15th September video games roundup: Valve's grip on adult games tightens as Randy Pitchford gives Borderlands 4 PC settings advice

What do you think about boss runbacks in games?

Matt posed a Big Question to you over the weekend, and it was what do you think of runbacks in games? Runbacks, if you don't know - and I'm sure you do - are what Soulslike or Silksonglike games tend to make you do after defeat while fighting a boss. It is, literally, the period of time you spend running back to where you were, in order to try again. Sometimes this can be an incredibly frustrating thing to do.

Are you team yay or team nay? That is the question.

• As Silksong drags them into the spotlight again, have boss runbacks had their day?

There's a Sonic Racing CrossWorlds demo out this week

Reminder for the week ahead that there's a Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds demo coming out. It launches in the UK on Wednesday, 17th September at 5 AM. Set your alarm?

Undertale turns 10 years old today

Undertale has nearly 150,000 "overwhelmingly positive" reviews on Steam. To say that this disarmingly simple-looking indie game has had a large impact would be an understatement.

In fact, it was one of our games of 2015. "Few games have ever touched so many people so deeply, or been so misunderstood by their critics," wrote Richard Cobbett in his piece for us.

"It's something harder to process - an incredibly smart, well-written and insightful RPG that's comfortable enough to do the gaming equivalent of showing up in a tracksuit and sneakers. You look at any part of it and yes, it's simple. Combine the pieces, and it's special..."

It's the sort of game that reveals itself, its humour and warmth, in the retelling, etching itself deeper in the memory with every subsequent lap.

• Uncovering the heart of Undertale

Balatro update delayed to preserve "hobbyist" approach

LocalThunk has announced Balatro's update 1.1 has been delayed and will be "done when it's done", just don't expect it this year.

The solo developer is preserving his "hobbyist" approach to game development, so he's actually enjoying working on this instead of crunching.

"I am in a very lucky position in that I can choose to work this job however I wish, and I think the best version of 'work' for me is the version that makes me want to come back to my keyboard every day, healthy, and hopefully just as excited about game development 5 years from now as I am today," he said.

• Balatro update delayed as developer preserves "hobbyist" approach to ensure this isn't the last update the game gets

SupremeAC says: This light have been answered a million times now, but what is the reasoning between what bits of news only appear here, what becomes 'news in brief' and what gets a full article?

An appropriately in-brief answer is that things covered here and nowhere else are tidbits not really worthy of a separate news piece. 'In brief' news stories, meanwhile, are functional, quick news stories that cover one basic thing - a release date, a delay. The fuller news reports are more considered news stories that, ideally, should have additional reporting or a stronger, original angle.

The idea is to give us a way to clear away some of the more funcational, rote stuff so that we can spend more time on the latter - the original reports, or features. The hope being that you should be reading more original and considered work here than the opposite.

Randy Pitchford defends PC performance of Borderlands 4

Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford has had a lot to say about the alleged poor performance of Borderlands 4 on PC. He said the game is already well optimised and working as intended, though there are a few things being fixed.

His issue seems to be with players who expect Borderlands 4 to run at high frame rates while at max settings and in very high resolutions. That's not reasonable, he said. There has to be a trade-off. It's not an FPS where super-high frame-rates are the norm. It's a co-op looter shooter plumping for the same 60/30 FPS performance templates most other blockbuster action games do.

Oh Randy.

• "The game is pretty damn optimal" - Randy Pitchford responds to Borderlands 4 PC performance complaints

Final Fantasy 7 Remake's Switch 2 physical release will be a game key card

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is coming to Switch 2 next year, but its physical release will be a game key card. And at 90GB for the download, that's around a third of the console's capacity taken up in one game.

But who is to blame? Game key cards max out at 64GB, so Square Enix wouldn't be able to fit the game on to a traditional card. Should Nintendo be doing more to support larger game files on Switch 2?

What's your take on game key cards?

• Final Fantasy 7 Remake on Switch 2 is a game key card that'll fill a third of your console's storage space

Silksong's surprise release "callous", says Hell is Us lead

Hell is Us creative director Jonathan Jacques-Belletête called the surprise release of Hollow Knight: Silksong "a little callous" in a recent podcast, claiming the 'GTA 6 of indie' launching at the same time had an impact on sales.

"That's the thing nowadays, honestly – getting a window where you're pretty much alone is almost impossible," he said of the difficulties of release dates in the current climate. "15 years ago, the mid-end of the summer was always a dead period. But there's no such thing anymore. It's just constant madness."

• Silksong's surprise release was "a little callous", says Hell is Us creative director

Japanese publishers are "more understanding toward creators," says Hideki Kamiya

Bayonetta and Devil May Cry creator Hideki Kamiya has discussed the state of the industry in a new interview, stating he believes Japanese publishers are "more understanding toward creators" that's led to fewer layoffs.

By comparison, western developers "feel a sense of safety following an established format".

He added the fate of Scalebound may have been different with a Japanese developer, instead of the Microsoft and PlatinumGames collaboration being cancelled.

• Bayonetta and Devil May Cry creator Hideki Kamiya believes Japanese publishers are "more understanding toward creators," as layoffs continue to rock the games industry

Valve seemingly denies Early Access to games with mature content

Adult games have once again been hit as Valve has seemingly denied Steam Early Access to games with mature content.

The decision comes in the wake of pressure from payment processors against adult content on digital storefronts like Steam and itch.io.

Eurogamer has contacted Valve for clarification on what games are eligible for Steam Early Access.

• Adult games hit once more, as Valve seemingly denies Early Access to games with mature content

Patapon spiritual successor out in PC early access this week

Ratatan is the spiritual successor to PSP rhythm platformer Patapon from veterans of Sony Japan Studio.

It's out later this week on PC, with consoles now following next year. A roadmap for the next few months has now been revealed.

Any plans to check it out?

• Sony's PSP lives on via Patapon spiritual successor Ratatan, out in PC early access this week - roadmap revealed