What a difference a few weeks can make. Not so long ago, developer Rockstar, ever the toast of the industry (however you might want to read into that), and publisher Take-Two seemed to have the narrative leading up to the launch of their upcoming Grand Theft title by the neck. So much so that the decisions, concerns and scandals that might have rocked(!) lesser outfits were brushed aside with joyful abandon given the sheer scale of anticipation and sitting fanbase for the GTA VI. These included, but not limited to, accusations of union-busting, mandating crunch, ignoring pay inequity, weaponising bonuses and of course colluding with Sony to kill off physical discs. On top of all that, the two decided to really push the envelope on practices that, again, coming from somewhere else, would be quickly labelled as misleading at best, scummy more likely. Opening up pre-orders before we’ve even seen a minute of gameplay, locking up single-player content behind pay, and when finally deciding to show off some gameplay, releasing it on Netflix for subscribers of the service six hours before doing the same on YouTube. I guess when you’re sitting on top of one of the most valued pieces of entertainment in the world, that’s how you roll.

But the brakes had to be applied a week ago when a couple of genuine-looking GTA VI gameplay clips were leaked on the interwebs alongside an alleged image of the game’s entire map. Since then, Rockstar and Take-Two appear to be scrambling to contain what has by now become a constant drip of videos featuring various aspects of the game. There are a total of 11 as of the time of writing, showcasing co-protagonist Jason doing everything from playing basketball to driving cars, flying airplanes, getting into fights, robbing gas stations, going to a strip club, and so on, along with a few snippets of cut scenes as well.

Readers of this newsletter might remember that this is not the first (or second) time the studio has been hacked or something relating to GTA VI has leaked out (the second trailer even made a joke of it with Jason fixing the “leaks” in his house). But never quite like this. Not even close. The group taking responsibility for this latest set of leaks, CyberLeek, appears to have access to a working build of the game (seemingly confirmed in one of the leak videos where Jason shoots the word “leek” into a wall via bullet holes), the obvious and damning implications of which needn’t be laid out. The group has stated that its reason for the leaks is gamers’ rights, intertwined with the entire scheme is a cryptocurrency involving a $CYBERLEEK meme coin the group wants people to buy (and in turn increase the value of) to vote for new video leaks.

After days of silence, Take-Two finally stepped forward filing subpoenas against Microsoft and Discord, seeking information to help identify those behind the CyberLeek group and persona. The two companies have until September 4 to hand over relevant account data. This was followed by CyberLeek’s website (one of the group’s main hubs), as well as the group’s Telegram channel going dark, with the latter now displaying the message “This channel is unavailable due to copyright infringement”.

Did all that stop the leaks? Nope. And if the trend so far is anything to go by, we might have more by the time you’re reading this. But in the end, will any of it likely have any bearing on how the game performs? That seems unlikely. Yes, the story might be spoiled at some point if you’re not careful, but unlike films, game leaks cannot provide the active first-hand experience, and moreover, it isn’t like this older build can be pirated across to the consoles, denting sales. In the larger scheme of things, the only significant thing this has managed to achieve is to sabotage Rockstar and Take-Two’s carefully crafted marketing and release strategy for the game. Sure, there might be some far-reaching repercussions that are not obvious as yet, but by virtue of GTA VI being what it is and has become over the last decade, it has the capacity to absorb and survive a lot of potential fallout and missteps. Regardless of how things turn out, we’ll keep you posted.

Another leak, potentially more devastating, came in the form of a cracked PC version of the latest in the Plague Tale franchise, Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, a week before the release. According to reports, copies of Asobo Studio’s latest were in circulation online, with images from the game popping up on various forums and subreddits.

Speaking of things no one wants to happen, Sony seems to have sent out an email to a number of PlayStation users reminding them what they owned and didn’t own in their digital libraries. “For your convenience and future reference, we have included full copies of the Terms in this email. Please retain this email for your records,” reads the email. “The Software is licensed to you, not sold. You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and personal licence to play or use the Software for your private, non-commercial use on the system or device it was intended for,” it goes on, before mentioning restrictions on things like renting, modifying, or obtaining games through unauthorised means. This comes just as a planned boycott, between August 23 and 30, organised by fan group DoesItPlay?, gets underway, asking participants to log off, avoid purchases, and cancel subscriptions in protest at Sony’s move away from physical media.

Meanwhile, Double Fine CEO Tim Schafer confirmed that the studio owns — or will shortly own — the intellectual property and publishing rights to every game it made during its seven years under Xbox. This follows the studio’s recent split from Microsoft, and the decision to lay off some staffers to ensure its survival.

Staying with Microsoft for a second, remember those green see-through Xbox Series X units that were doled out in a PR stunt before the company’s great purge that saw some 3,200 employees lose their jobs? Yeah. Now you can own one of those infamous limited-edition consoles made for Xbox’s 25th anniversary for the price of a PS5 Pro. According to reports, the Xbox Series X25 Limited Edition will release in November and be priced at €899.99. That’s €100 more than a standard 1TB Xbox Series X with a disc drive, or the same price as the PS5 Pro in Europe. We sure live in a world.

And now some quick updates on a few games.

• CD Projekt Red announced an update about The Witcher 4, stating that the studio is “targeting” a release date in 2028. “I know it’s a bit of a wait, and you’d love to play it sooner — but let the team cook. It will be worth the wait,” said joint-CEO Michal Nowakowski, adding that the game will have a huge, immersive open world, intense action-packed gameplay, and a deep, impactful story.

• Last week, we also saw Game Science release 15 minutes of gameplay for Wukong’s successor, Black Myth: Zhong Kui. Here we got a first good look at not only the game’s protagonist, the Chinese mythological deity Zhong Kui, but also the combat, various environments, characters, and creatures. And it all looked pretty good. The title is currently in development for PC and does not yet have a release date.

• Embark Studios confirmed that Arc Raiders’ fifth Expedition, opening in September, will be the last one until early 2027. “We have been carefully reviewing your feedback on Expeditions, and while we’ve made ongoing improvements along the way, we’ve come to realise that some of the issues you’ve raised … They call for bigger changes,” read the studio’s blog post. “In order to address those concerns, we need to pause the Expeditions for a while. The fifth Expedition will be the last one until early 2027, when Expeditions will return with major improvements, tackling some of the biggest player pain points.”

Lastly, in some adaptations/entertainment news, following reports that Dave Bautista was in contention to play Kratos in Amazon’s live-action God of War series, the same has now been confirmed. Bautista will replace original Kratos actor Ryan Hurst, who tore his bicep while filming and couldn’t continue.

The second season of Netflix anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners now has a release date — October 20. And a new trailer to go with it:

Eyes out for

Now for some notable releases in the upcoming weeks:

• Asobo Studio’s Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, August 27

• Bit Reactor’s Star Wars Zero Company, August 27

• KONAMI’s Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2, August 27

• Rebel Wolves’ The Blood of Dawnwalker, September 2

• Visual Concepts’ NBA 2K27, September 4

• CAPCOM’s Onimusha: Way of the Sword, September 4

• CanOpener’s Dungeon Settlers, September 4

• IllFonic’s Halloween: The Game, September 8

• Chris Cote’s Welcome to Elderfield, September 10

Read up

And here are some exciting reads from our very own garage:

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Denshattack! is the most intense modern skating game with nary a board in sight

Well, maybe there’s one skateboard hidden somewhere

REVIEW

I don’t like math, but I do love mathing in IRON NEST: Heavy Turret Simulator

Math is fun when it’s a battleship turret that needs operating

REVIEW / BACKLOGGED

Yakuza Kiwami 3 almost made me give up on the franchise

Dark ties ahead

REVIEW

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls has its moments, but is largely forgettable

With Avengers: Doomsday on its way, the game will no doubt find its fans though

FEATURE

The Great Indian PlayStation gift card shortage: A tale of sales caps, grey markets and more

Making sense of the controversy

FEATURE

It’s time to give Ghost Recon Wildlands another chance

Ubisoft celebrates the 25th anniversary of Ghost Recon with deep discounts and new Wildlands content.

You can read our previous newsletters here and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram or Bluesky.

Until next time.

Almost a year since first announced, and after jumping through regulatory hoops and hurdles, Electronic Arts’ $55 billion acquisition is official. The company is now privately owned by investment firm Silver Lake, private equity group Affinity Partners (led by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner), and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). A match made in heaven.

Even putting aside Kushner’s ties to power and Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, given it’s a leveraged buyout, the company now finds itself in need of clearing $18bn of debt, with annual interest payments of $1.8bn. According to reports, EA has told debt investors it will cut $700m in annual costs, including $170m in “organisational efficiencies”. All of which points to, you never would have guessed — mass layoffs.

Speaking of which, it’s time to check in with the real sultans of layoffs. Last week XBOX suffered a major server outage crippling several key functions, including the ability to sign in, buy and download games, play them offline, and even affecting disc-based games. According to XBOX chief technical officer (CTO) Scott Van Vliet, the reason behind the issue was “a licensing service that sits outside of XBOX, but which XBOX depends upon”.

This came just a few days after PlayStation suffered its own PlayStation Network (PSN) outage, bringing into question once again the industry’s push for an all-digital future. But all the outrage over the matter seems to be making little headway. In a recent earnings call Sony reaffirmed its stance on ending the production and sale of discs for PS games in early 2028. While noting that it understands why people have strong feelings about the situation, Sony chief financial officer Lin Tao said, “There are various reasons we made this decision, the biggest being that the digitalisation of content overall has been progressing… we came to this conclusion, and we’re going to cautiously move this forward.” Never say never, but it feels like Sony is not ready to budge any time soon.

But back to XBOX for a second, and following the company’s purge last month of some 3,200 employees, and parting ways with four studios; one of the latter, Psychonauts 2 studio Double Fine Productions, is laying off staffers to ensure its short-term survival. Studio head Tim Schafer shared the announcement stating, “Only the survival of our studio would ever make us consider such a painful action. Our transition to becoming an independent company also means becoming a size that we can sustain.”

Meanwhile, a large number of developers at Refractor Games, the team behind FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition, have been laid off. According to a report, studio head Nathan Burba confirmed that 85% of the studio was let go. The game was released on June 11 exclusively to Netflix, and was published by Delphi Interactive.

But who cares about some lowly peasant developers losing their livelihood when the CEO is going home with some big bucks, right? According to documents pertaining to the company’s finances, EA CEO Andrew Wilson took home a $38.7 million bonus for the 2026 financial year. And he was not alone. Other senior EA executives also raked in millions in bonuses despite layoffs across multiple studios in the same financial year. Moreover, now with the company going private, it will have no obligations to release such reports in the future. Nothing to see here.

Moving away from all the doom and gloom for a bit (we promise to come back to it in no time), we finally have a release date for God of War Laufey — February 16, 2027. Not only that, at a panel at San Diego Comic-Con, Santa Monica Studio head of creative, Cory Barlog, also confirmed that the next mainline Kratos-starring God of War will pick up after the events of God of War Laufey. “Everything we are doing in the Faye game is a continuation of what came before and to set up and expand what comes next,” he explained.

Another franchise that fans can expect in the coming years is Far Cry. According to a report by Insider Gaming, a new Far Cry project with the codename Kodiak has entered development. The game is in the works at Vantage Studios, the new subsidiary established by Ubisoft and Tencent to focus on its biggest franchises. According to the report, Kodiak is described as an open-world first-person shooter where “player interactions and player-driven stories take centre stage”.

And while we wait for those games, the prices of graphics cards and memory units continue to rise at breakneck speed. In the latest, Nvidia announced yet another price hike for its GPUs, this time by between 20% and 30%, according to reports. Not to be left behind, AMD looks set to do the same. According to a report, AMD had actually been waiting for Nvidia to bump its prices before it bumped its own, and has notified manufacturers of a price increase of “at least 10%” across all products, taking effect from the beginning of August.

Joining the mix, XBOX also finally revealed the price hikes across its hardware in Europe and the United Kingdom, with its consoles in the UK now jumping 34 and 49 percent in cost compared to what they were last month. And if you thought this all might be over relatively soon, tough luck. According to Samsung, one of the largest manufacturers of memory and storage in the world, the crisis will likely continue getting worse into next year, and the Korean tech giant expects the trend to continue until 2028. So don’t forget to say your daily thank you to AI.

Finally, and briefly, some entertainment news. After Sons of Anarchy actor Ryan Hurst was forced to step away from the role of Kratos in Amazon’s God of War live-action series following a torn bicep, Dave Bautista is reportedly in talks to step in. Four episodes of the show had apparently been shot before Hurst’s injury, and production is now expected to resume in October. Lastly, a delicious new trailer for the upcoming Resident Evil film, directed by Zach Cregger (Barbarian, Weapons):

Eyes out for

Now for some notable releases in the upcoming weeks:

• Frogwares’ The Sinking City 2, August 18

• MAGES. Inc’s STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT, August 19

• Cold Symmetry’s Mortal Shell II, August 20

Read up

And here are some exciting reads from our very own garage:

DROP C++

Vol 12: An audience with Olivier Derivière

The award-winning composer digs deep into a selection of his work, his approach to music and more

REVIEW

Halo: Campaign Evolved has left me with little hope for the franchise’s future

Halo Studios shot its shot… and missed.

You can read our previous newsletters here and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram or Bluesky.

Until next time.

While speculations had been rife as to what XBOX has been up to behind the scenes ever since Asha Sharma took over the lead at the troubled gaming division and their PR department went into overdrive, things were made official in a statement announcing 3,200 layoffs and four studio departures — Double Fine, Compulsion Games, Ninja Theory and Undead Labs being the ones pushed out of the roster. The future of Arkane Lyon also remains unclear.

Needless to say, the myriad cuts and changes here have far-reaching consequences for individual studios and the industry as whole, and even days after the initial announcement, this continues to be a developing story as more details pour out. So here are a few things we know as of now:

IO Interactive — the developer of Hitman and 007 First Light — has regained full control of their new IP, Project Fantasy (an online fantasy RPG), after XBOX pulled out of its publishing and funding deal with the studio. This wasn’t without consequence though, as the developer announced that it will be shuttering its Istanbul studio and laying off staff “to find a new balance”.

