Introducing the five new games of Jackbox Party Pack 12

Introducing the five new games of Jackbox Party Pack 12 https://ift.tt/KzhRMTW

Jackbox isn’t rocket science but we take our task of silliness seriously. We’re proud of our Chicago comedy roots, and every aspect of our games is high-touch to set fans up for a successful night. 

What sets The Jackbox Party Pack 12 apart? It’s a pack especially focused on helping players build deeper human connection in fun ways. We’re excited to share more about what to expect this fall, along with some work-in-progress screens from each of the games.

We Forgot a Card

For Party Pack 12, we wanted to lean into the special events our games are often paired with. “We were inspired by all the funny cliches around greeting cards,” says Studio Creative Director Arnie Niekamp, “and that familiar feeling of being in a not-great store but you have to find something fast because you’re already late to a party.”

Players design a card that fits an unusual gathering with limited time and bizarre options, pairing stock imagery with player-written taglines for the funniest outcome. “‘Quick, get to the jokes’ is practically the theme of this game,” says Niekamp. In the final round, players create a talking plush to pair with their card. It’s a gift that keeps on giving!

MegaPals

In MegaPals, players are given a one-word prompt and must submit as many associated words as they can before the timer runs out. Points come from matching with other players. Match the most and you’re MegaPals! “We were inspired by folk games like Mind Meld and Contact where you try to think alike in very few words,” says Game Director Alina Constantin. “The pitch was an idea from Editorial Lead Liz Anderson. We wanted to spotlight the common takes as well as the weird misses, and allow players to riff off their group’s train of thought.”

Prompts for subsequent rounds are based on player inputs, giving the game endless replayability. “This game is great for players who enjoy adding a personal flair to simple word association and discovering unexpected compatibilities,” says Constantin.

Idol Factions

Idol Factions is a team-based game where words are served up to be sorted into the right category. The words don’t stop coming, so players must communicate and work together to land them in the right spot. “This game was pitched by Lead Engineer Chase McClure and started as a solo experience. Even then, Chase had made it so that players had to communicate quickly and clearly, which was immediately fun,” says Game Director Warren Arnold, “We want players to be the right amount of stressed out.”

“This game is going to be perfect for gathering on a big ol’ comfy couch so you can scream your heads off about why an answer belongs in the category ‘Type of Cheese’ and not ‘The Last Name of a British Prime Minister.’” said Arnold.

Debate and Switch

In Debate and Switch, you’re in a town hall that has gone sideways. Everything up for discussion is a bizarre hypothetical and you need to form an opinion and defend it. Fast. “The original inspiration was the movie Rat Race, and then I realized there was already a board game version of what I was working on: Pricetitution. So we ditched the terrible scenarios and pricing and delved more into debate mechanics.” says Nate Sandberg, Senior Audio Lead, who originally pitched the game.

“We loved building out the running characters, created by Senior Art Lead, Hector M Padilla, to act as voters during debates. Those little guys are just the best,” says Game Director Michael Siciliano, “It was harder to hone in on tone for the debate topics. We’ve had to pivot on exactly how strange or detailed they get. Allowing players to craft their own topics was an evolution we’re really excited for people to play with.”

Hyperface

In Party Pack 11, we played with the phone’s microphone for Hear Say. In Party Pack 12, we’re playing with the camera! In Hyperface, players edit a photo in response to a prompt. Players can choose to use a stock photo or they can take a selfie and edit their face in wild ways. “The reveal is often the highlight,” says Game Director Tim Sniffen. Seeing what others chose to do, whether going all-out or doing a tiny subtle eyebrow-raise, is usually the high point of any playthrough.”

We want players to smudge, squash, stretch, and draw on their photos to create the wildest result possible. “Who among us hasn’t added a mustache to a magazine photo? If you’re ready for the power-user version, where you’re smudging someone’s nose like it’s made of taffy, this game is for you,” says Sniffen.

The Jackbox Party Pack 12 is coming to PS4 and PS5 this fall. 

