Papers, Please Creator Says AI Makes Him Nervous to Announce New Projects

Lucas Pope, who also made Return of the Obra Dinn, said on a podcast this week that he wants to keep his cards close to his chest for fear of generative AI. He worries about malicious people who might use AI to steal his ideas for themselves, which is a valid and fair concern.

Considering the caliber of his work, whatever game ideas he has could lead to another indie gem, so it makes sense that he’d want to be careful about sharing ideas too early. Of course, it’s also worth noting that there’s a part of him that wants to stop here and “go out on a high note,” so to speak.

The Cube, Save Us Becomes the Latest Live-Service Cautionary Tale

Developer and publisher XLGAMES will take The Cube, Save Us offline in May. This extraction-shooter MMO hasn’t exactly had favorable reviews on Steam, and its player count according to SteamDB is only a fraction of what it was on launch. This isn’t as high profile as Highguard or Concord, but it is another sign of just how difficult the live-service space is right now. Attention is in low supply and high demand.

People of Note Review - Battle Tested For The Stage

For all you Eternal Sonata fans (yes, I see you in the back), there’s a new musically oriented turn-based RPG out there. People of Note released this week, and it’s an homage to old-school JRPGs with a battle system that revolves around Stanzas and Measures.

Also in Reviews: Super Meat Boy 3D Is a Little Raw

No Man's Sky Xeno Arena Update Wants You to Catch 'em All

It’s yet another big, free update from Hello Games. This time, No Man’s Sky is striking while the iron’s hot—in the wake of the disappointment with Pokemon Champions, this update features a totally-not-Pokemon style battle arena.

Games by the Numbers: Release Dates & Sales

• FPS Industria Launches April 15

• SpaceCraft Hits Early Access May 20

• Frostpunk 2’s DLC Defrosts June 23

• Rhythm Heaven Groove Releases July 2

• It Takes Two Crosses 30m Sales, Split Fiction Now Over 7m

007 First Light Switch 2 Version Delayed to "Later This Summer"

The game will still launch on May 27 for other platforms, but it’s too bad that the Switch 2 won’t get this game at the same time. IO didn’t give a reason, but this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a big AAA game delay on the Switch 2 specifically (like Borderlands 4).

Indie Pass Is a Brand New Subscription Service Just for Indies

Starting April 13, you can get access to a trove of indie goodness for the low price of $6.99 a month (plus tax). There are some recognizable names here, like Dark Deity and Everwarder, but we’re definitely not talking about your super giant indie games, if you catch my drift.

I’m glad that the people behind Indie Pass have created this platform. It’s a space where people can be exposed to more indie games after a relatively low barrier, especially when compared to Xbox Game Pass or PlayStation Plus.

In other games market news, Steam (almost) has a fresh new look.

Xbox Summer Show and Gears of War: E-Day Direct Date Set

The summer of games announcements is upon us. Microsoft has confirmed its showcase for June 7, just two days after Geoff Keighley’s SGF adstravaganza. Expect "huge news on upcoming titles" as well as "first gameplay looks" from both first-party and third-party games. The real question is, how many other big names in the industry will have their own dedicated Direct this summer?

News Roundup

• New Dungeons & Dragons Villainous Options Unearthed Arcana Lets You Be The Bad Guy

• Garry's Mod Spiritual Successor s&box Launches Later This Month

• Crimson Desert Sales Pass 4m in Less Than Two Weeks

• Zero Parades: For Dead Spies Release Date Sneaks Up on May

• Call of Duty Veteran Jason Blundell Returns With Another New Studio After PlayStation Shut His Down

• MindsEye Sales "Doubling Almost Weekly,” CEO Claims (But Is It Really?)

World of Warcraft's First Official Pride Event Seemingly Arrives in June

A community-run event for the past 12 years could be made official in World of Warcraft according to a data leak, and this event would be in celebration of pride in June. As a queer man who’s never really gotten into WoW, all I can say is, hell yeah.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Translator Apparently Fired as Dev Pivots to AI

Honestly, the image says it all. This is all alleged, to be fair, as this former translator posted their account on Reddit with some validation from a fellow translator who went on the record.

Bad News in the Industry

• Eidos Montreal Lays Off Over 100 Employees, Studio Head Leaves

• Stormgate Online Modes Disappearing Soon, Offline Play Coming

• VR Hit Rec Room Shutting Down Because It's Not "Sustainably Profitable"

• The Elder Scrolls: Blades to Shut Down in Summer

April Fools’ Day 2026 Gaming Roundup

To end on a lighter note, we compiled a list of all the silly pranks we saw in the games industry on April Fools’ Day. My favorite was Capcom playing into the conspiracy that Pragmata is a Mega Man game. It’s insidious because, like all good jokes, there’s some truth in there (I swear, you gotta believe me).

PlayStation Network Branding Reportedly Being Dropped by September

According to reports, Sony is planning to drop the “PlayStation Network” brand by September. This reminds me of what Microsoft was doing when it dropped “Xbox Live” in favor of “Xbox Game Pass.” Nothing is confirmed, but this could lead to Sony going all in on “PlayStation Plus” as its main brand name for anything related to online services.

And in other Sony news, PS5 players have started getting automatic refunds for any purchases they made on Highguard, now that it’s been shut down.

Exclusive Riftbound: Unleashed Card Reveal - Friendship

We got to reveal an exclusive card for the upcoming Riftbound set. Learn everything you need to know about the Friendship spell, along with some other unique critters and creatures, in our exclusive above.

You can also learn more about the new mechanics in Unleashed in our story here.

In other card game news, the Cyberpunk TCG smashed its Kickstarter goals.

Subnautica 2 Early Access Release Set for May

In a surprising twist of events, Subnautica 2 is coming out in just two months (for early access). This comes after a judge ruled that the former Unknown Worlds CEO had to be reinstated after he was ousted by publisher Krafton.

You might remember that Krafton previously tried to shelf Subnautica 2 because it didn’t want to pay out a $250 million bonus to the developers if they hit a certain revenue goal (which was highly likely). The judge reversed basically all of Krafton’s actions here, and in addition, the deadline for that revenue goal has been extended to September to account for the disruption.

More Release Dates on the Horizon

• Starfield PS5 Release Date Confirmed for April 7 Alongside Major Update and New DLC

• Psychedelic Shooter Tamashika Hits PC and Consoles on April 10

• Vampire Crawlers, as in from the Developers of Vampire Survivors - April 21

Persona Developer Atlus Raises Salaries, Lowers Fixed Overtime

Finally, some good news. Atlus is raising base salaries across the board in order to create a better culture and “foster creativity” at the studio. This is great to see amid a dire time in the industry, where there are layoffs left and right. Just this week alone, we have:

• Ubisoft Gutting Rainbow Six Studio Red Storm, Laying Off All Developers

• Crystal Dynamics Laying Off 20 Employees

• Gotham Knights Dev Warner Bros Montreal Reportedly Laying People Off

Counter-Strike 2 Reload Rework Casually Changes the Entire Game

Out of nowhere, Valve completely changed the way Counter-Strike 2 works. Now, reloading discards any remaining bullets in your magazine, making it more realistic and adding some trade-offs to the simple mechanic of reloading a gun.

Ex-Overwatch Director Reveals Western Survival Game The Legend of California

Jeff Kaplan, the original face of Overwatch 10 years ago, has revealed his new studio Kintsugiyama and its debut project The Legend of California. It’ll enter early access some time this year. This game isn’t set in the U.S. state of California; instead, it could be based on the mythical island from a 16th-century Castilian novel, where the real state got its name from.

