SharpEmu, an experimental PS5 emulator, now lists eight games as playable at 60 FPS. Developer Scarecrow (@CursedIfElse) said on X that 12 of 55 tested games can reach gameplay and six of those run at 60 FPS, but ever since their tweet, the compatibility page has been updated. The post came with v0.0.4-release.2, released September 25, but now the number has risen from 12 to 17, with eight being listed as "playable." The eight are Quake, DOOM + DOOM II, Castlevania Dominus Collection, Dead Cells, Dreaming Sarah, Void Terrarium, New Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja, and Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered. According to the developer, none of these titles have been tested from start to finish, and minor graphical or audio issues may remain. It looks like most are small indie or retro-style games, with Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered the biggest name.

While the progress is certainly commendable, SharpEmu appears to be far from running demanding 3D titles, and eight games is a small slice of a PS5 library of more than 9,000. Another PS5 emulator, KytyPS5, has shown more progress on heavier 3D games. It ran the PS5 version of GTA 5 at up to 60 FPS on a Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Radeon RX 7900 XT, however, it only held that for a few minutes before crashing. It also got Astro's Playroom into gameplay, and showed rapid progress in Demon's Souls Remake. SharpEmu says it prioritizes accuracy and infrastructure over game-specific compatibility, while KytyPS5 says it targets wider compatibility and boot reliability. That could partly explain the gap in progress, but things could certainly change quickly. Nonetheless, it's certainly nice to see great progress in the emulator space in such a short time.

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, the latest game in the Castlevania series was revealed as a 2026 game release currently in development as a collaborative project between Konami, Evil Empire, and Motion Twin—the latter two being behind The Rogue Prince of Persia and Dead Cells, respectively. Belmont's Curse is a 2D action-adventure game that follows Trevor Belmont's successor through 1499 Paris as she wields the classic holy whip for both combat and traversal through the looming castle and eerie Parisian streets. Based on the Steam Store page, Belmont's Curse will feature fast-paced combat, a variety of weapons and abilities to wield and develop, challenging environmental puzzles, and plenty of enemies to keep things fresh.

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse will see the return of a number of classic Castlevania tropes and mechanics, like secret chambers, buried items, and challenging boss battles, but the game also switches things up with colorful twist on the series's gothic art style, seemingly blending some of the Dead Cells aesthetic with that of the famous vampire-killing franchise. Belmont's Curse doesn't have a fixed release date just yet, but it is slated to launch in 2026 for PC via Steam, the PlayStation 5, and the Xbox Series consoles via the Microsoft Store.

Dead Cells has been one of the most talked-about indie games in the seven years since its launch, with fans clamoring for a sequel that seems to never be coming—despite plenty of other content having recently been added to the game. In a recent interview with PCGamesN, Motion Twin, the developer behind the smash-hit roguelite, has addressed the demand for a sequel to Dead Cells. The co-creative director and game designer at Motion Twin, Yannick Berthier, explained that Motion Twin is "a collective of individuals that are creative and want to create stuff," and that the company's unorthodox structure allows it to follow creativity instead of pursuing profits.

Berthier went on to say that part of the reason Motion Twin made Windblown instead of Dead Cells 2 is that the team wanted to create something in "a new universe, super bright, that could be co-op." He also supposed that the company's indie nature allows it to continue exploring things that the creative team want instead of appealing to shareholders or the internal pressures of a parent company. Windblown launched nearly a year ago, on October 24, and although it's still in Early Access on Steam, it's still notable that it has not yet surpassed Dead Cells when it comes to player counts, at least according to SteamDB. Despite this and the continued pressure from fans for the sequel to the beloved roguelite, Berthier says that Motion Twin doesn't regret pursuing Windblown instead of Dead Cells 2, going on to say that the eight-person, employee-owned studio "followed its heart." Windblown has changed greatly since its launch, with frequent updates mostly based on player feedback, but it still seems to be fighting a bit of an uphill battle to be able to compete with its predecessor. Currently, Windblown is only available in Early Access on Steam, and a full 1.0 launch date has not yet been announced.

