Games by Private Division
Reviews of Private Division Games
Review Penny's Big Breakaway (Switch) - A Furiously Fast & Fun Platformer With Sega Spirit
A Penny for your thoughts
It’s now been nearly seven years (yes, really) since the release of Sonic Mania, which indisputably marked a high point for Sega’s troubled blue mascot. Much of the game's success could be attributed to the team of passionate and talented fans (led by Christian Whitehead) that came together to develop it, but rather...
Review OlliOlli World (Switch) - A Radical Departure And A Must-Play
It's an Olli, Olli, Olli, Olli World
A little over 8 years ago, Roll7 first introduced the world to OlliOlli, a fun little take on a 2D platformer that centered around skating. Barely a year later, the studio then released OlliOlli 2: Welcome to Olliwood, which built on the mechanics and scope of the original in nearly every way. With that last...
Review The Outer Worlds: Murder On Eridanos (Switch) - A Fun Final Slice Of 'Whoddunnit' DLC
Set your impertinence levels to "flagrant"
The final slice of DLC for The Outer Worlds, Obsidian's superb action-RPG, Murder on Eridanos attempts to switch things up by ditching the mostly combat-centric action of the main game in favour of a narrative-driven whoddunnit that throws you into a tangled web of intrigue on a floating island of treachery...
Review The Outer Worlds: Peril On Gorgon (Switch) - A Solid Expansion To A Cracking Sci-Fi RPG
Noir Wars
The Outer Worlds' first helping of DLC finally makes its way onto Nintendo Switch, having released on all other platforms back in September of 2020, and it's a very solid return to the Hyperion System for the colourful crew of the good ship Unreliable. Peril on Gorgon sees fans of Obsidian's satirical sci-fi romp indulged with a handful of...
Review The Outer Worlds (Switch) - Obsidian's Fallout-Style RPG Is Worth A Look On Switch
Halcyon Days
Obsidian's The Outer Worlds was very well received when it originally launched back in October of 2019; it's a satirical and darkly humorous RPG that takes the first-person Fallout experience and blasts it into orbit. However, as much as it has in common with the Fallout games, it's also very much its own distinct affair; a remarkably...
Latest Private Division News
Wednesday26th Mar 2025
News 'Tales Of The Shire' Video Shares More Info On New Tolkien-Inspired Farming Sim
By 'eck, it's Bywater!
A new 10-minute video released as part of Tolkien Reading Day on 25th March delves deeper into what players can expect from Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game when it launches on Switch on 29th July 2025. In short, it's wholesome and lovely, though there's definitely still a part of us that isn't entirely keen...
Wednesday12th Mar 2025
News Ori Dev Goes "Fully Independent" Following Private Division Sale
Full Moon
Moon Studios, the developer behind the Ori series and the upcoming action RPG No Rest for the Wicked, has announced that it is now "fully independent" after purchasing the publishing rights to its next game from the recently sold Private Division. In a new YouTube update on No Rest for the Wicked's next patch, studio co-founders Thomas...
Thursday20th Feb 2025
News Tales Of The Shire, The Cosy LOTR Game, Has Been Delayed Again
Now coming in July
Wētā Workshop has announced that the cute and cosy life sim Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game has been delayed from 25th March to 29th July 2025. The developer, which is known for special effects, prop creation, board games, and miniatures, shared a statement on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) earlier...
Wednesday8th Jan 2025
News Ex-Annapurna Interactive Staff Reportedly Pick Up Private Division Portfolio Under New Studio
Following last year's walk-out
Last year saw the entire Annapurna Interactive workforce resign following a dispute with owner Megan Ellison. Four months on, Bloomberg has reported that the former staff members have formed a new company and have picked up the entire Private Division portfolio (thanks,
Thursday7th Nov 2024
News Take-Two Sells Private Division To Undisclosed Buyer
Deal includes "existing and unreleased titles"
The video game publisher Take-Two has officially sold its smaller label Private Division to an unnamed buyer for an undisclosed sum. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told Variety how "the buyer purchased substantially all of Private Division's existing and unreleased titles". He added how this was a...
