GalaxyTrail announced that Freedom Planet 2, the sequel to the 2012 Sonic the Hedgehog-inspired platformer Freedom Planet, is coming to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in the summer of 2023. The game will launch on PC and Linux via Steam on September 13.
The indie dev said in a Twitter thread that the console ports of Freedom Planet 2 will contain additional language options that will eventually be patched into the PC version. It also said that the PC version of the game has reached the final phase of production, with just the credits sequences and a few more cutscenes to put in.
“Development of the game is now in its final stages, with only the credits sequence and a few smaller cutscenes left to build,” GalaxyTrail wrote. “Our whole team has done such an exceptional job over the years, and we’re more excited than ever to release it into the wild next month!!”
Freedom Planet 2 has been in development since 2015, and the PC version was originally set to launch this spring. However, back in March, GalaxyTrail pushed the release date back to late summer due to unforeseen circumstances, including lead developer Sabrina DiDuro suffering a hand injury that required extensive physical therapy. The team said it was eager to launch the console version in tandem with the PC version, but the releases were split because the console ports need to undergo more testing and certification than anticipated.
To give you an idea of what to expect when Freedom Planet 2 finally releases, here’s the remix of the 2019 trailer shown at IndieLand 2021.
Freedom Planet 2 looks to be a solid, more traditional alternative to the upcoming Sonic Frontiers as well as Sonic Origins, which released this past June to the delight of Sonic fans young and old despite some glitches that are currently being patched up. Unlike the classic Sonic games, Freedom Planet has top-notch voice acting and kick-butt heroines, and we hope the sequel has the same.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.