You've heard it said before that GTA 6 is expected to be the largest entertainment launch of all time in terms of budget and sales, but it really is hard to oversell the unprecedented scale of Rockstar's incoming juggernaut. Publisher Take-Two Interactive has likely spent an ungodly amount of money GTA 6, and if the finished product is anything less than a total disaster, you'll see that money reflected in its photorealistic, richly detailed visuals, gigantic open-world map, and lifelike physics. That said, making the biggest game ever comes with proportionately seismic expectations, and Rockstar isn't content with simply meeting them.

"As the pressure for us on this project is huge, we dealt with that by doing our best to overdeliver," Rockstar's head of development and co-studio head Aaron Garbut tells Game Informer. "Normally you compromise scale for detail or detail for interaction, but with this project we went the other way – everything is dialed up – detail, scope, breadth, scale, interaction and density. I don't think we have ever created anything close to this before."

Of course, it's worth acknowledging the extremely talented people at Rockstar who don't need boatloads of cash to tell compelling stories or design interesting worlds, but the technical achievement Garbut is teasing here wouldn't be possible without Take-Two money. We've yet to see what the game looks like on our living room screens or how it feels in the hands at launch, but Rockstar certainly isn't doing much to temper expectations ahead of the game's November 19 launch; instead, it's doubling down in the final weeks of pre-release build-up with a reminder that there are very few studios in the world with its pedigree, talent, and resources.

GTA 6 devs spent years "going to strip clubs," "spending time on the beach," and riding with ex-cops to research Florida life

Game development is a hard, often thankless job, where devs spend years working extreme hours while pouring their hearts into their craft, and they're often repaid with little more than a pat on the back ahead of the next round of mass layoffs. I say all this to suggest you shouldn't judge Rockstar too hard for its regular GTA 6 research trips in Florida, which saw the devs soaking up the sun and the nightlife in equal measure.

"We go and try to experience everything," senior vice president of narrative Rupert Humphries tells Game Informer, "from riding around areas at night with ex-cops, to going to strip clubs and nightclubs, spending time on the beach, in the Everglades, down in the Keys, and beyond." The team has taken a multitude of such trips for reference material over the years.

Rockstar has a number of subsidiaries based all over the world, but GTA's development is led by Rockstar North in Edinburgh, Scotland, and I have to imagine some of those devs appreciated a little extra sunlight. But honestly? Going clubbing as a work activity sounds like a recipe for a bad time.

And either way, there are plenty of locations outside of the beaches and nightlife, and the game's story will drag Jason and Lucia through many of them. "We don’t have time to take you everywhere, but we want you to be able to explore and get a feel for most of the places, cultures, and vibes," Humphries says. "This game and its stories really thrive in an environment where you have rich people and poor people right next door to each other. And crime and corruption is the thread that pulls everyone together."

Plenty of game studios go on research trips – the American Truck Simulator devs even had to make a stop in my dinky hometown at one point – but the fact that the real-life inspirations behind Leonida and Vice City are such tourist destinations and nightlife hubs does make these particular trips seem a little more enviable than most. But personally, as a resident of Missouri, I get my fill of suffocating heat and humidity six months out of the year without having to meet any Florida men.

Here are all the GTA 6 locations we've learned about so far.

On the face of it, Arc Raiders has enjoyed a dream year for a live-service game. It launched to huge numbers, then maintained the community while developer Embark Studios maintained a cadence of updates and patches to keep things (mostly) steady. As the shooter's first anniversary approaches, leadership is now getting candid about the toll that's taken on the devs.

Aleksander Grøndal, executive producer on Arc Raiders, discusses Embark's general weariness with Game Developer. "Transitioning to live-service is going to be fucking hard," he says.

"Everyone said that to me. I've even said that to other people," he continues. "I was mentally prepared for it to be hard - but I wasn't completely prepared for how hard it was."

Prior to Arc Raiders, Grøndal worked on a number of major releases for EA, including installments of Battlefield and Star Wars: Battlefront. While these have online elements, they've got substantial offline options too, making them different animals to the fully live-service machine of something like Arc Raiders.

He mentions that the people at Embark have been worn down by having to answer to millions of players on a consistent and ongoing basis. "The team is super tired. We're putting out content as fast as we can but it's not enough, and perhaps it wasn't necessarily interesting enough as well," he comments. "I'm proud of what we achieved during the first four months of this year, but at the same time, I think we have to be honest at looking at some of the impacts of that."

