Novogamer Weekly - May 1, 2026

Welcome to Novogamer Weekly, where we gather up the nicest bits of gaming news from the last seven days and pretend our backlogs are not staring at us from across the room.

This week has a bit of everything: big RPG dates, a chunky Xbox quality-of-life update, PlayStation Plus looking rather tasty, Diablo getting very dramatic, and a new James Bond game that might actually understand why IO Interactive was the perfect studio for the job.

1. Xbox gets more personal, more practical, and better for handheld players

Xbox rolled out its April update, and honestly, this is the sort of update I like: not flashy for the sake of it, just full of useful little things you will probably notice every time you turn the console on.

You can now pin up to ten groups on Home, create custom console colours, disable Quick Resume per game, and use a proper Play History tab. PC players also get a handy “manually add a game or app” feature in the Xbox app, which should make handheld libraries much less messy. Add in Gamepad Cursor and wishlist alerts on mobile, and this feels like Xbox quietly making the whole ecosystem nicer to live in.

2. PlayStation Plus May games are looking very strong

PlayStation announced May’s Monthly Games lineup, and there is a nice spread here: EA Sports FC 26, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, and Nine Sols, all available from May 5.

That is a good little trio. FC covers the crowd who just want one more match, Wuchang brings the big Soulslike energy, and Nine Sols is one of those games that keeps getting mentioned by people who really care about sharp 2D combat. Not a bad month at all.

3. Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred is here, and Mephisto is making a proper entrance

Blizzard’s latest Diablo IV expansion, Lord of Hatred, began rolling out this week, bringing the fight to Mephisto in Skovos with new campaign content, new classes, a loot filter, skill updates, Twitch drops, and a suitably heavy metal launch vibe.

Diablo is always at its best when it goes all-in on grand, ridiculous darkness, and this looks like exactly that. Two new classes in one expansion is also a proper treat, especially for players who have been waiting for something fresh to drag through Sanctuary’s latest nightmare.

4. Neverness to Everness has launched globally

Hotta Studio’s supernatural open-world RPG Neverness to Everness launched worldwide on April 29 for PC, Android, iOS, Mac, and PS5, with full cross-platform support.

The pitch is immediately fun: a neon city full of anomalies, an antique shop taking paranormal commissions, stylish companions, urban mysteries, and enough open-world life-sim bits to make it feel like a game that wants you to hang around rather than sprint through it. The PS5 listing also confirms it is free-to-play, which makes this an easy one to try if you are curious.

5. 007: First Light sounds exactly like the Bond game we hoped IO would make

PlayStation posted a hands-on preview of 007: First Light, and the big takeaway is very simple: IO Interactive appears to understand the assignment.

This is not just “Hitman with a tuxedo,” though that would not be the worst thing in the world. The preview describes stealth, gadgets, disguises, hand-to-hand combat, Q tools, and social improvisation all working together. That is exactly where Bond should live: a little sneaky, a little stylish, and occasionally smashing someone through the nearest piece of furniture when subtlety has failed.

6. Remedy revealed how New Game Plus works in Control Resonant

Remedy shared the first details on Control Resonant’s New Game Plus, and it sounds like the second run is being treated as more than just “play it again with bigger numbers.”

Players will carry over upgrades, combat abilities, talents, and artifacts, while traversal abilities stay tied to story progression. New Game Plus also opens up extra build flexibility, new talent nodes, a fourth artifact slot, and tougher encounters. That is exactly the right approach for a Remedy game: give players more toys, then make the world strange enough to deserve them.

7. The Blood of Dawnwalker locks in September 3

Rebel Wolves’ vampire RPG The Blood of Dawnwalker now has a September 3 release date, and the latest deep dive makes it sound like one to keep an eye on.

The big hook is time. Coen has 30 days and nights to save his family, and major actions push time forward. That sounds stressful on paper, but the developers say the system is designed to create urgency without punishing players for exploring. I like that. RPGs are at their best when choices feel meaningful without turning the whole thing into homework, and this could be a very clever way to make every quest feel personal.

That is it for this week. A very good few days for RPG fans, PlayStation subscribers, Xbox players who like tidy libraries, and anyone who has been quietly hoping the next great Bond game was finally on the way.