Sunday22nd Sep 2024
News Light The Beacons! 'Tales Of The Shire' Gets Cosy On Switch In March 2025
We're going on an adventure!
After being slapped with a delay earlier this month, Private Division and Wētā Workshop took to today's Hobbit Day showcase to reveal that Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game will arrive on Switch on 25th March 2025 (which
Friday13th Sep 2024
More details to come on Hobbit Day
Just a couple of days after Wētā Workshop, the studio behind Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game, announced it would be showing more of the game on 22nd September, the team has announced that it's been delayed to early 2025. In a statement posted on Twitter, the New Zeala
Wednesday11th Sep 2024
News 'Tales Of The Shire: A Lord Of The Rings Game' Is Getting A 'Hobbit Day' Showcase
Tune in on 22nd September
Private Division and Wētā Workshop have announced that Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game will be getting its own showcase as part of the upcoming 'Hobbit Day' celebrations on 22nd September 2024. In case you're unaware, Hobbit Day is pretty well known within the Tolkien community and represents the respective...
Thursday20th Jun 2024
Hands On Can Lord Of The Rings Spice Up A Stale Genre With 'Tales Of The Shire'?
"Is it juicy? Is it scrumptiously crunchable?"
Right at the beginning of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, ‘adventure’ is a bit of a dirty word. When the wizard Gandalf first meets the timid Bilbo Baggins, a comfort-loving, tobacco-smoking Hobbit, he asks, “I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very...
Wednesday29th May 2024
News Take-Two CEO Responds To Reports Of Studio Shutdowns
Update: "It did, in fact, close subsidiaries Roll7 and Intercept"
Update #3 [Thu 7th Nov, 2024 01:05 GMT]: Following the update on the sale of Private Division, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier has noted the following: Take-Two Interactive has now confirmed that it did, in fact, close subsidiaries Roll7 and Intercept. In May, following...
Monday22nd Apr 2024
News Animal Crossing Meets Lord Of The Rings In 'Tales Of The Shire'
Arriving (precisely when it means to) on Switch this year
If you cast your mind back to last year, you might remember a teaser for an upcoming cosy life sim set in Middle Earth. Well, after months of silence, we now have our first look at what's in store as publisher Private Division and developer Wētā Workshop Game Studio have revealed the...
Wednesday17th Apr 2024
News Surprise! Penny's Big Breakaway Now Has A Switch eShop Demo
Try it out today
If you've been wanting to try out the new 3D platformer Penny's Big Breakaway before you buy it, now you can. Developer Evening Star and publisher Private Division have released a demo on the Switch eShop which you can download for free and see what it's all about. Private Division's head of business development Blake Rochkind...
Thursday29th Feb 2024
News Jam Out To The Penny's Big Breakaway OST, Now Available To Stream
Yo-yo!
We were treated to the surprise release of Penny's Big Breakaway last week during the February 2024 Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase and now Evening Star has dropped yet another way to keep us thinking about the 3D platformer at all costs. Tee Lopes' vibe-filed score for Penny's Big Breakaway is now available to stream on just about ever
Wednesday21st Feb 2024
News Surprise! Penny's Big Breakaway Is Available To Download Right Now
The penny dropped
After much anticipation, Penny's Big Breakaway has been given a release date on Nintendo Switch, and guess what... it's out now! Yep, you can download the game from the Nintendo Switch eShop for $29.99 / £24.99. The game was developed by Evening Star featuring the talent behind the critically-acclaimed Sonic Mania. It focuses on...
Thursday30th Nov 2023
News Meet The Bosses Of 'Penny's Big Breakaway' In Gorgeous Animated Trailer
Coming "early 2024"
Penny's Big Breakaway — the chaotic, kinetic 3D platformer from Sonic Mania lead Christian Whitehead's new studio — has delivered a brand new animated trailer. The game is due to launch next year on Switch and other platforms, and ahead of its launch, this new trailer debuted during the PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted 2023...
