This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on GTA VI and the state of the video game industry, follow Andrew Webster. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here.

How it started

Four years ago, fans got a long-awaited look at Grand Theft Auto VI with a huge cache of videos that showed off Rockstar's latest open-world epic. There were 90 videos in total, providing a glimpse at the next-generation take on Vice City, introducing the game's new dual protagonists, and generally showing off the crime-fueled mayhem the series is known for. …

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There's something just a little bit different about FromSoftware's office in Tokyo. Like with any other successful video game studio, there's extensive security to get in the door, a minimalist lobby with framed posters from the studio's most recent releases, and a large glass display case filled with statues from ceremonies ranging from the BAFTAs to The Game Awards. But the hallways are painted black, a fitting theme for a developer known for crafting dark, gothic worlds and a hint at what new creations are lurking inside.

While it has largely become known for a singular style of action game - dubbed "Soulslike," after the massively influ …

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The Duskbloods is a world away from the approachable games Nintendo is known for. But for its next Switch 2 exclusive, the company has partnered with Elden Ring developer FromSoftware on a hardcore multiplayer game about vampires. And after spending a few hours playing through its gothic world at FromSoft's offices in Tokyo, I'm convinced that The Duskbloods could end up being one of the most important exclusives for Nintendo's latest console.

It's a notable change for the company. People buy Nintendo consoles for Nintendo games. That's a generally accepted truth, and also one that's backed up by data - a quick glance at the bestselling gam …

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Like many of us, Sam Rosenthal plays games like Wordle every day, chasing after good scores and sharing the results with friends and family. But he's also a game designer, the creative director at Blaseball developer The Game Band, and so this regular habit got him thinking about what else could be done in the space. "When I was a kid and I played word games with my family, they weren't the New York Times puzzle games," Rosenthal explains. "We were sitting in a car on a road trip playing these really loose games that couldn't be made digitally before. Things like the alphabet game or our own riffs on 20 questions. That felt like a really int …

Read the full story at The Verge.