Video games can transport you across kingdoms and dimensions, so developer Rockstar was bold in deciding to set its 2006 open-world drama Bully in a New England boarding school. 20 years later, there still isn't anything quite like it.

Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser tells IGN during a San Diego Comic-Con interview, "The team did an amazing job bringing [Bully] together, and it's a game that's unlike any other games out there."

"You know," Houser added, "I think people are always looking for games that play like normal games, but with different tone and different setting. And Bully really found that." The teen angst simulator puts faith in its moody protagonist Jimmy, whose normal-ness sets him apart from other AAA game heroes. As him, you try winning over each of Bullworth Academy's stereotypical cliques – Jocks, Nerds, Greasers – while dodging adults, drinking soda, and Rated T smooching the NPC of your choice. It's a classroom daydream where you outrun the hall monitor and become a John Hughes hero.

Naturally, players got happily lost in it. Our contemporaneous GamesRadar+ review calls it a "cavalcade of favors, beatdowns, vandalism, minor theft, humiliation, blackmail, make-outs and a whole lot of sticking it to The Man." Basically, it's awesome.

Though, Bully was controversial ahead of its release as parents panicked about the name "Bully" (our review references this by calling Bully either "the ruin of Western civilization or a Catcher in the Rye for the videogame generation"). Rockstar wasn't worried about what was ultimately an anti-bullying statement as Houser pulled freely from his childhood memories while working on the game's story. That grubby authenticity ultimately helped make Bully a popular, empathetic open-world game people could really see themselves in, and it prevented Bully from being another great game overshadowed by moral panic – which is what happened to the other 2006, boarding school nightmare Rule of Rose.

"I think people love open-world games anyway – particularly, ones that are made with integrity," Houser tells IGN about Bully. "We've got amazing art direction from [former Rockstar lead] Steven Olds, you've got incredible music, you've got some really memorable characters, and it's a unique setting. It came together really well."

Find out where Bully falls on our ranked list of the 25 best Rockstar games of all time.

The industry is still reeling from Sony's announcement that it's ending physical disc production for PlayStation consoles in 2028. There's been a lot of pushback, and now the developers behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 have added their two cents, lamenting the choice as a reductive one for the medium.

"Personally, I find it super sad because I really like video game stores," Guillaume Broche, creative director on Clair Obscur, tells Automaton. "And even if nowadays, I play mainly on PC myself, we have a lot of people on the team who play on PS5 and love to collect physical discs. I think it's part of the beauty of art too – that it's something tangible."

He concedes that in terms of business, he "can understand why it may make sense," but "it's a sad decision" for the overall creativity of the industry. Tom Guillermin, co–founder and CTO of studio Sandfall Interactive, revealed actually doing a physical run for Clair Obscur was something the team had to push for.

"A physical release adds more constraints because you have to account for the production time of the physical items, and you also earn less money per copy," he explains. "But for us, physical was something special. We also felt that the game could be special to players."

Doing a physical run is an increasingly large labor of love. The ubiquity of digital storefronts is pushing game discs into being a more niche interest similar to vinyl, except people aren't really buying game discs. Still, discs are important because they're timeless and collectible, and it feels better to have a game you love in your own two hands.

I've bought several games I love more than once because I got the physical version after playing the digital one. Nobody can turn the servers off on the disc I own, and I like having it on display.

"So even though it made things harder and meant less money per unit, it was important for us to provide players who want to have the physical game in their hands with an option," Guillermin says. "Because that's what we value as players too."

He's not kidding on that last part, because once Clair Obscur was on actual store shelves, Sandfall literally went out and bought it. "After launch, we went to a video game store to buy our own game. Just as a gesture," Broche recalls.

"Another strong memory I have is when someone from Japan sent me a picture [of our game] from a video game store, in Akihabara I think, in Japanese writing and all," he remembers. "I felt like a kid when I saw it. I was like 'Yeah, it's real!' It starts feeling real when you see it in stores."

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 devs were told that "no one" would like one of the RPG's best systems before it launched, lead says: "We didn't care"

Resident Evil 2 is now the series' best-selling game, while a new sales milestone sees the Capcom horror series pass Final Fantasy.

In Capcom's latest earnings report, the company announced that Resident Evil 2 – that being the 2019 remake, not the 1998 original with the same name – has sold an extra 1.42 million copies since the last report, sending the game to lifetime sales of 19.75 million copies. And despite Capcom's decision to split every different version of a game into different parts of its platinum titles page making it seem like this happened long ago, Resident Evil 5 has finally been dethroned (via DuskGolem).

Between the original Xbox 360 and PS3 game, its Gold Edition, the PS4 and Xbox One re-release, and Switch editions of Capcom's divisive horror title, Resident Evil 5 had sold 19.01 million copies the last time Capcom detailed its sales in an earnings report earlier this year.

However, Resident Evil 2's spot at the top is definitely under threat as Resident Evil 4 remake is already at 16.04 Million copies sold despite 2's four-year headstart. Not to mention Resident Evil 4 sold 2.43 million copies in the last three months, which is over 1 million more than 2 sold. Resident Evil Requiem is also killing it as it sold a further 1.14 million in the last three months, and with momentum like that and big sales down the line, it also has a chance to make it to the top.

Capcom also confirmed that the Resident Evil series as a whole has sold 213 million copies since it debuted 30 years ago. That means it has surpassed Final Fantasy, which Square Enix claimed had sold 212 million as of last month. This means that Resident Evil is the ninth best-selling game franchise of all-time, and the biggest-selling Japanese game series not published by Nintendo, and with sales like Mario and Pokemon have, I'm afraid that's probably the closest it will get.

"Resident not-Evil" is Resident Evil 2 director's joke cozy life sim pitch starring a retired Leon Kennedy fishing, baking, and "inviting his old friends over for barbecues"

Making a massive RPG like The Blood of Dawnwalker requires striking a balance between understanding that such projects require time and investment, and not letting financial targets distract from the creative vision. In fact, as far the game's director is concerned, worrying about money is a surefire way for a release to flounder.

In an interview with Radio Times (below), Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, the director of The Blood of Dawnwalker and co-founder of studio Rebel Wolves (and a CD Projekt Red veteran who directed The Witcher 3), explains his perspective on sales targets. "We don't want to measure our games in millions of sales," he says.

"I mean, you need to have money, of course, to create the next part," he continues. "But we want to create those challenges in front of us to fulfil our artistic and creative needs."

The real goal is to garner a positive reception from the game's fanbase. "I would prefer to measure the game in the opinions of fans," Tomaskiewicz adds, "and the energy when they like the game. If possible, maybe some awards for us, which will be achievements for us as artists."

Strong aspirations, but good principles upon which to build a game. The Blood of Dawnwalker's an ambitious debut; a horror RPG set in the 14th century where a half-human, half-vampire has 30 days to save his family. It's high-concept, and stands out as a result.

In Tomaskiewicz's mind, "the sales are secondary," because he has a core belief that, "if the game is good there will be the sales," and if you're worried about shifting copies from the jump, your project is doomed. "If you are thinking about sales as you create the game, when you try to make the game to match the sales, it will fail at the start," he says, definitively.

Given that Tomaskiewicz directed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, he's got on the ground experience shipping a large game while maintaining the team's creative integrity. Geralt's last big adventure is testament to the notion that people gravitate to good games if the execution is there.

We have just over a month to wait before we find out if The Blood of Dawnwalker will be another hit. Regardless, the real reward will be seeing who actually connects with the ideas Rebel Wolves is putting out there.

Former Witcher 3 devs "can't" and "don't want to challenge" bigger games and companies with new RPG The Blood of Dawnwalker, and staying smaller let them "focus on the player's agency."

Danganronpa's creator Kazutaka Kodaka has said that a sequel to the high school killing game was initially turned down following the original game's poor release sales. The writer even considered quitting his job, until the opportunity arose to keep working on the series.

Posting on Twitter, and as translated by GamesRadar+, Kodaka recalls how studio Spike Chunsoft – then known as Spike – turned down a Danganronpa sequel when the first game didn't make much money. The visual novel was originally a PlayStation Portable exclusive and so it was reportedly difficult for it to make its development budget back.

"After Danganronpa launched it didn't generate much revenue, so at that time we were told something like, 'we're not making 2,'" Kodaka says. "The team was assigned to different projects and they were spread out across the company."

Kodaka had previously worked on existing series like Clock Tower, Dragon Ball, and Detective Conan, and was eager to continue working on his own games. "My eyes were opened to the joy of working on something original and I didn't want to work on another project," he says. "I couldn't decide what to do and even considered quitting, but then I heard talk of a Danganronpa Zero light novel, so I went straight to my boss. That's how I continued working on the series."

Working on Danganronpa's prequel novel gave the series' first game time to generate more sales, and the beloved sequel was finally greenlit. "Danganronpa was selling steadily and at some point there was talk of making a second game," Kodaka says. "As I was writing Danganronpa Zero, I revisited [the series'] vague setting, so the foundation of the second game's story was easy to craft."

Kodaka continues to say he went from the "gloomy, claustrophobic" atmosphere of the first game to "shonen manga-esque steamy plotlines" for the second, before going into the weeds about how each murder mystery was crafted. Despite the fact that Danganronpa 2 almost never existed, it's many fans' favorite entry in the series, and will receive its own alternative timeline in Danganronpa 2x2 in 2027.

Danganronpa creator's massive tactical RPG has secretly been two games all along, which, y'know, makes sense considering the enormity of 100 routes.

Final Fantasy 9 isn't a PS2 game, but I've just noticed my PS2 memory card has a Final Fantasy save that looks like it has the wrong text. It's actually taken me 20 years to realise that the tiny low-res icon looks like it belongs to the earlier PS1 RPG, and there's a very silly reason why it looks that way.

You see, I've been messing around with an upscaler that solves jittery PS2 visuals using motion-adaptive interlacing. It'll also scale up any retro console that supports RGB output, but it's the systems that rely on interlaced graphics that benefit most from the gizmo.

While the GBS-C's motion-adaptive deinterlacing does an excellent job weaving separated horizontal fields together into a static frame, it's far from perfect. For the most part, you won't notice anything out of sorts, but after sharing a quick photo of my old PS2 memory card screen running through the upscaler, I received comments asking, "What's with the Final Fantasy "9" save icon?"

I originally figured the internet at large was getting its Final Fantasy roman numerals mixed up, but soon realised my old save really looks like it says "Final Fantasy IX" over the villainous Judge Gabranth sprite. Trust me when I say I squinted at the tiny icon for a solid 10 minutes on my actual display rather than through my hastily snapped photo, and I'm pretty certain the pixels read "IX" rather than "XII."

I'll admit, I started to get excited that Square Enix had somehow managed to typo its Final Fantasy 12 save icon art, or that there was perhaps another more interesting developmental reason for the blip. That was before I realized this was very likely a symptom tied to deinterlacing a low-resolution icon, and it all ties back to the way low-res CRTs used to work.

Here's the thing: the text on the Final Fantasy 12 logo on the memory card grid isn't meant to be legible. If you really want to get a good look at it, you can press X and bring up the full rotating 3D rendered model along with the copy and delete menu. What you're actually seeing before that is a version compressed to very few pixels that, when displayed on a CRT at the mercy of interlacing, pixel bleed, and phosphor glow, still vaguely looks like "Final Fantasy XII" at a normal distance.

When you take that same icon, blow it up on a modern screen using nearest-neighbour upscaling and deinterlacing techniques, you end up with distorted pixels. It just so happens that, in the case of Final Fantasy 12, it warps its roman numerals to look like they belong to a different game in the series, which serves as an eye-catching example of an upscaling caveat.

Using a "line doubler" like the OSSC stands a better chance of accurately representing even the lowest pixel text on the PS2, but you still end up with something that doesn't read like the full-resolution text. I suspect Bob de-interlacing still distorts the pixels in the same way regardless, changing their alignment to a completely different numeral, but I can't speak for more expensive FPGA-powered devices by the likes of RetroTink.

Big whoop, I hear you cry. Why should you remotely care about a few distorted pixels on an old PS2 memory card screen? I'll admit that I don't think this is a reason not to upscale your PlayStation 2, but I want to record the incident so no one gets the wrong idea.

