The Japanese fighting game Ketsu Battler, or "Butt Battler" in English, makes you put a Joy-Con in your pants in order to play it, which I guess I'm supposed to be happy about. A big update due July 30 will make it so players should shake the Joy-Con in their pants extra hard to be truly strong and win the game.

Last summer, Ketsu Battler devs warned Switch 2 players that the game originally made for Nintendo Switch might make their butts that have Joy-Cons in them "unexpectedly overpowered" due to the platform's increased processing ability. This year, spotted and translated by Automaton, developer KAYAC is actually intentionally increasing the "aura" of your bottom with the new "Butt Ass Zone" mechanic.

Now, I will clarify that you shouldn't actually put a Joy-Con up your ass to play Butt Battler. The idea is to put the controller in the waistband of your pants to mimic the way Ketsu Battler's characters have swords, axes, and other sharp objects sticking out from, indeed, betwixt their cheeks. So the upcoming Butt Ass Zone mechanic, or the Serious Zone, will require you to jiggle your controller that's in your pants harder, and with passion, so that your character's butt cheeks are enveloped in a warm glow – the magic ass aura, which improves both your character's base stats and special attacks.

So the Butt Ass Zone probably isn't what you were thinking, which I imagine was some version of a red room where ladies with exposed butts paddle your exposed butt with the USB-C cable you use to charge your Nintendo Switch 2. At the same time, the Butt Ass Zone in Ketsu Battler – where having a special, fast-moving butt fundamentally changes your DNA – is a place I'm wary of.

Otherwise, Ketsu Battler's next update will include new characters, a zero-gravity butt stage, and a permanent Butt Ass Zone stage. If you check it out, I encourage you to practice Joy-Con safety.

Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto says PCs were once "held in higher regard than consoles," so the NES was made to bridge "the gap" – "It wasn't just a toy."

You never have to mourn your friendly Pals for too long in Palworld, though developer Pocketpair certainly makes you miss them with its requisite 10 minutes of waiting for dead Pals to revive. Though, the lily-headed Lyleen, who's so full of love, doesn't think you should kick rocks until your friends come back. Players have discovered the healing creature can make fallen Pals instantly gasp back to life instead.

"NEVER wait 10 minutes for your pals after they die in Palworld," gaming content creator Mislead writes on Twitter about advice they shared across their social media. "Get one Lyleen in your party use her partner ability to revive your WHOLE TEAM and put her in pal box and take her back out right away for a 300-second rez cooldown reset."

The creator demonstrates in a video showing how a Lyleen in your party can use her Harvest Goddess skill to not only heal you massively, but bring your dead Pals completely back to life… with the caveat that Harvest Goddess has a 300-second cooldown if you need to use it more than once. Hey, retrieving Pals from the Underworld is a big responsibility. Lyleen needs to process it, OK?

But if you've already made peace with your used-up Gorirat's death and are ready to breeze past it, you can simply follow Mislead in swapping out another dead Pal for Lyleen in the Palbox, then immediately taking her out again. You'll notice that her 300-second Harvest Goddess cooldown has been overridden, and you can once again completely revive your team.

As other players note, people have been vaguely aware of Lyleen's ability to heal every Pal in their party since before Palworld 1.0 launched this month. But many have still been at a loss with what to do when faced with Palworld's 10-minute revive timer – so now it's more clear. Bring forth the Lyleen.

Palworld patch fixes broken missions, achievements, and more as Pocketpair stops Panthalus from sending you and your friends into the shadow realm.

Nintendo fellow and Mario's dad Shigeru Miyamoto has said that the company felt the NES – known as the Family Computer or Famicom in Japan – challenged the perception that home consoles were "just toys." Originally released in 1983, it was officially part of the third generation of home consoles, but broke away from the pack with its innovative games.

In an interview with Famitsu, that's been translated by GamesRadar+, Miyamoto speaks on Nintendo's move from creating arcade cabinets to home consoles. "At the arcades people can't just spend money like water, so the idea for the Famicom came from the thought that 'they'd be able to play as many times as they wanted if they had this game at home,'" he says.

The NES wasn't part of the original wave of home consoles, but previous hardware like the Magnavox Odyssey and the Atari 2600 wasn't as sophisticated. "There were already things out there called 'home consoles' and PCs like the NEC's PC-6001 or the MSX came out around the same time as the Famicom," Miyamoto recalls. "However, PCs were held in higher regard than consoles, which were 'just toys.'"

Miyamoto believes that the NES carved its own path by showing that it was more than a toy by providing gameplay that was close to the arcade experience. "I think the Famicom bridged the gap between console and PC as it was a toy, but also it wasn't just a toy," he says. "If you can port games to it that are almost as good as the arcade versions, then I don't think it's just a toy."

Shigeru Miyamoto knows some fans have "multiple Nintendo consoles at home," and hopes that'll become "the norm" in the future: "That would be the best scenario."

EA managed to act a little morose earlier this year when it forced Battlefield 6 studios into "realignment" and laid off workers, but it seems CEO Andrew Wilson is doing fine. The executive made 305-times the average EA employee's salary in fiscal year 2026.

The publisher explains, in a newly amended annual report (thanks, Eurogamer), that "the annual total compensation of our median employee was $126,612," while "the annual total compensation of Mr. Wilson, was $38,649,984."

That's $8,120,149 more than Wilson made in fiscal year 2025, though the boss' base salary remained at a humble $1.3 million. Ultimately, the "Compensation Actually Paid" to Wilson, which EA describes on page 31, totaled $77,231,168. So "the ratio of these amounts is 305 to 1," EA says of the $38.6 million figure, but the full picture is even more sobering.

Additionally, the publisher notes on page 29 of its financial report, Wilson could be eligible for an additional estimate of $125 million under any "qualifying termination," which includes firing "in connection with a change in control." EA has no doubt strategically baked in this "'double-trigger' severance" benefit, as the publisher calls it.

A team of investors under Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake, and the investment firm led by US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, Affinity Partners, currently stands to acquire EA in a $55 billion deal recently approved by the European Commission. That $125 million could be very useful for Wilson if things dramatically change for him during or after the merger.

It also sounds like Wilson was recently allowed to fly around in the company plane for fun: "In fiscal year 2026, Mr. Wilson was permitted to use corporate aircraft for personal travel, subject to a 75-hour cap," writes EA. So that's nice for him, too.

Meanwhile, many laid off Battlefield 6 developers are probably still looking for work after, EA admits again, delivering a "high-quality launch" that "achieved meeting all milestones." It's a shame they didn't benefit from that launch. Andrew Wilson, however, is still doing fine.

Dragon Age veteran says a series comeback would be difficult with EA's "frightening" graveyard of dormant IP: "I suspect that it wouldn't happen."

Mumpitz Games just released Sir, We Have an Orc Problem on Steam. It's a classic little tower defense game about placing upgrading turrets then watching them chew through an army of green monsters. It is also the 15th best-selling game on Steam at the time of writing, and has generated over $360,000 in revenue for its two devs since its July 28 launch – a stunning example of how quick, fun ideas can explode on Steam and potentially change the lives of creators.

In a lengthy post-mortem shared to the gamedev subreddit, Mumpitz co-lead KaTeKaPe (who I'm going to call Kape) explains that the team shrunk from three people to two after the November 2025 release of Tiny Auto Knights, the studio's first Steam release. Importantly, Kape and their partner had both been "programming for over 10 years and more than half of that time professionally in the games industry," so they had plenty of experience.

Tiny Auto Knights took about a year and a half to make and, with Steam, publisher, and other cuts removed, netted the team around $30,000 after nine months. "So around $7k per year per dev. Not that great. After that game we decided to split up and we continued with only two devs," Kape explains.

Sir, We Have an Orc Problem is doing a bit better. "We made $361,657 gross revenue in the first 24 hours after releasing our 4 month game," Kape's post exclaims.

It's reviewing well on Steam, too: 89% positive after 550 reviews. It probably helps that it's only $10, or $9 with the 10% launch discount.

The game's impressive physics add a lot to the tower defense formula. Orcs clog up map choke points like a river of green, perfect for deployed abilities like bombing runs to blow thousands of 'em to smithereens.

"All of those numbers are still a bit unbelievable and we will surely need some more days to realize what actually just happened," they add.

"There was definitely some luck involved, but I strongly believe that there is a golden era for indie games right now," Kape continues, echoing the likes of Steam sleuth Chris Zukowski. "There are so many devs that just make a fun little game and somehow it sells exceptionally well. You just have to put your game out (social media, playtests, whatever) and let people see and play it. If there's some 'magic' to it, you will know immediately. And if there isn't, you have to decide if you want to finish the game because you personally like it or if you want to move on to something else."

Kape says the main inspiration for Sir, We Have an Orc Problem was another incremental tower defense game called Outhold, which, like Mumpitz' latest, has reviewed very well on Steam. The idea was to take a "very early, very ugly physics based tower defense prototype" and crank it to 11 with tech that allows for roughly a bazillion enemies on-screen.

The team showed off prototypes for the idea in social media posts, and soon "people were begging us for a Steam page so they can wishlist the game." The Steam page for Sir, We Have an Orc Problem went up April 9, and after some cheap promotion and Steam Next Fest demo success, ended up with quite the queue.

"We didn't spend any money on marketing, other than $200 for the Best Indie Games showcase," Kape clarifies.

Amusingly, Kape responded to a Reddit comment calling the game "an amazing example of how a gamedev with no 'artistic' ability can still make a really successful game if the gameplay shines," but not wanting to outright say "your game looks bad."

"It kinda looks bad to be honest," Kape reckons. "Maybe we can make it a bit prettier soon."

Steam indie hit Meccha Chameleon made more money than any other PC game last month apart from Fortnite, according to new data.

Since he's the guy who created the original concept for Fallout and led the first RPG's development, it's reasonable to put some weight on what Tim Cain thinks is most interesting about the series. In a new video, he revisits an old sentiment of his that Fallout is about exploring "the ethics of a post-nuclear world."

"There's a famous quote of mine – I even looked it up because I said it once, like 25 years ago. 'My idea is to explore more of the ethics of a post-nuclear world, not to make a better plasma gun,'" Cain says in a new YouTube video. That quote, in fact, dates back to a 2002 chat with Fallout fansite Duck and Cover, published when the original Fallout 3 – which is better known as Van Buren, and which Cain was not directly involved with – was still in development.

The older, crankier portions of the Fallout fanbase have regularly revisited that quote as a way to dunk on the Bethesda era of the series, but Cain himself is more interested in using it to explain why he likes post-apocalyptic settings so much.

"People have trotted that out for all kinds of things they want to support," he explains, "but what I was saying there is the ultimate reason I liked [the post-apocalypse] and why I liked making Fallout was this absence of authority, allowing you to explore morality. It wasn't so we could make cool plasma weapons and power armor and all that – although that's cool. But that wasn't the reason. If Fallout's a cake, that stuff is the icing."

The gooey cake at the heart of Fallout is, instead, "that gray morality stuff," Cain argues. "You will run around the world and you see some people trying to do good and rebuild civilization. You will find other people being really bad and killing people and raiding settlements and saying, 'We're just trying to survive.' Sometimes they're not even pretending to do that. They're bad. They know it. They don't care. They don't want to work."

That's the world as it exists in the game, "but to the player," Cain says, "I've always wanted the game to ask, 'What will you do? Okay, here you are, blank slate player. What are you going to do? How are you going to behave when no one tells you what to do? Are you going to be a good person or are you going to be a bad person?'"

While Cain says "I love the Ultima series," one of the cornerstones of RPG design, those games "expect you to be good. Fallout has no such expectation. It's an entirely different kind of game." The post-apocalyptic setting offers a world without any kind of moral authority – whether legal, cultural, or religious – and lets you make your choices as you will.

That impetus to let players do what they want is why Fallout has a series of slides at the end showing the consequences of your actions over the course of the game. "We created them and put them in because, when the game ended, we wanted the player to know we watched you," Cain says. "The designers anticipated some of the horrific stuff you did, and here are some slides explaining all the horrible stuff that resulted from your actions. And good stuff, but also bad stuff."

For Cain, that lack of moral judgment is essential. "I love gray morality," he concludes. "I love it. It makes people self-reflect. Something a lot of people don't do. I mean, just look at politics or online. I love that about the game. It also makes people want to replay, which is a big part of Fallout. Replay, make a new character, act differently."

Certainly, our list of the best Fallout games can generate no controversy.

Peter Parker got new threads in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 recently. One inspired by new Marvel movie Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the other drawing from the wallcrawler's appearance in Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, and the latter's art style doesn't sit quite right with Insomniac's aesthetic.

As with other suits that have distinct aesthetics, the Marvel Tokon costume retains the particular coloring of the game it's drawing from. This gives it a bright, cel-shaded glow amid the realism of Insomniac's vision of New York City. And in cutscenes and transitions featuring Peter and Miles, there's a bit of a color clash.

"God this shit looks so fuckin goofy," says one Twitter user, sharing screenshots of Peter, unmasked in the Tokon suit. His regular, adult face looks photoshopped onto the cartoony body, and it's made worse in moments where he appears to have a serious or glum expression.

They follow this up with a clip of Peter and Miles heading off on a mission, and in the video, Peter puts on his regular mask, which looks even more jarring atop his newer get-up. The game switches to the Tokon mask afterward, but it's hilarious to see in motion.

"For some reason it reminds me of Spy Kids," says one reply, referencing the heavy use of CGI in those films. "It's like if Nintendo were forced to have actor face-scans in their games," another says.

Spider-Man 2 already has a few suits that contrast with the game's generally realistic aesthetic – notably the Into the Spiderverse suits, which by default even cut the frame rate of Spidey's animations to make them look in line with the animated film. It's still a visual clash, but at least we get some absurd visuals to laugh at – win-win, honestly.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day box office predictions are in – and it could make Marvel history

In Project Zomboid, it's rare to go out with a bang. Most of my characters in the zombie survival RPG have died with terminally short notice, be it a car crash, a bite I didn't notice until getting home, or a cooking mishap with comically flammable chicken (a story for another time).

But with the game's upcoming Build 42 finally launching this week – adding animals, basements, and more than I can mention in one breath – developer The Indie Stone has confirmed that saves will not carry over, spelling an end to the survivor I've kept alive in the update's beta branch. So why not go out in style?

Rather than go gently into that good branch, my friends and I were intent on giving our latest run a worthy send-off. Which was, unanimously, shorthand for driving into Louisville and taking as many zombies down with us as possible.

Highway to hell

This run in Project Zomboid has been unlike any other. For starters, my friend group survived an in-game month – no small feat, given we hid rotten worms in each other's beds and nearly burned down Rosewood with a stray molotov cocktail. But with our save based on an earlier version of Build 42's beta, it also offered a great taste of the update to come.

The rural town of Muldraugh has been my preferred starting point for over a decade. But a lot has changed. Cortman Medical, for example, has been transformed from a one-floor clinic to a fenced property, the clinic tucked to the side of a far larger mansion. The police station now spans multiple floors, including a basement with an evidence room and a morgue. Speaking of basements, we found our earliest ammo supplies in a doomsday prepper's basement – alongside several unlabeled tins of food that nobody was brave enough to eat.

But chief among the changes are animals. After finding a small farm on the outskirts of Muldraugh, we hunkered down with plans to build for long-term survival. There were already cows and chickens there when we arrived, and with animals being fairly intuitive to manage, we soon had a steady supply of eggs and milk, as well as a livestock trailer to rescue sheep and pigs from neighboring farms. Cortman became our armory, a nearby mechanic was restored to keep our cars in good condition, and when I wasn't picking corn or foraging for farming supplies, I was searching for basements to marvel at.

