The Iterative Digest #107

Tetris (the movie, not the game), dark fantasy demos and get to know us!

Hello everyone!

Welcome back to a fresh week of the Digest! This week we check out a dark fantasy diorama demo, celebrate Taron Egerton’s love for the Tetris block, and get to know The Iterative Collective’s cofounder and CEO, Matthew Quek!

So without further ado, sit back, relax, and enjoy this week’s latest - curated by yours truly. If you like what you see, please don’t forget to share and subscribe! Your support means a lot to us!

• EA’s ‘Originals’ label will be moving away from the indies it was established to publish and broadening its scope to include big-budget titles.

• Tencent has scrapped plans to enter the VR market. "Under the company's new strategy as a whole, it no longer quite fit in."

• The next Civilization title is currently in development at Firaxis Games, however, no launch date or window has been offered at this time.

• Sega has stated that the sales of Sonic Frontiers have exceeded its expectations as well as announcing the company is set to raise annual salaries by 15% on average.

• Former Apex Legends and Titanfall developers have joined together to form a new studio: Wildlight Entertainment.

• Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal are expected to release 5 AAA games by March 2028.

• Activision Blizzard is mandating a partial return to the office, with many employees unhappy about the change in policy.

• Tetris, an upcoming movie from Apple aims to retell the wild story of how Henk Rodgers helped bring the game out of the USSR and to the rest of the world. It will be available to stream on March 31st.

Combining horrifying creatures and an oppressive lofi world, Bleak Sword DX is a dark fantasy action game that challenges warriors to fight their way through compact diorama battlefields. Originally released on iOS back in 2019, the updated title will feature elegant controls, three new game modes, and multiple gameplay and graphical improvements. If you want to get a taste of the action you can play the demo now.

Each week we aim to shed light on a hidden gem by small indie developers. Have a game you want to showcase? We’d love to hear from you - reach out to us at contact@theiterative.co!

PC - Feb 23rd

The Light Brigade is a roguelike VR shooter with realistic gunplay and immersive light magic. Ascend the ranks of The Light Brigade to unlock new weapons, upgrades, classes, and abilities as you fight to restore light to the darkness.

PC - Feb 23rd

Aces & Adventures is a deckbuilding RPG with poker-powered combat. Craft your deck, combining poker hands with powerful ability cards. Journey through 13 fully-voiced campaigns to save the Life Tree, or tackle procedurally-generated runs in this strategic deckbuilder unlike any other.

PC - Feb 23rd

Sons of the Forest finds you sent to find a missing billionaire on a remote island in a cannibal-infested hellscape. Craft, build, and struggle to survive, alone or with friends, in this terrifying new open-world survival horror simulator.

Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, PC - Feb 24th

In Octopath Traveller II, eight travelers hailing from different regions venture forth for their own reasons. Step into their shoes and explore the land as you see fit, using their unique talents to aid you along your journey.

Each week we will be introducing a member of The Iterative Collective team! This week get to meet Matthew Quek, our co-founder, and CEO, learn a bit about gaming in Southeast Asia, and find out what he enjoys about working at TIC!

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We are The Iterative Collective - an indie games incubator! Each week, we shed light on the latest gaming trends for all folks interested in the scene by going through a summary of the latest news from the industry as well as promising upcoming game releases! Click to learn more about us below!