I previously went searching to see if anyone had reported their Final Fantasy 12 PS2 memory card save showing the wrong thumbnail text, just in case there was a more elaborate reason. Immediately, I was rushed with Google AI claims that it's likely a "placeholder left over from development," which isn't remotely the case.

Therefore, this is me taking the opportunity to pre-empt any weird theories on why it looks like the PS2 memory card icon reads "Final Fantasy IX", as all it takes is someone to regurgitate AI nonsense to circulate falsified history. At the same time, this does help highlight how retro console upscaling technology works and why it will struggle to provide the exact same look as an old CRT TV, and while quirks like this aren't remotely a biggie, it could influence your setup plans.

• PS2 memory cards at Amazon
• Retro upscalers at Amazon

Swing by the best retro handhelds for portable emulators you can take on your travels.

Tom Holland has become somewhat notorious for revealing spoilers from Marvel movies ahead of their release. These have included sharing the Infinity War poster live on social media, confirming the original Spider-Man movies were a trilogy, and revealing that his character goes to space in Infinity War.

However, none of these are the moments that Holland regrets the most. In a new interview, the Spider-Man star was asked which spoiler he regrets the most, and he revealed his wish for a do-over with one particular screening moment.

"Yeah, I remember when Infinity War was coming out, Kevin Feige, the legend, always does this thing where he rents a party bus, and we drive around LA, and we surprise fans in the first opening night screenings," Holland told Complex at the Spider-Man: Brand New Day premiere.

"And I thought that we were walking into a room of people that had seen the movie; I thought the movie had ended. And I walked on stage, and I said, 'Don't worry everybody, I'm still alive.' And there was this huge collective sigh, and I was like, 'Wow, I thought that was gonna get a bigger reaction.'"

Holland went on to reveal he looked over at Feige, who was gesturing at him to get off the stage afterwards. At the end of Infinity War, Spider-Man is one of the victims of Thanos' snap, disintegrating into ash in Tony Stark's arms. Of course, he does make a big return in Avengers: Endgame, emerging straight onto the battlefield with his other snapped comrades, but this is a massive spoiler.

Thankfully, Holland has been able to keep a few more secrets ahead of the release of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. At the moment, we still don't know who Sadie Sink is playing or who the villain is.

The fourth Spider-Man movie releases on July 29 in the UK and July 31 in the US. Read our Spider-Man: Brand New Day review for more, as well as our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows on the way.

Last Friday, X (Twitter) user MikeOdysseyYT posted that an "Ocarina of Time Pro Controller may be coming" to the Nintendo Switch 2. This rumour was then doubled down on by known insider and Editor-in-Chief of Universo Nintendo Necrolipe, who shared on X (Twitter) that MikeOdyssey was not only right, but that he's "seen the design" of this elusive gamepad, which is described as green and gold, with a Triforce crest in the center of the faceplate - perfectly fitting for what I'd imagine when conjuring up a new Switch 2 Zelda controller in my head.

I've avoided picking up the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro controller since the handheld arrived on the scene. I already have a premium pad that works just fine, but my decision against picking up the official pad is primarily because I've been patiently hoping that we'd one day see a Legend of Zelda version hit the shelves. Looks like my patience may finally be rewarded.

Nintendo has not announced that a new Switch 2 Pro controller is incoming, including one that sports a Legend of Zelda design. So as always, do take these statements with a Goron-sized grain of salt, but I really hope this rumored controller turns out to be a reality. Despite the gaming handheld being over a year old, we've only had one new version of the premium pad in the form of the Resident Evil Requiem Edition Pro Controller.

It's not a bad-looking Nintendo Switch 2 controller by any means, but it's disappointing that no Nintendo franchises have had a model of their own this generation. The original Nintendo Switch had a flurry of Pro Controller designs, including a Splatoon 3 version that featured blue and orange handles and subtle ink splotch imagery across the faceplate. I was expecting a similar release for the brand new Splatoon Raiders in the game's orange and green color palette, but alas, we saw nothing of the sort.

There was also an official Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Pro Controller, which utilized black and white handles and gold embellishments across the front of the pad, which mimicked the look of the Zonai's tech found within the game. Both of these pads are compatible with the Switch 2, though, so nothing is stopping me from adding them to my setup. However, I'd be more inclined to grab a newer Zelda Switch 2 pad for the back buttons, fast charging, and the ability to wake the handheld up from sleep mode.

It's worth mentioning that while we're all well aware that a Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Remake is on its way for the Nintendo Switch 2, this new controller is allegedly not based on the new game. Necrolipe clarifies on X (Twitter) that the proposed gamepad "is not tied to Ocarina of Time" and corrected himself by dubbing it the "The Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Edition" controller.

Honestly, that has me far more excited than anything else. The Legend of Zelda anniversary came and went on February 21, 2026, earlier this year, without so much of a peep from Nintendo. It'd be nice to not only see some sort of celebration on Ninty's part for the four-decade-long series and one I hold near and dear to my heart, but also see a shiny new Zelda Switch 2 Pro controller in the works. Picking up new official Zelda gadgets is my favorite way to celebrate.

• View all Nintendo Switch 2 controllers 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 already have plenty of Ninty controllers at hand.

Euphoria star Hunter Schafer has revealed she's recently performed in mocap for Hideo Kojima's upcoming horror game OD.

Despite knowing about the upcoming Hideo Kojima games for a while now, we really don't know all that much about either of them. We do know that horror title OD will be first up to the plate, with the game being announced at The Game Awards 2023, but – despite a very naked gameplay leak a year before the game was announced – Kojima claimed his studio was just beginning to work on OD last year. We did get our second trailer last year, while Kojima is hyping it up as a game that goes "beyond the limit of 'scariness."

Well, we now have a slight update on the production of OD, as Schafer – when speaking to IGN at SDCC 2026 – says working OD "was a lot of fun" and that she "just did mocap not too long ago."

Schafer also says "that was my first experience doing motion capture," adding that she loves "how much imagination is involved in filming something like that." She notes: "I just think Hideo's a genius and so lovely to work with"

Beyond that, Schafer speaks about the games she's been playing, calling The Last of Us Part 2 "life-changing," and revealing she has recently played Journey, which she describes as "really simple and gorgeous."

For comparison, Death Stranding 2 motion capture was completed in May 2024, and took just over a year to release from that point. So, come time for The Game Awards this year, I'd suspect (or hope) we might find out a bit more about OD, and have a better idea of what it is and when it's releasing.

Hideo Kojima isn't planning to blast off to space yet because he doesn't want to rush to his "ultimate dream," so he'll "keep on making games" for now.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day has debuted to an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score, winning over critics with its first reviews. The MCU movie is currently sitting at 92% on the website, making it the best-rated MCU movie in five years.

The last movie to hit over 90% on the website was Spider-Man: No Way Home, which landed 93% back in 2021. Since then, it's been a mixed bag for the MCU. Some have come close, like Thunderbolts and Guardians of the Galaxy 3. However, others have really fallen short, including Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Captain America: Brave New World.

Reviews have been overwhelmingly positive so far for Brand New Day. Our own four-star verdict called the movie the best MCU movie since Avengers: Endgame. "Taking Spidey back to web-slinging basics, Tom Holland’s fourth solo outing as Spider-Man is a blast, with personal stakes to match its evolved spectacle," reads Jordan Farley's Spider-Man: Brand New Day review.

The Independent's Clarisse Loughrey calls it the best Spider-Man movie in more than 20 years. "Tom Holland’s web-slinger – finally New York-based and fighting on a street level – has never been more authentic to the source material than in his fourth solo go-round, and the entire franchise is better for it," she writes in her four-star review.

David Rooney at The Hollywood Reporter also enjoyed the fourth outing in the franchise, praising the emotion of the film. "The dynamic of these three together – and of Holland, Zendaya and Batalon in the roles – has been lovingly nurtured over four films and pays off here with genuinely affecting moments that will have some fans getting misty-eyed," they wrote.

"We don’t get many great MCU movies anymore," writes William Bibbiani of The Wrap in another glowing review. "That this is one of the highlights of the whole franchise feels amazing."

Some reviews have been a bit more negative. Variety's Owen Gleiberman said the film is "trying too hard," concluding the Marvel Phase 6 film "is watchable without ever being transporting". Meanwhile Indie Wire's David Ehrlich calls it "dull and downbeat," adding that the story lets it down by being "absolutely clueless about how to push forward".

Peter Bradshaw at The Guardian gave it three stars, writing that "a more radical reboot is needed." He writes: "It's an entertaining spectacle, but really without the novelty of movie-iterations like the more experimental Spider-Verse animations."

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.

A new House of the Dragon character who just killed off a major player in the Dance of Dragons has never actually been introduced to the audience.

Warning, the following contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 3, episode 6!

In the latest episode, Criston Cole is ambushed by Team Black, and his request to go out in a blaze of glory is denied. He is instead shot dead with three arrows – though, the mysterious figure who killed him is actually a mystery to everyone watching along.

Book readers might recognize her as Alysanne Blackwood, AKA Black Aly, though her name hasn't been spoken on the show, and she's only really been in the background until now. She also hasn't actually spoken yet, apart from singing two lines of a song in episode 2 (as pointed out in a now-removed Reddit post).

Still, there are two episodes of House of the Dragon season 3 left, so there's plenty of time for Black Aly to get her proper introduction. After all, now we know her face.

As we get closer to the end of season 3, it looks like Rhaenyra could be in trouble – she cut her finger on the Iron Throne, Aemond Targaryen and Alys Rivers have formed an unusual alliance, and Ormund Hightower has declared Daeron Targaryen the rightful king.

"I think a lot of Daeron's experience through that episode and the upcoming episodes, without spoiling anything, is just, when's the breaking point?" Daeron actor Benjamin Evan Ainsworth told us in a recent interview. "He's held a tremendous amount of tension and tremendous amount of patience with Ormund, and now with a figure like Gwayne around, and with his dragon Tessarion, who he has this deep affection and friendship with, who he hasn't been able to see, who has been in the Sept tied up, and so, when is it too much?"

House of the Dragon season 3 continues weekly on HBO Max, Sky, and NOW in the UK, and HBO in the US.

You can keep up to date with our House of the Dragon season 3 release schedule, and, for even more, check out our guide to all the upcoming Game of Thrones movies and TV shows.

A big change is happening at Dungeons & Dragons owner Wizards of the Coast. John Hight, current president of the company, is leaving his position soon, and the process of finding his replacement has already begun.

As revealed in a filing for the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Hight is stepping down on September 1. This comes just two years after he took on the role, in August 2024, and a tenure where he oversaw some contentious strategizing.

He's overseen the transition to D&D 5.5 edition and put a big emphasis on the Universes Beyond initiative, helping launch crossover after crossover within Magic: The Gathering. Although some of these partnerships were well-received, like The Lord of the Rings, the general push for novelty isn't completely beloved within the wider community.

Wizards has been aware of this, but believes it's better to lean into evolving the card game rather than backing away. "Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it's just not going back in," Mark Rosewater, head designer on Magic: The Gathering, wrote on a personal blog earlier this month.

"Whether you like or dislike Universe Beyond, it has fundamentally changed the nature of what the game is," he added. "It’s taking the game to a whole new level, in both scope and awareness, much like Commander forever changed how people saw and interacted with the game."

Hight brought a lot of experience with fantasy IP, since he moved over to Wizards from Blizzard, where he served as general manager of Warcraft for over a decade. According to comments provided to GamesIndustry.biz, Hight will continue with Wizards in an "advisory capacity," and the search for his successor is now ongoing.

"There is no change to the strength of the Wizards business," says the statement. "Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons continue to perform incredibly well, consistent with our most recent earnings release, and our upcoming 2027 video game slate, including Exodus and Warlock remains on track."

That last line stands out too, since Hasbro reported a $56 million loss on canceled games just recently. Warlock and Exodus represent a considerably trimmed down slate of releases from the corporation, amid growing uncertainty about its investments in the industry.

Skyrim and Stardew Valley mods weren't enough: rotund icon Jimothy the viral raccoon invades D&D as a Wizards-approved "cryptid" who is "hurling garbage and making friends."

In classic fourth wall breaking fashion, Ryan Reynolds hid a major Marvel tease in the special gray Deadpool costume he wore to SDCC.