Double Fine Productions, developer of Psychonauts and Keeper, confirmed they will become independent developers again, most likely also retaining the ownership of the games created while working with XBOX. In a statement, the studio said, “Once again, Double Fine Productions will be an independent studio. We’re thankful to everyone at XBOX for seven great years together, and for working with us to reach an outcome which preserves our history and culture, and returns ownership of our games to us.”

Similarly, Compulsion Games, developer of South of Midnight and We Happy Few, is also going independent. “Today, we’re sharing that Compulsion Games will return to independent management following our time as part of XBOX. As part of this transition, we will retain the rights to Contrast, We Happy Few, and our award-winning South of Midnight,” said the studio in a statement.

The fate of Hellblade developer Ninja Theory and State of Decay developer Undead Labs remains unclear at this point, although the latter put out a statement saying, “Today, Undead Labs begins a new Chapter. We’re transitioning out of XBOX. And while we can’t share all the details just yet, we can tell you this: State of Decay 3 is still coming. The team is working hard and our commitment to this community has never been stronger. More news soon. Survivors stick together.”

Which also brings us to Arkane Lyon, the developer of Dishonored and Deathloop, the fate of which — along with its in-development Marvel’s Blade — also seems to be hanging in the balance as the studio tries to possibly negotiate a future away from XBOX.

Yet another studio that’s reportedly set to take a big hit is id Software, the entity behind Doom and Quake. Initial reports suggested that almost three quarters of its staff was let go, likening to the scale of cuts akin to “a bloodbath”. In a brief statement soon after, the company said that despite the job cuts, “we still have the crew we need to build the games.” In yet another statement later on, co-studio director Hugo Martin insisted that the company hasn’t been “nerfed into the ground and gutted”.

One more major studio whose uncertain fate has been giving fans restless nights after the XBOX cuts has been, of course, Bethesda. The studio moved to assuage some concerns a couple of days back with a statement concerning the future of its various projects and IPs.

On the previously announced The Elder Scrolls 6, the studio said, “The next chapter is on the way. We’re where we planned to be, loving how it looks, and playing it every day … [TES6] is our primary development focus today, with the majority of our team currently working on the next chapter of the franchise.”

The studio also followed up on reports that multiple members of Zenimax Online Studios’ senior leadership were being let go from the company, which has resulted in over 200 redundancies from the Elder Scrolls Online developer. According to Bethesda, those remaining “will now partner closely with Bethesda Game Studios on The Elder Scrolls franchise”, in addition to working on TES6, in an effort to bring Bethesda’s teams “closer together”.

The studio also confirmed that its sci-fi RPG Starfield will continue to be supported by the developer, and “remains an important part of our future.” Even though the company seems to be prioritising other projects at the moment, the statement said as part of the title’s third year of post-launch support, the game will receive “new stories, targeted gameplay improvements, and additional updates”, along with more new Starborn content next year.

Finally, as for the future of Fallout, the studio confirmed the existence of Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 3 remasters, teased a mystery Fallout project being developed with Obsidian, and lastly, that Fallout 5 is now in preproduction.

Speaking of Obsidian, the news of collaboration with Bethesda comes amid reports that the RPG studio behind acclaimed titles like The Outer Worlds, Avowed and Fallout: New Vegas, is set to lose about a quarter of its employees across various departments in the sweeping XBOX cuts.

All this, and we’re likely to see many more layoffs in the coming months, repercussions of which will be felt for a long time in the industry already struggling with job cuts, ballooning production costs and an uncertain international market, among other things. But it’s not just with layoffs that XBOX has been brazen.

In the same statement announcing these cuts, Sharma also expressed her hopes that XBOX can be a company that “entertains more than a billion people each day”. But then again, I guess this scale of delusion is perhaps natural to expect from someone coming from an AI background, in an AI age. But if that wasn’t enough, just days after the “reset”, Sharma was set to join as an advisor to the United States Federal Reserve for Productivity and Jobs, where she will seemingly lead a task force related to, you guessed it, employment.

Amidst all this, there were also reports that more of Microsoft’s future first-party titles will likely be XBOX exclusives, a move away from the relatively-new strategy of making games available on as many platforms as possible. This also comes at a time when the company has been losing millions of subscribers following a price hike to its once-crowning-jewel, the Game Pass.

When it rains, it pours, I guess. We’ll catch you with more updates as these (and other) stories develop in the coming days.

Eyes out for

Now for some notable releases in the upcoming weeks:

• Nintendo’s Splatoon Raiders, July 23

• Halo Studios’ Halo: Campaign Evolved, July 28

• Game Freak’s Beast of Reincarnation, August 4

Read up

And here are some exciting reads for you over the weekend from our very own garage:

REVIEW

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced from the perspective of a franchise n00b

An excellent remake of a superb game, but one that still shows its age on occasion

INTERVIEW

‘Absolutely horrific’: DoesItPlay?’s Clemens Istel unpacks Sony’s latest disc-less bombshell

He talks to us about the latest developments, the need for game preservation, Stop Killing Games and more

DEVLOG

How Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced was put together

And the role Ubisoft India played in this coalition of 15 studios

DEVLOG

TCG Card Shop Simulator’s Ding Shen Sia on opening packs, trading cards, and more

OPNeon Games’ quirky sim has already sold 3.5 million copies and shows no sign of slowing down

REVIEW

D-Topia is a cosy affair that lacks the conviction to truly deliver on its premise

Marumittu Games’ latest falls short of making a statement with its critique of an AI future

REVIEW

UFC 6 is a brutal dance of blood and guts, but lacks depth in gameplay modes

An infuriatingly boring career mode doesn’t overshadow solid fighting mechanics

You can read our previous newsletters here and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram or Bluesky.

Until next time.

Well, how about the monkey’s paw that Rockstar’s GTA VI rollout is turning out to be. Sure, looks like we’ll finally have our hands on the game before the AI data centres melt this planet away, but at what cost? The game — whose mere mention makes most of the gaming community and industry wet their pants — was long seen as the title that would usher in the next generation of gaming. And I don’t mean in terms of better graphics or gameplay (or console generations, but there’s that as well). Think pricing, hardware sales, in-game monetisation, and so on. The new benchmarks and systems for most of the gaming ecosystem to look up to and adopt going into the future. Brings a tear to my eye.

What it looks like we’re actually getting is a death knell to game ownership and the future of physical media, and a legitimisation of some of the scummiest practices in the industry. And I’m not even talking about the latest accusations against the studio for ignoring pay inequity, mandating crunch, and weaponising bonuses. But before I myself am accused of singling out Rockstar or the game’s publisher Take-Two to vigorously flip off, this entire scheme seems to have been in the works for quite a while now, involving, but not restricted to, Sony and PlayStation.

After gloating about the notion that GTA VI will “play best” on PS5 on release, Sony decided to assuage fears and concerns among players over the fact that the game will not release on disc (and won’t see one in months, if ever) by announcing that there will be no discs in the future. Ever. Period. Nothing to worry or complain about in this blue-hued utopia.

What made the entire play even more diabolical, and just showcased to everyone that PlayStation doesn’t give a flying fuck, is the fact that the announcement came just a day or so after the revelation that they would be removing over 550 “previously purchased” digital movies from users’ libraries, and on the same day as the announcement of the shuttering of PS3 and Vita digital stores.

Before I go any further, if you want to read further on the above developments in a more white-collar piece which goes into why all this matters and some implications it might have, head over to Karan Pradhan’s pieces here and here. If you are a PC gamer, this will help. Believe me, we tested it out.

Now, one of the cornerstones of true ownership, for me at least, is how easy it is for one to share the owned thing. And how freely you can do so. (This, by extension, includes borrowing, reselling, bartering, etc.) The more restrictions and hoops to jump over, the more likely you don’t own that particular thing, no matter how profoundly soul-healing they make it all sound. This digital-only push cuts the legs off this fundamental concept. Then proceeds to break its arms, and smash its skull in for good measure.

It’s a monumental shift (and I don’t even particularly like that word), with far-reaching consequences and knock-on effects, some of which are probably beyond our awareness at the moment. The losses incurred by — or even the complete shuttering of— independent game retailers (and same with producers of high-quality collector’s editions), the further erosion of ownership rights in a digital-only future, and the total collapse of the second-hand market where you could trade in games, sell them onward, or just lend them to someone (all things Sony boasted it stood for not so long ago). The existence of this so-called second-hand market helped further with driving down the prices of games over a long period of time (one of the reasons why, if you were just a little patient, you could buy a PS4 game — physical or digital — for significantly lower prices down the line; something we don’t see often with the likes of Nintendo). And god forbid, if your PlayStation ID gets banned for one reason or the other, and your entire gaming library — every single game you paid for — is cooked.

And these are just some easy-to-imagine practical implications — the tip of the iceberg effects — without even getting too deep into the ideas of game preservation, or how companies and studios can retrospectively modify your games, or just the fact of being endlessly stuck downloading games that come packaged in hundreds of GBs these days every time you wish to play them. Not to mention that it won’t be the well-off regions that will be most affected by these changes.

I have to admit, I was surprised that Sony pulled the trigger on this before Microsoft, with talk of XBOX veering into the digital-only space for a long time. Well, only a matter of time. Guess it was too much for the folks in America to juggle the upcoming layoffs, studio closures, the ruination of the Game Pass, and this. (Oh, how I wish I now had something in writing to prove my deep scepticism and distrust when they were doling out those free transparent XBOXes and the corporation’s PR was at an all-time coke high. Ah, you win some, lose some.) But more to the point, look around, and you’ll see why Sony felt so emboldened taking these steps. There is little to no competition, no one standing in their way. XBOX is busy being XBOX. Whatever little hope one might have had with the Steam Machine got shot in the face with its price reveal and Valve moving the goalposts under scrutiny of its hardware capabilities (there are a couple of good things that came out of it all, but we’ll get to them some other day). And Nintendo, well, yeah…

Taken together, this is geared towards fundamentally changing the relationship console players have with gaming. (I mean, look at how PC gaming has been shaped by Valve over the years, going hand-in-hand with hardware restrictions that will now be coming to consoles with their lack of disc drives.) With a breakneck shift towards everything subscription, and cloud gaming beginning to make meaningful progress, in a not-so-distant future we might not even have consoles, let alone ownership of games. With film, television, and music having already made the jump, the target on gaming’s back has only grown bigger.

But hopefully things are not irrevocable just yet. One can see the EU lawmakers stepping in, and though far, far more far-fetched, Sony reconsidering their stand, or even some third-party stepping into this mess. If all else fails, I guess it will be up to the much-maligned-in-the-mainstream and often unsung guardians of preservation and accessibility — the pirates and the emulators.

If there is a slight bright side to this saga so far, it is that more people are taking notice of and learning about all this now. Things and concepts of much (and ever-increasing) consequence even outside the world of gaming. But as we await $1000 consoles and ballooning prices all around thanks to a rabid and unasked-for AI shove-in-the-face and weekend wars, I guess the production of physical game boxes with only codes inside that licenses the game to you sums up the times we live in. And while I never thought I’d be sharing something coming from a government, here’s an ad from Norway for some nervous giggles:

Read up

And here are some exciting reads for you over the weekend from our very own garage:

REVIEW

007 First Light plays more like a Mission: Impossible game than a James Bond one

This thrill-a-minute ride is more Ethan Hunt’s style

REVIEW

Gothic 1 Remake is a loving restoration of a game that truly mattered

A modern-day stroll through an older era of game development

REVIEW

Copa City is a fantastic concept marred by cumbersome gameplay and design

A ludicrously long tutorial and needlessly complex menus are only the tip of the iceberg

You can read our previous newsletters here and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram or Bluesky.

Until next time.

Then, three days later, the memo dropped.

On June 10, Sharma and chief content officer Matt Booty published what they called the “Next 100 Days: Xbox Reset” — a stunningly candid public admission that the XBOX business is in serious trouble. The numbers contained therein are stark: Leaving aside the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Microsoft spent over $20 billion on content, platform, and hardware subsidies over the past five years, and annual revenue still fell by nearly half a billion dollars. Notably, while Sharma didn’t mention layoffs in the memo, Bloomberg mentioned them for her, reporting that major cuts are coming in July.

The memo also surfaced something strange about the showcase itself. A PlayStation 5 logo was briefly visible in an early version of the Gears of War: E-Day trailer before being quietly edited out, leading to widespread speculation that the decision to make the game an XBOX exclusive was made very close to the show — possibly after marketing materials for a multiplatform release had already been made. While we’re not sure if this was a Sharma decision or a… Booty call (sorry, I could not humanly resist), Xbox VP of marketing Aaron Greenberg said he was aware of the exclusivity call “a month in advance.” It is also being reported that the exclusivity pivot may have damaged XBOX’s relationship with PlayStation.

Then came June 15 and 16, and the story got considerably worse.

News began trickling in that Compulsion Games — the Montreal studio that made the excellent South of Midnight (check out the review) last year — and Double Fine Productions are in active negotiations to spin off from XBOX to avoid closure. The shuttering of Cambridge-based Ninja Theory, which had just announced Senua at the showcase nine days earlier, was confirmed on Monday morning. According to other reports, Arkane Lyon — the studio behind Dishonored, Deathloop, and the in-development Marvel’s Blade — is also on the list of studios facing “real concern”.

The through-line that is hard to escape is structural. These are all mid-tier, critically-acclaimed studios whose games launch day one on XBOX Game Pass. When a subscriber plays your game through a subscription rather than buying it, the economics that Microsoft uses to value a studio’s output simply don’t work the same way. The Reset memo makes this visible: A total of $20 billion in and revenue still falling. Ninja Theory made Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice and its sequel, announced a third game last week, and is now closed. That nine-day gap — announcement to shutdown — is the clearest single illustration of what the Reset is actually doing. As mentioned earlier, layoffs are expected in the first week of July. The next two weeks will likely be worse than the fortnight past.

Amidst all of this, it is showcase season after all, which means announcements, reveals, trailers, launch dates and more. Sony’s State of Play at the start of the month was, by most accounts (including mine), the strongest PlayStation showcase in years. The headline was God of War Laufey, announced by Santa Monica Studio. There was also an extended gameplay reveal for Marvel’s Wolverine, which is now a confirmed PS5-exclusive. Until Dawn 2 was revealed. Onimusha: Way of the Sword got a September date and a playable demo announced. And Stuntman: Hollywood brought news of the very welcome return of a long-forgotten (or so it would seem) franchise.

