GTA 6 download size clocks in at 210GB on PS5, according to PlayStation Store sleuth PlayStation Game Size.

In a brief Twitter post, the PGS account, known for reasonably reliably sharing details on upcoming PlayStation games, notes the reported GTA 6 GB size.

Unsurprisingly, this would make GTA 6 significantly larger than GTA 5, which comes in at 105GB on PC. In fairness, GTA 5 did come out several empires ago; a more recent comparison would be Red Dead Redemption 2, which is 150GB on PC. There's also the question of GTA 5 versus GTA Online as storage hogs.

This figure is obviously unconfirmed, and it's also worth noting that download sizes and install sizes can differ, as can PS5 and Xbox Series X game file sizes, though only slightly. When we inevitably get a GTA 6 PC port, its impact on your drive may also be meaningfully different.

For example, the base PS5 sizes for GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 are actually closer to 100 - 110GB, with physical and digital versions reflecting different downloads.

As a reminder, GTA 6 pre-loading opens on November 12, a week ahead of the game's November 19 launch. If GTA 6 is actually in the range of 200GB or more, a lot of people will want to get that download started early. You'll assuredly still need to go through some sort of day-one update come November 19, but pre-loading can save you a lot of valuable time that could be spent playing GTA 6.

GTA 6 exclusive leads Edge 430 – check out the 16-page cover feature that includes interviews with Rockstar, bespoke screenshots, and more this week

Palworld developer Pocketpair may be in the midst of a legal battle with Nintendo and The Pokemon Company, but that's apparently not putting it off from the idea of bringing its hit survival game to Switch 2.

Pokemon and Nintendo filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair over two years ago now, but even last year, prior to the Switch 2's launch, Pocketpair communications lead and publishing manager John "Bucky" Buckley said that porting Palworld to the platform was "100% worth considering" as long as the console was "beefy enough" to handle it.

And now, speaking in a new interview with VGC, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe says "of course" he still sees this idea as a real possibility. "First of all, I should say that we think the Switch 2 is a really amazing platform, not just for games globally, but especially here in Japan and for the Japanese games industry," he begins.

"It's been an incredible platform. If there's ever a future where we have the opportunity to discuss or consider bringing Palworld to the Switch platform in some way, then we'd love to have those conversations."

He's clearly not just saying that, either. After all, Pocketpair launched another of its games, the roguelike tower defense and card game title Overdungeon, on Switch at the start of last year, so the lawsuit isn't making it avoid Nintendo's platforms entirely.

Of course, the situation may be a tad more complicated when it comes to the idea of porting the very game at the center of the ongoing lawsuit, but Pocketpair and its boss at the very least aren't personally opposed, despite the circumstances. Perhaps when the lawsuit has been resolved – one way or another – we could finally see Palworld on the platform. After all, it's certainly "beefy" enough to support the likes of Cyberpunk 2077, the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, and Elden Ring.

Palworld Side By Side is update 1.1 in a fancy hat, Pocketpair dev clarifies, not a new game or a "massive update."

The Phantom Blade Zero release date of October 29 is rapidly approaching, but since the game is getting a global simultaneous release, you need to be aware of when it'll be available in your region. Time zone differences mean that the game will actually release late on October 28 in the US, for example, so it gets a bit confusing. To clear things up for you, I've explained everything you need to know about the launch dates and times for Phantom Blade Zero below, as well as some pre-loading details.

Phantom Blade Zero release date, time, and platforms

Phantom Blade Zero launches on PS5 and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store at 10AM Beijing Time on October 29. That works out as the following times around the world:

• US Pacific: 7PM PDT on October 28
• US Eastern: 10PM EDT on October 28
• UK: 2AM GMT on October 29
• Europe: 3AM CET on October 29
• Eastern Australia: 1PM AEDT on October 29
• New Zealand: 3PM NZDT on October 29

It's also worth mentioning that pre-loading for Phantom Blade Zero is available now on all platforms, letting you get the game ready on your PC or PS5 ahead of launch if you've pre-ordered. I highly recommend that you pre-install the game too as it's massive – the devs recommend 300GB of disk space on PC as Phantom Blade Zero is about 150GB. I've been playing on PS5 already and it's around the 130GB mark there, so get some space cleared in the meantime. And just in case you're holding out for a Phantom Blade Zero PS5 physical copy – a dying breed – developer S-Game announced there will be a physical release in 2027.

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Hasbro has named Dan Ayoub as new president of Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Digital Games, leading Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, and future games like Exodus and Warlock.

In a press release, Hasbro confirms that Ayoub was "selected after a rigorous search that evaluated dozens of internal and external candidates." Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks says, "He understands what our games mean to the people who play them and what it takes to build great teams and experiences." Previous president John Hight announced he was stepping down earlier this year.

Wizards of the Coast currently has two major games in production with sci-fi RPG Exodus at Archetype Entertainment and third-person action game Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons at Invoke Studios.

Ayoub has been in the games industry for 25 years, with his credits including producer roles at Ubisoft and EA, an 11 year stint at Microsoft as the studio head of Halo developer 343 Industries, as well as vice president and general manager of Certain Affinity. He joined Wizards of the Coast in 2022, and was senior vice president of digital games and Dungeons & Dragons before this promotion.

Ayoub says, "I'm honored to lead Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Digital Games, and grateful to Chris and the leadership team for this opportunity." He adds, "Magic and D&D have been part of my life for as long as I can remember, and the teams behind them are among the best in the world," and pledges, "We'll put fans first, respect the artists and creators who make these worlds come alive, and set an ambitious course for growth across tabletop and digital."

Of course, this comes weeks after the D&D and Magic The Gathering developers unionized, claiming that Wizards of the Coast is pushing "adoption of LLMs and generative AI," with the company not voluntarily recognizing the union efforts by its October 13th deadline.

D&D Star Wars is giving me Andor vibes with promises to let you "fly daring missions" and fight the Empire as a secret Rebel team.

It's no secret that Final Fantasy 14 is scrapping its infamous two-minute meta and adopting an entirely new job system, Evolved, come Evercold this winter – but just how different will that system play, and how much more damage will it allow for?

As a hardcore raider myself, one thing about Evercold has been heavy on my mind since the expansion's reveal at Fan Fest this summer: the introduction of the Reborn and Evolved job systems, with the latter being entirely new to the MMO.

The reason it's been heavy on my mind is simple – Square Enix implied that the Evolved system, which rearranges our class skills into a simpler, neater format, hotbar-wise, will let us deal more damage.

Michael-Christopher Koji Fox, localization lead, lays out the differences between the Reborn system – which is essentially what we're playing with now – and Evolved in a new interview with content creators Sarah Jane, Kwisty, and Pezz on YouTube, though, and I'm slightly less concerned now... I think.

He describes a bit of what we already know (e.g. the fact that Evercold's debut jobs, the Bastion and mystery DPS, won't have a Reborn mode) first, assuring fans, "If you don't want to change, you don't have to."

The thing is, though, those of us who engage in Ultimates and other "hard" content might feel the need to if the Reborn mode – the original system – is capable of less damage… right?

Well, according to Fox, not exactly: "I don't think it's like, 'Okay, this Evolved mode is going to do 50% more damage.' I think it's going to be very negligible."
That's a relief – right? And, it all boils down to how different the Reborn and Evolved systems are.

"I think it's just because the modes are so different and some of the skill rotations are going to be so different that damage will be dealt in different ways," as Fox states. "That might end up affecting" damage throughout a fight, but it shouldn't matter in terms of ability to clear and all that.

"It's not going to be something that's going to be a deal breaker," as Square Enix wants "to keep it as small as possible." But it was "unavoidable" altogether, as the modes can't play the same way – unavoidable, but again, negligible.

I doubt that Fox's words are enough to satisfy most raiders, however, sadly, knowing how highly regarded parses are (and likely always will be). Should the Evolved version of one's abilities allow for even the slightest, ittiest-bittiest boost in damage, they'll probably opt to abandon the trusty ol' Reborn mode – ask me how I know.

I'm not sure what I'll choose myself just yet, as an Astrologian. I'll have to wait and see what the promised healer changes will look like before I do – keeping tanks alive, damage dealers buffed, and DOTs up is tricky enough as it is.

Final Fantasy 14 players get 1 free day of game time after Square Enix lifts the MMO's PHP lockdown

Weapon manuals in MW4 DMZ are some of the most important loot items you can find, as these are blueprints that effectively allow you to craft and buy new weapons from the gunsmith back in your base. Effectively, finding manuals for your guns means that you'll have an increasingly large pool of weapons to build and craft while at your base, but finding manuals isn't easy to do. If you want help, then here are the best Weapon Manual locations to farm.

Where to find Weapon Manuals in Modern Warfare 4 DMZ

While nowhere in MW4 DMZ is guaranteed to have a Weapon Manual (you're playing against the odds in a constant game of randomization) there are certain locations and containers that have a higher chance of dropping weapon manuals. For the best chance, you should examine the following when in DMZ:

• Military Containers. These include military style crates and lockers, basically anything associated with the army. As you might expect, you can find these more frequently in compound and military areas.
• Safes. These appear in all kinds of areas, though infrequently. Unlike other types of containers, they take longer to open, as your Operator has to hack them. Check the image above for an example of what safes in MW4 look like.
• Weapons lockers and armories. These rooms reliably require keys to open and are found all around the map. Keys are found randomly or as mission rewards. Read their description to find the locked room they open.
• Police Stations. Many have reported having good luck finding manuals in the MW4 DMZ Police Stations, of which there are 5 around the map. Check out our guide on where those are.
• Red and Yellow Zones. Though higher danger, these map areas also tend to have better loot as a result, especially if you can brave the nuclear reactor in the Northeast of the map.

Keep in mind that weapon manuals can be found anywhere, you just have a better chance of finding them in the locations marked above. I discovered one inside a discarded jacket on the train that circles the map!

Once you have a manual, you need to safely extract with it in your inventory. Once you're back in your base, it will automatically be converted to a weapon recipe (it only works for the player that's holding it, not everybody in your squad).

Once converted, you'll be able to buy that weapon from the Gunsmith permanently, though it will cost you money nonetheless, with that cost increasing depending on how many attachments and additional elements you choose to craft it with.

If you're on a crafting kick, make sure you know where to find the MW4 DMZ comms modules and MW4 DMZ power regulators!

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Pearl Abyss PR and marketing director Will Powers has detailed some of the new features coming to Crimson Desert's Charting the Unknown DLC in more detail.

In an appearance on Dropped Frames, Powers confirms that to access the story content added in Crimson Desert Charting the Unknown, you'll need to have completed the main story of the base game too. Powers explains, "the story content specifically, it takes place after the main game."

However, he assures that you don't need to have done that to explore the new open-world areas throughout the DLC (although you will have to have established the Greymane camp in Chapter 3 to access that part).

Powers explains that the new DLC features storylines for Damiane, Oongka, and Kliff, and while "you didn't really get to explore a lot of their backstory [and] a lot of their motivations during the main game," Charting the Unknown is "effectively an epilogue for all three characters." He notes that the trio is not traveling together, with the DLC exploring what each of them is doing in the world following the story's conclusion.

Another major aspect of the DLC content is the new romance options, something which Powers says "we wanted to bring it in a meaningful way." He explains, "That was something that we were really thoughtful about how we wanted to implement it because there's been a pretty dramatic shift from how we portrayed the main characters – Damiane, Oongka, and Kliff – from launch until now. And how you could use them within side missions."