With so much to do, I didn't notice the passing of milestones we'd usually celebrate: a week without dying, or our first out-of-town supply run. Zomboid tends to slow down for me once my base is barricaded up and its cupboards stuffed with supplies, but in Build 42's beta it seemed there was as much ahead as behind. New skills like blacksmithing and woodwork promised plenty still to do once loot dried up, while huge chunks of the map remained unexplored.

But last week (July 24) The Indie Stone announced that Build 42 was coming to the main branch of Project Zomboid on July 29 – launching as an official update for those who weren't already braving its beta. Furthermore, the stable version will include additions not seen in its beta, including big overhauls for many towns. Knowing we'd jump into the flashier build as soon as it was available, we agreed that a guns-blazing trip into Louisville – an overrun city to the southwest – would be a fitting send-off for our latest adventure.

And it was! It took most of a day to drive from Muldraugh to Louisville, as the roads were choked with wrecked cars that made driving in a three-van convoy difficult. We stopped twice: first at a military checkpoint isolating Louisville from the rest of the state, where we had to leave our vehicles and fight through a horde to remove barricades from the roads, and again at the city's outskirts to sleep. The next day we travelled into Louisville proper, cutting loose from the cautious playstyle that Project Zomboid usually mandates to create as much chaos as possible – stuffing microwaves with metal cutlery to start fires, using emergency vehicle sirens to draw out hordes, and generally being post-apocalyptic nuisances.

When the inevitable happened, it was quick and bloody. Zombies chased me into a supply closet, and only after closing the door into pitch blackness did I realize it was occupied. Those last moments were lit by the muzzle flash of my panicked shots – say what you will about being eaten alive, at least Build 42's lighting overhaul makes it look good. My friends didn't fare any better, with one killed trying to rescue me and another while climbing a fence.

Sure, letting the save falter naturally would have given our characters a peaceful send-off. But loading into Project Zomboid, you're always given the same crystal-clear message. "This is how you died," not how you lived happily-ever-after. Build 42 certainly offers more reasons to live (and I can't wait to dig into them properly as the update is out now), but for these hardy survivors there are no nice farms upstate – only fire, dark closets, and lots of gnashing teeth.

Introducing my friends to Project Zomboid ended in disaster, but it's given me a newfound appreciation for the best zombie survival sim around

Last week, I added a poll to a report I wrote up about the upcoming Steam Frame. Since we're still waiting on a price and release date for the new visor, I asked what price you think it should be. Honestly, I'm a little surprised by the results, and maybe even a little worried that the results might enable Valve to charge a lot for its new VR headset.

In a total pool of 738 votes, a safe lead of 33% of folks said that the Steam Frame should cost between $699-$799. This bracket would land it above the full-fat Meta Quest 3, but underneath the most recent generation of elite gaming handheld PCs. Personally, this is the price I'd like to see it launch at, but with the current economy of the tech world being as it is (thanks a lot, AI companies), I wouldn't be at all surprised if this range is a pipe dream.

25% of readers who responded to the poll said that the Steam Frame should be priced between $799 - $899 as a happy medium. Combined with the 244 votes for the answer above, the 184 votes here cast a majority of 58% of people who think the Steam Frame should cost under $899.

That part is reassuring; I certainly wouldn't like to see a Steam VR headset costing more than that since it's too near to the Valve Index, which was known as a prohibitively pricey bit of technology. What worries me, and what I hope Valve doesn't see, is the 42% of voters who said the new goggles should cost between $899-$1,099.

The state of the gaming hardware market is in disrepair right now, with rising costs, stock shortages, and a potential (scary) future where no one can afford to truly own anything. I fully expect the Steam Frame to be priced somewhere in these higher ranges, but I sure hope it isn't.

VR as a whole feels like it's on the ropes right now, or at least, that's my perception as someone who covers the industry from week to week.

I love VR gaming and think it has a really strong future ahead of it, but getting people to see that is only going to get more difficult if we continue to see the biggest, mainstream headsets cost that much. The Apple Vision Pro definitely seemed like an alluring concept until Apple decided to pour a bottle of hot sauce in its eyes by charging over $3,000 for it.

Let's not forget also that VR is a more niche side of gaming tech to begin with when compared to a Steam Machine, other PC, or games console. That means the potential number of people interested in buying it will be smaller, so you're narrowing down the potential consumer base for the Steam Frame if you price it prohibitively.

152 people voted for $899-$999 in the poll, and 158 voters said the Frame should cost $999-$1,099, so both answers had 41% to their names.

Maybe it's time to address the wording of the question, because I do think that could have come into play with the results. I'm sure there were plenty of people voting as though the question asked what price the headset will be. In that case, those votes for the more expensive options could be more pessimistic than they are an expression of desire.

But the question was how much should it cost, so that does lean the results into what people could want it to cost, either for the benefit of consumers or Valve.

To make it more accurate to what funds people have at their disposal to see what prices might impact Valve's sales, maybe I should have asked: "How much would you be willing to pay for the Steam Frame?"

I know I expected a much clearer-cut lean toward the cheaper options because who on earth wants to pay more than they have to for technology these days.

Regardless of the question wording and the nitty-gritty of what you folks thought when answering, the results do perhaps point to a Steam Frame that's more expensive than the majority of gamers would like it to. Yes, the sample size here is fairly small and hardly anything official, but with this long a wait for an official price announcement, I think any indication of what people are expecting is worth paying attention to.

I just hope Valve doesn't see this and think it'll be okay to charge even more than it was planning to because of those 42% of folks who voted for the more expensive options. Yes, that's unlikely, but you've all had your chance. If that were to happen, we'd probably never know, but I'll be blaming you lot.

Prepping for Steam Frame's launch by upgrading your PC? We'd recommend the best gaming PCs, the best graphics cards, and the best RAM for gaming.

Anime-inspired co-op title Orbitals has confirmed all of the different ways you'll be able to play the Switch 2 game in co-op, with a free friend's pass confirmed for launch.

Orbitals is one of the most highly anticipated games of the year for many, and despite September getting ready to be the pre-GTA 6 armageddon where every game under the sun is releasing, it's certainly one of the standouts. The anime-style adventure looks so visually striking it was immediately on my radar, but with it being co-op, it throws into question how I'll be playing it. Thankfully developer Shapefarm has laid everything out.

Over on Twitter, the official Orbitals account reveals all the myriad ways you'll be able to experience this co-op focused adventure. First, and most obviously, you'll be able to play Orbitals in couch co-op with you and whoever is within your immediate vicinity. But even if your co-op partner is away or… not wanting to play on the same console, for whatever reason, Shapefarm's new game has you covered.

GameShare is available both locally and through Nintendo Switch Online, allowing someone to join the person who bought the game via the power of wireless communications. However, the local play version has the added benefit of allowing players on the original Nintendo Switch to join you via GameShare co-op.

Meanwhile, if you're dedicated to making sure the GameChat button on your Switch 2 is never pressed, there is another way to let your friends play for free. Just like the Hazelight co-op games that inspired it (although given that Orbitals co-director Jakob Lundgren worked on those, maybe that isn't the right word), Orbitals will let the second player download a "Global Friend's Pass" to join you, right from launch. Plus, if you're unsure, the friend pass app will feature a local co-op demo to allow you to dip your toes in space.

If you've already pre-ordered your copy of Orbitals, check out our guides to the best Nintendo Switch 2 controllers, the best Nintendo Switch headsets, and the best Nintendo Switch 2 cases to aid you on your upcoming anime co-op adventure.

Pokémon just announced that we can expect to dive into Pokopia's Bubbly Basin DLC on August 5, and my first thought was: can I grab some more Ditto-themed accessories in time?

I currently have a pair of unofficial yet remarkably cute Ditto thumb grips on my Joy-Cons, but I'd much rather have Hori's Ditto-themed goodies in my collection instead. The brand has a Ditto Wireless HORIPAD Turbo controller and a Ditto Compact Carry All available starting from £34.99 on Amazon, and they just so happen to release on August 6, a day after the DLC. So the answer is yes, I can grab some more Ditto accessories, but I'll have to wait one full day until I can fully transform my setup into one that feels more befitting of the iconic pink-purple Pokémon.

I'm sure I can wait, as these official accessories are plenty adorable and look to be worth it. I've had my eyes on the Compact Carry All ever since it was officially announced on June 19 by Hori of Japan on its official X (Twitter) page, and I have a feeling I'm not alone. In the US, this case, which can store the Nintendo Switch 2, its dock, and some extra accessories including the official Joy-Con controller grip, the handheld's HDMI cable and AC adapter, is sold out across retailers like Walmart, Best Buy and Amazon.

Fortunately, here in the UK, pre-orders are still available for the £34.99 (Amazon) case. However, I'm about to add it to my online basket as soon as possible, just in case stock starts to dwindle here too. At least it's not a similar situation with the matching Wireless HORIPAD Turbo controller. It's available for £54.99 (Amazon) / $64.99 (Amazon) here in the UK and in the US, and there seems to be no stock shortages of the gamepad and its funky arcade-floor-like Ditto design.

As a HORIPAD Turbo controller, the pad comes with TMR sticks like previous models, and there are even back buttons featuring little Ditto too. Where it doesn't quite measure up to the best Nintendo Switch 2 controllers is that it only includes 10 hours of battery life. I have a feeling I'll be spending more than just 10 hours of my time exploring Bubbly Basin and all the new Pokémon hiding within its many habitats, so that's a little disappointing. At least it has a USB-C port for easy charging for when I need to give it more juice, and I always have 8BitDo Ultimate 2 on me for when I need a pad that lasts a little longer.

Both the Ditto Compact Carry All and the Ditto Wireless HORIPAD Turbo controller launch on August 6 in the US and UK, but you can always check out the upcoming Hori Pokemon Pixel art accessories if you're not a Ditto devotee.

• View all Hori Switch 2 gaming accessories at Amazon

Check out our guides to the best Nintendo Switch headsets, the best Nintendo Switch 2 cameras and the best Nintendo Switch 2 microSD Express Cards if you want to upgrade your setup in time for Pokemon Pokopia's new DLC.

A few years after its last price increase, the price of Project Zomboid is going up, but it's still fair for what you're getting as far as the developers are concerned.

This news is part of the latest patch notes for the hugely popular zombie survival game. "As with the launch of Build 41, there will be a rise in price for Project Zomboid alongside the release of Build 42," developer The Indie Stone writes. "Although not one that many would consider a huge one."

Before Build 42, owning the game would cost you $19.99/£16.75, and now it'll run you $24.99/£22.49. Not huge, but still enough to be noticeable. As mentioned, the last time the price tag changed was after Build 41 went live in 2022.

The jump was around the same, going from $14.99 to $19.99. In both instances, updates brought substantial upgrades to the experience.

This time around, the map is effectively being doubled through new locations and areas, and there are new features like collapsible fencing. $5 increments every four years or so seems like a reasonable cadence for keeping a game like this ticking over while the team focuses on making it bigger and better after a staggering 13 years in Steam early access.

It's not like the industry is getting any easier for indie studios. "The game will continue to be what we consider to be reasonably priced and good value for the gameplay available," The Indie Stone adds. "This change will apply across storefronts and regions once 42.20 launches to Stable."

The new price is now standard on Steam. If this feels a bit much for you, Project Zomboid is regularly on sale through events on Valve's store.

"I haven't slept in 48 hours": Devs spent 9 years, starting in "my parents' basement," making a Nier Automata-esque action game with the most anime plot imaginable.

Pokemon Pokopia Bubbly Basin's release date is August 5, 2026, with Part 2 due to launch before the end of the year. The latest trailer for Pokopia's Expansion Pass shows off some new Pokemon and a new underwater town. Details about the second part of the DLC have also been announced, and we'll soon be able to get drip for Ditto and the other Pokemon residents.

Starting from August 5, all Pokopia players will be able to learn the Dive skill from Manaphy and start to fully explore and build on areas that are underwater. However, if you purchase the Expansion Pass, you'll also gain access to a new town called Bubbly Basin on this day, as long as you've reached Environment Level 5 in Bleak Beach.

Alongside the underwater city, the DLC will include the new watermelon food type and bubble machines. Surf will also gain a power-up thanks to the new smoothie recipes. Pokemon also promises us that we'll be able to build a Sharpedo submarine to enable further exploration. While the trailer is short, we get a glimpse at eight upcoming Pokemon: Popplio, Carvanha, Corsola, Corphish, Chinchoi, Mudkip, Buizel, and Manaphy.

Part 2 of the DLC won't feature a new area, but we know a little more about what it includes. Ditto always had access to different outfits, but later this year you'll be able to match outfits with your monster pals. Speaking of furry friends, more will visit Pokopia in the second part, though only Snubbull has been revealed so far.

The final part of the DLC will launch next year and feature the pass's second new town; however, that's all the details we have for now. Pokemon Pokopia's Expansion Pass isn't available for purchase yet, and we probably won't find out the price until it launches next week.

Pokemon Pokopia was bioengineered to be the "best selling spin-off" according to Koei Tecmo CEO, but he had no "real expectations" for the cozy game until it became an international hit

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced has been a massive (and much-needed) success for Ubisoft, even if that hasn't stopped the publisher from laying off a number of its devs. Looking at the player reactions, it's evident longtime fans of the series were ready for a return to the series' pre-RPG roots.

Understanding where open-world games are right now is impossible without studying what happened in the early 2010s. Skyrim proved density trumps raw size and that immersive sim elements are the key to immortality. GTA 5 became a new gold standard for modern-day sandboxes that many studios still haven't reached before GTA 6 arrives. Assassin's Creed, meanwhile, toyed with a bit of everything and began rowing towards beautiful worlds of deceptive depth and excess.

Even as someone who loves to get lost even in the largest of Ubisoft's sprawling maps, Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced feels like the most satisfying and leanest the series has been in a very long time. Mind you, clearing its upgrade of a pirate-infested Caribbean still takes tens and tens of hours, but coming from behemoths like Crimson Desert – which are obsessed with stuffing as many mechanics and systems as possible into a disjointed package – Edward Kenway's seafaring adventure hits a sweet spot I think we didn't fully appreciate back in 2013.

Land ahead

Assassin's Creed Black Flag's biggest trick when it came to its scope was – and still is, despite Resynced's notable additions – that most of its Caribbean map is just water. It sounds obvious, but even with points of interest emerging from time to time and entire fleets of Spaniards and Englishmen hunting down pirates, the vast majority of the map isn't the icon-filled nightmare we started getting with Assassin's Creed Unity. Even clearing Black Flag's biggest towns, such as Havana, doesn't take too long.

By building the game around the core premise of a pirate simulator and raiding forts and small outposts in remote isles during most secondary tasks, "cities" (they aren't big) are more of a fancy set dressing for a handful of shops and key locations. Of course, they're still fun to traverse and are put to good use by scripted story missions, yet they were far from becoming "black holes" surrounded by even more content grind. I must underline Black Flag Resynced isn't a small or mid-sized game, but I recommend booting up one of its later relatives, such as Odyssey, and comparing how each of them uses its square kilometers.

Less obvious (at least at first) is the fact you can't really fully explore any chunk of land bigger than an islet with a hidden treasure and two turtles. Assassin's Creed hadn't yet reached the "you can climb anything and walk in any direction" approach that made the rebooted saga so sprawling. Dense walls of vegetation and rocky formations are used to "enclose" handcrafted areas that are rarely bigger than they need to be. Stunning vistas abound, but they're no more than that: pretty backgrounds to look at. You can't climb every mountain. Sorry, Todd Howard.