Arc Raiders jumped out of the gate with monthly updates that kept the gameplay fresh, while putting out fires constantly through routine patches. But Embark has since slowed down, aiming for slower but bigger rollouts on new features.

"We didn't have the time," he says. "You also have a lot of the cost of just maintaining the game – implementing bug fixes, exploits, and other constraints. We were constantly overshooting our capacity and so it was hard to plan when there's so much to do."

He candidly adds the "team were super unhappy," for a stretch and that bled into player dissatisfaction too. Having served his time at Electronic Arts, he points toward his experience there as something he wants to avoid for any of his colleagues. "It's super important [to protect people]. I can tell you a personal story. I was burned out," he remembers.

"We'd just shipped a Battlefield game [when I was at EA] and I kept pushing so hard that I had to take a break for five months and go on sick leave because I was completely broken," he says, later putting a fine point on what he's getting at: "It's very important for us to create a framework that allows us to be creative while having a good work-life balance."

Arc Raiders say fine, here's a "limited test" of PvE co-op: "We can't ignore what the data is telling us."

Sony is skipping the Consumer Electronics Show in 2027, which marks the first time the PlayStation maker has not attended the show in its history.

As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, after only appearing at this year's show as part of its joint venture with Honda, Sony is skipping the 2027 event. A Sony spokesperson tells Bloomberg the decision is based on its current focus on "entertainment, intellectual property, and technology geared to support creators," adding, "We continuously and strategically evaluate our approach to events and communications based on the needs and priorities of our diverse business."

While CES isn't as big an event for PlayStation and games, Sony has been part of the show since its inception in 1967; it has been the site of historic announcements. Notably, in 1991 Sony announced the SNES PlayStation – and thus, the birth of the PlayStation – before Nintendo announced the following day it was not going forward with it; in 2020 Jim Ryan unveiled the PS5 logo, and in 2022 the PSVR2 and Horizon: Call of the Mountain were announced.

Sony has seemingly been stepping back from these sorts of events, as the company hasn't been present at Gamescom – the world's largest gaming convention – since 2019, while Xbox and Nintendo have been a near-constant presence at the shows. In an era when PlayStation State of Play and PlayStation Showcase streams are drawing millions of viewers, it's very likely that whenever new PlayStation hardware is announced, it'll be at one of these shows.

Ex-PlayStation lead thinks Sony and Nintendo "should try to keep the current generation as long as possible" amid hardware price hikes: "People are very happy using PS5 and Switch 2"

Today marks the release of The Witcher 3 Remastered, a big update to CD Projekt Red's monumental RPG. On the heels of this, we're also getting an expansion, Songs of the Past, next year – only 12 years into the game's life. Why? Well, because the devs simply felt they had more ground to cover.

"It was a great opportunity to tell something new about already established characters and to show them from a different angle," Karolina Kuzia-Rokosz, creative vision director at CDPR support studio Fool's Theory, tells VGC.

"What I mean is, this is still a fully-fledged expansion and a richer story first and foremost, but then we have Geralt's best friend with us, who also faces some important stuff in his life, right?" she adds.

She's referring to our old musical companion, Dandelion, whose backstory forms the backdrop Songs of the Past. You're visiting his home region of Lettenhove, where our monster-hunting hero winds up uncovering and slaying some nasty pieces of work.

Creating an entire slab of DLC sprang from wanting to dig into Geralt's supporting cast just that much deeper, and seeing what emerges. "We always wanted to say more about the people who are important to Geralt," Kuzia-Rokosz adds. "So, it isn't like we wanted to strongly conclude something, more that we still believe that there is still more to say about Geralt."

This is as true mechanically as it is narratively. The new chain weapon is actually something CD Projekt Red tried to implement in the base game, but couldn't. Geralt of Rivia's misadventures around the Continent have already given us hundreds of hours of entertainment, and it seems we'll get to enjoy plenty more before his shift is over and we get The Witcher 4.

The Witcher 3 Remastered did not, in fact, change the RPG's hilarious low-poly pigeons, much to fans' delight: "Glory to low poly."

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered launched only a few hours ago, but it's already broken the 2015 RPG's all-time player record on Steam and shows no signs of slowing down.

It's been 11 years since the launch of The Witcher 3, and being the great game it is, it's had many peaks over its lifetime. Looking at SteamDB, after debuting with a healthy peak of over 92k concurrent players on Steam in its launch month, it eventually surpassed its own record five years later in January 2020, shortly after the first season of The Witcher TV series aired, bringing in 103k players.

