword (to be released in 2026).
Coupled with a new action-adventure entry to the fan-favourite Okami series and the growing sales numbers of 2D fighting game Street Fighter 6 (now in its second season expansion), it’s clear as day that Capcom is in a healthier state than before.
You have to remember, there was a time in the HD era of gaming between 2008 and 2017 where the company made a series of bad decisions influenced by the Western games industry. They were so bad that the industry thought the long-standing company couldn’t fully recover from it. And the period between 2017 and 2023 was when the company had to play it safe with their slew of Resident Evil remakes and re-releases of their back catalogue.
To see Capcom upping the ante and taking more risks with a new Okami and Onimusha game in this current and future set years of gaming means we are seeing the Capcom of the 90s making a comeback.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. live-service multiplayer free-to-play fighting game MultiVersus is shutting its doors and going offline after years of service. The game’s Season 5 content will be its final update and will be out on May 2024.
To add further context, the game’s open beta was launched in July 2022 and was then closed in June 2023 to undergo a revamp. The open beta wasn’t even available in Southeast Asia and Oceanic regions, the few key locations that could have benefitted Warner Bros. in the long term due to robust player count and free-to-play markets being lucrative there.
The “actual full game launch” for MultiVersus came out on May 28, 2024, and was severely panned for underdeveloped gameplay and balancing issues. MultiVersus could have been Warner Bros. Games’ cash cow due to its multiple characters from various franchises like Looney Tunes to DC Comics’ superheroes Superman and Batman, but mismanagement and myopic business decisions led to its eventual downfall. See the state of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League and Mortal Kombat 1 as proof of games severely mismanaged to heck.
Short Beats
The long-awaited remake of Metal Gear Solid 3, dubbed Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, has a release date: Aug 28, 2025.
Konami might be announcing a new entry in the action-packed Castlevania series this year. As of now, the series has been kept alive and relevant thanks to a successful Netflix animated series and a Vampire Survivors spin-off.
Bandai Namco has reduced its Japanese workforce by over 100 developers; this is due to its high-profile cancellation of titles in 2024.
Capcom just aired its February 2025 video showcase online: highlights include new Onimusha – Way of the Sword details, a new Monster Hunter Wilds beta this week before its Feb 28 release, and a remaster of Onimusha 2 slated for later this year.
Nintendo announced it will continue to support the first Nintendo Switch after the Nintendo Switch 2’s launch, as long as there is demand for it. The company is also preparing to deal with Switch 2 resellers and scalpers.
The ex-creators of big video game expo event E3 have announced a new gaming event called Interactive Innovation Conference, or “iicon” for short. It will take place from April 27 to 30 at the Fontainebleau Resort in Las Vegas, the United States. So far, it has support from Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony, so this isn’t a load of hot air.
Street Fighter 6 has a “new” fighting game character in its roster: the SNK queen of fighters Mai Shiranui, who is popular for two big reasons: her ninjutsu and fast-paced rushdown fighting style.
Op-Eds
We highlighted ninjas in video games following the recent news of the Ninja Gaiden series from Koei Tecmo making a comeback this year.
We also spoke about one of this year’s best video game expos in the world: Super MAGFest 2025. This one-of-a-kind four-day 24/7 event combines music and video gaming for an unforgettable experience.
Games Out This Week
Rift of the Necrodancer is a new indie-made rhythm game from Brace Yourself Games and Tic Toc Games. The rhythm game features showstopping rock, electronica, and jazz music from artists like FamilyJules and Alex Moukala, custom music options, a story mode featuring minigames and boss battles (involving rhythmic play), and endless replayability.
Kingdom Come Deliverance II is an open-world role-playing game set in the early 15th century Bohemia, where you play as a bodyguard in search of your father’s sword. Played entirely in first-person mode, your main character can either be a skilled swordsman or a sharp-tongued smarty-pants who can talk his way out of trouble; the choice is entirely up to your playstyle, with the game world reacting to it accordingly. The game is out now for PC and consoles.
Big Helmet Heroes is an indie-developed multiplayer beat-em-up featuring big-headed knights with different superpowers and screen-clearing attacks beating up lanes and hordes of evil knights and dragons. This cute title is out now for PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series, and PlayStation 5.
Macross – Shooting Insight is a 2D shoot-em-up published by Banpresto that combines all the characters and iconic mechas of the classic anime series and sequels into one massive non-canon storyline. This 2D shmup cashgrab is available for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.
Recommended Viewing
Last Stand Media published a video feature detailing the fall of PlayStation’s Games-As-A-Service Initiative. While it’s a good plan, horrible resource management and unwise purchases ended up crippling the potentially big business.
Speaking of ninjas and SNK legacy characters, a fighting game content creator called desk has pointed out a neat trick regarding Mai Shiranui: one of her taunts can cancel out certain attacks and Super Moves. Here’s a fun clip showcasing just that.