Patricia Summersett on Playing Princess Zelda, The Legend of Zelda's 40th Anniversary

The Legend of Zelda turns 40 this year, and Senior Editor Andrew Stretch interviewed the voice behind the newest Zelda to reflect on her time as the first fully voiced iteration of the character and the series’ long-spanning history.

Steam Being Sued by UK Performing Right Society Over Music Rights

This is a bit of a weird one. The PRS alleges that Steam has many games on its platform that use music protected by the PRS, like Forza Horizon and Grand Theft Auto V. But, historically, getting the relevant music licenses would fall on the publishers’ shoulders, not the marketplace? It sort of reminds me of Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, which currently protects social media platforms from any liability regarding content posted by third parties (e.g. its users).

PEGI Rating Changes Will See Loot Box Games Classified Much Higher

Finally, some meaningful progress. PEGI, which is like if the ESRB used the metric system, is instituting a new policy that will rate games with loot boxes at PEGI 16, minimum. If a game doesn’t have chat restriction, it’s immediately a PEGI 18. Will this create meaningful change? Well, many kids years ago played M-rated games, so I’m not sure how strongly these age gates will be enforced. But it’s a start.

News Roundup

• Pokemon Pokopia Sales Surpass 2m in First Four Days

• A Lego PlayStation Set Is Reportedly Arriving Later This Year

• Yoshi and the Mysterious Book Release Date Revealed for May

• Resident Evil Requiem Story DLC In the Works Alongside New "Minigame"

• WarioWare Legend Goro Abe Quits Nintendo After Over 25 Years

• BAFTA Games Awards 2026 Nominees Revealed with Clair Obscur Leading the Pack

Master Chief Voice Actor Steve Downes Condemns "Juvenile" White House Video

On X, the actual for-real White House account used some of Master Chief’s voice lines in pro-war messaging related to the attacks in Iran. Steve Downes has come out to condemn them, which is nice but also sucks that we live in this timeline where the White House is in the state it’s in.

Astrometica Dev Details Art Team's Iran War Struggle, Huge New Update

Speaking of the war in Iran, the developer BeryMery has an art team living there. In a recent update, they’ve detailed the struggles that their Iranian team is facing amid the unnecessary strikes. They’re still making progress, but it isn’t easy, especially after losing someone “very important to them.”

EA's Battlefield Studios Group Hit by Layoffs as Part of "Realignment"

In an unsurprising turn of events, there are layoffs in the industry this week. This time, it’s at EA across its Battlefield studio groups. This is after the game has seen a roughly 90% player count drop since it first launched in October to highly successful numbers. I feel like a broken record, but that’s always the problem with live-service games today. The expectations are too high for the reality that most will deliver, even with a “successful launch.”

Yakuza Creator's Nagoshi Studio Becomes Latest to Lose NetEase Funding

Unfortunately for the loyal Like a Dragon fan base out there, Gang of Dragon, the potential spiritual successor, might be on the rocks now. On one hand, I’m disappointed that once again, business is dictating (and destroying) creative works. On the other, it’s been four years with not much to show besides a trailer. Nagoshi needs funding from somewhere to buy the rights to Gang of Dragon from NetEase and continue working on it, lest it be shelved.

Highguard Becomes Latest Multiplayer Game to Die

Well, it was a good run. From The Game Awards 2026 final reveal to its final days before its shutdown, Highguard certainly was a live-service PvP video game. The discourse around this game has been pretty toxic and overblown since it was first revealed in December, but it is a shame to see all these people’s hard work go to waste. Layoffs and failures never feel great for the actual humans impacted, and I hope they all land on their feet.

Unfortunately, this is just the latest example of the deeply oversaturated live-service market in video games right now. People complain about game prices when time is really the currency that’s bottlenecking the industry. There isn’t enough time out there for people to play just any game. It has to catch like lightning in a bottle—and apparently even 2 million players isn’t enough to make something like Highguard sustainable.

You can play your last few matches of Highguard before it shuts down on March 12.

Nintendo Indie World March 2026 Showcase - All the News and Announcements

This Nintendo showcase opens up with Denshattack!, which is basically like if a Japanese train was bitten by a radioactive Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. There are some cool reveals here too, like Klei’s new sidescrolling brawler (which is out now), a sci-fi roguelike shooter, and the surprise release of Blue Prince on the Switch 2.

More Release Dates, Reveals, and Road Maps

• Dungeons & Dragons 2026 Road Map Promises Seasons of Horror and Magic

• Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Finally Confirmed by Ubisoft

• Opus: Prism Peak Delayed Once Again to April 2026

• Riftbound’s Next Set Previewed by Riot Games

• Nintendo Switch Online Is Getting Its First New Virtual Boy Games on March 10

• Marathon Season Plans for Launch and Beyond Revealed by Bungie

Sony Reportedly Cutting Down on PC Ports for Single-Player PS5 Games

If you were looking forward to playing Ghost of Yotei and Saros on PC, you might be disappointed. According to a report from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, those games will stay exclusive to the PS5. Apparently, some people in Sony believe that the multiplatform releases are hurting PlayStation’s brand.

Ex-Humble Games Heads Buy Back Label and Rename It to Balor Games

Did you know a Balor is a three-eyed Celtic monster? There’s something about three I’s that really stood out to the ex-Humble Games heads… Anyway, it’s nice to see some good news in the premium indie space, and hopefully this leads to more great indie games in the future.

National Videogame Museum Acquires "Mythical" Nintendo PlayStation Dev Unit

This is a pretty neat part of history, and it’s nice to see that a preservation organization like the National Videogame Museum got its hands on it. If you didn’t know, Nintendo wanted to explore using CDs for its SNES, and it worked with Sony for a prototype. That prototype eventually became what we know today as the PlayStation.

This Week in Layoffs

• MindsEye Dev Build a Rocket Boy Blames Further Layoffs on "Organized Espionage"

• Killing Floor Studio Tripwire Interactive Does Layoffs “to Align With Business Realities”

• Nacon Connect 2026 Delayed to May Amid "Difficult Economic Environment" (aka It Filed for Insolvency)

Skate Developer Full Circle Hit by Layoffs

Man, a Skate revival sounded so good like 5 years ago, right? The nostalgia of flicking the stick into a 360 flip or holding all the buttons to do a Christ Air sounds so much better than anything going on in the real world right now. Instead, we have a half-botched persistently online Skate revival that broke promises.

If you remember, Full Circle and EA said they wouldn’t charge money for any critical content, like maps. Then the first map expansion came with a price tag. The game's player base has dwindled since its launch day. Now, the development studio has been hit with layoffs in a corporate post charmingly titled, “Skate’s Next Chapter.”

Full Circle is still committed to developing more and better according to player feedback, but it’s hard to be confident when they’ll be down some people. I can only hope the people who were laid off land on their feet.

I’m reminded of the time that one EA executive made the bold claim that single-player games are finished. Sure, big money can only be mined from the veins of live-service online games. Everyone wants a piece of Fortnite's pie. But the irony of this story shows that maybe a single-player, one-and-done Skate game that requires less resources to make and maintain would have fared better.

I don’t want to be a downer, but the writing feels like it's on the wall for Full Circle. EA is no stranger to shutting down studios, even beloved ones. There’s history of this behavior dating back to Westwood Studios in the early 2000s. In fact, the studio behind the original Skate games, EA Black Box, was shut down in 2013. So this story might, punfortuantely, come full circle for Full Circle.

Release Roundup

• September 15 - Wolverine, from Insomniac (Marvel’s Spider-Man)

• Summer 2026 - Disgaea Mayhem, a musou-like spinoff\

• April 29 - Neverness to Everness, from the creators of Tower of Fantasy

• April 15 - Valorborn (Early Access), a persistent sandbox RPG

Neon Odyssey Brings Stylish Sci-Fi Fun to Dungeons & Dragons 5e

On May 5, Avantris Entertainment will launch a Kickstarter for a new set of D&D 5e books called Neon Odyssey. It'll focus on a sci-fi theme with a synthwave and nostalgic anime edge to it. These books will help you write new campaigns or one-shots in the Stardust Rhapsody setting, using the D&D rules as a sort of launchpad.