True freedom

Even rebuilt in 2026, Black Flag avoids becoming an endless expanse as gargantuan and playful as Tears of the Kingdom or a Bethesda-style simulation like the upcoming Fable. It also escapes the gravitational pull of last year's Assassin's Creed Shadows, a lovely but eventually tiring Japan-set action RPG that feels like the end of an era. It's an interesting result, and with some remaining traits – such as the lingering deluge of cosmetics – still around, it almost feels like both developers and executives fighting against their worst impulses in an attempt to chart the series' future.

There's a way to make ridiculously detailed open worlds engaging – Rockstar Games and Bethesda Game Studios figured that out ages ago – but Ubisoft isn't interested in following those schools of design. As gorgeous and well-researched as these historical romps are, Assassin's Creed exists in a different sphere, one that's concerned with more immediate thrills and "snackable" stealth action. At some point, probably influenced by entirely different mainstream hits, it moved away from that in an attempt to produce massive games for everyone. As a proud Origins truther, I've been okay with those, but like many others, I've had my fill and would like to go back.

Of course, we still don't know how Assassin's Creed Codename Hexe will implement these learnings while also serving as the next big blockbuster for Ubisoft. Success aside, Black Flag Resynced is more of an experiment – but it's safe to say we'll be getting more remakes that could be more transformative. In any case, the larger message is clear: We still like to get lost in open worlds, we just don't want them to become second lives.

A sequel to Chinese Soulslike RPG Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is in the works at new studio Indolphinity, founded by Wuchang director Xia Siyuan after he was reportedly fired from the original, seemingly defunct team at series creator Leenzee Games.

Wuchang publisher 505 Games, which will return to publish Wuchang 2 (or whatever it ends up being called), announced the news in a joint press release with Indolphinity, officially dubbed Chengdu Recursive Dolphin Technology Co.

That press release reiterates, in case you missed it, that Digital Bros, the parent to 505 Games, acquired the IP rights to Wuchang in April 2026. This would've been on the heels of reports that the Leenzee Games Wuchang team had been dissolved after refusing a pivot to support work, not long after Siyuan's alleged firing earlier in the year.

This whole mess followed a significant retcon to Wuchang, evidently prompted by widespread backlash from Chinese fans angry over the game's portrayal of some historically significant people and characters, which also dramatically lowered the game's Steam review score.

"Under the agreement, Indolphinity will lead the creative development of the sequel, while 505 Games will fund and publish the game globally," that press release reads. Additionally, a new Digital Bros subsidiary will be established in Chengdu, China to "further support development and publishing activities."

In a Twitter statement, 505 Games confirms "the Wuchang sequel has officially entered its preparation phase," indicating it won't actually be released for several years. With Indolphinity also likely wrestling with the groundwork of forming a new studio – which, if we're lucky, will include rehiring a lot of the original staff from Leenzee – I'd say even a 2029 release date is generous. But a real future for Wuchang is exciting news nevertheless.

"Wuchang: Fallen Feathers attracted more than 131,000 concurrent players on Steam at launch and reached 5 million players worldwide across PC and console platforms, establishing itself as one of the most successful Action RPG Soulslike titles in its category," 505 Games says.

Digital Bros co-founder Raffi Galante seems to quietly hit on Wuchang's troubled launch in a comment: "From the outset, our priority has been to safeguard and amplify the original creative vision, while equipping the development team with the resources and publishing expertise needed to succeed worldwide. We are committed to preserving the cultural authenticity of the IP, keeping its creative heart in China while bringing the world of WUCHANG to players across the globe."

We've also heard directly from Siyuan, who sounds keen to get back in the saddle.

"We listen closely to the real voices of players and the community, and we remain firmly devoted to our original creative aspirations and cultural foundations, striving to answer everyone's long-standing expectations with more polished quality and a more complete experience," Siyuan says. "Wuchang's story is far from over. Together, Indolphinity and 505 Games set out on a new journey, unfolding an entirely new chapter of Wuchang's story that is deeply rooted in the Eastern soil."

Wuchang reviewed lower than the likes of Lies of P or The First Berserker: Khazan, but it had its devotees and made a name for itself with stunning visual direction, smart iterations on Soulslike-standard systems, a compelling setting, and generally sharp, always flashy combat. I would call it an annoying game that I enjoyed and finished despite some frustrations with encounter design and game balance. Our Wuchang: Fallen Feathers review awarded it 3.5 stars.

Soulslike devs accidentally make a powerful case for discs: PS5-exclusive physical edition sells out as Sony moves to end physical editions.

While Hideo Kojima is best known for Metal Gear and Death Stranding these days, his older catalog includes many more cult classics – including graphic adventure games like Snatcher and Policenauts. As the latter game turns 32, the beloved director is taking the opportunity to remember just how long he had to wait to finally create it.

"I first came up with the concept [for Policenauts] when I was 26, right after the release of Metal Gear 2," Kojima says in a tweet. That'd be in 1990, which is a year Kojima has already spoken of as a tumultuous time in his own career. Metal Gear 2 was itself delayed so Kojima could help fix an "emergency situation" on an RPG spin-off of Snatcher, and it seems his role didn't stop shuffling once the stealth-action game was out.

"After that, I was transferred to a planning-focused department" at Konami, Kojima explains. "The following year, I moved to the Technical Research Institute. Then the PC Engine version of SNATCHER interrupted things, and the PC-9821 version [of Policenauts] was released when I was 30."

While Snatcher was released in English on the Sega CD (a release that now often commands $1,000 or more on the secondhand market), Policenauts was never officially released outside of Japan. Kojima apparently agrees with one fan saying that "it's a shame most people can’t play it without emulators and the translation patch," since he's retweeted the sentiment.

Many of Kojima's early games are locked up in some sort of limbo or other, as the publishing rights seem to remain with Konami. Kojima and Konami had a famously messy breakup after the launch of Metal Gear Solid 5, and while Metal Gear itself has proven a lasting enough brand for Konami to invest in various remakes and remasters, the likes of Policenauts and Snatcher are seemingly too niche to get the same treatment.

There are plenty of upcoming Hideo Kojima games keeping the director busy.

The Mass Effect Legendary Edition in 2021 provided the perfect modern way to enjoy BioWare's beloved sci-fi trilogy. Sadly, it's unlikely we'll ever see the first three Dragon Age games get the same treatment, according to Mark Darrah, who co-directed the first game and directed the second.

That's not for want of trying either, as Darrah tells FRVR there was an internal campaign to re-release the original Dragon Age installments, but logistics just weren't in anyone's favor. "I think what you want is a Champion’s Edition," he says.

"My plan was like, we're going to do a 'Champion’s Trilogy,'" he recalls. "These are three games with three different important figures. And we're going to group them in, collect them together [...], we're going to retroactively turn it into a trilogy."

The term Champion's Edition stems from Street Fighter; the re-release of the second installment, Street Fighter 2: Champion Edition, is the third most successful arcade game ever. On its face, packaging Dragon Age Origins, 2, and Inquisition together seems like a sound idea, but there are a lot of technical hurdles.

The first two use the Eclipse Engine, while the third was developed using Frostbite, and they don't feed into each other as directly as the Mass Effect games. The Mass Effect trilogy was made using the Unreal Engine for all three installments, and each sequel was built to incorporate your character from its predecessor.

Dragon Age 2 allows you to do that directly from Origins, but to do it for Inquisition, you had to upload your save to an outside app. It's cumbersome, and even if BioWare or parent company EA wanted to make this happen, finding support would be hard because the underlying tech is outdated within the industry.

"There is basically no one at BioWare anymore that understands the Aurora Engine [the basis for Eclipse]," Darrah says. "There's basically no one outside of BioWare anymore that understands the Aurora engine. So unlike Mass Effect, which is Unreal, there are basically no companies that could help you."

It doesn't help that the last game in the series, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, performed underwhelmingly in terms of sales following a turbulent, decade-long development cycle. There won't be much impetus to invest in the franchise right now, no matter how strong the case might be for nostalgia. A shame, because after Baldur's Gate 3, there are generations of fans who'd probably love these fantasy RPGs.

Darrah thinks so, too. "Could a Dragon Age remaster sell really well? Yeah," he says. "I think it sells super well because even at the time, Dragon Age Origins wasn't the most attractive game. There's a lot you could do there to make it [...] a lot better looking."

Dragon Age veteran says a series comeback would be difficult with EA's "frightening" graveyard of dormant IP: "I suspect that it wouldn't happen."

Spider-Man: Brand New Day star Tom Holland recalls the hardest stunt of his career, and it happened while he was "fighting an alien."

"I think my favorite stunt I've ever done is something I was advised not to do, and it never made the cut of the film," Holland told Matt Damon during an interview with Complex. "And it was with a good friend of yours, Doug Liman. It's called a 'Dead Man' and you wear the full harness. I always wanted to do it... it was this sequence where I'm supposed to be charging at this alien, and it was supposed to kick me in the throat and throw me on the ground. And they were going to try and do it with CG, but I really wanted to create this strong snapback. So essentially you wear the harness, tie yourself to a fixed point, and run away from the point. And when the line goes taut, you just... whack!'"

Continued Holland: "The cameraman missed it, because it happened so quickly. I didn't anticipate it hurting as much as it did. It winded me beyond belief, but [there] was something about it that I loved."

The stunt in question took place during the 2021 sci-fi movie Chaos Walking, based on the British YA sci-fi novel The Knife of Never Letting Go. Author Patrick Ness co-wrote the screenplay with Spider-Man: Homecoming screenwriter Doug Ford. Holland plays Todd, who lives on a dystopian planet without women, with Daisy Ridley as Viola, the woman who suddenly crash-lands onto said planet. Despite having a pretty stacked cast including Cynthia Erivo, Nick Jonas, and Mads Mikkelsen, the film was a critical and commercial failure.

Despite Damon interjecting and telling Holland that he couldn't believe he attempted the stunt, Holland has a tendency to do as many as he possibly can – as evidenced in the behind-the-scenes of every single Spider-Man movie. Many of the ones in Spider-Man: Brand New Day were inspired by the Insomniac video games, and are pretty dang cool.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is out in theaters on July 29 in the UK and July 31 in the US. For more, read our guide to upcoming Marvel movies and shows and our breakdown of how to watch the Marvel movies in order.

The recent Xbox outage preventing some players from accessing their physical games should not have happened according to chief technology officer Scott Van Vliet, who says the company is looking into this part of the outages.

We had a nice reminder of why the all-digital future is looking bright over the last week, as we saw a PlayStation outage which prevented people from playing the shiny new Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls beta, and then a nice little Xbox outage because you wouldn't want to be left out no matter which console you play on. Obviously none of this was supposed to happen, but while the digital game issues were inevitable, Xbox owners found that some physical games were also rendered unplayable.

Van Vliet acknowledged the outage earlier this week, pledging "we'll do better" so that similar future failings "can't ruin your night again." However, he's now spoken about the elephant in the room – that even the physical media wasn't safe. Speaking to The Verge, Van Vliet says "we're looking into reports" and that "disc-based entitlement checks should not prevent players from accessing their games and this is by design."

Given that Xbox consoles install the game to your hard drive now regardless of whether it is physical or digital – with the disc itself acting as a way of proving to the console that you do in fact own the game – there is a digital element to it, but Van Vliet says "offline mode is also designed to rely on those saved entitlements," and that a fix to prevent this happening is coming in a future update.

Granted, this is only going to get worse in an era of Nintendo's Game-Key Cards and the Xbox-released physical copies that are basically the same thing. But at least we get the benefits of an all-digital future like no early retailer price-cuts and the ability for publishers to revoke your game license whenever!

Xbox is reportedly testing a feature to digitize physical game collections as PlayStation decides to phase out discs.

The Legend of Zelda was inspired by old-school Western RPGs, which weren't popular in Japan at the time. Taking inspiration from these foreign '80s PC games, and wanting to create a non-linear title that could use a save system, Nintendo fellow Shigeru Miyamoto came up with the idea for Link's adventure in Hyrule.

In an interview with Famitsu, that's been translated by GamesRadar+, Miyamoto talks about Nintendo's inspiration for both The Legend of Zelda and the Famicom Disc System. An add-on for Japan's version of the NES, the Famicom, the Disc System could play games that required more data via rewritable floppy discs. However, the hardware sadly never made its way over to the West.

When talking about the early days of the NES, Miyamoto says: "We had arcade-style games and sports games, but in order to capture the interest of a large number of people, we had to create new types of games. We wanted to make a different style of game where you don't continue linearly towards the goal."

At that time, many games focused on high scores and didn't require players to save their progress. In longer games like Super Mario Bros., there were systems in place that let you return to certain checkpoints. Password systems and level selects are common examples, but they could be hidden perks like Mario's warp pipes.

Miyamoto had dreams of creating a game for Nintendo with the ability to save baked into the cart or floppy disc. "We wanted a game where the main character was the focus, and we also wanted to utilize save data," Miyamoto says. "With this challenge in mind we made the [Famicom] Disc System. It was after this that we started to think about game design."

Since the early '80s, vast RPGs like the Wizardry series were popular in the West, but Japanese players were focused on games developed within the domestic market. "At that time, RPGs on PC were catching on abroad, but they weren't widespread at all in Japan," Miyamoto says. "Nintendo leveraged the technology it had developed up until that point, and gathered the most interesting elements [of these games] to recreate them for the Famicom.

"That's how I came up with a similar game design for The Legend of Zelda," he concludes.

After 16 months, Zelda Ocarina of Time expert completes a hitless, totally randomized run of the game: "I genuinely didn't think it was gonna happen."

A fan has put together a Lego Jimothy the Racoon, so I think it's safe to say the internet is on fine form this week.

Created by prolific builder ochre.jelly, Lego Jimothy the Racoon is causing quite the stir via social media (the original post received over 181K likes on Instagram). Recreating the dumpy trash panda from Seattle that stole everyone's hearts, this is an original build using spare parts rather than modifying one of the best Lego sets.

Unlike some other mock Jimothy sets I've seen, this one perfectly mimics the racoon's short spine that provides him with the distinctive, rotund look he's known for. It's not particularly overwrought either; it's simple enough to look like Jimothy without overdoing it, which is probably why this model works.

There are other attempts to make Jimothy in Lego, of course; this attempt by SplashiestMonk on reddit modifies the existing Creator 3-in-1 Gray Wolf set (available via Amazon or Lego itself) because it already allows you to make a full-size racoon. Shortening the body and using some extra pieces for a stubby tail seal the deal.

Naturally, these Lego models are far from the only attempts to bring Jimothy to life in fandom. Besides popping up in Guild Wars 2 (which is only right, because an ArenaNet developer's spouse first discovered Jimothy), he's also got an official stat block in D&D with abilities like hurling garbage to make the target stinky.

For more cool collectibles, why not drop in on our guide to the best toys? As for other recent reveals, Lego Avengers: Doomsday sets have given us our best look at a returning X-Men hero.

• See today's best Lego deals at Amazon

In 1999, Pierce Brosnan stole the show in a remake of The Thomas Crown Affair that basically asked, “What if James Bond turned to a life of crime?” Fitting then, that in the new trailer for Michael B. Jordan’s upcoming take on the criminally steamy romantic thriller, the Sinners star is pulling off major 007 vibes immediately.

Jordan stars in and directs the new version of the classic story, which follows Thomas Crown, a billionaire playboy with money to burn and time to kill, as a master thief stealing valuable works of art. The original version was directed by Norman Jewison and starred Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway, before Die Hard director John McTiernan had his shot at the affair with Brosnan, Russo and a hair-raising heist played to the tune of Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman.” Flash forward to now, and Jordan is once again calling the shots in front and behind the camera, working from a script penned by Jason Hall (American Sniper) and Drew Pearce (Iron Man 3).