Even though it's had its highs since – thanks to the TV show and the 2022 next-gen update, for example – The Witcher 3 has never surpassed that 2020 peak… until now. Within hours of launch, The Witcher 3 Remastered has pushed the RPG past its old record, and it keeps gaining more and more concurrent Steam players basically by the minute. It's at 120,324 at the moment, but I've had to update this multiple times since I began writing this article.

And, as you may have noticed, in many parts of the world at the moment, including the US, UK, and Europe, we're in the middle of a working day. A huge chunk of players won't have even had the chance to dive into the remaster yet, so we can definitely expect this to go up further in the hours to come, and perhaps even more come the weekend.

It'll be interesting to see if CD Projekt Red gives any insight into how many of these are returning players versus completely new ones. The Witcher 3 Remastered is available as a free update to anyone who already owned the base game, so there's a huge incentive there for veteran fans to return to the RPG (assuming they needed one in the first place).

And, so far, it's not just the player count that's looking positive. The Witcher 3 Remastered's Metacritic score doesn't just make it the best-rated game of 2026, but also the best version of The Witcher 3 to date.

The Witcher 3 Remastered did not, in fact, change the RPG's hilarious low-poly pigeons, much to fans' delight: "Glory to low poly."

Prepare your best "oh gawrsh," because Disney Store UK has unveiled a free membership that provides exclusive perks and a limited-time discount of 15% off a range of items from Star Wars merch to theme park pins.

Dubbed 'Disney Unlocked,' this programme provides a host of benefits on the UK Disney Store that include a 25% birthday discount, early access to specific products, and free delivery on orders over £75. You can also save 15% off certain items for the membership's launch week (from now until Monday 5th October at 06.30am). Crucially, it's free for everyone to access; there's no minimum spend.

I've had a quick look at Disney Unlocked, and it seems easy to access; I was able to sign up straight away by hitting 'join now,' and the only other step was choosing my "favorite character" (which seems to provide the header image for your Disney Store profile). I was then free to dig in, so my first port of call was checking out which products were included in the 15% off promo. It's a surprisingly good range; there are almost 1,000 items on the Unlocked offers page, ranging from Toy Story figures to collector-grade lightsabers made for display.

Because there's a lot on offer and it's a bit overwhelming, I've selected some of my favorite discounts below. It's obviously not an exhaustive list, but these jumped off the page when I started looking through what was available. Just remember, you have to be signed up as a Disney Unlocked member to access the savings!

• See all the Disney Unlocked 15% off items at Disney Store UK

The Blood of Dawnwalker, the brand-new vampire RPG headed by The Witcher 3 veterans from CD Projekt Red, plays host to one of the most controversial game mechanics out there: a time restriction that leads to some serious FOMO.

In case you're out of the loop, the game has you playing under a strict 30-day and 30-night schedule. Within those 30 days and nights, you must resolve the main story (and do as you please in between quests, of course). Everything you do can carry a time cost with it, though, making it more stressful.

It is core to the game, though, if you ask me, and implemented well – and Baldur's Gate 3 publishing director Michael "Cromwelp" Douse agrees.

The Larian Studios developer reveals as much in a new post over on X, explaining that he's nearing the end of Rebel Wolves' RPG. "I'm horribly close to the end of Dawnwalker, a game that reminds me of playing Legacy of Kain for the first time as a wean," he writes. "It's been such a great ride oozing with gothic vibes and brilliant antagonists."

That's when he brings up the whole time restriction thing – a feature he welcomes with open arms.

"I'm surprised there's any backlash to the 'time mechanic,'" Douse admits, referencing all of the controversy the feature has sparked.

Heck, the first and biggest mod for The Blood of Dawnwalker reworks it altogether, proving that it's not exactly beloved by lots of fans. The devs themselves said that upcoming sequels might scrap the feature or at least change how it works, too, stating that they actually "rebalanced" it prior to launch as well.

Douse finds it a solid feature, however. "It's a perfectly interwoven narrative tool that cleverly disguises the fact that you need not play the game like The Witcher," as he puts it.

He also has ideas for The Blood of Dawnwalker's future: "In a sequel I'd love to see Rebel Wolves double down on the gothic overtones. The world they created where humans and vampires coexist alongside low fantasy social conflict is so perfect for an RPG series."

While "it isn't going to be the series where Coen has 30 days to solve a problem," there are other ways Rebel Wolves can maintain its now-established unique identity. As Douse concludes, "I can see a dozen ways Dawnwalker could become its own massive, brilliant thing. I'm so behind these guys."

Same, honestly – and I've still got plenty of hours to pour into the game myself… and, no, the time restriction isn't getting in the way.