Critical Role Announces New General Manager of Beacon, Alyssa Zeisler

Critical Role’s streaming platform Beacon will have new leadership at the helm. Alyssa Zeisler comes from Hallmark, where she helped launch the Hallmark+ streaming service, so she has experience in this field. Plus, she’s already got some plans for Beacon.

New Projects on the Horizon

• New Evangelion Series in the Works from NieR's Yoko Taro

• Overwatch Rush Is a Brand New Mobile Hero Shooter from Blizzard

• Paizo Inc Revealed, Then Quickly Removed, Announcement of New Pathfinder: Feybound Book

• Kingdom Come: Deliverance's Daniel Vavra Steps Down to Make Movie

Amazon Ditches Ex-Forza Horizon Devs' AAA Open-World Racer

Amazon's still slowly pulling out of the gaming space, and it’s officially released Maverick Games from a publishing agreement for its upcoming open-world racing game. It’s not all bad though. Maverick is in talks with other publishers, so we might hear more about this game later this year.

Nacon Files for Insolvency Just Days After Announcing Next Nacon Connect

Things aren’t looking too hot for the French publisher. On Monday this week, it announced its March date for a slew of game announcements. By Wednesday, it filed for insolvency. It’s a problem that bankruptcy is intended to solve, but to put it simply, the financial math ain’t mathin’ for Nacon right now.

Sony Shutting Down Bluepoint Games in March

Sony’s Studio Business Group CEO Herman Hulst said yesterday that Bluepoint Games will shut down, leading to 70 people losing their jobs.

Sony acquired Bluepoint in 2021, just a year after they launched the Demon’s Souls Remake exclusively for PS5. At the time, the acquisition just made sense, considering the other big game in Bluepoint’s roster was a Shadow of the Colossus PS4 remake. It was practically a Sony studio in all but name.

Now, it’ll be a studio no more thanks to Sony. Sorry to all the Bloodborne remake believers out there.

This isn’t the first studio Sony has shut down since it started acquiring studios this generation, and frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more shutdowns on the horizon. With the current state of the industry and Sony’s ill-fated push toward live-service games, the outlook isn’t exactly bright.

In somewhat related news, Bungie also delayed its next big update for Destiny 2, which will include some new quality-of-life updates now.

Aphelion Interview - Designing DON'T NOD's Sci-fi Epic

Writer Erren Van Duine interviewed and previewed DON’T NOD’s upcoming game, Aphelion, which features two protagonists in a sci-fi action-adventure story. It’s a departure from the studio’s usual fare, which usually offers slower gameplay, but Creative Director Florent Guillaume promises a focus on narrative and character moments.

Magic: The Gathering Lorwyn Eclipsed Designers Talk Bringing Back A Classic

Our Tabletop Editor Giaco Furino chatted with some members of the design team behind Magic’s upcoming set, Lorwyn Eclipsed. Get the lowdown on everything behind this Celtic folklore inspired chapter of the game.

Call of Duty Puts Activision in Some Hot Water This Week

The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority banned a Black Ops 7 ad for trivializing sexual violence. Activision is of course appealing the ruling, though its defense is pretty, uh, not great. They claim that it was meant to be comedic and just a joke and also not tonally sexual, which… sort of proves the ASA’s point?

In other Call of Duty news, Warzone Mobile will shut down in two months.

News You Might’ve Missed

• Mewgenics Sales Soar Past 1m in First Week

• Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition Switch 2 Version Announced, and It's Out Now

• No, Highguard Isn't Shutting Down, Its Website Is Just Dead

• Splinter Cell Remake Dev Ubisoft Toronto Hit by Layoffs

• Donutal Is a Papers Please-Style "Alien Screening" Game from Arc System Works

• Castlevania and Metal Gear Programmer Shutaro Iida Dies at 52

.hack//Z.E.R.O. Announced as CyberConnect2 Celebrates 30th Anniversary

It’s been 16 years since the last mainline .hack game released. There’s no date to look forward to yet for Z.E.R.O., but it’s exciting to see this little franchise is still going. That reminds me, I need to get back to the G.U. trilogy remaster.

Interview: Dimension 20 Gladlands Is Mad Max If Everyone Wasn't Being So Rude

Our own Andrew Stretch interviewed Jacob Wysocki, Oscar Montoya, Vic Michaelis, and Kimia Behpoornia, some of the adventurers in the latest lighthearted season of Dimension 20. If you’re unfamiliar, Dimension 20 is one of the star shows on Dropout where Game Master Brennan Lee Mulligan leads a team of (usually) intrepid heroes through a live tabletop RPG.

It’s an unexpected cast for a typical season of Dimension 20, and it’s one worth watching, even if you’re not heavy into crunching numbers and rolling dice. The players are more into chaos and silliness rather than building an epic tale of legends and heroes.

All the News From Yesterday’s Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase

If you’re looking for a quick primer on yesterday’s Nintendo Direct, we’ve got you covered. Lots of Bethesda games are making their way to the Switch 2, including Oblivion Remastered and Indiana Jones. Quite a few Square Enix games are coming too, ranging from Paranormasight to Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth. And do you remember Valheim? That’s coming to Switch 2 sometime this year.

This direct comes hot off the heels of Nintendo announcing a year-on-year profit increase and more than 17 million Switch 2 unit sales. We’re still a few months away from the Switch 2’s first anniversary, and it’s already outperformed the Wii U’s lifetime sales. So it can really only go up from here. Well, unless you’re really looking forward to Borderlands 4 releasing on the Switch 2—we’ve got some bad news for you.

And if you need another reason to dive into your Switch, Nintendo just announced that two more classic Game Boy games are coming to Switch Online.

Edmund McMillen Talks Mewgenics' Development Journey, Turtle Cats, and Adobe Flash

We’ve got a new 10/10 gem to share with you. Mewgenics combines turn-based tactics like Fire Emblem with breeding and roguelike mechanics, and it’s all packaged into the instantly recognizable art style of Edmund McMillen (aka The Binding of Isaac art style).

Our interview with the co-developers is linked above, and if you want to learn more about why it’s a 10/10 game, you can check out our review here.

Cairn Sales Hit 200k During Launch Weekend

The Game Bakers announced that its latest game, Cairn, hit 200k units sold over its launch weekend. That’s after some critical acclaim from reviewers across the industry, and I wanted to highlight it because this game really is something special. It’s innovative, at times frustrating, and wholly unique in what it’s trying to do. If you’re looking for an interesting game about truly unhealthy obsession, give this one a shot.

Newest Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair Chaos Vault Is a Price Experiment

The latest Secret Lair Chaos Vault drop comes at five (5) different price points, ranging from $9.99 to $39.99. Here’s the catch: They all have the exact same stuff, except the cheapest option has no foils. It’s just a price experiment from the Wizards of the Coast to see how much they can sell these things for.

As you might expect, all the cheapest options got snapped up pretty quickly. By the time we reported on it, only the $39.99 packs were left.

News Roundup

• Horizon Hunters Gathering Is a "Tactical, Reactive" Co-op Game From Guerrilla

• Riot Games Releases New Riftbound Information, Including a Proving Ground Reprint

• Tekken 8 Season 3 DLC Characters Include Three Fan Favorites and a Mystery Guest

• The Outer Worlds 2 and Avowed Underperformed, No More Outer Worlds Games Planned

• MMO Ashes of Creation Reportedly Canceled Amid Mass Layoffs

Fallout TV: Is New Vegas Canon Anymore?