Starring opposite him as Thomas Crown is Andor and future DC star Adria Arjona, who will be taking on the role of the detective who’s trying desperately hard not to get caught in the spell of the man she’s catching. Supporting talent also includes Kenneth Branagh, Lily Gladstone, Danai Gurira and Pilou Asbæk.

Given how ridiculously cool the previous two iterations of this tale have been, the new trailer is proving without a doubt that Jordan is up to the task. You’ll have to see how well he gets away with it when The Thomas Crown Affair arrives in theaters on March 5, 2027.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves right now, though. For every upcoming movie still on the way in 2026, get a look at our guide.

While the first two Plague Tale games had a lead character in Amicia de Rune, she wouldn't have got far without support. The friends and family she drew into her orbit not only filled in gaps in her skillset, they also underlined that she was a single element in a wider social drama. It's an analogy of sorts for these games as a whole. Examine their mechanics and systems closely and you'll note that the pieces are mostly standard-issue, albeit well-crafted, third-person stealth-adventure fare. But they are part of something bigger, slotting together with plot, script, location design, music and more to produce a harmonious ensemble.

Now here's Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy – a slightly unwieldy title which aims to emphasise that this is more spinoff than direct followup. With Amicia's tale told, we're given a new charge in the form of Sophia (one of the companion characters in A Plague Tale: Requiem) and sent back along the timeline to 1333, 15 years prior to the events of the previous games. As we sit down to play through a full chapter of Resonance we're thus faced with a change of personality, time and backstory, but most of all, it transpires, a change in how we play a Plague Tale game. With all these shifts, can everything still pull in the same direction?

Into the Macula

As far as the setting goes, the change could have been much more pronounced. The dark, mystical power known as the Macula that afflicted Amicia's brother Hugo and brought forth millions of ravenous rats exists everywhere in this universe, so plague tales could potentially pop up in any time and place. Indeed, a teaser at the end of Requiem suggested the possibility of a modern-day treatment of the fiction. Was there ever a plan to make that game instead? Asobo studio head and Resonance creative director David Dedeine responds with a simple "no" – the aim was merely to emphasise the transhistorical nature of the Macula. Not that he rules out a more future-facing project. "We hope one day we will do A Plague Tale 3," he says, underlining that Resonance is more sidestep than continuation. "And it might be the case that we see how the Macula would express itself in a contemporary world."

For now, though, we're planted firmly in medieval Europe, albeit no longer trudging around French forts, farmland and battlefields. Sophia, a life-hardened smuggler and pirate when we met her in Requiem, is in her early 20s here, yet already far from wet behind the ears. With a protégé named Leni in tow, she's on the run from the Venetian army, which has decimated the gang of plunderers she belongs to. Sophia is also bothered by visions relating to the Minotaur of Greek legend, which has led her to the island that was, supposedly, its place of residence. Much of the game will unfold here, it seems, giving it a tighter focus, although it's certainly not a monotonous location. Playing through what will be the fourth chapter in the final game, we wind our way through an enormous ruin, where Sophia and Leni must work through 'trials' left for visitors many hundreds of years before. Fortunately, Sophia has a curious metal orb which acts as a key of sorts to unlock various doors and mechanisms.

If this sounds like the plot of an Indiana Jones film, this chapter of Resonance does have something of that feel. There are even moments that recall The Last Crusade as we consult a diary containing sketches that point to clues in the environment. In game terms, this means a departure from Innocence and Requiem's sneaking and crafting routines that riffed on The Last Of Us, bringing us closer to the kind of adventure you might stumble across in Uncharted or Tomb Raider. It's a concerted change, with a character who's also more comfortable crossing cutlasses than skulking in shadows. "As a starting point, we wanted to move on from the pure stealth gameplay," Dedeine says. "What we have tried to do is really shift into something more action-driven." It's a different challenge in terms of expressing the overall Plague Tale DNA, he adds, in which the interactive elements become one with the narrative direction. "The dynamics between the characters cannot be the same, so you need to find different types of layers of story."

Once we've picked our way into the ruins, a cycle of puzzles, combat and exploration begins in earnest. If we stand in the rays of sunlight that beam through portholes in the great domed roofs, our orb refracts the light to reveal hidden painted symbols like a UV torch. It then acts as an interface when we insert it into a dais with a dial to input our findings. If these trials are largely matters of observation, others demand nerves of steel. Deeper into the level we find that the ancient trial-setters were particularly fond of spike traps, which still function rather too well for comfort. One trek across a long, pressure-padded floor with only a single safe path is surprisingly tense, the orb illuminating the correct route, except where your light source is blotted out by obstacles, leaving you to memorise a section and step forward blindly. The instant, fatal punishment for a mistake is liable to make you jump, infecting your next attempt with a touch of doubt.

Not all chapters will be stacked with puzzles and traps like this, explains lead level designer Valérian Robert. They're there because it's designed to be a trial, and "it has to be brutal, so you can die in a lot of different ways". It's a sign that, as in previous games, the makers of Resonance are working hard to marry action and tone. While progress isn't truly difficult, by the end of the chapter we're having to put some thought into solutions, and being impaled is a real possibility. Nor are Sophia and Leni quick to give up clues with their chatter, although they may chime in eventually. "We didn't want to backseat players," Robert says. "We wanted players to think by themselves, and maybe if they find it a bit too hard, they can have some help." Action-adventure games of this type can become boring if you don't have to do a great deal, Dedeine adds: "We realised pretty fast that when it was like this, you don't feel like you are [on] an actual adventure. The story and the background and the graphics are not enough to give you the breadth of the adventure."

Combat follows a similar ethos. Before we get into the level proper, we're offered a tutorial to bring us up to speed regarding what's expected, which thrusts us into some close-quarters duels. Sophia's weapon of choice is a scimitar, but using it is not merely a case of hacking enemies into submission. Landing successive blows sends enemies into a stun state – the ideal opportunity to pull off a charged dagger strike that will finish weaker ones or bite a chunk out of the life bars of those with stronger constitutions. Guarding and dodging are important for working openings, and the quickest route to a stun is to pull off a parry. There's some colour-coding here as well – yellow-tinged attacks can be parried but not blocked, while red ones must be dodged. Sophia's grapnel, meanwhile, is especially handy for yanking archers from elevated platforms or reeling in foes, while a hefty boot sends most assailants staggering.

With Venetian soldiers soon teeming around the ruins (to a man, they have English accents), it's not long before our first real fight – a quick and vicious affair. Well-practised thanks to her bandit background, Sophia fights like a cornered tiger as enemies gather around her. Her sword swings mean business, while incidental actions are pleasingly direct – a bottle on the ground can be grabbed and spiked at a soldier's head with a single button press. At the same time, she's far from invincible, and death can follow swiftly if you lose the duck-and-jab rhythm or get caught off guard by yellow or red attacks.

As with the puzzles, Dedeine tells us, "when you act correctly, it's easy, but if you are doing it wrong, you can be killed brutally, because that's the tone of the Plague Tale games in general." By the end of the chapter, we're asked to link all we've been taught together and, indeed, the speed with which you can end a group of soldiers is highly satisfying, but it's hardly guaranteed as you juggle several enemies at once. Pulling an archer down is easier said than done when there's a mob around you, especially when its leader is built like an ox and on a rampage with a heavy club.

Ancient combat

If not exactly realistic, there's a palpable sense of weight and aggression to these encounters. That could be crucial in order to maintain the thrill of fighting throughout the game, since the mechanics won't increase in intricacy a great deal. With a title of this scope, Dedeine says, "you don't have the space and the time to make a very deep combat game. We wanted to be sophisticated enough to be interesting and rewarding, but not too complex either in terms of skill or in terms of RPG [elements]." Still, we can expect Sophia to learn techniques that take her beyond brawling. "We introduce at specific moments some sort of supernatural powers," Dedeine says, avoiding any specifics. But even here, Sophia won't become a superhero. "We would have broken the universe's rules if we had gone too far," Dedeine says. "We had to find the right balance between what could be believable and the fun of killing five or six soldiers," Robert adds. "I think we nailed it."

Together, the combat, puzzles and traps, along with some light exploration and relic finding, are already a pleasing combination. The new direction clearly works. Still, once again, there is nothing revolutionary here – somewhat reductively, we might call it Tomb Raider meets God Of War in the Middle Ages. Some puzzles, such as a series involving rotating mirrors reflecting beams of light, could generously be called classics of the form, while responding to flashes of red and yellow in combat is hardly new territory. That's in addition to common genre tropes such as wall sidling, zip-lining and navigating crumbling platforms as we spelunk deeper into the ruins. In this sense, Resonance shares the family trait of leaning on tried-and-tested formulae. As ever with Plague Tale, though, that is literally only part of the story. The combat and puzzles are one arm of a narrative experience, selected to feel at home within this adventure. Around them is a suite of artistic flourishes that elevates the journey.

One thing that catches our attention as we push through the ancient construct is its scale. At one point we step into a huge amphitheatre whose central stage is sunk down perhaps hundreds of metres below. Within it stands a kaiju-sized sculpture of a proud soldier. With the wear and tear on this place, we're sometimes poking about where nobody intended us to go, ducking through cracks to get behind the scenes, only to emerge again facing another implausible feat of engineering. "The scale of the structures was one of the pillars [we decided on] at the very beginning of development," Robert says. "We wanted to demonstrate this whole civilisation, and how big and extraordinary it was. We wanted players to experience this kind of shock when they see the gigantic statues." The intention becomes clear as the level culminates around an enormous effigy of the Minotaur itself, its arms animated by unseen mechanisms as you solve the puzzle around it.

More subtly impressive is Sophia herself, in many ways the polar opposite as a character of Amicia's naïvete, vulnerability and sense of privilege. Dedeine: "When we created her in Requiem, I think the team fell in love with her initially, and it was obvious for us to push her further. Based on her past and the level of involvement she had, she was the perfect character to start the new approach." In the ruins, she is keen to push forward, as awestruck as we are, and even a little blasé about the danger. She's also well prepared for a scrap and not averse to using deadly force. "The biggest difference is Amicia was forced to confront violence to protect herself and her brother," says lead writer Carol-Ann Bañuls, "but Sophia was born into it." In terms of writing the character as a protagonist, there was already plenty to work with from Requiem, Bañuls continues: "We knew she was in control of her emotions [and] strong, so we just had to follow the thread of her story to understand where she came from. She kind of talked by herself. She was so well written in Requiem, it was the easiest thing to do in Resonance."

With Sophia – at least, when she's partnered by Leni – Resonance takes on a different tone to that of Amicia and Hugo's traumatic expeditions. There has always been back-and-forth conversation between characters in these games, but here it feels lighter as the women comment on mosaics and statues and the mechanisms they find. "In this level, Sophia and Leni are still discovering the island, so we wanted to keep [their perspective] close to the player's, this sense of discovery," Bañuls says. It reinforces the sense that we're involved in an Uncharted-style adventure, as the pair approach combat with something close to arrogance and aren't exactly wracked with guilt about offing their opponents.

We shouldn't expect this levity to carry right through the tale, however. One of the reasons for taking this spinoff approach to the new game, Dedeine says, is that the team wanted "to breathe a little bit" after the grime and darkness of Requiem. And yet the shadows couldn't be kept at bay for long. "The lore of the Macula – and appetite in the team for all the drama – actually came back into the story during development." Our demo chapter is one of the lightest tonally in the game, he adds, "but there are levels which are even darker, I would say, than the ones in Requiem. So we have more contrast." Despite their humorous banter early on, then, Sophia and Leni are no Nathan Drake and Sully, which suggests there are further layers to unveil. "[Sophia] is the kind of character you admire for her strength," Bañuls says, "but you fall in love with her when you start to see the cracks in the armour."

Balancing all these elements has been a challenge for Resonance's developers, it seems, with combat and traversal and character personalities and relationships all needing to meld together. "There is a lot of back and forth between the writing and the design as a whole," Robert says, even for the chapter we play, which he explains has undergone the least alteration from the original plan. For example, the introduction of music to a level may give an area a different flavour, so the dialogue needs to be changed to adapt. "We write with the controller in our hands at all times," Bañuls says. "You just have to replay and replay the map." As experienced as Asobo may have become in making these games, then, not everything can be predicted. "Sometimes you have a good surprise," Dedeine says. "Sometimes there are things that everyone was happy with and finally it doesn't work. You need to remove them."

Towards the end of our demo, it's Leni who feels that something isn't working, not least with Sophia herself. In a cutscene, Sophia is spellbound by a bizarre vision that almost leads to her stepping off a precipice, but Leni pulls her back at the last second. And, after a few too many deadly traps, the reality of their predicament starts to kick in, Leni wondering what on earth Sophia has dragged her into. Yet she doesn't know the half of it, and perhaps nor do we, as things are about to get stranger still. In another vision we segue back to ancient Greece and suddenly we're in control of none other than Minotaur slayer Theseus, about to enter a combat trial where we must fend off fellow soldiers in a free-for-all until it's time to begin some kind of ceremony.

When we ask about the ancient Greek part of the tale, our interviewees think for a while to decide what they're allowed to say at this stage – clearly this side of the game is crucial to the story's box of secrets. "With the Greek mythology, what motivated us to go in this direction was the fact that the story of the Minotaur and the mythology was the perfect setting for us to offer a new experience to the player," Bañuls finally says diplomatically. As for how closely they've followed the original myth, that's somewhat comparable to how they treated the real Great Plague in Innocence and Requiem. "We revisited the mythology and what was grounded in the reality," Dedeine says. "Why this myth has been told to the people, and what the reality was behind it." Artistic licence will be involved too, especially in linking the past back to Sophia. "What I can say is that the title of the game is connected to that," Dedeine offers. "There is a resonance between the main character and Theseus, and that's what the story will unveil."

Something else remains a mystery at this point, but here Dedeine can set us straight. "There are no rats," he announces. "Let's break [the news]. There are no rats in Resonance. They are gone." This feels like a shift away from one of the series' signature features, but it's easy to appreciate the rationale. "At the end of Requiem, we did lots of gameplay with the rats," Dedeine says, "and at some point, when you know that you are at the end of a mechanic, you need to stop it. Otherwise we would have bored everyone." There were never going to be rats in Resonance, then, and it does feel as though they belong with Amicia and her style of play. The presence of the Macula will be felt in another form, Dedeine teases, which he can't reveal yet. "There is another expression of what the rats were in Requiem and Innocence, and it's something different. Light and shadow are [still] important because it's the lore, but there is something, I would say, more interactive and interesting than what the rats were doing in terms of gameplay."

We can only guess for now, but whatever it is, we're optimistic based on what we've seen, heard and done in Resonance. For all the change, it is still all about the ensemble of features, all supporting one another, aiming to produce more than the sum of their parts. And in the spirit of celebrating the support acts, as we complete the final trial in our demo and Sophia and Leni head deeper into the ruin for more, we'll leave the last words to our companion. "The second trial. Let's hope it's as easy as the first," she quips sarcastically, recognising the difficulties they've overcome. Yes, and as enjoyable, too.

Want more creepy adventures? Check out our best horror games recommendations!

Colorful PS5 console covers are pretty commonplace, and Sony has even churned out a few based on games like Ghost of Yotei. But officially licensed covers sporting art of iconic anime characters aren't quite as widespread. Want the likes of Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Trunks, and Piccolo on your console? This Dragon Ball Z Silicone Cover for the Disc Edition PS5 Slim by FRTEC has you covered.