We shifted focus days later to Summer Game Fest (check out Anirudh’s thoughts) that opened with Resident Evil Veronica — Capcom’s remake of Code: Veronica. Final Fantasy VII Revelation — the concluding chapter of the Remake trilogy, featuring Cid and Vincent Valentine and the Highwind — closed the show. And in between were the likes of Alien Isolation 2, The Wolf Among Us 2, Stellar Blade: Blood Rain, and Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance.

Nintendo Direct on June 9 closed out showcase season and comprised around 50 minutes of announcements for Switch 2. The closer was the one everyone is likely to remember: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is getting a full remake for Switch 2, this year. The teaser was brief, but enough to send the internet into the predictable spiral. Undertale’s fifth chapter was dated for June 24. Dragon’s Dogma 2 got a Dark Arisen DLC announced for October, and so on.

Eyes out for

Now for some notable releases in the upcoming weeks:

• Polychroma Games’ Until Then: Afterimages, June 18

• EA Sports’ UFC 6, June 19

• tobyfox’ Deltarune: Chapter 5, June 24

• Team Ninja’s Dead or Alive 6: Last Round, June 25

• Nintendo’s Star Fox, June 25

Read up

And here are some exciting reads for you over the weekend from our very own garage:

REVIEWS

Forza Horizon 6 and the dying art of storytelling

Playground did WHAT with Japan?

OPINION

The inevitability of digital necromancy: Has the horse of restraint long bolted?

Tupac Shakur popped up in a Stranger Than Heaven trailer 30 years after his murder

REVIEWS

Holy Plastic Bricks! LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is awesome

This is the best LEGO game in a long time, and possibly the best Batman game since Arkham Knight

TECH

The Radeon RX 9070 GRE occupies a dubious sweet-spot between the 9060 XT and 9070

Is 12 GB VRAM enough in 2026?

DEMO MODE

Demo Mode, Vol. 6: The Void, 1666: Amsterdam, and Boltgun 2

Witchy ways, a soulless void, and some horde-slaying mayhem

You can read our previous newsletters here and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram or Bluesky.

Until next time.

In the previous edition of this newsletter, we asked the question “Will there ever be a month when Sony doesn’t make the news?”. And the answer, at least on this sweltering and clammy Friday morning is a resounding no. It all begins with PlayStation boss Hermen Hulst, at an internal town hall a week-and-a-half ago, confirming rumours swirling since March that Sony’s narrative single-player games — the likes of Ghost of Yotei, Saros, Marvel’s Wolverine and such — will no longer come to PC. The six-year experiment that began with Horizon Zero Dawn in 2020 appears to be over, because according to reports, the PC ports didn’t move enough units to justify the effort. It remains to be see what happens to Nixxes, the studio Sony acquired specifically to port games to PC.

Staying with Sony, the company also raised PlayStation Plus subscription prices worldwide citing “ongoing market conditions”. Oddly, in most regions, this hike only affects new subscribers — as we observed when Microsoft raised prices of Xbox Game Pass last year. In India and Turkey, however, every existing subscriber gets moved to the new rates at their next billing after July 19. There’s no grandfathering and no grace period beyond that date for these two markets. Here then is what the prices look like now for Indian subscribers:

Outside of the Sony kingdom, four years since Microsoft announced its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the legal fallout is finally settling. A $250 million agreement filed in Delaware's Court of Chancery resolves a class action suit brought by Swedish pension fund AP7 that had argued that former CEO Bobby Kotick rushed the $95-per-share sale to protect his own position and $400 million in change-of-control benefits. Microsoft contributes 40% of the sum; the rest comes from directors and officers' insurance. Neither side admitted wrongdoing. Subject to a judge's approval, it amounts to about 30 cents per affected share. Given the circumstances, this probably suits everyone just fine.

Bungie announced last week that Destiny 2’s final content update will land on June 9, ending nearly a decade of live-service development. Significant layoffs seem like the logical (seems illogical to even write that, but here we are) next step, considering Destiny 3 has not yet been greenlit. The studio — bought by Sony for $3.6 billion in 2022 — has now written off $766 million in asset value in a single fiscal year: $201 million tied to Destiny 2’s decline, and a further $565 million impairment after Marathon shed most of its launch audience within weeks of release.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance developer Warhorse Studios revealed it is working on a Middle-earth RPG — a genuinely interesting pairing of studio DNA and IP. The studio’s dedication to grounded, historically-rooted systems could either make for the most lived-in version of JRR Tolkien’s world yet, or be a peculiar fit for a setting defined by magic and prophecy. Warhorse also confirmed a successor to Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is in development, though it may not be a direct sequel.

According to a recent financial report, Ubisoft has confirmed that new entries in all three of its flagship franchises — Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Ghost Recon — are coming before April 2029. After the complicated road of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft insists it has learned lessons. We’ve heard that before, but the studio still makes games that a lot of people play, and there’s always the possibility the next one is the one that rights the ship.

The long-rumoured third expansion (after 2015’s Hearts of Stone and 2016’s Blood and Wine) to CD Projekt Red’s Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt was finally announced this week. Songs of the Past, as it is known, is being co-developed with Fool’s Theory — the studio behind Seven: The Days Long Gone and The Thaumaturge) — and it is set to see the light of day in 2027. According to bits and bites of information that had flowed through prior to this announcement, the upcoming expansion will once again put you in the crusty ol’ boots of Geralt of Rivia, and is set to bridge the narrative gap between Witcher 3 and the upcoming Witcher 4 (where you will reportedly play as Ciri).

And finally, we return to where it all began: Sony. The company’s State of Play is slated for June 2 (next Tuesday), opening with a showcase for Marvel's Wolverine, which is now confirmed PS5-exclusive. We’ve been told there’ll be roughly an hour’s worth of announcements. Now considering the PC port decision and rising PS Plus prices, Sony will need this to go off extremely well. There’s plenty riding on it.

Eyes out for

Now for some notable releases in the upcoming weeks:

• Findie Studios’ Arcane Merchant, June 1

• Paraglacial’s Fatekeeper, June 1

• Cyanide Studios’ Tour de France 2026, June 4

• Alkimia Interactive’s Gothic Remake, June 5

• Play by Play Studios’ NBA The Run, June 9

Read up

And here are some exciting reads for you over the weekend from our very own garage:

PREVIEWS

Batten down the hatches, it’s our Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced preview

Swashbuckling chapter from nearly 20-year-old series drops on July 9

FEATURES

Potato Mode, Vol. 1: Mudrunner, Company of Heroes, and Rainbow Six Vegas 2

You have a potato, we have games

REVIEWS

Saros is an addictive bullet hell shooter, but it demands your patience

Housemarque’s followup to Returnal is a triumph, if a little light in the narrative department

REVIEWS

ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies is a CRPG evolution rather than revolution

ZA/UM’s latest is a great game, despite not being a trailblazer like Disco Elysium

You can read our previous newsletters here and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram or Bluesky.

Until next time.

It’s not been a great couple of weeks for Sony. And that’s good a starting point as any for this edition of the Story Mode Newsletter. Who’d have thought that Bungie, the studio behind Halo: Combat Evolved — a game that unarguably sold the Xbox singlehandedly — would go on to cost its owners over three-quarters of a billion dollars in losses?

In 2022, Sony bought Bungie for $3.6 billion, betting big on the studio’s live-service expertise. Four years on, the company has recorded roughly $765 million in impairment losses against Bungie’s assets for the fiscal year ending March 2026. This is basically Sony’s way of admitting that the studio is worth significantly less today than what they paid for it. As it stands, Destiny 2's player count is in freefall, and despite selling 1.2 million copies in it first month, Marathon — the game the entire acquisition arguably hinged on — isn’t the blockbuster Sony probably hoped it would be.

In other news, Sony was at the heart of a DRM-related controversy that threw a bunch of PlayStation players in full panic after newly purchased digital games appeared to carry a 30-day countdown timer. In essence, if you missed the window without an internet connection to validate your licence, it would expire. Sony eventually clarified that it was a one-time check only, and that once the console had connected to the internet, the licence would become permanent. You can’t help feel that if they’d communicated this step clearly and transparently, it wouldn’t have resulted in the sort of online ballyhoo we saw. And both of these bits of news seemed to overshadow the launch of Housemarque’s Saros. At the time of writing, we’re still playing it and will be back with a review shortly. For now, if you enjoyed Returnal, all signs point to you enjoying the studio’s latest outing as well. It’s got the same sort of bullet hell

Moving on, French studio Spiders that is responsible for such titles as GreedFall and Steelrising, has seemingly downed shutters for good after publisher Nacon failed to find a buyer for the studio. Elsewhere, the global games industry hit a record $195.6 billion in content revenue in 2025, yet more than 44,000 development jobs have been cut since 2022, and layoffs have continued into 2026. More damning than that is the fact that revenue growth has clustered around a tiny group of live-service titles; Roblox alone accounted for 67% of net market growth in 2025, with GTA Online generating roughly $500 million a year and Fortnite on track for $6 billion in 2026. Everyone else is fighting for scraps.

Meanwhile, Subnautica 2 has been among the most wishlisted game on Steam for nine consecutive months, and it should not have had a complicated road to launch. And yet publisher Krafton allegedly attempted to delay and derail the project specifically to avoid paying a $250 million bonus to Unknown Worlds’ founders, with reports suggesting Krafton’s strategy sessions involved consulting ChatGPT. A judge disagreed with the approach, forcibly reinstating ousted CEO Ted Gill, and the game is now confirmed for early access this week on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and day one into Game Pass. It is, against all odds, actually coming out.

Speaking of stuff that’s coming out this year, we finally got a good long look at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s upcoming Stranger Than Heaven. Aside from a release window of “this winter”, we also got a closer look at the story, characters and overall premise. In short then, the game traces the fortunes of one Makoto Daito, born in the US to an American father and Japanese mother, who stows away on a ship in 1915 San Francisco. He crosses paths with Orpheus (a smuggler voiced by Snoop Dogg), who becomes his mentor and gateway into Japan’s underworld. The story unfolds across five decades and five cities — Kokura, Kure, Osaka, Atami, and finally Shinjuku in 1965. A major strand of the game revolves around Makoto’s parallel life as a showman — collecting sounds from the world around him, crafting original music, assembling bands, and staging performances across the country in a rags-to-riches rise through Japan’s early entertainment industry. The showcase also hinted at deeper ties to the Yakuza universe, suggesting the game could serve as a prequel or origin story for elements seen in RGG’s existing titles. Plenty to be excited about!

Eyes out for

Now for some notable releases in the upcoming weeks:

• Supermassive Games’ The Dark Pictures: Directive 8020, May 12

• Playground Games’ Forza Horizon 6, May 19

• Toge Productions’ Coffee Talk Tokyo, May 21

• ZA/UM’s ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies, May 21

• TT Games’ LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, May 22

Read up

And here are some exciting reads for you over the weekend from our very own garage:

TECH

GeForce NOW is out in the wild, and I hate how good it is

This is, for many, the only way to play games 'the way they were meant to be played'

REVIEWS

Tides of Tomorrow stylishly paints colourful vision of an ugly future

Plasticpunk narrative adventure pushes the boundaries of asynchronous multiplayer

REVIEWS

Replaced is a masterclass in cinematic game design

More immersive than many a book, more cinematic than many films

MOBILE MODE

Vol 1: The Division Resurgence, Beyond a Steel Sky, and Retrocade

A round-up of mobile games that are (and aren't) worth your time!

REVIEW

Pragmata is Capcom’s latest blockbuster franchise, for all the right reasons

Nearly six years since its announcement, the game lives up to all the expectation

REVIEW

Mixtape is the quintessential feel good hit of the summer

Think Dazed and Confused as a narrative-adventure title, and you’ve got Mixtape

You can read our previous newsletters here and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram or Bluesky.

Until next time.

We’re in April already and after the usual slow start to the year, things are picking up, especially when it comes to the announcements for new games and release dates. But before we get to those properly, a few other bits and bobs of news.

Grand Theft Auto VI developer Rockstar confirmed over the weekend that it has been hacked (again) by a third party after a hacking group issued a ransom demand. “Rockstar Games. Your Snowflake instances were compromised thanks to Anodot.com. Pay or leak,” the hacking group reportedly demanded, with the ransom deadline set to April 14.

In a statement, the developer said that only a “limited amount of non-material” data was collated, and will have “no impact” on the studio, its staff, or its players. Back in 2022, teenager Arion Kurtaj had used a similar method to hack and then leak assets taken from the then-unannounced GTA VI.

Meanwhile, just as a number of studios have been pivoting to AI tools, Take-Two Interactive, the parent company Rockstar Games, has reportedly laid off its AI team, including its head of AI, Luke Dicken.

“It’s truly disappointing that I have to share with you that my time with T2 — and that of my team — has come to an end,” Dicken wrote on LinkedIn, before sharing some of the skills of his team, and asking for help finding them new positions. Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick has recently been hot and cold on the subject of AI, on the one hand stating AI is incapable of creativity of its own (calling the idea of generative AI making anything like GTA “laughable”), but also open on exploring how to incorporate the technology into game development.

And now onto some announcements.

• Fans of the post-apocalyptic Metro franchise — based on the works of Russian writer Dmitry Glukhovsky — rejoice: Metro 2039 has been confirmed, and its Ukrainian developer 4A Games will share a first look at the game later this week on April 16. This will be the fourth mainline entry from 4A Games in the series, following Metro 2033 (2010), Metro: Last Light (2013), and Metro Exodus (2019).

• Epic Games is reportedly all set to release an Arc Raiders-like shooter later this year. According to a report, the Fortnite developer is working with Disney to develop a “shooting game along the lines of Embark Studios’ hit Arc Raiders, but with Disney characters battling enemies until they can reach an extraction point”. This comes on the heels of the company laying off over 1,000 employees just last month following a “downturn” in engagement.