The Fallout TV show has wrapped up this week, and our opinion writer Anson Chan had some thoughts about what the show means for the universe’s canon at large. In some ways, it invalidates certain endings of Fallout: New Vegas, and it leaves the world in an interesting place ahead of a (not confirmed) Fallout 5 video game.

No, NetEase Isn't Ditching Generative AI

You might have seen reports about NetEase allegedly halting all exploration into generative AI. That report is false, as NetEase has refuted the claim. I mean, considering Where Winds Meet has AI woven into every bit of its NPCs’ DNA, it’d be a huge about-face to shift completely away from AI for them. Unfortunately.

"Occult Horror Deckbuilder" The Killing Stone Moves to Early Access Launch

The Killing Stone will still be available for purchase starting Feb 18, but instead of a full 1.0 release, it’s going to be in early access. The main reason for this shift in strategy comes down to the narrative. In early play tests, a lot of the feedback was around wanting even more story, so the developers’ solution is to start in early access and continue to flesh out the story beyond what’s currently available.

You can learn more about The Killing Stone in our interview with the developers.

You Won’t Be “Board” With Our Top Tabletop Games

Our Tabletop Editor Giaco Furino has put together our final list for the best tabletop games of 2025. If you’re looking for new, meaty wargames or pen-and-paper RPGs to dig into, look no further!

Here’s the list of nominees, and our top 3 winners are in the story linked above.

• Fellowship of the Ring: Trick Taking Game

• Blood Bowl 3rd Season Edition

• Fromage

• Crooked Moon

• D&D Core Box

• Console Wars: The Card Game

• Riftbound

• Guards of Traitor's Toll

• Unmatched: The Witcher

• Bushido: The Wretched (expansion)

Ubisoft Cuts Continue as Voluntary Redundancies Hit Paris Head Office

Last week we reported on the dire situation at Ubisoft, which likely would lead to layoffs. Now at its head office in Paris, there’s a voluntary redundancy program in place with a goal to cut roughly 18% of its workforce. If not enough people volunteer, we can only expect more aggressive measures will be taken.

Former Diablo Devs Reveal a “Next-Gen ARPG”

There’s no release window for Darkhaven at the time of writing, but the developers at Moon Beast are planning a Kickstarter to fund their hopeful Early Access release. This’ll be an interesting space to watch, considering Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred will come out at the end of April.

Monster Hunter Wilds on PC Finally Runs Better

It’s been nearly a year, but Capcom is finally addressing the performance issues on PC. Apparently, the problem came from Steam constantly checking if the player has the DLC downloaded, causing a constant strain on CPU performance. More updates are on the way though to help performance get even smoother.

That’s great news for the Japanese giant, which just reported strong Q3 profits that were bolstered by Wilds selling 11 million units. With Resident Evil Requiem on the way, Capcom’s likely in for another solid quarter, assuming Leon and Grace can stick the landing.

Dragon Ball Age 1000 Announced With New Art From Akira Toriyama

There were a lot of Dragon Ball announcements earlier this week. The Super anime is officially continuing with a new saga, and it’s also sort of restarting with a remaster/remake/retelling situation of the first saga. But in the video game space, a brand-new game has been announced that takes place more than 200 years after the end of Dragon Ball Z. Don’t expect the game until some time in 2027 though.

Release Dates (& Not-So-Release Dates)

• Feb 17 - Virtual Boy for Switch Online w/ 7 games (and more throughout 2026)

• Feb 26 - Icarus (PS5 & Xbox; already on PC)

• March 3 - Scott Pilgrim EX (PC & Consoles)

• April 16 - Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream (Nintendo Switch)

• Phasmophobia 1.0 slated for 2026 and now has a road map

• Dynasty Warriors 3 Remastered delayed indefinitely (was March 19)

Ubisoft Restructures, Stocks Tumble

(and not in a parkour kinda way)

There’s a large shift at the French AAAA developer right now, all in response to years of decline. The Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake has been officially canceled, along with six other unnamed projects. Ubisoft is still committed to structuring into five creative houses, each of which focusing on a different pillar of their gaming portfolio.

That gaming portfolio is getting “refocused” as part of Ubisoft’s goal to make games that meet a new standard of “enhanced quality.” This means delays of seven other games, and additionally, the company wants to cut €200 million in spending over the next two years. Unfortunately, part of this reorganization also means a bigger focus in generative AI. Their stocks dropped by roughly one-third compared to where they were 30 days ago.

As you might expect, all these project cancellations, delays, and slashed budgets means layoffs are afoot (in this industry? Shocking, I know). Thankfully, one of France’s largest unions, Solidares Informatique, called for a half-day strike on Jan 22 to push back on these cost-cutting announcements, as well as the return-to-office policies. There’s more talk of longer-term strikes soon as well.

I can only hope that these strikes will lead to something greater. The games industry has been dominated by C-suites making decisions from the top down, leading to people’s lives being upended. “Restructure” is often a nice way to cover the fact that people are losing their way of life, sometimes with a family to worry about too. Unions are few and far between in games, and it’s nice to see one try to make a big push against one of the bigger names in gaming.

Funny enough, just days before this restructuring was announced, Ex-Assassin's Creed Boss Marc-Alexis Côté sued the company for $1.3 million, alleging “constructive dismissal.” In other words, he alleges that the company essentially forced him to resign and without severance. That $1.3 million is supposed to be two years’ worth of severance and a couple extra thousands for moral damages.

Ubisoft is in a very weird place right now. It has a lot of recognizable IPs, it diversified into TV and movies, and it even has some live-service games for that consistent cashflow that capitalism covets. Yet, nothing really has quite hit for them in the past couple years. There’s no widely beloved darling, there’s no moneymaker on the level of Call of Duty or Fortnite.

Things that should have been slam dunks for them end up bouncing off the rim. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Star Wars Outlaws have all the power of massive IPs behind them, but they haven’t helped the company catch its breath. Longtime promises like the Sands of Time remake and Beyond Good & Evil 2 have felt vaporware. The first one ended up becoming just that, while the latter is allegedly still being worked on, according to job listings.

Regardless, I feel bad for the workers at Ubisoft across the globe. This is a multinational company that is currently on a nosedive. Leadership is trying hard to pull back up, but unfortunately, that means they have to lighten their cargo, no matter how many individual workers’ lives that might impact. But hey, if they successfully lay off enough people, the numbers will go up. Capitalism loves that.

Dungeons & Dragons Is Coming to Fortnite, Sort Of

In other news, the Wizards of the Coast has created five islands for players to check out with all sorts of D&D-flavored minigames, of sorts. There’s a co-op roguelite in early access in particular that looks interesting.

Former Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser Joins Hasbro's Board of Directors

Speaking of Dungeons & Dragons, former Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser is rolling initiative now at Hasbro’s board of directors. He’s the newest executive on the block alongside Carla Vernon, The Honest Company’s CEO.

Ball x Pit Regal Update Brings New Characters and More Next Week

TechRaptor’s third best indie game of 2025 is getting a major update on Jan 26, which includes new characters, more balls, and an exciting surprise. If you haven’t tried out Ball x Pit, I really recommend it. It’s so easy to pick up, yet so hard to put down.

Big Dates That Were Confirmed This Week

Max & Chloe from Life Is Strange are getting back together again.