The brand behind the £29.99 (Argos) accessory has created some of the best PS5 accessories for Dragon Ball fans in the past. I even own a pair of their official Dragon Ball thumb grips that transform the classic 4-star ball into a comfortable add-on for my plain and boring DualSense. This silicone case entirely slipped me by when it released in March earlier this year, however. It's not a typical set that you can swap with the default white chassis, but a silicone cover that wraps around the console as is, and as big a Dragon Ball fan as I am, I can't tell if I love or hate it - but I'm glad it exists.

The variety of console covers is pretty lacking throughout the PS5's almost 6-year lifespan. Right now, if you were to pop onto the official PS Direct storefront, you could choose between the three Hyperpop collection color combos, the Ghost of Yotei set I referenced above, and a couple of other colorways, but there's nothing for anime fans.

Third-party brands have plenty, but in a world where Gen AI images are running rampant, I'd rather not accidentally invest in a set of covers for my PS5 only for them to arrive and have Goku sporting 6 fingers.

Where I'm hesitant is that I'm not the biggest fan of how it looks. If I were tasked with designing the Dragon Ball accessory, I'd likely not have chosen to re-use the same Super Saiyan 2 Gohan art we've seen time and time again.

A Capsule Corp look, making the PS5 look like a contraption Bulma had conjured up in her spare time, would have felt more suiting. However, I'd take seeing Gohan's shining yellow Saiyan hairdo over having no official Dragon Ball PS5 covers at all. At least FRTEC ensured to include my boy Shenron at the back, which is a pretty neat addition as the brand could have easily left it blank instead.

I'm a little uneasy that it's a silicone casing rather than a traditional cover, as there's the chance that extra dust and grime can get stuck in its crevices. Not to mention, it could insulate the console if a vent or port got accidentally covered.

Regrettably, I can't even pick it up to try it out for size as it's only compatible with the Disc Edition PS5 Slim. I'm still sporting the chonky old launch model console, so when Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 launches sometime next year, I'll have to stick with my Dbrand Spider-Man inspired covers instead. If you're based in the US, you'll sadly have to do the same, as I haven't managed to find these available across the pond.

That being said, a range of FRTEC's anime goodies are available starting from $24.99 at Amazon in the US, including a Dragon Ball case for the PS5 DualSense controller, if you're eager to show off your love of Goku and friends.

• View all FRTEC gaming accessories at Amazon

Our team has also rounded up the best SSDs for PS5, the best PS5 controllers, and the best PS5 headsets that are worth adding to your Sony setup.

In recent years, Moza Racing has become a mainstay of the sim racing market, but it's never brought its wares to a PlayStation platform before, until now. Via the Gran Turismo news blog, an announcement has been made about Moza joining the GT World Series as an official peripheral partner.

Moza has become known for making some of the best racing wheels on PC and the best Xbox steering wheels, especially thanks to their great value for money and modular designs. As part of this new partnership with Polyphony Digital (and by proxy, Sony), the brands will be collaborating to produce an officially licensed, Gran Turismo-branded sim racing wheel controller.

Interestingly, there hasn't been a mention of pedals or peripherals like gear shifters and handbrakes, but it may well be that compatibility will exist for existing Moza accessories once a wheelbase and wheel have the correct protocols.

"At MOZA Racing, our mission has always been to make professional-grade sim racing more accessible while continually pushing the boundaries of performance and immersion," said Moza's CEO and Founder, Chenyong Guan.

"Partnering with the Gran Turismo World Series is an exciting milestone for us. Gran Turismo has inspired generations of racing enthusiasts, and we are honoured to contribute to a championship that represents the very best of virtual motorsport. Together, we look forward to creating new possibilities for racers around the world.”

We've previously reviewed the Moza R12 and Moza R3 bundles, and we're big fans of their open, modular designs that let you upgrade them regardless of your initial investment. Moza has a solid selection of DirectDrive, Force Feedback wheels, but also loads of ways to customize your setup to lean into the niche of sim racing you like best.

Perhaps most importantly, Moza charges super reasonable prices for its bundles when compared to Logitech, Fanatec, and even Nacon's relatively new Revosim brand. Since sim racing can have weighty setup costs, that could be massive for PlayStation gamers who have never typically been able to afford the best specs.

Something I always respect about Moza wheelbases is that they tend to have compact sizes too, which is always a boon for people who don't want it to be a mainstay on their desks. Storing away or bolting one to a desk is a lot more of an inconvenience if it's a bulky size.

I, for one, hope we see Moza hold true to its value price tags, as this is one of the best draws to them on Xbox and PC against the rest of the market. That said, as we know from the rest of the best PS5 controller pantheon, price tags and licensing on this platform tend to draw a high price.

There's been no time frame given for the arrival of the new wheel, but licensing for controllers can take years to implement properly. From the sounds of this announcement, it seems like Moza and PlayStation have been in talks for a while already, so hopefully it won't be that long.

Talking to Traxion, Moza supplied a statement saying, "Moza Racing looks forward to sharing more in the coming months as it continues expanding its ecosystem and delivering new experiences for Gran Turismo players worldwide. This is only the beginning, with more exciting announcements to come.”

• View Moza gear at Amazon US / Amazon UK

I can also recommend keeping an eye out for the best TMR controllers, the best PC controllers, and the best Switch 2 controllers.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation launches early in 2027, a year ahead of the planned end of physical PlayStation discs. But given the broader shift the industry is making toward digital games – GTA 6 is certainly the most prominent example – you'd be forgiven for wondering if the final part of the remake trilogy is going to be part of that all-digital future that so many of us are dreading.

While Square Enix has not yet made the final decision on whether Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will launch on a disc, director Naoki Hamaguchi tells GamesRadar+ that he's actively pushing for it. In an interview at the recent Final Fantasy 14 Fan Festival in Berlin, he explains the challenges facing physical media these days.

"We're still having internal discussions on what the exact SKU product lineup is going to be for Revelation," Hamaguchi explains, "so I can't say anything particularly definitive at this point in time. But I am working to make the arrangements to allow us to have some kind of physical edition."

That's the most concrete bit of the answer, but Hamaguchi also offered some of his philosophy on physical media during our interview. "I do feel, as a developer and as a fan, that the general trend is for things to shift away from physical towards downloadable games," he says.

"But that's obviously talking about the trend. Personally, here at something like Fan Fest or at community events for games that I've worked on, I really think that people bringing up things, asking for autographs – I think that's lovely. I think it's a wonderful culture and it would be a shame to lose that. I want that to remain."

For his part, Hamaguchi believes that even if we lose proper game discs, he feels like "like there will always be some kind of physical or packaged edition." Hamaguchi suggests, "Maybe you'll have a box with the code inside it, or maybe key cards like Nintendo's doing, or a boot disc or something. I feel like there'll always be something, and I hope there will be."

The Final Fantasy 7 remake series, of course, hearkens back to the PS1 era, where the idea of a game coming on not just one disc but several felt like an indicator of an epic adventure. Final Fantasy 7 Remake itself came on multiple discs when it launched on PS4, just as Rebirth did on its PS5 launch. While many publishers are content to offer discs with basic installers for meaty games, forcing you to download the rest online, the FF7 remake trilogy has, so far, gone above and beyond to give disc fans a premium experience.

"Obviously, say, if you're talking to Nintendo, there's considerations about the storage limits on key cards and things like that, and then other platforms about how much you can put onto a disc," Hamaguchi explains. "Each platform and first-party have their own specific rules and regulations that we need to take into account, and think about what format is actually going to be best for the game. These are the discussions that we're having at this point in time. I do hope that we'll be able to come up with something that is as close as possible as to what players and fans are going to want, but you'll have to look forward to future announcements for that."

But Hamaguchi knows how fans are going to react if he tells a media outlet like us that he wants to release Revelation in a physical format. "If you publish this, and then we announce all the products later and there is no physical edition, then they're going to rip me to pieces," he says with a laugh.

Naoki Hamaguchi talks Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, Final Fantasy 14, and physical media plans: "It's a wonderful culture and it would be a shame to lose that."

I loved Returnal. I loved my time demoing Saros' opening hours. But, I'm not made of money. I'm still getting used to new games launching for £70/$70 (let alone 80 bucks), and by 'getting used to' I mean 'not buying'. Years of my childhood spent a gaming generation behind, picking out discounted cartridges from behind glass at the pawnshop, or buying unloved discs for a fiver a pop has taught me one thing: the patient gamer gets the worm. But, that might be changing.

I finally snagged Saros last week for 40% off. It's still expensive, but it's the sort of deal I've been keeping an eye out for – my usual method for scooping up new releases I don't need day one. And yet, with PlayStation ending physical disc production, I'm struck by the cold realization this might be the last time I get my hands on a boxed discount like this for PS5. It's an ignoble end for a deal hunter like me.

Disc-overed at the scene

I like a digital deal as much as the next gamer, but there's no thrill of the hunt when it comes to snagging virtual discounts. Whether PlayStation or Xbox, each digital marketplace is a walled garden, where deals come and go like clockwork to the exact prices agreed upon in advance. There's no real competition to be had, no variables to consider. No satisfaction for snagging a particular good deal, just a deal – the deal you were told to be grateful for.

Countless times I've even been swayed into pre-orders by deals – combining storefront voucher codes with already-reduced retail pricing to knock a crucial few bucks off an already slashed release. Who can forget the highs of getting Super Mario Bros Wonder at launch for £37.49 from Currys? The earth-shattering frugality of it made the excellent platformer all the sweeter. It's basically the only way I will ever pre-order a game before release.

Rare is the new, physical game that doesn't have some price reduction as major retailers face off to secure their orders, and then over time reduce games further to reduce stock. In conversation with my friends – those who game constantly and those who only pick up one or two a year – we often discuss where we've snagged the best deals, which retailers to look to first to get a better offer. The local discounts at Argos! The big reductions at Smyths! I've written enough Black Friday and Prime Day gaming deals to see how heavy savings can be on Amazon across regions for relatively new games. I've regularly seen Star Wars Outlaws physical copies cheaper than it's ever been on the PlayStation store – and that's just one example.

And all of that's before I get started on second-hand and pre-owned shops where prices can spiral further. Fifteen quid for The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker with the Ocarina of Time bonus disc changed the trajectory of my life forever. Perusing the likes of CEX or other local shops formed the backbone of my own library when I was a cash-poor base Xbox 360 model owner, scooping up Devil May Cry 4, Fable 2, and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts for one crisp twenty note (an unwise chunk of my bank balance at the time – I never said I had good priorities).

These days, I'm rarely a collector. I personally don't really care if a game is on my shelf or in my digital library. I simply want to get a good price for my purchases, and encourage my friends to do the same. It's really the removal of purchase options that makes me concerned. I even worry that with less competition, we'll see digital deals get worse over time. At least on PC there are alternative shops to Steam, even if it has an incredibly large market share.

Giving consumers fewer ways to buy makes me feel disrespected. You will lose potential players as a result, even if it's in tough-to-track data – a player who buys a pre-owned game who might convert to buying the sequel new, new fans of a series or developer who only gave them a shot once they were cheap enough at their local. Streamlining an experience inherently removes avenues in. Market control is trumping the consumer experience.

It's not just the fact that gaming as a hobby is becoming more and more expensive to enjoy, it's that the ways in which you could make gaming more affordable for yourself are being obliterated. The AI industry is choking out component availability so hardware gets pricier over the course of a console generation rather than cheaper, completely inverting the traditional customer dynamic where the price of entry lowers and more users come in over time. Options to get discounts on new, physical games, and the pre-owned market are being crushed with hammers.

Even while indie gaming continues to offer some of the most affordable gaming and often incredible new experiences, the wider industry is also exerting tremendous pressure on those indie developers to remain sustainable. It feels like there's no way out of it, and it's those with less who are feeling it the hardest – players and creators alike.

For now, I guess I'll try to enjoy Saros, but it's a different kind of existential horror to the mysterious eclipse that's affecting me at the moment. If gaming had been like this when I was a kid, there's simply no way I would be playing today. There was nothing lesser in my experience playing the cheap, discounted scraps – there was a treasure-finding glee into uncovering the good stuff at a discount, even if that meant risking wasting pocket money on some absolute guff. Sorry-not-sorry if it affected a tiny margin on some Windows 95-era spreadsheets, I guess.

Stopping poorer gamers from deal hunting, young kids from counting up their money to see which pre-owned release they can afford, or prohibiting swapping, trading, and borrowing your favorites with your friends crushes a vital human element of gaming. It makes me worry about the future of the industry, but it makes me worry about those looking to find joy in a rancid economy all the more, whether that's playing games, or making joyous experiences you want to share with others. We all deserve better.

Check out the best PS5 games for what to play next!

It's finally happening. The Final Fantasy 7 Remake series is coming to Final Fantasy 14.

Over the last decade, its addition felt like a question of when rather than if. Final Fantasy 14 is designed, in part, to be a theme park that pays tribute to the wider series, with references and nods aplenty. We've seen plenty of crossovers over the years – from Final Fantasy 16 and Nier to other franchises like Monster Hunter – and Final Fantasy 14's own producer and director Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida has spoken about the possibility before, saying the timing needed to be right.

So how did it finally happen, and why now, exactly? Speaking to Final Fantasy 7 Revelation boss Naoki Hamaguchi at Final Fantasy 14's Berlin leg of Fan Fest, it's one of the first questions I ask.

Hamaguchi tells me that discussions kicked off about a year ago during a conversation with Yoshi-P about the release dates for Evercold and Revelation, and it all went from there.

"Is there something we can do to use the fact that they're close together to bring some energy to the Final Fantasy franchise as a whole?" Hamaguchi tells us of the question he and Yoshi-P pondered. "That's really how things started."

Have you heard of . . .

Fast forward to today, and we have a better idea of what that collaboration looks like. Final Fantasy 14 is getting a Final Fantasy 7-themed raid called Beyond the Lifestream that involves the supervision of veterans of the OG JRPG – that being, writer Kazushige Nojima and the man responsible for Cloud's look, Tetsuya Nomura. Amusingly, Final Fantasy 14's version of the Gold Saucer is getting a revamp to look more like it does in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, complete with a typing game that'll get an FF7 theme to start.

Speaking to his own role in the collaboration, Hamaguchi says that, similar to Yoshi-P, he's there to guide the team's excitement into something realistic and achievable. "We have to be really careful that it's not impacting the [Final Fantasy] 14 patch release schedule," he says, "because then we're putting the cart before the horse."

As for what a successful collaboration looks like, Hamaguchi says Final Fantasy 7 fans jumping into Final Fantasy 14 and becoming Warriors of Light would be great, especially if Evercold and the crossover brought some of that momentum to the launch of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation itself. "I suppose the ultimate aim is to see that throughline of excitement and enjoyment," Hamaguchi adds.

There's certainly a solid sense of anticipation around both games already. Final Fantasy 14's Evercold reveal has certainly left some of the MMO heads on this very website feeling hopeful, and Hamaguchi tells me it's been "really wonderful" to see players pick up Final Fantasy Remake and Rebirth on PC, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch 2 following the reveal of Revelation.

Duty complete

Of course, excitement can lead to additional pressure. Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is the final entry in a trilogy that essentially splits one game into three. While I enjoyed what Rebirth offers in terms of combat and the open world, I ask Hamaguchi how the team is freshening up the game, especially in light of his recent comments about open-world fatigue.