How roguelite shooter Void/Breaker’s destruction combat uses PS5 features

How roguelite shooter Void/Breaker’s destruction combat uses PS5 features https://ift.tt/5Qg4Yfn

There are two types of players. One type enjoys high-octane gameplay – fluid movement, satisfying gunplay, the thrill of pure destructive chaos. On the other side of the axis are players who like to strategize. They’re driven by a need to optimize for the most efficient outcome.

What if I told you there’s a solo developer – Daniel Stubbington – who decided to make a game for someone who has both of those in them? A roguelite shooter with fluid, fast-paced movement, where survival means mastering an environmental destruction system and combining it with a weapon modding system deep enough to create synergies crazy enough to make even the developer gasp?

That game is Void/Breaker. And it’s coming to PS5 – we think this is going to be the best way to play it.

What’s changed since we announced the PS5 version?

The arsenal has grown. To the Pistol, Assault Rifle, and a Shotgun, we’ve added the SMG and the Sniper Rifle (Daniel’s own personal favourite). These weapons are the archetypes, and each one has its own character and that’s where the gun modification system comes in place.

Every weapon has its own grid, and into that grid you place modules – weapon mods, ability mods, fire mode mods, melee mods. The modules aren’t isolated upgrades. They interact with each other, sitting next to one another on the grid to form combinations that are often more powerful than the sum of their parts. A mod that freezes enemies. Another that guarantees a critical hit against frozen targets. A proximity mine that deploys every time you slide. Some modules even expand the grid itself, unlocking more space. Stack the right things in the right place, and you’ve built something that carves through a room before your brain has caught up with what just happened.

On PlayStation 5, the developer is exploring how adaptive triggers and haptic feedback can bring each weapon’s identity into your hands – so the resistance and feedback of firing the Sniper Rifle feel distinct from the rapid pull of the SMG. Gyro aiming is also being looked at, giving players who want it an extra layer of precision for a more immersive feel.

That thinking extends to abilities, grenades, and the gravity tether too. All are being explored for how haptics could make each one feel distinct and satisfying to use.

Gameplay built with the community, not just for them

Daniel has remained firmly committed to the early access roadmap, working closely with the community and incorporating feedback to make Void/Breaker the best it can be ahead of its PlayStation 5 launch.

And the community has been a huge part of shaping where Void/Breaker is today – not in a vague, “thanks for the feedback” sense, but in ways you can point to directly in the game.

Wallrunning is the best example. Daniel experimented with it early in development, but decided against adding it. Players kept asking for it anyway. He listened, brought it back, and it’s now one of the features that gives the game’s movement the fluidity it’s known for.

Melee tells a similar story. It used to be a fallback for when in a tight spot. Now it’s a genuine playstyle. New melee-specific mods arrived alongside a rebalance that scales damage relative to enemy health, so it holds up deep into a run rather than falling off. It’s another area where the DualSense controller’s options are being looked at, in the hope of making melee combat in particular feel memorable and satisfying.

The story that grows 

Underneath all of this sits a narrative that gives the gameplay real meaning. You’re a prisoner, caught up by a malevolent AI entity whose goals aren’t clear, and your goal is to break free from an endless cycle. You’re not doing it alone, though. Early into the escape, you find an unexpected ally – a chip left behind by a former prisoner makes contact and starts offering support, guiding you through the zones as the story builds toward its conclusion.

Void/Breaker’s narrative leans heavily on Returnal as an influence, not just for its gameplay loop but for how it builds a story into a roguelite structure. It’s a big part of why the zones aren’t just combat arenas – they’re chapters in something larger.

Five zones have been completed so far, each with its own distinct theme and identity, and the plan is for Void/Breaker to launch on PS5 with six zones in total, with the final zone bringing the story to its conclusion.

Try it yourself

A PS5 demo is available right now, letting you explore Zone 1 and get a feel for the core of the game. It’s running without DualSense-specific features for the moment – the adaptive triggers, haptics, and gyro support we’ve talked about here are still being built, and they’ll be ready for the full launch.

Add Void/Breaker to your PS5 wishlist.