It's one of those things I feel sounds frightening on paper, but when you actually get into the game, it's not so bad. I've spent so much time with the RPG already, and I've never felt as though I'm left wanting for more – it's all about balance.

Interested in one of this year's most intriguing new games yourself? Be sure to read through our The Blood of Dawnwalker review to learn more about it.

A Star Wars fan has come up with a pretty interesting theory about Star Wars: Starfighter – and it says Ryan Gosling is actually playing Luke Skywalker's son.

Gosling is playing a character named Kade Auberon in the upcoming Starfighter, and fans of the old Legends continuity might notice a similarity with one Cade Skywalker.

"Wouldn't shock me if Starfighter turns out to be a soft launch for the new trilogy and Ryan Gosling is playing Cade Skywalker from Legends, now retrofitted to be Luke's son," predicts the fan.

Cade Skywalker is a descendant of Luke's in Legends – existing in continuity around 100 years later – and he's a bounty hunter and former Jedi Padawan. Gosling's Kade, meanwhile, is still a pretty mysterious character, though footage revealed at D23 shows him in possession of the fastest starfighter in the galaxy, which is a decommissioned Imperial model.

A new Star Wars trilogy is indeed in the works, with the first film to be helmed by Spider-Man director and Skeleton Crew co-creator Jon Watts. It's set to feature Rey "in some capacity," according to The Hollywood Reporter, and it also looks set to continue the Skywalker Saga.

While it does seem very unlikely that Gosling's character is actually Luke Skywalker's son – after all, nothing we've seen of Luke since Return of the Jedi suggests he has a secret family – it wouldn't be a stretch to think Starfighter might set up the new trilogy in some way. We'll just have to wait and see.

Starfighter arrives on May 28, 2027. In the meantime, keep up to date with everything else the galaxy far, far away has in store with our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows.

CRKD has just launched its first ever pro controller and the ULT PRO has a pretty sturdy list of specs behind it. TMR thumbsticks, trigger stops, swappable components, and 1,000Hz polling on Windows would usually make for a pretty premium package, especially if you look towards the best PC controllers from names like Razer and Flydigi. The brand is launching the CRKD ULT PRO for just $69.99 (Amazon) today, though, undercutting a good wedge of the premium market.

After all, this is coming in the same month SteelSeries debuted the $260 (yes $260) Aeon Pro. There's one hint here that the CRKD ULT PRO isn't playing in quite the same arena, though. The BAYX face button layout is a dead giveaway that the brand is pointing this asymmetrical thumbpad at Nintendo Switch 2 players.

You won't find clicky mechanical buttons, turbo-charged 8,000Hz polling rates, or complex software adjustments here, but for $70 the ULT PRO has quite a few green flags over competitors like the 8BitDo Ultimate 2, Switch 2 Pro Controller, and GameSir Super Nova.

With charging dock in tow, the CRKD ULT PRO's main competitor could be the 8BitDo number. The Ultimate 2 is currently the best Nintendo Switch 2 controller from a sheer value perspective, pitched at the same $69.99 (Amazon) price point.

It matches the ULT PRO's TMR thumbsticks, trigger stops, profile selection, and asymmetrical layout but adds motion control and wake functionality into the picture.

It's strange that the ULT PRO would drop this gyro from its specs, considering it's gone so far towards Switch compatibility as to create two separate SKUs for Nintendo and PC. It comes with its own advantages, though.

Rather than 8BitDo's two back buttons, CRKD is rolling the dice on a more PC-centered four-pronged approach. These back paddles are skinnier than the chunksters seen elsewhere in the Switch market, resembling the excellent Razer Wolverine V3 Pro's implementation.

It's not the only feature typically found on more robust PC controllers we're seeing here. The ULT PRO also includes two additional shoulder buttons for extra programmability as well as a swappable stick toppers and d-pad.

This looks to be an all-in-one pro controller for those not willing to shell out the full $90 on the official model. But it adds a lot more to the package compared to Ninty's. Sure, the classic Pro 2 Controller is all about feel, with particularly satisfying controls from the softly dampened face buttons to its incredibly smooth thumbsticks.

Would I take that over $20, profile presets, extra controls, trigger locks, and a charging dock? We'll have to wait until we get our hands on the new release to find out, but it certainly looks good on paper.

• See all Switch 2 controllers at Amazon

We're also hunting down the best PS5 controllers and the best Xbox Series X controllers available on the market.

