Tripwire has announced plans to release free content for Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 on July 27 (next Thursday). Scoop:

- Brand new map – “Lyes Krovy”. This is a brutal close-quarters fight for a German trench-and-bunker position in a forest in northern Russia , in the summer of 1944. The Soviet forces get to assault into and through a strongly-fortified position, while the Germans fight hard to hold them off. This one has rapidly become a firm favourite with the test team!

- Brand new weapon system – smoke grenades. We’ve teased about this one on the forums… on some maps, infantry commanders will now have smoke instead of explosive grenades, which can be used to create quick cover for assault routes, or to momentarily blind the defenders. We’re finding that clever use of smoke can change tactical stalemates at a stroke!

- Tank reloading: we’ve listened to the requests and we have changed the tank reloading so that you now choose the next round to load, without having to unload first. Quicker, more realistic, more intuitive.

- Victory conditions changed so round can no longer end in stalemate “No Decisive Victory” situations.

- Multiple fixes, including a fix from Creative Labs for choppy VOIP with EAX, no more players “bouncing” off prone players and no more “telefragging” when players change stance.

The above content will be automatically available through Steam.

Even Sony couldn’t resist licensing Epic’s Unreal Engine 3: Sony Online Entertainment has announced that they have licensed the game engine technology for development of some next-generation games, including the DC Comics-based game currently under development SOE-Austin.

No other details were revealed.

Codemasters has announced the latest in its blockbuster racing franchise: Colin McRae: DIRT for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Scheduled for release sometime next year, the game will offer intense point-to-point races and then take players further off-road. Scoop:

Race in challenging heavyweight 850bhp cars, drifting on the loose gravel and high-speed blind corners of Hill Climb events along perilous cliff edges. All 12.4 miles of the world famous Pikes Peak International is included, with over 150 precarious turns to negotiate through the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

How about engaging in multiple car races with Dakar-style trucks and super-powered 4×4s on the toughest desert terrain in Rally Raid competitions? Then there are Rally Cross events, switching between dirt and road racing, where the competition is always tight, fast and collisions with your opponents are inevitable.

With more off-road racing styles to be revealed, Colin McRae: DIRT™ will also offer a dedicated mode for European, International and Global rally championships featuring official 2WD, 4WD, Classic and RWD rally cars.

Colin McRae: DIRT™ will deliver the wheel-screaming exhilaration of off-road racing with the next generation of the series’ sublime car handling and physics system and a devastating new damage engine that ensures players experience every bump in the track, every loose rock, every inch of shifting dirt through the reactive environments.

With an incredible range of off-road vehicles, thrill-packed tracks, modes that make the most of online multiplayer, and more varied events than any other single-championship rally game, Colin McRae is being reborn as a bigger, faster, wilder racing experience.

Apparently, the game will be titled DIRT: Colin McRae Off-Road in USA, with PAL territories getting the abovementioned name.

Endless Saga was said to be the only announced MMORPG project for the PS3, but it seems times have changed. Speaking to PS3Land, Webzen revealed that the game has been cancelled because “we [Webzen] found the gameplay to be short of innovation and creativity we seek to achieve in online gaming space.” However, the company still hasn’t ruled out plans for entering the PS3 market.

Webzen is currently working on highly anticipated upcoming games such as APB (from the creator of GTA), Huxley, and Soul of the Ultimate Nation.

First up, the lone demo:

• Faces of War on 3D Gamers, 3D Downloads, Boomtown, Filecloud, FileFront, FilePlanet, Gameguru, VGPRO and Worthplaying

• Battle of Britain II v2.04 on Shockwave Productions Forums
  
• Earth 2140 XP on ZUXXEZ
  
• Heroes of Might and Magic V v1.02 on 3D Downloads, 3D Gamers, Filecloud, FileFront, Gamer’s Hell, VGPRO and Worthplaying
  
• Night Watch on CDV
  
• Star Wars: Empire at War v1.05 on LucasArts
  
• War Plan Orange v1.205 on Matrix Games

Sure to stand out in store shelves will be D3Publisher’s WTF when it hits stores September 26. A collection of “fun and addictive mini-games” for the PSP, When The Fuck will have players testing their skills and earning (virtual) cash in more than 30 mini-games.

Loved by the Japanese, WTF will let players use their earned money to unlock more games and collect hundreds of unique prizes. Among these prizes will be “real world” tools for the PSP including the Bar Calculator, World Clock, Ramen Timer, Flashlight and more. Multiplayer will be supported through wireless, letting up to five players duke it out in mini-games.