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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We won't see a new game from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 studio Sandfall Interactive for a few years, it seems, but the studio's leaders are confident it will be something "a bit crazy."

Speaking with Automaton, Sandfall CEO Guillaume Broche reexamines the studio's plans for its next game – only its second release after the breakout success of Expedition 33, which was largely made by a team of junior staff.

"It's too early to say anything precise, but we had a lot of fun creating Expedition 33, and it's a game that we all love internally, so we want to find this flame, this passion again for the next project," Broche says.

"Expedition 33 was quite a long project too. Especially for me, it was six years. For Tom it was five and a half, and for most of the other members it was between four and five years. That's also why we want to let ourselves dream again and be creative again. We're going to go a bit crazy."

Don't interpret that craziness as a massively inflated scope, however. Broche affirms that Sandfall wants to stay small. Currently, the studio has around 26 people, which he calls "more than enough" for pre-production on the next game. If they cracked open the Expedition 33 war chest and hired a ton of people to make a gigantic game, Broche reckons they'd lose part of the team's charm.

"If we know we can't do everything, we have to focus on what matters, and I think that philosophy is what made Expedition 33 what it is," he says. "It feels very focused, everything has a purpose, and everything is made for a reason. It doesn’t feel like something too big for its own good."

Earlier this year, Broche commented on the second album syndrome facing whatever game follows Expedition 33. Unbothered by sales comparisons or critical expectations, he said "we're just going to do what we love again" as "we didn't make the first game to please anyone" and that worked out pretty alright.

Sandfall staff have said as much since the end of the GOTY season that saw Expedition 33 showered in trophies. COO and production director François Meurisse likewise said the team's next game will just focus on "what we think is cool," not what's expected to perform or, as writer Jennifer Svedberg-Yen put it, "please a lot of people."

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads call PlayStation killing discs a "sad decision" after buying boxed copies of their own RPG – "For us, physical was something special."

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"

Halo's greatest strength is simplicity. Super-soldier protagonist Master Chief is an immovable object, the Covenant's alien invaders an unstoppable force, and hitting them together like action figures has created 25 years of entertaining FPS hijinks. Returning to the first game via Halo: Campaign Evolved, little has changed – even when it has.

The remake features a prologue from developer Halo Studios, with three all-new missions that see Chief tear through a Covenant ship before the events of the original game. The prologue is Halo Studios' first original creation since the studio's rebrand from 343 Industries in 2024, which means we're effectively getting a glimpse into the series' future while fresher players are given the perfect introduction to Master Chief and Halo's setting.

Shipping it

Aboard the Covenant's vessel, you're thrown straight into the carnage. It's an excellent setting for an FPS, particularly one of Halo's straightforwardness. Squeezed into the ship are cramped service corridors, grand halls, and even a domed Earth-like desert biome – all unmistakably alien, but designed with perfunctory violence. Ornate balconies can be a vantage point for Jackal snipers or a haven for Chief to blast Brutes from a distance, and every door is a potential entry-point for more aliens – and just about the only place you can create a chokepoint, if you're quick enough to frag a gaggle of Grunts before they can disperse. Even in a linear shooting gallery like this, I always feel moments away from being overrun on all sides.

The developer also recognizes the importance of Master Chief's momentum, which is something I clocked while playing the original game's remade levels. Standing still is a surefire way of being pelted with grenades, leaving you to push forward as your only option – if only to pluck a plasma rifle from a dead brute, as limited ammo makes every weapon a disposable tool. I'm pinballed from gun to gun, drawn further out of position until I look back and realize I've completed most of the prologue this way. The original Halo campaigns were defined by their breathlessness, and it's bracing to see Halo Studios lean into the same dynamic so effectively.

As someone who has lapsed from the series since the Xbox 360 days, the new prologue also serves as a nice way into Halo at its simplest. A Star Wars-style crawl establishes humanity's war against the Covenant, while Master Chief is endearingly portrayed as both stoic hero and tongue-in-cheek action film caricature. "Chief – you ever get tired of being the strong, almost-silent type?", he's asked during a lull between shootouts. Long pause. "No."

By remaking the first Halo after a major development overhaul, Halo Studios seems to be looking back to find its way forward. Its originality in the prologue shows the developer certainly has the shooter chops to carry Halo forward – five minutes with the CE Magnum is enough to confirm that – but the bigger question is how this action will be framed going forward. Does the prologue's claustrophobic structure mean we'll see more traditional shooter levels in future Halo games, or will they build upon Halo Infinite's open-world experimentation?

Whatever the answer, I just hope the next game from Halo Studios is wholly original. After all: what's Halo if not moving forward?

Not sure where to start? Here's how to play the Halo games in order

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.

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.

If you're looking to play the Halo games in order, I've brought together this handy guide to break it all down for you.

Here, you can find all of the major Halo games and some off-shoots compiled below in two different orders. Starting with the release date order first, you can find a list that gives you an overview of the series as it originally launched, from its beginnings in 2001, right up to the latest new game in 2026 with the arrival of the remake, Halo: Campaign Evolved (which you can find out more about in our Halo: Campaign Evolved review).

For those of you looking to explore the series in narrative order, I've also detailed how to play the Halo games chronologically, with overviews of where each entry sits in the Halo timeline and if or how the events of the games connect story wise. Of course, alternatively, you can also explore the series by checking out our ranking of the best Halo games if you're after the highlights, too. But for an overview of how to play the Halo games in order, read on.

How to play the Halo games in release order

If you want to play the Halo games in release order, you can find a helpful list breaking down all of the games (including some major spin-offs) below, with the original launch years they came out in.

• Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)
• Halo 2 (2004)
• Halo 3 (2007)
• Halo Wars (2009)
• Halo 3: ODST (2009)
• Halo Reach (2010)
• Halo 4 (2012)
• Halo: Spartan Assault (2013)
• Halo: Spartan Strike (2015)
• Halo 5: Guardians (2015)
• Halo Wars 2 (2017)
• Halo Infinite (2021)
• Halo: Campaign Evolved (2026)

How to play the Halo games in chronological order

If you're instead looking to play the Halo games in chronological order, the list looks quite different. While, for example, Halo: Combat Evolved was technically the very first Halo game to release, later Halo games take you to earlier points in the Halo timeline of events. So, if you're looking to experience the narrative of the series chronologically, I'll break it down for you here.

With both a list so you can see the order at a glance, as well as a more detailed overview of the timeframes and how it ties into the overall narrative, you'll also find current platforms listed where you can still play these today.

• Halo Wars
• Halo: Campaign Evolved (prologue missions)
• Halo: Reach
• Halo: Combat Evolved
• Halo 2
• Halo 3: ODST
• Halo 3
• Halo: Spartan Assault
• Halo 4
• Halo Spartan: Strike
• Halo 5: Guardians
• Halo Wars 2
• Halo Infinite

1. Halo Wars (2531)

Halo Wars is the first real-time strategy game set in the Halo universe, and it's also technically the first game in the series narratively speaking. With the events of Halo Wars taking place some 21 years before Halo: Combat Evolved (and, of course, its remake, Halo: Campaign Evolved).