Hamaguchi tells me there are two ways in which they're doing that. The first is adding a greater sense of exploration to the world map. Pointing to the Grasslands in Final Fantasy Rebirth, Hamaguchi says it's very large and expansive, but also very "flat."

The remedy is more verticality. Hamaguchi can't reveal everything, though he does say you can dive into the map from the Highwind, and your chocobo will also be able to fly, which Hamaguchi hopes will make "certain parts less frustrating."

Another way the Final Fantasy 7 Revelation team is keeping things fresh is by making sure the "goal and reward" of side content is clearer, especially following feedback from Rebirth.

"One of the things I think people got a little bit tired of – or maybe that's when they stepped away from the game – was on the world map, there is a lot of content," Hamaguchi says. "And sometimes you'd get rewards like materia if you finish that content. But for those people who just wanted to get those materia or rewards, they might feel like they have to do certain mini-games, even if they don't really want to."

To remedy this, Hamaguchi says that content in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will match the reward to what you're doing – rewards that'll aid you in battle will be achieved through battle, a new Queen's Blood card will be earned through Queen's Blood, and so on. The hope is that the clarity will allow players to ignore the content they don't want to engage with.

Finding the right FITS

When it comes to combat, one of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation's standout new features is the FITS system – that being, Function Integrated Tactical Suitwear. It essentially acts as a new job system that allows the likes of Cloud and Tifa to play as something like a Black Mage as opposed to the brawlers people might typically typecast them as.

Despite the visual flair of a new outfit, Hamaguchi says the biggest influence on the new feature was the job system as a Final Fantasy staple overall, though he can't say there was "zero influence" taken from the likes of Final Fantasy X-2 or Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13.

The new feature hasn't been without its troubles, though, as Hamaguchi jokes that adding the FITS system reminded him about "how hard it is to develop games these days."

"When you look at some of the early Final Fantasy games that have job systems, you could put a lot in there," Hamaguchi says. And while the developers behind ongoing games like Final Fantasy 14 have done "fantastic work" in adding a variety of classes over the years, bringing something like 20-30 classes to a standalone title at launch would be "insanely difficult."

Hamaguchi also jokes that, while there are many open-world games out there, few allow your party to follow you around. "Even though we only have four FITS, we have a lot of characters, so it was quite a lot of work."

Another thing that makes Final Fantasy 7 Revelation stand out from the other two installments is a proper endgame. While players seeking a challenge in Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth are typically directed towards playing NewGame+, Revelation brings the challenge to your first playthrough, ready to tackle once you're powerful enough to do so.

Being the third entry in a trilogy, I ask Hamaguchi how the team is using that to shape how it's approaching the endgame and anticipated moments like fighting superbosses like Ruby and Emerald Weapon.

"Obviously, what we're making is an RPG," Hamaguchi answers. "And I think one of the things that's fun about RPGs is having the characters you've leveled, you've customized, and you've brought them up where they are, and using them to overcome difficult situations.

"So, say you had this fight against a Weapon, a giant enemy, or something that's really exciting or cool. And you go into it, and it's just a completely new mechanic or mini-game. I think there are quite a few players who would come away from that feeling quite disappointed that it wasn't a reflection of the effort that they put into building something up to that point.

"But the general goal for our team when we're thinking about making these Weapon fights is that we want to have the Final Fantasy 7 Remake series combat system at the base. What we've been building up over these three games. Perhaps there'll be some extra gadgets, some other things adding something new and unique to the Weapon battle, but we want to have that foundation there as well.

"So there may be some mini-games involved in parts of them, say at the beginning of one of the fights or something like that, to mix things up a little bit. But the core battle is really focused on the characters that you have come through the rest of the game with as an RPG."

On the case

While there are plenty of exciting developments within Final Fantasy 7 Revelation itself, those unfolding outside of the game and Square Enix are difficult to ignore. As Final Fantasy 7 Revelation nears completion, one of the more prominent conversations currently occurring across the industry is about physical media. Rockstar made headlines when it was revealed that GTA 6 would be a code-in-a-box at launch, though Sony's call to end PlayStation disc production in 2028 has swiftly dwarfed that in online chatter.

Given some of the conversations I've seen in Final Fantasy 7's fandom about whether Revelation will release on a physical disc, I ask Hamaguchi for his thoughts on the topic and whether there's any news he can share.

Hamaguchi starts by saying that some of his thoughts have been touched upon as part of Nintendo Switch 2's game-key cards – you can read about that here, as part of an interview we did with Hamaguchi last year. He then says that, as a developer and as a fan, it seems to be the trend that we're shifting away from physical to digital.

When it comes to his personal feelings, though, Hamaguchi says he's a fan of physical media, and events like Final Fantasy 14 Fen Fest are one of the many reasons why.

"I really think that people bringing up things, asking for autographs – I think that's lovely," he tells us. "I think it's a wonderful culture and it would be a shame to lose that. I want that to remain."

As for his personal prediction of where things go from here, Hamaguchi says he feels that "there will always be some kind of physical or packaged edition, even if download codes become the main way that games work."

"I feel like there will always be something," Hamaguchi says, "and I hope there will be."

Looking ahead to Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, Hamaguchi says the team is "still having internal discussions on what the exact SKU product lineup is going to be," so he can't say anything "definitive" at the time of writing. That said, he is trying his best to "allow us to have some kind of physical edition."

"Obviously, say, if you're talking to Nintendo, there's considerations about the storage limits on key cards and things like that, and then other platforms about how much you can put onto a disc," Hamaguchi explains. "Each platform and first-party have their own specific rules and regulations that we need to take into account, and think about what format is actually going to be best for the game.

"These are the discussions that we're having at this point in time. I do hope that we'll be able to come up with something that is as close as possible as to what players and fans are going to want, but you'll have to look forward to future announcements for that."

Given that Final Fantasy 7 marked the series' debut on disc, it's certainly odd to think of a different FF7 game going without. That said, Final Fantasy 7 launched on disc because the cartridge was no longer the best format for the game, and these days, given Square Enix's own strategy pivot, that would mean making the game as accessible as possible across multiple platforms. As the industry settles into a way of working that's more about getting the most out of average hardware rather than pushing hardware's limits further, it'll be interesting to see what compromises Final Fantasy 7 Revelation can manage.

Still, I remain cautiously optimistic for what Final Fantasy 7 Revelation brings. Rebirth improved on Remake in a big way that has me curious to see what part three of the trilogy has in store, and everything we've seen and heard so far hits the right notes.

"I want this guy to make Final Fantasy 17": Yoshi-P embarrasses Final Fantasy 7 Remake lead with the "highest praise you can get" from players live on stage at FF14 Fan Fest.

The Corsair HS35 V3 Wireless gaming headset is currently on my testing bench, and its 250g weight is the saving grace of my summer. For whatever reason, the hot weather likes to be a major migraine trigger, and I've been struggling the last couple of months as here in Scotland we've already seen temperatures up to 29 degrees (that's 84.2 Fahrenheit for those of you outside the UK).

That might not seem that hot to some, but here, where we're used to gray skies, rain, and have buildings designed to store heat, it's not a pleasant experience, and it can be made all the worse when one of the best gaming headsets is putting extra pressure on your head. Yet, testing the HS35 V3 right now seems like fate as it doesn't just sound great, but it's so lightweight that my head has never felt better.

The HS35 V3 feels so light; had it not been for the fact that there's no ANC on board, I'd easily forget it was on my head altogether. It helps too that the suspended headband doesn't dig into my skull, which is unfortunately a pretty common experience with plenty of other pairs.

Nothing is worse then experience the sweltering heat of a hot day while testing a new headset (like that of the recent Turtle Beach Stealth Pro II) only to have it putting needless pressure on the top of my skull. Hot weather likes to plague me with migraines regardless, making my head extremely sensitive to any changes in the temperature, so adding an uncomfortable bit of tech into the mix is a good recipe to truly ruin my day. Fortunately, the HS35 V3 has done quite the opposite, and I feel far more chipper that I don't have to deal with any comfort issues.

The suspended headband, which is made up of a stretchy piece of fabric that's pulled tight to sit on top of my head, is also aided by the ultra-plush ear cushions. With these two features working in tandem, I've had an extremely pleasant week testing the headset so far that I'm considering taking it in place of my everyday headphones - something I don't typically do. Gaming headsets have a specific 'gamer' look to them that I don't like sporting in public, but I'm willing to make the sacrifice of looking a bit silly if it means I get to be comfortable.

This isn't technically the lightest headset I've ever tested. That award would go to the Logitech G325 Lightspeed, which was only 212g compared to the Corsair HS35 V3's 250g. However, I not only prefer how the HS35 V3 feels on the head, but how it looks in comparison to Logitech's lightweight pair.

Logitech chose not to include a physical microphone with its G325 Lightspeed headset, which I get, as that choice likely contributed to its light form factor. However, beamforming microphones personally give me a bit of an ick, as I prefer a physical boom arm that I can adjust as needs be. If I'm getting comments from my friends that I'm too loud while playing Marvel Rivals, it's far easier to just move the mic away from my mouth than it is to pull up any mic settings on my PS5, so a physical mic is always the better choice in my eyes.

I'm still in the early stages of testing for now, and I still have plenty of time to see how the HS35 V3 Wireless truly compares to the rest of the headsets I've looked at in 2026. Yet judging from its comfortable fit, physical microphone, and the fact that it has 50mm neodymium audio drivers and Dolby Atmos in its corner, it's looking pretty promising.

• View all Corsair gaming headsets at Amazon

If you can handle a little extra weight, I've also rounded up the best PC headsets for gaming, the best PS5 headsets, and the best Xbox Series X headsets for your setup.

There's a long-running joke about finding really valuable stuff squirreled away at your grandparents' house, but for one Pokemon cards fan, that's actually come true – and the value of what they uncovered is probably around six figures.

In a post on reddit, InkedSketch describes how "Grandma [had] been asking us to come find her Pokemon cards for years." What they didn't expect was just how valuable this collection was. Once it'd all been gathered together, they found dozens of booster packs from the game's launch worth hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars, incredibly rare sealed 'Fossil' box sets, and even a bunch of high-value toys like a pristine, still in-packaging Pokedex.

"She told us she had some packs from along time ago, and that she had a few 'sharjarzds.'" InkedSketch writes in their post. "We finally decided to look for them at the end of last year. She's in her 80s and has been recently talking about them more, we just thought it was like our own trashed pokemon/yugioh collection that was leftover from when we were super young."

Turns out, not so much. Even a quick glance reveals over 70 sealed 'Fossil' booster packs which are worth hundreds of dollars each on the likes of eBay, three sealed Fossil boxes that clock in at $7K+ individually on some price tracking sites, and 60 original booster packs from the game's launch. I quickly checked PriceCharting and these earn anywhere between a couple of hundred dollars to several thousand depending on their grading.

If that was it, grandma would still be sitting on a goldmine... but we're not finished yet. The haul includes everything from original theme decks and starter sets to individual cards too. I count three holo Charizards, a shiny Gyrados, Raichu, multiple shiny Zapdos, and more. There are even a couple of Mew cards in a binder.

Grandma been asking us to come find her Pokemon cards for years (Update) from r/PokemonTCG

The haul goes far beyond Pokemon cards, too; there are also action figures, the sealed '90s Pokedex toy I mentioned from before, a themed mini skateboard (remember those?), and even a still-in-packaging interactive Poke Ball game that really brought me back to my childhood. It's enough to ilicite an "oh damn" at the very least.

The fan community is suitably stunned. "Literal treasure trove," FisherKelTath00 replies with 2.1K upvotes. "Seriously this is prolly like $250k in product. That’s a ROUGH estimate too," War-Daddie adds.

Some in the comments are even suggesting that this estimate is too modest. "Sincere lowball estimate I think," lucky_719 writes. "The one shadowless Charizard can go for five figures alone if it's in decent shape. The 1st edition fossil booster boxes go for $15-$30k each and the lady has 3."

Either way, it's one hell of a haul that would probably make me evolve into "Nervous Wreck" with a special "breakdown" attack if I found it - this is a literal fortune.

What would you do if you stumbled upon that kinda stash at your grandparents' house? Let me know in the comments below.

For recommendations on what to play next, don't miss the best card games. As for what's happening in the community right now, the war on Pokemon resellers now includes facial recognition checks in some stores in Japan.

• See today's best Pokemon card prices at Amazon

Although Marvel was able to pack a lot into its San Diego Comic-Con 2026 panel last weekend, there was one project that was left out. However, right after the panel ended, Kevin Feige confirmed that the Nova movie is still happening.

When asked for an update on Nova after the Marvel SDCC panel had ended, Feige had to check what he could reveal, which doesn't appear to be much. "Not a damn thing. It's a movie," said Feige to Brandon Davis. Well, that's not much of an update, but at least that's confirmation that the project is still happening.

Earlier this month, Deadline revealed that Nova was moving forward as a movie with Loki and Doctor Strange scribe Michael Waldron attached to write. The studio had previously been developing the idea as a TV show over at Disney Plus, but that was shelved in 2025. However, it seems as though the movie is still in the very early developmental stages, which is probably why it wasn't mentioned at SDCC.

First introduced in 1976, Nova is an intergalactic hero with superhuman strength and resilience. He is the host of the entire Nova Force, which grants him his powers. Although he doesn't have many run-ins with the usual MCU characters, Nova (Richard Rider) is part of the Nova Corps, who have already made their introduction in the cinematic universe in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy.

However, the studio did make many exciting announcements at SDCC 2026. Feige unveiled Shawn Levy's upcoming Ghost Rider movie starring Ryan Gosling, and Ryan Coogler announced Alien: Romulus star David Jonsson as the new Black Panther 3 lead. Plus, the cast of Avengers: Doomsday took to the stage and showed footage from the movie.

It is not clear when we will hear more on Nova. Marvel's slate is pretty packed full. After Spider-Man: Brand New Day hits screens this week, VisionQuest is set to land on Disney Plus in October, followed by Avengers: Doomsday in December, and Avengers: Secret Wars the year after. Plus, with Ghost Rider and Black Panther 3 officially announced, we expect those projects to take precedence.

For more on Marvel Phase 6, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows.

Gotham City will be rife with plenty of familiar faces when the Dark Knight returns in The Batman Part II, but now we can confirm there will also be some familiar sounds with Robert Pattinson’s second run as the Caped Crusader, too.

In an interview with Screen Rant, composer of The Batman, Michael Giacchino, explained that he felt pretty confident he’d be back to settle the score for director Matt Reeves’ take on Batman just as he did in 2022. "I don’t think there’s a world where Matt Reeves would allow me not to be involved. He and I are such good friends, and I love working with Matt more than anybody; he’s the greatest.” Thankfully, Reeves was quick to respond on X to confirm that their work relationship would indeed continue, reposting the article with “100%” followed by three bat emojis (aww).

Well, sure, it's a nice tweet and all, but is it getting down on one knee and asking with Godzilla present, Matt? Is it?!

This would mark the sixth time Giacchino and Reeves have collaborated on a project, with their first team-up dating back to 2008, on the director’s breakthrough gig, Cloverfield. Giacchino’s contribution to Reeves’ run as Gotham’s legendary protector earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Score Soundtrack and had fans walking through the rain all sulky for quite some time after the film’s release.

It’ll be interesting to see (well, hear) what kind of music Giacchino will conjure up for the new characters that might be appearing in The Batman Part II, considering the long-standing rumors of Harvey Dent playing a part in the new film. Other fresh blood getting caught in the crime and cape activity will be Scarlett Johansson, Bryan Tyree Henry and Charles Dance. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Wright, Andy Serkis and Colin Farrell will also be back for round two.

