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Tomas Franzese

Tomas Franzese

Gaming Staff Writer

As a Gaming Staff Writer at Digital Trends, Tomas Franzese reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting developments within the video game industry. Tomas is passionate about sharing game developers' stories, analyzing video game history, and contextualizing those things within the modern video game industry. He attends industry events like Summer Game Fest for Digital Trends and represents the gaming section of Digital Trends on podcasts like ComicBook Nation’s Quick Save. Tomas authors Save State, a bi-weekly column about the evolving nature of retro gaming.

Before Digital Trends, he was a Video Game News Writer at Inverse for two years. Prior to that, Tomas honed his skills at DualShockers for nearly four years, working his way up from Staff Writer to News Editor. As News Editor at DualShockers, he supervised and edited the website’s news coverage, and that experience still comes in handy at Digital Trends today. His favorite games include Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005) and Batman: Arkham City.

Based in Virginia, Tomas graduated from Old Dominion University in 2020 with a B.A. in Intercultural & International Communication. He returned to Old Dominion University in 2024 to pursue an M.A. in Lifespan & Digital Communication. Through his communication and media-related research, Tomas can better understand how video games and culture intertwine.

An alien in armor with a light sword standing in front of a space ship window with a planet in the background.

3 new Xbox Game Pass games to play this weekend (November 8-10)

StarCraft: Remastered, StarCraft II: Campaign Collection, and Metal Slug Tactics offer up strategic options to Xbox Game Pass subscribers this weekend.
Gaming Features
Art from the reveal trailer for Battle Aces.

Battle Aces was born from a rejected StarCraft 2 expansion pitch

Battle Aces strips back the unnecessary fluff of the real-time strategy genre to realize an idea director David Kim first had during development of StarCraft 2.
Gaming Features
A praying mantis enemy in Slitterhead.

Slitterhead review: Silent Hill creator’s latest aims high, misses the mark

Slitterhead is an experimental horror-action game from Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, but many of those experiments don't quite pay off.
Gaming Reviews
Max Caulfield in Life is Strange: Double Exposure.

I loved Life is Strange: Double Exposure, but I’m worried about what’s next

Life is Strange: Double Exposure was great, but aspects of its ending leave me worried about where Life is Strange will go next.
Gaming Features
xbox game pass recommendations november 1 throne and liberty

3 new Xbox Game Pass games to play this weekend (November 1-3)

Call of Duty may be the centerpiece of Xbox Game Pass right now, but there are plenty of other games to check out this weekend.
Gaming Features
Key art for Return to Monkey Island.

3 new PS Plus games that you should check out (November 1-3)

Looking for something to play this weekend? Consider checking out any of these great games that were just added to PS Plus.
Gaming News
Luigi in Mario & Luigi: Brothership.

What’s new in November 2024: 7 games to keep an eye on

Mario & Luigi: Brothership, Lego Horizon Adventures, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 are just a few of the games you should have on your radar this month.
Gaming Features
Max shows Safi her phone in Life is Strange: Double Exposure.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure already teases a direct sequel

Life is Strange: Double Exposure is out today and the narrative adventure includes some very clear sequel teasers.
Gaming News
A character wields a rocket launcher in Concord.

Concord didn’t fail PlayStation. PlayStation failed Concord

Concord's short but troubled history can't just be viewed as a self-contained failure. Its part of a bigger picture at Sony.
Gaming Features
Chloe staring at Max in the school bathroom.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure makes more sense if you make this hard choice

One of the first major decisions in Life is Strange: Double Exposure is to decide if Chloe is alive or dead. One of those options makes for a better story.
Gaming Features
Max confronts Safi in Life is Strange: Double Exposure.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure review: Max Caulfield triumphantly returns

Deck Nine continues Max Caulfield's story in Life is Strange: Double Exposure, and does so in a very respectful and relatable fashion.
Gaming Reviews
Key art for Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard review: a very safe return to form for BioWare

Dragon Age: The Veilguard plays it a little too safe as an RPG, but provides a solid foundation for BioWare to build upon in the future.
Gaming Reviews
nimrods guncraft survivor steam demo impressions gameplay 2

This is the best Vampire Survivors-style game I’ve ever played

Nimrods: GunCraft Survivor is the best bullet heaven game I've played since Vampire Survivors.
Gaming Features
A player holds a dead player as a body shield in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

3 new Xbox Game Pass games to play this weekend (October 25-27)

It's Call of Duty weekend, so it's time to fire up Xbox Game Pass and delve into some great games on the service.
Gaming Features
Key art for Dino Crisis.

