Portal's Month in Games - April 2024

Month in Games is back! Here’s our look at some of the biggest stories, events and talking points that hit the games industry this April. Get yourself a coffee and a biscuit (go on, you deserve it) and let’s get started.

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Slay the Spire 2 announced during new indie showcase

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Slay the Spire 2 was the headline announcement during the Triple-I Initiative, a new indie-focused showcase event. The original Slay the Spire was a huge hit, selling over a million copies in its first year. The deckbuilding sequel will go into early access in 2025.

‍Elsewhere, Evil Empire, best known for its work on Dead Cells, revealed The Rogue Prince of Persia. RPoP, as we’ve just christened it, is a collaboration between Evil Empire and Ubisoft and will hit early access on 14 May.

‍Other highlights from the online indie event include Vampire Survivors heading to PlayStation and new game modes for Darkest Dungeon II and Palworld.

‍Triple-I Initiative was a breath of fresh air compared with other virtual showcases. There was no waffle, just games, with over 30 different titles featured. We’ve embedded the full event below because we love you and want you to be happy.

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GAME over?

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There was more bad news for UK games retailer GAME in April, with staff told to expect redundancies imminently. Most remaining employees will be moved to zero-hours contracts, a decision that was relayed to them via a scripted video call.

The announcement of layoffs follows news in January that the retailer would be halting sales of pre-owned games.

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Xbox exec doubles down on 'biggest technical leap ever' comment for next-gen console

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Xbox president Sarah Bond has reconfirmed the platform holder’s ambition to build new hardware that will see the ‘biggest technical leap ever’. Bond’s comments came in an email to staff as reported by Windows Central. The Xbox exec delivered a virtually identical message during an Official Xbox Podcast episode in February.

‍Bond’s email also revealed the creation of a new team within Xbox dedicated to game preservation. In the digital age, the issue of games becoming unplayable, particularly those requiring an always-on internet connection, is set to grow. 

‍Bond commented, ‘We are building on our strong history of delivering backwards compatibility to our players, and we remain committed to bringing forward the amazing library of Xbox games for future generations of players to enjoy.’

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Fallout TV show brings players flocking back to the franchise

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The roaring success of the Fallout TV show (already renewed for a second season) has significantly increased the number of people playing Bethesda’s apocalyptic games.

‍Fallout 4 enjoyed the biggest bump, jumping from five-figure concurrent players on Steam to over 185,000 on 28 April. Fallout 76 broke its concurrent player record six years after its launch, and even the relatively ancient Fallout 3 saw a 428 per cent increase in its average player numbers.

This, coupled with the phenomenally successful The Last of Us, means we can all look forward to further TV adaptations of our favourite games very soon. It’s even possible that they won’t all be about the end of the world.

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SteamWorld Heist 2 announced

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Our pals at Thunderful caused a splash when they announced SteamWorld Heist 2 during Nintendo’s recent Indie World Showcase. The original critically acclaimed game was released all the way back in 2015, and fans have been clamouring for a sequel.

The IGN team spoke to Thunderful following the announcement; have a read here. Heist 2 will hit PC and all consoles on 8 August.

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Life by You confirmed for Early Access release in June

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Life by You, the life sim developed and published by our friends at Paradox, has had its Early Release confirmed for 4 June. The Sims rival will be available on both Steam and the Epic Games Store, and fans are promised ‘one of the most open world and moddable life-simulation games.’

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Portal nominated for MCV/DEVELOP award

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Did we mention that we’ve been nominated for an award? Yes, we’ve been shortlisted in the ‘Creative Partner of the Year’ category at the MCV/DEVELOP Awards. 

It’s the first award nomination of our short lifetime, and we’re completely bowled over. Literally, in Elouise’s case. Voting is underway, so if you like what we do, please consider slinging us your vote here.

The awards take place this June. Wish us luck!

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Out this month

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April was fairly low profile in terms of traditional releases, but we were treated to a new indie smash.

‍Manor Lords was released on Early Access on the 26th, taking the PC gaming world by storm. The medieval city builder racked up one million sales in its first 24 hours and reached a peak of over 170,000 concurrent players. According to the game’s publisher, Hooded Horse, that’s the ‘highest player peak ever reached by any city building game on Steam.’

Hooded Horse CEO Tim Bender also pointed out that Manor Lords' concurrent players' stat breaks records for related genres, including ‘grand strategy games, colony sims, 4x games and turn-based tactical games.’

It’s incredibly impressive, especially considering that Manor Lords is the work of a one-person team: Greg Styczeń. Oh, and it’s his first game. Blimey.

Elsewhere, April also saw the release of TopSpin 2K25. It’s been 13 years since 2K’s last tennis game, Top Spin 4, and tennis games in general seem scarce these days—RIP Virtua Tennis, the GOAT. 

Development of this latest ball whacker has fallen to Hangar 13, a studio best known for its work on the Mafia series. Reviews have been solid enough, with critics praising its dedication to simulating the sport while also highlighting drawbacks like uneven difficulty and lack of options in game modes.

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Signing off

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And that’s that for this month. You can look forward to May’s MiG this time next month. While you wait, why not join us over on X, Instagram or LinkedIn and let us know what floated your gaming boat this April. Ciao for now.