Austin Wood
Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with 12DOVE since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.
Latest articles by Austin Wood
After buying many of the biggest publishers on PlayStation and Nintendo, Phil Spencer says Xbox is already one of the biggest publishers on PlayStation and Nintendo
By Austin Wood published
news Funny how that works
Phil Spencer shuts down multiplatform concerns, says next-gen Xbox console will "respect the investments that people have made" in the platform
By Austin Wood published
news Microsoft stresses that the Xbox platform isn't going anywhere
4 Xbox games are coming to other consoles, but Starfield and Indiana Jones aren't
By Austin Wood published
news Xbox is keeping hold of its big exclusives
After 3 years of "a lot of painful work," first-time dev had no idea his game was one of the best-reviewed Steam releases of the year
By Austin Wood published
news Sheepy: A Short Adventure is a certified, totally free hit
Granblue Fantasy Relink is an early frontrunner for my GOTY after years of development hell, and the hit action RPG has now sold 1 million copies in 11 days
By Austin Wood published
news Granblue Fantasy Relink was worth the wait
Just when I think it can't get any cooler, the most underrated JRPG of 2022 gets a whole roguelike with a "completely unreasonable difficulty mode"
By Austin Wood published
news Astlibra Revision is one of Steam's best-rated JRPGs, and now it's a roguelike
Helldivers 2 will "never" add a PvP mode because the dev wants to "reduce toxic elements"
By Austin Wood published
news Helldivers 2 will remain a cooperative PvE experience
I dropped everything to play the free viral game that's suddenly matching Palworld and Persona 3 Reload as 2024's highest-rated Steam game, and you should too
By Austin Wood published
news Sheepy is a sublime little game from YouTube music icon MrSuicideSheep
Palworld player turns the survival game into a city builder with a mod-free tribute to Attack on Titan that took 2 weeks to make
By Austin Wood last updated
news Palworld players are taking builds far beyond the Palbox sphere
After $90 million driven by Baldur's Gate 3, Hasbro says games will be "huge" for D&D and Larian's hit RPG is "just the first of several new video games" to come
By Austin Wood published
news Baldur's Gate 3 is a "mega hit" that Hasbro expects to pay dividends for years
After Palworld and Enshrouded, Sons of the Forest keeps a year of survival games going with update 1.0 coming this month
By Austin Wood published
news Sons of the Forest is finally leaving Early Access in just over a week
Total War: Warhammer 3 dev surrenders in game of DLC chicken, says unpopular $25 update "didn't give you enough" and will be expanded alongside "FreeLC"
By Austin Wood published
news Total War: Warhammer 3's Shadows of Change DLC is getting a big free update
Helldivers 2 creative director says games have to "earn" microtransactions, which is why its purchasable revolver is anti-pay-to-win and "not that good"
By Austin Wood published
news You can't swipe the difficulty away in Helldivers 2
The Steam Next Fest demo of this bullet hell roguelike has big Risk of Rain energy, and some cool tricks of its own
By Austin Wood published
news I'm jamming to the soundtrack of Gatekeeper right now, too
The co-op roguelike from indie powerhouse and Don't Starve dev Klei Entertainment is even better than I'd hoped, and a must-play Steam Next Fest demo
By Austin Wood published
news Rotwood immediately feels polished and compelling
After weeks of DLC speculation, Elden Ring fans crash back to Earth as FromSoftware parent company hits them with a vague "we are currently working hard"
By Austin Wood published
news No release date, no updates, and definitely no shadow drop
Subnautica 2 devs rush to put out fires after their publisher calls it a live service game: "No season passes. No battle passes. No subscription"
By Austin Wood published
news It's also not launching in 2024
Just like every Palworld player, developer Pocketpair needs more workers and is desperately looking for new hires
By Austin Wood published
news The dev doesn't even care what engine you've worked with before
Ubisoft says it's going to make good games again after a "turnaround" led by Assassin's Creed Mirage
By Austin Wood published
news Mirage and others mark "the beginning of our turnaround to consistently creating and delivering" good games
This impossibly colorful Metroidvania is an early frontrunner for best art of the year, and my favorite Steam Next Fest find so far
By Austin Wood published
news It's immediately clear that Ultros is something special
In one of the coolest RPGs of the year, former Blizzard and Epic vets use MMO and D&D ideas to tell stories meant to be made and played with friends like Among Us
By Austin Wood published
Features Hands-on | Lightforge Games' Project ORCS is a fascinating spin on multiplayer party games
Stellar Blade dev, also known for butt-jiggling game Nikke, says he "put special attention" into the female lead's back because that's what players see most of the time
By Ali Jones published
News "This is entertainment for adults"
Homeworld 3 gets another delay in the middle of its Steam Next Fest demo after feedback from people who were brought in to "play through the full game"
By Austin Wood published
news At least you can still try it for yourself