On top of that, Powers dropped a number of details, such as the Charting the Unknown DLC's storyline was written by the team behind the Crimson Desert: Enhanced Edition update, which overhauled the game's storyline, as well as teasing some of the things and areas you can come across through the underwater exploration. Basically, much like the original game, it sounds like Crimson Desert: Charting the Unknown is going to be huge.

Crimson Desert reviewed worse with critics than players because critics didn't have enough time to play the game, suggests CEO at the company that gave critics less time

The comms module in MW4 DMZ is a piece of epic loot that’s given players a headache, as it’s hard to find randomly during missions and is required to unlock the ‘Uncommon Ingredient Printing’ upgrade. The good news is that several locations can provide the epic drops that you’re looking for, and they’re not particularly well-guarded ones.

Best comms module location in DMZ

Comms modules are found inside computers (regular ones) typically located on the top floor of buildings occupied by NK forces, who have turned them into improvised bases of sorts.

Deadtown is your safest bet, as it’s a low-danger area that’s easy to navigate and clear even if you’re going solo. It must be noted you’re looking for the taller buildings closer to the river, and not the more “regular town” zone near them. I’ve marked the location in the screenshot above. But here’s the type of building that we need to get into:

Once inside these buildings – which are hard to miss due to the massive power cables on the outside and inside – make your way to the top floors and look for computers to loot. As you can see in the screenshot below, the epic-rarity comms module isn’t guaranteed, but there are more than enough PCs to loot in the area.

How to craft comms modules in DMZ

You can also craft comms modules in DMZ after unlocking the ‘Epic Ingredient Printing’ upgrade, which requires 100K in cash, 10 binding catalysts, 10 printed circuit boards, and 5 military composites. This isn’t easy early on, but it’s the best farming option when you level up and have bigger fish to fry.

After doing so, the comms module can be crafted repeatedly with the 3D printer for 100 electronics and 3 CPUs (also found in computers).

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The latest issue of Edge magazine is out this week, and it isn't one to miss for GTA 6 fans.

As part of Edge 430, the team has paid Rockstar a visit at its Edinburgh HQ to talk all things GTA 6. The issue's huge 16-page cover story features exclusive interviews and imagery detailing the most ambitious project in Rockstar’s history, wrapped up with a special gatefold cover showcasing artwork of lead characters Jason and Lucia.

Check out the sneak peek below:

The new issue of Edge magazine will go on sale October 29, but the good news doesn't stop there. To coincide with the release, the full feature will be released for you to read online for free right here on GamesRadar+. Just follow the link provided on the day.

Those of you in the UK can get a collector's edition for free, plus 13 issues of Edge at 38% off the newsstand price, by subscribing at the link. You'll need to be quick, though, as that's while stocks last.

Outside the UK, new annual subs will be sent a free digital edition of the complete special GTA 6 issue. If you're interested, you can subscribe here.

The GTA 6-led version of Edge is the latest slice of new information we're getting in the build-up to the long-awaited launch next month. That all truly kicked off with GTA 6's extended look on Netflix at the end of August, though we've had plenty since to tease what's on the way.

GTA 6 is due to release November 19, 2026.

The Welcome to Paradise quest in Cyberpunk 2077 has players follow a guided tour around the city in order to track down a revolutionary called Haze, all at the request of her concerned sister Aera. This takes you through a variety of locations with a recording of Night City founder Richard Night explaining a skewed history of the metropolis, and Haze providing her own contrary take against him. If you want to find out how to start the quest and what rewards there might be, here's what you need to know.

Want some more help with the 2.5 update? Find out how to dual wield in Cyberpunk 2077, or all the best Cyberpunk 2077 mods you can now get on console!

How to start the Welcome to Paradise quest in Cyberpunk 2077

To get the Welcome to Paradise quest, all you need to do is complete the Heist mission and reach 15 Street Cred. On having done this, after some time you'll get a message from a new character called Aera who will ask you to find her sister Haze, who's stolen some sort of chip from somebody and hasn't been seen since. If you accept this minor job, you'll be able to play it through whenever you're ready.

Full walkthrough for Welcome to Paradise in Cyberpunk 2077

Much of the Welcome to Paradise quest is very straightforward - going to marked locations and interacting with terminals - but there's a few points where it can get tricky. We'll take you through the whole thing below and mark out the areas that involve more challenge, so you're ready for everything.

1. After getting the call, head to the marked location in Kabuki. Scan for the metal sheet to the East that covers the sewer pipe (shown above) and pull it away to reveal a Shard called "NC Revitalization Project - Identity Cache". Slot it to start the guided tour program.
2. Head to the Night Corporation Tower and listen to the first step of the guided tour, including the drone tour, then do the same thing at the Memorial Park, Arasaka Memorial, and City Hall.

3. The next tour step is the Biotechnica Flats, though some people will be obstructing the way to the terminal (you can move them non-violently with a 17 Body Dialogue Check).
4. Head to the NCART station for another tour. Afterwards, go into your inventory and decrypt the shard for new information (see below).

5. The next stop at the Dam is blocked off by 6th Street Enemies who you'll need to clear out (they're easy to ambush from above if you fast travel to the nearest location).
6. Head to the Medical Center back in the city. This time Haze will tell you that she's being trailed by a car. Open the Shard you decrypted in stage 4 again to find out more about the car and figure out who's following her.

7. Head to Kabuki for the final leg of the tour and the last of Richard Night. Haze will drop a clue that mentions a bridge nearby.
8. Head to the marked location, and look at the beach below you and to the right to see several Militech soldiers (see below).
9. Defeat the soldiers and you'll discover Haze's body, along with a Shard containing evidence of her killer. At this point you need to meet with Aera again to conclude the quest and tell her what you've discovered.

Should you give Aera the Shard?

There's no difference in reward depending on whether you give Aera the Shard or not, as you'll get 1,050 EDs, and the same XP and Street Cred bonuses either way. All it changes is your final interaction with her:

• If you give Aera the Shard: She's grateful for your help, but obviously angered at Haze's death and clearly plotting some sort of revenge, or at least to carry on her sister's crusade in some way.
• If you don't give Aera the Shard: She's angry at you for not giving her the ammunition she needs to hurt Haze's murderers, but the implication is that it keeps her safer not to have such explosive information on her.

There doesn't appear to be any follow-up to this quest later on, such as a moment where we discover that Aera successfully struck a blow against Night Corp or was killed in her quest for vengeance.

To unlock Witcher themed gear and even a fantasy sword, check out how to complete the Cyberpunk 2077 Ariadne side quest, or get loot linked to the Edgerunners show in the Cyberpunk 2077 Clampdown quest!

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The power regulator in DMZ is a tricky thing to find. As an epic ingredient, its rarity is relatively high, and you aren’t even guaranteed drops in the correct locations, but below I'll show you where I've had more luck finding it than anywhere else. And, if you want to make advanced gear and equipment like night vision googles and railgun sentries, you're going to need to find a few.

Best power regulator location in DMZ

Though it’s been reported power regulators can also spawn in other heavily guarded spots of the DMZ map, your best bet is to go into the Haneul Nuclear Reactor, as marked above.

This is a high-risk/level zone full of armoured NPC enemies on top of the expected high levels of radiation, so it’s highly encouraged that you gear up accordingly and bring hazmat suits, gas masks, and radiation blockers to make the incursion easier.

That said, you can also rush into the ruined buildings and reactors to look for red containers (though power regulators can also spawn in other ones) and get out before the radiation becomes too much to endure. Again, the power regulator is a randomised piece of epic loot, so there are no guaranteed drops or specific containers, but I can tell you this is the best power regulator farming location I’ve found so far.

How to craft power regulators in DMZ

Alternatively, there’s a way to make power regulators without leaving the safety of the base of operations. DMZ players “only” need to grind towards the ‘Epic Ingredient Printing’ upgrade, which requires 100K in cash, 10 binding catalysts, 10 printed circuit boards, and 5 military composites. This may take a good while, so it’s not a simple early-game objective, but we’d say it’s worth investing in to make late-game grinds a bit softer.

After doing so, the power regulator can be crafted repeatedly with the 3D printer for 100 electronics and 3 printed circuit boards.

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Radio towers in MW4 DMZ are found all over the map, and one of the earliest missions tasks you with placing transmitters on top of two different radio towers. This is part of the ‘Underground’ chapter, which eventually asks you to complete the ‘Triangulation’ order in Call of Duty. It’s an easy one, but here’s what you should look for.

Radio tower locations in DMZ

There are several radio towers in the MW4 DMZ map, and they’re typically unguarded (unless you run into random patrols), so it’s just a matter of spotting the nearest ones so you don’t have to trek across the map to complete the ‘Triangulation’ order.

The map above has three different ones marked in a part of the map that’s not, at least based on my experience, very dangerous. You’re free to look for other ones, but these three are close to each other and easy to reach regardless of your starting location. You can see them from afar, and they’re hard to miss.

How to place transmitters on radio towers in DMZ

The game doesn’t explain how to actually use the transmitters on the towers very well, but it’s a simple process. First, just approach a radio tower of your choice and climb up. Make sure to face the correct side of the ladder.

Keep climbing until you can’t go any higher. At this point, face one of the metal poles that define the structure of the tower at the top. A prompt will allow you to place a transmitter, and a “transmitter” item isn’t required. Repeat this on a different tower to place the second transmitter.

After placing two transmitters on two different towers, you’ll need to head over to the top of La Grand Vie in Songdo Wharf (use the map), a named location to the east of Hajin, and do this one more time.

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Pinkie Promise codes can award you with free revives to give you an extra chance if you get caught by the deadly Pinkie Pie in this My Little Pony fan game. While you're trying to help the usually adorable pony plan a party, she'll trigger a deadly game of hide and seek, and these codes come in useful if you find it hard to stay hidden.

While I never thought I'd see My Little Pony and horror combined, it certainly seems to work in this Roblox mascot adventure as Pinkie Pie gets a little too obsessed with planning her latest party. Help her out and don't break your pinky promise by sneaking into her room... or else.

If you're looking for rewards with a wider use across all of your experiences, then we've got all of the details on the current Roblox promo codes.

All Pinkie Promise codes

The Pinkie Promise codes you can redeem right now are:

• PINKIEPROMISE - 1x Revive

There is currently only one Pinkie Promise code available, offering up one free revive, which usually costs Robux. Hopefully more codes will be released with the launch of Chapter 2, and I'll keep an eye on the situation.

How to redeem Pinkie Promise codes

To redeem Pinkie Promise codes, you must first access the Shop from the main menu. You can't access the codes menu from within a game. From the Shop, either scroll to the bottom or select the Codes tab which will take you straight there. Here, you'll find the Enter Code box where you can copy a code from the list above. Click Redeem to claim your rewards.

It's worth keeping in mind that Pinkie Promise codes are not case-sensitive, so you only have to ensure you get the spelling correct.

Expired Pinkie Promise codes

• There are currently no expired codes.

Since we're only on the first Chapter of Pinkie Promise, there are no expired yet, but that will likely change in the future, and I'll add any invalid codes to this list so you don't waste your time trying to redeem them.

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Kingdom Come: Deliverance developer Warhorse Studios has been hit with a cyberattack, the studio confirms, with both company systems and data accessed.