Taking place in the year 2531 during the tail-end of the Harvest campaign – which revolved around trying to reclaim the colonist world of Harvest that's been ravaged by the alien Covenant empire (who are determined to destroy humanity). You play as one of various leaders and take command of either UNSC military units who are part of the Red Team, or the Covenant, and get thrown into the conflict. The parasitic threat known as The Flood also factors into the campaign.

2. Halo: Campaign Evolved (2551 - Prologue missions)

For the most part, Halo: Campaign Evolved serves as a shiny new remake of Halo: Combat Evolved, but there are some new bonus prequel missions introduced that place it earlier in the timeline narratively.

Taking place a year before the main story of Campaign Evolved (and Combat Evolved) and prior to Halo: Reach, these Operation Meteorite missions explore a self-contained story featuring Master Chief and Sergeant Johnson teaming up to infiltrate and investigate a Covenant research vessel above the colony of Promise. It mostly establishes that Chief and Johnson were best pals before the events of Halo 1, but also introduces a new Prophet character, who may be more important in the inevitable Halo 2 remake.

So, if you do want to play the Halo games in order, it could be worth tucking into Campaign Evolved over Combat Evolved, or play it before you play the original if you're keen to try both. However, you won't be missing much by skipping these prequel missions and going straight to the next game.

3. Halo: Reach (2552)

Halo: Reach brings forward the Halo timeline from Wars, but is still a precursor to Halo: Combat Evolved. And rather than being an RTS like Wars, it's an FPS like the majority of the series.

Taking place a few weeks before the events of Combat Evolved in the year 2552, the game explores the Fall of Reach, a key human colony planet that served as one of the last bastions of military strength against the Covenant.

The campaign sees you playing as super solider Spartan B312 (aka Noble Six), a member of the elite Noble Team, who are sent to look into a distress beacon on the planet. It soon becomes apparent that the Covenant are on Reach and you'll get swept up in countless battles against the alien invaders as they continue their devastation from the Harvest campaign. Reach's ending then almost immediately leads into the start of Halo: Combat Evolved.

4. Halo: Combat Evolved (2552)

The FPS that kicked off the Halo Series, Combat Evolved (and its 2026 remake, Halo: Campaign Evolved), bring the events forward from Halo: Reach some weeks later. Still set within the same year of 2552, Combat Evolved follows Spartan John-117, better known as Master Chief, who begins the game in cryo sleep aboard the UNSC ship Pillar of Autumn after the Fall of Reach.

The Pillar of Autumn is quickly overrun by the pursuing Covenant, and Captain Jacob Keyes charges Master Chief with protecting the ship's AI Cortana from falling into the hands of alien forces. But after you crash onto an ancient, mysterious ringworld (aka a Halo) known as Installation 04, you'll soon find yourself fighting back against the Covenant forces that revere it and uncovering its true purpose.

5. Halo 2 (2552)

Also taking place in the year 2552, Halo 2 unfolds following the events of Combat Evolved. But rather than solely focusing on Master Chief, Halo 2 also explores a Sangheili warrior called Thel 'Vadam who holds the title of The Arbiter.

Playing as both characters at different points in the narrative (before their plotlines eventually converge), the game sees the Human-Covenant war escalate, with the aliens now invading Earth. Master Chief starts the fight aboard Cairo Station before eventually battling through the city of New Mombasa, which sets up what's to come in Halo 3: ODST. Meanwhile, the Arbiter contends with The Flood on another Halo known as Installation 05.

6. Halo 3: ODST (2552)

Halo 3: ODST actually takes place during Halo 2 and acts as a prequel of sorts to Halo 3. Taking on the role of an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper called Rookie, you set out to find out the motivations behind the Covenant's attack and invasion of the city of New Mombasa on Earth.

Shaking up the combat, ODST introduces some stealth as you try to survive against the overwhelming enemy forces. Structurally, it's also quite different to other games, featuring some open world exploration as you explore the ruined streets of New Mombasa at night looking for clues as to where your missing squad mates are, which lead into more linear missions that show the chaos of the Covenant's invasion. Overall, it builds up a more complete picture of the Battle for Earth prior to the events of Halo 3.

7. Halo 3 (2552)

Halo 3 then sees out the year 2552 with the return of Master Chief, who's back in the leading role. The Arbiter also makes another appearance, although now he's only playable in co-op multiplayer. Set a few weeks after the events of Halo 2, the third entry follows on from ODST to bring the original Halo trilogy to a close.

After crash landing into an African jungle, Master Chief sets out to finally finish the long fight against the Covenant. As you battle against enemy forces, you also work to uncover a secret that could turn the tide of the fight. But along the way, you'll also have to contend with the threat of The Flood, too. With Halo 3 officially wrapping up the Human-Covenant War, the game ends with Master Chief entering cryo sleep on the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn ship – which is left adrift in space – to await rescue.

8. Halo: Spartan Assault (2554)

Set between the events of Halo 3 and Halo 4 in the year 2554, Halo: Spartan Assault is an off-shoot entry in the series that plays as a twin-stick, top-down arcade-y shooter rather than the mainstay FPS format of the core trilogy. Originally released on PC and mobile before coming to Xbox 360 and Xbox One, it features over 30 campaign missions.

Its concept revolves around a training simulation tool for Spartans. As you try to progress your career as a prospective Spartan, you'll be drawn into key battles that take place within the timeline. As the games go, this is one of those off-shoot you don't really need to play to follow the overarching narrative of the main series.

9. Halo 4 (2557)

Picking up where Halo 3 left off, Halo 4 takes place less than a handful of years later, and follows Master Chief as he's awakened by Cortana on the Forward Unto Dawn ship – which is still adrift. Cortana, now several years old, is starting to suffer from rampancy, making her unstable.

The duo eventually find themselves on the Forerunner world known as Requiem, where soon enough, he finds himself facing the Covenant and another threat in the Forerunners (another advanced alien species) with the mighty Didact as their commander.

10. Halo Spartan: Strike (2557)

Just like Halo Spartan: Assault, Halo Spartan: Strike is another off-shoot twin-stick shooter set in the Halo universe. Narratively speaking, it does jump a little in terms of the timeline, with it including events that took place in 2552, but it's technically set in the year 2557. As another smaller experience that doesn't hold as much weight as the mainline games, this is another one you could miss without much trouble.

But if you want to experience it, this is where it sits within the timeline of events, and it kind of mirrors the concept of Assault in that it's another series of missions centered around a tactical simulation training tool that was originally developed for mobile.

11. Halo 5: Guardians (2558)

Halo 5: Guardians takes place in the year 2558 after the events of Halo 4, and puts you in the role of both Spartan Jameson Locke, who's a part of ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence), and Master Chief. When series hero Master Chief goes AWOL after going after Cortana with his Blue Team Spartan allies, you as Locke set out to bring him back with Fireteam Osiris.

Playing as both characters at different points throughout the campaign, our original Halo 5: Guardians review picked at its story, which doesn't feel as cohesive or impactful as its predecessor, with much of its events feeling more inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.

12. Halo Wars 2 (2559)

Just like the first Halo Wars game, Halo Wars 2 takes the series back to the realms of strategy and sees the Spartan Red Team awaken from cryo sleep 28 years after the events of the first Wars game. Set in the year 2559, it takes place in the timeline following the events of Halo 5 and sees you play as a leader of your choice as you command your own army and take on a new threat in the Banished, a Brute-led faction born out of the Covenant.