Reynolds crashed Marvel's Hall H panel in the get up and could also be seen roaming around the convention.

On Twitter, he shared the Pantone color swatch for the suit, and it's titled Jean Grey.

Jean Grey, of course, is a member of the X-Men, and heavy speculation links Sadie Sink's mystery Spider-Man: Brand New Day character to the mutant. Is this Reynolds's irreverent way of teasing the casting? It certainly seems so.

Sink makes her MCU debut in the Spidey movie, and it seems her role might have been spoiled at the premiere – after over a year of total secrecy.

First reactions to the fourth MCU Spidey movie are overwhelmingly positive, and our own Spider-Man: Brand New Day review awards the film a stellar four stars. "Taking Spidey back to web-slinging basics, Tom Holland's fourth solo outing as Spider-Man is a blast, with personal stakes to match its evolved spectacle. It's the Multiverse Saga's best movie… at least until Doomsday," it reads.

As for Deadpool, Reynolds has previously indicated that Deadpool 4 is in the works, though nothing has been officially announced.

"There's a few really deep cuts that are missing from the movies, I think there's a few deep cuts missing from some of the comics," Reynolds said, before getting into specifics.

"There's certainly some stuff that I love that Fabian [Nicieza] wrote that is incredible. Gerry Duggan is a friend and an incredible comic book writer. There's stuff coming, there eventually will be another Deadpool film."

Spider-Man: Brand New Day arrives this July 29 in the UK and July 31 in the US. In the meantime, check out our guide on how to watch the Marvel movies in order to get up to speed.

With her starmaking days as Max in Netflix sci-fi series Stranger Things behind her, Sadie Sink is forging a new path as part of the MCU in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

There have been plenty of early whispers that she is playing a character with ties to the X-Men, including Rachel Summers and Jean Grey. It's the latter that has garnered most buzz, and has led to one Marvel fan spotting an astonishing connection between Max and Jean Grey.

As you can see below, the red track jacket that Max first wore in Stranger Things season 2 bears a striking, uncanny resemblance to the outfit worn by Jean Grey during her comic origin story, as depicted in 2008's X-Men Origins: Jean Grey.

Just a coincidence? Almost certainly. Still, the mystery of exactly who Sadie Sink is playing in the fourth MCU Spider-Man movie isn't dying down. That's only been further intensified by a spoiler snafu at the Brand New Day world premiere – one which may have ruined her character's identity (click through at your own risk).

No matter who Sink is playing, fans can rest easy knowing that they're in for, potentially, one of the best Spider-Man movies of all time. Early Brand New Day reactions describe it as a "mini Avengers film" with Sink herself being described as "perfect."

Spider-Man: Brand New Day, starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, and Jon Bernthal, swings into cinemas on July 29 in the UK and July 31 in the US.

For more, check out the movies and shows you need to watch before Spider-Man: Brand New Day, plus the other upcoming Marvel movies currently in the works. Then, thwip on over to our own Spider-Man: Brand New Day review.

Capcom is shouting out Pragmata's sales success as a big reason why the company's year-on-year profits have increased.

In the company's latest earnings report, Capcom notes an 83% increase in net sales year-on-year, and noting: "Unit sales of all-new IP Pragmata and catalog titles performed well, driving revenue and profit up."

Capcom confirms that – as of June 30, 2026 – Pragmata has sold over 2.5 million copies since it was released back in April 2026, while Resident Evil Requiem sold a further 1.14 million since sales were last reported, bringing the latest game in the series up to eight million copies sold. This mixed with strong sales for older Resident Evil titles, bringing the series to 213 million copies sold, and making it the best-selling Japanese game series not published by Nintendo or Sony.

In a press release, Capcom once again singles out Pragmata as a key factor in this increase in sales, saying: "Digital Contents business drove earnings with 23.81 million units in total sales volume, which exceeded sales of 14.16 million units for the same period of the previous fiscal year. This included sales of all-new IP PRAGMATA, which surpassed 2.5 million units worldwide following a positive launch reception due to increased brand awareness achieved through robust promotional activities."

Since launch, Capcom hasn't exactly kept its cards close to its chest regarding how it feels about Pragmata. It confirmed that it will consider "developing it into a series," after Pragmata hit two million copies within its first month and says it will continue making new IP. The push for new IP is something Devil May Cry and Bayonetta creator Hideki Kamiya credits Capcom's success with, while Pragmata director Yonghee Cho told us in May that he would "of course" love to make a sequel to the game.

In a games industry dominated by safe bets, Capcom keeps getting weird with it.

Xbox chief technology officer Scott Van Vliet has commented on the outages that hit consoles yesterday, and has pledged to investigate the issues.

Following a PlayStation outage – which lined up quite nicely with the launch of the Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls beta, and was a lovely bit of synergy with Sony's pledge to go all-digital – Xbox players got to experience the same this week. The outage lasted several hours and prevented Xbox players from accessing their profiles. Crucially, it also stopped them from finding games in the Xbox store, accessing their digital games, and even some physical ones (presumably those which effectively work as a Game-Key Card), which is the cherry on top of the push for digital games.

Van Vliet has taken to Twitter following the resolution of the outage, saying, "this is an unacceptable situation, and we must do better to support you." He adds: "Over the coming weeks, you'll hear more from me about our services, our platform, and the work we're doing to make Xbox better. And that starts with some transparency about this incident."

He explains that the outage was due to the failure of a licensing service outside Xbox that the console relies on, which in turn caused the issues. Once the outage was noticed, the team "declared a major incident" and began work on sorting it.

"We're running a full post-incident review," Van Vliet says, adding that "I care less about the one-line root cause and more about the real questions: why a failure in one service was able to take down this much, why recovery took as long as it did, and what we change so a single point of failure can't ruin your night again." Crucially, he pledges: "We'll do better."

Still, the timing of these outages feel like they came at the right time. Players are still very unhappy about the prospect of an all-digital future following Sony's announcement, and there are fears that Project Helix will also not be supporting physical games. So hopefully, these events serve as a wake-up call to Sony and Microsoft.

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

Warhammer 40K's small-screen expansion got some big updates in the new annual report from Games Workshop CEO Kevin Rountree. First up, the upcoming Warhammer 40K TV series has enlisted the help of horror maestro Mike Flanagan, who was behind Netflix's Haunting of Hill House and the script for the upcoming Clayface.

Rountree confirmed he has completed "initial outlines" and "should soon be moving on to script". Henry Cavill and Vertigo are still involved, but the CEO makes clear that this will not be a quick process. "This is a long-term partnership with Amazon – and these adaptations will take years to bring successfully to market," he added, referring to "films and television series" that they're working on.

Another detail revealed in the annual report is that there is a Warhammer 40K animated series on the way. This will feature Space Marines – Deathwatch and is being written by Masters of the Air screenwriter John Orloff. No more revealed on that but it seems the Warhammer universe is taking its expansion onto the small screen seriously.

They will also have an episode in Amazon's Secret Level season 2, which will feature a story set in the Age of Signmar universe.

It's all quite a lot of information to take in from Games Workshop but it's reassuring to hear things are moving on the live-action series and beyond.

Cavill first announced the partnership with the company more than three years ago. "Together, we've been sifting through the plethora of incredible characters and poring over old tomes and texts," Cavill wrote on Instagram at the time. "Our combined efforts have led us to a fantastic place to start our Universe, which has been agreed upon by those up on high at both Amazon and Games Workshop. That starting place shall, for now, remain a secret."

For more, check out our guides to upcoming video game movies and our selection of the best Amazon Prime Video shows to stream now.

There's a new Spidey film coming out this week, and what better way to celebrate than with an update to Marvel's Spider-Man 2? Two costumes have been added to the game, and there's some added support for upscaling.

Of the two suits that are now in Peter Parker's closest, the first is the Fresh Start get-up, taking heavy inspiration from Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the latest movie featuring the wallcrawler. This is another take on the classic, iconic Spider-Man look, and I'm not complaining because it's still extremely pleasing to the eye.

The second costume actually comes from another game, Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls. This one's got a more contemporary sci-fi edge, with white accessories and a larger spider emblem on the chest. It maintains the slightly cel-shaded aesthetic from Fighting Souls as well. I do love when Insomniac incorporates different aesthetics for the suits, the resulting effect is always impressive.

In the replies on Twitter, Insomniac clarifies that these are completely free of charge. You need only start up the game, let it auto-update, and you'll have access to both of these as part of your wardrobe. Since Brand New Day opens tomorrow, July 29, the timing is perfect to see it, then settle into swinging around New York City in the same threads as our cinematic Peter.

Besides these ensembles, support has been added for both Enhanced PSSR on PS5 Pro and Power Saver mode. The former, if you're unaware, is an AI upscaling feature on the system. Your mileage may vary depending on how much you like what changes it makes, but it's good to have options for your crime-fighting escapades.

Now then, I have side-quests to complete. And by side-quests, I mean taking dozens of cool pictures with these two suits I can hopefully sell to The Daily Bugle.

After keeping the secret for over a year, Sadie Sink's Marvel character is spoiled at the Spider-Man: Brand New Day premiere.

Robert Downey Jr.'s MCU return as Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday has already caused some concern among a passionate Marvel audience.

While some of those fears have been dampened in recent months, the reveal of Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom voice – with a heavy fictional Latverian accent – in a recent trailer proved divisive among fans, with some even comparing it to a bad Dracula impression.

Now, Avengers: Doomsday directors Joe and Anthony Russo have revealed the surprisingly low-key origins behind the Doom voice – and their own reaction to the one-time Iron Man actor's take on how the supervillain should sound.

“That was something that Robert surprised us with one day,” Anthony Russo told People. “We were talking about all the details of the character: the voice, of course, is a key part of it, especially in the mask. So one day I think it was in the trailer, we were just sort of talking about some ideas, and he broke out into the voice. And we knew at that moment, that was it."

Joe Russo added that he got "chills" from that moment, comparing it to the same actor's emotional Tony Stark sacrifice and 'I am Iron Man' callback in Avengers: Endgame.

“Robert tends to present a lot of those super memorable moments," Joe Russo said.

Another Doom complaint has been that the iconic Marvel character has arrived out of nowhere in the MCU with minimal build-up, which led to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige clapping back by saying Thanos' path to Avengers: Infinity War was similar.

Elsewhere, a new range of toys has seemingly confirmed the surprise identity of the only hero who could be powerful enough to take on Doom: Shang-Chi.

Avengers: Doomsday opens in cinemas on December 18.

For more, check out the upcoming Marvel movies in the works. Then work your way to Doomsday from the beginning with our essential guide on how to watch the Marvel movies in order.

The Razer Blade 18 took its place on my list of the best gaming laptops on the market last week, after making it out off the test bench with a 4/5 review score. It wasn't the dual 4K / 1200p resolution display or the slimmer 18-inch chassis that put it there, though, it was the fact that the Razer Blade 18 nearly beat the MSI Raider A18 HX's performance.

That's a big deal considering no gaming laptop has managed to near that beast's benchmark records since I reviewed it last year. Of course, time has moved on for the MSI Raider, and the numbers today tell a different story where value is concerned. With an extra 12 months under its belt, the RTX 5090 MSI Raider A19 HX A9W is a little harder to find on the shelves. Instead, you're more likely looking at an RTX 5080 model (16GB vs 24GB), which isn't going to give you the same payoff for 4K gaming. The invoice is far kinder, though.

Right now, the RTX 5090 model is only available at Excalbur PC on backorder, but its age means it still undercuts the Blade 18 at $4,499.99. So what does that mean in real-world play?

At full 4K resolution, the two machines are tying. The Blade 18 bookends its runs, with wins in the lightest title, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and the most demanding, Cyberpunk 2077 (though only just), while the Raider scores higher in Total War: Three Kingdoms and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. These are still neck and neck scores, though, a trend that continues further down the resolution ladder.

In FHD and QHD+, we've got a similar situation, though the Blade takes a lead in QHD performance overall.

Numbers match up once more when we looked at synthetic benchmarks, though, with MSI taking the more demanding Steel Nomad test alongside the easier Fire Strike run.

It all comes down to Geekbench 6, then, and the MSI Raider A18 HX A9W's higher average single-core test. This is a machine using the abominably powerful AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D, after all - even the latest Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus inside Sneki's rig can't quite compete. The Blade scored 3,053 in its single-core test, while the Ryzen 9 typically averages at around 3,186. This is the only test in which a winner is decided.