Warhorse acknowledges the cyberattack in a statement posted on its website, noting that measures are already underway to investigate and secure its systems.

"Warhorse Studios confirms that it has been the target of a cyberattack," the statement begins. "We are working with cybersecurity experts to secure our systems, investigate the incident, and assess its full impact. The attack involved unauthorized access to company systems as well as access to company data. We are coordinating with the relevant authorities as the investigation continues."

Warhorse CEO Martin Frývaldský has also responded to the situation. "This is a serious incident for Warhorse Studios and everyone affected," he says. "Our immediate priority is to secure our systems, establish the full extent of the breach, and take the necessary steps to protect our employees, partners, and community. We are dedicating the resources needed to address this situation and will communicate further information as soon as we responsibly can."

Right now, Warhorse hasn't stated whether any information – be it about its employees or the projects it's working on – has been leaked online, but the statement acknowledging that company data was accessed suggests there's a strong possibility it has.

Sadly, we've seen this happen before with other studios. The infamous Rockstar Games hack of 2022 saw the first wave of GTA 6 leaks shared online, and 2023's Insomniac Games cyberattack saw not only employees' personal data stolen but also early, leaked gameplay from Marvel's Wolverine posted.

Earlier this year, it was confirmed that Warhorse is working on both a new Kingdom Come game and an open-world Lord of the Rings RPG. The former could be launching as early as April 2027, according to Embracer Group CEO Phil Rogers, with the company hoping to launch it some time between then and March 2028.

It's no secret that the GTA 6 launch will likely prove one of the biggest video game releases, well, ever – but that doesn't mean other developers have to fear being overshadowed by the Rockstar behemoth in November.

Veteran analyst and Circana games lead Mat Piscatella seems to believe as much, anyway, telling GamesBeat that some devs' worries about launching near GTA 6 might be a tad "overblown," so to speak.

"The fear of many teams to put their game in the same window as GTA is completely overblown," he says. "GTA is going to be a massive game. Of course it is." But that doesn't mean that literally everyone cares about it.

It's going to be a huge cultural event, but not every one of the 49 million people who own a PS5 or an Xbox Series in the US is going to be interested in that," as Piscatella puts it. "There are a whole bunch of people who are going to want to play other things."

For example, "There's a whole Switch market that's going to want to play other things because they won't be able to play Grand Theft Auto." And, you know, PC.

That's why Piscatella advises devs who aren't aiming for the same target audience that GTA 6 is to not worry – like "any kind of cozy game or life sim or first-person shooter." There's more to gamers' interests than Rockstar, after all. "Just because Grand Theft Auto is there doesn't mean there isn't a potential market to address."

Heck, I'm proof myself. I'm not too big on GTA, but I'm looking forward to a lot of November releases.

There's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake for one – but, alas, various other devs have also chosen to avoid next month as a potential launch window, as Piscatella predicted last year.

"Everyone's just scared," as the analyst says. "I guess I get it, but I just think it's completely overblown." Plus, it's, uh, "given GTA a completely wide-open window because everyone else moved," leaving it a bit bare in November release-wise, all things considered.

Piscatella concludes that "we'll see what happens, stating that he thinks "this is more fear than anything else." But, still, "We haven't seen a game this big in… literally 13 years!" It is one of those new games that everyone, fan or not, knows about, I suppose.

Former GTA 6 and Red Dead Redemption 2 designer says layoffs at Rockstar aren't the real danger – "The question is whether you can meet the expectations"

Former Halo and Assassin's Creed artist Nicolas 'Sparth' Bouvier has revealed that he served as the art director for the Mass Effect franchise until BioWare's closure.

BioWare announced last week that it is closing down, months after EA was acquired by private investors and effectively said out loud that cuts were on the way.

On top of the studio's closure, the Mass Effect 5 project in development at the studio was canceled. This was later revealed to be Mass Effect Universe as a leaked trailer made its way to the web shortly after the announcement, which in turn caused even more fan outcry, as the trailer looked to be cooking up something promising.

In a thread on Twitter, Bouvier – who was a senior artist on the original Assassin's Creed, as well as the 343-era Halo games – says "in light of last week’s news about BioWare’s closure," he was choosing now to reveal that "from April until last week, I was the art director of the Mass Effect franchise." He adds, "It was a privilege to work alongside such a talented team, with the shared ambition of exploring new creative territories while staying true to the legacy and spirit of the Mass Effect trilogy."

"Knowing that this work will never see the light of day is truly heartbreaking," Bouvier continues, saying, "We were good at this. We really were. I'm thinking about the team, the talent, what we could have achieved."

He adds, "In nearly 30 years in this industry, I've rarely seen a group so tightly knit, so experienced, and so good at working together," before concluding that he is "honored to have been part of it."

Mass Effect 5 lead says outpouring of support following BioWare closure "means so much to us," but is looking on the bright side: "At least I don't have to call in sick when GTA 6 comes out"

Ubisoft has announced that this week's Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced update will be its "final major content update."

Last week, Ubisoft broke its months-long silence on Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced by revealing a forthcoming New Game Plus mode, and at the time I questioned whether that would be the only thing in the update. Now we have all the answers, with Ubisoft's patch notes detailing a higher difficulty mode, hidden community chests, new takedowns, new cosmetics, and a host of bug fixes. Not bad at all for the revamped pirate game's final sendoff.

The New Game Plus mode is pretty standard, letting you play through the main quest from the beginning with everything you picked up in your previous playthrough, and with an increasing world difficulty for every new playthrough. Same goes for Nightmare difficulty as the game's hardest challenge with the "deadliest" enemies. Specifically, all of your foes will deal 1.8x their normal damage, parries will be trickier to pull off, and crucially, the one-shot kill safety will be disabled, meaning any stray bullet will have the potential to take you out even if you're full health. Meanwhile, stealth will be more tilted in your enemies' favor, all ships will do more damage to your own, and even sea creatures like sharks and jellyfish will be more dangerous than before.

There isn't a whole lot of information on the new community chests, but Ubisoft says they'll be "more challenging" to find and will include "special community requested rewards."

In a nice little throwback to 2013's Black Flag, the final Resynced update will add new takedowns from the original game, including hidden blade, unarmed, single sword and gunblade takedowns. Why these weren't in the remake to start with, I have no idea, but better late than never. Rounding out the update are a bunch of new cosmetics including new outfits, new pet skins, and trinkets, which you can uncover by playing the New Game Plus mode, as well as a treasure chest full of bug fixes.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced version 1.0.8 releases on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on October 27.

Find out where Black Flag ranks on our list of the best Assassin's Creed games ever.

The PlayStation 2 has just turned 26, and it has me feeling sentimental. As the custodian of my older brother's console since 2018, it's been sitting on my TV stand for years now. But I rarely actually play it, despite having an AVI to HDMI adapter – one of the cheapest and best ways to play PS2 games in 2026. Sure, I'll fire it up a few times a year to relive a childhood favorite, but the retro console still requires a lot of effort to set it up on modern hardware. Even then, the results are varied at best, but there are some stand-outs that I don't see talked about as often as others.

While our list of the best PS2 games ranks the most legendary titles of the console's generation, I want to dig into why some feel better to play than others. A lot of this is down to the DualShock controller's obvious lack of dexterity – especially where ports to modern tech are available. I wish I could still play through Quantic Dream's incredible thriller Fahrenheit on PS2, for example, but its clunky handling makes the PC port much easier to recommend today. But there are other options that I absolutely would not play elsewhere – trust me, I've tested out a lifetime's worth of PS2 games to find out. Having gone through all my CD-ROM albums on a mission of will, patience, and rediscovery, these are 10 PS2 games that still live in my head rent free . Happy birthday, PlayStation 2!

10. Silent Hill 2

Best For: Old-school horror hounds
Release date: September 25, 2001

Few games feel as emblematic of the PS2 as Silent Hill 2. The second installation of the survival horror franchise was when Konami really sold us on its brand of tense, layered, creeping psychological terror. It's at the bottom of my list because fixed camera angles are really, really finicky to recommend in 2026 – they're not everyone's cup of tea, mine included. But even with the excellent Silent Hill 2 Remake having launched in 2024, there's something special about playing it on the original hardware.

The scuzzy early '00s tone of both the graphics and the incredible soundtrack make for an even grittier, darker experience, and with the game being not quite as punishing as others in terms of enemy density, avoiding unnecessary combat is very much doable. It might not be one I played in its entirety, but Silent Hill 2 is still a fantastic game to play on PS2 even 25 years later. In fact, the PS2 version even managed to top our list of the best Silent Hill games of all time…it's just that good.

9. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Best for: Open world action
Release date: October 29, 2002

San Andreas might be newer and less clunky, but I was surprised by how deceptively smooth my journey back to GTA Vice City was in 2026. If any game was a reminder of how good a PS2 game could look, even in its relative infancy, this one is it. Not to mention the radio stations are still some of the best ones in any video game out there.

I'm especially impressed by the shooting mechanics. Even without the fluidity of modern console controllers, the DualShock makes driving and heisting far more effortless here than it felt testing out 50 Cent Bulletproof (please don't put yourself through that mess), and shooting feels far smoother than memory serves. My main sticking point with Vice City is that you really do need a decent adapter to amp up the visuals; I needed to tinker with my TV settings a lot to get the contrast and white balance just right, but once that was sorted, I barely noticed the PS2's odd quirks while replaying Tommy Vercetti's 2001 adventure.

8. Resident Evil: Dead Aim

Best for: Fans of unserious deep cuts
Release date: February 13, 2003

When it comes to the best Resident Evil games to play on the PS2 in 2026, I choose violence over conformity. By that, I mean you should play kitschy spin-off Resident Evil: Dead Aim over the iconic Resident Evil 4 any day. The latter is in much better condition elsewhere, with both the 2005 original and Resident Evil 4 Remake available on Steam, while Dead Aim is a PS2 exclusive that series die-hards simply have to hunt down.

Look, I'll be honest: it's short. It's messy. It's got a budget Leon and Ada (sorry, I mean Bruce and Fong Ling) on a zombie-infested cruise ship, pursued all the while by a stiletto-clad lady Tyrant who once was a beauty-obsessed Umbrella executive named Morpheus. But it's also got fun, snappy gameplay for an easy to pick-up-and-play survival horror snack you can polish off in a weekend afternoon. It's by far my favorite among the Resident Evil spin-offs for sheer fact that it's so bizarre, you really have to play it to believe it. And since you can only play it on PS2…. Well, I've proven my point.

7. Persona 4

Best for: Longer JRPG sessions
Release date: July 10, 2008

It's finally getting a remake, but Persona 4 still feels good to play on PS2. The JRPG series is beloved for its inventive merging of social sim-meets-turn-based combat, with a flashy anime art style that holds up to this day even on older hardware. The catch is that, of course, it's not quite as sharp and clean as its newer-gen brethren – which is a bit of a downer, if you're all about modern flourish.

Don't get me wrong: I am too, but there's a time and a place for it. I was torn between suggesting Persona 3 or 4, and ultimately, my decision came down to how much I adored Persona 3 Reloaded. Given how brilliant it was, I'm fully prepared to eat my words come Persona 4 Revival's launch next year. But until that fateful day, I stand by the fact that if you're going to play the original game at all in 2026, I'd skip Persona 4 Golden and go right back to the trippy game's roots on PS2.