• Following an early 2023 reveal, we finally have some updates on Level-5’s next entry in the long-running puzzle adventure series, Professor Layton and The New World of Steam. The game is set to release later in 2026, and (perhaps more excitingly) will also launch on PlayStation 5 and PC, alongside the previously revealed Nintendo Switch 1 & 2 versions.

• Also back is Klei Entertainment’s beloved survival series Don’t Starve. The developer unveiled a brand-new multiplayer instalment in Don’t Starve Elsewhere, which promises adventure in a world filled with “strange creatures, lurking shadows, and dynamic environmental dangers”. The original Don’t Starve launched back in 2013, and was followed by co-op-focused Don’t Starve Together in 2016, and now a whole decade later, we have a third entry in the franchise.

• Developer Out of the Blue announced a release date for Call of the Elder Gods, the sequel to 2020’s acclaimed narrative puzzle adventure Call of the Sea — May 12. The new title, much like its predecessor, is a first-person adventure steeped in Lovecraftian occult ideas that sees you “journey to the far corners of the Earth and unearth ancient horrors”. The game will be coming out on Switch 2, PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S and Game Pass.

• From the makers of Art of Rally comes Over the Hill, an off-roading exploration game. And now we not only have a new trailer showcasing a new area to explore, but also the news of an upcoming closed alpha playtest you can sign up to now. Developed by Funselektor and Strelka Games, the game lets you explore the world in the “golden age of off-roading” — either solo or in co-op.

• Kraken Express’ much-anticipated PvE pirate survival game Windrose finally has a release date — players can get early access on April 14. One of Steam’s most wishlisted titles, the game is set in an alternative Age of Piracy, and features the classic “build, craft, survive” formula along with combat and exploration on land and sea.

• Here’s quite an interesting one. The publishing arm of Frostpunk developer 11 Bit Studios (behind titles such as Indika, Thaumaturge, and Death Howl) unveiled a new farming sim-slash-narrative thriller called Crop. Developed by Norwegian team Carbonara Games, the title aims to blend a Stardew Valley-esque farming experience with an A24-style horror eeriness.

Lastly, a title not coming out any time soon. Over four years since the announcement of Quantic Dream’s Star Wars Eclipse, a new report suggests that the game is “very slow going” and still looking to be “years off from completion”. Well, better later than never (I suppose).

And for some numbers now. Hazelight Studios — the developer behind local co-op games A Way Out, It Takes Two, and Split Fiction — announced that it has passed a rather large sales milestone: more than 50 million units sold. Perhaps more surprising is the game that did the heavy lifting — 2021’s It Takes Two, with an enormous 30 million in sales. 2018’s A Way Out — the company’s first game — has sold some 13 million copies, while last year’s hit Split Fiction has so far shipped 7 million copies.

In the meanwhile, Mega Crit’s Slay the Spire 2 beat Crimson Desert and Resident Evil Requiem as March’s biggest-selling game on Steam. According to a new analysis, the roguelike deckbuilder shifted an estimated 5.3 million copies, while Crimson Desert sold 1.9 million and Resident Evil Requiem sold 1.2 million.

Remember eFootball? Konami’s live service successor to football series Pro Evolution Soccer (PES)? Well, according to the studio, the game has surpassed more than one billion(!) downloads worldwide. And the milestone will be marked with a special in-game campaign and the “Master League Sprint”, inspired by the Master League event from the PES series.

And both surprising and unsurprising at the same time, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has become the most successful film released so far this year, grossing $629 million at the global box office. The sequel to 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie surpassed Ryan Gosling’s space epic blockbuster Project Hail Mary in the process.

Finally, it looks like a Metal Gear Solid movie adaptation might really be happening. Zach Lipovsky and Adam B Stein, the duo behind last year’s highly successful revival of the Final Destination franchise, have been tapped to helm the big-screen adaptation of Hideo Kojima’s acclaimed videogame series. Fingers firmly crossed.

Eyes out for

Now for some notable releases in the upcoming weeks:

• Nintendo’s Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, April 16

• Fumi Games’ MOUSE: P.I. For Hire, April 16

• Capcom’s Pragmata, April 17

Read up

And here are some exciting reads for you over the weekend from our very own garage:

REVIEW

People of Note is a chart-storming opus that strikes the odd bum note

Turn-based RPG musical isn’t afraid to crank up the volume... for better and worse

REVIEW

Fishbowl imbues a great concept with emotional depth, but it’s far from perfect

Visual novel scores high on uniqueness, loses out on pacing and writing

REVIEW / AFTER HOURS

With Send Help, Sam Raimi stages a gleefully gory comeback

Corporate hell

BACKLOGGED

Easy Delivery Co. mixes the mindful with the mundane to deliver a surprisingly memorable experience

Why does everyone think I’m Seb?

You can read our previous newsletters here.

Until next time.

A few years ago you might have been excused for thinking this was an April Fool’s gag. But in the year 2026, where all the good and fun things have been wiped out by AI and war, this is as real as it gets. In a surprise-no-surprise move, Sony announced a major global price hike for PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro — a $100 and $150 jump respectively.

If you were wondering, the console launched back in November 2020, over five years ago. In a statement, the company blamed the price bump on what it calls “continued pressures in the global economic landscape”. That is to say the ever-skyrocketing prices for components such as RAM (thanks to a massive demand from AI data centres) and supply disruptions caused by ongoing wars.

And that might not be all. According to reports, analysts suggest that it is likely that both Microsoft and Nintendo will follow suit, and increase their own prices in the near future.

What’s already happening at Microsoft though, is the scrapping of the ‘This is an Xbox’ ad campaign as part of a brand “reset” under the new Xbox boss Asha Sharma. “Asha retired ‘This is an Xbox’ because it didn’t feel like Xbox,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Windows Central. “She is personally leading a reset of how we show up as a brand.” Speaking of which, the time and date for the Xbox Games Showcase 2026 has been revealed — June 7, 10.30 pm. According to Xbox News Wire, the event will include “first gameplay looks and huge news on upcoming titles from our first-party studios across the Xbox family, as well as our third-party partners around the globe.”

Back to the present, and last week saw Xbox present its Partner Preview, a showcase designed to promote the console’s upcoming third-party games — from AAA titles to indies. Among the more eye-catching reveals were those of Teyon’s action RPG Hunter: The Reckoning — Deathwish, Owlcat’s own action RPG The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, Perfect Garbage’s narrative farming horror sim Grave Seasons, Ryu Ga Gotoku’s action-adventure Stranger Than Heaven, Annapurna Interactive’s road trip adventure Forever Ago, Rebellion’s sci-fi action horror Alien Deathstorm, and Vivix’s action-adventure Artificial Detective. You can read more about them (and many other titles), and watch their trailers here.

But things were not looking too good elsewhere as Krafton announced that its free-to-play PUBG spin-off, PUBG: Blindspot, is closing down after just two months. A relatively low-key end to the title, perhaps given it only launched in February as an early-access title. Developer Arc Team’s Sequoia Yang said in a statement that the studio was “no longer able to sustainably provide the level of experience we set out to deliver Early Access”, and will shut down servers on March 30.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, one of the biggest games in the world is facing difficulties of its own. Epic Games announced that it was cutting over 1,000 jobs as its flagship battle royale game Fortnite struggles through a “downturn” in engagement. Which raises the question: If the likes of Fortnite are not safe, what hope does your mom-and-pop games have? “Our teams will have to pick up the pieces and try to keep moving forward... but we cannot even fully understand what kind of impacts this will have on the game for the rest of the year and likely beyond,” gameplay producer Robby Williams said on social media.

Sony and PlayStation were also caught up in layoffs, as the company shut down Dark Outlaw Games, a studio founded barely a year ago. Call of Duty veteran Jason Blundell was leading the development efforts there before Sony pulled funding from the studio. Reports also suggested that PlayStation was making other cuts, including those in mobile development, with dozens of workers affected.

But onto some less gloomy news. Zero Parades: For Dead Spies — the much-anticipated espionage RPG from some of the developers behind Disco Elysium — finally has a release date: May 21. And a new franchise from CD Projekt Red? The Polish studio, in an annual earnings call to investors, said it had “established the foundations” of a brand-new gaming franchise codenamed Hadar. “Now, we have clearly defined distinguishing features of this world, and established key pillars that will not only provide the foundation for the game itself, but also, potentially, for other future products,” said joint-CEO Michał Nowakowski.

Teasing a continuation of a franchise rather than a new one was Head of Naughty Dog, Neil Druckmann. Sharing on Instagram two early sketches of Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us, Druckmann teased a “few stops” still left on the series’ “road ahead”. “Been a wild journey. Grateful for every part of it, especially the few stops that remain on the road ahead,” he wrote.

And in some news creating ripples in the Counter-Strike 2 community, Valve announced an update to the title’s reloading mechanics. Which might not sound like much, but is a massive change once you wrap your head around it, especially if you are playing competitively. Essentially, when you reload, the magazine you swap out will drop away with all the remaining ammo left in it, rather than having leftover bullets thrown back into your leftover ammo count. Diabolically clever.

Talking of a more contemporary shooter, and according to analyst estimations, Marathon, Bungie’s latest extraction shooter, has surpassed an estimated 1.2m sales. And the majority of said sales seem to have originated from PC rather than PS5. A PC port has also been helping out Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. The game has now sold over two million copies, with some 425,000 units grabbed up in its opening week of PC release.

Finally, on to some game adaptations. Netflix and Ubisoft announced that their live-action Assassin’s Creed series will be set in Rome in 64 AD and take place over 1,400 years before the events of Assassin’s Creed 2 — the first time the series visited Italy in the franchise.

And in some casting and directing news, Life is Strange TV series has landed Yellowjackets, Dead Ringers and Jennifer’s Body director, the Emmy nominee, Karyn Kusama for the first two episodes. Meanwhile, Kirsten Dunst is all set to join the upcoming Minecraft Movie sequel. She will be stepping in the shoes of Alex, one of the nine default player skins in Minecraft. Yes, this is the world we live in now.

HBO also found actors to play The Last of Us season 3’s Seraphites, Yara and Lev. Bridgerton’s Michelle Mao will play Yara, while Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’s Kyriana Kratter will play Lev. And lest we forget about Amazon, the studio’s live-action God of War series has also found its Freya in Sonya Walger, who will be playing the Vanir goddess.

Eyes out for

Now for some notable releases in the upcoming weeks:

• imissmyfriends.studio’s Fishbowl, April 2

• Iridium Studios’ People of Note, April 7

• Sad Cat Studios’ REPLACED, April 14

• Nintendo’s Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, April 16

• Fumi Games’ MOUSE: P.I. For Hire, April 16

Read up

And here are some exciting reads for you over the weekend from our very own garage:

INTERVIEW / DEVLOG

Shapeshifter’s Varun Ramanna on Flip-Flop Fury, the joy of getting weird and more

The slipper-flinger is set to get a Q2 2026 demo

TECH

DLSS 4.5 and dynamic MFG give fake frames a quality-of-life upgrade in Cyberpunk 2077 and Hogwarts Legacy

We’ve got more presets, boys!

TECH

Could an ‘AI-Slop’ Mona Lisa be better than the real thing? With Nvidia’s DLSS 5, the jury’s out

A lot depends on Nvidia delivering on its promise of handing full control over to artists.

REVIEW / AFTER HOURS

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die swings big on AI anxiety, with Sam Rockwell doing the heavy lifting

Siri, play The End by The Doors

REVIEW / SECOND OPINION

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is one long, scenic drive (and a great PC port)

I don’t have any stories of my journey through Australia.

NEWS

Xbox Partner Preview, March 2026: From Stranger Than Heaven to Artificial Detective, the best of the showcase

Signs of life

You can read our previous newsletters here.

Until next time.

Microsoft shared more details on its next-generation Xbox console, codenamed Project Helix, designed to seemingly take on both the PlayStation and the upcoming Steam Machine.

Speaking at GDC, the mega-corp’s VP of next generation Jason Ronald said, “Project Helix is designed to play your Xbox console and PC games, delivering high performance and providing the ultimate player-first experience… The days of people defining themselves as (console/PC/mobile gamer) don’t really exist anymore.” As for when developers might be able to get their hands on Project Helix, Ronald announced that the alpha versions of the console will begin shipping in 2027.

On the topic of the Steam Machine, Valve has affirmed its belief that it will be “shipping all three” (Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and Steam Controller) of its new hardware products this year, but is refraining from providing a release window. The new hardware was meant to arrive in the first quarter of this year, but this was later “revisited” to the first half of the year due to the memory and storage shortages.

Moving on to some games, and not only did Bungie’s much-talked-about Marathon receive its first patch, in a nice little surprise, the artist (Fern “Antireal” Hook) whose work was used in the extraction shooter without their permission has now been credited as a visual design consultant following the game’s release.

Meanwhile, the release of Mega Crit’s Slay the Spire 2 drew a massive peak of over half a million concurrent Steam players last weekend. The release turned out to be so successful that the studio’s co-founder and developer Casey Yano admitted that a “congratulations” post to the Marathon development team (both games released simultaneously) “seems a bit meaner than it was intended”. Mega Crit’s X account had posted a tongue-in-cheek support: “Congratulations to the Marathon team on their launch! Don’t let small indie passion projects like this pass you by just because Slay the Spire 2 is out.” Marathon brought in a peak of 88,337 concurrent players, while Slay the Spire 2 dropped a 430,456 concurrent players at launch.

In some more good news when it comes to extraction shooters, Arc Raiders finally addressed one of the worst sticking points of the game. Developer Embark Studios’ CEO Patrick Söderlund revealed that they have re-recorded some of its AI-generated voice lines. “There is a quality difference. A real professional actor is better than AI; that’s just how it is,” he said in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz.

In the meantime, Resident Evil director Shinji Mikami, who departed Bethesda’s Tango Gameworks in 2023, has revealed a new studio named Unbound, which will be developing an “original IP” AAA project. But it looks like when a door opens for someone, another one closes for someone else. In a disappointing turn of events, NetEase has reportedly cut funding for Nagoshi Studio, the studio formed by Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi. The studio had been working on its inaugural game, the Ma Dong-seok-starrer Gang of Dragon, and will most likely be looking for new sources of funding.

