The Banner Saga 2 premieres for Windows, Mac on April 19

By Danny Cowan Published March 24, 2016

the banner saga 2 hits pcs in april bs2 header — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Banner Saga series creator Stoic announced that its long-awaited sequel title, The Banner Saga 2, will debut for Windows and Mac via Steam on April 19.

“Being a small team and working on something we love is both amazing and challenging but we’re finally here with Banner Saga 2,” community director Lance James announced on Steam. “We’re proud to have the Windows and OSX version of the game launching on April 19th.”

James additionally revealed that The Banner Saga 2 will be available for $20 at launch — a discount compared to the first game’s launch price of $25. Players can claim an additional $2 discount by pre-ordering The Banner Saga 2 prior to release via its Steam store page.

2014’s The Banner Saga merges Viking lore with tactical-RPG gameplay, offering up a single-player campaign in which player choices and conversations shape the game’s surrounding narrative. April’s sequel will continue the storyline introduced in the original The Banner Saga, adding a number of new characters along with a series of mechanical tweaks.

The Banner Saga was an early Kickstarter success story, raising more than $723,000 in crowdsourced funding. In addition to core franchise releases, Stoic and publisher Versus Evil also produced the free-to-play multiplayer spinoff The Banner Saga: Factions, and are currently working on The Banner Saga: Warbands, a board game adaptation.

Despite its success on PCs, The Banner Saga proved difficult to port to consoles. Stoic technical director John Watson recently admitted that the game’s porting process has been “more expensive and time consuming than we had originally expected,” due to missed milestones and the recent shutdown of the game’s porting studio. Ports for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are currently in production, and Sony recently stepped in to rescue a planned PS Vita version from cancellation.

Topics

Contributor

Danny’s passion for video games was ignited upon his first encounter with Nintendo’s Duck Hunt, and years later, he still…

Gaming

Ubisoft confirms Assassin’s Creed remakes are in the works

Basim perched on a ledge overlooking Baghdad

In a company interview with CEO Yves Guillemot posted on the Ubisoft website Thursday, the executive reveals that there are remakes of Assassin's Creed games in the works, although he doesn't specify which ones.

"Players can be excited about some remakes, which will allow us to revisit some of the games we've created in the past and modernize them," he says, implying that it could pertain to games made before Odyssey. "There are worlds in some of our older Assassin's Creed games that are still extremely rich."

Gaming

Surfaced patent shows what an Xbox streaming console would’ve looked like

An Xbox Series X sits next to both Series S models.

There have been a few Xbox devices that have never come to fruition, one of which was Keystone, a prototype for an affordable game streaming device you could hook up to your TV or monitor. Thanks to a surfaced patent, we've gotten an even closer look at what it would've potentially looked like.

The patent, first spotted by Windows Central, gives us a more complete view of the device. We've previously seen the Keystone in the flesh. Microsoft Gaming head Phil Spencer is known for hiding teases and interesting collectibles on the shelf in his office. In a 2022 X (formerly Twitter) post congratulating Bethesda on Fallout's 25th anniversary, you can see a small white device on the top shelf that's actually a Keystone prototype. Xbox told Digital Trends that it was a version of the device made before it decided to "refocus our efforts on a new approach.”

Gaming

Wordle Today: Wordle answer and hints for June 28

Someone playing Wordle on a smartphone.

We have the solution to Wordle on June 28, as well as some helpful hints to help you figure out the answer yourself, right here. We've placed the answer at the bottom of the page, so we don't ruin the surprise before you've had a chance to work through the clues. So let's dive in, starting with a reminder of yesterday's answer.
Yesterday's Wordle answer
Let's start by first reminding ourselves of yesterday's Wordle answer for those new to the game or who don't play it daily, which was "ORDER." So we can say that the Wordle answer today definitely isn't that. Now, with that in mind, perhaps take another stab at it using one of these Wordle starting words and circle back if you have no luck.
Hints for today's Wordle
Still can't figure it out? We have today's Wordle answer right here, below. But first, one more thing: Let's take a look at three hints that could help you find the solution, without giving it away, so there's no need to feel guilty about keeping your streak alive -- you put in some work, after all! Or just keep scrolling for the answer.

Today’s Wordle includes the letter D.
Today’s Wordle uses two vowels.
Today's Wordle can refer to a large number of animals, particularly livestock like cattle or sheep, that are moving together in a group.