With the option to play as either humanity, or the Banished in the story, you build up bases, take charge of troops and vehicles, and navigate battles in missions centered around the Ark – a Forerunner installation first seen in Halo 3

13. Halo Infinite (2560)

As the most recent game to release in the Halo series (outside of the Campaign Evolved Remake), Halo Infinite is also the latest entry in the timeline, with events unfolding in the year 2560. Taking place roughly 18 months after the events of Halo 5: Guardians, Infinite sees you assume the role of Master Chief as the war against the alien Banished faction has effectively been lost.

With Halo Infinite being set on a Halo ring known as Installation 07 (Zeta Halo) which is coming back online and poses another threat, Master Chief works to shut down the Halo. Cortana's actions from Halo 5 are largely glossed over and, while she features in the story, Master Chief instead finds himself paired with a new AI known as The Weapon. If you want a more in-depth explanation of the storyline, you can check out our Halo Infinite story explainer.

Looking for more recommendations? Check out our pick of the best FPS games.

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."

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.

Wingspan Pocket is like one of the apex predators it depicts; it swoops in, claws outstretched, and carries you away before you even know what's hit you. I love the original version, but after getting my hands on this travel-sized follow-up… well, a new board game rules the roost in this house.

Based on the mega-popular Wingspan, this smaller, nimbler variant is designed to be played in just 25 minutes or so. Because it's made up of cards and a few tokens, it also requires much less real estate. (The original board game had some spectacular plumage, but it ate up table space like a gannet.) However, the most crucial difference with Wingspan Pocket is that it's so much easier to play… but is arguably just as fun. I spend a lot of time testing the best board games so would like to think I've got a good idea of what works, and I've got a very good feeling from this. My family enjoys Winspan but can feel overwhelmed by it if we haven't played for a while, so I appreciate that this one streamlines the system into something much more manageable.

You're still collecting birds here, but you don't need an entire menagerie; you just have to get six. Once half a dozen are arranged in a flock on the table, that's it – game over. Players then get another turn until everyone has had an equal number of goes, and you tally up your score. This means you can be done in a fraction of the time.

The way you get birds is the same too, but has been similarly tidied up. Rather than relying on dice rolls to earn resources, each bird card has a random resource symbol printed on the back. These are laid out in a row of four decks you can draw from each turn, and they'll be used to pay for any feathered friends you'd like in your flock. It's so much more deliberate than the original, because even though you're still at the mercy of chance based on what's at the top of each deck, there are always four to choose from at any given time. Plus, there seem to be a lot of 'double' resources available, with certain bird abilities allowing you to swap or ignore specific values. Canny players have options as a result.

The key is when to strike. Actually, that's true of everything about Wingspan Pocket. You have limited space for birds so must balance how many points they'll earn you at the end with their abilities. In addition, those abilities can only be used when the bird card is locked into your flock… so get ready to make some tough, quick-fire decisions on what to use, and when. Should you deploy something that allows you to use a resource in place of anything else, even though the bird itself earns you fewer points when all is said and done? Or are you better off going for a bird with a higher score, but less interesting abilities? I've only just started scratching the surface of this board game, and there's already a lot to consider.

This extends to the fact that your match draws to a close when anyone has added six birds to their flock. It adds a ticking clock to proceedings, because you don't want to be caught out by the endgame without having done everything you want… and by the same token, it adds pressure to keep an eye on what your foes are doing in case they're planning to end the game early to stop you in your tracks.

Even if it all goes awry, this only adds to the "one more match" element of Wingspan Pocket. There's always some new tactic or approach you'll want to try, and that's catnip to me. I can see it being a great travel board game as a direct result, because it'll keep you amused across many evenings of play on vacation.

It reminds me of Catan On the Road, which sunk its hooks into me nice and early too. Both condense their inspiration into something much more bitesize, all without losing what made the originals special.

Just proceed with caution, though; if you're anything like me, Wingspan Pocket may sweep you off your feet too.

For something else to play on the go, don't miss the best card games. As for something you can enjoy with your loved ones, be sure to check out our guide to the best family board games.

• Browse today's best discounts on board games at Amazon

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.

The Halo Campaign Evolved Terminals can all be obtained with some thorough searching, but plenty of them are very easy to miss – and don't think your knowledge of the Terminal locations in Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary will help, as they're in completely different places now.

Unlike the Skulls, Terminals don't make any noise besides some bleeps and bloops that are only audible when you're very close. Also unlike the Skulls, there are only 13 of them – that's one per Halo Campaign Evolved level – so finding and activating them all for some unlockable lore entries isn’t too much of a chore. To help you find every Terminal in Halo Campaign Evolved, I've laid out all 13 locations below.

Halo Campaign Evolved Pillar of Autumn Terminal

From Rally Point Charlie, when going through the upper cryo room with the cracked windows.

This is the room where Cortana says, "it looks like the Covenant wanted to catch you napping". Proceed through the next door, then immediately turn left to find another open door leading into a small room with red lights and lots of screens everywhere. The Pillar of Autumn Terminal in Halo Campaign Evolved is at the far end, which unlocks the Approach entry.

Halo Campaign Evolved Halo Terminal

From Rally Point Bravo, as you drive into the "this cave is not a natural formation" Forerunner tunnel.

Drive through the tunnel until you reach the straight section with two small bumps in the road and a large window on your right. Hop out your Warthog, then jump through the window and carefully drop down to the ledge directly below. You'll find the Halo Terminal, Forgotten, down there.

Halo Campaign Evolved Truth and Reconciliation Terminal

From Rally Point Charlie, as you make your way to the brig to find Captain Keyes after clearing out the ship's command room.

After navigating several corridors after the command room, you'll eventually arrive at a large room with several doors around the perimeter. Go through the one immediately on the right as you enter and you'll find yourself in one of the prison rooms. Use the central console to deactivate the forcefields and then head inside the cell almost opposite the console to find the Truth and Reconciliation Terminal and get the Inquisitor lore entry.

Halo Campaign Evolved Silent Cartographer Terminal

From Rally Point Bravo, just after you shut down the security system.

From the security system console, turn around and head to the outer walkway of this area and look for the extended platform. The Status Update Terminal is behind a small Forerunner structure with two pointy bits.

Halo Campaign Evolved Assault on the Control Room Terminal

From Rally Point Charlie, after you've gone up the ice cave.

When you emerge into the canyon from the ice cave, follow the path to the right, then go through the doorway in the central rock formation on your left.

Head through the door and follow the corridor until you reach a large, empty central rooms. From here, go up the ramp that leads onto a balcony, then look to your right once you get onto the balcony. You'll find the Terminal for Assault on the Control Room, Tangent 1, tucked in the corner.

Halo Campaign Evolved 343 Guilty Spark Terminal

From Rally Point Bravo, after backtracking partway through the Forerunner facility while fighting the Flood.

You'll eventually reach a point on your journey through this facility where you have to go through a door with two large, pale symbols on either side.

Head through and turn left to find a cluster of dead marines and all their gear. From here take the next right to go down a dark corridor where you'll find the Halo Campaign Evolved 343 Guilty Spark Terminal – Tangent 2, which carries on from the last one.

