Get ready to "Boy!" all over again with this generation of consoles because the God of War PS5 update is set to go live tomorrow, February 2. 

God of War got a juicy revamp with Cory Barlog and his team at Santa Monica. Seeing Kratos in his new role as a father was a breath of fresh air for the franchise, taking a beloved series even further with a heartwrenching story and gameplay mechanics to die for. 

The PlayStation 5 update goes live on Tuesday, February 2, and will be a free download for those that own the game. In a detailed blog over on the official Santa Monica Studios website, a few outliers about the free patch were offered so fans know what to expect before diving in. 

Players will be able to choose between two options: one option that favors performance versus one option that favors resolution. The update also includes synching to 60 FPS, 4K Checkerboard Resolution, and 2160p. 

For those that want to play the original God of War (2018) experience on their PS5s, there is an option to do just that with the Original Performance Experience selection within the resolution settings. This will keep the 4K Checkerboard Resolution but drops the FPS down to 30, instead of the 60. 

It's also important to note that a 4K device is required in order to get the optimal 4K experience. 

The God of War PS5 update is a good chance for those that may have missed out on the PS4 journey to join in on the fun, especially with speculation about Ragnorok being such a hot topic in the gaming community. Plus, if you haven't played yet, you can finally join in on all of the "BOY!" memes that I hope never die. 

[Source: Santa Monica Studios]

Google is ending its exclusive Stadia game development initiatives and closing its two internal studios, Kotaku reported earlier today. Google's development houses in both Los Angeles and Montreal will be closed, affecting "around 150" employees. Kotaku broke the news just minutes before Google issued its own statement from Phil Harrison, vice president and general manager of Stadia, about its shifting business directions with Stadia. 

Jade Raymond, most well known for her work at Ubisoft on the Assassin's Creed series, will also be leaving the company and her position as the head of Stadia Games and Entertainment (SG&E). According to Kotaku's report, Google said it's trying to find displaced Stadia employees new jobs within the company, something echoed by Harrison, who said, "Over the coming months, most of the SG&E team will be moving on to new roles. We’re committed to working with this talented team to find new roles and support them."

Citing an anonymous source, Kotaku also reports that Google is cancelling "multiple" exclusive Stadia projects that didn't already have specific 2021 release windows. Kotaku's source adds they do believe that games already close to release will still come out. Again, this is echoed in Google's own statement, though in less specific terms. "Given our focus on building on the proven technology of Stadia as well as deepening our business partnerships, we’ve decided that we will not be investing further in bringing exclusive content from our internal development team SG&E, beyond any near-term planned games," Harrison said.

According to one source speaking to Kotaku, making video games at Google was similar to Amazon's rocky attempt at making games, telling the outlet, "Google was a terrible place to make games. Imagine Amazon, but under-resourced."

This isn't the end of Stadia as a platform. Though Google will no longer be investing in its own first party exclusives, third parties titles will still be released on the service. The company also plans to offer its cloud streaming to other game developers and publishers, allowing them to stream games to players themselves via Stadia's technology. "We believe this is the best path to building Stadia into a long-term, sustainable business that helps grow the industry," Harrison said.

PQube, Studio Kiku and Innovina Interactive have announced a brand new indie title called The Plane Effect which is set to arrive on PC, Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S in 2021.The