• Jan 31 - Pokemon TCG Pocket Fantastical Parade (iOS & Android)

• Feb 3 - Hitman: World of Assassination gets cross-progression

• March 5 - Marathon, after a big delay (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S)

• March 12 - GreedFall 2: The Dying World hits 1.0 (PC, PS5, Xbox)

• March 19 - Crimson Desert, which just went gold (PC, PS5, Xbox)

• March 26 - Life Is Strange: Reunion brings Max & Chloe together (PC, PS5, Xbox)

• March 26 - Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Switch 2)

• April 22 - Tides of Tomorrow, now after a fresh delay (PC, PS5, Xbox)

• Fall 2026 - Enshrouded hits 1.0 (Early Access on PC now, will release on PS5 & Xbox)

Games Workshop Announces AI Ban For Content and Design

Let’s kick things off with some good news! The tabletop studio behind the Warhammer family of products has completely banned the use of AI for content and design, insisting senior management isn’t exactly thrilled about what the tech can do. This so far is specifically for generative AI, though some of those senior managers are looking into how else AI could be used.

AI use in gaming is a complicated issue, as I learned from chatting with the CEO behind the upcoming game Witchfire, but in general, generative AI opens Pandora’s Box and lets loose so many problematic demons, infringing on artistic integrity and human creativity.

Regardless, the chase for AI in the industry (and the tech sector at large) feels more like a byproduct of the endless chase for capital gain, and I’m glad to see Games Workshop step up for its workers and its own art.

Sony Just Took Over 1,000 Shovelware Games Down From the PSN Store

This one’s gonna hurt for the trophy hunters out there, but maybe it’s for the best. ThiGames, known for publishing super simple games for maximum trophy potential, has lost almost all its games on the PSN store. I’ve never been enamored by trophies and achievements, so this news doesn’t affect me much. But does your Gamerscore really mean much if it’s inflated by junk?

Lego Pokemon Sets Officially Revealed with Five Fan Favorite Pokemon

It’s finally happening: You can build an official Pikachu and Eevee with Lego, along with the three starters from Kanto, next month. Personally, as much as I’m a fan of Eevee, the total set with Blastoise, Charizard, and Venusaur looks pretty sick. You can see it for yourself in our story above.

Sales Numbers Roundup

• It Takes Two Has Sold Almost 27m Copies, A Way Out at "Over 12m"

• Arc Raiders Sales Officially Pass the 12m Mark

• Stellar Blade Sales Reportedly Pass the 6m Mark

• Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Sales Smash Through the 10m Barrier

• Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road Sequel Confirmed as It Hits 800k Sales

Meta Studio Shutdowns Reportedly Hit Sanzaru Games, Twisted Pixel

Meta is going through another round of layoffs, and this round has affected the studios behind Deadpool VR (which is literally 2 months old) and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. This is part of Meta’s push to cull 10% of its workforce related to VR and AR content.

These aren’t the only layoffs we reported on this week. Ubisoft also let 55 employees go, all of whom worked on The Division.

Forza Horizon 6 Release Date Seemingly Leaked by Forza Horizon 5 Popup

Look, it’s the most Video Games in 2026-ass headline I’ve seen so far. It’s nice to hear that we’ll be able to drive through the streets of Japan in May this year, though personally, I’ll be waiting for the PS5 release some time down the line.

Other Headlines You Might Have Missed

• Peter Molyneux's Masters of Albion God Game Gets April Release Date

• 007: First Light PC Specs Revealed… Only for 1080p Though

• Minecraft-Like Hytale Pre-Purchases Have Already Covered Two Years of Development

The TechRaptor Awards for 2025 Are Live!

We’re ringing in the new year with our objectively correct game awards for 2025. Linked above you’ll find our Game of the Year—don’t worry, it isn’t Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, so you don’t need to have a hot take ready to fire.

Here are all the nominees for our Game of the Year.

• Blue Prince

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

• Donkey Kong Bananza

• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

• Ghost of Yotei

• Hades II

• Hollow Knight: Silksong

• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

• Silent Hill f

• Split Fiction

Our staff voted on all these games to determine their order and placement, so it’s as close as it can get to a reflection of our overall thoughts as a staff. You can see the other categories we voted on below with their nominees listed out.

Indie Game of the Year Nominees

• Abiotic Factor

• Ball x Pit

• Blue Prince

• Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector

• Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor

• Dispatch

• Hollow Knight: Silksong

• Megabonk

• Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound

• The Roottrees are Dead

Best Writing Nominees

• Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

• Hades II

• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

• Silent Hill f

Best Visual Design Nominees

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

• Hades II

• Hollow Knight: Silksong

• Ghost of Yotei

Best Soundtrack Nominees

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

• Donkey Kong Bananza

• Doom: The Dark Ages

• Hades II

Best Evolving Game Nominees

• Final Fantasy XIV

• Fortnite

• Helldivers 2

• Marvel Rivals

• No Man's Sky

Best Expansion/DLC Nominees

• Elden Ring Nightreign: The Forsaken Hollows

• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: The Order of Giants

• Lies of P: Overture

• No Man's Sky: Voyagers

• Sea of Stars: Throes of the Watchmaker

Best Multiplayer Nominees

• Battlefield 6

• Elden Ring Nightreign

• Mario Kart World

• Peak

• Split Fiction

A Little More Subjective Indulgence for You

We also have individual staff writers—including myself—who wrote our own lists for you to explore if you’re curious! Expedition 33 doesn’t dominate our individual lists either, (though it is on mine).

• Anson Chan, Staff Writer

• Austin Suther, Staff Writer

• Blair Bishop, Staff Writer

• Dan Rockwood, Staff Writer

• Joe Allen, Staff Writer

• Robert Scarpinito, Features Editor

• Parker Johnson, Staff Writer

• Tyler Chancey, Staff Writer

That’s all from us this week at TechRaptor! We’ll be back in your inbox next week with a news roundup as we start 2026 in earnest.

Larian's New Divinity Game Is Turn-Based, Release Could Be "Three to Four Years" Away

Oh, and they’re using generative AI to help create the game.

It seems like the goal is for all final assets to be crafted by humans, but AI is being used to explore ideas during the early phases of development.

On one hand, it’s understandable as a tool. Writers and artists refer to all sorts of material while conceptualizing their work. Generating references using AI isn’t all that different from looking at a book or doing a Google search, if your ends are justifying the means.

On the other, it’s been widely reported how AI has had negative impacts on the environment, electricity bills, and media literacy on the internet (not that we were on a good path in the first place). I’m not here to tell you how to feel about AI, but like every ambitious technology before it that set out to change the world, there will be drawbacks, costs, and sacrifices.

Larian isn’t the only studio out there using AI, either. EA, Krafton, Microsoft, and more are prioritizing AI use in various scenarios and to different degrees. It’s a competitive industry, and it’s in their professional interest to stay ahead of latest tech that’s relevant to their work. Though in Larian’s case, studio head Swen Vincke said he didn’t see any major boosts to efficiency because of AI.

Dimension 20: Gladlands Looks To Be Mad Max Mixed With Mr. Rogers Neighborhood

In lighter news, the latest season of Dimension 20 will be a shorter series with a cast of chaotic players, including the return of Jacob Wysocki and the debut of Vic Michaelis.

After a Successful Year, Marvel Rivals Has Big Plans, Teases MCU-Related Content

Writer Luis Gutierrez chatted with the executive producer of Marvel Games about their hero shooter, which recently turned one year old. Looking ahead to the big MCU movies of next year, the producer hinted that we’ll see some related content in Marvel Rivals. Additionally, we get a nice inside look into how the studio keeps up with all the memes everyone produces, and it’s kinda heartwarming.