3 new PS Plus games to check out this weekend (October 25-27)

Prepare for Halloween by playing these three horror greats on PS Plus Extra and Premium this weekend.
Gaming Features
10/24 Save State Key Art

These video game engines are powering today’s retro revival

Bringing retro games to modern consoles may sound like a snap, but it's a more complicated task than you might think.
Gaming Features
Three players fight a boss in Lynked: Banner of the Spark.

Steven Spielberg’s son made a robot-fighting game, and you can play it now

Lynked: Banner of the Spark is an enjoyable new early access action game from Max Spielberg, and you can try it today.
Gaming Features
Key art for Arcane's Ambessa in League of Legends.

League of Legends’ latest champion is from Netflix’s Arcane

Ahead of Arcane season 2, Ambessa Medarda is coming to League of Legends as a new champion.
Gaming News
A player gets tackled in Maximum Football.

Maximum Football aims to make every play feel realistic

Maximum Football game director Micah Brown gave Digital Trends a deep dive into the game's physics-based approach to its simulation gameplay.
Gaming Features
South Park The Fractured But Whole

3 new Xbox Game Pass games to try this weekend (October 18-20)

Xbox Game Pass subscribers have plenty of games to check out this weekend, from MechWarrior to South Park.
Gaming Features
A zombie crawls toward a player on a boardwalk in Dead Island 2.

3 new PS Plus games you should play this weekend (October 18-20)

PS Plus subscribers have plenty of great games to check out this weekend, including Dead Island 2.
Gaming Features
Kat in Wheel World.

Annapurna makes its first new game announcement since staff exodus

Wheel World is the new name for Ghost Bike, an upcoming game for embattled indie publisher Annapurna Interactive.
Gaming News
Goro Majima in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.

Everything announced at the October 2024 Xbox Partner Preview

FBC: Firebreak, Subnautica 2, and Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii headlined an entertaining Xbox Partner Preview showcase.
Gaming News
Key art for Nikoderiko.

You should play this platformer that apes Donkey Kong Country’s formula

Nikoderiko: The Magical World is new game that emulates the feeling of Donkey Kong Country and Crash Bandicoot very closely.
Gaming Features
steam next fest october 2024 game recommendations permafrost

7 free game demos you need to check out during Steam Next Fest

Steam Next Fest is here and it's full of eclectic video game demos you can, and should, check out for free.
Gaming Features
Mickey and the player in Disney Pixel RPG.

Disney Pixel RPG is a pleasant, free mobile surprise

Disney Pixel RPG is a free new mobile game that's a lot of fun for fans of Disney and gacha video games.
Gaming Features
A screenshot from Inscryption.

3 new Xbox Game Pass games to play this weekend (October 11-13)

You should consider checking out Inscryption, Legend of Mana, and Trials of Mana on Xbox Game Pass this weekend.
Gaming Features
Issac Clarke exploring ruins in Dead Space Remake.

3 new PS Plus games you need to play this weekend (October 11-13)

If you're looking for some spooky games to play this weekend, consider checking out Dead Space, Night in the Woods, or Chernobylite on PS5.
Gaming Features
sunderfolk preview interview dreamhaven key art

Sunderfolk finds the middle ground between Jackbox and Dungeons & Dragons

Sunderfolk is a new game from former Blizzard developers where players use their phone to play a card-based tactical RPG.
Gaming Features
Save State promotional image with Backyard Sports key art.

You can thank ROM hackers for Backyard Baseball’s comeback

Backyard Baseball's return to modern PCs may look like a simple case of emulation, but it was much more complicated than that.
Gaming Features
Sargon reaches for a feather in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.

You can get one of 2024’s best games for $20 during Prime Big Deal Days

Make sure you snag Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown for just $20 during Prime Big Deal Days.
Gaming News
Key art for Until Dawn's remake.

The scariest thing about Until Dawn’s remake is how unnecessary it is

Until Dawn's new PS5 remake is a puzzling, unnecessary project that brings 1998's Psycho remake to mind.
Gaming Features
A hunter crouches before footprints in Blizzard concept art.

Blizzard book Play Nice reveals dozens of canceled games

The new book Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment reveals a long list of canceled games. Here's what Blizzard shelved over the years.
Gaming Features
Sam in the remake of Until Dawn.

Until Dawn’s PS5 remake heavily teases a sequel with post-credit scenes

New post-credit scenes in Until Dawn's PC and PS5 remake suggest that a sequel could be on the way.
Gaming News
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