Windblown has not even been out in Steam Early Access for a week, and already community feedback is changing the new roguelike. According to an announcement on Steam, Motion Twin will be changing a game mechanic thanks to an overwhelming amount of feedback from the community. The feature in question is Sudden Death, which is somewhat similar to the old Borderlands mechanic, in the sense that it puts players into a downed state when they lose all their health in co-op mode. Except, in Windblown, it's up to the downed player's teammates to revive them by defeating 10 enemies. While Sudden Death isn't usually an issue in standard missions, it becomes problematic during boss fights, when there is only one enemy to defeat. Obviously, this makes it difficult for the remaining players to complete the mission and resuscitate their fallen compatriots.

Fortunately, Motion Twin confirmed in a recent Steam Store news post that it plans to address the difficulty introduced by the feature, although it's not clear that the planned fix will actually solve the problem for everyone who has complaints about it. Motion Twin says it will not remove Sudden Death from Windblown, instead opting to tweak it, admitting that the current state of the feature "feels harsh and maybe even unfair". Motion Twin says that, despite wanting to address the feedback, it wants to maintain the tension and teamwork that Sudden Death brings to the game.

Windblown, the latest game release from Motion Twin, the developer of Dead Cells, today released in Early Access on Steam. The new three-player co-op roguelike platformer launched in a surprisingly complete state, debuting with everything from single-player, two-player, and three-player co-op gameplay to a roster of 12 weapons and five biomes for players to explore. Motion Twin is open about the game still being in development, though, and hopes to use gamer feedback during the early access period to add much more content down the line.

The most impressive part of the game's launch is that, barely an hour after it went live, it managed to reach the number eight spot on SteamDB's Steam top seller list, beating out much larger titles, like Monster Hunter Wilds, which made news just yesterday for a new trailer and an open beta announcement. At the time of writing, Windblown has reached a peak of just over 4,800 concurrent players on Steam, with 152 reviews earning the game an 88% positive rating. Time will tell if this positive reception continues, but given that it launched at an odd time on a Thursday afternoon, it wouldn't be surprising to see the game reach much higher sales numbers and player counts over the weekend.

Motion Twin, of Dead Cells fame, has announced the early access release date for its next roguelite, Windblown, which looks to be a much more cheerful affair than the grim-dark Dead Cells, and it's designed for multiplayer, too. Windblown will feature many of the same gameplay elements as Dead Cells, though, including fast-paced hack-and-slash combat, platforming, and permanent death. This time, though, Motion Twin has gone for an isometric perspective, instead of the side-scroller style, and the pixel graphics are swapped out for a cutesy cartoon style and color palette somewhat reminiscent of the likes of Paladins. There also appear to be some nifty bullet-hell-style battles thrown into the mix.

As for the release date and playable demo, Motion Twin has not yet announced when the game will fully release, but a Windblown demo will launch on October 14 during the upcoming Steam Next Fest, and Steam Early Access for the full game arrives on October 24. Motion Twin also says that any progress and unlocks achieved during the playable demo will carry over once the full game launches, which is a nice touch.

The developers of the indie hit roguelite Dead Cells - Evil Empire and Motion Twin - announced today that the game has sold more than 10 million copies in the six years since its initial Early Access launch on Steam in 2017. The consecutive launch of the 1.0 version on PC & consoles in 2018, a whopping 34 free updates and later launches on mobile have all helped to drive long-tail success in all major global territories, pushing the game into rarely charted sales territory for an independent title.

Dead Cells' amazing list of free updates include chunky content additions that have provided new ways for fans to play the game, numerous weapon & item additions & enhancements, extra levels, a host of enemies and large crossover events featuring popular characters from other high profile indie games such as Hotline Miami, Shovel Knight and more. Dead Cells' well-received four paid DLCs - including the groundbreaking recent Return to Castlevania DLC, which featured an unprecedented collaboration with Konami - have also continued to drive development on the title.