Upgraded PSSR comes to Doom: The Dark Ages on PS5 Pro

Upgraded PSSR comes to Doom: The Dark Ages on PS5 Pro https://ift.tt/KjWBLdP

Free Update 4 releases alongside Doom: The Dark Ages | Revelations on July 7, allowing all PlayStation 5 Pro players a new way to experience idTech8’s vision of medieval Hell with the advanced version of PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR). This upgraded version of PSSR, rolled out on PS5 Pro earlier this year, means players can jump straight into the cleanest image we can deliver on the platform.

The Doom Slayer moves fast, and that is exactly why image reconstruction matters. A still screenshot can show sharp armor edges, icy cliff faces, weapon silhouettes and distant demons, but the real test is what happens when the player is sprinting, turning, parrying, Shield-Sawing and filling the screen with particles. PSSR uses machine learning reconstruction to build a higher quality image from the frame idTech8 renders, using information such as motion, depth, exposure and sub-pixel sampling to keep the final picture sharper and more stable.

In practical terms, the image feels cleaner. Fine details that may shimmer with traditional temporal upscaling, such as snow patterns, broken stone, chains, spikes, sparks and thin geometry, hold together more consistently. The result is a sharper and cleaner image, even in motion.

The supplied image pairs are meant to be read less as a color-grading comparison and more as a clarity comparison. Look at the places where the scene has many small shapes competing for attention: cliff edges, weapon geometry, snow, sparks and distant enemies. PSSR’s value is that it keeps more of that information coherent from frame to frame, not just in a paused image.

PSSR gives idTech8 an enhanced reconstruction path for Doom: The Dark Ages | Revelations on PlayStation 5 Pro. The game is constantly pushing large combat spaces, dense effects, high octane combat, and a lot of fine surface detail, so stability matters as much as sharpness. With PSSR, idTech8 can preserve more of that detail in motion while maintaining the performance and gameplay feel players expect from DOOM.

idTech8 was built to scale across a wide range of hardware while keeping the things that make Doom feel like Doom. Responsive input, high framerate action, large battlefields, rich materials, dynamic physically based rendering (PBR) lighting and shadows, blistering particles, and a renderer that can react quickly to whatever the player does next. Adding PSSR to that pipeline lets us take advantage of the PlayStation 5 Pro’s dedicated machine learning reconstruction path while continuing to lean on idTech8’s dynamic resolution and temporal data.

It is extremely important because Doom: The Dark Ages is full of high frequency detail. The Slayer’s armor has scratches, grooves, and bright highlights. The world is packed with jagged silhouettes, layered architecture, cloth, metal, ice, fire and Sentinel technology. PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution helps preserve those details while reducing the visual noise that can appear when many thin elements overlap or move across the screen.

The difference is especially noticeable in wide combat arenas. Distant enemies and environmental edges stay easier to read, while surfaces keep more of their texture definition. In close-ups, characters and weapons look more resolved. During effects-heavy moments, bright particles and lighting remain less distracting because the underlying image is crisper. 

The best image reconstruction is the kind players don’t have to think about. With PSSR on PS5 Pro, idTech8 can push detailed environments, aggressive combat, and effects-heavy scenes while keeping the final image sharper, steadier and true to the speed of DOOM.

For players, the short version is simple: if you are playing DOOM: The Dark Ages on PlayStation 5 Pro, PSSR is designed to give you a sharper, more stable presentation of the same brutal idTech8 action. DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations is available July 7th on PlayStation 5, with PSSR support exclusive to PlayStation 5 Pro.

Grand Theft Auto VI plays best on PS5 November 19

Grand Theft Auto VI plays best on PS5 November 19 https://ift.tt/YebXW3r

Since Grand Theft Auto first arrived on the original PlayStation in 1997, the series has defined generations of play. We know players are excited for Grand Theft Auto VI, which heads to the state of Leonida — home to the neon-soaked streets of Vice City and beyond, in the biggest, most expansive evolution of the series yet.  

Thanks to the close partnership between Sony Interactive Entertainment and Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto VI will play best on PS5 by taking advantage of PS5’s immersive features to deliver a deeply engaging single-player experience when it launches on November 19. 

PS5 puts you in the center of the game world with the DualSense wireless controller reacting to your actions and bringing the sights, sounds, and sensations of Jason and Lucia’s story into the palm of your hands. The controller’s haptic feedback offers responsive vibrations, while its adaptive triggers provide dynamic resistance. The controller’s integrated speaker also adds another dimension to key moments and interactions, with sound effects from the controller enhanced by haptic feedback. 