Does that mean big spenders should buy the MSI Raider A18 HX A9W? Not quite.

The Razer Blade 18 has still made its way to my top list, now sitting as the best luxury gaming laptop I've tested so far. That's because, while it just whiskers out of the performance race against the MSI Raider it does so in a far sturdier chassis, with a much better keyboard, a higher refresh rate display, and a surprisingly solid battery life.

If I had $5,500 to spend on a gaming laptop, the lack of OLED or Mini LED display would be the only turn off here. Razer's decision to instead fit a dual-resolution 4K (240Hz) / FHD (440Hz) screen up top means you're not getting the more immersive contrast, color profile, and impact of a more luxurious panel. It's also unlikely that most players will be looking to fully take advantage of the top end of that 440Hz refresh rate - outside of elite competition, the vast majority of us will be able to get along just fine with framerates coming out of that RTX 5090 in 4K. The dual screen is an added expense that doesn't serve the majority of the market and cuts the Blade 18 off from the kinds of premium upgrades readily available in much cheaper machines.

That being said, there are very few 18-inch 4K gaming laptops on the market right now, and if that high-end build quality, excellent performance, and 240Hz refresh rate are worth more to you than color contrast it's a difficult one to beat.

• See all gaming laptop deals at Best Buy

I'm also hunting down all the best Asus gaming laptops and the best Razer laptops on the market. For something a little chunkier, check out the best Alienware laptops I've tested so far.

Legendary Nintendo fellow Shigeru Miyamoto has said that the major gaming hardware and software company is planning for a future where people purchase and keep multiple generations of the company's consoles. He hopes that this will make game development easier as studios won't have to worry about the new console generation cannibalizing the older platform's sales.

In an interview with Famitsu, that's been translated by GamesRadar+, Miyamoto speaks about how he wants Nintendo's hardware to make game development easier for creators. "We all want to put minimal effort into making a living; live the easy life… I'm half joking," he says with a chuckle. "I think it's really important to reduce workload and streamline development, and in this regard, I think we created the perfect environment."

The "perfect environment" he's referring to is one where developers can reach a wider base of players by making games for both the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 simultaneously. "There are people who have multiple Nintendo consoles at home," Miyamoto explains. "Those who want to play on high performance hardware use the Switch 2, and games can be developed specifically for that console."

Nintendo wants to offer hardware capable of running high-performance games, but for those who don't need the extra power, they can target both generations at once thanks to the shared hardware architecture. "In a few years, there will come a time when this is the norm," Miyamoto says. "Nintendo is planning for a situation where a new market emerges. We can create different games without asking if [game] sales for the new console will compete with the old. I think that would be the best scenario."

Nintendo hopes to offer developers two options; reach a wider playerbase by releasing on both platforms, or take the greater power of the Switch 2. This is contrary to Xbox's plans with the Xbox Series X|S, where developers are forced to create games with the exact same features that work on both the high performance and lower performance consoles simultaneously.

While Miyamoto's talking points focus on making development easier for creators, the company obviously benefits financially from having multiple Nintendo consoles in each home. As the Switch and Switch 2 are also handheld consoles, many families, particularly those with children, have more than one Switch lingering in their abode.

Nintendo also supports homes with multiple consoles by releasing titles that can use features like Game Share and foster co-operative play. There is also the Nintendo Online Family Plan, which offers online benefits for multiple consoles at a discount. Shrewd move, Nintendo.

Shigeru Miyamoto was "pleased" to sell the original Nintendo Switch for 8 years as "customers aren't always looking for the best specs."

It feels like nothing you can play games on is safe from price hikes right now, and that includes previously affordable retro handhelds. In fact, the demanding AI data centre demons released from the Pandora's Box ravaging RAM prices are also biting at Qualcomm's heels, and portable console brands like Retroid are already firing metaphorical flares.

Qualcomm chips are the beating heart of many of the best retro handheld newcomers scheduled for 2026. Existing popular portables, like the Ayn Thor and Retroid Pocket 5, are also powered by Snapdragon 865 and 8 Gen 2 SoCs, so plans to "raise prices by double digits" shared by Bloomberg are an undeniable omen.

Four days on from that original report, and Retroid has already signalled that its new Nova handheld could be impacted. In an update posted to X, the portable console maker actually kicks off with some good news, announcing that the black version starts shipping tomorrow. The company further clarifies launch plans, explaining that the 16-bit, Crystal, GameCube, Ice Blue, Clear, Purple, and Watermelon models will be on a 1-2 day rotation, and a dedicated assembly line means the "current backlog should be gone within three weeks."

The last thing the retro handheld scene needs is more component hikes, as memory prices are already causing a ruckus. Ayaneo has already had to adjust pricing on its Pocket models, and its handheld gaming PCs now cost up to and beyond $4,000. Yes, the latter is the same situation even the big dogs like Valve find themselves in with hardware like the Steam Machine, but it feels like the walls are narrowing in on affordable, mobile-based options.

Even the excellently priced Super Pocket has been hit with a price increase, which is surprising given the Evercade console is armed with a mere 256MB RAM and a low-spec Cortex-A7 quad-core chipset. It's becoming evidently clear that's its not just devices using the components being gobbled by the AI industry falling victim to "RAMageddon"; it's actually just anything that uses parts made in a fab or foundry, as TSMC, Intel, Samsung, and all the other fabrication giants now have new, multi-billion-dollar priorities.

That's not to say new retro handhelds will completely come to a halt in 2026, as newbies like the Anbernic RG SP and Ayaneo GBA clone are still inbound, and the Retroid Nova is rolling out to players who pre-ordered. In the current climate, not taking prices for granted and picking up portables when you can seems to be the way to go, even if that means paying slightly more than previous years.

• More retro handhelds at Amazon
• More retro consoles at Amazon

Swing by the best retro consoles for classic remakes and emulation machines.

Everyone loves The Odyssey. Or so we thought.

Emily Wilson, one of the most prominent modern-day translators of Homer's epic poem, has slammed Christopher Nolan's movie in a new essay.

In a 4,000-word piece published in the latest edition of the London Review of Books, Wilson tore into Nolan's adaptation for a myriad reasons, including what she deemed a poor script, mischaracterization of Odysseus, and lacking anything convincing to say about The Odyssey's prevailing themes.

"In at least one interview, [Nolan] cited my version of the first line of the poem: ‘Tell me about a complicated man.’ But I would be ashamed to have written any part of this script," Wilson wrote.

In another scathing passage, Wilson fires a volley of acid-tongued arrows towards The Odyssey's message.

"Nolan’s Odyssey lacks many of the elements that make the poem great," Wilson stated. "It has nothing convincing to say about time, memory, history, war, or about the relationship between one warrior's glorious return and the lives of his family, adversaries, comrades, friends and neighbours."

"It lacks psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth. Its narrative structure is gimmicky. The writing is abysmal. None of the characters has convincing motivation for their actions or words. There are no sex scenes, and all the food looks horrible."

Fair point about the food – Circle's platter still turns the stomach. Other complaints, though, could be seen as Nolan's interpretation of the text amid its translation to the big screen. Audiences and critics alike have certainly praised its handling of the trauma of the Trojan War and its emotional journey.

It's not all bad, though. Wilson does have some praise for Robert Pattinson's performance as Antinous, declaring "he also deserves one of the Oscars that will shower down on this movie like the golden rain of Zeus." The classicist also commends Nolan for "doing his best to get the general public reading again." So, there's that.

Well, we liked it. Discover our verdict with The Odyssey review and see where it ranks on our list of best Christopher Nolan movies.

You simply will not believe this: Arc Raiders is messing with the matchmaking again. In its latest update, developer Embark Studios says it's reinforcing a previous change that received positive feedback from players, and this time, it's spelling it out loud and clear.

"The matchmaking changes follow on from earlier matchmaking improvements made on May 20, which reduced the matchmaking impact of defensive actions," Embark explains.

That May update made it clear that "defending yourself is no longer treated the same as starting a fight" in terms of your behavior tracking. Embark finally, properly pulled back the curtain on the matchmaking algorithm in that same update, explaining just how Arc Raiders uses PvP aggression to group like-minded players.

Today, the studio says it's going even further. "Following positive player feedback on those earlier adjustments, this will now be extended so that only the PvP fights players choose to initiate will impact their playstyle estimate, while defensive actions will have no influence at all on playstyle estimate," Embark explains.

"The team will continue to collect and monitor player feedback throughout the trial period. More information, including a player survey to share feedback, can be found in the patch notes here."

Every day, we inch closer to an Arc Raiders PvE mode – which is technically already available in the Chinese branch of the game.

Just last week, Embark revealed yet another change in a similar vein. The idea with that experiment was to better optimize matchmaking for playstyle and team size, meaning friendly players would be more likely to find each other, and duos would be less likely to run into trios.

"When Arc Raiders was at its peak," Embark was burning 30 terabytes of data per day tracking every single bullet fired: "We want to know who shot first."

We're just days away from the release of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but that hasn't stopped Sadie Sink's mystery character from finally being spoiled.

Sink was cast in the film way back in March 2025, and her character has been tightly under wraps ever since. Naturally, that sparked a frenzy of fan theories, with many believing Sink is playing none other than Jean Grey.

But, thanks to a red carpet interview at the Marvel Phase 6 film's premiere, we now seemingly know for sure exactly who Sink is playing. Spoilers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day follow!

When asked which character he was most excited to see, musician Steve Lacy replied: "You know what, Jean. I like Jean. She's the villain, but there's a reason to her madness, and I like her. I like her character, I like her character, I don't know why."

In fairness, this isn't strictly confirmation that Sink is playing Jean Grey – just that Jean is apparently in the movie. But, it would be a pretty weird coincidence if Jean wasn't played by Sink at this point.

It also seems to be confirmation of just who the film's mystery villain is, too.

First reactions to the film are also in from the premiere, and they're particularly glowing, saying it's like a "mini Avengers film." With Mark Ruffalo's Hulk, Jon Bernthal's Punisher, and Sink's (possible) Jean Grey all part of the line-up, that seems like a fitting comparison.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day arrives this July 29 in the UK and July 31 in the US. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows for everything else the MCU has in store.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is being called Tom Holland's best Spider-Man yet in glowing first reactions to the Marvel movie.

Collider's Perri Nemiroff called it "absolutely fantastic." She wrote on Twitter: "Far and away a favorite of the recent MCU installments. It's largely about the importance of work-life balance and community, and, OH MY, do writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers ensure those ideas hit hard. Can’t believe how emotional the film made me."

Film journalist Scott Menzel wrote: "Spider-Man: Brand New Day somehow manages to top No Way Home as my new favorite Spider-Man film and the best Marvel movie to date. The secret sauce with this one is the emotional weight of the screenplay."

Fandango's Erik Davis says the film heads in some interesting new directions, calling it "part detective story, part psychological thriller, part buddy comedy." He also has high praise for Sadie Sink's mystery role, adding: "the Sadie Sink mystery absolutely pays off. She's perfect."

"#SpidermanBrandNewDay is fantastic, no notes," adds film critic Wendy Lee Szany. "Top tier action! Love how deep the story goes into the consequences of Peter's choice (from NWH) and how it affects his life as Peter and as Spider-Man. Definitely some tearjerker moment in there. Felt like a mini Avengers film."

Variety's Jazz Tangcay was equally glowing, writing on Twitter: "Destin Daniel Cretton brings incredible energy to the #Spiderman franchise. #Brandnewday is action-packed from start to finish. That sound design is incredible. this might be Tom Holland's best outing as Spiderman to date. It's the Summer of Tom Holland, Zendaya + John Bernthal'"

Movie Web's Joseph Deckelmeier goes one step further, calling it "easily the best Spider-Man movie yet." They wrote: "Incredible action, real emotional stakes, huge surprises, and Peter & Frank steal every scene together. This is THE summer movie of the year! Tom Holland and Sadie Sink are incredible in this film!"

Check out some more below.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day arrives in UK cinemas first on July 29 before hitting US theaters on July 31. For more, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows on the way and our breakdown of how to watch the Marvel movies in order.