Big News in the Indie (and Not-so-AAA) Space

• Hollow Knight: Silksong Expansion Coming Next Year, and It's Free

• Dispatch Is Coming to Switch 2 and Switch

• PowerWash Simulator 2 Adventure Time DLC Revealed for Spring 2026

• Absolum Update 1.1 Brings New Challenges and More Early Next Year

Xbox Denies Kick Partnership After Streaming Service's Social Media Posts

Kick “independently published” its app onto the Xbox ecosystem, but the way it announced that was construed as if there was some sort of official partnership. Xbox has denied this partnership and is actively reviewing Kick’s app to make sure it doesn’t violate Xbox’s policies.

Considering Kick’s reputation for hosting gambling streams, its ties to crypto, and its status as a safe harbor for controversial streamers, this really could go either way.

Unity Reportedly Up to Its Old Tricks With New Enterprise Fee

Unity is once again asking for more money, this time from developers who see financial success using their game engine. This fee coincides with their annual subscription fee, and it starts at $250,000 if you make more than $25 million.

Big News in the AAA (and Adjacent) Space

• Forza Motorsport Updates to End as Focus Shifts to Forza Horizon 6

• Bungie’s Marathon Will Launch in March

• Dead Island 3 Is Officially in Production, Aiming for 2028

• Netflix Games and FIFA Teaming Up for a Mobile Game for the Men’s World Cup

• Light of Motiram, the Totally-Not-Horizon Game, Delisted From Steam After Settling With Sony

• November U.S. Sales Data Shows Call of Duty Topped the Charts Still

That’s a Wrap on The Game Awards!

A new Divinity game from Larian. A new Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic game. Control’s sequel looks like it’ll play like Devil May Cry. Last night was a wild night for Geoff Keighley’s Game Awards. You can read all about it in our story above, but here’s some highlights for you.

• Phantom Blade 0 got a meaty gameplay trailer and a release date—expect it next September

• There are two Tomb Raider games on the horizon: a reimagining of the 1996 original and a new sequel

• The cast of the upcoming Street Fighter movie got fully revealed

• There’s a new totally-not-Yakuza game from the original creator that’s not affiliated with Sega

• Oh, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won some awards

Netflix to Buy Warner Bros, Including Gaming Wing, for $82.7b (Well, Maybe)

Paramount Skydance has put in a hostile bid to challenge this acquisition, so this is to be determined. Regardless, as we’ve seen time and again, large acquisitions like this rarely bring good results to consumers and employees.

The biggest effect here would impact your TV and movie habits (could you imagine The Sopranos on Netflix??). But this also includes WB’s gaming division. You might remember that Netflix has a gaming division too, though it hasn’t gotten a lot of TLC. In fact, just last week, Netflix offloaded one of the studios it purchased as it reassesses its gaming division. That… might not bode well for the future of things like Mortal Kombat or that rumored Batman game from Rocksteady.

No, That Shenmue 4 Footage Isn't Real, Developer Ys Net Says

While we can’t say for sure it was generated by AI (which is a situation that sucks in and of itself), it is clear that Ys Net is strongly distancing itself from this footage. So don’t get your hopes up for a future Shenmue sequel.

Latest Magic: The Gathering Marvel Super Heroes Preview Brings Marvelous Cards

If you want to see some cards with cool, iconic art of Captain America, Doctor Doom, the Fantastic Four, and the Hulk, check out the story above to see what’s coming to Magic: The Gathering.

In other card game news, there’s a Fallout strategic card game on the horizon.

Headlines You Might Have Missed

• Xbox Developer Direct Show Revealed for January, Playground Games (aka Fable?) in Attendance

• id Software Becomes Latest Microsoft Studio to Unionize

• Tekken Legend Katsuhiro Harada to Leave Bandai Namco

• Ex-Perfect Dark Reboot Leads Form New Studio at 2K

• John Romero's New Game Has Been Saved Following Funding Pull

Call of Duty to End Back-to-Back Black Ops and Modern Warfare Releases

This is definitely not a reflection of how Black Ops 7 is doing, coming out right after Black Ops 6 did last year. But Activision is now committing to alternating between the two so things don’t get stale year after year.

No More Robots Head Slams Valve After Racist Steam Review Flag Rejection

Some fan reviewers claim No More Robots’ recent game, Little Rocket Lab, is woke because there are… Muslims in it? Head of No More Robots Mike Rose flagged those reviews on Steam, but Valve’s moderators unflagged them.

This isn’t this first time the publisher has run into this. One of its previous games, Yes, Your Grace, also had reviews attacking it for allegedly “jamming in DEI crap.” It’s disheartening that this is where some vocal members of the gaming community are, and it’s even more unfortunate that unfounded hatred is allowed to fly in Steam reviews.

Indie Horror Game Horses Banned from Steam With No Explanation

Horses has been the talk of the town this week. It’s been delisted from Steam, Epic, and the Humble Store, though the latter reinstated it fairly quickly after a review. You can still get the game reliably on Itch.io and GOG, at least.

There have been concerns about the game’s content, with Epic outright saying that the game has explicit sexual content that isn’t appropriately labeled. It flagged the game with an Adults Only rating, which Epic doesn’t distribute as a rule.

Studio Santa Ragione claims that they think Steam’s delisting, which kicked off the whole thing, could stem from a specific scene involving a naked adult woman and a child being led by the player, as if they were horses. It sounds more disturbing than anything erotic, if you ask me. There’s been disturbing content on par with or even worse than Horses in popular films.

Mario Kart World Update 1.4.0 Brings Custom Item Rules and More

Arguably the biggest part of this update is that some tracks have been altered, particularly when you’re driving from one course to the next. This could have a more meaningful impact on Grand Prix mode, both offline and online, and it’s made me curious to dive back into Mario Kart World.

Saudi PIF to Own Over 90% of EA Following Acquisition

EA assures that all creative control will remain in house, but this is all a bit concerning, considering that the Saudi PiF’s chair, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has presided over quite a few human rights abuses in his time. Will the next Battlefield violate human rights? I mean, probably not. But it’s all about knowing where your money goes—though that does get difficult, considering the PiF has ties all over the industry, like with Niantic, NIntendo, and Capcom.

Square Enix Announces Concert Tour With Music from Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and More

The Magic, Memories, and Melodies tour will (hopefully) come to a city near you. I know I’ll be at the Seattle day for sure. The publisher says this will be a “spectacular multimedia experience,” and if it’s anything like the Distant Worlds concerts for Final Fantasy, this should be an event you don’t want to miss.

Sample Roundup

• Helldivers Movie Scores Fast and Furious Director

• Euro Truck Simulator 2 Hits New Player Count Record 13 Years After Release

• Sony Signs On to Publish Left 4 Dead Designer's Next Game

• Netflix Sells Cozy Grove Studio Spry Fox Back to Founders

• A New Hitman Game Will Definitely Happen, IO Interactive Says

The God Slayer Is a Steampunk Action RPG From My Time Dev Pathea

Along with developing My Time at Evershine, Pathea has fully revealed its other project, The God Slayer. It’s an elemental-based action RPG that’s part of Sony’s China Hero Project initiative, and the initial footage looks pretty interesting.

Skyrim Total Conversion Mod Skyblivion Delayed to 2026

Skyrim is 14 years old, and it’s still relevant thanks to the rabid modding fan base out there. The hotly anticipated Skyblivion mod, which aims to rebuild Oblivion with Skyrim’s engine, was delayed to next year, which gives you more time to play the official Oblivion remake from earlier this year.

Megabonk Dev Pulls Out of Game Awards Over Debut Status

The list of all the nominees for The Game Awards are out, and as per usual, there is Discourse™. The most surprising news, arguably, comes from Vedinad, the developer of Megabonk.

For the first time I can recall, a developer has willfully pulled out of the list of nominees on a peculiar technicality: they have made games before under a different studio name.

There’s a lot to unpack here. At what point is a “debut” different from a “first project"? Realistically, others on the debut list—like Dispatch—have surely worked on at least one other game before, published or not.