6. Spider-Man 2

Best for: Classic superhero antics
Release date: June 28, 2004

Don't shoot the messenger – I know Spider-Man 2 is one of the most beloved PS2 games of the early '00s, but I don't rate it quite as highly as some others might. True, its acrobatic web traversal laid the groundwork for all the Marvel's Spider-Man games from Insomniac that would come decades later – but being good for its time doesn't mean it feels objectively good right now.

Maybe I am just uncoordinated. Maybe I am simply impatient. But I'd much rather pay Marvel's Spider-Man than set up my PS2 for the pleasure of landing splat on my spidey face in lower resolution. That said, legacy does count for something, and I simply could not bring myself to place this still extremely playable game any lower on this list for the sheer fact that no collection of iconic PS2 games could ever be complete without it.

5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds

Best for: TV show superfans
Release date: August 26, 2003

It is heartbreaking that I only got my hands on a copy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds for PS2 a couple of years ago, because it's one hell(mouth) of a good time. I love the TV show more than I love most other things in this world, so even if it was awful, I'd probably still be a fan of Chaos Bleeds for the sheer fact that so much of the original cast reprise their roles in it. But I am relieved to announce that it's also a brilliant PS2 game to collect and play right now in 2026 for other, less subjective reasons.

Playing through the revolving cast of characters means varied combat throughout, ranging from melee to magic and vampiric (when controlling Spike) as you tackle a range of dynamic levels. There's a little bit of something for everyone, from beat-'em-up action to platforming and beyond, and I only want to throw my controller at the TV once or twice because of dodgy enemy hitboxes. My own skill issues aside, Chaos Bleeds has so many playful quirks and such a genuinely engaging structure that I'd challenge anyone, Buffy fan or not, to have an objectively bad time playing it on PS2 today.

4. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

Best for: Play with friends
Release date: November 9, 2004

Can I be honest with you? Movie co-release game adaptation Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events might be my favorite PS2 game of all time. Maybe it's because I grew up playing it with my siblings, each of us taking turns to control one of the three Baudelaire orphans. Maybe it's because I miss the days of movie-PS2 tie-ins and long for their return. Or maybe it's a bit of both on top of the fact that this is a genuinely excellent video game that still runs beautifully on its original hardware.

Replaying Unfortunate Events only last year, I was struck by how accurate my memories of the gameplay itself had been. Each orphan has a special ability – either a utility tool, a weapon-adjacent tool, or something to aid traversal – as you solve puzzles in three distinct locations across the first three books, as seen in the 2004 film. It's not kid's stuff, either; from a timed platforming challenge in a library to fighting off hordes of bitey rats, the game is as dark as the source material and much more mature than you might think. I had to pull up guides for this one, that's how much of a head scratcher A Series of Unfortunate Events can be, so consider this a plea for any other '90s kid to seek out a copy and see if you can do much better.

3. Hitman: Blood Money

Best for: Inventive action sandbox
Release date: May 26, 2006

As the definitive installment of the stealth-action franchise on PS2, Hitman: Blood Money is (in my opinion) one of the slickest games you can play on the retro console to this day. I remember watching my brother play it when I was a kid – both of us far younger than the PEGI 18 guideline – and how it looked like a movie to me back then. Blood Money is no longer the peak of visual fidelity in 2026, but it's still incredibly impressive.

Tightening up all aspects of past series iterations, Blood Money takes the inventive sandbox-style assassination gameplay of Hitman: Contracts and refines it. Pushing people off ledges, masking environmental traps and kills as accidents, and a new notoriety system all came into play for the first time in Blood Money. It's still one of the defining moments in the Hitman canon, a formative point in time that paved the way for all to come later down the line, and I don't think any PS2 game collection is complete without it.

2. The Simpsons Hit & Run

Best for: Quick-play chaos
Release date: September 16, 2003

The Simpsons Hit & Run is more than just reskinned GTA – it was many people's first taste of racing action games. Everyone who still owns a PS2 refuses to part with their copy of it for very good reason; Even if Hit & Run is ripe for a remake, it's unlikely to capture the heart and soul of what makes it sing on PS2.

The cartoon IP is a huge boon, having launched during The Simpsons' hey-day, but it's also straight-up fun. Simple controls and customization tools mean that Hit & Run sits comfortably between a pared-back racing game and the carjacking mayhem of Rockstar's finest. I was never the biggest Simpsons fan, but it's bright and silly enough to make even the most stoic gamers out there crack a smile and relax a bit. There's nothing quite like this gem, even with the likes of Star Wars Galactic Racer out there today, and I'm sure every other PS2 owner can testify to its enduring nostalgic brilliance.

1. James Bond 007: Nightfire

Best for: Competitive FPS coach co-op
Release date: November 18, 2002

There was only ever going to be one front-runner for my favorite PS2 game that still runs like a dream in 2026, and that crown goes to 007 Nightfire. Specifically, the co-op mode – though anyone else who adores the Pierce Brosnan era of the films will find loads to love in the main campaign, too.

Nightfire is an FPS with a very simple mission: shoot all your enemies. Loading into quick-play local multiplayer matches is as simple as it is surprisingly dense in terms of customizability; Your player two can either be on your team or your enemy's, with a long list of characters to choose from. The maps are distinct and each have their own unique quirks – I will always favor the cable car antics of Skyrail over the dark recesses of Fort Knox any day – and while you can choose which guns might spawn on the map, you'll have to restart if you realize that everyone, including the bot enemies, is respawning with the one-hit-kill Golden Gun each time they get ganked. As a 24-year old game, Nightfire definitely shows its age though slightly stickier tank controls. But when you're rocking the heat-seeking missile launcher, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

After years of waiting, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners season 2 arrived last week, and it's every bit the bright, vivacious exploration of Night City I hoped it'd be. One of the more memorable characters is Weak Kingsley, a well-built mercenary, and after someone managed to replicate his stats in Cyberpunk 2077, it's clear he's just a tad overpowered.

A former hotshot in the dystopian metropolis, Weak was eventually knocked off the food chain of violence and became a Solo who exists on the fringes. Regardless, he's managed to keep himself well-equipped, no easy feat considering most of his body is cyberware.

The YouTuber KhrazeGaming decided to explore what Weak is actually bringing to the table by piecing together his full loadout from when he was at the peak of his powers. Spoilers: things go a little too well.

Weak's main weapon is a special revolver that unleashes lightning with each bullet. This gun, called Coronation, is a highly upgraded version of the Burya, using multiple mods to create the desired firepower.

You sacrifice some overall damage, but the combination of bullets and electricity you can chain between enemies more than makes up for it. Khraze points out in his video that once you get the hang of the exact amount of charge you need, you'll see lightning bounce across groups of adversaries in a glorious display of destruction.

Who needs secondary weapons when you have 'Dan' and 'Ger' built-in; gorilla arms are the backup, and you can use those to chain takedowns and wallop whomever you're facing. These are built by focusing on blunt damage in the skill tree, complemented by the Quake ability, which is bolstered by AfterShock and Ripple Effect.

The video outlines the specifics of the Cyberware and such that help tie everything together. The result is ludicrous. Quite literally barreling through enemies like they're nothing. Weak was once called King, and that version clearly still exists in him. Going to be tough for Edgerunners season 3 to top this.

Cyberpunk 2077 lead says it's been a "hell of a weekend" as the RPG hit its highest Steam player count in 3 years thanks to Edgerunners 2 and 2.5 update

26 people at Ghost of Tsushima and Ghost of Yotei developer Sucker Punch have been laid off, according to a new report. Sony had previously spoken in glowing terms of Yotei's financial success, and the developers had just launched a major new expansion in Echoes of Sekigahara a few weeks ago.

"After carefully observing the challenges in the market and reviewing the team needs for our next project, we've decided to make some staffing reductions," Sucker Punch leadership says in an email to staff published by Aftermath, which first reported the news. "Several positions across Sucker Punch will be eliminated as a result."

The email insists that studio leaders "did not make this decision lightly" and "have given this a lot of attention and worked to support our affected colleagues during this transition as well as we can." Employees will apparently be given "more details about the future" next week.

Ghost of Yotei sold 3.3 million copies within its first month, performing better than Ghost of Tsushima did in the same period. Sony was keen to brag about how the game "significantly contributed" to its financial results in the period. Sucker Punch even managed to make the game for a much cheaper price than many of PlayStation's other massive PS5 games.

But we've seen again and again how little a game's success has to do with the fortunes of the developers who made it, despite how billionaire publisher bosses might suggest otherwise. Xbox offered a stunning example with Hi-Fi Rush in 2023, which the company described as a success "in all key measurements" and shut down the studio that made it a year later.

The Hi-Fi Rush devs would eventually get a second chance, and it doesn't sound like Sucker Punch as a whole is going anywhere. But if critical acclaim and financial success aren't enough to keep the Sonys and Microsofts of the world from laying off their developers, it's tough to imagine what criteria devs can now look toward for success.

PlayStation creator says games have stagnated, urges developers not to lose their "curiosity" as the industry reaches a major turning point ahead of the "next stage."

Sony is reportedly investigating an apparent PS5 security issue as users report unauthorized "child family members" being added to their PSN accounts.

That's according to a machine-translated statement sent to The Sankei Shimbun, which notes that the child accounts in question have apparently been able to bypass both passwords and two-factor authentication, as reported by affected users.

Essentially, it seems, hackers have been able to set up a PlayStation Family on unsuspecting users' PSN accounts, adding themselves as a child family member. Depending on which parental controls are enabled, child accounts may be able to play games and, more concerningly, buy items from the PlayStation Store using linked payment methods. Users have also expressed concerns that hackers could see account information and personal details, such as their full names, through this method.

What's worse is that shutting this situation down once a child family member account has been added isn't exactly straightforward, which is almost certainly why hackers are posing as children even though I'd guess most of them probably aren't. As Sony details on its own family management help page, "child members cannot be removed from your family" – you can remove an adult family member, but a child account can't be turned into one unless they've been upgraded once eligible, based on their birth date. It's a frankly baffling restriction, and has caused problems for folks facing similar problems before this recent wave of issues.

Just take this Reddit post from three years ago documenting one user facing the exact same sort of problem: a mysterious child account making purchases with their credit card and being unable to remove them. They were able to change the hacker's account settings to prevent further purchases, but it's hardly an ideal solution.

For now, it seems that many Japanese users in particular are experiencing this, but the issue isn't Japan-exclusive. "I just woke up, and I had my email to my PSN account change from this stupid child family management exploit where unauthorized accounts are added to your family management where they can see your account information. FUCKING FIX IT," one affected user writes.

Another responds: "Dude i have the same thing on my account right now, it doesnt even let you remove them at all its actually fucked."

While Sony investigates, it's a good idea to remain vigilant about two-factor authentication, review your account to make sure there aren't any family members you didn't add yourself, and contact PlayStation Support to have them removed if necessary.

Another PS5 jailbreak has seemingly arrived ahead of GTA 6, and Sony and Rockstar's worst nightmare could be on the horizon.

Razer launched the Barracuda V2 Pro on October 15, noting on its official blog that the newest addition to the lineup is designed with "versatility in mind" and, as it turns out, the marketing spiel has plenty of truth to it.

From its foldable form factor, dual-mic design, great sound, and understated look that doesn't scream "gaming headset", the Barracuda V2 Pro has managed to take priority in my backpack no matter if gaming or music-listening is on the agenda.