Things are not looking too good at EA’s ‘Battlefield Studios’. Despite a record-breaking launch for Battlefield 6 towards the end of last year, EA has laid off an unspecified number of staff across its Battlefield teams, impacting workers at Criterion, Dice, Ripple Effect, and Motive Studios. While the game had an impressive start, it has struggled to maintain that momentum, with daily numbers dwindling and community criticisms mounting over its handling of skins, masks, and the game’s battle royale mode, known as RedSec. Layoffs have also affected Warner Bros Montréal with several developers announcing on LinkedIn that they’re now looking for work.

Back to some games, and looks like Bethesda’s Starfield PS5 release announcement is imminent. Rumoured to be out on April 7, the studio teased more news on the title “next week”. Another game gearing up for its debut on PS5 (and Switch 2) is Compulsion Games’ current Xbox exclusive, South of Midnight. The 2025 action-adventure game is set to hit the other platforms on March 31.

And speaking of releases, Capcom’s much-anticipated sci-fi title Pragmata has a new release date. But instead of a delay, the game’s been pushed forward by a week, now making its debut on April 17.

A quick runback to some numbers, and Silent Hill 2 Remake, created by Bloober Team in partnership with Konami, has now surpassed 5 million sales worldwide. And in a surprising turn, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 broke its own concurrent record on Steam last weekend as players jumped into the series’ ten-year anniversary celebrations.

Finally, here’s a new trailer for Super Mario Galaxy Movie, with Luis Guzman’s Wart joining the fray:

Eyes out for

Now for some notable releases in the upcoming weeks:

• Pearl Abyss’ Crimson Desert, March 19

• Arc System Works’ DAMON and BABY, March 25

• Milestone S.r.l’s Screamer, March 26

• Deck Nine’s Life Is Strange: Reunion, March 26

Read up

And here are some exciting reads for you over the weekend from our very own garage:

REVIEW

Resident Evil Requiem is one the best games in the franchise, and hopefully the last of its kind

As good as Requiem is, I think Capcom has extracted all they can from the RE formula.

REVIEW

Escape from Ever After is a memorable look at life after the fairy tale ends

What happens when the magic of Paper Mario meets the satire of Shrek?

PREVIEWS

Demo Mode, Vol. 4: Arksync, Atmosfar, and Mecha Legends

Monstrous mechs, collapsing planets, and a determined teddy bear.

AFTER HOURS / REVIEW

Alan Ritchson can’t quite rescue War Machine from familiar trappings

A creature feature on autopilot

AFTER HOURS

Existentialism and sci-fi collide in the French techno-noir Mars Express

Crimes of the future

You can read our previous newsletters here.

Until next time.

Fashionably Festively late this time around, but as they say in these parts, bhagwan ke ghar mein der hai, andher nahi. Make what you will of that.

So, Highguard. After less than six weeks, developer Wildlight has announced it will be “permanently” shutting down its free-to-play hero shooter come March 12. “Despite the passion and hard work of our team, we have not been able to build a sustainable player base to support the game long term,” the developer said in a statement. The game which infamously closed out The Game Awards 2025 has had a patchy run of it since its launch in January this year.

In a separate post, the game’s director Chad Grenier responded to a question as to why the team is not “riding out the year 1 road map to see if it bounces back?”, while being pointed to No Man’s Sky’s famous turnaround: “Not enough revenue to keep anyone employed to work on it, unfortunately.”

But the game will see a final update going live in a few days featuring a new Warden, a new weapon, account level progression, and skill trees. Something the team likely worked on before the decision to terminate was made final, and understandably would like to showcase before the lights go out.

Another live service that will be seeing layoffs soon is Skate. Developer Full Circle (part of EA’s studio network) announced “changes to [its] team structure”, at the company. The studio said it is “transforming”, which will see it “reshaping to better support Skate’s long-term future and focus the team on the things that matter most” to players. This said transformation will unfortunately include said layoffs. “Our commitment to Skate, and to the millions of players who believe in it, remains strong,” the developer added.

But moving on to some more positive developments, and first off it’s Doom: The Dark Ages. Or more specifically an upcoming DLC for it. If game director Hugo Martin is to be believed, it is so massive that it’s practically a sequel. “It’s massive. It’s so big,” he said talking on the Slayers Club livestream. “I know it’s been a while since we’ve shipped the main game, and you’re waiting for the DLC, but just know that it’s freaking huge. It’s basically a sequel. That’s what it feels like. It’s just ginormous. I love that.” So do we Martin, so do we.

And after fumbling with God of War Sons of Sparta, it looks like Sony Santa Monica is working on “a new franchise within the God of War universe”. That’s according to a now-deleted LinkedIn post by a former senior writer at the studio. But a couple of titles definitely in the works are Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced and Goritaire.

The former — one of the worst-kept industry secrets — was made official in a newly released blog post by the studio outlining the future of the series (along with an artwork). But this is not the only Assassin’s Creed title, currently in works. In an interview with Variety, Ubisoft co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot said, “Under the Assassin’s Creed brand, several titles are in development, spanning both single-player and multiplayer experiences… On Far Cry, anticipation is high, and we currently have two very promising projects in development.” Well, then.

Back to the gloriously named Goritaire, it is a card-based survival game with (you guessed it) gorillas, by Arc System Works, the studio best known for its fighting games including the Guilty Gear and the BlazBlue series. More importantly, the game is out in just a few weeks — March 18 on PS5, Switch, iOS, and Android.

Another game that now has a release date is Insomniac’s much-anticipated (and PlayStation 5 exclusive) Marvel’s Wolverine: September 15. And if you are a fan of Slay the Spire, the phenomenally-successful roguelike deck-builder’s sequel will be releasing in early access on March 5. (It might already be out as you read this.)

Speaking of PlayStation exclusives, according to a report, it looks like Sony is abandoning its strategy of bringing its first-party PS games to PC, with the company now set to return to console-only releases for all but a select number of online (the likes of Marathon and Marvel Tokon) titles.

And keeping up with Sony, after the company patented an AI gaming ghost earlier this year that will play PS games for you when you get stuck, it looks like Microsoft and Xbox are following suit. A similarly themed patent filing was spotted from the tech giant, this time concerning an AI helper that can temporarily take over an Xbox session and play a game for you. In my day we used to call it the skip button.

But moving on from games and tech of the future to things that are already out, and it looks like Capcom’s Resident Evil Requiem has become the biggest title in the franchise. Not only did it sport a massive concurrent player count on Steam, it has already sold more than 5 million copies in less than a week.

But back to some more God of War, and the cast of Amazon’s live adaptation keeps expanding with Ed Skrein being cast as Baldur, Thor’s sons Modi and Magni will be played by Louis Cunningham and Ben Chapple respectively, Evelyn Miller will star as Gna — Odin’s Valkyrie commander — and Island Austin as Thor’s daughter Thrud. We also had our first official glimpse of Ryan Hurst as Kratos and Callum Vinson as Atreus, and BOY it does not look very good. Fingers firmly crossed.

Amazon has also cast the two leads for the upcoming Life is Strange TV series. Chloe Price and Max Caulfield will be played by Maisy Stella and Tatum Grace Hopkins respectively. And lastly, and quite excitingly to be honest, Yoko Taro — best known for his work on the Nier and Drakengard series — will be writing a new Evangelion series!

Eyes out for

Now for some notable releases in the upcoming weeks:

• WorldWideSoftware’s Fortuna Magus, March 5

• Sedleo’s 1348 Ex Voto, March 12

• Tactical Adventures’ Solasta II, March 12

• Saber Interactive’s John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando, March 12

• Visual Concepts’ WWE 2K26, March 13

• Capcom’s Monster Hunter Stories 3, March 13

• Pearl Abyss’ Crimson Desert, Match 20

Read up

And here are some exciting reads for you over the weekend from our very own garage:

INTERVIEW / DEVLOG

Swery65 on Hotel Barcelona Under New Management, working with Suda51 and more

The White Owls founder just unveiled the rebooted version of last year’s Hotel Barcelona

FEATURE

Putting form over narrative, Romeo is a Dead Man slashes through my preconceptions

Making sense of one of the biggest sensory overloads of the year so far

FEATURE

Tracing the evolution of Life is Strange with Reunion on the horizon

What does Chapter 3 of the Max Caulfield story have in store?

PREVIEWS / NEXT FEST

PART 1: Deep Snow Delivery, Starship Troopers UBW, and Sudden Strike 5

PART 2: Armatus, Grind Survivors, and Paperhead

PART 3: A Bumpy Ride, Deadline Delivery, and Wanderberg

You can read our previous newsletters here.

Until next time.

The past fortnight brought with it a barrage of news and updates on upcoming film and television adaptations of videogames, including one relating to everyone’s favourite, Baldur’s Gate 3. But more on that in a bit. To begin with, Sony’s first State of Play of the year.

While the hour-long showcase was packed with a lot of stuff we’d seen already, there were some interesting reveals — one of the highlights being the announcement of a remake of the original God of War trilogy, as well as a shadow drop of Mega Cat Studios and Santa Monica Studio’s Sons of Sparta — a 2D action platformer prequel to the entire saga, focused on a young Kratos. (And you can read our impressions of the game here.)

Konami also joined in with multiple announcements of their own, including a new Silent Hill game called Townfall, an upcoming Castlevania title — celebrating 40 years of the franchise and the first 2D game in the series in some 18 years — Belmont’s Curse, a JRPG by the name of Rev. Noir, and the release of a demo for Darwin’s Paradox.

Other more curious reveals included an AAA John Wick game by Saber Interactive, a sequel to Kena: Bridge of Spirits, and Krafton Montréal Studio’s Project Windless, based on the high-fantasy South Korean novel series, The Bird That Drinks Tears. We now also have a release date for Game Freak’s Beast in Reincarnation — August 4, 2026. You can read more about the showcase and check out all the game trailers here.

Meanwhile, to absolutely no one’s surprise, Discord was having a rotten time with announcing a global age-verification program to access certain settings, channels, and “sensitive content”. The company, known for its poor security and data breaches in the past, began flip-flopping just as the backlash mounted. First it was that not everyone would be required to verify, then a somersault on their claim that the verification data will not leave one’s phone, and then the fact itself that the company has tied up with age-assurance vendor Persona, which is bankrolled by, among others, Palantir founder, Peter Thiel. Back to TeamSpeak then, eh?

Another enterprise not having the best of times has been developer Wildlight, which laid off an unspecified number of its Highguard development team just a few weeks after the game’s contentious release. But the hero shooter will survive (for now), with the studio handing the game to a “core group of developers” to keep it going.

More layoffs came from 10 Chambers, the developer behind GTFO and Den of Wolves. The studio announced that it had undertaken a significant restructuring “impacting a large number of roles, including several of the studio’s co-founders”.

Moving to some more positive news, and Josef Fares, founder of Hazelight Studios, has revealed that he and his team are working on a new game following quite the critical and commercial success of their last title, Split Fiction. Details are scant at this moment, but the title seems to be in active development.

But speaking of something closer to release, we have a date for sci-fi horror Directive 8020. Supermassive Games, the studio behind Until Dawn and The Quarry, revealed that the game will now come out on May 12 this year on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Meanwhile, according to reports, Xbox is planning to release Gears of War E-Day in the second half of 2026, while Halo: Combat Evolved is tentatively targeting a launch some time this summer. Like much of the industry, the games will be looking to dodge the launch of Grand Theft Auto 6.

On to some numbers then, and Mewgenics, the latest release by Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel, sold over 150K copies in just six hours after its release, making back the development costs and gaining itself a place at the top of Steam’s Top Sellers list in the process. Embark Studios’ Arc Raiders continued its strong run, clocking nearly a million concurrent players just on PC last month. In the meantime, Team Ninja’s Nioh 3 reached almost 90,000 concurrent players on PC after launch, over doubling the series record.

And following a major Overwatch 2 revamp (renamed to just Overwatch, among other updates), Blizzard’s multiplayer FPS saw a massive surge in engagement, not only in number of players (some 165K on PC), but also in people watching it over Twitch (nearly 100K), making it the most viewed game by some way.

Now back to the previously promised updates on some videogame adaptations. Baldur’s Gate 3 is coming to television, and that too from HBO’s The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin. But there’s a catch — developer Larian won’t be directly involved in the proceedings.

Behaviour Interactive’s Dead by Daylight film has also found its writers in David Leslie Johnston-McGoldrick (The Conjuring) and Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes and Crawl).

Speaking of finding creative collaborators, and the Helldivers live-action movie has found its lead in Jason Momoa, who has previously starred in Minecraft and Street Fighter adaptations. Sega’s The House of the Dead movie also found its lead in Isabela Merced, who played the role of Dina in the second season of HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation, and also appeared in the likes of Superman and Alien: Romulus.

Lastly in some casting news, the upcoming God of War series has finally found its Atreus in Callum Vinson. This follows the casting of Alastair Duncan as Mimir, Mandy Patinkin and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Odin respectively, and Ryan Hurst taking the lead role of Kratos.

And finally, cult Japanese horror game Exit 8 has a new film trailer out ahead of an April release:

Eyes out for

Now for some notable releases in the upcoming weeks:

• brlka’s LOVE ETERNAL, February 19

• Cyanide Studio’s Styx: Blades of Greed, February 19

• D.A.G Inc’s Tales of Berseria Remastered, February 26

• Capcom’s Resident Evil Requiem, February 27

Read up

And here are some exciting reads for you over the weekend from our very own garage:

REVIEW

Nothing in art, gaming, or cinema will prepare you for Reanimal

Reanimal is raw emotion: Unsettling, terrifying, and stark

OPINION

God of War Sons of Sparta is a painful reminder of Aladdin and The Lion King

I’m not convinced this game is a step in the right direction for the series

PREVIEW

Demo Mode, Vol 3: Replaced, Reanimal, and The Irony

Incredible artwork, sound design, and gameplay from some very talented developers.

DEVLOG

Satyajit Chakraborty on The Great Indian Safari, wildlife, nuance and more

Flying Robot Studios’ photography and management sim is set to release later this year

TECH

AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D improves upon perfection, but only just

World’s fastest, but not by much.

REVIEW

Earth Must Die is a feisty if flawed throwback to classic point-and-clicks

Come for the snappy writing, stay for the orgies

NEWS

State of Play, February 2026: God of War and Konami take centre stage

And a rather aggressive chicken

You can read our previous newsletters here.