Epic has hired a new and seasoned VP to lead the Epic Games Store as the storefront struggles to compete with Valve's Steam.

Martin Keely, who had been with Blizzard for seven years when he left his role as SVP overseeing the Battle.net launcher, is the new Epic Games Store VP and GM, a role previously held by Steve Allison. Allison boasted about the Epic Games Store's free games program in a GamesRadar+ interview from February, but he left the company in July and took up a new position at Saber Interactive.

In a Linkedin post, Keely shares: "I'm excited to get started with the team delivering new capabilities that elevate player, creator and developer experiences. And I'm truly grateful for the opportunity to play a role in shaping an open and sustainable gaming ecosystem. To my new Epic colleagues: I look forward to connecting soon and building together."

As for his time at Blizzard, Keely says he "learned something new every day" he worked there and is "proud of how we worked to achieve growth and record results as a platform -- unlocking the greatness of gaming and bringing joy to millions of players around the world."

Keely's announcement comes as Epic struggles to chip away at Steam's not-a-monopoly on the PC games market. It's not uncommon for companies to poach talent from their competition for all sorts of reasons, although the exact details of Keely's appointment are unclear.

What this means for PC gamers is that you will very likely see some pretty significant changes to the Epic Games Store in the coming months. One thing's for sure, it'll take a lot more than Epic CEO Tim Sweeney deriding Steam's policy on AI disclosures to turn the Epic Games Store into a legitimate threat to Valve.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney says new multiplayer games flop because everyone's "already formed solid human networks in Fortnite, Call of Duty, Counter-Strike, and Apex Legends"

The Pokemon Company will begin using facial recognition at official Pokemon Card Stores in Japan in an effort to discourage scalpers.

The publisher already announced this summer that it would use standardized, but not mandatory, Japanese ID called My Number Cards to verify some transactions made through the official Japanese Pokemon TCG website. Soon, it'll be harder to buy a TCG pack than board an international flight.

The company explains its intentions to use facial recognition in a post on its Japanese website (h/t IGN) revealing the start of Pokemon Card Stores, which will be dedicated to selling Pokemon Trading Card Game packs and related merch, as well as hosting free classes to learn the ways of Pokemon TCG. All five initial stores located across Japan will, according to machine translation, be outfitted with facial recognition "to prevent crime."

The Pokemon Company says anyone elementary school age and older will have their facial data slurped up by their recognition system, but preschoolers will not, as 3-year-olds are presumably deemed low-risk. After all, everyone knows you never start cranking up the price on resold TCG packs until the ketchup-and-mayo grime of second grade starts gettng to you.

In Japan, certain new products launch under a lottery system, and store workers give everyone who lines up outside a number that lets them buy the product when it's called. So, with its new facial recognition system, The Pokemon Company is hoping it can prevent nefarious resellers by correctly allocating one number per buyer, preventing people from showing up on line multiple times, or padding the line with multiple buyers.

The company also instructs potential buyers to alert staff if they have to leave to use the bathroom. Who knows, they could be planning to stick on a fake mustache and googly-eye glasses while they're in there.

Clearly, based on the intense defenses The Pokemon Company is raising, scalping and stealing is a serious international problem in the Pokemon TCG community. Earlier this year, an unofficial store in New York was even robbed at gunpoint of $100,000 worth of merchandise.

Though, I don't know if The Pokemon Company turning its stores into a surveillance state makes me feel especially safe, either.

Pokemon dev Game Freak says its history informed Beast of Reincarnation's feeling of "becoming partners through gameplay" despite looking totally different.

Star Wars Zero Company, the upcoming strategy game from a studio of former XCOM leads, has always been billed as exactly that: a turn-based tactics game livened up by the soap operatic flair of the Star Wars universe. Still, as with XCOM, there are bound to be various RPG elements specifically in its progression and class systems, but narratively, mostly everything's going to be on rails, studio Bit Reactor has confirmed.

As spotted by PC Gamer, the studio recently hosted a Discord Q&A and answered some key questions about Star Wars Zero Company, including whether there will be branching paths and romance options. No and no was the answer, more or less.

"There aren't any romance systems or branching paths," reads the studio's response. "While we are excited about pushing the genre forward with a more cinematic approach, this is still a turn-based tactics game at its heart where adept skill and strategy are needed to overcome tense combat challenges."

The developer did specify that there will be "story moments that can alter based on who you have in your squad, but the overall story is a linear one from beginning to end." And speaking of which, that ending "will be largely the same for everyone."

Again, this isn't a massive surprise given Bit Reactor's pedigree, and as a big XCOM fan I'm actually encouraged to hear the former devs are doubling down on what they do best. After all, RPG fans already have a feast on the horizon with the Knights of the Old Republic remake, although to be fair it's been a hot minute since we've seen or heard anything about that game.

Here are the best Star Wars games to play right now.

It was looking like open-world RPG DragonSword: Awakening might not come out at all after publisher legal issues and a last-minute delay, but against pretty steep odds, it's landed on Steam to strong early responses, sitting at 90% positive after more than 4,600 reviews since its July 22 debut.

DragonSword: Awakening has drawn heavy comparisons to Genshin Impact for its look, feel, and former gacha DNA, but as an RPG that purposefully avoided gacha baggage in favor of a normal, premium pricing model, it might be closer to something like Granblue Fantasy: Relink. Here we have an action RPG that demonstrates how much more fun gacha games would be if they weren't gacha games.

After a complicated development process that, as Automaton reports, saw former publisher Webzen, accused of failing to fulfill its own obligations, sue developer Hound13 over a contract dispute, the devs had some fires to put out. An FAQ posted on Steam in April reveals the discussions orbiting the game. "Is it a gacha game?" it reads. Nope! "Isn't this an MMORPG?" Also no: "It is a single-player RPG focused on story and exploration in an open world." (Some of the confusion seems to have come from perceived connections to Dragon Nest, an old MMO.)

Things were shaky right up until launch. On July 22, Hound13 producer JYJ penned an apologetic Steam post announcing an 11th-hour delay. "The app review currently in progress on Steam has not yet been completed, and we are unable to release the game at the scheduled time," they wrote. "In our eagerness to bring the game to you as soon as possible, we did not sufficiently account for Steam's review timeline — and as a result, we have failed to keep our promise to you."

But here we are. The game is real, out, and, according to thousands of people on Steam, pretty darn good. SteamDB charts reveal a rare trend. DragonSword: Awakening is not only trending in genre feeds on Steam despite any sort of discount, it's also hitting new concurrent player highs every day. It surely helps that the game is only $30 at full price and, judging from user reports and the system requirements, will run reasonably well on most machines.

Flashes of Crimson Desert are seen in DragonSword: Awakening's 'more is more' approach to open-world game design. 19 playable heroes! Mounts! Cooking and costumes and dungeons and flying and underwater temples! A little voice in my mind is slightly put off by the obviousness – what I might snootily call the loud, high-contrast, Unreal Engine 5-dipped inelegance – of DragonSword: Awakening, but I react to character-heavy action RPGs roughly the way that cats react to autofeeder alarms, and this one does look mighty fun in motion.

"Everything you wished Genshin was, but better!" writes Steam reviewer AvionLight.

"More games should go from the gambling/gacha model back to this," agrees xame.

"This game is like a fusion of Genshin Impact and Dragon's Dogma and its so damn good. 30 bucks is a steal for this game," reckons King Goyim, with 47 hours logged already.

"I've been begging for a non-gacha gacha game for years now, I am morally obligated to buy this game and say something nice about it," adds iliveinabag, who hopefully didn't wind up living in a bag due to excessive gacha spending.

Dutifully following Crimson Desert's footsteps, DragonSword: Awakening even brought its own gen AI disclosure to the table. Hound13 says, "Generative AI was not used to create any in-game content resources. AI was utilized solely for the translation of certain in-game dialogue and external content, such as our Steam page and community posts."

An animator at Ghost of Yotei studio Sucker Punch just released his own action RPG on Steam, and he can't believe its success: "36,000 COPIES SOLD IN 24 HOURS."

Ryan Reynolds shocked fans during San Diego Comic-Con 2026 when he revealed during the Marvel Studios panel that he had been walking around the convention in a grey-and-blue Deadpool costume... and that he wasn't just a cosplayer with an extra-impressive suit.

As it turns out, Reynolds had been taking photos with fans all day ahead of the panel... and no one knew. "The fans got Deadpool off the ground so many years ago," Reynolds wrote on Twitter alongside a video montage of him meeting fans. "Yesterday, 10 years after the first film and exactly 2 years after Deadpool & Wolverine, I felt so lucky to be on the #SDCC floor with everyone whose unapologetic devotion brings so much joy to this world." You can check out the video below.

"No handlers, no security, no ropes. WHAT A GIFT," he continued. "Thanks to everyone I met, who aren’t only cosplaying but world-building. And also… actual Sergeant Slaughter!"

At the panel itself, Reynolds showed up in costume to ask: "Why was Thor crying?" This, of course, is in reference to the weird Deadpool and Wolverine scene in the TVA that shows Thor crying on a screen. Is it from a future Avengers movie? We have no idea. Neither did any of the Avengers on stage at the panel, including Paul Rudd, who replied, "He's a Wrexham fan?"

There was no word as to whether Deadpool would be in Avengers: Doomsday, nor did we get an update on a potential Deadpool 4. Though, maybe Thor was crying because he didn't get a photo with undercover Ryan Reynolds at San Diego Comic-Con.

Deadpool 4 has not yet been officially announced. Avengers: Doomsday releases in theaters on December 18. Look ahead with our list of upcoming Marvel movies and shows.

Original Baldur's Gate programmer and former Dragon Age producer at BioWare Mark Darrah has a worthwhile plan for bringing the hypothetical Baldur's Gate 4 into reality. All you need to do is convince 2023's Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian to hand over the keys to its proprietary Divinity Engine.

Darrah tells FRVR in a new interview that he imagines Baldur's Gate 4 as "an oversized expansion pack for Baldur's Gate 3," and he recommends someone "get Larian to agree to license out the Divinity Engine." But that seems unlikely to happen soon.

Larian CEO Swen Vincke wants nothing to do with Baldur's Gate right now. Or, really, ever. He said definitively in 2024, "We're not going to make new expansions which everybody is expecting. We're not going to make Baldur's Gate 4 which everybody is expecting us to do. We're going to move on."

So, Dungeons & Dragons IP parent company Hasbro started steering, asking former BioWare lead James Ohlen to create Baldur's Gate 4. While initially horrified at the prospect, Ohlen wondered if Hasbro could get Larian to license out its recent Divinity Engine 4.0, which Baldur's Gate 3 uses, but he became certain he wouldn't know what to do with it, anyway.

Ohlen said, "Swen's always going to be the master of building those kinds of things. It's really hard to take him off that throne."

Even if a confident knave wanted to knock Vincke off his pedestal, Larian has seemingly grown quite protective of its Divinity Engine. Originally, Larian created the Divinity Engine while working on Divinity: Original Sin in 2014, and the developer soon released a toolkit to the people and even made official tutorials for modders on how to use it. The same is not true for 4.0, which Larian is holding close, though plenty of Baldur's Gate 3 fans wish it wasn't.

Darrah recognizes one possibility: "Someone new comes along and they do not understand that scaffolding, they do not have many, many, many, many years building this kind of RPG, likely. I mean, maybe bring on Owlcat or someone like that… but you're going to get that same kind of thing."

But the Dragon Age vet isn't completely deterred. He still believes in the idea of a Baldur's Gate 3 expansion. To Hasbro, he says, "If you really want to make Baldur’s Gate 4 that's actually probably the way to go."

"The alternative," he continues, "is you go and say, 'Okay, we're going to call it Baldur's Gate 4. We're going to buy everyone asbestos pantsuits and we're going to just put the spurs to it and go way out here and we're going to do something really different."

The other alternative, I think, is that Baldur's Gate 4 won't exist for a long, long time.

"Of course" Baldur's Gate 4 is going to happen, Wizards of the Coast boss says, but that's not the D&D game Star Wars Jedi and God of War 3's director is working on.

Xbox is making it easier for you to transfer your digital console library over to PC, at least when it comes to a select few Ubisoft titles.