With Tempest 3D AudioTech, you can surround yourself in the distinct soundscapes of Leonida. From the streets of Vice City to the moments that unfold all across the state, this highly accurate audio positioning enhances your perception, helping to bring this world to life around you in unmatched ways. Grand Theft Auto VI also leverages the PS5’s ultra-high speed SSD, enabling you to experience the expansive world of Leonida with near-instant load times.

Check out the official Grand Theft Auto VI cover art reveal:

Pre-order at PlayStation Store on June 25

Pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto VI begin June 25 at midnight local time at PlayStation Store, including the Grand Theft Auto VI: Ultimate Edition, which features an exclusive collection of premium vehicles, weapons, apparel, and action threaded across Jason and Lucia’s story.

Purchases made before November 20 will also include the Vintage Vice City Pack, a collection of items inspired by Vice City’s neon-soaked past. Players who pre-order any edition on PlayStation Store will also instantly receive a redeemable free month of GTA+.

For new players who are looking to jump in, it’s a great chance to also see why PS5 is the best place to play. Players can pick up a PS5 or PS5 Pro at direct.playstation.com (where available) and at local retailers. 

Grand Theft Auto VI marks an exciting new chapter for one of gaming’s most iconic series, and we’re proud to help bring the best experience to players on PS5. We can’t wait until the game arrives on November 19 and we look forward to celebrating its launch with Rockstar Games and our PlayStation community around the world. Visit here for more information on Grand Theft Auto VI on PS5.

Meet Yoshie: Revealing Denshattack!’s first boss battle

Meet Yoshie: Revealing Denshattack!’s first boss battle https://ift.tt/CTGFm4D

Hi everyone! On behalf of our studio Undercoders, and ahead of the game’s launch on July 15, we’re thrilled to give you an exclusive in-depth look at the first boss of Denshattack!

Denshattack! is a frenetic trick-based action game where you kickflip, ollie, and grind… as a train! Set in a colorful dystopian version of Japan, you must rack up points, complete objectives, and race rivals to become the best Denshattacker of all time.

We took inspiration from some of our favorite extreme-sports series, such as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and SSX, and combined them with the energy of classic arcade hits and the fascinating Y2K, colorful, cel-shaded aesthetics seen in games like Jet Set Radio or Auto Modellista.

Denshattack!’s world is built around outsiders

Denshattack! takes place in a future version of Japan where a climate catastrophe has left the rich untouchable inside their air-purifying domes, while everyone else is forced to survive in the undomed wastelands. A rebellious movement known as Denshattack has reclaimed the abandoned legacy railroad tracks, using them to fight for recognition in underground duels of speed, tricks, and technique.

Emi, a young but skilled ramen delivery girl, discovers Denshattack when she crosses paths with a journalist and sets off on an intense journey of discovery, growth, and challenge. From the southern lands of Kyushu to the freezing north of Hokkaido, she will need to make her way across Japan, crossing the ruins of the once-powerful railway network, meeting outcasts, learning new techniques, improving her skills, and battling local gang leaders.

Gang Bosses: an epic train showdown!

When designing the game, the team had a clear vision for the story arcs: just like in a classic shonen anime, each chapter had to end with a catharsis that felt impressive, creating a challenge to put all the newly learned mechanics to the test.

In Denshattack!, each of Japan’s regions is controlled by a gang of outlaws led by a powerful fighter. Each gang has its own visual identity, personality, fashion, and musical character, directly inspired by Japan’s suburban culture. These leaders each have their own motives, signature moves and secret techniques to provide the perfect base for a meaningful boss battle.

But how do you create a boss fight with trains? Going on rails may sound like a big limitation, but when your train can defy gravity to jump, wallride, trick, or grind, it can also dodge punches, parry projectiles, stomp on a shield, or launch itself against a mecha with a force of fifty tons!

Train-to-train (or train-to-giant-machine) combat turns out to be pretty interesting. And when combined with a cast of unique characters, local folklore, and Japan’s endless source of pop culture influences and aesthetics, it opens up a lot of opportunities to create original boss fights.