Wardogs boss Joe Brammer has spoken about balancing the popular FPS, admitting that it's something that has to be figured out in the long term, and probably won't even be worked out by season 2.

As with any game in its infancy, the only way to truly find out how balanced something is is for players to get into it. Fighting game players will discover infinites or other wild tech on day one that completely throws the community into disarray, Call of Duty players inevitably find the optimal loadout right away, and I'm sure MOBA players do something that I've remained blissfully unaware of. Wardogs has been rigorously tested, with the tactical FPS selling three million copies in just a few weeks, and naturally, the balance of it has been a constant point of discussion, with Brammer admitting "we definitely have a balancing issue."

Brammer now responds to a post from a user saying the early-game of Wardogs is a lot more fun due to the lack of "Level 4 armored chadded up Juggernauts," and they are personally looking forward to the incoming progress wipe. Brammer acknowledges this, saying "Almost as if the devs knew this and kept the season short while we balance it."

Brammer says, however, "the big failure, was not balancing," because balancing a game is "always best guess and evolves with time" with the producer warning "we won't even get it right season 2." Instead, Brammer says the game's "failure was community servers and us not hosting official infantry and level cap servers."

But even with the issues, the team is determined to keep at it, as Brammer says, "It's an evolving situation, we're learning, adapting, improving, nerfing, buffing.. but all with the long term plan in mind."

Wardogs boss says "games need to cost more" and GTA 6 should've been the game to make the change.

Toei fans assemble, because the first Lego Dragon Ball set has been revealed... and it's an absolute monster.

Lego Dragon Ball: Shenron & Goku is a for-adults display piece weighing in at almost 1,800 bricks, and it's 12.5 inches tall when built. It's due to launch on the Lego store this November 4, or November 1 if you have a free Lego Insider membership (basically, it earns you loyalty points and provides early access to products).

It looks as though this is simply the beginning, too; in the press release for Lego Dragon Ball: Shenron & Goku, senior VP of product, marketing, and development at Lego (Federico Begher) suggested more was on the way.

"For decades, Dragon Ball has captured the hearts and imaginations of fans around the world, and we’re thrilled to bring this iconic universe into the LEGO portfolio," he writes. "Together with Toei Animation, we have an incredible opportunity to celebrate the characters and stories that have made Dragon Ball so enduring, while giving fans a new way to experience and build the stories they love. The LEGO Icons Dragon Ball: Shenron & Goku set is just the beginning, and we look forward to seeing how this partnership inspires fans to explore the Dragon Ball universe through LEGO building and creativity."

It's unclear what those kits will be, though. The initial teaser focused on the Dragon Balls themselves (which led many, include us, to deduce Shenron was involved), so there's no telling what comes next. I wouldn't be surprised if Dragon Ball got the same treatment as One Piece; a host of all-ages playsets along with a few display pieces to rival the best Lego sets.

Anyway, it's nice to have a good look at Shenron & Goku after the kit was leaked earlier today. Seeing as we often have to wait days or weeks between teasers and the full reveal, it makes a change not being kept on the edge of our seat.

Will you be picking up this Lego Dragon Ball kit? Let me know in the comments below.

Want more cool builds? This fan makes incredible Lego Pokemon out of the most unlikely sets. As for savings on kits, it's worth checking out our guide to early Black Friday Lego deals; there are already some discounts floating around!

• See all the latest sets at Lego

BBC boss Matt Brittin has shared his thoughts on AI – and revealed he's been sent an AI-generated episode of Doctor Who.

"Everyone’s got the ability in their hands – or six billion people have – to create content at the standard of a Hollywood studio," Brittin shared at the Royal Television Society conference, as reported by Variety.

"Somebody sent me a 50-minute episode of Doctor Who that was AI-generated the other day. It's pretty good," he added. "I mean, it's not going to replace humans, and we'll come on to that. So everyone's a creator. Not all the creativity is bad."

The future of Doctor Who is currently uncertain. Ncuti Gatwa left the show after just two seasons, and a cliffhanger ending that saw the Doctor regenerate into Billie Piper now seems unlikely to ever be resolved after it was revealed the planned Christmas special will not be happening and showrunner Russell T Davies has exited the show. The BBC is also putting Doctor Who out to tender.

"This decision was not taken lightly, and we know it will be disappointing for fans, but in order to set the show up for future series, it was decided that rather than bridge the gap with a one off special, we are choosing to push forward to invest in the long-term future of the show which ensures that when the TARDIS lands once more, it does so in all its glory," the BBC said in a statement.

While you wait for more Doctor Who, check out our guide to the most exciting upcoming TV shows to fill out your watchlist.

