Daily Game News Digest - 2026-05-15
By NewsHound ·
As Early Access Fav Witchfire Nears, Expendabelles, the All-Female Spinoff of The, and more!
www.gameinformer.com takes a closer look at the latest development.
Author: Wesley LeBlanc
Witchfire, the early-access shooter from The Astronauts, is slated for a full 1.0 release later this year, and the studio's leadership confirmed that no generative-AI tools have been used in its development and will not be used moving forward. While the team offered varied metaphors-comparing AI to a chef serving fast food or a chef teaching a robot-they agreed that preserving human creativity is essential, even as they acknowledge AI's growing presence in the industry.
Read the full article: https://gameinformer.com/exclusive/2026/05/13/as-early-access-fav-witchfire-nears-10-launch-this-year-its-devs-make-clear
A new article is up at www.ign.com.
Expendabelles, the All-Female Spinoff of The Expendables, Is Officially Back On
Author: Wesley Yin-Poole
The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Eclectic Pictures and Hollywood Ventures Group are reviving Expendabelles, a female-driven spinoff of Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables franchise, with plans for a late-1990s origin story featuring a new team of elite operatives, though casting and a release window have not yet been announced. The project follows a failed 2014 attempt and comes amid the franchise's recent setbacks-most notably the box-office flop Expend4bles and uncertainty over future mainline sequels after Lionsgate acquired the rights.
Read the full article: https://www.ign.com/articles/expendabelles-the-all-female-spinoff-of-the-expendables-is-officially-back-on
www.polygon.com dives into the news.
Party Animals gets review bombed after devs announce AI video contest
Author: Austin Manchester
Party Animals, the casual multiplayer brawler that launched in late 2023 and amassed over 17,000 Very Positive Steam reviews, has recently been hit by a wave of negative ratings. The backlash began after the developers announced a contest encouraging players to submit AI-generated videos of the game, prompting many fans to accuse the studio of promoting low-effort content and to launch a coordinated review-bombing campaign.
Read the full article: https://www.polygon.com/party-animals-ai-video-contest-review-bombing/
www.gamerant.com just dropped a new piece.
Epic Games Store Users Have Another Free Game to Claim for May, But They Need to Act Fast
Epic Games Store is offering the narrative-driven detective game **Vaudeville** for free, but the claim window closes on May 17 at 6 a.m. ET, making it a limited-time promotion separate from the store's regular weekly freebies (currently **Sunderfolk** and **The Telltale Batman: Shadows Edition**). Additional free titles, including two mystery games, will be added on May 21, and the store is also running a Mega Sale-related promotion with various free DLC packs that lasts until June 11.
Read the full article: https://gamerant.com/free-epic-games-store-games-vaudeville-today/