Until next time.

What’s better than not having to work on a Monday? Not having to work on a Tuesday as well. Or the whole week. Or your entire life. Sure, but have you considered a gaming newsletter? While the others are mere fantasy, this is as real as that Monday morning migraine. You’re welcome.

Starting off with the Xbox Developer Direct, and after months of waiting we finally got an extended look at the Playground Games’ Fable. And it looks… alright, I suppose. If you love chicken-related gags over and over again, this just might be your jam. But it was not the only title being shown off.

We also got a preview of Playground Games’ other upcoming release, the Japan-set Forza Horizon 6, as well as Game Freak’s (yes, the Pokémon developer) action RPG Beast of Reincarnation and Double Fine’s latest eccentricity, pot-based (the clay kind) Kiln. Only Forza got a definite release date — that of May 18 — but the rest will be out this year as well.

Speaking of eccentricities, Nintendo announced that their upcoming social sim, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, will be out on April 16 this year. This will be the third entry in the series that sees players take the role of Mii characters living on a remote island. Among other things, this year’s title will introduce advanced customisation for characters, more ways for players to control interactions, and same-sex relationships.

Moving from to-be-released to just-released, and Wildlight Entertainment’s much-discussed (not in a good way) PvP live-service hero shooter Highguard opened to an almost 100K concurrent players on PC, but struggled with a slew of negative reviews from players, including review-bombing on Steam. Critics were a little more level-headed and forgiving, and a number of developers even came in defence of the title. Since its release on January 26, the game has received a patch fixing a bunch of issues, and has seen its rating go up from mostly negative to mixed on Steam. Perhaps better days lie ahead.

But not so much for Intrepid Studios’ MMORPG Ashes of Creation. The game that raised over $3 million on Kickstarter back in 2017 is facing a crisis after its director and creator Steven Sharif resigned “in protest” against decisions his board was making that he could “not ethically agree with or carry out”. This followed further resignations across the senior leadership, after which the Board “proceed[ed] with a mass layoff”.

Things were also not looking too good at Ubisoft, which announced a “major organisational, operational and portfolio reset to reclaim creative leadership and restore sustainable growth”, and canned six games including Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. You can read all about it in detail here.

Something that’s definitely in development is the highly-anticipated Haunted Chocolatier. Stardew Valley creator Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone shared an update on his next game, saying he has been working on the game and has “been very productive lately”, but was not ready yet to give out a release date. “I’m alive, the game is still in development, and it will come out when it’s ready.” As we say here at Story Mode, better late than broken.

But back to Nintendo for a minute, and AdHoc, the studio behind last year’s acclaimed title Dispatch, found itself in strange waters after the Switch version of the game featured censorship (with the option of turning it on and off removed unlike other platform releases). First, the studio said in a statement that the “core narrative and gameplay experience remains identical to the original release” regardless of the censorship. Next, Nintendo chipped in saying that the company “requires all games on its platforms to receive ratings from independent organisations and to meet our established content and platform guidelines”, and that they do not “make changes to partner content”. Finally (as of now), AdHoc issued another statement insisting it was not “trying to hide” a disclaimer about censored content on Switch, but that it inadvertently put the notice in “the absolute worst spot” on the Nintendo eShop. Classic goof up, innit?

Meanwhile over at Valve, a major update dropped for Deadlock, bringing six new characters to the roster, a new game mode, and various quality-of-life tweaks. The MOBA, first unveiled in 2024, is still invite-only, with no release date in sight.

On the topic of release dates and playing with friends, Tarsier Studios’ Little Nightmares spiritual successor Reanimal will come with a friend’s pass for easy co-op, much like last year’s Split Fiction. Meaning you’ll be able to invite friends to play the game even if they don’t own it (but enjoy twisted horror games, of course).

Moving on to some numbers, and the Metal Gear Solid series has now sold over 65.5 million copies worldwide following the release of Metal Gear Delta: Snake Eater Delta last year, according to Konami. Also selling well has been Switch 2 Zelda spin-off Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, with a million copies shipped in less than three months.

And finally, onto some news related to upcoming video game adaptations, and Amazon’s live-action God of War has added a few more names to its cast. After the announcements of Ryan Hurst as Kratos, Teresa Palmer as Phoebe/Sif and Max Parker as Heimdall, we now understand that Severance actor Ólafur Darri Ólafsson will portray the Norse God of Thunder, Thor, while Homeland actor Mandy Patinkin will play the role of Odin. Meanwhile, Amazon’s other series, Tomb Raider, starring Sophie Turner as Lara Croft and Sigourney Weaver as Evelyn Wallis, began filming in London.

Eyes out for

Now for some notable releases in the upcoming weeks:

• Square Enix and HEXADRIVE Inc’s DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined, February 5

• Team Ninja’s Nioh 3, February 5

• Bit Egg Inc’s Lost and Found Co, February 6

• Grasshopper Manufacture’s ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN, February 11

• Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties, February 11

• Camelot Software Planning’s Mario Tennis Fever, February 12

• Tarsier Studios’ REANIMAL, February 13

• Squanch Games’ High On Life 2, February 13

Read up

And here are some exciting reads for you over the weekend from our very own garage:

DROP C++

Vol 11: An audience with Peter Broderick

His project The White Mages is set to drop its Ode to Final Fantasy album in March

REVIEW

Cairn is a spectacular game that will test every ounce of your patience

‘Because it’s there.’

OPINION

WWE 2K26 to focus on the ‘Attitude Era’: Yawns, groans, sighs and some concerns

‘Going to the well once too often’, ‘flogging a dead horse’ or just creative bankruptcy?

OPINION

What’s new, Ubisoft? Woe, woe, woe…

New pivot is the latest nail in the company’s coffin, but will it be the final one?

PREVIEW

Demo Mode, Vol. 2: Empty Shell 2, Shadow Project, and Shell Soldier

A roundup of the best demos we’ve played all week!

BACKLOGGED

Tokyo Underground Killer could have been a Japanese Max Payne

Shed a tear for what could have been.

NEWS

AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D to launch on 29 January at $499

The ‘world’s fastest gaming CPU’ is fractionally faster than the one that came before it.

OPINION

Highguard could’ve actually been a great single-player action-adventure RPG

With a cool concept and pretty entertaining gameplay mechanics, I’d have enjoyed this more on my own

You can read our previous newsletters here.

Until next time.

The first ones are always a bit strange. There is a sense of having made it to a conventional milestone (mostly unscathed), but then you step back a little, and it all also seems like a speck of dust in the ever-raging dance of human endeavour on the interwebs. Either way, this project has been the centre of the universe for Karan Pradhan, Anirudh Regidi and me for over the last year-and-a-half, from back when we first started discussing the possibility of it in 2024.

It was a time when we all had regular jobs and gigs, we ate healthy and had time to watch Gilmore Girls. But, like many of our colleagues in journalism, we had been hollowed out from the inside by an increasingly — to use a more contemporary word — entshittified industry. To go independent looked ever so enticing, even if nerve-racking.

And so we did.

It felt like leaving home for the first time. You’re somewhat nervous, apprehensive, and always on your toes. But the sheer freedom and the thrill of the unknown more than makes up for it. After years, we were leaving behind SEO-driven newsrooms and peanuts-for-salaries; no tears were shed.

And this is how we defined what we were aiming for with Story Mode:

An independent gaming and gaming-adjacent magazine run by journalists with an extensive background in the industry; its mission is simple: To tell stories about games, the people who make them and those who play them.

Among its key objectives are:

- discussing games beyond frame rates, ray-tracing and resolution;

- shining a light on the local (and near-local) gaming scene;

- covering gaming through a variety of interviews, analyses and opinions;

- highlighting issues that affect Indian gamers, developers and publishers.

A year on, and we’ve stuck closely to it. In the process, we’ve brought you wide-ranging reviews, interviews, features, news, and of course, this newsletter. We’ve worked to cover everything from AAA titles to indie ones, from Indian artists and developers to those from across the world. (But enough of tooting our own horns; we’ll let the website speak for itself.)

After combined decades in the industry, you would assume you’d know a thing or two about how it all works, but running your own publication it has been a learning experience, and not without its frustrations. But equally, also a source of much joy and a sense of unburdened accomplishment.

That said, as we enter our second year, there is much that remains to be done (something I feel will hold true no matter how many years pass by). But we couldn't be more excited about it. To tell better stories, and expand our horizons. To bring you some of the best gaming coverage from the Indian subcontinent.

Thank you for all your support and encouragement. After all, we made this for you.

Until next time.

Read up

And here are some exciting reads for you over the weekend from our very own garage:

FEATURE

Story Mode’s most anticipated games of 2026: A shortlist

New year, new games

FEATURE

With the new year underway, some predictions for the next 365 days

Trends, developments and delays that we expect in 2026

DROP C++

Vol 10: An audience with Jitin David and Finny Kurian

The duo is working on Tathvamasi Studios’ upcoming 2D rhythm platformer Suri: The Seventh Note

REVIEW

Sleep Awake is a psychedelic trip through hell that trips over its gameplay

The not-so-perfect drug

BACKLOGGED

Thank Goodness You’re Here! is the finest Yorkshire-based game you’ll play

It’s certainly the most hilarious anyway

You can read our previous newsletters here.

Greetings, and welcome to the final edition of our newsletter for the year 2025. If it were up to me, I’d skip it altogether and carry on with my New Year’s Eve plans, but since most of you have none (alright, apart from gaming), here we are. The least I can do is keep it short and tight.

Was it a great year for gaming? Well, it was alright. Was it a bad one? Could have been worse. All in all, it was that kind of 12 months — neither really here nor there. Some great games and surprises, as well as plenty of stinkers in the cycle. All played out in an industry desperately in need of some self-reflection and course correction.

We here at Story Mode have done a bit of contemplating and recapping ourselves, looking at some of the best titles of the year, things that worked and didn’t work for us, both in gaming and tech. And to top it all off, we now have a YouTube channel. Go have a look (and subscribe!).

Meanwhile, in the news this fortnight, it looks like a coming together of most of the issues that have plagued the industry this year.

To begin with, Swen Vincke, the CEO of Baldur’s Gate 3 and Divinity developer Larian, responded to the massive backlash the studio has received since confirming its use of generative AI. “Holy fuck guys, we’re not ‘pushing hard’ for or replacing concept artists with AI,” began his post, pointing out that Larian has “a team of 72 artists, of which 23 are concept artists, and we are hiring more”.

In a further statement to IGN, Vincke added, “We are neither releasing a game with any AI components, nor are we looking at trimming down teams to replace them with AI.”

Another studio that has found itself in hot water this year is Bungie, which announced that its much-troubled Marathon finally has a release window and price, six months after being delayed indefinitely. The live-service extraction shooter will now launch for PlayStation 5 and PC in March next year for £35. But things still don’t seem quite settled behind the scenes, as days after the announcement, the title’s art director and veteran Bungie developer Joseph Cross announced his departure from the company, which has been rocked by a plagiarism scandal (among other issues) as it tries to move in a different artistic direction.

And remember “crunch”? Naughty Dog, the makers of The Last of Us and the Uncharted series, recently ordered its employees to take on “mandatory” overtime — aka crunch — in order to finalise a demo for its next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

According to a report, the studio asked its staff to work a minimum of eight extra hours a week, with developers also instructed to come into the office five days a week (up from the previous three-day office mandate).

In the meantime, after Amazon’s decision to gut its video game division in October as part of 14,000 company-wide layoffs, Ubisoft has announced that it will acquire one of its studios — Amazon Games Montreal — which is currently developing the MOBA March of Giants.

And in another bit of studio news, the drawn-out lawsuit between Sony and Tencent over the “Horizon clone” Light of Motiram has come to an end following a confidential settlement, with the game now having been delisted from all store pages, including Steam and Epic.

Moving on to some other quick updates, readers of this newsletter might recall a mention of the first official FIFA game in four years being in the works some time back. Well, now we know that the game, developed and published by Delphi Interactive, will be exclusive to Netflix Games and will arrive in time for next year’s FIFA World Cup in 2026.

Also arriving soon is an easier difficulty mode for the psychological horror game Cronos: The New Dawn. The “Temporal Driver” mode will arrive in early 2026 and will double player health while halving enemy health. Who doesn’t like that?

But a title that will not be arriving on time is IO Interactive’s James Bond game, 007 First Light. The studio announced that the game will be delayed by two months, and is now slated for release on May 27, 2026. As they say, better late than broken.

Lastly, in some sad news, Vince Zampella, co-creator of Call of Duty and Respawn Entertainment, has passed away in a car accident in Los Angeles. He was 55 years old.

And that will be all from us for this year. 2026 is shaping up to be a big one — and not only because of a certain game from a certain studio. Catch us next time around to see what’s in store for the coming year. Until then, we wish you a wholesome New Year.

Read up

And here are some exciting reads for you over the weekend from our very own garage:

FEATURE

Story Mode’s favourite games of 2025: A shortlist

Because we don’t believe there can or should be one best game of the year

TECH

2025 in tech: An unfillable, PC-sized hole forming in our hearts?

It’s been the best of times, and it’s been the worst of times

FEATURE

My year in gaming: Open world fatigue, WTF RGG, and what’s the deal with Xbox?

Looking back on 2025, here are the key motifs and themes for me

BACKLOGGED

Metal Eden is the best game you didn’t play in 2025

An interesting mash-up of gaming greats in expensive packaging

TECH

Tested: AMD’s FSR Redstone update brings better frame-gen and denoising to Radeon GPUs

All-new frame-gen tech impresses (but only when it works)

VIDEO

You can read our previous newsletters here.

Until next time.

Like the calm before the storm, it has been a quiet couple of weeks in the gaming world leading up to everyone’s favourite farcical event of the year, The Game Awards. Quiet, that is, except for a barrage of leaks relating to the announcements and revelations that were to be made at said show.