The Witcher 3 Remastered is finally here, bringing everything from "improved combat" to massively reworked visuals with it – reworked visuals that had fans worried the RPG would lose its iconic low-poly pigeons.

Yes, you read that right. In case you don't recall them from the 2015 release, the pigeons are exactly what they sound like: hilariously low-poly assets that are cursed… in the best way possible, of course.

Much like Final Fantasy 14's own low-poly grapes, The Witcher 3's new graphical overhaul has sparked fears of a potential loss of said pigeons. These have been all the more solidified with screenshots of the game's supposedly revamped pigeon design.

Just have a look over at Reddit, where one player shows a side-by-side comparison, writing, "Pigeons Remastered." Comments show distraught folks, and threads elsewhere online are largely the same.

One person on Twitter shouts, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO," for instance, while another similarly alerts fellow fans to the presumed change.

I have good news, though – this is all "a false alarm," as Kotaku editor Ethan Gach confirms in his own post. The "new" pigeon design is actually just what the street pigeons look like. Our beloved flying pigeons are intact.

It comes as a great relief, of course – because what could be more important than the pigeons, am I right? Players are happy, anyway, that's for sure.

As one person puts it in response to Gach's welcome confirmation, "The pigeons are still there! I repeat. The pigeons are still there! Now with glorious path tracing. Share so that people are made aware." The top reply? "Glory to low poly."

Glory to low poly indeed, anon. Glory to low poly indeed.

Now that the matter of low-poly pigeons in The Witcher 3 Remastered has been settled, we can all enjoy the game. After all, it is currently the top-scoring game of 2026 on Metacritic, beating out the original RPG by two points.

CD Projekt Red isn't done with the game yet, either, with new expansion Songs of the Past arriving sometime next year – and, you know, all the other exciting upcoming CD Projekt Red games, too.

The Witcher 3 Remaster overhauls skill trees, adds new quest markers, brings a mode to "reduce cognitive load," and more, CD Projekt Red reveals in patch notes.

Former PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida reckons that platform holders like Sony and Nintendo should keep their current hardware generations going for as long as they can as prices continue to surge.

Speaking in a new episode of The Verge's Vergecast (below), Yoshida – former president of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios – is asked about the potential business models and pricing strategies we could see from platforms like Xbox in the next console generation. As everything continues to get more expensive, it sounds like this is a conundrum that the former PlayStation boss reckons platform holders should avoid for as long as they can.

"Sony and Nintendo have sold enough" of their current-generation hardware, he begins, before adding: "Because of the cost of goods, they might be looking [at] pushing back the launch of next gen, and I think they should try to keep the current generation as long as possible, because I think people are very happy using PS5 and Switch 2.

"People have [a] finite budget, and it feels like PC and consoles, the components very specific to these devices have increased [in] price way more than all the other [forms] of entertainment," he continues. "People who have systems like PS5, Switch 2, or PCs – you know, good enough PCs – probably will be happy to play games on them and not necessarily consider replacing."

Yoshida acknowledges his own situation, noting that he bought a new gaming PC five years ago, and more recently, when considering upgrading again, "this price hike happened. So I was late to replace it." Understandably, he regrets not making that move a year earlier before things started to surge.

"I think that kind of thinking will happen to many people," he continues. "I don't think lots of people are asking for, 'more power, we need more power!' Or even [developers], I don't think developers [are] asking, you know, 'We need better hardware!'"

With all that in mind, Yoshida muses: "I think that means that the current generation, Sony and Nintendo are going to do pretty well for many years to come, still." Xbox's circumstances are different, he acknowledges, calling the company "a team who wants to change the competing landscape, so it's going to be hard for them, but it's their time to play." He seems optimistic though, adding, "It's very exciting, you know, what's going to happen next year?"

Whether platform holders have the same idea as Yoshida remains to be seen, though. Nintendo is in a pretty different position, having only just released the Switch 2 last year and still supporting the Switch 1, but for Sony and Microsoft, the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S will turn six this November.

Looking at Sony, historically, the major new PlayStation releases that mark a new generation have arrived every six or seven years, so if the company were to follow that pattern again, we should expect to see the PS6 very soon. A release coming later than next November would be unprecedented, but it's fair to say that the times we're in are weird enough that it might just warrant it.

Former PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida's highlights of Tokyo Game Show include Sonic's new indie spinoff and a game about removing hair.