Unfortunately, we’re going to have to wait a long time, given that The Batman is set for release in 2028. For every upcoming DC movie and show heading our way, check out our guide here.

In what's becoming another strong year for Capcom, Pragmata stands out as a notable success. So much so, the third-person shooter is likely set for another installment, according to a higher-up at the long-running developer and publisher.

The company's first-quarter profits actually came in above estimates, according to a report from Bloomberg, and Pragmata was a strong contributor in that regard. The sci-fi adventure has sold over two-and-a-half million copies so far, an impressive turnaround for a game that only came out in April and isn't based on any existing properties.

Capcom corporate office Yoshikazu Shimauchi – the company's head of finance, accounting, IT, and the PR and IR division – mentions that Pragmata actually exceeded expectations, which isn't something you hear very often in this industry. As such, Bloomberg reports that Shimauchi stated that the possibility of a sequel is high, lining up with Capcom's previous comments about turning the game into a series.

Shimauchi puts Pragmata's sales reception down to a strong marketing campaign and having a distinctive protagonist in Diana, the female android you have to protect as part of the main narrative. It always helps to have a good face for your release, especially if it's slightly odd or creepy.

As a horror fan, it doesn't hurt that Diana immediately made me think of M3GAN, the killer android who became a slasher icon in 2013. I actually thought screenshots of Pragmata were a M3GAN-themed mod for something at first glance, before learning it was its own game. Such curiosity was enough to push me to add the project to my wishlist.

The ending leaves room for another installment, and the baseline concept – futuristic super-soldier protecting a small robot – is something that could be replicated in various scenarios ad infinitum. Wherever Pragmata 2 goes, there's clearly an audience ready to play it.

Bayonetta creator says Capcom might be thriving thanks to a constant push to create new IP like Pragmata.

The director of JRPG-inspired GOTY sensation Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 says he prefers linear stories to the sprawling open narratives of Baldur's Gate, Fallout, and Skyrim.

Speaking to Automaton Media, Expedition 33 director Guillaume Broche admits that "'RPG' is a very big term" that includes a wide variety of games, but says that when he considers Western RPGs, he thinks "more of games like Baldur's Gate, Fallout, or Skyrim, where the character you play changes the story and you kind of become the protagonist yourself."

In those games, "you make choices that affect how other characters react and how the story's ending plays out." As a general rule, "Western RPGs let you make your own story." But in Japanese RPGs, he says, "the story being told is quite linear," and that's something Broche prefers.

"You get a protagonist, you get the characters," he explains. "I feel like it allows you to tell a stronger story and make more memorable characters." It's a fair assessment of the games he cites – Tav, the Dragonborn, and Fallout 3's Lone Wanderer are all fairly blank slates when compared to Maelle, Gustave, and Verso.

That focus on player choice and character agency, Broche says, is the main distinguishing factor between JPRGs and their Western counterparts; "there are a lot of very good Western RPGs where you feel like you are directing the story yourself because of the choices you get to make. In JRPGs, you do get some smaller choices, but in general, the story is linear, the ending is the ending, and the beginning is the beginning, from A to Z. I feel like that's the main distinguishing factor."

After Clair Obscur Expedition 33, Sandfall Interactive is "going to go a bit crazy" with its next game: "We want to let ourselves dream again and be creative."

Two friends playing Baldur's Gate 3 have been massacring their way through the RPG, and their antics have now been spotted by Larian boss Swen Vincke who seemingly approves of the death and destruction.

A Baldur's Gate 3 player who goes by the name matt on Twitter posted about how he and a friend had been more hostile than helpful in their current playthrough of the Dungeons & Dragons RPG. Rather than trying to complete quests and gather a party of merry men, matt has been murdering everyone he meets and stuffing their bodies into a chest at camp.

Matt attached an image to his tweet that shows hundreds of bodies dumped in the chest, with a disturbingly small scrollbar at the side showing there are many more inside. He even claims that his game lags every time he opens the chest, thanks to the sheer number of corpses entombed there. Worse still, the pair are still in the game's first act.

The friends' antics have caught the eye of Larian Studios' CEO Swen Vincke, who seemingly approves of the needless death and destruction of his game's many lovingly crafted characters. In fact, he thinks their murderous playthrough is worthy of a reward.

The studio's founder writes, "we should've made that an achievement – real funny."

Given the sheer number of characters that would need to be slain in order to claim this achievement, we're pretty glad this wasn't implemented.

Baldur's Gate 4 should just be an "oversized expansion pack for Baldur's Gate 3," BioWare veteran says: "Get Larian to agree to license out the Divinity Engine."

After Dwayne Johnson and his safari-trekking crew took not one, but two trips inside the magical game of Jumanji, it was only a matter of time before things would get wild and go back to their jungle roots, which were first planted in 1995. The new trailer for Jumanji: Open World looks to pick up right after the events of Jumanji: The Next Level, where another round of the dangerous game busts out into the real world, bringing the same dangers that Robin Williams and Kirsten Dunst had to face all those years ago.

Playing around with gameplay mechanics once again are Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, and Jack Black, who are reprising their roles as the avatars of the game. Unfortunately, with them being thrown into the real world, they’re able to roam free like the rest of the dangerous wildlife of Jumanji. Joining them on this new adventure are Alex Wolff, Morgan Turner, Ser’Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, and Danny DeVito, who are now tasked with rounding up the heroes of Jumanji and getting them back to where they belong.

While that’s all happening, there’s also the matter of agitated ostriches, dodging a bathroom-wrecking rhino, and making sure all the avatars hold onto as many lives as possible. That’s all before they get back into the jungle and a new quartet of players takes over our heroes for one last time.

Jake Kasdan, who has been in the director’s chair for the last two movies, will remain seated for this one too, working off a script he co-wrote with writers of Jumanji: The Next Level, Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg. Supporting stars also set to return include Marin Hinkle, Lamorne Morris, Rhys Darby and Nick Jonas.

Jumanji: Open World releases in theaters on December 25. For more, check out our list of the best fantasy movies and the biggest movie release dates.

A new X-Men movie is in the works at Marvel, and fancasting favorite Cooper Hoffman has denied he'll be involved as Cyclops.

"Oh, not gonna be me, but I love the X-Men. Not for any reason, it's just not – I don't know where this came from. Shit spreads," he told Entertainment Tonight.

When asked if he'd be interested if the fans had a say, Hoffman said: "Of course. They don't, but I wish they did. I wish they had more of a say. I love X-Men, I've been watching since I was a kid. It would be such an honor."

Cyclops will soon be seen in Avengers: Doomsday, played by James Marsden. Other Fox-era X-Men, like Ian McKellen's Magneto and Patrick Stewart's Professor X, are also returning – though the new X-Men movie will be starting fresh.

"I'd say there were actually more parameters on Thunderbolts because it was plugging into an existing arc and existing characters, whereas with X-Men, Kevin [Feige] just wants to take a big swing and start anew, not be beholden to any of the movies that have come before," screenwriter Lee Sun Jing has previously teased.

So far, though, there are no plot details on the new movie, and we'll probably have to wait until after Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars to find out more.

Doomsday arrives this December 18. Next up for Marvel is Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is out today in the UK and July 31 in the US.

You can keep up to date with everything the MCU has in store with our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows.

With Avengers: Doomsday being the first Avengers movie in five years, it is understandable that Marvel fans want it to be as long as possible, and from recent comments made by directors the Russo brothers, it sounds like we're going to get what we have been waiting for.

"It's too early to say what the running time is. But it's substantial," said Anthony Russo to Collider at San Diego Comic-Con 2026. When asked if it will be over three hours, the co-director added, "Hopefully we will make you happy."

Earlier this month, it was reported that the movie had a working runtime of 2 hours and 45 minutes. But if Doomsday is indeed over three hours long, it would be the longest MCU movie in history, a title currently taken by Avengers: Endgame, which clocks in at 3 hours and 1 minute. However, the reason why the Russos cannot confirm the runtime just yet is because the movie isn't complete.

"We're deep in the edit, but we are not finished with the movie," added Anthony. "We're still kneading the dough, and will continue to for as long as we can. The movie is so complex, it's so layered, there are so many amazing characters in the film. Joe and I love the editing process, and we continue to find new things as we continue to work on the film."

However, some cut of the film must be floating about, as Doctor Doom star Robert Downey Jr. has said that he has already seen it. "I'm on the inside track, and it is absolutely fantastic," said Downey to Entertainment Weekly. Then when Red Guardian star David Harbour asked if it was better than the footage shown inside of Hall H, Downey replied, "It's like that except extra, and I'll sidebar with all of you. I think we may redeem ourselves yet."

The movie needs to be long enough to not only fit in its stacked cast list, but to introduce a new era of Marvel cinema. The movie's new synopsis reads, "As the Multiverse Saga begins its final chapter, beloved heroes from three distinct universes will be set on a deadly collision course and ultimately face an existential threat unlike anything they've ever encountered. This epic film will lay the foundation for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe."

Alongside Downey, Doomsday's stacked cast list includes Chris Evans' Steve Rogers, Chris Hemsworth's Thor, the Thunderbolts, the Fox-era X-Men, the new Fantastic Four, the Wakandans, and so many more

Avengers: Doomsday arrives this December 18. For more on Marvel Phase 6, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows.

Pocketpair has just released the v1.0.2 patch for its creature collecting survival crafting game Palworld. The patch mostly focuses on bug fixes and performance issues, including some major disconnection issues that affected players taking on the Panthalus boss fight together.

Palworld escaped early access at the beginning of July, but as with all modern games, there are still a few bugs that need ironing out. Luckily for fans of the collecting and crafting game, it's not anything too serious, but Pocketpair is still updating the game to give everyone the best experience.

The v1.0.2 patch fixes a number of bugs including a softlock that occurred when dialogue was skipped as The First Islander and Captured Adventurer missions were fading out. The Predator Hunter achievement and achievements related to collecting Pal Effigies have been fixed on all platforms, and some Lifmunk Effigy achievement bugs have been ironed out on Xbox.

There are also some updates to control options that make it easier to select key bindings and carry over previous settings. A number of graphical issues based on The World Tree area have also been fixed so things shouldn't get as visually funky in this region.

Possibly the biggest changes for players involve two of the game's boss fights. The tower boss Victor & Shadowbeak would sometimes disappear completely after they teleported, and now they should remain part of the battle no matter which spell they use. Some people playing in co-op also got booted out when fighting Panthalus, while some folks' games crashed completely, but you can now take it on in your friend's world without fear of ejection.

Palworld's v1.0.2 patch is live now so you can already dive in and reap the benefits.

Yes, the Palworld devs see your cursed NSFW mods: "I don't think this is official."

It seems Spider-Man: Brand New Day is catching its audience in a web of intrigue ahead of opening weekend.

Early box office predictions – depending on your source – have the fourth Spider-Man MCU movie's opening gross at anywhere from $465 million to a whopping $800 million.

Either way, it's on the cusp of making Marvel history as Tom Holland's Spidey gets ready to swing into cinemas.

Deadline, using National Research Group data, says Brand New Day is tracking for $195 million in the US, though Variety goes one step further by earmarking over $250 million.

That would put it in esteemed company alongside Avengers: Endgame ($357 million), Spider-Man: No Way Home ($260 million), and Avengers: Infinity War ($257 million).

Twitter account Global Box Office has an $800 million global box office on opening weekend, which may be a little unrealistic – but not impossible.

In short: it's going to be a phenomenon. We're looking at Brand New Day hitting heights not seen in the MCU since the 2021 multiverse mash-up Spider-Man: No Way Home, and it could become the biggest non-Avengers: Endgame Marvel movie ever.

Spider-Man has always been as close to a box office certainty as possible, but throw in the crossover potential with Mark Ruffalo's Hulk and Jon Bernthal's Punisher, plus continued speculation over Sadie Sink's mystery character, and it appears the stars have aligned for Brand New Day to crush any notion of superhero fatigue as we hurtle towards Avengers: Doomsday this December.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is out now in UK cinemas and opens in the US on July 31.

For more, check out our guide to the Marvel movies and shows to watch before Brand New Day. Then, discover our verdict on the webhead's latest big-screen outing in our Spider-Man: Brand New Day review.

One of the biggest highlights of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is finally out this week, is Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) web-slinging capabilities. Spidey is swinging ninjas and Hulks around like he entered a cheat code this time around, which makes sense now that Tom Holland himself revealed the Insomniac Spider-Man games have heavily influenced how his wall-crawling alter-ego fights in the new movie. The game series has also proved to be a nice bit of therapy during his globe-trotting stint promoting the film.

“I was actually playing the game last night,” Holland confessed to IGN while attending the premiere. “I couldn’t sleep last night; I was so excited about today. I was trying to figure out what I was gonna do, and I was like, ‘I’ll just throw the game on and have some fun.’”

When it comes to taking tips from Insominiac’s Spidey, though, Holland revealed that a lot of how his Spidey ends his fights was influenced by the PlayStation franchise. “For me, a lot of those finishing moves, a lot of our stuff was influenced by that stuff.”

Holland wasn’t the only gamer taking notes from the video game series, either. Director Destin Daniel Cretton revealed that a lot of the stunt team were trying to bring some of Spidey’s thwipping, flipping button combo moves to life in the new movie.

“A lot of the action designers and stunt people we had were huge gamers,” revealed Cretton. “They were able to experience things in those games that made them excited, and they would just screengrab the moves they really liked and bring them into the writers’ room and show it to me. And then we’d be like, ‘Yeah, that’s sick. Let’s try to figure out how to do that for real.’”

If you’ve got the game, you can have a crack at reenacting some of these fights yourself now that the Brand New Day suit has been added to the webhead's wardrobe in Marvel's Spider-Man 2.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day releases in theaters on July 29 in the UK, and July 31 in the US. For more, check out our Spider-Man: Brand New Day review.

Avengers directors the Russo brothers have confirmed that Secret Wars will begin filming very soon. The duo are currently working on Avengers: Doomsday, but they revealed the pressure is mounting to start work on their next Marvel movie.

Asked about when filming starts by Collider, Anthony Russo replied: "Soon. So soon it makes us sweat a little bit."

He also gave an update on where they're currently at with Doomsday. "We're deep into finishing the movie, into finishing Doomsday," he continued. "All of the grace notes, the music, working with Alan Silvestri, sound mix, creating Alan's incredible original music. Wait until you experience what he's cooked up for Doom. That, and then we're prepping. We're prepping Secret Wars. So, it's a complicated time in our lives, but thrilling."

Avengers: Secret Wars has a release date of December 17, 2027 and there have been rumblings for a while that filming on the movie is set to kick off this summer. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has been clear that they've purposefully not put any films in the release schedule between the two movies.

"A lot of it is a strategy we've talked about for a while, of focusing on quality," Feige told Empire magazine at San Diego Comic-Con. "We always try to focus on quality, but when quantity is so much, you get spread thin. We didn't want to be spread thin, and the Avengers is as important as it comes."

First up is Spider-Man: Brand New Day before Doomsday arrives later this year. You can also check out our guides on all of the other upcoming Marvel movies and upcoming superhero movies.

The facelessness of the internet can sometimes give the false impression of anonymity, but time and time again, social media has proven that the thing you think is only going to be viewed by your mom and that one co-worker who still engages with your posts even though you haven't spoken in seven years, might be picked up by a news organization or reposted by a celebrity. In that moment, you're either incredibly proud or ashamed depending on what you posted.

I can only imagine it's a mixture of those feelings being felt by a pair of Palworld modders right now, who shared some downright filthy modded content to social media only to be retweeted by Mr. Palworld himself, Pocketpair publishing chief John Buckley.