There was nothing stopping me from digging out any other Razer headset to use for both gaming and in lieu of a pair of headphones, but not all the brand's past pairs are suited for the outdoors. As much as I adore the Kraken Kitty lineup, I don't feel comfortable donning the RGB-powered cat ears to listen to the latest Troye Sivan album while running to the Big Tescos for the food shop, no matter how cute I find it. However, I've done just that with the Barraduda V2 Pro, and its versatility is entirely to thank.

Key specs

Design

Much like the black Barracuda X (2022), the V2 Pro is a closed black over-ear headset with oval-shaped cups. RGB haters (couldn't be me) will be happy to learn that the Chroma-powered logos of the Barracuda X Chroma haven't stuck around, and instead the three-headed snake branding is nothing but subtle, glossy, 3-dimensional-to-the-touch images on the exterior of each cup and nothing more.

The design differences of this new pair are so minor that you'd barely be able to spot the difference unless you're someone who spends far too much time in the land of headsets - which is undoubtedly me. What's new is that the foam padding on the underside of the headband now travels from the left yoke to the right yoke. The padding of the 2022 X release just sat in a small section in the center, but it's been extended to provide more optimal comfort. Comfort must have been on Razer's mind, as the fabric-coated ear cups are now made of a leather-like material too.

Features

The Barracuda V2 Pro is an over-ear, closed-back 285 g headset with 40mm Triforce Bio-cellulose audio drivers and THX Spatial Audio+ support. Unlike the existing pairs in the Barracuda lineup, the V2 Pro is holding a very neat (and handy) secret - its left earcup can be opened to reveal its HyperSpeed 2.4GHz wireless dongle.

This may not seem like a big deal, but for someone who constantly misplaces wireless dongles, it's been a bit of a lifesaver. Unfortunately, this lucrative hidden storage doesn't provide enough space to also store the adapter that's packaged with the pair, but I'll take any storage ingenuity over none at all.

Besides the storage, this headset is rocking some serious premium upgrades over its predecessors. The V2 Pro is equipped with simultaneous Bluetooth and 2.4GHz wireless, so you can answer phone calls between gaming sessions, and it sports ANC - both of which can be selected through the pair's manual onboard controls. The ANC includes an ambient mode, so you can be more aware of your surroundings, and makes the V2 Pro handy for more than just gaming.

Using gaming headsets for day-to-day music listening can be awkward, particularly if there's a large microphone in the way. The V2 Pro has a solution as the HyperClear Full Band Mic is not only detachable, but the "dual-mode mic system" allows you to switch to using a dual hidden beamforming mics for chatting when you're out and about.

Performance

Testing Razer's Barracuda upgrade happened to coincide with my favorite time of year, Halloween. The smell of freshly carved pumpkins and dusty old spider decorations had fully enveloped my house by the time the headset arrived at my door, and so it felt entirely fitting to first test out Disney Dreamlight Valley with the pair on PC while its spooky-themed events were in full swing.

While I usually prefer to run around my Disney-themed valley on the OLED Steam Deck so I can multitask with a Netflix binge, being able to focus on the game's audio for once was a treat with THX Spatial Audio+. I occasionally find myself overwhelmed with the life sim, as there's always a myriad of Disney characters roaming around, and finding who you want can be a challenge even when you have fast travel to rely on. Thanks to the combination of the crystal-clear audio from the can's bio-cellulose audio drivers and spatial audio, I could easily pinpoint any approaching pal - whether it was Scar with a new sarcastic quip, or the Fairy Godmother about to check in. It was neat, as this game is already my happy place for when life gets a bit too much, so the extra level of immersion was a welcome experience, and one that's got me playing more on the PC than my Valve pixel-pusher ever since.

Of course, you don't need to be able to hear Goofy's cheeky laugh in a 3D soundscape in order to be a good Dreamlight Valley player, so I stuck on Counter-Strike 2 to put the "ultimate immersion" properly to the test. With the ANC and THX Spatial Audio+ working together, I was more than able to get absorbed into the game, so much so that I missed deliveries at my door on multiple occasions despite people both knocking and ringing my door. That may not sound like a good thing, but being able to entirely drown out the real world for a moment definitely proved Razer's "ultimate" marketing spiel.

While I'm not a fan of beamforming tech, I do love the V2 Pro's dual-mic setup. In this day and age where a cost of living crisis still affects so many of us and determines how we enjoy our hobbies today, I'd hope that a piece of tech that costs $200 would be able to be helpful for not just gaming, but everyday use too, and this is.

You didn't have to stroll uptown feeling a bit silly with a microphone dangling next to my face or wearing a gadget that looks and feels designed purely for gaming in mind. Instead, I was able to easily detach the HyperClear full-band mic and leave it at home, while being able to depend on the beamforming mics for incoming calls. I'd not recommend using the latter for streaming or podcasts, but they are decent enough where a quick call with your mum is entirely doable, and she won't be exclaiming "what" or "huh" every two seconds.

The main microphone was also great for playing Repo with friends and was enough to record my screams without sounding like a muffled, peaking mess. But what pleased me the most about the V2 Pro was that versatility, as it was just as formidable for music as it was for gaming. Its 285g weight was light enough to make long journeys across the city of Glasgow less of a strain on my ears, and its foldable design took up less space than my go-to JLab JBuds Lux ANC cans.

While switching from one pair to another left me feeling a bit glum (I really adore my JLab cans), it was nice to only have to worry about charging one device at a time. Although its 70 hours were enough to cope with a weekend of blasting out Wolf Alice and Florence Road, while keeping the pair on my head for weekdays, divulging in fun Repo madness with friends without having to pick up a USB-C charging cable once.

Should you buy the Razer Barracuda V2 Pro headset?

This is the most premium Barracuda headset the line has seen so far, but nabbing all of those juicy high-end upgrades and its versatile ways comes at a $199.99 / £199.99 cost that not everyone is going to afford. Especially at a time when the hobby has already become an expensive minefield.

The thing is, that price point is pretty much what you can expect when it comes to gaming headsets of all shapes and sizes that incorporate both simultaneous wireless audio and ANC into the mix. The Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 3 also launched for $199.99 / £179.99 and had a similar simultaneous wireless and ANC combo. Whenever those features are key, you can expect to be paying upwards of $150 / £150, but you don't have to stick with it if you don't want to.

If you're just a fan of the V2 Pro's design and feel, the Barracuda X still remains a great multi-platform headset, and it's regularly found under $99.99 / £99.99. You'll have to forgo the dual wireless and noise-canceling, but it sports the same look and still sounds fantastic for its age. There's also the Barracuda X Chroma available for $129.99 / £129.99 if you love your RGB lighting.

If it's more of the premium trifecta of the dual wireless, ANC, and an impressive battery you're after, that's when the Barracuda V2 Pro feels hard to beat. Sure, alternatives like the aforementioned Stealth 700 exist with even an additional 10-hour battery life, but it's missing ANC. Meanwhile, my other go-to option, the Sony Inzone H9 II (which has dropped to a similar $200 price in recent sales) has the wireless and ANC covered but not the battery chops.

How I tested the Razer Barracuda V2 Pro headset

The Razer Barracuda V2 Pro became my one and only headset for two weeks, in order to see how it matched up against all other pairs I've tested to date. In that time, I used the wireless pair to play Counter-Strike 2, Marvel Rivals, and Disney Dreamlight Valley on the PC, while switching over to play Marvel Rivals, Doom Eternal, and Silent Hill Townfall on the PS5.

When I was in a gaming-on-the-go mode, I stuck the USB-C dongle into the Switch 2 and played everything from Marvel Kart World, Pokemon Pokopia, Donkey Kong Bananza, and Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave while taking breaks to watch Party Down on Netflix and catch up with some Halloween movie offerings, including Hocus Pocus on Disney+. The headset was also perched on my head as I listened to Wolf Alice, Florence Road and Troye Sivan via Spotify.

For more information on how we test gaming headsets, check out the full GamesRadar+ Hardware Policy.

Not a fan of the Barracuda V2 Pro? Check out our guides to the best PC headset for gaming, the best PS5 headset, and the best Xbox Series X headset for more options from Razer and our personally picked brands.

Ariadne in Cyberpunk 2077 will call you out of nowhere with the offer to become a brand ambassador for some clothing she's sent you, but it's not clear exactly what she wants and what she's hoping to get from out, nor how to progress with this secret quest. In fact, what you need to do is incredibly easy, and if you can do it, you'll get some money and some Witcher themed gear to wear around Cyberpunk 2077 as a reward!

Want some more help with the 2.5 update? Find out how to dual wield in Cyberpunk 2077, or all the best Cyberpunk 2077 mods you can now get on console!

What to do for Ariadne in Cyberpunk 2077

After Ariadne messages you in Cyberpunk 2077 to become a brand ambassador, all you need to do to complete her request is the following:

1. Head back to V's original apartment in Megabuilding H10.
2. By the front door, as you go in, you should see a new crate on the left (see above).
3. Inside are three pieces of clothing and two weapons. Equip all three pieces of clothing, including the sunglasses!
4. Once all the clothing is equipped, open your message chain with Ariadne again, and there should now be an option to "Take Picture".
5. This will open photo mode, though you don't actually have to take a picture, it will act like you did.
6. Ariadne will thank you for the picture.
7. Later on, Ariadne will contact you again telling you that your sponsorship deal is over. However, she will also send you 4300 EDs, and tell you that you can keep the clothes.

This marks the end of this unlabelled quest, but what's more important is that the clothing and weapons inside the chest are all easter eggs and references to The Witcher series, the other major gaming franchise by CD Projekt Red.

The full list of items Ariadne gives you is as follows:

• Ursine Jacket (Outer Torso): This coat shares some aesthetic similarities to the Ursine armor from the Witcher series, which was associated with the School of the Bear.
• Ursine Pants (Legs): Same as above.
• The Professor's Spectacles (Face): In The Witcher 3 DLC "Hearts of Stone", Geralt could acquire an identical set of sunglasses with the same name, which themselves were an easter egg referencing the movie "Leon The Professional".
• Sihil (Sword): A blade that does extra damage to drones, mechs and robots, as well as enemies affected by quickhacks. This is a fantasy-style sword that references a blade with an identical name in the Witcher novels.
• Boar Carver (Knife): A fantasy-style dagger. In The Witcher games, Geralt uses a similar blade to carve trophies from his kills.

© GamesRadar+. not to be reproduced without permission.

Hark, today is October 26, and that means it's Liberty Day, the greatest celebration in Helldivers 2. For democracy, etcetera and so forth. This year, players are getting a special gun, which would be nice if many can't play the game due to anti-cheat protections.

Arrowhead Game Studios has revealed the goodies you can avail of if you care about intergalactic justice. There are special decorations from your Super Destroyer, of course – what's a party without banners, branded rugs and other bits and pieces strewn across the vessel?

There's merch too, including a shirt, a plushie, and a replica medal. I'm choosing not to look at how much the t-shirt is because I need to stop buying them but I like the color. Anyway, the top addition will be the weapon: the AR-23L Liberator Legacy.

An old school gun, with a new school aesthetic. It'll be unlocked once Liberty Day ends, and to get it, you just need to complete the special missions that'll be going on. It's a daily with extra pizazz, and I've never had much trouble sorting out the checklist for this most democratic of days.

