Ille Smolanko - Former TweakTown Contributor

This author is no longer actively contributing to TweakTown. Articles published during their time with us are listed below.

May 2025
Star Wars Battlefront 2 has officially broken its all-time peak player record
Epic Games faces union complaint due to Fortnite's AI-powered Darth Vader
Baldurs Gate 3 had a 'cartoony' artstyle before shifting gears 'at least twice'
Borderlands games are being review bombed due to EULA, privacy concerns
Dune: Awakening beta confirms 107,959 players were eaten by Sandworms
Gamespot will have additional Switch 2 stock for those who didn't pre-order
Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile is being shut down, dev says 'it has not met our expectations'
God of War's 'fiercest villain' is Zeus, according to 20th anniversary voters
Kingdom Hearts IV screenshots revealed: the Quadratum, playable Mickey Mouse
Cyberpunk 2077's multiplayer mod, CyberMP, receives a major update
Spotify's AI DJ adds voice features - you can now request songs, moods, playlists
Splinter Cell: Conviction storyboards emerge, calling back to game's original 2007 vision
Fallout Season 2 trailer leaks, showcasing New Vegas in all its glory
Rockstar leaker says GTA IV port could drop 'later this year', with Max Payne 3 to follow
Tony Hawk 'has aspirations' for an Underground Remaster, but it's up to Activision
Fallout TV star says the series has a 'season five, season six type of endpoint'
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 sees a brief resurgance, with most players since 2021
Ori studio says it 'might not be around' in a few months due to review-bombing
Kingdom Come II gets a packed May 15 update - first major DLC, horse-racing & more
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is on sale for the first time, prior to upcoming DLC launch
Helldivers 2 takes on a regal theme with 'Masters of Ceremony', arriving May 15
Star Wars: The Old Republic 'Dynamic Worlds' is arriving in late May / early June
Dune: Awakening beta opened to include all players with pre-orders
Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones confirmed for May 15 launch
Sony WH-1000XM6 leak: QN3HD chip, AI microphone, and they're foldable again
Dune: Awakening's large-scale beta begins this weekend, May 9-12
The Outer Wilds devs confirm a new game via patch notes: 'our new game is our priority'
Reports of A24 'Elden Ring' film taken down, but an insider claims its true
Viral footage of downed fighter jet turns out to be gameplay taken from ARMA 3
Desktop Survivors 98: the 2D roguelite dungeon crawler set in an old Windows desktop
Nintendo is officially a $100 billion company
AC Shadows Update 1.0.4 is arriving today - free story DLC, codex additions & more
Halo Infinite's next content drop is Halo 3 themed: side-by-side comparisons
Ghost of Yōtei tops PS pre-order charts in over a dozen regions
Oblivion Remastered's 'Ghosts of Tamriel' lets you leave Dark Souls-style messages in-game
Halo Infinite's 'Operation: Last Stand' launches May 6
The Wolf Among Brooklyn: 1930's noir meets action-stealth in 'The Shadow Syndicate'
Devolver Digital is not afraid of GTA 6: next indie title to release same time, same day
DOOM: The Dark Ages reviews drop May 9, signaling early confidence from Bethesda
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 actor campaigns for GOTY, amidst GTA 6 delays
Star Wars: Grand Collection launches on Switch, PS5 - but PS draws the short straw
Google begins its deployment of ads in AI chatbot conversations
Ubisoft Brazil hints at Switch 2 ports, including three yet-to-be confirmed titles
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind receives a new Tamriel Rebuilt expansion: 'Grasping Fortune'
Baldur's Gate 3 dev forms new narrative unit as it ramps up two major RPG projects
Spider-Man 2 PC players can relive the Raimi era - from 'pizza time' to Bully Maguire
The Outer Worlds 2 aims to capture the feeling of 'getting bullied' by deathclaws in New Vegas
Microsoft continues its push towards a 'passwordless' future, with new account initiative
Max Payne 1-2 remakes, Control 2 are 'advancing at improving speeds', per Q3 earnings
Game of Thrones: Kingsroad launches free-to-play on PC and mobile May 21
April 2025
Ubisoft set to headline the PC Gaming Show, arriving June 8
Sifu developers' take on Rocket League, Rematch, peaks at 133,000 players in open beta
Japan's PS5 console rental services are a hit, with 200+ stores at full capacity
Horizon 'knockoff' Light of Motiram receives a new gameplay trailer
Marvel Rivals' early UI featured a darker, grittier art style
Star Wars: Zero Company is set for a full reveal, coming April 19
Man attempts to use AI avatar in court, is immediately 'chewed out' by judges
Battlefield 6 leaks confirm EA is trying its luck at Battle Royale again
Marvel Rivals is getting a hero per month & shorter seasons: 'The adventure is just beginning'