And let’s not forget the whole “what even is an ‘indie game’ anyway” discussion. Should Expedition 33 count if it has a publisher? Should Silksong count if they have a multimillion-dollar runway from Hollow Knight?

If you dig a little too deep in this category—or really most categories in The Game Awards—things get questionable pretty quickly. Nonetheless, if you’re curious about the full list of nominees, you can dissect them here.

Unity and Epic Team Up to Bring Unity-Made Games to Fortnite

Fortnite only gets bigger with this update, allowing all sorts of cross-collaboration between Unity and Unreal engines. It’s the kind of good news Unity was probably hoping for, after its disastrous runtime fee fiasco and a round of layoffs in February.

Nintendo Releases First Live-Action Zelda Movie Images Showing Zelda and Link

You can see the new images of the two heroes in the story on our site, but remember: this movie is slated for a May 2027 release, one year after the Mario movie sequel. Their costumes look pretty solid in the images, and it’s exciting to see that production is going along.

Game Releases & Delays

• Opus: Prism Peak Delayed to March 2026

• Steins;Gate Re:Boot Western Release Confirmed for 2026

• Tales of Berseria Remastered Brings Another Classic Tales Game to Modern Systems Next Year

Wizards of the Coast Announces Magic: The Gathering Monster Hunter Secret Lair Superdrop

This round of Secret Lair cards features the monsters and the hunters—very titularly focused. You can get a look at all the cards in the story above, including some pretty sick Zinogre and Nergigante art. Sadly, there are no Palico cards as of yet.

Cities: Skylines 2 Developer Changes as Paradox Parts Ways With Colossal Order

Can you believe it’s been two years since this one came out to middling reviews? Poor performance, odd design decisions—it exemplified the old adage, “If it ain’t broke, fix it.” Now, Colossal Order and Paradox are on track to part ways after the developer makes a few more updates. Afterward, the game will be under Iceflake’s care.

Sales Numbers Report

• Battlefield 6 Was October's Best-Selling Game in the US, Circana Says

• Dragon's Dogma 2 Sales Top 4m, Capcom Reveals

• Dispatch Sales Now at 2m, AdHoc Studio Reveals

It Looks Like Sony Is Gunning for Fan-Led Concord Revival With DMCA Takedowns

Concord was pretty short lived, with less than three weeks of being a live, playable game. Some fans had revived it with fan-made servers, though Sony has issued DMCAs to take down YouTube videos that showoff those servers. It’s certainly a choice, one that makes Sony look a little hostile to grassroots efforts.

Review Roundup

• Deadpool VR - The Merc With The Headset

• Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked Brings Simplified TTRPG Combat To The Forgotten Realms

• Riftbound Origins (aka the League of Legends TCG) - A TCG With Movement Strategy, I'm in!

• Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault Preview - The Pursuit Of Becoming The Best Dungeon Master

• UMAMI - Puzzingly Delicious!

Interplay Co-Founder and Industry Legend Rebecca Heineman Dies Aged 62

For some sad news, an industry legend has passed away this week. She helped found Interplay, the original publisher for the original Fallout and Baldur’s Gate games. You can read more about her legacy on our site.

The Indie Game Awards 2025 Nominees Are Here

These awards will air on Dec 18, just one week after the Keighleys. As you’d expect, this show will focus on indie games, going as high up the scale as AA. That’s right, that means Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will show up here, too.

It’s AI All the Way Down

You might remember a few weeks ago, we highlighted that over 500 Steam Next Fest games reported using generative AI (which doesn’t account for however many games used AI without self-reporting it on the Steam storefront).

Earlier this week, our writer Don Parsons dove deeper into exactly what this means and how these developers claimed to use AI. Some used it to assist with marketing, while others used it for coding, writing, and voice acting. An overwhelming majority, however, used it for in-game art.

You can see the data and charts in the story on our site, which dives into detail on what sort of art these games used AI for.

It doesn’t get better (unless you’re rooting for AI, for some reason). In a morbid, bleak announcement, Krafton, the “AI-first” company, offered its employees up to three years’ salary if they resign as part of a “voluntary redundancy program.” Basically, they can get paid out to willingly defer to AI.

Arc Raiders Sales Reach 4m in Less Than Two Weeks

The extraction-shooter genre hasn’t seen mainstream success in a long while, but Arc Raiders is shifting that narrative. It has 700k concurrent players as of the report released by Embark Studios, and it’s got serious momentum as we head into the end of the year.

In fact, Embark has a lot of player-friendly updates in store, claiming it will lower prices of cosmetics. It’s already even testing duo-focused matchmaking, a common request in the community.

In stark contrast, Bungie ain’t doing so well with Destiny 2, and it’s made papa Sony upset. It’s not quite a 1-to-1 comparison since they’re different genres, but nonetheless, live-service games live and die off of their communities.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Gets First Trailer Showing Off Rosalina and More

The sequel to the box-office hit will land in theaters in April, and we’ve got a first glimpse at what to expect. You know what I didn’t expect, though? A picture that feels straight out of a Bowser x Peach rule 34 forum. It’s tame, but also surprising.

In other Nintendo news, Pokemon Pokopia, the totally-not-Animal-Crossing game, got a release date, and it’ll hit Switch 2 before the next Mario movie.

News You Might Have Missed

• Elden Ring Nightreign The Forsaken Hollows DLC Coming in December

• Horizon Steel Frontiers Is a Robo-Dino MMO from NCSoft

• Retro N64 Machine Analogue 3D Finally Ships Next Week

• Marvel Rivals Season 5 Finally Introduces Gambit and Rogue

Riot Games Releases Riftbound: Spiritforged Preview, Confirming New Mechanics for League of Legends TCG

Spiritforged will be the second set in Riot’s new TCG venture, which includes a new card subtype: Equipment. There are lots of other new mechanics here, like spending Gold to get a resource called Power, which is a required cost to use certain cards. You can get the full lowdown in our story above.

This new set is coming just as Riot has acknowledged the production and supply issues that have marred Riftbound since its initial launch.

Over 200 Rockstar Employees Demand Reinstatement of Fired Staffers

These employees have signed a letter, alleging that some of their colleagues were fired as part of a union-busting effort. This is coming to us just after Grand Theft Auto VI was delayed (again) to Nov 19, 2026 (that’s literally more than a year away).

The Elder Scrolls 6 ‘Still a Long Way Off’ Says Todd Howard

Is it 2022? Because Todd Howard is still saying that Skyrim 2 is a long way off. This comes to us from his recent interview with GQ, where Howard also teased that the Oblivion Remastered shadowdrop was a very nice “test run” that “worked out well.” So who’s to say that the next Elder Scrolls won’t do the same? Well, maybe the shareholders.

Dispatch Cast Interview - Carrying Telltale's Torch, Voicing Multiple Timelines, And Roleplaying Superheroes

Senior Editor Andrew Stretch chatted with the likes of Travis Willingham, Joel Haver, and Laura Bailey to learn more about their characters in the superhero workplace comedy(?) game Dispatch. It’s carrying the torch that the original Telltale left after it closed down. It’s releasing on a two-episode cadence, and you can read our thoughts on Episodes 3 and 4 here.

Opinion: Halo: Campaign Evolved and the Future of Xbox

You may have seen the news late last week about Halo getting a fresh new remaster, and it’s coming to PlayStation. Opinion writer Anson Chan thinks this is another sign of the Xbox brand flailing for relevancy and revenue.

On a larger scale, this is just another sign of a seemingly weekly news cycle about the decline of Xbox as a hardware house. In fact, the company reported this week that hardware sales continue to fall, despite services and content revenue going up.