In an official Xbox Wire news release, a total of 13 Ubisoft games are revealed to be part of a new "Xbox Console-to-PC Offer" program giving players the opportunity to play their Xbox games on PC "at no additional cost." Basically, it all works via the Ubisoft Connect app, which you can install on your PC and access the following games for free if you already own them on Xbox:

• Assassin’s Creed Mirage
• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
• Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
• Far Cry 6
• Immortals Fenyx Rising
• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
• Riders Republic
• Skull and Bones
• The Crew 2
• The Crew Motorfest
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
• Watch Dogs Legion

Thankfully, it doesn't seem like there's a whole lot of fine print here. Xbox says that starting today, if you buy any of the above games digitally, you'll immediately get both the Xbox and PC versions via Ubisoft Connect. Meanwhile, if you already own any of them, a "progressive rollout" will begin doling out PC versions starting on August 4.

In case you were wondering, as I was, the deal doesn't work the other way around, as Xbox says "you can only claim a free PC version" with this offer. Otherwise, "for most games," the edition of the game and any DLC you own will transfer right over to the PC version alongside any progress you've made so long as the game supports cross-progression.

This initiative is part of a newly expanded "partnership" between Xbox and Ubisoft that'll add "a broad selection" of digital games with premium editions to the Xbox app on PC. The full list hasn't been revealed, but some of the highlights include Assassin's Creed Shadows, Star Wars Outlaws, Rainbow Six Siege, and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.

Of course, the biggest caveat to all of this is something of an elephant in the room right now, as physical games don't appear to be included here. That's not surprising in the slightest given the nature of digital vs. physical entitlements, but it is yet another grain of salt in the wound for disc fans.

Xbox is down, just days after PlayStation outage, and it affects both digital and "disc-based" games

Showrunner Silka Luisa says Amazon's Prime Video show Blade Runner 2099 is only getting one eight-episode season because the upcoming limited series tells "a complete story."

"It was always considered as a limited series," Luisa told Collider. "Part of making the transition from film to TV is a really big jump for something that’s as cinematic as Blade Runner, and so, in that sense, it was really important to us that we told a story that, in a way, is like a movie in the sense that there's a beginning, there's a middle, and there’s an end. So we went into it with Alcon, with all of our producing partners, knowing we really want to tell a complete story. Eight episodes... I mean, eight's my lucky number, that’s the number I would have picked, but it felt like the right amount for the story we were planning on telling."

The new series takes place 50 years after Blade Runner 2049, and it's a pretty bleak future. There's a replicant uprising, the war has happened, and the humans have lost. "The replicants are now the power brokers of the city. And humans are the second-class citizens," Luisa explained. The tagline is appropriately dystopian: "Welcome to a future you no longer control." Hunter Schafer stars as a human named Cora who encounters Olwen (Michelle Yeoh), a replicant at the end of her life.

And if you're wondering how involved Ridley Scott is with the show... let's just say the answer is very. Luisa let slip during San Diego Comic-Con that she got to sit down with Scott one-on-one to work on the show, and that he "shepherded" her during the process. This is exciting, especially considering the fact that he's expressed regret in not directing Blade Runner 2049.

Blade Runner 2099 is set to hit Prime Video on November 25, 2026. In the meantime, check out our guide to the most exciting upcoming TV shows to fill out your watchlist.

A new promotion from Sony spotlighting its LX3 vinyl record turntable sparked renewed backlash from PlayStation fans frustrated and disappointed with the company's move to end physical media on the games side.

In January 2028, Sony will end support and manufacturing for physical copies for all new PlayStation games. Yet the love of physical media is alive and well in a new post from the company, which, like everything else Sony posts right now, has become a lightning rod for criticism.

"Rediscover the warmth, detail, and ritual of vinyl with the LX3 Turntable," Sony implores. "Drop the needle, press play, and enjoy music the way it was meant to be heard."

The responses to the post are about what you'd expect. Game preservation group Does It Play? writes, "Apparently, physical media is worth supporting even if it is a small niche. PS games are much bigger than vinyl. Yet for some reason, they feel the need to kill gaming culture for profit. Shame!"

"If you can do physical for music, you can do it for games," replies another user.

"So physical media is cool again... as long as it isn't game discs?" says a third.

Noted PlayStation and FromSoftware sleuth Lance McDonald sums it up with his reply: "Ahahahahahhaahahhaahahahhaahhahahaahhahaha."

The irony is that the mounting support for vinyl records and waning support for physical games are largely driven by similar factors but to different ends, even though a non-trivial number of consumers in both spaces love physical media.

A larger and larger percentage of game sales are digital following overwhelming audience migration, and Sony stands to make a lot more money per sale off digital copies. Ending physical PlayStation games will also drive more users to its in-house store, furthering its control over the sales pipeline.

The market for vinyl records, meanwhile, has shown impressive recovery and growth in the past five years or so, and music companies and artists love to sell their stuff physically because a single record sale is worth about a zillion plays on digital services like Spotify.

The mediums are distinct and their markets are wrestling with different forces, but there's something to be said for just how music, so thoroughly digitally commodified, got into the position that actual record sales are now treated as an oasis.

Pertinently, vinyl records are still supported by a relatively small but enthusiastic market that's willing to pay for something refreshingly tangible – exactly the sort of audience that, many experts have argued, physical games could sustain if supported. As someone who owns a lot of video game vinyl, specifically, I'm comfortably in this camp.

But demonstrably, Sony doesn't see that audience as relevant enough to outweigh the potential gains of a digital-only future, which absolutely, positively will not lead to enormous knock-on effects or access issues.

Ubisoft CEO says ditching physical games "helped" PC gaming, and PlayStation ending discs won't "disturb" the industry much anyway.

I've been trying to perfect my PS2 setup for years now, but there's been one modern upscaler symptom haunting my favorite 2000s outings. While Sony's iconic sequel system looks perfectly fine on an old CRT TV, most of the console's releases rely on interlaced graphics that don't play nice with new screens. The result is jittery visuals that just look plain weird compared to 20 years ago, and solutions used to be far too pricey.

For a while now, I've had an OSSC at the heart of my retro console setup. FYI, that stands for Open Source Scan Converter, and I fully believe it's one of the top upscalers out there that comes with minimal caveats, and that's in part because it's a "line doubler" that multiplies horizontal pixel rows to ramp up resolutions.

That approach introduces practically no lag since it's processing visuals line by line, not unlike a CRT. Unfortunately, my relationship with the OSSC has its demons, as its Bob deinterlacing techniques fail to solve my flickery woes. The good news is that I've found a side upscaler that is specifically great for PS2 games, even if I won't be leaving the OSSC for it.

The other upscaler in my current affair is none other than the GBS Control (GBS-C for short), an open-source HDMI converter that started life as a DIY kit. It's effectively another doohickey that will allow you to connect retro consoles to modern TVs or monitors, and it boasts specific abilities that give it an edge when dealing with pesky interlaced graphics.

Interlacing is a tricksy workaround that's been used since the dawn of television sets, and it was originally developed to combat broadcast bandwidth. The technique essentially splits a frame into odd and even fields, then displays both rapidly on screen.

If you caught my deep dive on retro console scanlines, the same idea of lines appearing on screen so fast that your eye sees a completed frame applies, but rather than drawing each horizontal row progressively, interlacing will technically scan odd fields then even to make a perceivable full frame.

I should be clear that some PS2 games are compatible with progressive scan, but there are reasons why the console didn't default to 480p. The biggest is that most consumer CRT TVs in the early 2000s tapped out at 240p or 480i (576i in PAL regions like the UK and Australia), so sticking with interlaced visuals helped avoid compatibility issues. It also helped save on memory, which in turn enabled developers to work with enhanced textures and high-detail assets.

CRT TVs weren't immune to the intrinsic flicker on interlaced graphics, but it was less notable on a tube screen. That's largely thanks to the way phosphors gradually fade on screen, which helped soften the rapid interlacing of horizontal rows in conjunction with the display's shadow mask/apperture grille layer and pixel bleeding. If you take those same visuals and let deinterlacing convert them into solid frames, though, the jitter is extremely visible.

The main issue with standard deinterlacing techniques today is that it doesn't remedy the previous masked symptoms. While upscalers like the OSSC run circles around native TV solutions by eliminating lag, blurriness, and ghosting tied to using algorithms that weave horizontal lines together, "bob" deinterlacing emphasises the way interlacing inherently works.

To actually make a single frame, Bob takes even horizontal pixels and uses them to fill the odd interlaced lines and vice versa. That results in a pixel shift effect with every frame that switches pixel positions, leading to a repeated bobbing effect tied to the respective refresh rate. Simply put, PS2 games running at 60Hz will switch back and forth from odd and even rows 60 times a second, and that's the flicker you'll see on things like text and background textures.

Enter motion-adaptive deinterlacing, a technique that can actively detect if pixels are changing. It will still use the old weave approach with odd and even lines with no movement, while applying Bob algorithms to anything with movement. It's a "best of both worlds" solution that ditches the jitter while embracing the sharpness, low latency, and smoothness of Bob for when fast-paced movement is most likely to cause artifacts.

Here lies the GBS-C's specific PS2 superpower, as unlike the OSSC, it can apply motion-adaptive techniques to interlaced signals. Keep in mind I've been using the latter line doubler with gaming monitors and TVs for years now, so I'm well used to the flicker of Bob deinterlacing, especially when static menus and background textures are present. Therefore, when I clapped my eyes on the GBS-C's algorithms in action, I was pretty blown away.

I had almost gotten used to the janky jitter when playing some of my go-to PS2 romps, and I'll admit that the symptoms are sometimes subtle. For instance, in Silent Hill 2, the chaotic jiggle largely applies to background elements, like brick wall textures and static objects that calm down when James is running around. Seeing the lines on the pavement or building masonry shake around does hamper efforts to soak in the survival horror's eerie atmosphere, though, and it's easy to spot the difference with motion adaptive interlacing applied.

Having access to motion adaptive upscaling is absolutely a sole reason to grab a GBS-C, especially if your eyeballs have already wrestled with more aggressive PS2 examples like Dead or Alive 2. However, it also happens to be an impressive upscaler in its own right, offering up a wide array of settings you can control via built-in screen or a more expansive Wi-Fi menu.

The latter was a bit of a pain to get up and running, as you have to use the GBS-C as a hotspot then point it towards your home connection. Once you've got that sorted, however, you'll have access to vital settings like motion adaptive upscaling, resolution presets up to 1080p, and plenty of picture control dials. There's even a pretty in-depth dev mode that provides access to even more bells and whistles if you're really nerdy about retro console outputs.

At the same time, if my time using the GBS-C has taught me anything so far, it's that it lacks the same visual punch as the OSSC. Line doubling provides far sharper results than a "traditional" frame buffer device, as multiplying raw pixel rows simply looks better than the softer Bilinear Scaling used by the GBS-C.

I'm planning to experiment with using both the OSSC and GBS-C in conjunction, as it could be the perfect solution for my PS2 setup specifically. I'm wary that picking up two upscalers isn't remotely cost-effective, though, so if you want sharp line doubling and motion adaptive deinterlacing, it might be worth looking at the pricier OSSC Pro.

What I will say is that the results provided by all these upscalers will fall short compared to the RetroTINK-5X Pro or RetroTINK-4K. Those are two enthusiast-grade options with FPGA chips that will run rings around the GBS-C's motion adaptive upscaling with zero lag and ridiculously sharp visuals. The catch is that they cost between $300 and $750, which will absolutely be out of bounds for a lot of retro enjoyers.

For those of you on a budget, I'd say the GBS-C will provide you with a superior PS2 experience compared to using your TV's native abilities or a cheap upscaler. Just keep in mind that, just like the base OSSC, this gadget exclusively deals in RGB signals via SCART, component, or VGA, so you'll need to use the right cables or convert composite-only consoles like the NES.

Check out the best retro controllers for authentic gamepads with modern perks.

Zach Cregger says star Austin Abrams almost died during the making of Resident Evil... and that the moment was captured on camera.

"So there’s a scene in this movie…it’s in the trailer," Cregger told Dread Central. "He’s [Austin] running down the street, and there’s zombies on the roof of the buildings on either side, and they’re all leaping at him. And so we had to design this thing where he’s just running with bodies falling and detonating all around him. I knew I didn’t want to do it with VFX. So I was like, how do we do this?"