Kogals Unite! Meet Yoshie from the Dashing Queens

Yoshie is an influencer from Fukuoka whose popularity became so powerful that the government branded her a threat. In reality, they simply fear her influence. Her visual design and bubbly personality clearly embody gyaru, a Japanese subculture that challenges traditional Japanese beauty standards by centering glamour, volume, and confidence. You can see this in her hair, makeup, clothing, accessories, and, of course, her train.

But most of all, you can see it in her transformation sequence. Reminiscent of classic Sentai shows or anime such as Sailor Moon, Yoshie’s train joins forces with her soldiers and morphs into a huge magical girl-esque mecha. The gyaru elements extend here too, with bows, stars, and hearts galore.

Every boss fight follows a classic structure of different phases, where players need to identify patterns, avoid damage, and look for openings to perform counter-attacks. In this fight, Emi first uses tricks and combos to access the main battle, then performs quick rail changes to avoid the punches and uses grinds and ground pounds to deliver blows to the mecha. All these techniques are introduced throughout the first chapter and then put to the test during the fight.

The level’s music reflects Yoshie too: her battle theme is a collaboration between composer Sean Bialo, leading Vocaloid producer Yunosuke, and pop singer (and real-life gyaru idol) Alice Peralta.

Onto the next station!

Our publisher, Fireshine Games, loved the duel against Yoshie when we first presented it, but raised an interesting question: if this is the first boss fight and you’re already battling a giant mecha… where do we go from here? The only possible answer was: up and beyond!

Boss fights have been one of the most fun and interesting design challenges we’ve encountered while creating Denshattack!. We’ve been working hard to create set pieces that feel intense, challenging, original, surprising, and, above all, memorable.

We can’t wait for you to play them!

Denshattack! launches on PS5 on July 15.

Share of the Week: Saros

Share of the Week: Saros https://ift.tt/E2AQRnV

Last week, we sent you to Carcosa to try out the newly released Saros Photo Mode using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights:

MdeavorVP shares Arjun dashing to the side

thwippip shares Arjun atop a ruined landscape on Carcosa

dougsvest shares Arjun sending a red blast to an enemy 

 l2.focus shares Arjun standing in front of The Constant

y2que shares Arjun posed with his weapons

vp_louie shares an onslaught of blue enemy orbs

Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme, or be inspired by other great games featuring Photo Mode. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week?

THEME: Saros – Arjun Devraj
SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on June 24, 2026 

Next week, share portraits of Arjun as he explores the corrupted world of Saros. Use #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink – Endless Ragnarok hands-on report, demo available today

Granblue Fantasy: Relink – Endless Ragnarok hands-on report, demo available today https://ift.tt/ZcmO0V4

Set to touch down on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 on Thursday, July 9, Granblue Fantasy: Relink – Endless Ragnarok is a massive new expansion built to significantly evolve the high-flying action RPG that first captivated players in 2024.

At a recent press event, we had the chance to experience the new additions coming to Endless Ragnarok firsthand through an exclusive developer presentation and an early hands-on gameplay session.

For newcomer captains eager to take to the skies, a playable demo of the main Granblue Fantasy: Relink title is now available on PlayStation Store.

Dynamic character synergy power-up the evolved battle System

Endless Ragnarok injects a wealth of new content into the experience, introducing an all-new story arc, new playable characters, the game-changing Summon battle mechanic, a punishing new quest difficulty, the Master Trait progression tree, and a dedicated single-player endgame mode called the Conflux.

The expansion adds six fan-favorite faces to the playable roster: Gallanza, Maglielle, Beatrix, Eustace, Fraux, and Fediel. In addition to these allies, players will square off against formidable new skybound threats, including iconic bosses like Beelzebub and The World.

The new Summon system unleashes fresh tactical depth and spectacle

The crown jewel of Endless Ragnarok’s new mechanics is undoubtedly the Summon system. By equipping summons, earned as you progress through the narrative, you can call upon various characters during battle and take control of them. Because your character gains complete invincibility while a summon is active, this mechanic works beautifully not just as a devastating offensive push, but as a clutch counter against a boss’s most lethal attacks. With a diverse lineup of summons offering specialized roles in offense, crowd control, and support, your tactical options have never been broader.