Schedule I hits 459K peak players, the most by a solo developer in Steam history
March 2025
Instagram introduces 2x speed reels, to assist with halving the attention span
Ex-GTA lead's MindsEye gets a release date, free deluxe pass, and a bustling new trailer
InZOI team patches bug that allowed players to run over and kill kids
Schedule I leaps past Marvel Rivals, continuing its breakthrough run
Marvel Rivals is fixing RAM consumption in season 2, devs say 'it's a very big problem'
InZOI developers scrap Denuvo, expressing regret to the players: 'We sincerely apologise'
Dell shed 25,000 employees over two years, AI and RTO among key factors
Three professions are safe from AI, according to Bill Gates
'Schedule I' is the #1 seller on Steam, blowing past AC Shadows
Valve invented the 'Game of the Year Edition' marketing strategy, former exec reveals
Gaming's most unhinged FPS franchise is making a VR comeback
Monster Hunter Wilds update arrivals April 4 - Mizutsune, challenge quests, hub features & more
Figure's robots now walk a little less like C-3PO, thanks to reinforcement learning
Napster acquired for new VR music platform - virtual events, 3D spaces, and creator tools
Xbox begins testing 'Game Hubs', which adds new dashboards for every game
Skyblivion has moved onto post-launch DLC plans, with cities almost entirely finished
Assassin's Creed Shadows will be receiving even more visual upgrades on the PS5 Pro
Assassin's Creed Shadows star's first mocap earned a standing ovation from the dev team
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's stripped-back UI puts immersion first
CD Projekt Red has 'high ambitions' beyond games, including possible Witcher or Cyberpunk films
WB Games' Nemesis System was designed to 'keep disks in libraries' and curb second-hand resales
EU launches crackdown on pricing tricks in games like Fortnite and Call of Duty
GTA 6 being delayed could 'tank companies', and studios are avoiding it like the plague
Razer's 'Project Ava' joins the AI copilot race, but the tech still has a lot to prove
ChatGPT use could be quietly cutting into your social life, MIT research finds
Assassins Creed Shadows team says it 'went the extra mile' for the PS5 Pro - and it paid off
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II will be receiving VR support, thanks to a well-known modder
Samsung's April update brings S25 features, new UI and more to older phones
'Plants vs. Zombies Reloaded' rated in Brazil, hinting at an upcoming remaster
ARK: Survival Evolved DLC trailer delisted after backlash over AI-generated content
Marvel was planning an 'MGU' after the release of Web of Shadows and Ultimate Alliance 2
Bethesda and Xbox take sides in a debate older than Fallout itself
Stars Reach is an ambitious new MMORPG hoping to fill a 20-year-old void
Splinter Cell's focus on going back to its roots could be a huge win for Ubisoft
Andrew Ng pushes back on AI job fears: 'This is the best time yet to learn to code'
Counter-Strike 1.6 Remake set to launch in 2025 - at least, for now
Runescape is still coming to Unreal Engine 5, 'Dragonwilds' title filed by Jagex
76ers' General Manager under scrutiny for using AI for basketball decisions
Vibe coding: what is it, and how it's affecting software and gaming
Todd Howard has been waiting since Fallout 4 to do a surprise launch
PlayStation Portal's latest update adds over 50 classics to its cloud gaming library
Ex-Facebook director says Zuckerberg used to forget his passport and 'blame everyone else'
Cloud Gaming is Xbox's 'fastest growing' platform - and new devices are on the way
Tesla has lost 49% of its market value in just 3 months
How AI is reshaping archaeology - from 5,000 year old civilizations in Dubai to Mongolia
Nintendo's former leads don't think Pokemon Z-A looks too great either
Palworld's crossplay update arrives in March - multiplayer across Steam, Xbox, PS5, and Mac
Intel stocks surge as Lip-Bu Tan is appointed CEO
Oblivion remake rumored for a 'sooner than June' release date
Apple and Google might face new rules as UK finds they are 'holding back innovation'
Days Gone Remastered follows Sony's trend of strange upgrade policies
Huawei goes all-in with its first AI laptop built entirely in-house
Pocket Casts claps back against Spotify with its free web player: 'we're making a statement'
Take-Two accuses GTA online account sellers of stealing 'millions in revenue'
Hitman Trilogy arrives on PSVR2 March 27 - with less jank, dual wielding, and more
The Last of Us challenged the views of Nintendo's Miyamoto and God of War's Jaffe
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet takes on religion & loneliness in an alt-80's future
Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 offers full feature parity - except for cross-progression
Fake playtest invites are targeting Steam users again in latest phishing scam
Steve Wozniak was an early Tesla fan - now he calls its design a 'miserable' experience.
