Plus our highlights from the Xbox Games Showcase and SAG-AFTRA secures an agreement to protect performer's rights.
Pocket Casts: You can now rate the show on Pocket Casts, give us a five star review learn more by heading here https://pocketcasts.com/ratings
Apple Arcade: Enjoy unlimited access to over 200 incredibly fun games with no ads and no in-app purchases. From puzzle and adventure games to sports, racing, and multiplayer action games, everyone can count on finding something to love. Head to sifter.com.au/arcade to start your free trial* of Apple Arcade today and you'll be supporting independent video games journalism. *New subscribers only. AU$9.99/month after free trial. Plan automatically renews after trial until cancelled.
You can support SIFTER's independent gaming journalism by
☕ Tipping us on KoFi https://www.ko-fi.com/sifterHQ
👕 Wearing our merch https://sifter.store/
💬 Talking to us on the SIFTER Discord https://www.sifter.com.au/discord
SIFTER is produced by Kyle Pauletto, Fiona Bartholomaeus, Courtney Smith, Adam Christou and Chris Button. Cat Jahne is Social Producer, Mitch Loh is Senior Producer and Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Audio Technica Australia and Apple for their support of SIFTER.
KYLE: Hi I’m Kyle Pauletto
Welcome to Walkthrough, SIFTER’s weekly recap on the biggest news in video games.
Just me this week, while Fiona takes a well deserved break.
This week the announcements continue with Xbox Games Showcase, SAG-AFTRA gets some wins for artists, PC gamers are loving Stellar Blade, plus we bring you all the releases coming this week.
Here is the news for Sunday 15th of June. Let’s go!
—
PROMO: Join the SIFTER community on Discord at sifter.com.au/discord
—
KYLE: After a big week of announcements last week Xbox decided to get in on the fun this week with a bunch of reveals at the Xbox Games Showcase.
A remake of Persona 4 titled Revival was shown off in a new teaser trailer. You can wishlist it now, and it’ll be available day one on Game Pass, but they didn’t actually announce when that would be, which is a bold choice.
Game Freak has made a non-Pokemon game for the first time in a while titled Beast of Reincarnation. A third person action game set in post-apocalyptic Japan. That’s out next year.
The ROG Xbox Ally was unveiled and while I’m still not sure about the bulging grips, it does look like a solid handheld. They also snuck some new Silksong footage in there which is just such a tease.
Also teased was the futuristic next Call of Duty entry, Black Ops 7. It was mostly just cinematics but a full reveal is coming later in the year.
I’m loving the look of the latest Super Meat Boy as it enters the third dimension. Looks like a lot of fun and it’ll be out early next year.
And while I’m not a fighting game guy, the new Invincible VS trailer has me considering becoming one. That one’s out sometime next year.
The Final Fantasy VII Remake is finally coming to Xbox later in the year.
There’s a brand new Pokemon-like titled Aniimo which looks super cute and must have Nintendo lawyers salivating. That’s out in 2026.
And one of last year's big hits Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is getting some DLC. Order of the Giants will be available on September 4.
We couldn’t touch on everything, so to check out the entire list of announcements visit the link in our show notes.
—
KYLE: Some moves in the right direction this week, with entertainment union SAG-AFTRA and the major video game companies including EA, Activision, Epic, and WB Games reaching a tentative agreement.
The deal still needs to be reviewed by the union’s National Board and wider membership, but union leaders are calling it a major win.
Although most of the finer details haven’t been released, we know AI in voice acting and motion capture performances are among the hot topics.
Negotiators say a strike suspension agreement is expected soon, but until that’s in place, union members remain officially on strike.
We’ll link SAG-AFTRA’s full statement in the show notes.
—
KYLE: We PC gamers have been treated to a lot of major PlayStation releases lately, with Spider-Man, The Last of Us, and God of War all breaking free of PS exclusivity.
But surprisingly, it’s the latest release, Stellar Blade, that has managed to explode in popularity, outperforming all the other PS releases in under 24 hours.
In terms of concurrent players anyway.
According to The Gamer, just seven hours after it was released for PC close to 100 thousand gamers were playing, and that number sustained for hours.
It helps that, unlike some other PC ports, Stellar Blade is reportedly running impeccably from the get go.
Turns out you put out a solid product that just works when you press play is the recipe for success.
Or maybe it’s the …how did Gianni describe it last week…all the “hot girls fighting flesh monsters”
I guess we’ll never know.
–
KYLE: That’s it for the headlines, here are the games coming out this week.
Out Monday is a treat for the retro fans, with the GEX Trilogy coming to all platforms on the 16th.
Out on the 17th is a brand new first person co-op shooter, FBC Firebreak. It’s a spin off of Remedy’s Control, set in the same universe but with a less serious tone. That’s out on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S and X this Tuesday.
Next up we have TRON: Catalyst, a super slick looking isometric action adventure set in the original TRON storyline. Out on all platforms on the 17th.
Out on the 18th is Battle Train. It’s a self described run-based roguelite deck-n-track builder set inside a game show. These deck builders are getting super creative, so if you’re a fan of the genre be sure to check out Battle Train on PC or Switch this Wednesday.
Bring on the fast paced football fun with Rematch, a new online arcade soccer title by Sloclap, the studio behind Sifu. It’s like rocket league except people soccer..instead of car soccer. It looks super fun, so be sure to check it out on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S and X this Thursday.
And finally out Thursday is Star Overdrive. It’s a high speed open world adventure that has you flying around an alien world on a hoverboard. Out on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S and X, and Switch on the 19th.
–
KYLE: This has been Walkthrough by SIFTER, my name is Kyle Pauletto, thank you so much for listening.
SIFTER is produced by myself, Fiona Bartholomaeus, Cat Jahne, Adam Christou, Courtney Smith and Chris Button. Mitch Loh is Senior Producer and video editor, and Gianni Di Giovanni is SIFTER’s Executive Producer, and script editor.
Thanks to Brian Fairbanks from Salty Dog Sounds for composing the Walkthrough theme tune, and Audio Technica Australia and Apple for their support of SIFTER’s podcasts.
We’ll be back with more news next Sunday, see you then