So much so that by the time Geoff Keighley, the “creator of The Game Awards” (as he likes to keep reminding us, and to himself, I imagine), took to the stage, there were hardly any surprises left to go around. Nonetheless, Keighley and co went about their business in the usual self-congratulatory manner, handing out awards and unleashing a battery of trailers. Any mention of the fact that things might not be as glittery and rosy in the industry — god forbid anyone uses the words ‘crisis’ or ‘human cost’ — at the moment were all gleefully sidestepped with gay abandon. The disorientation made more stark by the fact that it’s inherently more than just a show handing out awards, but one that also looks broadly at the industry years into the future. And Keighley seemingly wants you to leave with a simple message — things couldn’t be more perfect.

But more on that some other day. If you came here for the quick update on what actually went down on Friday night at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, by god, you shall have it.

Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 took home a record nine awards (and once again was publicly congratulated by the French president, who called it a “historic first”), while Kojima Productions’ Death Stranding 2: On the Beach managed none. But as with every year, the focus of the proceedings really was trailers and reveals for new (and some old) titles slated to be out in the next couple of years or so.

Among the standouts were two Star Wars games — Fate of the Old Republic and Galactic Racer. The former, developed by Arcanaut Studios, is slated to be a single-player action RPG set in the Old Republic era of the canon, with Casey Hudson (director of the Knights of the Old Republic) working on it. The latter, an arcade racer by Fuse Games, is set to be out in 2026.

In one of the night’s more graphic announcement trailers, Larian Studios — on the back of Baldur’s Gate 3’s phenomenal success — introduced a new Divinity game. Meanwhile, Remedy Entertainment also jumped into the ring with a follow-up to their 2019 action-adventure, Control. This time around, you play as Dylan Faden, the younger brother of Jesse Faden (the original protagonist of the game), and explore not the metaphysical depths of the Oldest House, but a “warped Manhattan on the brink of paranatural annihilation”. And both games look as dark and mind-bending as you’d expect them to be.

Speaking of familiar names, not one, but two Tomb Raider games are upon us. First, a brand-new entry in the franchise, Catalyst, coming out in 2027. And then we have a remake of the first game, launching in 2026 to celebrate the series’ 30th anniversary.

On to the newer IPs in the line-up, first we have Coven of the Chicken Foot by Bruce Straley, game director of The Last of Us and Uncharted 4. But if you thought it’d be anything like those two, you’re in for a surprise. Here you play as an elderly witch in an “emotionally-rich, stylised, single-player adventure” where you will need to build a bond with a “peculiar creature” in order to fulfil a coven’s oath. That’s right.

Another promising-looking reveal was from Frictional Games — Ontos, a spiritual successor to their incredible Soma. A sci-fi existential horror, this time set on the repurposed moon hotel Samsara; and in the words of the studio: “Uncover cryptic experiments, face unsettling encounters, and piece together a mind-bending narrative. The deeper you go, the more the truth unravels as you confront the ultimate question: What is reality?”

And then there was Gang of Dragon, a new-but-not-so-different offering by Toshihiro Nagoshi, formerly of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. Starring Ma Dong-seok, the game looks like a mashup of The Roundup franchise and the Yakuza series.

And lest we forget, we also got a trailer for Street Fighter, the movie.

But these were far from the only “highlights” of the night. For a more comprehensive look (with trailers) — including new titles like The Free Shepherd, Bradley the Badger, Orbitals, No Law, Out of Words, and release updates on Phantom Blade Zero, Resident Evil Requiem, Pragmata, and more — check out our big roundup here.

So, moving along from the Game Awards a little, and Microsoft — who’s been having a bit of a tough time out there of late — has announced that Xbox will be hosting one of its Dev Direct streams in January 2026. “I can’t share exactly what’s there, but we’ve got a lot of stuff that we’re shipping next year,” Microsoft’s president of game content and studios, Matt Booty said in an interview with Variety. We’d advise you against holding your breath.

But on the topic of Xbox, the console exclusive South of Midnight is set to release on PS5 and Switch 2 in Spring 2026, about a year after its release on Xbox and PC. We here at Story Mode are a fan of the title, so keep an eye out in case you missed it previously.

Another one to keep tabs on is Doom creator John Romero’s cancelled game, which is not-so-cancelled any more, with the developer stating the untitled project has “survived”. Said game was one of the victims of mass layoffs by Microsoft this summer, but Romero and co seem to have found a new publisher. Happy days.

Speaking of comebacks, free-to-play portal shooter Splitgate 2 will be making its return from beta later this month with a rebranding by developer 1047 Games. Now Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, the title will arrive across PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5 and PS4 on 17 December.

And finally, as is the tradition here on this newsletter, an update from the adaptation side of videogames — Sigourney Weaver has accepted a role in Amazon’s upcoming live-action Tomb Raider series from Phoebe Waller-Bridge! Filming begins next month with Sophie Turner playing Lara Croft.

Read up

And here are some exciting reads for you over the weekend from our very own garage:

FEATURE

Story Mode’s favourite games of 2025: A shortlist

Because we don’t believe there can or should be one best game of the year

DROP C++

Vol 9: An audience with Raymond Herrera

Fear Factory co-founder and ex-drummer, he’s been on the soundtrack of 60 to 70 games

REVIEW

The Outer Worlds 2 well and truly puts the ‘role-playing’ into RPG

Although you’ll probably want to play it on a PC or console for the full experience

REVIEW

Dispatch kicks ass and sparks life into an increasingly stale genre

This has all the makings of a hugely-successful multimedia IP

NEWS

From Star Wars to Divinity and Control Resonant: Highlights from The Game Awards 2025

A trailer for every occasion

You can read our previous newsletters here.

Until next time.

If you’re reading this, then there’s a good chance you’re already in the know about the latest delay that’s befallen the eagerly-anticipated follow-up to 2013’s GTA V. The new release date is now November 19, 2026. In a pithy release, the studio stated that “these extra months will allow us to finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect and deserve”. Well, colour us unsurprised because this is far from the first Rockstar title to be delayed, with Red Dead Redemption 2 being the latest to follow this trend. It may be recalled that the game was set for a late 2017 launch. But the release date was then pushed to Spring 2018, and the game finally released in October 2018. GTA VI is virtually following the same roadmap, and this is by no means a bad thing, considering the eventual quality and polish of RDR2. And hey, at least they’re not rushing it out like a certain game set in the cyberpunk genre in the year 2077.

But while this update isn’t really that big a deal, some of the other stuff going on over at Rockstar is a bit more worrying. On October 30, the studio announced that it had laid off between 30 and 40 employees for what its parent organisation Take-Two Interactive described as “gross misconduct”. Over the following days, rumours began swirling about how the firings stemmed from Rockstar’s efforts at ‘union-busting’. The studio behind such titles as State of Emergency, Bully and Manhunt responded that this wasn’t the case, but instead it was action taken against employees who were “distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum”. How this all shakes out remains to be seen, but on the game front, a new trailer is expected (most likely to quell frustration about the delay), but until then, here’s a look at the last one:

In other news, damn! Time really flies when you’re having a good time, huh? This week marks the five-year anniversary (November 10 and 12 for the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 respectively) of the ninth generation of game consoles. While it’s tempting to think that this was the cycle in which Sony clinched its most decisive victory over Microsoft in the so-called console wars, that would be a massive lie. After all, the PS2 (unarguably the biggest-selling home console of all time) outsold the original Xbox by a massive 120-130 million units.

Also, the ‘console wars’ aren’t really a thing anymore. With Microsoft gradually allowing all its once-exclusive titles to appear on Team Blue’s big white tower, it seems the two tech giants have different priorities as far as gaming is concerned. For Sony, a regular cycle of first-party exclusives, a massive library on the upper tiers of its PS Plus subscription and DualSense-enhanced titles appear to be the order of the day in this cycle. Whereas for Microsoft, a shift away from the console approach to videogaming has been the biggest takeaway from this generation, because apparently everything is an Xbox now (see below). Instead, the company has shown a major interest in the software side of things by not only acquiring a swathe of studios, but also making hitherto exclusives available on PlayStation. Pentiment began the exodus back in February last year, and Halo is the latest to make the move.

Gaming generations typically last five to seven years. However, there’s a temptation to believe that because of the slow adoption rate of both current-gen consoles (due to the distribution of consoles being disrupted by COVID-19 and the Ever Given jamming up the Suez Canal for nearly a week), this current generation might actually last longer. While we’re at it, the Pro equivalent of the PS5 launched four years after the original model. In the previous generation, there was only a three-year gap between the OG and Pro models. What seems highly unlikely is a 2026 date to usher in the 10th generation of consoles. And while 2027 seems more likely, my money’s on a 2028 launch date. This will give Sony and Microsoft enough time to breathe some life into a console era that has certainly had its moments, but for the most part, been a bit lacklustre.

And speaking of lacking in lustre, developments over at BioWare haven’t exactly been setting the world ablaze with the last concrete bit of news being that Dragon Age: The Veilguard would be receiving no DLC. Instead, all efforts would be devoted to the making of the fifth Mass Effect title. And then came a year-long silence. With all that’s going down at EA currently, a cancellation announcement wouldn’t have been all that unexpected. Fortunately, on N7 Day came a missive from Mass Effect executive producer Mike Gamble. He kicked things off with, “So let’s start by setting the record straight: the next Mass Effect game is in development, and EA and BioWare remain committed to telling more stories in this universe”.

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And following a paragraph about how the team is busy as a swarm of bees building new worlds and whatnot, was the news that a TV show adaptation is on the cards. The recent rash of videogames being adapted for television has been extremely hit or miss, and so this news is to be greeted with a healthy dose of caution. Gamble did confirm however that the events of the show take place after the original trilogy, and so Commander Shepard will not be involved. Phew!

Eyes out for

Now for some notable releases in the upcoming weeks:

• Bethesda Game Studios’ Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition, November 10

• Nice Dream’s Goodnight Universe, November 11

• WeatherFell’s Windswept, November 11

• Ubisoft’s Anno 117: Pax Romana, November 13

• IO Interactive’s Hitman: Absolution, November 13

• Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, November 14

• Everstone Studio’s Where Winds Meet, November 14

• Battlestate Games’ Escape from Tarkov, November 15

• btf’s The Berlin Apartment, November 17

Read up

And here are some exciting reads for you over the weekend from our very own garage:

INTERVIEW

Exclusive: Aeos Games’ Rohan Mayya on Unleash the Avatar, mythology and parrying

The Soulslike based on Indian mythology could be out as soon as late 2026/early 2027

FEATURE

Bye Sweet Carole, or why hand-drawn games still cast a spell in the age of AI

In praise of pixels that feel human

NEWS

Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ 3.0 update injects life into a game that had seemingly shut shop

Also announced was a Nintendo Switch 2 version set to drop in January 2026

You can read our previous newsletters here.

Until next time.

This week, kicking things off with everyone’s beloved mega-corp — Microsoft, and its current quest to push its game to every platform possible. In the latest, the company’s long-time exclusive title Halo, for the very first time, is coming to PlayStation 5. Microsoft has revealed Halo: Campaign Evolved, “a faithful yet modernised remake of Halo: Combat Evolved’s campaign” rebuilt from the ground up on Unreal Engine 5.

The game will feature new prequel missions, updated cinematics, remastered soundtrack, new voice performances recorded with the primary cast, new environments, gameplay, characters, and enemies among other shiny things. It will also be available “day one” with Game Pass. Now, Halo certainly used to be one of the biggest and most beloved franchises back in the day. Will it be able to recast that magic in 2026? I have my doubts, but we shall find out soon enough.

The company was also busy putting rumours that it would stop making consoles to bed, with Xbox president Sarah Bond confirming that Microsoft indeed is working on next-gen hardware. “We are 100% looking at making things in the future,” Bond said in an interview with Variety. “We have our next-gen hardware in development. We’ve been looking at prototyping, designing.” With its recently launched Ally handhelds going for $599.99 and $999.99, one can only hope said upcoming consoles will be more pocket-friendly.

Speaking of budget-conscious choices, Quantic Dream — the studio behind narrative-driven titles like Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human — revealed its first-ever multiplayer game, a free-to-play featuring 3v3 third-person arena battles called Spellcasters Chronicles.

Now, some of you with enhanced attention spans might be wondering whatever happened to that Star Wars game that the studio was working on? Well, apparently, it’s still alive. First revealed back in 2021, Star Wars: Eclipse has seen little in terms of updates on its development cycle, but in a new blog post, studio founder David Cage said the work on it continues. “This new title may surprise our fans as it is very different from what we have done so far … Of course, development of Star Wars: Eclipse continues, and we are eager to share more with you in the future.”

Meanwhile, back to what’s at hand, and ARC Raiders seems to be headed for a big opening on its release on 30th October. The much-anticipated third-person extraction shooter hit nearly 100,000 concurrent players just a couple of hours into its playtest going live, hitting a peak of almost twice that number.

And on the topic of extraction games, another one raking in big numbers has been… Escape From Duckov. Yes, you got that right, think Escape from Tarkov, but with ducks. Developed by Team Soda, and launched to Steam on October 16, the game has seen a consistent rise in its player base, peaking at over 300,000 concurrents as of writing this. As we said before, competition, in all its many and even unexpected forms, is a good thing.

What’s less than good is yet another report on the behind-the-scenes of the disastrous MindsEye. In the latest, according to a transcript of a meeting verified by BBC, the Build A Rocket Boy studio founder Leslie Benzies alleged in an all-staff meeting that “saboteurs” within the company were behind the game’s poor reception, and there would be an effort to root them out. All this just a week after the employees were informed they faced redundancy. It’s quite a read.

In the meantime, in the latest in the legal tussle between Sony and Tencent over the Horizon “knock-off” Light of Motiram, the former said the Chinese conglomerate’s defence that Sony’s claims of originality were “startling” are “nonsense”, and accused Tencent of “playing a shell game” with its subsidiaries to shield itself from liability. Some seemingly not keen on playing games though is Remedy, whose CEO Tero Virtala stepped down after 11 years at the company following the failure of the Control spin-off FBC: Firebreak. While the studio’s announcement doesn’t explicitly state a reason for Virtala’s departure, the game, which has underperformed on Steam, had failed to reach the studio’s internal targets.

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But in some positive news (just kidding), Krafton, the South Korean publisher behind games like PUBG, InZoi and Subnautica 2, announced that it will be an “AI-first company”, in a move to “place AI at the centre of problem solving” via a complete company reorganisation. A plan that will see the company invest some $90 million in a GPU cluster and training its staff to use AI tools. The future never looked better.