The visual spectacle reaches a fever pitch with the introduction of Primal Burst. When your party performs a full chain of Skybound Arts under specific conditions, Lyria will unleash a powerful follow-up attack through a summon.

Battles heat up under the punishing new Chaos difficulty

For our hands-on session, we booted up a save file positioned right at the opening act of the Endless Ragnarok storyline. The moment the curtain rises on this new chapter, the quest counter unlocks its highest, most unforgiving difficulty rank: Chaos. In a terrifying show of force, even the very first quest—which functions as a tutorial for the expansion’s mechanics—plunges you straight into Chaos-level danger. Quests in this tier feature merciless new adversaries, like the apocalyptic beasts ragnalia, and bosses will aggressively utilize a terrifying, unique ability known as EX Burst.

When a boss enemy’s body radiates a distinct purple aura, it is your cue that an EX Burst is imminent. Facing these catastrophic attacks for the first time brings an incredible amount of tension. However, reading the telegraphs, discovering the counter-strategies, and perfectly timing your dodge windows to turn a crisis into an opening is exactly where Relink’s combat system shines. Veterans who have completely mastered the original game and crave high-stakes encounters will absolutely live for this thrill.

Conquer the Sky Realm by mastering your Summons

During our demo run, we had the opportunity to take the primal beasts Furycane and Managarmr out for a spin.

While Furycane requires a massive chunk of the summon gauge to activate, its rapid-fire slashes and tracking tornado combos are devastatingly potent. Closing the gap with a rushing strike before immediately transitioning into a flawless, high-damage combo feels incredibly smooth, and its massive scale on the screen delivers the pure, larger-than-life thrill of a premier summon battle.

Managarmr, by contrast, moves with a heavier, more deliberate pace, but it proves immensely dependable by automatically burying the field in a ferocious blizzard just as its summon duration expires. Because this attack inflicts the Glaciate status effect, it freezes enemies dead in their tracks, giving you a perfect window for crowd control. It is a fantastic example of how summons can be used for deep, defensive strategy rather than just raw firepower.

Crucially, equipping summons does more than just let you call for backup; they also bestow a variety of passive traits and skill effects upon your captain. Once players begin amassing a vast collection of these summons later in the game, theorycrafting the ultimate combination of passive stats and active summon timings is bound to become an absolute obsession. Plus, those precious invincibility frames during a summon act as a vital lifeline when your back is against the wall.

Hands-on impressions of the brand-new roster

We also took the time to test out two of the highly anticipated new playable characters: Gallanza and Beatrix. Gallanza is a textbook powerhouse who commands the field with a massive spear-axe. While his animations swing on the heavier side, his raw attack radius is exceptionally wide, making it immensely satisfying to shatter enemy defenses with a rhythmic succession of heavy-hitting strikes.

Beatrix, on the other hand, is a highly technical fighter who forces you to actively cycle through shifting offensive, defensive, and recovery self-buffs mid-combat. While she demands constant situational awareness and fast decision-making from the player, her potential to dynamically adapt to any role in a party makes her an incredibly rewarding character to master.

The solo-exclusive ultimate endgame: the Conflux

We closed out our session with the Conflux, a brand-new piece of content tailored specifically for solo play. In this mode, players fight their way through sequential zones, checking off specialized objectives mapped to each area. Upon successfully clearing a zone’s objective, you are prompted to choose one of three temporary perks that remain active strictly for the remainder of that specific run. The gameplay loop centers on methodically conquering rooms, stacking powerful buffs, and testing your limits as you plunge deeper into the abyss.

According to the development team, the Conflux was designed for players who prefer to avoid multiplayer matchmaking, allowing them to efficiently earn rare materials and high-tier equipment solo. The objectives that appear and the perks offered change randomly with every run, creating a highly replayable loop. Combining rogue-lite randomness with single-player-focused progression feels like a promising and fresh way to experience the game.

Our brief journey with this expansion left us deeply impressed by its newfound mechanical depth—from the tactical layers introduced by the Summon system to the addictive loop of the Conflux.