There are a number of minigames as well, but the fun is unfortunately being sucked out of this shindig because PC players aren't able to log in properly. Easy Anti Cheat is blocking people's access indiscriminately, bringing up an error message when they try and drop in.

The supposed protections were only added last week, and now many members of the community are stuck sitting around, waiting for a fix to roll out. "Turns out the freedom in freedom day is freedom to play something else I guess," comments a frustrated player on Reddit.

The thread is full of others who're just as annoyed. I'm always down to toast the glory of Super Earth, but it'd be nice if everyone could relish in the annual reminder of our battle against the insect and robot scourge.

Valve veteran says Steam is "overwhelmed with slop and AI crap" in Next Fest event, fears PC becoming more like mobile: "This is the thing that I'm worried about more than anything."

Updated Phantom Blade Zero PC system requirements affirm a 145GB install size, which is about on par with today's storage hogs (derogatory). The truly scary part is the 300GB that developer S-Game reserves for pre-loading and installing the dang thing.

In a recent Twitter post, S-Game shared Phantom Blade Zero's final PC specs along with a few scary words of advice – update your GPU drivers, install the game on an SSD, and so on. But then the hammer falls: "The game is approximately 145 GB. Please reserve at least 300 GB of free disk space for the pre-load process."

Even accounting for compression and install hurdles, 300GB is a terrifying volume of storage for a studio to recommend. The good news is that the other system requirements are pretty tame – 16GB of RAM, an Intel i5-10600k or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, and an Nvidia 3060 or equivalent are recommended for 1440p – and Phantom Blade Zero is worth a significant portion of your drive.

Our Phantom Blade Zero review calls this kung fu epic "a GOTY contender with combat that looks as good as it feels." We're in good company: Phantom Blade Zero's Metacritic score puts it ahead of Capcom's Onimusha: Way of the Sword and Koei Tecmo's Nioh 3, which are both fabulous new action games in their own right. Like many others, we reviewed the PC version of the game, so we can also confirm that it goes in the coveted 'good PC port' jar.

I was spared the review grind, so I'm only about 12 hours into Phantom Blade Zero myself, but I can already tell that it's going to rank highly on my own Game of the Year list. All of those hours were logged this weekend (on PS5, where it also runs well), and I was reluctant to put the game down come Sunday night. I was able to sample Phantom Blade Zero multiple times thanks to demo and developer interview appointments leading up to release, and I always had a good feeling about it. It's a relief that the full game is as good as I'd hoped, even if it does demand a harrowing percentage of your SSD.

The Golden Joystick Awards 2026 are open, so vote for your own Ultimate Game of the Year now.

The best games of 2026, so far.

Silent Hill Townfall director Jon McKellan says Konami did not let the dev team know about all of the other Silent Hill projects that were in the works concurrently.

After about a decade in the bin, with the wound of the Hideo Kojima-led Silent Hills being cancelled still fresh on the minds of horror fans, Konami decided it was back. This happened in a single stream announcing Silent Hill 2 Remake, Silent Hill f, Silent Hill: Townfall, and the duo of things we didn't know would be awful at the time – Silent Hill Ascension and Return to Silent Hill.

While the Bloober Team collab on Silent Hill 2 was long-rumored, the announcement of three other Silent Hill games (if you can call Ascension a game?) was a total shock for a franchise that had been as dead as whatever James Sunderland most recently bashed with a big stick.

Speaking at MCM London Comic Con (via VGC) McKellan – the founder of Screen Burn – revealed how he and the development team first found out that there were other Silent Hill games in the works alongside Townfall, saying, "We found out about a lot of those projects when everyone else did. When they announced them." He adds, "we were kind of kept in the dark, which was kind of exciting as a fan to not see behind the curtain too much."

Even after the cats were out of the bag, Konami didn't give the team much insight into what the others were doing either. McKellan says, "[Motoi] Okamoto-san, who's the series producer, was very keen to not let projects influence each other, and not compromise too much." Even without the knowledge of other games in development, if there was too much crossover, the Konami team would step in, he explains.

"They'd not necessarily tell us what it was, but just be like 'there's another thing that's doing something similar, so maybe veer off from that direction.'"

Despite Konami's wishes to keep the three games unique, McKellan stresses it wasn't a restrictive environment either, saying, "It wasn't like a Marvel phase where it would be like 'know your slot and stay within that.'" He adds, "We got to be very creatively free, just with the knowledge that Konami and the team there would step in if they felt they had to."

So what did get changed through this process? Not much from the sounds of things. "I think only once did we have a thing," McKellan explains, "they felt 'this is maybe a little too close, you may want to pivot and just go in a different option' for one of the enemy designs."

The '90s are a "perfect time for horror," says Silent Hill: Townfall dev who wants the game to make you feel technologically vulnerable.

We'll never know exactly what BioWare was going for in Mass Effect 5, since the studio's now been shut down by EA. A former lead on the sci-fi RPG has spoken about the ideas at play, especially concerning the title, Mass Effect: Universe, and I'm not sure I want to hear any more because it just makes the disappointment worse.

After it was announced that BioWare was closed, a trailer leaked online for Mass Effect: Universe, which has since been confirmed as the actual fifth installment. The collective fandom is now a-flurry with questions about the aspirations and ideas behind this brave new frontier, and Romain Toutain, ex-technical director on the franchise, has shed some light on them in a livestream on Twitch.

His comments were made in French, but a Bluesky user was able to translate portions and put subtitles on a clip. There were a number of insights, but the biggest and most fascinating was the reason behind the title – you had the power to create and manipulate timelines in the game to some extent.

So earlier, my brother was watching Octobinz (Romain Toutain)'s livestream on Twitch. He was the Technical Director on Mass Effect Universe, so I wanted to share some bits he discussed.As he speaks french, I added subtitles to make it more accessible for everyone!#MassEffect #MassEffectUniverse

— @loustica-lucia.bsky.social (@loustica-lucia.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-10-26T14:59:37.491Z

"One of the reasons why it was called Mass Effect: Universe is that you had so many choices that you could plug your saves together to create parallel universes," he says. "To keep it simple. It's not exactly how it worked. You had different timelines, basically."

He adds players would've had the ability to "almost generate timelines," similar to Zero Time Dilemma. That's a relatively obscure puzzler from Spike Chunsoft where you play through missions in a non-linear fashion and the characters lose their memories every 90 minutes.

I get the impression BioWare was dancing with a multiverse of some kind, but not to the extent of Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart where you could jump between realities. Knowing BioWare, it would've been more existential and grandiose, and possibly going the Starfield route where every endgame is technically an alternate timeline.

Toutain confirms previously reported details, such as hand-to-hand combat and a customizable main character. "All the choices made in the first Mass Effect games were taken into account," he mentions, suggesting Universe would've explored every possible way you could screw up the original trilogy.

I would very much like to play this game, if only to see how things could've been if Mordin didn't – well, you know. Somewhere out there is a dimension where we get Mass Effect: Universe. I hope the me that lives there knows how good he has it.

"EA never actually sells anything," former Mass Effect 5 dev says – so don't expect the RPG to be saved as "they just shut things down and sit on their licenses."

With these Dragon Generations codes, you can help to reshape or improve your current character, so you can perfect it exactly the way you want to. As an RPG adventure based on Dragon Ball, you'll be tasked with hunting down Dragon Balls as you complete other quests for NPCs.

In order to reach further locations and complete more challenges quests, you'll need to level up your character in the Roblox RPG, spending Mastery Points on different skills, whichever race you choose to play. That's where these codes come in handy.

If you're looking for rewards with a wider use across all of your experiences, then we've got all of the details on the current Roblox promo codes.

All Dragon Generations codes

These are the Dragon Generations codes you can redeem right now:

• MAJINRESET - Path Progress reset (Majins)
• BOJACK - Path Progress reset (Bojacks)
• BadBalancingSorry - 50x Mastery Points
• onemoredelayLDevs - Stat Reset

As you can see from the current Dragon Generations codes, these promos grant a range of rewards, all of which revolve around character creation. Whether it's a stat reset you're after or a few more Mastery Points, these promos are what you need.

How to redeem Dragon Generations codes

To redeem Dragon Generations codes, first open the Menu on the left-hand side of the screen. Next, click on the menu button two up from the bottom, indicated by four dots. Scroll to the bottom of this menu to find the Codes button, click this to open the codes redemption box, enter a code as it appears above, then click anywhere outside of the box to redeem your code.

Keep in mind that Dragon Generations codes are case-sensitive, so you must enter codes as you see them in our list, or simply copy and paste them to be sure.

Expired Dragon Generations codes

• PATHSPART2CCPLS - Character Redesign

Dragon Generations codes expire after some time, so be sure to redeem promos as soon as you see them to avoid missing out. When codes do expire, I'll move them down here so you're not disappointed.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Alix Wilton Regan, aka Lara Croft in Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis and Tomb Raider Catalyst, and most recent guest on our G+RLS podcast, will be the host for the Golden Joystick Awards 2026.

Alix will be joined by guest presenters from across the gaming industry when the event happens on November 11, which is both an in-person event and live streamed across YouTube, Twitch and X, as well as Future Games Show, PC Gamer, and of course right here on GamesRadar+.

"I’m absolutely thrilled to be your host," said Alix. "We’re celebrating the greatest games of the past 12 months - and, more importantly, the incredibly talented teams who made them happen. The people who put in thousands of hours creating virtual worlds for us to get hopelessly lost in. Get ready for an evening of special guests, spectacular games and plenty of silly jokes. If you haven’t cast your vote yet, now’s the time to vote for your Ultimate Game of the Year. See you on November 11th when we will unveil your winners!'

Which is excellently timed, Alix, because the vote for the Ultimate Game of the Year category just went live!

The nominees for Ultimate Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards 2026 are...

• 007 First Light
• Big Walk
• CONTROL Resonant
• Crimson Desert
• Dispatch
• Forza Horizon 6
• Phantom Blade Zero
• Pokémon Pokopia
• PRAGMATA
• Resident Evil Requiem
• STAR WARS: Galactic Racer
• The Blood of Dawnwalker

The voting for the Ultimate Game of the Year for the Golden Joystick Awards 2026 will run until 5pm PT / 8pm ET / midnight GMT on Friday, October 30, 2026, so you've only got a few days to decide which of these games is your number one this year.

"This year’s shortlist offers a fascinating cross-section of our industry in 2026, with the work of small teams of indie developers sitting shoulder to shoulder with titanic gaming franchises like Pokémon and Resident Evil, as well as huge IPs like STAR WARS and James Bond," adds Daniel Dawkins, Content Director on the Golden Joystick Awards. "The Golden Joystick Awards are the only games awards show chosen by the players - and we can’t wait to see who the public vote for as their Ultimate Game of the Year."

Owlcat Games, the developer of Mass Effect-inspired RPG The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, has joined the calls to save Mass Effect.

Last week it was announced that BioWare is closing down and development on the next Mass Effect game is cancelled. This was followed by the leak of a trailer for a game titled Mass Effect Universe. Naturally, binning off one of the most beloved RPG series of all time has caused outcry from fans, with a petition campaign to save the franchise currently sitting at over 210,000 signatures.

In a post on Twitter, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn account shared a fan petition to save Mass Effect, noting that, "The Expanse show was saved by fans in the past. So the #SaveMassEffect movement has our full support."

The Expanse debuted on Syfy in 2015, but after its cancellation and massive fan outcry, the series was subsequently picked up by Amazon Prime Video for its final three seasons.