I'll start by sharing the much tamer of the two mods Buckley retweeted this week, because the next one is considerably less safe for work. The first piece of modded footage, from Palworld creator Reldrik, features a heavily tweaked Sekhmet pal dancing seductively behind, uh, Master Chief from Halo and one of the machines from Ultrakill, which Palworld collaborated with last year. I have no idea what to make of any of it, and apparently neither does Buckley. But who cares? Games are about having fun, and you don't need to know what's going on to have fun.

Now, again, this next image, shared by tuna_fan68, is much weirder. The Palworld screenshot shows an even more gratuitously modded version of Lovander than the well-endowed Sekhmet just above, and with even more revealing attire. This version of Lovander is one you'd usually view behind the curtain of an incognito browser tab, but here it's been shown to the masses thanks in large part to Buckley himself, which is just a wild fact to have to type out. As for the nearly naked avatar sitting in a questionable position and staring at Lovander from an uncomfortably close distance, well, I did tell you this was NSFW.

"I could be wrong…but I don’t think this is official…" Buckley says in response to this... this thing.

As fun as all of this is, let this also be a cautionary tale of the potential virality of your stupidest shitposts. As a respectable public figure myself, I know I have a cache of banger tweets that will remain permanently saved as drafts for that very reason, even if none of them would get you in trouble at work.

The Japanese Patent Office has officially had enough of Nintendo, rejecting a patent attached to the Palworld lawsuit with "rarely seen" sass

The owner of a Gifu, Japan-based trading card shop is asking the public for help finding its alleged robber, but they're cautioning any would-be vigilantes against straight-up killing the perpetrator for the crime.

Spotted by Automaton, the folks behind the Kaitorip Game shop, which sells Pokemon and One Piece trading cards, took to Twitter to reveal footage of what appears to be a single hooded robber breaking into the store and stealing product before fleeing the scene. In the caption, the owners offer a monetary reward for delivering justice to the thief. Per Automaton's translation of the call to action, the store owners specify that a reward of 1 million yen, or about $6100, is up for whoever "captures and brings the robber alive."

If it weren't for that ominous level of detail, this probably wouldn't be a story outside local news. $6100 is a generous enough reward for bringing a burglar to justice, but the suggestion that the Japanese public would be ready and willing to murder someone for robbing a toy store caught the attention of several Twitter users, one of which asked if the bounty would be reduced if the robber is returned damaged, a joking reference to the TCG ecosystem.

"As long as the culprit is breathing," it stays at 1 million yen, the store owner replied.

Thankfully, it seems no one was hurt in this specific case, but the trading card economy in Japan is no joke, involving cards valued at many millions of dollars, which is a big reason crimes like these happen. The Pokemon Company has been aggressive in combatting scalpers, which artificially inflate demand by depleting stock and then reselling at a mark-up, with facial recognition being implemented at some stores in Japan.

Pokemon card resellers are ruining the hobby, but making my own Pokedex got me back in the game

The famous Jimothy from Seattle has accepted yet another brand deal. The wild raccoon seemingly suffering from a spinal deformity is being added to Guild Wars 2, in part because the woman who turned the poor creature into a viral sensation named Jimothy is married to an ArenaNet developer.

Kiana Hall posted the hairy dumpling on Instagram two weeks ago, writing in her caption that she and her spouse were "graced with the presence of Jimothy" as he galloped in front of them with the graceless abandon of a bowling ball, proud and round in his toddling. Since then, young Jimothy – his neighbors in Seattle determine him to be around a year old, and I'm guessing maybe a Pisces – has appeared in Skyrim and Stardew Valley mods, and he received an official stat block in Dungeons & Dragons.

Now, ArenaNet shares in a press release, Jimothy will make a sanctioned visit to Guild Wars 2 in August. The developer explains, "An ArenaNet developer's spouse recorded and uploaded a video of an oddly-shaped raccoon in their Seattle backyard. Now, after capturing the world's attention, it's scurrying into Guild Wars 2."

ArenaNet explains in more depth on LinkedIn that, "Bringing a little piece of Jimothy into Tyria felt like a fitting way to honor a story that connected so many people. Starting Aug. 11, track him down in Guild Wars 2 to unlock a Jimothy mini of your own."

"And while we love Jimothy's real-world origin story," the developer says responsibly, "we'd also like to remind everyone that wildlife is best appreciated from a safe and respectful distance. If you're looking to get up close to Jimothy, the in-game version is definitely the safer option." I'm in the mood for a little spaghetti and raccoon meatball, so don't mind if I do.

Guild Wars 3 may have cracked the MMO code for tired millennials.

In 2017, Dischan Media, long known for visual novel-y bits like Juniper's Knot, hatched a game idea: what if paramilitary magical girls saved the world from alien invaders? Presumably after declining an anime offer from Studio Trigger, work on the game that would become Mahou Arms began, with lead dev Softmode saying, in a recent Reddit post, that the project dates back to "my parents' basement." Today, after about six years in early access, it's finally, properly out on Steam with version 1.0, and boy does it look cool.

Work on Mahou Arms began in the same year that Nier: Automata was released, and that's either a massive coincidence or a strong sign of the sort of character action DNA that was folded in over the years.

This is a third-person action game about two magical girls slicing, dicing, and otherwise beating the daylights out of "an unknown force invading Earth." Like Nier, it folds in a surprising mix of gameplay gimmicks and perspectives, including a strategy game-esque battlefield view.

Melee combat is the meat of the game, with tag-team combos filling a Devil May Cry-style meter to an SSS-grade climax. And if you loved Nier: Automata but were pining to woo 2B, A2, or 9S, you'll be thrilled to hear update 1.0 added romance side quests to Mahou Arms.

"The story has a beginning and end, there's 6-10 hours of not-procedural gameplay, and not a single pixel of generated art, audio, narrative, or code," explains Softmode. "Core dev team of two with contractors for music, sound, voice acting and occasional assets when we can afford it. I haven't slept in 48 hours. I don't know when I'll be able to sleep."

The first bite is with the eye, and my eyes are feasting. Mahou Arms mixes minimalist 3D models and environments with lavish 2D animation to delightful effect. With retro anime vibes paired with the somber piano soundtrack accompanying every trailer I've seen, it all feels laser-targeted at me.

Barring some 1.0 launch wobbles that are purportedly being addressed, Mahou Arms has reviewed pretty well on Steam, sitting at 78% positive lifetime after 542 reviews. "If you have been playing Mahou Arms already, we strongly recommend starting a new game to experience the full story, since more content has been added and changes made to earlier levels," the devs say.

The new open-world RPG climbing Steam is the biggest surprise since Crimson Desert: huge, pretty, and only $30.

MajinPhil jokingly describes himself as your "friendly neighbourhood masochist" on his YouTube page, and looking at his history of challenge runs, it's easy to see why. He 100%ed The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask without taking a single hit in 2024, and then beat a completely randomized version of the game hitless in 2025. The next logical step, it seems, was doing the same with an Ocarina of Time randomizer.

Randomizers are mods that shuffle the locations of enemies and items within a game. They offer a challenge similar to speedrunning, where a player's knowledge and mastery of a classic game is put to the test – in this case, it's just tested in a completely different way with every run. Typically, a randomizer has some built-in safeguards to keep the game from being completely unwinnable, but beyond that, it's all fair game.

MajinPhil's Ocarina of Time randomizer challenge, which he'd been streaming on Twitch for 16 months, had some additional parameters, too. Most notable is the fact that he could only take a single hit before dying – and he's not allowed to block. Taking a single hit from any enemy, even when MajinPhil is behind a shield, is an instant death that also deletes the save file.

So you might start to see why this challenge ended up taking 135 attempts across 16 months. But hey, the winning run, which kicked off last week, had an auspicious start. "I'm calling it now: this is going to be a banger," MajinPhil said near the start of run 135. "I'm manifesting a banger here. Manifesting a banger. 135? That's some good shit."

There are some tricks in MajinPhil's favor here, like the fact that he can save and quit at any time to get out of a bad situation – the caveat being, of course, that he has to run all the way back to wherever he saved, past loads of respawned enemies, every time the game restarts.

If you want some examples of just how devious this can be, MajinPhil's previous run ended when an invisible enemy appeared with a rare glitch, present even in the original game, that rendered it briefly invulnerable. You'd think that the multiple Iron Knuckles that appeared in the very first dungeon of run 135 might've been similarly dangerous, but MajinPhil bypassed them without much trouble.

Once he finally reached the threshold of the final boss fight, MajinPhil took a moment on stream to get up, pace around the room, and collect himself. "For anyone saying I'm being dramatic, I promise you I'm not," he explains. "I've been doing this challenge since March of 2025. This is the first time I've ever gotten this far."

Experienced Ocarina of Time players will know that the scariest part of the final few fights is the back-and-forth with Ganondorf, where you bounce a ball of magic back at the boss like it's a tennis match. At one point, there's a rally that stretches on for an absolutely absurd 18 swings. MajinPhil laments that as "bullshit" – but a type of bullshit he manages to clear, just before clearing the castle escape and dealing the final blow to Ganon.

By the time the ending starts to play, MajinPhil sounds like he's on the verge of hyperventilating. "My head's freaking out," he tells his viewers. "I'm freaking out, man. I can't believe I beat it. It's actually so much more intense than Majora's Mask. This feels so much more intense. The wind-down is like… I can't explain how I feel. The feeling of all that anxiety from the beginning of the stream, like it was two hours of anxiety – two and a half hours of anxiety – all released when that final Ganon hit [was] hit."

After 16 months of trying, "I genuinely didn't think it was gonna happen," MajinPhil admits, and says "that was the hardest thing I've ever done, gaming-wise." The scariest part? Now, I reckon, he's gonna have to try and figure out an even harder challenge.

Shigeru Miyamoto admits Nintendo's been pumping out "a lot of remakes" as Ocarina of Time approaches, but says most people stopped playing the original games within 5 years anyway.

Bethesda keeps saying The Elder Scrolls 6 production is going well, which is reassuring, but it doesn't make the clock tick any faster. So one fan decided to be productive with their waiting room boredom and started creating their own indie version of a The Elder Scrolls game – The Indie Scrolls.

The, apparently, solo developer has been tracking their development progress since March 13 across social media, announcing their intentions via Twitter post: "Day 1 making my own TES until TES 6 goes out!" The developer has now reached Day 116 of The Indie Scrolls in Unreal Engine 5, and the pixel art fan game is looking lovely with evocative character design and an array of fantasy creatures.

"I have great plans that involve an Empress, an Evil mage and time travels (maybe)," The Indie Scrolls shares in a Twitter reply. "I don't have a strictly roadmap, but at the moment I'm doing all the characters and base systems/mechanics!"

Some of the characters The Indie Scrolls has shared so far includes an irate, gold-finned mermaid, a gladiator "Dogman" that attempts to strike the player with his leather bull whip, and an armored skeleton that topples into a heap of yellow bones once defeated. The enemies with more flesh on them, instead, collapse in what looks like a spill of bloody barbecue sauce.

It's clear The Indie Scrolls is in its earliest stages of existence – remember, it's only Day 116. But I'm glad to see evidence of its developer maintaining the balance between silly make-believe and real high fantasy that Bethesda's genuine Elder Scrolls games handle so well.

"The goal here is to make a modern TES in terms of system and mechanics, but with an old school graphics," says The Indie Scrolls on Twitter. Great, now we have to wait for The Elder Scrolls 6 and this inspired fan game.

The Elder Scrolls 6 development roadmap is unaffected by Xbox's mass layoffs, Bethesda says, despite devs' fears of delays and crunch.

One-man band Justin Jager of studio Extrude made and, on July 27, shipped a video game: zombie survival game The Left Behind. "It did not go as I hoped for," the dev explains in a Steam post which went up as the game was pelted with user reviews averaging just 17% positive, earning it the dreaded red review text: "Very Negative."

"It's clear from your feedback that I didn't deliver the zombie survival experience you were expecting, as reflected in the 17% review score on Steam," Jager agrees. "There is a lot of feedback in those reviews that I take with me. I learned a lot yesterday and take all that experience with me."

The Steam reviews for The Left Behind are an unmitigated takedown, and I say that not to pick on the game, but to highlight one example of the negative extreme for Steam launches – though really, most Steam games don't get anywhere – and a frankly fascinating design oversight.

User complaints include inexplicable performance issues, clunky combat, awkward movement, graphical errors, connection problems, flawed AI translations, confusing menus – the works.

Addressing this feedback, Jager says an incoming update will add "important bug fixes," a proper map, miscellaneous improvements and updates, and, most surprisingly, "save story progression."

Yes, as many incredulous reviews also pointed out, this "solo and co-op" survival game does not currently have a save function. You just have to start over whenever you boot it up. The map thing I can understand. Sometimes you forget to add salt to your broth. But a save function? Surely that's like forgetting to add water.

"I've made some design choices that in hindsight were not the best choice," Jager reflects in a Twitter post, explaining that a traditional map was left out to make physical, in-universe maps more valuable for exploration. But clearly that didn't work for players.

"Same goes for the save system," he adds. "I was [too] much focused on the horde mode in that case. Which does not need a save system. The story mode does. Also [too] focused on the permadeath feature, which still needs a save system."

In a Steam discussion response, Jager agrees, "I think it was a better choice to release this in early access. Now it's time for me to update the game and communicate the journey the right way so people know that updates are coming."

Steam expert points to the games you never see quietly "making hundreds of thousands of dollars for small devs" as a key sign "Steam is doing okay."

Double Fine, the beloved studio responsible for games like Psychonauts, Brutal Legend, and Costume Quest, laid off 23 people today. The news comes as the studio goes independent after years of Xbox ownership.

"Today, Double Fine Productions let go of 23 members of its staff," the company says in a social media post attributed to founder Tim Schafer. "As a small, tightly knit team, these actions are not taken lightly. Only the survival of our studio would ever make us consider such a painful action. Our transition to becoming an independent company means becoming a size that we can sustain."

According to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, Double Fine employed "around 90 people" before today's layoffs, so roughly a quarter of the studio is now gone. Among those affected is Ben Johnson, a game designer on Kiln who posted about the layoffs on Bluesky just ahead of the news being publicly reported.

Layoffs hit Double Fine today, and I'm sorry to report that I was one of the ones hit. If you need a game designer with tech chops and 2+ decades of experience, here I am.

— @gamedesignerben.bsky.social (@gamedesignerben.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-07-28T19:26:08.426Z

"The people we are losing were all important," Schafer's message concludes. "They all made an impact on our games and culture, and they will be missed. We are committed to supporting each affected person as best as we can, and we thank them for their hard work and commitment to the creative spirit we cherish here at Double Fine."

Schafer founded Double Fine after departing LucasArts in 2000. The studio's always been known for creative games that develop cult followings, but even darlings like Psychonauts and Brutal Legend never became breakout hits. Microsoft acquired Double Fine in 2019 as part of Xbox's massive studio-buying spree. Under Xbox, Double Fine published Psychonauts 2, Keeper, and Kiln.

In a statement to GamesRadar+, an Xbox spokesperson clarifies: "Double Fine fully returned to independent management earlier this week, with their IP, catalog, and runway for their next games. As they begin their next chapter as an independent studio, we look forward to seeing what they create next."

Amid Xbox's big restructuring, which will cause 3,200 employees to lose their jobs, Double Fine was named as one of the four studios set to go independent. But it seems the path of independence isn't without consequences, either.

After "incomprehensible" Xbox layoffs, id Software producer says worker-owned studios are "the only path forward."