Halo Campaign Evolved The Library Terminal

From Rally Point Bravo, after 343 Guilty Spark opens a large door and you're presented with two consoles, with a prompt directing you to the one on the right.

Ignore the objective and activate the console on the left to open a doorway on the left.

Head through and then go through the small hole in the Flood-infested wall. This will lead you into a small room featuring a dead marine and the Library Terminal, which rounds out the Tangent series into a trilogy.

Halo Campaign Evolved Two Betrayals Terminal

From Rally Point Alpha, right after destroying all the attacking Sentinels.

Rather than heading out the door straight ahead, head right and run around the ring walkway instead. You'll run into the Two Betrayals Terminal here, unlocking the Alone entry.

Halo Campaign Evolved Keyes Terminal

From Rally Point Charlie, when trying to ascend to a higher deck in the shuttle bay.

After dropping off to the ground floor of the shuttle bay, follow the objective marker through the door then right and up the inclined corridor – there are always Flood enemies and two Hunters in here. When you get to the first junction halfway up the corridor, turn left then left again to find the Terminal for Keyes in Halo Campaign Evolved.

Halo Campaign Evolved The Maw Terminal

From Rally Point Alpha, after clearing out the mess hall room.

From the entrance to the mess hall, bear right and you'll find the Arrival Terminal in a nook on top of some UNSC boxes.

Halo Campaign Evolved Boarding Action Terminal

From Rally Point Delta, after you've taken the gravity lift upwards to head for the Triumph of Tolerance's upper decks.

This grav lift will put you right in front of the corridor and doorway you’re meant to go through for the final combat encounter of the mission, but the terminal is behind you. Turn to face the opposite direction and then go through the door on the right to find the Heavy Burden Terminal.

Halo Campaign Evolved The Most Dangerous Game Terminal

Rally Point Charlie, after rescuing the marines from the brig.

Fight through the rest of the ship following the objective markers until you reach a room with several windows on the left that let you see many sarcophagus-like devices in a large room. Instead of going through the next door, head through the one on the right and you'll find a storage room full of UNSC gear, including the Halo Campaign Evolved Terminal for this mission, Penitent Report.

Halo Campaign Evolved Heavy Burden Terminal

From Rally Point Bravo, immediately after the cutscene where Chief and Johnson get the starholo data.

At the start of this Rally Point, you'll be facing a pair of doors on the far side of this room on the ground floor. Go through either of them to reach another pair of doors. Go through either of those doors to get inside a Covenant armory, then go through the next door to reach a relatively small storage room. The Terminal for Heavy Burden is hidden behind the Covenant equipment on the left.

These Terminals are just one of the many Halo Campaign Evolved changes compared to the original. Bear in mind that finding them all is also going to add a fairly significant amount of time to how long it takes you to beat Halo Campaign Evolved too.

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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.

These Be the Final Boss codes are the best way to boost your Soul resources for getting new Units, but you can also get Luck Potions, Spins, and more. If you want to survive as many waves as possible, you're going to need to decent team of units to defend your base from incoming swathes of, I guess, 'heroes'.

Units aren't the only thing at your disposal in this Roblox experience. Unlike a tower defence game, you too can fight - you are the final boss, after all. Buy weapons with Coins and forge armor from Forge Stones, all of which you can also get with the Be the Final Boss codes below, so let's get to them.

But quickly, I'll also just mention that there are plenty of other Roblox promo codes available, too, for use across all your favorite experiences.

All Be the Final Boss codes

These are the current Be the Final Boss codes you can redeem right now:

• RAIDTHECASTLE - 6 Uncommon Fusion Shards and 3 Forge Stones (NEW)
• ARMYOFBOSSES - 15 Uncommon Fusion Shards and 2 Spin Tickets
• CLAIMTHETHRONE - 125 Souls and 2 Forge Stones
• BOSSMODEON - 6k Coins and 2 Forge Stones
• ULTTHEBOSS - 1 Health Booster, 1 Attack Booster, and 5 Spin Tickets
• SLAYDEMHEROES - 100 Souls
• BIGBOSSMAN - 2.5k Coins
• FINALBOSS4LIFE - 2 Epic Fusion Shards and 2 Spin Tickets
• BIGTHRONEKING - 10 Uncommon Fusion Shards and a Spin Ticket
• BOSSMAN3000 - 5 Rare Fusion Shards, 1 Luck Booster
• CANTKILLABOSS - Soul Booster, 5 Fusion Shards, and 3 Spin Tickets
• UNSTOPPABLEBOSS - Coin Booster, 5,000x Coins
• BETHEBOSS - Free Coins

Be the Final Boss codes reward you with a range of rewards, including Spin Tickets, Coins, and Fusion Shards. This gives you a few different ways to obtain new Units to defend your base, as well as various boosters and buffs.

These promos aren't case sensitive, but you could simply copy and paste the codes from above to avoid any mishaps.

How to redeem Be the Final Boss codes

To redeem Be the Final Boss codes, you just need to hit the Settings cog button in the top left-hand corner of the screen and scroll to the bottom of the settings page. Enter you code into the box, hit Redeem, and enjoy your rewards.

Expired Be the Final Boss codes

• There are currently no expired Be the Final Boss codes.

No Be the Final Boss codes have expired yet, but I'll move them down here when they do to save you the time and disappointment of entering invalid codes.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

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."

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."

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

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.

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.

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.

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"

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.

It's December 2006, and after months of eagerly scrubbing through trailers and poring over Official Nintendo Magazine, a brand new Zelda game is on the way. Not just that, it feels like the Zelda game, a gritty successor to Ocarina of Time's throne, bolstered with the incredible motion controls of the Wii. As December 8 rolled around, I queued up at midnight with my best pal, giddy with excitement, and sped home quickly as if the wind of Tulin was behind me.

We stayed up until five in the morning playing Twilight Princess, briefly slept, then went straight back to it. My poor younger brother didn't touch Wii Sports for at least a week. But, it wasn't the much-touted waggle controls that offered the biggest thrills, or the (at the time) incredible graphics. Instead it was Twilight Princess's commitment to tone, to crafting a lived-in world, and the tangible feeling that this space was really right in front of us – if we could just reach in and touch it.

Now 20 years later, it's that attention to detail, along with a mixture of reality and fantasy, that still makes Twilight Princess's dungeons the best the series has ever produced.

Got that dog

Twilight Princess feels quaint in hindsight when compared to BotW, but when it comes to solving puzzles this works in its favour. Each dungeon feels like a distinct part of this world, but it also feels absorbing. Scale works both ways, and spending more time in a small but richly detailed world gives you a real sense of your place in 3D space, especially with the immersive motion controls helping to bridge your suspension of disbelief.

For instance, the Goron Mines in Twilight Princess feel like a functioning part of that world. Heavy doors groan when they're heaved open, and bridges thud with a distinct weight when you fire your arrow to lower them. Breath of the Wild offers so much to do, but occasionally the sheer scope of that world makes smaller moments feel weightless. Twilight Princess makes each room feel consequential, and every solution to a puzzle feels like you've shifted something monumental in the world. You can imagine the Gorons down here smelting all day, which makes it more fun when you interact with elements that feel tangibly useful.