Paramount skips voice actors, opting for shockingly bad AI slop in 'Novocaine' film promo
Kingmakers enemies are medieval but not dumb - they'll recognise, react and 'counter-balance'
Doom: The Dark Ages won't end like Rogue One: 'I mean, that would end the medieval chapter'
Leaked concept art showcases the batcycle from scrapped Damien Wayne Batman game
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II update arrives March 13 - mod support, barber mode & more
Trump's tariffs likely the nail in the coffin for physical games, experts say
McDonald's claims 43,000 restaurant AI overhaul is to 'alleviate stress' for employees
AI-powered Maserati speeds faster than a bullet train, in new self-driving world record
The Witcher 4 draws inspiration from A24 films like The Witch and The Lighthouse
Battlefield 6 footage immediately surfaces online in widespread leaks
Death Stranding 2 pre-orders 'are about to open' - physical edition details leaked
Battlefield Labs shares details on gunplay, movement and new traversal features
Star Wars Genesis 7.2 is Starfield's biggest conversion mod yet
Medal of Honor devs reflect on the glory days: 'We were a bunch of immature f***s'
Hideo Kojima, Norman Reedus & Troy Baker set to reveal details on Death Stranding 2
Titanfall developers cancel another shooter, Star Wars RTS project remains uncertain
God of War creator defends Starfield: 'One of the best singleplayer narratives in gaming'
NVIDIA's market value tanks again, with $200 billion wiped amid tariff fears
MCU directors team up with Fortnite's creator: 'We'd definitely be open' to an Avengers game
Sony opens PlayStation Beta Program, offering early access to games and updates
You can now play GTA 5 on PC with next-gen visuals - at no additional cost
February 2025
CD Projekt Red expands on choosing Ciri: 'She's the hero. She's the child of destiny'
OpenAI says it's 'out of GPUs' as supply struggles continue across AI and gaming
Amazon's Kindle restrictions deal another blow to digital ownership
PSVR2 might be worth a flier for gamers who own a PS5 and a PC
Forza Horizon 5 PS5 confirms April release, alongside Horizon Realms and graphics options
PC gamers opting for more genre diversity and complexity, Circana data shows
Perplexity opens waitlist for 'Comet', the new AI browser that aims to dethrone Chrome
CD Projekt Red may have changed Ciri's face in the latest Witcher 4 reveal
DLSS 4 support is set to grow, following NVIDIA's latest developer release
Valve leaker claims 'Deckard' standalone VR headset launching in late 2025
AI filmmaker recreates the Titanic's final moments in uncanny POV footage
Ex-Bethesda Developer on Todd Howard: 'He became less involved over time'
'Lost Records' takes gamers on a unique trip to the 1990s & coronavirus era
Ghost of Tsushima producer on Insomniac Games: 'We were almost too intimidated to talk to them'
Netflix under fire for 'weird as hell' AI recreation of murder victim's voice
Google's AI search harms students with 'low-quality, unverified' summaries, Chegg claims
Activision admits to AI-generated assets in Call of Duty, in forced disclaimer
DOOM: The Dark Ages shakes up the formula - no double jump, medieval weapons, and more
Leaked Xbox controllers 'Sebile' and 'Actium Duet' resurface in cloud gaming files
Assassin's Creed Shadows copies are out in the wild, a month before launch
Spider-Man 3: Yuri Lowenthal hints at Peter Parker's role in the third game
Call of Duty's 'Bullet Train' map feels straight out of the 2022 Brad Pitt film
Figure AI just took a step toward smarter robots - starting with ketchup in the fridge.