Speaking of the future, the eye-catching black-and-white Disney/Mickey Mouse-styled shooter Mouse: P.I. For Hire from the developer Fumi Games has been delayed. The Polish studio’s game had been targeting a late 2025 release but will now arrive early in 2026. But arriving sooner now than later is Sonic Rumble. The mobile and PC party game from Angry Birds maker Rovio will be released next month, following a number of delays.

And for seemingly the billionth time this year, Hello Games’ is back with yet another update for No Man’s Sky. The Breach update brings space-wreck salvaging and more to the exploratory space sim, and also marks the beginning of a brand-new limited-time Expedition. Another surprise comes in the form of Football Manager 26 which this year will finally include the official FIFA licensing for the first time, as well as a special International Management update for the World Cup. This comes on the back of a new multi-year licensing deal between Sports Interactive and FIFA.

Moving on to our adaptation news corner, and Mortal Kombat II, the upcoming action movie based on the famous video game series, has been moved up a week in its release to avoid any potential clash with The Mandalorian & Grogu. The film will now be out on May 8 next year. And the film adaptation of Sleeping Dogs is back on track, and according to actor Simu Liu, the first draft of the script is “done” as well.

And lastly, Tomonobu Itagaki, the creator of both the Dead or Alive and the 3D Ninja Gaiden series, has passed away. The announcement came via the final post on his Facebook profile:

“Final Words,

“The flame of my life is about to go out. The fact that this message has been posted means that my time has finally come. I am no longer in this world. (I have entrusted someone important to me with this final message).

“My life was a continuous battle which I kept winning. I caused a lot of trouble for others too. I take pride in having fought to the end, and having followed my convictions. I have no regrets, but I am deeply sorry that I could not deliver new works to my fans.

“I’m sorry. So it goes.”

Itagaki was 58 years old.

Eyes out for

Now for some notable releases in the upcoming weeks:

• Smallthing Studios’ Simon the Sorcerer Origins, October 27

• Obsidian Entertainment’s The Outer Worlds 2, October 29

• Square Enix, ARTDINK’s DRAGON QUEST I & II HD-2D Remake, October 30

• Embark Studios’ ARC Raiders, October 30

• Rogueside’s Devil Jam, November 3

• Sports Interactive’s Football Manager 26, November 4

• Virtuallyz Gaming, Microids Studio Paris’ Syberia - Remastered, November 6

• D-CELL GAMES’ UNBEATABLE, November 6

• WeatherFell’s Windswept, November 11

Read up

And here are some exciting reads for you over the weekend from our very own garage:

INTERVIEW

Okomotive’s Don Schmocker on Herdling, Game Pass and creating empathy

The art director is co-founder of the studio behind the FAR games and Herdling

GUEST REVIEW

FC 26 or how I stopped listening to Gen Z and realised authenticity was overrated

A step forward for the franchise or relief because FC 25 was woeful?

REVIEW

The best thing about Battlefield 6 is that it’s competent

As a former CoD enjoyer, BF6 is refreshing

REVIEW

Ghost of Yōtei is a splendid game, but little more than an iterative sequel

Falls somewhat short of making the impact Ghost of Tsushima did in 2020

REVIEW

Borderlands 4 is the best Borderlands game in over a decade

Guns, lots of guns… and a decent story(?)

REVIEW

Part-interactive art and part-walking sim, Keeper is a gem with one big flaw

It’s what a Tim Burton, Salvador Dalí and Max Ernst collaboration might look like

You can read our previous newsletters here.

Until next time.

After the high-flying Tokyo Game Show and the endless stream of showcases that accompanied it, not to mention EA’s $55 billion sale to a group of investors, including Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund (read all about it in our last newsletter), it was supposed to be time to come back down to earth, but apparently not if you were a Battlefield fan.

With almost 750,000 concurrents on Steam alone and sitting at No 1 on the platform’s top-sellers rankings (some estimating it has already made over $100m in sales even before launch), it’s been a good few days for Battlefield 6. Well, perhaps a little less so for players facing huge queues as the game’s servers touched maximum capacity. Thoughts and prayers.

Speaking of which, Xbox Game Pass, one of the few reasons for people to still buy into the Microsoft hardware ecosystem, decided it had had enough of playing nice. The subscription service doubled (in some regions even more) its prices, leading to befuddled outrage and mass cancellations. Despite record subscription revenue last year, this comes alongside reports of the tech giant losing an estimated $300 million in sales of Call of Duty on consoles and PCs last year as well, with the title being featured on the Game Pass. In a bit of a walk-back though, the company said the price hike for the Ultimate tier won’t affect existing subscribers in some countries — including Germany, Ireland, South Korea, Poland, and India — “for now”.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Sony and AMD announced three key technologies — Neural Arrays, Radiance Cores and Universal Compression — that seem all but confirmed for the PlayStation 6 and future AMD graphics cards.

But back to the games, and there are a few exciting updates to keep an eye out for. MachineGames, the developer behind the acclaimed Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, is set to release an update for the game, featuring a New Game Plus and new ending, as the studio marks its 15th anniversary. Sandfall Interactive, on the other hand, marked selling over five million copies of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 with the announcement of a new free update featuring a new location, boss battles, costumes and more.

Bungie’s troubled and delayed title Marathon also showed signs of life as the studio announced a closed technical test for the game, which will take place later this month. And if you ever wondered whatever happened to the FIFA licence after its departure from EA, well, say hello to FIFA Heroes, a five-a-side, mascot-focused game, coming out next year. Yeah…

On a more serious note, developers — including current and former employees — on the rather doomed MindsEye have signed an open letter to developer Build A Rocket Boy’s executive leadership, citing “longstanding disrespect and mistreatment” of staff. The employees claimed that an estimated 250–300 workers across the company have now lost their jobs and demanded, among other things, “a public apology for this mistreatment of employees and proper compensation for laid-off employees”. You can read the letter in full here.

Also seemingly unhappy was Halo art director Glenn Israel, who has left Halo Studios after 17 years of working on the franchise. Sharing the news, he wrote, “There is little more I can say for the moment, though I intend to share this particular story in its entirety when it is absolutely safe to do so next year.”

Israel shared some further thoughts, saying, “I know that the state of our industry seems dire, but never forget that you are *free to choose*. No illusion of security nor promise of wealth or fame or power is worth trading away your health, your dignity, your ethics or values - and no one can force you to. Stay strong, take evidence when necessary, and find where you belong.”

Lastly (and quite briefly), after grossing almost $1 billion, A Minecraft Movie is all set for a sequel, due out on 23 July, 2027.

And a little something to mull over:

Eyes out for

Now for some notable releases in the upcoming weeks:

Kenny Sun’s BALL x PIT, October 15

Game Freak’s Pokémon Legends: Z-A, October 16

The Chinese Room’s Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, October 21

Team Ninja, PlatinumGames’ NINJA GAIDEN 4, October 21

PopCap Games, The Lost Pixels’ Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted, October 23

Read up

And here are some exciting reads for you over the weekend from our very own garage:

REVIEW

NHL 26 is a killer combination of smart tactics and violent delights

The 34th edition in EA’s NHL series hits the ice hard and doesn’t let up

PREVIEW

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Open Beta impressions — Same old, same old

Lots of polish but very little flair

TECH

Tested – AMD’s RX9070 XT crushes Nvidia’s RTX 5080 in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 benchmarks

The 9800X3D also delivers

Story Mode recommends

Brick (2005), by Rian Johnson

Rian Johnson’s sharp directorial debut, Brick reimagines classic noir within the halls of a modern Californian high school. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a solitary teen sleuth navigating a tangled web of drugs, deceit, and disappearance, the film blends hard-boiled dialogue with teenage angst to mesmerising effect. Johnson’s stylised, almost literary language evokes Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, while his stark, sunlit setting contrasts brilliantly with the story’s moral shadows. Brick is a smart, stylish puzzle — an inventive fusion of old-school noir grit and youthful edge that announced Johnson as one of contemporary cinema’s most original voices.

You can read our previous newsletters here.

Until next time.

With the Tokyo Game Show humming in the background, it was a week or so of much new and recycled news as everyone from Sony to Microsoft and Kojima Productions to Annapurna Interactive took turns to (re)reveal what they had in store for the foreseeable (or in some cases, far away) future. And to confirm everyone’s suspicion — 2026 is lining up to be a big year for releases.

First up was Beyond the Strand, the 10th anniversary livestream from Kojima Productions. Among the many announcements here, which included a Hideo Kojima credit card (of course) and a sake collaboration, a few stood out. The previously announced horror game collaboration between Kojima and Jordan Peele, OD, got its first trailer, subtitled Knock. The studio also revealed artwork for Kojima’s early-in-development spiritual successor to Metal Gear Solid, Physint (with the tagline, “Here comes the feeling”), as well as three cast members — Australian actor and model Charlee Fraser, Korean action icon Ma Dong-seok, and Japanese star Minami Hamabe.

Back to Death Stranding, and along with the previously announced live-action A24 film, the game is set to get an anime titled Mosquito (working title). Set in the same universe as the game, it will be directed by Hiroshi Miyamoto and written by Aaron Guzikowski, with Kojima producing. And not to mention, the studio is also working with Pokémon Go creators on an AR project. Well, the fans of the studio, as they say, ate well.

Next up was a surprisingly decent showcase from the troubled Annapurna Interactive in an attempt to reclaim its title as an indie powerhouse. Among the more interesting reveals were D-Topia by Marumittu Games, People of Note by Iridium Studios and Demi and the Fractured Dream by Yarn Owl. Positive signs from the publisher and developer, but still a little early to say if or how firmly they have landed on their feet. You can read the complete overview of the show and our thoughts on it here.

To the more entrenched in the gaming world, it was the untiring Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s turn to showcase what they had up their sleeve. And well, the rumours were true — Yakuza Kiwami 3 exists and will be out this coming February. Not only that, the studio also revealed an additional spin-off called Dark Ties, which will follow Yakuza 3’s villain Yoshitaka Mine ahead of the events of the main game. Meanwhile, the studio’s previously announced title Stranger Than Heaven still seems to be a long way away, with the studio sharing a behind-the-scenes video. I, for one, am excited about a new Kiwami in the series, but not everyone shared the enthusiasm. Read why our editor-in-chief, a staunch supporter of RGG’s, feels that the studio might be adopting some of Naughty Dog’s worst practices here.

And then it was time for the big hitters. First up was Sony with yet another State of Play. While there was little in terms of brand new, the showcase did offer some updates for previously announced games. This included, among others, a trailer for Insomniac Games’ much-anticipated Marvel’s Wolverine, a campaign trailer for Battlefield 6, a story trailer for Nioh 3, and another one for Pearl Abyss’ Crimson Desert. But the standout reveal was the gameplay trailer for Saros, Housemarque’s follow-up to Returnal. You can read more about the State of Play and the announcements made (and watch all said trailers) here.

On the green side of things, it was the Xbox Tokyo Game Show Broadcast with a host of remakes (Gungrave Gore Blood Heat, Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly, Dragon Quest 1+ 2 HD-2D Remake, Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven), and a few new names. Among the notable titles from the latter were Project Evil Bane, Bruce Lee joining Hitman World of Assassination(!?), but most importantly, Forza Horizon 6, or the fact that it’ll be (finally) set in Japan.

And for those with deep pockets, Microsoft and Asus announced the pricing for their joint venture, the ROG Xbox Ally handheld consoles. The base ROG Xbox Ally will cost $599.99, while the Xbox Ally X is priced at $999.99. Set to release on October 16, you can pre-order them now in certain markets where they aren’t already sold out.

Speaking of big numbers and questionable decisions, a little company by the name of Electronic Arts or EA agreed to sell itself lock, stock and barrel in the largest leveraged buyout on record to a group of investors that includes a firm managed by United States President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.

The deal valued the videogame company at about $55 billion, and is the latest effort by Saudi Arabia to diversify beyond oil into sports and gaming (with Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s new DLC another, albeit tiny in comparison, example of the same). What all this means for EA, the games they make, the people they hire and the gaming ecosystem in general remains to be seen.

Just to end on a better note, here are some other titbits from the last couple of weeks: Heart Machine, the studio behind the acclaimed Hyper Light Drifter, has a new Metroidvania out in November called Possessor(s). Netflix unveiled a trailer for its upcoming Splinter Cell animated series, ahead of its release next month. Silent Hill f is selling faster than the Silent Hill 2 Remake, and Crate Entertainment’s medieval city-builder Farthest Frontier is leaving early access on October 23.

Eyes out for

Now for some notable releases in the upcoming weeks:

• Sucker Punch Productions’ Ghost of Yōtei, October 2

• Nintendo’s Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2, October 2

• Little Sewing Machine’s Bye Sweet Carole, October 9

• Guard Crush, Supamonks, Dotemu’s Absolum, October 9

• Supermassive Games’ Little Nightmares III, October 10

• Battlefield Studios’ Battlefield 6, October 10

• Q-Games Ltd’s Dreams of Another, October 10

Read up

And here are some exciting reads for you over the weekend from our very own garage:

REVIEW

If Studio Ghibli made a game, it’d be Hollow Knight: Silksong

Silksong is a work of art, but one that will take time and a lot of effort to appreciate.

REVIEW

Henry Halfhead is one of the most joyfully melancholic games you’ll come across

Fly like paper planes

PREVIEW

Even in early access, skate. is what a great skateboard game looks like

Full Circle Studio’s title is way more fun than some recent remasters

TECH

AMD Ryzen 5 9600X review: Are six cores enough in 2025?

Short answer, yes. Long answer: Maybe

NEWS

Annapurna Direct From Tokyo hints at the publisher’s renewed ambition

D-Topia, People of Note and Demi and the Fractured Dream were unveiled at the showcase

OPINION

RGG Summit 2025 confirms studio’s adoption of Naughty Dog’s worst practices

A remaster of a remaster was the day’s big ticket item… yawn

NEWS

State of Play, September 2025: Logan, Arjun Devraj and JC Denton steal the show(case)

Saros, Marvel’s Wolverine, Deus Ex Remastered and a whole lot more this time round

You can read our previous newsletters here.

Until next time.