One standout example is Snowpeak Ruins, a dungeon that sneaks up on the player as you slowly realize this frosty new area you have discovered is your latest mystery to solve. Here, you also consistently interact with the Yeti couple Yeto and Yeta as you explore the grounds, further strengthening the belief this is a space that characters actually inhabit. So, when you unlock the fantastic Ball and Chain and start swinging wildly, the sense of power and relief is thoroughly earned. Not to mention, the Snowpeak boss uses both those interactions and your understanding of the space perfectly, turning your time bonding with the Yetis into an emotionally resonant fight instead of just another piece of Ganon fodder.

Speaking of the Ball and Chain, Twilight Princess has one of the best selections of items in any game, let alone a Zelda game. Unlocking the Spinner, and not only discovering a Beyblade-esque method of transport, but the function of those conspicuous jagged teeth in the wall of the Arbiter's Grounds, is immensely satisfying. It is phenomenal dungeon design to add a weapon that feels like a genuine part of this world, then offer both functional ways to use it in this established environment but also ways to attack enemies like the awesome fight against Stallord.

Perhaps it was the overcorrection after Wind Waker's reception, but Twilight Princess works so hard to establish a feeling of unease, of an oppressive and omnipresent sense of dread in the world. Link feels truly up against the world, and you want to help every character you meet in this slim cast. Nintendo consistently makes great dungeons for Zelda games (except for you Breath of the Wild), but in Twilight Princess the mixture of tone, a push for realism, and the immersive motion controls really help to elevate already stunning work.

Even on GameCube, stripped of those motion controls, Twilight Princess works on many levels to make every action feel important. Link's quest here feels uniquely intimate; the standout cast of characters offers support and genuine peril, and the unique selection of weapons works overtime to make you feel like you're interacting with a living and breathing world. As we look to the future, I hope even as Zelda continues to grow, we can reclaim the sense of consequence and importance that occur when we interact with a smaller, functional, and uniquely living world.

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was so secret within Nintendo, most employees found out about it for the first time at its E3 reveal: "We popped off"

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

The developers of Myst and Riven have just released an awesome trailer for a game that finally returns to the universe of their stone cold PC classics, but don't get too excited, as Cyan Worlds canceled this one a year ago for unknown reasons.

Cyan Worlds has been pumping out interesting, first-person adventure games and freaky mysteries for literal decades now. That work was supposed to continue in Project Anglerfish, a previously unannounced game that was quietly in production at the studio last year before it got scrapped just as quietly.

A new trailer now gives us a glimpse of what could've been, otherworldly books and all - take a look below.

First-person exploration through twisty-turvy buildings? A book that seemingly flings readers into whole other worlds? Gorgeous graphics, even on a rough build? Sure seems like a new Myst game, alright.

"Over a year ago, the team here at Cyan spent about four months building a prototype for a new game in the Myst universe, codenamed 'Project Anglerfish,'" the trailer's description reads. "The prototype (and this teaser trailer made for it) were purpose-built for publisher-eyes only. For a variety of reasons, this project couldn't move forward at the time, but we're still proud of the work the team did – so we're sharing the teaser for the prototype with you all now."

Project Anglerfish would've been the first brand-new Myst game in ages - not counting the trove of remakes, remasters, and re-re-releases - though it doesn't sound like we'll need to wait too long for more games in its world. "Don't worry, we're still hard at work on other new Myst universe things," the dev adds. "More on that to come."

Cyan Worlds is one of the longest-surviving independent game makers in the world, having been founded almost 40 years ago. Way back when, the developer made a name for itself with the engrossingly lonely and mysterious Myst, which eventually became the best-selling PC game of its time and one of the most hotly debated games around.

The years since haven't been quite as kind to the influential studio, as Cyan let go of around half of its staff last year. Cyan Worlds did just port its gorgeous Myst and Riven remakes to PS5, PSVR2, and Xbox Series X|S earlier this summer, however.

While we wait to hear about these other Myst universe projects, check out the new games of 2026 and beyond.

Mario and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto thinks people don't really care about console specs all that much anymore.

Since the GameCube era, Nintendo seemingly hasn't prioritized having the most "powerful" console. Perhaps this approach is a lesson from the PS2 handily beating it despite being the weakest console between it, GameCube, and Xbox, and the massive sales success of the DS, which dwarfed the still-very-much-successful PSP. The Wii and the Switch proved that innovation works even in the face of being weaker consoles (and I'm sure the Wii U could've done well with a better name, but at the very least, it paved the way for Switch).

So, speaking to Famitsu, and translated by GamesRadar+, Miyamoto explains, "We were really pleased to see that the Switch was around for 8 or 9 years," guessing that, "I think it's because, nowadays, customers aren't always looking for the best specs."

"At Nintendo we always offer 'styles of play that only we can create,' and this includes the [hardware] interface," Miyamoto says. He suggests Nintendo competes with the "play anywhere" nature of mobile games, saying, "Our console has the benefit of being faster and more flexible [to develop for] compared to smartphones. When creating for general-use platforms, the workload is higher as you have to ensure it is compatible with all versions [of smart device]."

While the discussion online about console specs and game performance is certainly very loud, I do think Miyamoto is ultimately right.

There's a reason the original Nintendo Switch is close to becoming the best-selling console of all time, because most people probably just don't care. Sure, it won't be playing Crimson Desert at 4K/60fps, but when you have Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart 8, Breath of the Wild, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, that probably doesn't really matter.

"It's a massive failure": Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto slams short-term profit gains that have "burned through the talents of so many people."

Xbox is down, right on the heels of a timely PlayStation outage which punctuated concerns about Sony's proposed all-digital future.

This Xbox outage has now lasted several hours, and seems to have gotten worse after reports first emerged late July 26.

At 7:54am ET, the official Xbox Support Twitter account wrote: "Just checking in on the game library, sign-in, and game launch issue. We know this has been going on a while and appreciate your patience while our teams keep working on it."

The Xbox Status support page affirms that "account and profile, store and subscriptions, games and gaming, and apps and mobile" functions are all experiencing a "major outage."

As of 9:43am ET, Xbox support says it has "identified the issue" for all four areas and has a resolution "pending." These outages were first reported around 11:10pm ET on July 26, according to Microsoft's tracking.

"You may not be able to sign-in to your Xbox profile, may be disconnected while signed in, or have other related problems," a support disclaimer reads. "Features that require sign-in like most games, apps and social activity won't be available."

This also extends to your ability to find specific games in the Xbox store, opening apps, and, yes, "you may have problems playing your digital games right now." As ever, any blow to physical games is bad for everyone, whether you actually buy discs or not.

Additionally, Microsoft confirms, "You may have problems playing disc-based games right now." Ah, the joys of modern connectivity.

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

Indie hide and seek hit Meccha Chameleon was apparently the second-highest-grossing PC game of June, just behind Fortnite.

Going viral is the best thing that can happen to an indie game. We've seen it happen a number of times now with the likes of Peak, Among Us, R.E.P.O, and Lethal Company, and the result is smaller titles absolutely popping off.

Meccha Chameleon is easily 2026's biggest contender in this category, with the viral hit that takes classic hide-and-seek game modes to the next level selling 7 million copies in its first two weeks, before going on to sell 15 million copies within its first month, making it not only the fastest-selling game of 2026, but also the best-selling game of the year. If it keeps that momentum up, it stands a good shot of holding that title… until GTA 6 releases, but no one's taking that one on.