"All these explosions are real, and the way to do it is, you get a bunch of cranes, and you have all these body-sized blood bags, and you rehearse the shit out of how they’re going to fall, and how fast he’s going to run, and then you just shoot it," Cregger explained. "So, he’s running, and they’re releasing these bags that are falling and hitting all around and exploding. One triggered too early, and it missed him by inches. And these things are all like one hundred and fifty pounds, and would have killed him if he had been one step to the right. He would have died. And it’s in the movie. So it’s fucking worth it. I was pretty stoked."

Cregger also reportedly specified that he was happy that Abrams was safe and uninjured, though he did receive minor injuries throughout the course of filming. This is unfortunately par for the course for a physical zombie movie with action of this caliber. Cregger directs from a screenplay he penned with Shay Hatten. Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, and Paul Walter Hauser also star.

Abrams, who starred in HBO's Euphoria and Cregger's Weapons, plays Bryan, a medical courier who is in the process of making a delivery to Raccoon City General Hospital when an outbreak forces him to fight for his life. A new scene was shown behind closed doors at San Diego Comic-Con that saw Bryan pull over to the site of a wrecked cop car, only to engage in combat with a terrifying, fast-moving zombie woman.

Resident Evil hits theaters on September 18. For more, check out our guide to upcoming horror movies.

Beast of Reincarnation's director Kota Furushima has said that Game Freak didn't have a certain art style in mind when creating the game. The team took on a new challenge with the game's photo realistic look, and are aware that it doesn't look like a typical Game Freak game.

In an interview with DenFamiNicoGamer that's been translated by GamesRadar+, Furushima outlines why he chose a more realistic style compared to the company's previous cartoony aesthetic. "I think the biggest thing for us is that it's a new challenge for Game Freak," he says. "When you first look at the visuals, I think it's the sort of game where it's difficult to tell the country it's made in. So I think a major point was that it's 'made by Game Freak.'"

Aside from the Pokémon franchise, which the company is most famous for, Game Freak has worked on a number of games with a simpler, more colorful look, such as Drill Dozer, Tembo the Badass Elephant, and Little Town Hero. Furushima knows that Beast of Reincarnation has a very different art style to any of the games in the studio's library, but decided that the game's core concepts linked it more strongly to Game Freak than a childlike look would.

"The first thing I thought was 'this doesn't really fit our vibe does it?'", he chuckles. "'This isn't a photorealistic graphics kind of studio.' That being said, we're not particular about specific styles. In terms of the concept, I think the major themes are not dissimilar to what Game Freak has worked on before.

"When I was building the prototype I began to realize that photorealism would be the best fit for what I'm trying to express here," he says.

Pokemon dev Game Freak says its history informed Beast of Reincarnation's feeling of "becoming partners through gameplay" despite looking totally different

Nintendo fans have created a mod for a GameCube classic, with Better Super Mario Sunshine Online introducing 10-player multiplayer to Mario's most divisive 3D platformer.

There's two camps when it comes to Nintendo's 2002 platformer Super Mario Sunshine. There are those who really like it, and then there are cowards. Yes, it's a weird, somewhat flawed game sandwiched between two genre-defining masterpieces in the 3D Mario chronology, and yes it was rushed and a little glitchy, but beneath that paint covered exterior is a platformer with near-unmatched vibes, music, and – crucially for a platformer – movement.

Thankfully, there are others who are equally passionate about Mario's worst-selling 3D platformer (well, if you don't count the Super Mario 3D All Stars sales), as the modding community for the game is fairly active. The latest gargantuan mod however, brings the game one of the most popular mods from Super Mario 64's massive repertoire, as Better Super Mario Sunshine Online implements online play into the GameCube title.

The mod introduces 10-player co-op to the game, allowing you to collect each of the game's 120 Shine Sprites together. The mod syncs progress across all players modes too, to make the hunt for blue coins a team effort instead of the worst part of the game. On top of that, there's also a 10-player hide and seek mode for those who want something to compete in while taking advantage of the incredible movement tech in Super Mario Sunshine.

This isn't even just a simple mod that has multiple Marios on one screen, as the mod features "15 fully custom characters" with classic Mario legends like Wario, Luigi, Waluigi, and Shadow the Hedgehog, with unique custom animations for some of them. Obviously, you'll need to find at least one fellow Mario Sunshine apologist to play with, but let's be real, if none of your friends are willing to indulge your platforming fantasy, were they ever really your friends to begin with?

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is hiding an unused "joyful zone" area where Mario can't stop somersaulting, and he's absolutely thrilled about it

There aren't any explosive grenades in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, but a handy exploit lets you make some on the fly. Players have discovered a way to turn smoke bombs into impromptu fiery weapons to handle multiple enemies – but you really need to be careful when using it.

On Twitter, Assassin's Creed fan account Zephryss posted a clip of how it works. First, you throw the smoke bomb, and let it start filling the area. Then, using your pistol, shoot a bullet right at where it landed, and you'll get a nice little explosion. "Here's an insane secret trick," they say.

They include footage of them doing it a couple of times, across different areas and situations, to demonstrate how repeatable it is. In one of them, several enemies are approaching, and this tool of slight destruction takes a chunk of their health and bounces them back.

It's a fine addition to the toolkit of any assassin. Not very graceful, mind, but sometimes you need to just go for broke and do whatever you can to get out alive. That last part can be tricky, since many people are figuring this alternate way of using smoke bombs the hard way.

"THIS. THIS IS HOW I KEEP BLOWING MYSELF UP??" says one player in response to the clip from Zephryss. "I learned this the hard way when trying to get the trophy of kicking a [berserk] enemy in smoke off a ship," another adds. "Would accidentally pull out pistols and wonder wtf happened."

Now that word is getting around, there's a chance Ubisoft could patch this out if it's not intentional. I hope that doesn't happen, because this is definitely handier than it is a hurdle. But a primer on how to do it safely would help, lest more people wind up blowing Edward's face off completely by accident.

If you're yet to play it yourself, you can read our Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced review to see how it compares to the best Assassin's Creed games.

A solo modder has taken matters into their own hands and put out a new Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth mod aiming to tackle the game's long-standing lighting issues – and the results are incredible, judging by side-by-side comparisons.

Modder David 'dddd5' Matos put out the Shader Injector mod for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth late last month (and recently updated it with a couple fixes). Since then, it's only gained more and more traction with fans.

"Framework allowing injection of modified shaders into the rendering API," the modder explains on NexusMods. "Comes with modified game shaders that improve lighting/shadow quality of the game significantly."

The tech experts at Digital Foundry also gave the mod a look and concluded the game's wonky lighting is much better across the board. Some areas, such as the glowing Gold Saucer, are "totally transformed with much better correspondence between the scene and its reflection," according to the outlet. Several comparison shots show dramatic differences between the modded and unmodded versions of the game, too.

For context, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a mostly handsome game that's still plagued with a few odd lighting issues. Many light sources don't cast shadows at all, in-game foliage often lacks shadows, some shadows are really low quality, and lighting on character faces generally looks pretty weird in outside environments.

Default Shader and Shader Injector 2.1.0 Comparison from r/FFVIIRemake

"The overexposure in this game was f****** unbearable," one player writes over on Reddit.

"It's so impressive how much better the lighting looks with this mod in most cases," another says. "Even the performance version which only costs a few frames."

The next instalment in the series, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, comes out sometime next year. Here's hoping it launches in tip top shape.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director says "open-world fatigue" is real, and since "the world is even bigger than it was in Rebirth," Square Enix specially focused on guiding players.

Qualcomm, the manufacturer behind the processing chips inside devices sold by Samsung, Meta, Pico, Xiaomi, OnePlus and a slew of Windows Laptops and Android wearables, has reportedly announced to its partners that it can no longer absorb the rising cost of manufacturing computing parts in 2026. As such, it'll be issuing higher prices, and it could throw a spanner in the works of the imminent Steam Frame VR headset.

The Steam Frame is confirmed to use a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, which is built on ARM architecture. This is a step up from the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chip used inside the Meta Quest 3 headsets and the Pico 4 Ultra, which could also come under fire as a result of these price hikes.

The rising costs are to be implemented as soon as September 1st, and are said to be going up by "double digits". We still don't have a confirmed release date for the Steam Frame, but Valve did say it'd arrive at some point this Summer. Judging by shipping manifests and intensifying signposting for the new headset on the Steam storefront, it could hit the shelves any week now.

Let us not forget that the Steam Frame's initial launch was meant to be "early 2026", but Valve has already cited rising manufacturing costs and the ongoing RAM shortages as a reason for its delay until now.

Those very same RAM issues are the reason Qualcomm's also feeling the squeeze. With industry-wide semiconductor and memory supply chain issues, many of Qualcomm's partners have steadily upped their prices, to the point where the Snapdragon maker now needs to do the same.

This could impact end-costs for consumers, which it already has in some instances. Meta upped the prices of its Meta Quest 3 headsets in 2026, but there are so many mobile consumer electronics brands in Qualcomm's partnership that this could now trickle down to. It would be a real blow to Meta to have to raise the prices of the Quest 3 devices again, but it could have bigger, unreported consequences for the launch price of the Steam Frame.

If Valve had previously settled on an unannounced price tag for its new VR hardware, and its first batch is already manufactured and ready to ship from warehouses, it's going to become a PR game. Does Valve shoot with the cost it was already hypothetically decided on, or does it readjust now that one of its most expensive manufacturing components is about to steal more of its profits? Likely, it'll be the latter.

Let's be honest, it was already likely that the Steam Frame's price tag was going to spark outrage amongst gamers. The Steam Controller's $100 actually isn't that bad relative to some of the official PS5 and Xbox Series X pro controllers, but it was touted as too pricey by the public when it was properly revealed. The Steam Machine was met with a similar reaction too based on the equivalent cost of a desktop gaming PC. So, in Valve's eyes, it'll probably be a case of raising the cost of the Steam Frame a little further than it had planned - it's not as though we'll ever know.

That said, it's worth noting that at least for the first few batches of Steam Frames, Valve will have already cut a deal and secured pricing for the parts used, so it could well be that we see a price rise at some point in the future depending on how much Valve has prepped for the future.

It doesn't seem like the high costs of the Controller or Machine have impacted sales, as both are still in and out of stock due to demand.

Qualcomm announced its plans on Friday last week, as was reported by Bloomberg. According to the outlet, a letter was sent to customers explaining that Qualcomm had sought alternative components from new suppliers, but to no avail. The letter doesn't seem to be designed as a publicly facing message, but the company is due to report third-quarter financial results on July 29, so we may hear more official word soon.

Looking to upgrade your rig before Steam Frame arrives? Take a look at the best gaming PCs, the best graphics cards, and the best RAM for gaming.

The devs behind cartoony stealth-'em-up Meccha Chameleon have had to do some serious patching on the game after a couple of custom maps reportedly allowed malware to spread. According to the team, the vulnerabilities have been rectified, including hacking in the official Discord server.

Over the weekend, a player in the community known as Feint published a blog outlining how Laser Tag Neon, a Steam Workshop map in Meccha Chameleon, was allegedly a "malware dropper." The piece was later updated, claiming that Chroma Grid Arena was plagued by the same problems.

"A couple of my friends reported seeing a command prompt window briefly appear while Steam was downloading a custom workshop map," they write on the discovery. "The map was being downloaded through the game's in-game lobby and, once the download completed it immediately began loading for the match."

They add, then, that after looking through the map's files, they realized "it appears to be a malware dropper, despite having passed workshop review." They then go on to list how to spot problems like this, and how the malware works, to help players protect themselves.

The blog has since been updated to note developer lemorion_1224's fixes, which include removing these maps at present. A tweet from the dev says the malware's been disabled after the latest round of patching.

However, another problem emerged when it looked like someone had taken control of the Meccha Chameleon Discord server. "This is literally what your discord looks like right now," someone says in replies, with a screenshot of the server reduced to two channels.

Regular programming has resumed on the server, lemorion_1224 confirming on Twitter a bad actor managed to get into the Discord owner's account. All the admins were locked out at one stage, according to a machine translation of the studio's tweets, but all is well now. I've since joined and can confirm it seems like business as usual.

An update on Steam reiterates this, stating the "malicious mod map issue" is now remedied, and "the game itself is 100% SAFE and virus-free." Another post on Steam adds referring to the Discord situation: "All the hackers have been banned."