Friday22nd Sep 2023
News Cosy Lord Of The Rings Game From Wētā Workshop Teased For Consoles Next Year
We wants it
While it hasn't been officially announced for Switch (or, indeed, any specific platform at the moment), we're getting ourselves all excited about Tales of the Shire, an upcoming "heart-warming" Lord of the Rings game from Wētā Workshop and Private Division, due out on "consoles" in 2024. Now, we don't actually know all that much about...
Tuesday9th May 2023
News Pokémon Studio Game Freak Is Partnering With Private Division On 'Project Bloom'
"We can't reveal too much yet"
The Outer Worlds, Kerbal Space Program, and OlliOlli World publisher Private Division has announced it is partnering with Game Freak on a new game. Described as an action-adventure, it doesn't have a final name yet but is being referred to as Project Bloom. Outside of that, we have a single piece of concept artwork:...
Friday14th Oct 2022
News OlliOlli World's Final Expansion, 'Finding The Flowzone', Lands November Release
Do a kickflip!
It's fair to say that when OlliOlli World was released back in February of this year, we loved it (check out or 9/10 star review if you don't believe us)! After the sweet sci-fi expansion in May's 'Void Riders', we are pleased to hear that another expansion is on its way - if not a little upset to hear that it will be the game's last...
Tuesday4th Oct 2022
News OlliOlli World Is Getting A Physical Switch Release, Except It Isn't
What's in the box?
Earlier this year, OlliOlli World was released on Switch and we loved it (heck, we even gave it 9/10 in our review). Combine this with our love of physical media and you would think that news of an OlliOlli World physical release would be enough to make our heart do a kickflip; except, the game's 'physical' release is not all that...
Tuesday1st Feb 2022
News Danny Trejo Will Be In OlliOlli World As An In-Game Character
Grindhouse
OlliOlli World, the upcoming skateboard action-platforming adventure from Roll7 and Private Division, has just cast a surprising celebrity addition: Danny Trejo, Mr Machete himself. The Spy Kids actor will give the player one of the side-quests in the game, which will unlock a special cosmetic item for the player's OlliOlli World...
Monday14th Jun 2021
News OlliOlli World's E3 Trailer Showcases The Sights And Sounds Of Radlandia
Eat your heart out, Hawk
It seems that Switch gamers will have a glut of skateboarding games to enjoy before long. At the end of the month Birdman himself is coming to Nintendo's console with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2, and we recently had confirmation that SkateBIRD is shredding to Switch in August. We also have OlliOlli World lin
Friday12th Mar 2021
News Outer Worlds' Second Expansion Won't Launch On Switch Next Week, But We've Got New Information
Still no word on a Switch release date
Let's start with the good news here. Obsidian Entertainment's just confirmed that The Outer Worlds' second expansion, Murder on Eridanos, will launch next week on March 17th. The bad news? That's only for non-Nintendo platforms. Despite appearing on the eShop
Tuesday23rd Feb 2021
News The Outer Worlds' Second Expansion "Murder on Eridanos" Confirmed For Switch
Halcyon Helen's final adventure is going portable
The Outer Worlds has slowly been making its way to Switch. Launched nearly a year after rival platforms, its first DLC expansion, Peril of Gorgon, arrived in a similarly timely fashion two weeks ago. Now we know that the second expansion, Murder on Eridanos, is also coming to Switch. We don't know...
Wednesday10th Feb 2021
News Solve Space Mysteries In Outer Worlds' First Expansion, Now On Switch
Pew pew! Pew pew pew!
It's almost Valentine's Day, and you know what that means: time to beat up monsters in space. For love. Or maybe just for new, shiny armour. The Outer Worlds, which came to the Nintendo Switch last summer, is getting its first of two narrative expansions: Peril on Gorgon. The story begins with a message summoning you to the...
Saturday26th Dec 2020
Feature Fallout Creator On The Outer Worlds, Working Partnerships, And The Games He Plays These Days
"I’m playing a lot of Minecraft. I find it very relaxing."
Eleven years is a long time. As the last few months have proved, an awful lot can change in a short period, and that's doubly true when it comes to game development. Following over a decade of working on separate projects as different companies, you'd be forgiven for thinking that 'getting...