Supergiant Games is known for creating original games and original worlds, from the frontierpunk action of Bastion to the contemplative sci-fi tactics of Transistor and the doomed sporting conflicts of Pyre. But with a cast of lovable, lustable takes on mythic Greek figures and arguably the greatest roguelike action ever conceived, Hades turned out to be their biggest hit yet. So making a follow-up in Hades 2 was only natural, right?

While making a sequel to Hades might've been the smart business decision, Supergiant was far more interested in making sure their creative juices were still flowing. As the devs themselves explain in a new Noclip documentary running down Hades 2's development history, the sequel wasn't set in stone.

With each new project, Supergiant takes a step back to "think about how we feel about the last game," studio director Amir Rao explains. "What kind of lessons did we take from it and how did we feel about the original game? We did our process where we considered lots of projects and I actually, at the beginning of that process, thought we almost certainly would not make a sequel to Hades."

Art director Jen Zee and others on the team saw the possibilities that a Hades sequel could provide, though. "We still have enthusiasm for this world that we've been exploring," Zee says. "The Greek pantheon is so vast. It just felt like, 'Oh, there's this beautiful orchard and there's so much fruit left on the trees. Like, we should maybe consider harvesting.'"

In fact, the challenge of following up Hades was part of the appeal of doing a direct sequel. "We approach sequels with a fair amount of skepticism because we do love exploring new worlds and we've never done it before," Zee explains. "I would say that was actually one of the appeals of making a sequel, as well – because we'd never done it before. We're real thrillsekers here. We're like, 'What if we did a sequel? No one would expect that.'"

Every dev who speaks in the documentary emphasizes the creative challenges of building the sequel as the primary motivation to make Hades 2, not the business benefits. "If making the sequel is the right financial decision, we have made the dumb decision many times in a row," as Rao puts it.

"Certainly the success factors in," Rao admits, "but with the same success comes the expectations, right? For us, we always have to ask ourselves, 'Are we ready for this?' Even if it was the right decision, we had to creatively get ourselves to a place of excitement because otherwise it's just a non-starter for the studio."

No prizes for guessing what tops our list of the best roguelike games.

There's another version of Azeroth on the way in World of Warcraft: Forever. This iteration goes back to the first year of the MMORPG's timeline, but with extra flourishes and contemporary design elements, in contrast to how WoW: Classic brings back the old school gameplay. As a result, a fan-favorite quest from an old expansion isn't available, but Blizzard's remedying the situation.

Almost 20 years ago, a special mission was added in The Burning Crusade, known as Kyle's Gone Missing. You're tasked with helping Ahab Wheathoof find his dog. That's cute and sweet as is, and it only becomes more so when you know that it was the result of a Make-A-Wish request from one Ezra 'Ephoenix' Chatterton.

He designed this questline for Blizzard, and provided the voice work for Ahab, cementing himself as part of World of Warcraft eternally. It's been a rite of passage for players ever since. The Burning Crusade isn't in Forever, but there have been enough requests to include Chatterton's work that the devs are going to anachronistically make it happen.

"We're working on it," reads a response from community manager Randy 'Kaivax' Jordan to a comment thread on the official forums asking for the mission. "Stay tuned."

The thread was started by one player who was asking on behalf of their partner, who managed to get some beta time. Forever is currently in a closed preview for members of the community, before going fully public on November 4. The area containing Kyle's Gone Missing, Mulgore, is accessible, making this a smaller leap than you might think.

I find it distinctly heartening to see so many rallying behind maintaining this commemoration. Even after 19 years, they're keeping Chatterton's memory alive. May we all enjoy such a legacy.

WoW: Forever dev says quest drops aren't changing in the MMO, but Blizzard has added " a bit of under-the-hood functionality" that makes them fairer.

The Apothecary Diaries season 3 sees Maomao return to crack more mysteries and navigate the perils of palace politics. What you may not know, however, is that the hit anime is shaking things up this season by splitting its story across two years.

Confused? Don't be. Not yet, anyway. For now, we'll keep things in the immediate future with The Apothecary Diaries season 3, episode 1 release date. We'll also fill you in on the Crunchyroll streaming time in the US and UK, current confirmed schedule, and then talk about the show's 2027 plans.

If you're curious about what else is part of the fall lineup, we have a guide to all of 2026's new anime. There's also a collection of best Crunchyroll anime, should you require it.

The Apothecary Diaries season 3, episode 1 release date: what time is it on Crunchyroll?

The Apothecary Diaries season 3, episode 1 is released on October 2. The new episode can be watched exclusively on Crunchyroll.