Unsurprisingly, with sales like that, the game has made a good chunk of money. According to games industry data firm Newzoo (via Gamesindustry), Meccha Chameleon was the second-biggest PC game of June 2026 in terms of revenue, just behind Fortnite. Given that the game is $5.99 (which isn't even enough to get you the lowest bundle of V-Bucks), it's quite the impressive figure.

Despite how overwhelming it is, Fortnite actually came third in May, but with the launch of Chapter 7 Season 3, it bounced back up to the top. May's top game, Forza Horizon 6, dropped five spots after the launch wave.

Aside from Meccha Chameleon, Marvel Rivals, The Sims 4, and Dead By Daylight were the other new faces in the monthly top 10, with Dead By Daylight jumping 16 spaces thanks to its 10th anniversary celebrations.

Earlier this month, Meccha Chameleon's popularity spawned the inevitable result of any Steam popoff: a fast-follow AI ripoff that even uses the same name in some regions.

Of course, in typical Roblox being the worst fashion, clones of the game on there are actually outdoing the original in terms of playercount.

Nothing humbles a fan of first-person shooters faster than a hardcore Mil-Sim like Hell Let Loose: Vietnam.

Picture it. You're creeping under cover of the jungle canopy as helicopters whir overhead. Short sharp shocks of gunfire are your only real guide towards a forming frontline; squad orders are the other, as the voice of a squadron Commander crackles over the comms line to scramble Infantry units back through dense brush to reform fracturing formations. As enemies pour over the crest of a distant hill, your M16 rumbles as bodies crumble. And then, nothing. A bullet fired from an unknown location rips through your torso. Medics in the area ignore your pleas for help. The long walk back to the action begins again.

There was a time in my life where military simulation games were all I would play. Highly lethal gunplay meets minimal visibility and low hit detection across large open terrains? Count me in! The Operation Flashpoint and ARMA series were where I graduated to after growing a little tired of the more predictable cycles of Battlefield, Ghost Recon, and SOCOM. After a weekend of getting my ass kicked, I'm struggling to remember what attracted me to the brutality to begin with.

Run Through the Jungle

My friend group has started to migrate away from Battlefield 6, which has left me looking for a new shooter to play – ideally one that isn't of the Battle or Extraction persuasion. The Battlefield Studios effort really made me fall back in love with the idea of larger-scale, open-combat experiences so Hell Let Loose: Vietnam appealed.

Here's the thing, Hell Let Loose: Vietnam is an experience defined by the friction it generates. With 100 players populating exceptionally wide multiplayer arenas, the game is designed around dynamic frontlines and intense team communications. Every soldier has a role to play, and players buying into the fantasy of their assigned Command, Support, Infantry, or Specialized unit is the only way for such an unforgiving shooter to function appropriately.

Let's take respawning as an example of this game theory put into action. Despite being so focused on team dynamics, you are not able to spawn directly on squadmates in Hell Let Loose: Vietnam. Instead, you're able to dive back into the fray from a Garrison, created in tandem between Commanders and Specialists, or from an Outpost placed by a Squad Leader near objective points. If these fail to be established then you're forced to spawn far from the frontlines, back at a headquarters where you'll face a 10 minute walk back to any action. Once you return, you're as likely to get nailed from an unseen attacker as you are to establish a chokepoint to catch enemy soldiers pouring from trenches.

With this in mind, setting up Outposts or fortifying capture points to allow for faster redeployments into the fray is just as valuable – if not more so – than generating an unholy amount of kills and assists. Hell Let Loose: Vietnam reflects that in its unstable firing models, lack of discernible weapon feedback, and any real visual hit detection. The objective is to win the day as a group, not sit atop the leaderboard as an individual – killing enemy soldiers is simply a means to this end.

Whether this sounds even remotely appealing to you will determine whether Hell Let Loose: Vietnam is something you will enjoy. When it clicks, as 50 players come together to generate battlefield momentum, it's fairly spectacular – intense and rapid, capturing a tangible sense of large-scale action that Battlefield can only dream of delivering. When a round doesn't come together, it's a mess. A slow slog through open expanses where you're left to lament the shift in online gaming culture; wide adoption of microphones (at least on console) seems like a relic of a distant past, which is a problem for a multiplayer game foundationally built around quick-fire collaboration.

Hell Let Loose: Vietnam is a polished FPS with a well-defined identity, one which easily separates it from Battlefield, Call of Duty, and the waves of battle royale and extraction shooters dominating the charts. It's a challenging, uncompromising experience that isn't going to be for everybody. The brutality isn't a bug, it's a feature – the great differentiator that gives developer Expression Games a lane to dominate. I don't know that I necessarily have the patience for this sort of Mil-Sim any more but, then again, I still find myself eyeing the August 13 release date with an almost morbid curiosity.

Hell Let Loose: Vietnam is coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X on August 13. If you're looking for more on new games of 2026 and other recent shooters, here's some reads I recommend for you next:

These Anime Astral Simulator codes grant some essential rewards, including potions for boosting your power, luck, and more. With your stats buffed, you can then defeat bosses more quickly, thus earning more rewards, eventually leading you to new worlds, new pets, and new bosses.

What's more, Anime Astral Simulator is one of the rare Roblox experiences that's pretty much entirely free-to-play, allowing you to swap the in-game shop currency from Robux to F2P Tickets, a ton of which you can get by redeeming these rewards - so let's get to it.

Plus, there are even more rewards to be had with our list of Roblox promo codes, granting avatar items and more for use across experiences.

All Anime Astral Simulator codes

These are the Anime Astral Simulator codes you can redeem right now:

• OPTIMIZATIONS - 1x Damage II Potion, 1x Luck II Potion, 1x Power II Potion, 1x XP II Potion, 1x Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• PROMOTION - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• TOMBRAID - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• 10KLIKESALREADY - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• LIKES5K - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• 5MVISITSINGAME - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• VISITSASTRAL10M - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• 10KFAVORITESINTHEGAME - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• ASTRAL20KFAVORITES - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• UPD6.2FIXES - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• UPDATE6.2 - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• FIXEDWHITEBEARDQUEST - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• UPDATE6.1 - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• KIEVOLUTION - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• UPDATE6EXTRAFIXES - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• 2MVISITSNEW - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• LIKES3KNEW - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• 30KACTIVE - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• 20KACTIVE - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• 7.5KFAVORITES - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• !ASTRAL40KCCU! - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 250x F2P Tickets
• UPDATE6RELEASE - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• UPDATE6FIXES - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• FIXEDAVATAR - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• SKILLTREE - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 150x F2P Tickets
• UPDATE5.5 - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 150x F2P Tickets
• UPDATE5 - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 150x F2P Tickets
• DUNGEONS - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 150x F2P Tickets
• PETPASSIVES - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 100 Pet Passive Tokens, 150x F2P Tickets
• MINIUPDATE4.75 - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 150x F2P Tickets
• DIVINEPASSIVES - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 150x F2P Tickets
• UPDATE4.5 - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 150x F2P Tickets
• SUMMERMOUNT - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 250x F2P Tickets
• UPDATE4 - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 250x F2P Tickets
• TRIALMEDIUM - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 250x F2P Tickets
• UPDATE3.5 - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 250x F2P Tickets
• UPDATE2.5 - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 150x F2P Tickets
• MOUNTS - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 150x F2P Tickets
• TRACKER - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 150x F2P Tickets
• BATTLEPASS - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 150x F2P Tickets
• UPDATE2 - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 150x F2P Tickets
• UPDATE1.5 - 1 Damage II Potion, 1 Luck II Potion, 1 Power II Potion, 1 XP II Potion, 1 Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• UPDATE1 - 1 Damage I Potion, 1 Luck I Potion, 1 Power I Potion, 1 XP I Potion, 1 Yen I Potion, 150x F2P Tickets
• NPCNERF - 1x Damage II Potion, 1x Luck II Potion, 1x Power II Potion, 1x XP II Potion, 1x Yen II Potion, 200x F2P Tickets
• EXCHANGE - 1x Damage I Potion, 1x Luck I Potion, 1x Power I Potion, 1x XP I Potion, 1x Yen I Potion, 150x F2P Tickets
• RELEASE - 1x Damage II Potion, 1x Luck II Potion, 1x Power II Potion, 1x XP II Potion, 1x Yen II Potion, 1x Damage I Potion, 1x Luck I Potion, 1x Power I Potion, 1x XP I Potion, 1x Yen I Potion, 250x F2P Tickets