Although the fires have been put out, much like in the game itself, treat everything with some caution. There could be repeat incidents, and it may be harder to fix the next time around.

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

Marvel boss Kevin Feige has opened up on why there's a gap of Marvel movies between the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars.

At Marvel's Hall H panel at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, a Ghost Rider movie starring Ryan Gosling and Black Panther 3 starring David Jonsson were both announced – but neither will arrive until 2028, leaving a big movie gap between Doomsday and Secret Wars.

"A lot of it is a strategy we've talked about for a while, of focusing on quality," Feige told Empire magazine after the panel. "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.

"And Secret Wars, in particular for Empire readers, who know the comics, is a setup in and of itself to the future, to what's next," he added. "So really, it was landing those two movies and setting up 2028, of which we've revealed two of them so far, Ghost Rider and Panther 3."

Doomsday arrives this December 18, while Secret Wars lands on December 17, 2027. That's a long stretch of time without a Marvel movie. However, there will be at least one show: Daredevil: Born Again season 3 arrives in March 2027.

As for Ghost Rider, that film will be directed by Shawn Levy. Ryan Coogler returns to direct Black Panther 3. Jonsson will play T'Challa's son, also named T'Challa, who was introduced in the Wakanda Forever post-credits scene.

"In this next film, he grows up, comes of age, and we had to find an incredible actor," Coogler shared.

Next up for Marvel is Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which arrives this July 29 in the UK and July 31 in the US. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows for everything else that's in store.

The tradition of playing FromSoftware games in ridiculous circumstances continues, with streamer Skumnut now beating Maliketh, the Black Blade boss in Elden Ring without so much as a piece of armor on his body. He just had his fists, a bit of willpower, and a whole lot of determination.

If you're familiar with the Elden Ring community, you probably won't be shocked to hear this is coming from Skumnut, the streamer and YouTuber best known for doing wacky challenges in the fantasy action-RPG. His current expedition is the "Elden Ring Nothing run," wherein he's attempting to beat the whole game with, he says on Twitter, "No shields. No armor. No talismans. No buffs. No spells. No physick. No torrent. No consumables. No equipment at ALL."

Simple, straightforward. No problem. His latest hurdle is the hulking mass known as Maliketh, the kind of battle that makes you feel daunted even if you're well-equipped. Skum's in this fight with bright green hair, something to cover his character's nether regions, and moxie.

And it's hilarious to watch. The clip he posted on Twitter is a strong sample of how the encounter went overall: a lot of dodging, rolling, and running around while Skumnut occasionally takes potshots to whittle down the beast's health.

To call it a marathon feels like an understatement. It's absolutely absurd, but yet, it's undeniable, Skumnut gets results eventually.

"It only gets worse, boys," he says to his audience.

"Technically there's only two real bosses left," he adds. "So although it's going to get worse, it's almost over." This battle with Maliketh took him three hours, and only two deaths. Will the next opponent take more? We'll find out soon enough.

Elden Ring and Dark Souls inspired Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 director's approach to the RPG's story – "I didn't want to spoon-feed the player"

Hideo Kojima is no stranger to a cameo or two, having appeared in everything from the Japanese dub of Zootopia 2 to the streets of Night City in Cyberpunk 2077. And that's without mentioning the several times he's broken the fourth wall by appearing in one of his own titles.

But good luck trying to recognize the Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding developer in his latest on-screen outing.

Kojima turned up in the latest episode of Vivant, a Japanese crime drama, as the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency.

As you can see below, however, Kojima – sans glasses and beard – isn't exactly noticeable at first glance.

Explaining why he looks so different, Kojima took to Twitter to explain that CGI was used to tweak his appearance, mostly because he looked too young for such a senior role (despite being 62 years old), as well as the ongoing stigma around members of authority having facial hair in Japanese society.

Kojima wrote, "I took off my glasses, slicked my hair back, put on the costume, and gave it a shot, but as the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency, it was deemed 'too young' and 'no precedent for a [beard],' so it was adjusted with CG."

Away from lighting up the screen, Kojima – one year on from the release of Death Stranding 2 – is hard at work at multiple new games.

The upcoming Hideo Kojima games include O.D., which stars Sophia Lillis and Hunter Schafer, and PS5 title Physint.

For more, check out the new TV shows on the way, as well as all the upcoming PS5 games currently in the works.

Final Fantasy 14 is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 next month, and now that its file size has been confirmed… I hope you didn't want to have a bunch of games installed on your console.

Thanks to a listing on the US version of the Nintendo eShop, we've learned that the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy 14 will come in a hefty 117.2GB file size on Nintendo Switch 2. For those keeping score, that comes at just under half of the Switch 2's entire 256GB storage. That's half of your Switch 2 space for Final Fantasy 14.

So not only is Final Fantasy 14 the biggest single game file available on Nintendo Switch 2 so far, it also beats out the previous record holder for the franchise – 91.8GB Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth – by over 25GB. Square Enix has been desperate to hold the title it seems, since, on top of that, the single biggest eShop game listing to date is Kingdom Hearts Collection, which clocks in at an estimated 131GB… but that includes three games.

Of course, Final Fantasy 14 being so big makes total sense. Aside from it having one of the biggest MMO base games, Final Fantasy 14 is currently five major expansions deep with Heavensward, Stormblood, Shadowbringers, Endwalker, and Dawntrail, and it's only going to get bigger once Evercold releases in January 2027. So even if you're only picking up the base game and not the complete edition of Final Fantasy 14, you will have to install all of that data, too.

Final Fantasy 14's Yoshi-P doesn't quite get the community hype around Chort, the chunky boss who quickly became an online icon: "Just why?"

Square Enix plans to reveal the next Final Fantasy 14 DPS job in a few months from now, and some fresh clues already have fans fawning over the possibility of playing as a bird-loving Falconer-type when the game's Evercold expansion drops.

This past weekend, Final Fantasy 14 composer and sound designer Masayoshi Soken took to the Fan Fest stage in Berlin to tease fans with two audio snippets related to the unannounced second job coming in next year's Evercold expansion, alongside the Bastion.

The first snippet blasted clinging and clanging noises at the audience, while the second sounded like a bird screeching and clawing at something. You can try to decipher the clues for yourself in the clip below.

New ranged dps teased by Soken at Berlin fanfest from r/ffxiv

"These are sound effects from the new DPS job we're going to announce at the JP Fan Fest," it's revealed via a translator. The Japanese leg of Fan Fest is set to begin on October 31, 2026, so we won't need to wait too much longer to find out what the team's been cooking.

Over on Reddit, theorists are overwhelmingly in agreement that all clues are pointing to a Falconer job or something adjacent to that, at least (Hunter, Ranger, Beastmaster, etc.) "Falconer is the ranged DPS we saw in the trailer. Bet," one fan writes.

Evercold's extended teaser trailer threw fuel over the fire, too, with a brief glimpse of a large, armored, winged creature taking flight and annoying a spellcaster.

"Willing to bet that the bird in the trailer is related to the job, but the girl is unrelated," another theorycrafter says. "The last trailer will likely extend that shot to show the bird flying to whoever is our job representative! The baton she has is more likely a plot device, rather than the weapon of the job."

A Falconer job would be entirely new for the Final Fantasy series, though past games have dabbled with similar concepts. Final Fantasy 10-2's Trainer job gives one of the characters a big bird to command, for example. And Final Fantasy 5's Hunter can also occasionally call in help from woodland critters, flying types included.

"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.

Beast of Reincarnation director Kota Furushima has spoken about why it's so important that dual protagonists Emma and Koo are unable to talk to each other. Game Freak has a history of developing the relationship between man and beast without dialogue thanks to the Pokémon franchise, and has applied this experience to its upcoming action RPG.

In an interview with DenFamiNicoGamer (translated by GamesRadar+), Furushima outlines why a lack of communication was key to developing the world of Beast of Reincarnation.

"The truth is that it's incredibly important that there's no talking," he says. "When you don't speak, you gain something else. We wanted the game to give you a certain feeling, and that wouldn't happen if talking had benefits over keeping quiet."

Further, he believes that building a relationship without words creates a different feeling for the player. "For example, when you don't talk your imagination can take over, and as time passes in this way, something awakens deep in your heart," he explains.

"As the result of devoting ourselves to this concept, [Beast of Reincarnation] took the form it's in today. It's not impossible for a relationship to develop purely because of the scenario they find themselves in. That is dependent on the plot's strength though."

Ever since Beast of Reincarnation was revealed, people have been commenting on how far it strays from Game Freak's usual library. Aside from the Pokémon franchise, games like Tembo the Badass Elephant, Drill Dozer, and HarmoKnight all have a cartoon aesthetic. The upcoming game has a more realistic look, but it clearly borrows from Pokémon's core partnerships.

"Therefore, in order to build this kind of relationship, we chose to do so through gameplay," Furushima adds. "Our company has really thought about how you can build relationships and create that feeling of becoming partners through gameplay. I think we've put everything we've been able to cultivate in that regard into this game."

Trained by decades of Pokemon, Game Freak has taken petting the dog to a new level in its RPG Beast of Reincarnation: pet it, wash it, and master a whole affection system

As House of the Dragon season 3 continues, a surprise character is emerging as a new fan favorite.

The following contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 3, episode 6, so turn back now if you're not up to date!

In the latest episode, Gwayne Hightower reaches Tumbleton after abandoning Criston Cole in the previous installment (with perfect timing, too, considering Criston meets his unceremonious death in the opening minutes of the new episode).

At Tumbleton, Gwayne reunites with his nephew Daeron Targaryen, and it's quickly clear that they have a much closer – and healthier – relationship than Daeron and Ormund Hightower. Plus, Gwayne thwarts an assassination attempt on Daeron (after enduring plenty of insulting comments from Ormund).

"Gwayne has become one of my favorites, I'm so glad he left Cole's side when he did," says one fan on Reddit.

"Him talking in the hallway with Daeron was heartbreaking," says someone else. "For all that people complain about 'filler,' I love this character development."

"Daeron and Gwayne having instant familial chemistry is the mark of really good acting by both of them. They haven't been on screen together yet but the characters have a long history and I definitely felt that in their scene together," is another fan's take.

"Gwayne literally took no shit from Ormund. He wasn't afraid of him or his tantrums, he spoke the truth at his face and really kept his patience with Ormund-the-man-baby," says another fan. "Gwayne has been a treat since the first episode he appeared and I am glad the writing has been consistent about his character."

"Yeah I really disliked him when he first appeared in the show and now he's one of my favorites. A tribute to his actor," is another person's thoughts.

"Yes, he definitely came off as an arrogant ass at first, with the way he spoke down to Criston. You can see how the realities of war really broke down that kind of thinking. In front of dragons, they are all equally and simply men. Great character development," says another person.

"Gwayne is unexpectedly becoming the one person I'm keeping a tight prayer circle for during the Dance alongside Helaena," says another fan.

"Gwayne is probably my favourite character from Team Green. Hoping he survives, however unlikely it seems," agrees someone else.

Gwayne Hightower dies in the fall of King's Landing in the book, which means his future on the show is a complete unknown. Here's hoping he makes it…

"I think they're both parental figures, Gwayne and Ormund, and Gwayne is more brotherly, and Ormund is more domineering, and so we see a different kind of love and a different side of Daeron comes out when he's with Gwayne," Daeron actor Benjamin Evan Ainsworth told GamesRadar+ recently.

"Something more transparent, something more true to who he is as a person, and almost this frustration that comes from just this weight that he's been holding of being around Ormund, having to be very calculated about what he says, what he does, when he does it, because he knows that Ormund has this rage that could be unleashed at any moment," he continued. "And Gwayne is someone that he's been able to talk to, but I think the difference being, he's come back war hardened and out the fight, and usually he's his person [Daeron] can confide with.

"And I think just playing those different relationships and being able to explore the different sides of Daeron with Freddie Fox, but then also with James [Norton], has been really fun."

House of the Dragon season 3 continues weekly on HBO Max, Sky, and NOW in the UK, and HBO in the US.

You can keep up to date with our House of the Dragon season 3 release schedule, and, for even more, check out our guide to all the upcoming Game of Thrones movies and TV shows.