Unfortunately, Romain Toutain – who served as technical director for Mass Effect 5 – isn't too confident about the campaign. Toutain recently said he believes it's unlikely that a revival will come to pass, saying, "EA never actually sells anything" and "they just shut things down and sit on their licenses."

This has been seen before with the likes of American McGee's Alice series, with the former Doom developer saying EA has "no desire to see the Alice franchise continued." Which is to say nothing of the landfill of dead EA franchises – which, at the very best, get a remaster or mobile spinoff nobody wants – like Command and Conquer, Dungeon Keeper, Burnout, Dead Space… the list goes on.

Mass Effect 5 lead says outpouring of support following BioWare closure "means so much to us," but is looking on the bright side: "At least I don't have to call in sick when GTA 6 comes out"

Mass Effect fans got horrible news last week with the announcement of BioWare's closure as well as the cancellation of Mass Effect 5 – or, as it apparently would have been called, Mass Effect Universe. And just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, one former dev now suggests that EA isn't likely to sell the project to another studio to finish it off, either.

The next Mass Effect game was revealed in 2020, and in the years since, we have learned very little about it. That was until shortly after BioWare's closure, when an apparent trailer for a game titled Mass Effect Universe was posted online and looked, upsettingly, good.

Romain Toutain served as franchise technical director for Mass Effect at BioWare since early 2022, and in a recent Twitch stream reacting to this trailer – which he describes as an internal trailer rather than one we were ever meant to see – he responds to a fan asking if EA could have sold the studio and its project in order to save them (translated by Bluesky user loustica-lucia and verified using machine translation).

"But EA never actually sells anything," he replies. "They just shut things down and sit on their licenses."

So earlier, my brother was watching Octobinz (Romain Toutain)'s livestream on Twitch. He was the Technical Director on Mass Effect Universe, so I wanted to share some bits he discussed.As he speaks french, I added subtitles to make it more accessible for everyone!#MassEffect #MassEffectUniverse

— @loustica-lucia.bsky.social (@loustica-lucia.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-10-26T12:46:10.178Z

The publisher's apparent reluctance to sell any of its IP is something that former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah previously acknowledged after plans for its $55 billion acquisition were first announced last year. At the time, he suggested that this was "in large part because the individuals who would be responsible for making those decisions, for looking for those opportunities, are actually incentivized to not take risks. They are incentivized to not be the person who sold an IP that then turned into a billion-dollar franchise."

Even so, he suggested at the time that EA might look to its "huge repository of dormant IPs" and consider selling them to help with the enormous debt it's taken on as part of the acquisition.

"You might even see them toying with the idea of shutting some of their existing studios. Maybe they shut them down, but maybe they look for opportunities to sell off entire studios or entire groups," he said.

Now, following BioWare's closure, he suggests that Mass Effect and Dragon Age's fate could go either way. With no one working on the series within EA, that "might make them more likely to sell off those IPs," but equally, "it might also make them more likely to try to forget that they ever existed and bury them in the vault," he says.

None of this is stopping the Mass Effect fanbase's determination to save the series, though. A petition has now surpassed 200,000 signatures, and the actors who played Commander Shepard, Jennifer Hale and Mark Meer, have both publicly expressed their support.

Mass Effect 5 lead says outpouring of support following BioWare closure "means so much to us," but is looking on the bright side: "At least I don't have to call in sick when GTA 6 comes out."

Alix Wilton Regan discussed the realities of filming high-octane action scenes as Lara Croft for Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis during her menstrual cycle.

Speaking as a guest on the GamesRadar G+RLS podcast, Alix addressed the confidence required to play the iconic hero while wearing skin-tight motion capture catsuits, shifting the conversation to a topic rarely, if ever, discussed by action stars in the gaming space: menstruation.

"Occasionally I’m on my period the week that we film," she shared candidly. "And you know, that’s okay. And then I was thinking about it and I was like, my God, of all of Lara's adventures, if we imagine her as a real woman. She’s also been on her period at points."

The Cyberpunk 2077 and Dragon Age actor didn't mince words regarding the awkwardness that often meets the subject in professional settings, pushing back directly against the stigma. "You can just imagine people going like, 'don't say the P-word.' And I’m like, well, guys, it's a natural bodily function of being a woman. It's what has gifted you humanity. So the correct answer is thank you."

She explained that at the times when her cycle leaves her feeling less than her best, she relies on physical anchors to tap into Lara’s legendary swagger. "On weeks where you do feel like, 'I'm on my period, or I'm not as confident, or I'm not feeling as sassy or as cool,' it's just something about Lara that gets you there.”

Lara's iconic weaponry certainly helps. “You put those dual pistols on, because on the PCAP stage, I get to put the holster on. And instantly you feel confident and you feel really grounded, which is why I ask for it in scenes, even when I'm not using it, because it adds weight and bulk to your thighs. So it lowers your center of gravity, which just kind of roots you to the earth, and it does make you feel more confident. It just makes me feel stronger, you know?"

Join us for a new episode of G+RLS every other Friday and let us know what you'd love to hear us talking about. We're available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Deezer, and Amazon Music.

Stop us if you've heard this before, but No Man's Sky and Hello Games lead Sean Murrary is yet again posting cryptic emojis online with zero context or explanation – cryptic emojis that have notably always led to updates in the past.

Remember the cocktail emojis that had folks buzzing about the Cosmos update a few months back? Or, how about how Murray teased the Remnant patch, which launched with a Garry's Mod-style gravity gun in February, with hi-vis vest emojis?

And you can't forget the stadium emojis, which were teasing the big Xeno Arena additions, or the The Swarm update, which was hinted at via bee emojis and nothing else. It's a pattern, to say the least. Now, Murray is back with more, having just left a post with naught more than a decaying rose emoji – you know the one – over on Twitter.

The Hello Games boss has put the same emoji up on Facebook and other social media platforms, meaning that this probably isn't a drill and is, much like past vague emoji-posting, some sort of mysterious teaser about… well, something. There's no telling just what it could be pointing toward, however.

Comments see folks speculating about seasons on planets, spooky expeditions, and, perhaps most amusingly, the death of No Man's Sky to finally make way for Light No Fire (probably not happening, y'all, sorry).

As one fan jests, "Hey Sean… So when can I get some Light No Fire news?" Others are simply mindblown at the prospect of yet another No Man's Sky update, considering how many we've witnessed this year alone.

There's also the fact that we just got the mobile launch of the space game, which was a bit mind-blowing in itself, seeing as Hello Games had to somehow manage to compress No Man's Sky into less than 5GB.

It's clear to me that these developers are always hard at work on one thing or another (even if the one thing we want most, ahem, Light No Fire, is being kept tightly under wraps for the time being, sadly).

I'd wager we'll see a few – or more – decaying rose emojis from Murray and Hello Games later today before we finally learn what they're supposed to be teasing, so I'd advise keeping a close eye on their official social media channels.

"If people weren't playing No Man's Sky, I don't think we would want to do updates," says Sean Murray, but he'd probably try to sneak in more content years later anyway.

Wuxia action RPG Phantom Blade Zero's Metacritic score has the game looking likely to be one worth adding to your backlog's ever-growing list of 2026 bangers.

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but there's been a lot of good games this year. And while the early months were filled with some pretty substantial hits like Mewgenics, Resident Evil Requiem, Pragmata, and Pokemon Pokopia, the last couple of months have been non-stop thanks to the impending GTA 6 launch leading developers to drop everything as soon as possible.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, and Star Wars: Galactic Racer all dropped within a month of each other; and I'm both happy and sad to announce it looks like another banger has dropped into the backlog.

Phantom Blade Zero's Metacritic score has debuted at 88, which places it at 21 in the overall top games of 2026 list – although that top 20 is also filled with Switch 2 ports like Elden Ring, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and the Resident Evil Remake trilogy, as well as some DLC, so in reality it's closer to 13th. Meanwhile on OpenCritic, the game sits at a 91, tying it with Forza Horizon 6 and Mina the Hollower as the second-highest rated game of the year behind Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter remake.

This score also has it beat out Nioh 3 (86) and Onimusha: Way of the Sword (85), making it the top dog of sword fighting this year – at least as far as review scores go, it'll have to be something special to beat Onimusha in my eyes.

In the GamesRadar+ Phantom Blade Zero review, freelance writer Luke Kemp gives the game four-and-a-half stars out of five, saying, "With fights that feel great and flow smoothly, Phantom Blade Zero proves itself as one of the best action-adventures of the year." Elsewhere the game received full marks from the likes of TheGamer, But Why Tho, and PCGamesN, with only two reviews being dubbed "Mixed" by Metacritic's standards.

PlayStation killing discs is bad for everyone, whether you care about physical games or not.

Cyberpunk 2077 is soaring the charts on Steam once again after a good three years thanks to a healthy mix of update 2.5, the second season of Edgerunners, and a whopping 70% off sale to boot – and CD Projekt Red has noticed.

With Cyberpunk 2 still underway, it's nice to see the original RPG continue to get love from fans and developers alike.

The recent 2.5 update introduced everything from a new quest as a prequel for Edgerunners 2 to support for, erm, adult mods on consoles, for example, proving that the game is very much active in both players' minds and CD Projekt Red's own.

The big patch (and second season of the Netflix series) has brought folks back to Night City, too.

A quick look over at SteamDB shows that, over the weekend, Cyberpunk 2077 hit a peak player count of 187,215 – its highest since October 2023, when it reached 274,526 after the release of its massive Phantom Liberty DLC and 2.0 update.

It's not all that surprising, then, to witness a similar spike following 2.5 now and all of its additions, and, of course, the Netflix series' new season, which dropped last week.

This isn't the first time the animated television show has helped boost the RPG's players, either – heck, way back in 2022, the same happened with the first season of Edgerunners. It probably also helps that the game's got a nice 70% discount on Steam currently.

What is especially notable, however, is CD Projekt Red's response. Over on X, Cyberpunk 2 associate director Paweł Sasko highlights the new rise in players.

"It's been hell of a weekend," he writes. "Peak of 187k concurrent players on Steam alone, a lot of hilarious threads and meme clips, it all fills my heart with joy."

He then looks to what more CD Projekt Red could do to make Cyberpunk 2077 even better after all these years: "Chooms, give us feedback, what we can improve, where we have missed the mark with 2.5? Your perception is everything." Talk about dedication.

Comments see fans commending the devs for their hard work (and, unsurprisingly, asking for more expansions and other additions) – but I'm honestly personally just looking forward to hearing more about Cyberpunk 2… whenever that may come.

CD Projekt Red has "hired so many modders" that Cyberpunk 2 co-lead says "I think half of the quest team is all former modders"

Final Fantasy Resonance has gotten off to an excellent start on Steam, with Square Enix's first HD-2D game in the series now also the franchise's most popular single-player game based on its concurrent player peak on the platform.

Shortly after its launch, Final Fantasy Resonance reached a Steam peak just short of 28,000 concurrent players – a number that made it Square Enix's second-largest launch for a turn-based RPG on the platform behind Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake. However, that peak has now grown even more – yesterday, according to SteamDB, Final Fantasy Resonance hit 42,885 concurrent Steam players, which is a huge deal for a Final Fantasy game.

That's because it just barely beat Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth for the largest concurrent Steam player peak among the series' single-player games. The second installment in the FF7 remake trilogy hit a peak of 40,564 back when it launched.