As the list above shows, Anime Astral Simulator codes are incredibly generous - and they also last a long time, too. Each code grants not just one reward, but usually one of each potion at either level 1 or 2 and a stack of F2P Tickets, which can be exchanged for anything in the shop - simply toggle the currency type at the top of the shop window from Robux to Tickets. Occasionally, you'll also get some Pet Tickets to redeem for useful passive buddies.

How to redeem Anime Astral Simulator codes

To redeem Anime Astral Simulator codes, click on the Menu button in the top right-hand corner of the screen, then select Codes from the drop-down list. You can then pop your code into the box and hit Reedem [sic] to fill your inventory with loot.

Anime Astral Simulator codes aren't case-sensitive, so you only have to worry about getting the spelling right. That said, I'd still recommend just copying and pasting from our list above.

Expired Anime Astral Simulator codes

• 18MVISITS - 1x Damage II Potion, 1x Luck II Potion, 1x Power II Potion, 1x XP II Potion, 1x Yen II Potion, 250x F2P Tickets
• 35KLIKES - 1x Damage II Potion, 1x Luck II Potion, 1x Power II Potion, 1x XP II Potion, 1x Yen II Potion, 150x F2P Tickets
• BACKTOASTRAL - 1x Damage II Potion, 1x Luck II Potion, 1x Power II Potion, 1x XP II Potion, 1x Yen II Potion, 1 Drop II Potion, 5,000x F2P Tickets

Anime Astral Simulator codes do seem to last some time, with even some very old codes still available to redeem right now. However, as the list above shows, some have expired, so you should redeem valid codes as soon as possible just in case.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

There's a new comic set in the world of Baldur's Gate 3 on the way. On the back of the publication being revealed, Larian Studios took the opportunity to remind people this is a licensed venture, and the studio isn't secretly chipping away on anything based on the Forgotten Worlds.

After Dark Horse Comics revealed the upcoming Baldur's Gate 3 book, there was some excitement at Larian's potential involvement, prompting a response quelling any rumors.

"Maximum hijinks are happening right now, but we're not involved in any BG3 related projects," says a post from Larian on Twitter, with an image of founder Swen Vincke getting fitted in armor.

It's not specified why, exactly, he's got a medieval costume on, but it also looks like he's been given some lines to memorise. Perhaps something to do with Divinity? Unlikely, given the wording of the next part – my guess is it's an endorsement of some kind for the comic.

"As soon as we bust outta here, we'll share more about Divinity," the tweet finishes. Larian's been adamant for a while now that it's done working on anything to do with Baldur's Gate in a substantial way.

After the whirlwind of the third, with it being a best-seller and an awards darling, the team has decided to use the boost in recognition and resources to resurrect the Divinity series. The last installment, Divinity Original Sin 2, will be ten years old next year, making it a good time for a fresh entry.

Whether or not we get Baldur's Gate 4 is really a question for Hasbro, who owns the Dungeons and Dragons IP, and it doesn't seem to be a priority for the time-being, although Wizards of the Coast president John Hight previously said "of course" it'll happen eventually. Whenever it does, though, it'll be from a studio other than Larian, even if you see Vincke in a shiny chestplate.

Baldur's Gate 3 player throws 60-hour Honour Mode run with just 2 fights left by falling for one of the D&D RPG's most dishonorable deaths.

A new Dragon Age game would have a very difficult time getting off the ground, according to the series former producer and long-time BioWare veteran Mark Darrah.

BioWare's epic fantasy series hasn't had a smooth ride as of late, which is odd considering Dragon Age Inquisition was a critical and commercial smash. After a decade-long gap between games and multiple internal reboots, Dragon Age: The Veilguard tripped past the finish line when it came out in 2024 to mild sales.

Speaking to FRVR, Darrah says the Dragon Age: The Veilguard and the series' wider troubles were perhaps "happening because of EA's complicated relationship to shipping games at all." He then recalls how "someone once described to me EA as a hedge fund with a video game hobby that it wished it didn't spend so much money on, and I think that remains true."

The BioWare veteran of over 20 years doesn't see things changing anytime soon, either. "I have no concept of who could, would, possibly pitch that at EA," he says, partly because "EA owns a frightening number of IPs that are dormant." You can perhaps find Dragon Age laying in a damp cell alongside Titanfall and Mirror's Edge, then.

As for the reasons why a new Dragon Age project could hit a proverbial wall, well, there's quite a few. "The problem is I don't know who at BioWare would pitch a Dragon Age," he continues. "So the other option is somebody else within the EA organization decides they're gonna pitch a Dragon Age and, what I expect would happen if they try to do that, is somebody at BioWare would essentially become one of those people jumping under the vents to rip that person apart. I suspect that it wouldn't happen for a variety of reasons."

For context, BioWare's been hit hard by mass layoffs at EA multiple times over the last few years, meaning the storied developer might not even have the bandwidth to make a Dragon Age game alongside its next Mass Effect.

Complicating things further is the impending proposed buyout of EA by a group of investment firms led by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Group. Darrah questions whether the publisher's new ownership would even be interested in the series or the studio at all: "I could argue yes and no… do you want BioWare at all in this world?"

"It's a really compelling place to be left in": Dragon Age fans aren't giving up on the RPG – they're expanding it.

Speaking on stage at Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest, the MMORPG's lead Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida lays the praise on Naoki Hamaguchi, saying that fans are desperate for the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director to work on the next mainline entry in the long-running JRPG series.

The pair were standing on stage together at MMO's annual fan convention for a panel called Naoki's Room. The two series leads, who coincidentally share the same first name, answered a number of prepared questions during the talk. Towards the end of the discussion, Yoshi-P revealed that he's received many comments from fans asking for Hamaguchi to work on FF17.

"But there were comments along the lines of 'I want this guy [Hamaguchi] to make Final Fantasy 17,'" he says.