As of right now, the anime streamer says the exact release time is 'TBA'. But we anticipate it will be available soon after its Japanese release at 11:00 PM JST. In that case, it could drop at around 8:00 AM Pacific/11:00 AM Eastern. That's 3:00 PM BST.

For what that means in your region, please use the time zone converter.

The Apothecary Diaries season 3 release schedule: are new episodes releasing weekly?

Right now, The Apothecary Diaries season 3 will release new episodes every Friday throughout the fall (October-December) season. The show will then go on a break until April 2027, with a movie – titled The Apothecary Diaries: The Secret Treasure of the Deceased Consort – being released in Japanese theaters on December 11.

The current The Apothecary Diaries season 3 release schedule is as follows:

• The Apothecary Diaries season 3, episode 1: October 2, 2026
• The Apothecary Diaries season 3, episode 2: October 9, 2026

The Apothecary Diaries season 3 episode count and two-cour structure

The Apothecary Diaries season 3 is confirmed to run for 24 episodes.

Unless there are unscheduled breaks, 12 episodes will air from October through to December.

The show will then take a break, airing another 12 episodes from Spring 2027 as part of its second cour/second half.

Where to watch The Apothecary Diaries season 3

The Apothecary Diaries is only available to watch exclusively on Crunchyroll. All three seasons can be streamed on the platform in the following regions: North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, CIS, and the Indian subcontinent.

The Apothecary Diaries is one of our must-see picks this season. Find out what else made the cut in our guide to best anime.

In a massive moment for the Metal Gear Solid 2 speedrunning community, a way to skip the game's first boss fight entirely has been uncovered.

Metal Gear Solid 2 is split into two parts: the Tanker and the Plant chapters, with Tanker serving as a short prologue featuring Snake. Famously, this is the only time you get to play as Solid Snake throughout the game, with Raiden being in charge for a majority of the game's runtime. Through this, Snake only gets one proper boss fight against Olga Gurlukovich, who, upon defeating, has Snake steal her USP pistol. And while you shouldn't be using it generally because non-lethal is the way to go, you need it for destroying the sensors for the bombs located on the ship.

Except that's no longer the case, as Metal Gear Solid 2 runner apel has released a video showing the discovery on YouTube (via Time Extension). In the video, apel drags an unconscious guard across to the lasers, which will then activate upon the guard waking up. Once the bombs go off, the game "triggers a flag that decides if the explosives can be triggered again or not. After the game over, if you press Continue, the game resets the value of that flag to the value it previously stored, so the explosives work again."

However, by rolling towards a checkpoint as the guard triggers the bombs, the "game saves the value of the flag after the explosions happen," which means Snake can casually stroll through, avoiding the encounter with Olga completely.

The bombs are the only section in the Tanker where you also need a lethal weapon, so you're free to move on and reach Raiden. This marks a huge shift for Metal Gear Solid 2 speedruns, as it's the first skip found that allows you to avoid a boss fight entirely. So expect some new world records in the near future.

Someone finally gave Metal Gear Solid 2 the perfect mod, letting us experience the entire tanker opening in lore-accurate VR

Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz have reprised their roles as Rick and Evelyn O'Connell for The Mummy 4. Filming on the legacy sequel has now kicked off, 25 years on from their last time on screen together in the roles.

Directed by Radio Silence's Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the new movie follows on from The Mummy Returns, ignoring the events of the third movie. Weisz didn't reprise her role as Evelyn in 2008's The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and was recast with Maria Bello. The least-loved and most often forgotten in the trilogy, it makes perfect sense that the creators are ignoring it ever existed.

This is especially so given how nostalgic it is making me feel seeing Fraser and Weisz back as their iconic characters. New set photos have emerged of the iconic duo in costume in separate locations as filming takes place around the UK.

Weisz appeared in costume filming scenes outside the British Museum in London (via Polygon) while Fraser was spotted driving a silver-and-red rocket car sporting a leather jacket (via Pop Buzz). By the looks of it, it seems like we're heading to the '50s based on the costumes, which is about 25 years after the original movies. This time jump makes sense given the gap between films, but it's not yet been confirmed by those involved.

As well as Weisz and Fraser reprising their roles, John Hannah is returning as Evelyn's older brother Jonathan, Arnold Vosloo is back as Imhotep, Kevin J. O'Connor comes back as Beni, and Oded Fehr returns as Ardeth Bay. The whole gang is truly back together for the new adventure, and I could not be more excited.

The new Mummy movie hits theaters on October 15, 2027. For more upcoming movies, check out our guides to upcoming horror movies and upcoming superhero movies.