Bungie details what fans can expect from the Lightfall expansion inDestiny 2, Activision Blizzard announces its developers will be required to start coming back to the office, and Firaxis Games loses two high-ranking employees. Today, Game Rant’s weekly recap takes a look at some of the most notable headlines from the past week.
Another major game developer, Naughty Dog, may have bigger plans in the works based on posted job listings. Meanwhile, a newDisney Dreamlight Valleyupdate adds unlockable characters, and Game Rant talks with Omega Force about its latest multiplayer game. All that and more in this week’s roundup ofgames industry news.
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Naughty Dog Job Listing Suggests Multiple Multiplayer Games in Development
Fans of Naughty Dog’sThe Last of Usfranchise have heard sparingly little about its standalone multiplayer game. Early concept art was shown at Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest in 2022, but little more has come out to coincideThe Last of Usairing on HBO. However, a job listing for Associate Multiplayer Quality Assurance Tester/Quality Support describes the position as dealing with “multiplayer titles,” suggestingNaughty Dog is working on at least two multiplayer games. Still, this could be referring to future projects, and as such, it should be taken with a grain of salt.
Bungie Details Destiny 2’s Lightfall Expansion in Huge Blog Post
Destiny 2’s The Witch Queen era will officially come to an end this month as Bungie prepares to launch Lightfall on February 28. Prior to that, game director Joe Blackburn penned a massive blog post titled “Lightfall and the Year Ahead” on Bungie’s website. Guardians gleaned plenty of new information from this post, including thenames ofDestiny 2Seasons 20 and 21, changes set to come for weapon crafting mechanics, and how Bungie plans to revamp strikes alongside other activities.
New Biome Confirmed for Minecraft’s 1.20 Update, Among Other Features
As Valentine’s Day 2023 rolled around, Mojang decided to celebrate by confirming new “pink” content coming with theMinecraft’s 1.20 update later this year. Arare cherry blossom biome is being introduced intoMinecraft, with a full set of pink-shaded wood to match. This will be the second biome with a new wood type added to the sandbox building game in a row following mangrove swamps in version 1.19, and cherry blossoms will become available alongside the long-anticipated archeology mechanic as well as 2022’s Mob Vote winner: the sniffer.
Activision Blizzard Announces Change to Work From Home Policy
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic shook up businesses in a huge way, leading to a wave of remote working opportunities as it became dangerous for people to gather in schools, office spaces, and other public environments. On Monday, a Blizzard Entertainment employee who goes by the handle LeastMyHairIsOk on Twitter saidActivision Blizzard announced a “return to office” plan. This was later corroborated via a direct statement obtained by the website Game Developer, in which the company confirmed employees will have to work from the office at least three days a week starting April 2023.
Firaxis Games seemed to be riding high off the release ofMarvel’s Midnight Suns, which garnered positive attention and is currently rolling out DLC characters like Deadpool. It also recently confirmed thatCivilization 7is in development. However, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick announced thatMidnight Sunsunderperformed commercially, and this week the studio took another blow via two major departures.Studio head Steve Martin andMarvel’s Midnight Sunsdirector Jake Solomon left Firaxison seemingly amicable terms, but it remains to be seen how this will impact the studio’s future.
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Features
Guerrilla Games’Horizon Forbidden Westreleased on July 13, 2025, and one year on it’s clear this was the first step in larger growth for the franchise. Between its “Burning Shores” DLC, VR titleCall of the Mountain, and a streaming series in development, fans have plenty to anticipate. Game Freak’sPokemon Legendsseries should similarly expand, introducing new takes on more of the franchise’s popular regions.
Movies & TV
A major new entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe released this week.Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniacontinues the story of its titular heroes, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), but also does a lot of legwork to connect plot threads across Marvel’s Phase 4 movies and TV. As always, the movie’s post-credits scenes have garnered attention as fans discuss their impact on future events.
Guides
After teasing fans with its Early 2023 Content Roadmap,Disney Dreamlight Valleylaunched a content update on February 16. Two characters were added: Olaf fromFrozen, and Mirabel fromEncanto. Those playing the new update may want a hand on completing The Golden Door Knob quest to unlock Mirabel.
Game Rant Exclusives
Omega Force released its take on Capcom’s cooperativeMonster Hunterformula this week.Wild Heartshas received a mixed reception largely due to its performance issues, but Game Rant spoke with co-directors Kotaro Hirata and Takuto Edagawa about why it was important for the game to skip Sony and Microsoft’s last-gen consoles.
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