Yoshi-P continues by explaining how highly he regards the compliment. "So I think that's probably the highest praise you can get," he continues, before adding "you don't have to respond."

The FF7R lead is clearly embarrassed by the comment when he says, "my response?" Yoshi-P then makes a gesture that he doesn't need to answer before quickly wrapping up the discussion.

Some have speculated that this is a hint that Hamaguchi is indeed working on FF17, but it's vague at best. While Hamaguchi is visibly embarrassed, it could be from the compliment, from being caught off guard, or because he's unsure if he can talk about the projects he's working on. Equally, Yoshi-P may have cut Hamaguchi off to save him from his embarrassment.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth was a huge success and we're sure Hamaguchi would do an excellent job developing a completely new mainline entry, rather than his current remakes. However, as the third part of the remake trilogy, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, isn't scheduled to be released until 2027, we hope he focuses his energy on perfecting that game first.

Final Fantasy 6, 8, or 9 remakes would need even more games than the FF7 trilogy, Yoshi-P warns: "We'd probably end up having to release them in 4 or maybe even 5 installments."

Careful what you wish for, Final Fantasy fans. Potential future remakes of other games in the series would probably require even more individual parts than the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy – at least, if they were remade in that same style – according to Final Fantasy 14's Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida.

The MMORPG's director said as much during a panel at Fan Fest Berlin – with Final Fantasy 7 Remake lead Naoki Hamaguchi also in attendance – warning folks that the wait for an entire remake of Final Fantasy 6, for example, would be even more painfully long than what we've become accustomed to.

"Of course I understand the feelings of the players, but you gotta think about it," Yoshi-P says, per a translator, of fan requests for future series remakes. "Look at Final Fantasy 6, it's such an incredibly huge game. The scale is just immense."

But the same argument is true for other games in the series, like Final Fantasy 8 and Final Fantasy 9, he adds: "So, of course, now because you are working on the Final Fantasy 7 series, I do get that people would be asking for remakes of other titles. But if we did remake those other titles, we'd probably end up having to release them in four or maybe even five installments."

Final Fantasy games used to be absolutely huge in their scope because the developers couldn't render everything in excruciating detail as they can now – nor did they need to. Final Fantasy 6 was able to fit 14 playable characters, a huge world map that dramatically changes throughout the adventure, and countless epic fights onto a humble SNES cartridge. You can imagine how doing all of that in a game with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's production value would be tricky.

Ahead of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, Hamaguchi himself made clear that a hypothetical remake of Final Fantasy 6 would be in better hands with another developer anyway. He seems more keen on doing something new after Revelation ships.

At Fan Fest, Hamaguchi explained that he felt incredibly lucky that so many developers stayed together for all three games in the FF7 Remake trilogy, back to back. "That's why I can't just sit here and go, 'Yeah, yeah, I'll remake [FF6],' because it's not quite that easy."

Perhaps the way forward for Final Fantasy remakes is the upcoming Final Fantasy Resonance, a gorgeous pixel art game with turn-based combat, rather than the giant world of the FF7 Remake games.

Final Fantasy 14 Evercold changes housing for the better, Yoshi-P says, and World of Warcraft's "amazing" take on the MMO staple has "been a good source of research."

E3 is best remembered for its glitzy press conferences, where big publishers put their best feet forward as they showcase their games to massive audiences online. But it wasn't always that way. Just look at when Square turned the much-anticipated US reveal of Final Fantasy 8 into a desperately awkward stalling match.

In 1998, Square was riding high on the success of Final Fantasy 7, a game which had proven a hit even in North America, where JRPGs had historically been a niche genre. At the time, Square had mostly partnered with Sony to publish its PlayStation titles, but that was about to change with the formation of Square Electronic Arts.

As the name suggests, this would be a joint venture between Square and EA to help bring the Japanese company's games to market in North America. (Another company, Electronic Arts Square, would do the same for EA's games in Japan.) At E3 1998, they detailed this partnership in front of journalists, highlighting titles like Parasite Eve, Xenogears, and yes, Final Fantasy 8 as among the first to be published by Square Electronic Arts.

That press conference was not meant to be seen by the public, but an attendee by the name of Anthony Parisi happened to be there, filming with a camcorder. Parisi's tape – alongside an absolute treasure trove of other materials related to E3 – was recently published as part of the Video Game History Foundation's digital archive, giving us what the group calls "possibly the only surviving video of the US debut of Final Fantasy VIII."

It sounds momentous, but if you follow the link above, scroll to the 57:19 mark in the video, and watch the whole 35-minute press conference for yourself, you'll find that it feels like anything but a big deal.

A handful of EA and Square reps sit down behind an innocuous table and simply tell members of the media about what they plan to do. It is a press conference in the most traditional sense, and the exact kind of thing E3 was for before the livestreaming era.

Eventually, the execs run down the games they're showing at E3 and, alongside the hands-on demos, promise "a preview of Final Fantasy 8." In the video, we hear someone near the camera quietly whisper, "Nice."

A Square rep politely asks attendees to refrain from filming this preview, but thankfully, this camera operator chooses to outright ignore that request, pointing the camera directly at the projector screen.

Yes! Anthony Parisi's tape from E3 1998 has possibly the only surviving video of the US debut of Final Fantasy VIII, including six full minutes of the Squaresoft staff fumbling with the projector trying to get the trailer to playarchive.gamehistory.org/item/3996212...

— @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social (@gamehistoryorg.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-07-24T20:17:54.786Z

Except the screen remains blank. Audio from this mystery trailer begins to play several times, but video never accompanies it. Minutes pass. It's unclear exactly how many minutes pass, because there's a cut in the middle of the footage. When we come back, Square and EA are setting up to take questions from the audience in a seemingly impromptu Q&A session as others continue to try getting the projector running. At one point, the microphones cut out too.

This keeps happening for at least seven minutes in front of a crowd increasingly restless to see Final Fantasy 8 – it's probably even longer, given the jump in the footage. At long last, the lights dim, and the video begins to play… completely without audio. The crowd gets one last laugh in before they finally get to see the trailer, complete with soundtrack, debuting about a minute of impressive CG footage featuring the soon-to-be beloved protagonist, Squall.

It's all a fun reminder of what the old E3 was: an event for publishers to show their upcoming products to retail buyers and members of the media. E3's more public face, where these "press conferences" turned into high-production events broadcast for gamers around the world, wouldn't really get underway until the mid-'00s.

There's one more detail from this press conference I want to highlight – one that I found pretty notable given the constant mass layoffs happening around the game industry, many of which are directly tied to major publishers overspending on mergers and acquisitions with other studios. The partnership between EA and Square, it seems, was intended to be very different.

"As opposed to many joint ventures, this one will actually create jobs, as opposed to reduce jobs in the industry," then EA president John Riccitiello argued, which is a downright stunning thing to hear a video game executive say now, nearly three decades later. "This is not an efficiency proposition, this is an effectiveness proposition. This is going to build this industry, and build the businesses of Square and EA."

Of course, Riccitiello was leading EA when it would shut down multiple studios and lay off thousands of employees through the late '00s, so I guess not all joint ventures are created equal. Square Electronic Arts would disappear after the Square Enix merger, but not before bringing us North American players some of the best JRPGs of all time.

This is our ranking of the best Final Fantasy games of all time.