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Day of the Devs stream shares new details on Axiom Verge 2 and more indies

The opening day of this year’s Summer Game Fest concluded with the Day of the Devs stream. The indie showcase featured trailers for over 20 games, including the recently delayed Axiom Verge 2.

Day of the Devs is an annual indie show organized by Double Fine and iam8bit. The event has previously highlighted indies that went on to become mainstream hits like Untitled Goose Game and Hyper Light Drifter.

The show opened with some new information on Axiom Verge 2. Developer Thomas Happ shared some new details on the Metroid-inspired sequel. The game features more melee-based combat than its predecessor and includes a hacking mechanic. Happ says that it’s possible to complete the game without fighting a single boss in order to encourage player exploration.

While the game still doesn’t have a firm release date, Happ confirms that the title will come to PlayStation 4 and PS5 alongside Nintendo Switch and PC.

A boss fight featurign a giant robot in Axiom Verge 2.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

As for newly revealed games, Vokabulantis was a particular showstopper during the event. Developed by the team behind Felix the Reaper, the puzzle platformer is being created with full stop-motion animation. The game is still early in development and isn’t set to launch until 2024.

Other highlights include Soup Pot, a cooking game that features more than 100 recipes from around the world, and The Wandering Village, a city-building game that takes place on the back of a flying creature. The event also gave a second look at some games recently revealed at Microsoft’s ID@Xbox show, including Moonglow Bay and Death’s Door. The latter is scheduled to receive a proper release date during Devolver Digital’s E3 showcase this weekend.

A giant creature with a city on its back in The Wandering Village.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The show ended with a new look at Last Stop, followed by a montage of publisher Annapurna Interactive’s upcoming games. Annapurna announced that it’ll be holding its own digital showcase at noon PT on July 29.

Here’s the full list of indie games that appeared during the show.

  • Axiom Verge 2
  • Behind the Frame
  • Death’s Door
  • Demolition Robots K.K.
  • Despelote
  • Elec Head
  • Garden Story
  • Last Stop
  • Loot River
  • Moonglow Bay
  • A Musical Story
  • Phantom Abyss
  • Road 96
  • Soup Pot
  • The Wandering Village
  • TOEM
  • Unbeatable
  • Vokabulantis
  • Walk

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Giovanni Colantonio
Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…
Day of the Devs 2022 features killer trains and playable flies
A spider train chases a player in Choo-Choo Charles.

As part of Summer Game Fest, Day of the Devs hosted its annual livestream filled with indie games. This year’s show spotlighted 16 games, some of which were world premieres.

Day of the Devs is an event put on every year by Double Fine and iam8bit. The teams work with Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, and others to highlight a handful of independent games coming to various platforms. In previous years, its featured hits like Untitled Goose Game and Death’s Door.

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Warhammer Skulls stream spotlights Darktide, Boltgun, and more
A space marine stars at the camera in the trailer for Warhammer: Space Marine 2.

Games Workshop held a Warhammer Skulls livestream today where it gave updates on existing and announced Warhammer games, in addition to revealing a couple of new ones. 
Fatshark kicked things off by affirming that the release date for Xbox console-exclusive Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is still September 13 via a new cinematic trailer. In the wake of Starfield and Redfall's delay to 2023, this is currently one of the bright spots of Xbox Game Pass' 2022 lineup. As a cooperative shooter, it seems like Warhammer 40,000: Darktide will be a good fit for Xbox Game Pass in the same way that games like Back 4 Blood and The Anacrusis are.
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We also got a look at other announced but unreleased Warhammer titles like sports RPG Blood Bowl 3 and AAA action game Space Marine 2, but there wasn't much in the way of substantial updates for them outside of a new beta for Blood Bowl 3. In addition, 2D cooperative shooter Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood, and Teef got an October 20 release, but isn't currently confirmed for Xbox Game Pass like Darktide. You can "WAAAGH!! with da Boyz" according to the trailer, though. 
Updates for Warhammer games like Total War: Warhammer 3, Chaos Gate Daemonhunters, Vermintide 2, Battlesector, Inquisitor -- Martyr, and some mobile titles also populated the showcase, but the most interesting parts of Warhammer Skulls were the new announcements. Players that enjoy Hearthstone, Legends of Runeterra, or Marvel Snap will welcome the announcement of Warforge, an upcoming Warhammer CCG for PC and mobile that also contains a healthy amount of single-play content.
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Those looking for a meatier Warhammer experience will want to keep an eye on the newly announced Boltgun and Rogue Trader. Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is an FPS game from Auroch Digital that emulates old-school PC shooters like Doom with its visuals and gameplay. It's part of the ever-growing boomer shooter trend and launches for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X in 2023. Meanwhile, Pathfinder: Kingmaker developer Owlcat Games is creating Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, which is, surprisingly, the first traditional CRPG set in the Warhammer universe. If you enjoyed the Pathfinder video games or Pillars of Eternity, keep an eye on Rogue Trader.
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Overall, it's clear that Warhammer fans have a lot of options at their disposal right now when it comes to new games to play. Some of these, like Darktide and Space Marine 2, also have the potential to become more mainstream than we might expect. 
Check out our Summer Gaming Marathon hub

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Welcome to Digital Trends’ Summer Gaming Marathon
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Usually, there’s an established rhythm to the video game industry. Fall, for instance, tends to be when publishers release their biggest games to pump up their holiday sales. Summer, on the other hand, has always been about hype thanks in no small part to E3, the Super Bowl of video game showcases. So when the Entertainment Software Association canceled E3 2022, it left a vacuum in the usual hype cycle. Companies were going to have all these exciting games to show, but no spotlight to shine them under. E3 wasn’t going to happen, but the industry wouldn’t just let the summer marketing potential fly by.

As a result, this summer is a lot more chaotic than previous ones. Big reveal streams and press conferences that would usually take place in a tight four-day span have spun out into their own independent events. Summer Games Fest, Microsoft + Bethesda Showcase, Ubisoft Forward, Nintendo Direct, Square Enix Presents … you’re going to need a roadmap to navigate it all.

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