Thursday22nd Oct 2020
News The Outer Worlds On Switch Has Been Updated To Version 1.2
Visual changes and more...
Update (Thu 22nd Oct, 2020 01:30 BST): The long-awaited patch for The Outer Worlds is finally here. It bumps the game up to version 1.2 and includes a bunch of features, changes and fixes. Below are the full patch notes from the official game site: The next time you launch The Outer Worlds on your Nintendo Switch, you...
Tuesday13th Oct 2020
News A Follow-Up To The Outer Worlds Is Already In Pre-Production, Says Industry Insider
Is Obsidian gearing up for a second adventure?
Obsidian Entertainment is supposedly already working on a sequel to its action-RPG The Outer Worlds, which made its debut on the Nintendo Switch in June this year after multiple delays. The scoop comes courtesy of industry insider and Niko Partners senior analyst Daniel Ahmad, who says the follow-up is...
Monday31st Aug 2020
Video Another Look At The First DLC Expansion Coming To The Outer Worlds
We're still waiting on a Switch release date
At day four of Gamescom 2020, The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon DLC director Carrie Patel shared pre-release footage of a side quest in this part of the game. Take a look above. The Outer Worlds' first expansion will be made available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC on 9th September, and as previously...
Friday24th Jul 2020
News New Story DLC For The Outer Worlds Is Coming To Nintendo Switch In The Future
"No confirmed date"
Obsidian Entertainment has officially revealed its first expansion for The Outer Worlds. Peril on Gorgon is coming to the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on 9th September, so what about a Switch release? According to the publisher Private Division, Nintendo's hybrid system will also be receiving this DLC in the future (thanks,...
Friday26th Jun 2020
News A New Patch Is In The Works For The Switch Version Of The Outer Worlds
Virtuos investigating how to "further improve" performance
Following on from The Outer Worlds' big release on the Switch earlier this month, the game's publisher Private Division has revealed a patch is currently in the works, and that the team at Virtuos is investigating how to "further improve" the performance. Here's the full announcement from...
Sunday31st May 2020
News The Outer Worlds Publisher Reveals Performance And Resolution Of The Switch Version
Targeting 30fps, 1080p docked and 720p in handheld mode
If you're looking forward to finally getting your hands on the Switch version of Obsidian Entertainment's action-RPG The Outer Worlds when it's released on 5th June, you might be curious to know how it performs and if there are any extra incentives for Nintendo players. According to the game's...
Friday7th Feb 2020
News The Outer Worlds Switch Release Gets Delayed Due To The Coronavirus Outbreak
Physical version on cartridge also confirmed
After already failing to release alongside other versions of the game in October last year, The Outer Worlds for Switch has now been delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Private Division, the publisher who is handling the release, explained on Twitter how Virtuos – the talented team working on the...
Friday8th Nov 2019
News The Outer Worlds Is Launching On Switch "Some Time" Before The End Of March 2020
Take-Two updates investors
When Obsidian Entertainment launched its anticipated action RPG The Outer Worlds last month, there was no sign of the Switch release. Not long after this, a press release from the game's publisher Private Division revealed the hybrid version would be arriving at some point in 2020, leading to the belief the game would...
Saturday26th Oct 2019
News The Outer Worlds Won't Be Released On Switch Until Next Year
Will it be worth the wait?
This week, Obsidian Entertainment's anticipated action RPG The Outer Worlds launched on every modern platform but the Switch. So, what's happened to the Nintendo release? According to a new press release from the game's publisher Private Division, the hybrid version of the game will be arriving in 2020. Yep, so next...
Tuesday30th Jul 2019
News Journey To The Outer Worlds When Obsidian's Space RPG Lands On Switch
Surprise!
Yep, you read that right! Obsidian Entertainment is bringing The Outer Worlds to Switch in partnership with Virtuos. Senior Producer Matthew Singh appears in the above video detailing the announcement and discussing the story and setting of the game. While we shouldn't really be surprised to see big ports coming to the Switch, this one...