NEO Gamma provides a glimpse at life with a humanoid robot assistant
Skyblivion, the fan remake of Oblivion in Skyrim's engine, nears completion
NVIDIA's RTX 50 series slows down classic games after dropping PhysX support
Spider-Man 2 PC players really don't like MJ's face, modders show
NVIDIA stocks have almost fully recovered, 1 month after DeepSeek panic sales
Musk's Grok-3 is 'unhinged'... and that might bring back AI's lost creativity
Star Wars Battlefront 2 modders have built the Star Wars game of our dreams
GTA-6 inspired 'mystery project' shuts down the streets of Tampa
Meta's breakthrough: AI can successfully read 80% of thoughts, & understand how they emerge
TikTok's parent unveils AI that generates viral videos from text
Days Gone Remastered leaves fans wondering - where's the upgrade?
Marvel Rivals players catch a subtle joke in Captain America's latest MCU skin
Google's former chief warns AI could lead to a 'Bin Laden' style attack
Scientists 'racing' to create the first AI for animal-to-human translation
Until Dawn meets 'The Thing' in the latest State of Play reveal trailer
GTA 5's ex-lead just revealed a new game - fans are calling it 'GTA 2077'
Sam Altman backpedals on release of o3, shortly after de-hyping 'superintelligence' claims
NVIDIA's Jensen Huang 'No AI can replace 100% of a job, but many can replace 80% of what we do'
Widespread VPN attack: 2.8 million IPs involved in brute-force campaign
'Hapunan' - why this Filipino horror game about selling duck eggs is going viral
Trump refuses to sign global AI declaration, calls for 'optimism over fear'
PlayStation's State of Play is set for Feb 12, major reveals expected
Back to the Future might be the next franchise to receive the 'Indiana Jones treatment'
NVIDIA's Jensen Huang is 'spitting bars' in recent AI video showcase
Andrew Ng released 'Agentic Object Detection' last week - here's why it's making waves
Microsoft's latest study confirms it: AI is making us dumber
Trump administration's stance heading into Paris AI summit: 'America first'
Valve issues platform-wide ban for any games that force advertising
US startup reports 'major breakthrough' in robot intelligence
Perplexity update outperforms ChatGPT's paid plan (and it's free)
NVIDIA's new AI model trains robots to move like LeBron and Ronaldo
Samsung's new display is basically a Kindle - but 75 inches and in full color
Global hardware scam: 'brand new' Seagate hard drives exposed as used mining equipment
Google plans to make search even more AI-driven in 2025
China's humanoid robots slated for mass production by end of 2025
China's AI expansion continues, DeepSeek now in PCs, Robotics, EVs and more
AI agents are evolving beyond tools into full-fledged 'coworkers'
Apple stays cautious on AI as DeepSeek's budget model shakes up the industry
Gemini vs. ChatGPT: AI takes center stage at the Super Bowl
ChatGPT makes previously paid feature available to everyone - no login required
US researchers built a DeepSeek competitor for less than a tank of gas - and it's actually good
Harrison Ford shares his thoughts on AI in video games & voice acting
Google releases Gemini 2.0 models: 'We kicked off the agentic era'
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra reviews criticise 'hit-or-miss' AI features
Steam's quiet update holds early access developers accountable
Paris AI summit next week will be the test for US, China cooperation
AMD downplays DeepSeek threat: '[Innovation is] good for AI adoption'
Opera's new browser helps you focus, stretch and eliminate stress
Australian government bans DeepSeek due to national security risks
Bill Gates weighs in on the AI Revolution - 'Intelligence will be completely free'
OpenAI's second AI agent has been officially released
AI Agents like OpenAI's 'Operator' have a long way to go before replacing humans
New report reveals AI adoption gap: only 8% of businesses fully implement it
The Last of Us style 'zombie-fungus' has now been confirmed in another species
Microsoft Edge's new update takes on the scam that inspired 'The Beekeeper'
Google Sheets receives a Gemini-powered refresh