Terrifying News

• Doom Arena Board Game Blasts on to Kickstarter

• Remedy Already Looks to Be Moving Away from FBC: Firebreak

• New World Development Ending as Amazon Suffers Layoffs

MTG Avatar: The Last Airbender – Everything You Need to Know

Prepare for the Fire Nation’s attack by getting the primer on Magic: The Gathering’s upcoming collaboration with Avatar: The Last Airbender. Learn why Wizards of the Coast opted for Jumpstart instead of Commander precons, how it’ll show up in MTG Arena, and cabbages!

Discussing Karlach Mocap, Acting In Video Games, and Industry Misconceptions With Samantha Béart

You probably know Samantha Béart as Karlach in Baldur’s Gate III, and now they’re starring in an upcoming game called Fading Echo. However, did you know they also host a podcast project that highlights all the unsung heroes that make video game development happen? Their enthusiasm for the medium feels genuine, especially amid an industry laden with NDAs, bureaucracy, and secrecy.

Tricks & Treats

• Fellowship ‘The Haunting of Stronghold’ Event Brings Spooky Delights Through November

• The Outer Worlds 2's Special Snapchat Lens Lets You Scan the Moon

• Look Outside 2.0 Brings New Monsters, New Quests, and More

• Animal Crossing: New Horizons Switch 2 Edition and Free Update Coming in January

Don't Nod Working on New Narrative Game Based on "Major" Netflix IP

Don’t Nod has revealed that it’s working on a Netflix IP, which feels like a match made in heaven. Don’t Nod, known for Life Is Strange, have really perfected their ability to put narrative at the forefront of their games. The question is, which IP is it? Our news writer Joe Allen thinks it’s Stranger Things, but my money’s on Bridgerton for sure.

In other Netflix news, there are reports that the streaming giant is incubating a Crash Bandicoot animated series. Honestly, I’m surprised that didn’t exist sooner; that weird lil’ bandicoot is perfect for some weird animated hijinks.

Additionally, the developer behind Squid Game: Unleashed has been closed by Netflix, despite the game hitting #1 in 26 countries.

New Report Alleges Over a Quarter of European Game Devs Lost Their Jobs This Year

That’s just this year alone. Keep in mind, layoffs have been a recurring theme of the industry for a few years now across the world. This comes out of a large-scale employment survey, which reported 26% of European employees are actually former employees.

It all feels very doom and gloom when you look at the industry through this lens, especially when you see CEO salaries and bonuses continue to rise, like for Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. As his salary climbs to $96 million, his company cracks the whip, putting unrealistic expectations on the Xbox division to hit a 30% profit margin. For context, the average profit margin tends to cap at 22% in this industry.

We’re somehow drowning in highly rated video games this year while many who put in the work to make games are suffering from unemployment.

Unfortunately, this report likely doesn’t cover all the bases, even in Europe alone. The situation constantly evolves, and we should see this report as just a snapshot in time. For example, we also reported this week that Ubisoft has restructured RedLynx in Finland, responsible for the Trials series. And in Sweden, Ubisoft made some job cuts at Massive Entertainment, the studio behind The Division 2 and Star Wars Outlaws.

PowerWash Simulator 2 Roadmap Promises New Crossover DLC and More

Well, in lighter news, PowerWash Simulator 2 is out now, and its roadmap promises some crossover DLCs to look forward to. This IP previously collaborated with Final Fantasy and Warhammer, so I can only hope the future crossovers are just as wild and interesting.

If you’re looking for a game to zone out with, this is a great one for (sorta) unplugging and taking a chill pill. If you need to be convinced, you can check out our review, where we gave it an 8/10.

More Reviews From This Week

• The Outer Worlds 2 - Sequel Follows Original Formula Too Closely

• Dispatch Episode 1 & 2 Impressions - A Tale to Tell

• Ninja Gaiden 4 - Blackened Rain Beckons

• Pokemon: Legends Z-A - A Mega Adventure

Over 500 Steam Next Fest Demos Disclosed Generative AI Usage

At least they disclosed it. Though you have to wonder how many of them didn’t. The continuing AI-ification of the internet continues, affecting at least 17% of the Steam Next Fest demos this time around.

In more AI news, Gaijin Entertainment, the company behind War Thunder, has revealed its new game creation tool EdenSpark, which uses AI to help create console games.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion Release Date Confirmed for December

If you want to let out some frustration in a Marvel-flavored way, just wait a couple weeks for this beat-em-up to release. It’s developed by the same folks behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, so I’ve got high hopes for Cosmic Invasion to also be a blast to play.

Some Headlines You Might Have Missed

• Tarkov Spoof Escape from Duckov Sells 500k Copies in First Weekend

• The Sims Mobile to Shut Down in January

• Remedy CEO Tero Virtala Steps Down "With Immediate Effect"

• Elden Ring Switch 2 Version Delayed for "Performance Adjustments"

• Final Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Story DLC Set for November Release

• New MindsEye Report Alleges "No Coherent Direction" and Heavy Crunch During Development

Pokemon TCG Pocket Mega Rising Expansion Brings Mega Evolution Next Week

Mega Evolutions are coming to pockets near you on October 29. Using them comes with a lot of benefits, like stronger ‘mons, but on the flip side, knocking out a Mega ‘mon pretty much wins you the game. So it’s a bit of high risk, high reward.

Huge Pokemon Leak Reveals Gen 10 Info, New Projects, and More

If the leak is to be believed, the next generation of Pokemon will release next year, just four years after Scarlet and Violet. In this same week as the leak, Pokemon Legends: Z-A also released, and the leak surprisingly gave us the development budget for it: $13 million.

The budget for Generation 10 is higher, but also, it’s not quite as high as you’d think for the amount of money Pikachu prints. I’d love for the next game’s visuals to really impress me, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden Director Tomonobu Itagaki Passes Away at 58

It’s sad news to hear, especially so close to the release of Ninja Gaiden 4 next week. In a way, it’s bittersweet. His legacy strongly continues, with Ninja Gaiden still being a relevant name in the mainstream. Lest we forget, Ragebound also released earlier this year to a great reception. May Itagaki-san rest in peace.

Ghost of Yotei's World Is Best Explored Without a Map

Writer Dan Rockwood found his zen in Ghost of Yotei this week. The game is so beautiful, cinematic, and immersive that he found it to feel more like a film than a game, and pulling up the map would just pull him out of the experience completely. You can read more of his thoughts on our site, and if you’re looking for our review, you can find that here.

Assassin's Creed Boss Marc-Alexis Côté Reportedly Leaves Ubisoft After Two Decades

Côté left the company to pursue his own path, though it does raise some eyebrows that it’s also around the time that the Assassin’s Creed franchise moved to be under the newly formed Vantage Studios. The last project he shipped was Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which does feel like an alternate take on the recently released Ghost of Yotei.

New Releases, Delays, and Sales Figures

• Pathologic 3 Release Date Revealed for January

• A Minecraft Movie 2 Confirmed for 2027, Surprising Absolutely Nobody

• Magical Life Sim Witchbrook Delayed Into Next Year

• Battlefield 6 Sales Top 7m in First Week

• Magic: The Gathering TMNT Set Leaps Out of the Sewers in March

Delicious in Dungeon Board Game Brings Monster Cooking to the West

English-speaking fans of the popular anime Delicious in Dungeon can look forward to this board game localization in the first half of next year, as announced at a panel at New York Comic Con.

Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy Might Not Be the Dissidia You Wanted

Here’s the mobile gaming goodness you’ve been waiting for! This Dissidia-Final Fantasy game is for mobile only as of now, and it’s a 3v3 race to beat each team’s respective bosses. There’s a closed beta in the first half of November, if you wanted to try your luck.