Of course, the big difference there is that Rebirth arrived on PC almost a year after its PS5 launch, so many of the most hyped players would likely have already played it by the time it broke free of its console exclusivity. Resonance, on the other hand, launched simultaneously across PC and consoles, so it could take full advantage of that initial wave of hype on Steam.

You probably won't be surprised to hear that it's not the single most-played Final Fantasy game on Steam either, thanks to a certain critically acclaimed MMORPG. Final Fantasy 14 more than doubled Resonance's Steam peak almost five years ago when it hit 95,150 concurrent players around the Endwalker expansion's release, but obviously, it'd never be fair to compare an MMO and single-player game's player counts in the first place, so this is still a notable achievement for Resonance.

Despite its success, though, I suspect this won't be a record Resonance is going to hang onto forever. Next April will see the release of the third and final part of the FF7 remake trilogy in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, which will also be releasing simultaneously across PC and consoles. Considering the hype that's built up for that, I'd be surprised if it wasn't able to snatch Resonance's crown.

"Too good to become unplayable": Final Fantasy Resonance exists because a JRPG veteran was "frustrated" players ignored their game the first time.

Phantom Blade Zero is not a Soulslike. This needs to be the first thing that I tell you, because you need to wipe away any such preconceptions in order to fully appreciate what it is (and is not) doing. The intricate combat and hostile land come instead from wuxia storytelling traditions, and a supernatural martial arts world that can be traced back to the director's first game Rainblood: Town of Death. While "very, very good" is not a genre, it's certainly an accurate description of this game.

Following the events of a prologue I'm not allowed to tell you about, our hero Soul is left with just 66 days to live. This doesn't mean a Dead Rising style time limit – in-game time only passes after specific story beats – but it does mean that anybody feeling particularly brave can opt for a hardcore difficulty that wipes your progress after 66 deaths. That could potentially mean losing dozens of hours of play, so if you opt for that, consider yourself warned.

Developer S-Game is keen to celebrate what it calls a "kungfupunk" aesthetic. It's an appropriate turn of phrase. As I explore the Phantom Realm, meeting new people and chopping them up, I find characters and locations that subtly fuse nature, supernatural horror, Chinese history and mythology, and a hint of the modern world. I fight faceless warriors wielding blades, phantoms playing pipas, deformed monstrosities that could never be mistaken for human, and much more. All this across locations including cliffs, a lake, fields, villages, caverns, and a lavish estate.

Phantom Hiddelston

Combat is at the heart of it all. And what combat! Every time I start a fight – which happens a lot – it's with a smile on my face. Every clash is a deadly dance between my opponent and I, and we both look like masters of the craft. Together, we weave graceful tapestries of blocks, swing, parries, lunges, dodges, and violently flamboyant strikes. Avoid button-bashing (which will usually see you punished anyway), and Phantom Blade Zero offers that rarest of things; combat that looks as good as it feels.

Visually, the combat owes much to S-Game's commitment to motion capture, including a number of martial artists. Hong Kong movie legend Donnie Yen (who you may know from the Ip Man series, or as Caine in John Wick: Chapter 4) is credited as Creative Consultant, and he even took part in some motion capture himself. It's not all relentless flailing, either, as enemies (particularly some of the tougher bosses) will sometimes size you up or wait for you to approach before striking.

Scraping away the impressive visual flourishes, I still manage to find one of the best combat systems I've come across in a long time. From the first few fights right up until the final boss, I sometimes catch myself thinking this just works so damn well. Yes there are parries, yes there are unblockable red-flash attacks, and yes weapons are upgradeable; but it doesn't quite feel like anything else in the best possible way. I block a series of attacks from a boss, yet can still get in a few hits of my own before they're finished. Failing a parry or a dodge, I'm punished ruthlessly. Next time, I just… stay out of range, then dive in with fists full of vengeance. Too often in other games, that's not even an option.

Then there are the weapons themselves, another stroke of genius. There are a total of 30 regular ones, most of which are entirely missable in the expansive world. Each and every one has some kind of unique trait, and gains even more as they level up (you equip two weapons at a time, switching between them instantly refilling the Sha-Chi depleted by blocking and strong attacks). An early one I stick with for over a dozen hours builds up bleed status in human enemies, while another comes with a jug of booze to induce Tipsy and Drunk states (don't drink and dice, kids). Some excel at breaking through shields, others can counter enemy attacks, and not a single one is a match for any other.

Then there are the many Phantom Edges to find and use, limited-use weapons that might do anything from strike enemies from a distance to temporarily summon minions to your side. A small number feed into the light brush of Metroidvania to the experience, in that they can (without cost) be used to traverse or open up new routes in the world. On rare occasions this will be compulsory to advance the story, but usually, it simply allows me to sate my curiosity for a previously inaccessible area.

Finding where to use my new blocker-cracking goodies is nice and simple, as relevant areas are marked on the map automatically; and turn a pleasant shade of green when you have the corresponding Phantom Edge. In fact, despite the often challenging combat, Phantom Blade Zero does a lot to smooth your progress. Save/respawn points are (usually) placed very generously, medicines are refilled each time you come back to life, and – this is a biggie, and may prove a point of contention for some – enemies almost never respawn. Like I said, it's important to remember that this isn't a Soulslike.

Although Phantom Blade Zero has a huge map with multiple regions, it doesn't quite feel right to call it open world. For one thing, it's tightly designed and tightly paced, with almost no wasted space. Whenever I uncover a new area or decide to wander off the obvious path, there's always something to find (usually including something, or several somethings, that want me dead).

The main story drives me forward, with no doing laps of the same area or regular backtracking to well-worn paths. Nonetheless, I find exploring irresistible, and make a habit of wandering down routes that lead away from my next objective. I'm regularly rewarded for doing so. There's some traditional "collect four X to increase your Y", and in addition to this, the more I explore the more weapon upgrade materials I find. I stumble on many hidden bosses this way, too, laying my hands on powerful weapons I would have otherwise missed. Curiosity is, quite literally, good for my Soul.

I find the combat fantastic, exploration compelling, and the storytelling… inconsistent. There's quite a lot of it. There's in-game dialogue, traditional cutscenes, and a few more experimental approaches that I heartily applaud. There are also seemingly hundreds of notes scattered about all over the place, which I'm less a fan of. I'm usually happy to read in-game text, but there are far too many bits and pieces here, especially for an action game. I quickly adopt a habit of picking them up and then instantly exiting the text screen.

Bloke Zero

The worst offenders, for me, are the Memory Flowers. These contain some of the most crucial story details and are, in addition, tied into HP increases and unlocking some of the more powerful character skills. Whenever I Interact with one, Soul stands perfectly still, staring down at a blue flower while voices play in his head for a few minutes. I have the option of skipping through lines at least, but I stubbornly refuse. Doesn't that kind of defeat the point?

The storytelling ranges from the great to the weak, and while it's mostly pretty straightforward, some of it goes over my head a bit. It's more of a minor annoyance than anything else though, and so it says something that this is my greatest criticism of the game. I do run into a few bugs – two boss fights see me getting stuck on the scenery, resulting in me taking unavoidable damage which makes me say very naughty words – but these are relatively small ones that can and, hopefully, will be patched out on or shortly after launch.

After 30-35 hours, I reach the final boss and – eventually – emerge victorious. Of course I do. Look at how much I've buffed up Soul and his weapons! After all that time, and a great deal of chasing down sidequests and digging out secrets, I am rewarded with what is very definitively the Bad Ending. It's abrupt, and unsatisfying on a few different levels. Nonetheless, I'm surprised to find that I'm not too bothered. There's so much of the map I have yet to explore – including an entire region – I immediately dive back in, eager to see what I'll find next.

One of the things I find is that some secret bosses crucial to the True Ending represent a stratospheric difficulty increase. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this. I was doing so well up until then! But in the end, I decide I'm OK with it. After all, there's so much still to see and do, and I can't wait to see and do it.

Phantom Blade Zero was reviewed on PC, with a code provided by the publisher.

In the week since BioWare's sudden shutdown and Mass Effect 5's cancellation, fans of the RPG series have rallied around a petition to "Save Mass Effect" that's gained nearly 200,000 signatures. Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale (who voice the male and female versions of protagonist Commander Shepard, respectively) are both on board with the community's efforts, too.

"Mass Effect holds a special place in the hearts of millions of players worldwide," the petition's description reads. "Its rich and immersive sci-fi universe, with Commander Shepard leading the iconic crew aboard the Normandy, has captivated gamers for years. However, recent revelations have cast a shadow over its future. The decline in dedicated resources and ambiguous development plans from Electronic Arts (EA) threaten to leave this beloved series at a standstill, jeopardizing its incredible legacy."

The petition doesn't call for publisher EA to reverse course on BioWare's fate, specifically, but asks the company to take "decisive action by committing to continued development of Mass Effect" with "proper funding, adequate staffing, and time allocation to maintain and advance the high standards the franchise is known for."

Should EA be unwilling to spend millions producing another new Mass Effect - separate from the leaked Mass Effect Universe - the petition suggests the publisher could instead license the franchise "to another studio that shares the passion and vision to keep it alive and allow it to flourish anew."

"Both solutions offer a way forward. By ensuring the ongoing expansion and enhancement of the Mass Effect universe, EA would not only preserve a cherished piece of gaming history but also continue to contribute to the cultural and emotional impact it has on gamers worldwide," the petition continues.

Famed FemShep actor Jennifer Hale jumped online to say she wants to think about a world in which a fan Kickstarter campaign, a game studio, and a group of investors could work together to restore the series. Matt Meer posted a similar video, asking people to "hold the line" and "save Mass Effect" – before encouraging fans to also sign the petition.

Mass Effect Universe supposedly featured "Hitman-style freedom" and a "galactic Cold War," according to BioWare insider

Vorp! With a simple sci-fi sound effect, BioWare tore apart the gleaming hull of the Normandy SR-1, scattered a great deal of what came before to the void, and split its burgeoning action-RPG series clean in two. Save files from 2007's Mass Effect might have brought with them an XP bonus or credit dump as well as the player's established continuity, but rarely before or since has the reset button been pressed so swiftly, or so heart-wrenchingly.

It was exactly what the series needed. One-time Xbox 360 exclusive Mass Effect had been a bright spot of promise for the console, buffed to a lens-flare-spilling sheen by being billed as a franchise that would move beyond binary morality and deliver a meaningful, ongoing space opera – one that wasn't Star Wars for a change. (Many studios now promise episodic gaming, but BioWare was crafting series-spanning narrative arcs long before that buzz-phrase was coined.) The opening part of the trilogy was certainly grandiose and epic in scope, yet somehow austere, a feeling compounded by a glut of anodyne shootouts and awkward driving filling the time away from its much-admired conversation wheel. It wasn't Star Wars, but nor had it found an identity among all its copious lore. As a concept piece, a pilot, it was tantalising enough, but more of the same would not do, especially when the world was then drowning in third-person cover shooters thanks to 2006's punchy, hyperviolent Gears of War.

Oh the horrors

And so millions watched the SR-1's malady in horror, took brief control of malleable returning protagonist Commander Shepard for a spot of eye-searingly beautiful Dead Space homage heroism, and then shaped a 4-billion-credit rebirth. This wasn't just a sequel, it was a reinvention, and BioWare made sure everyone knew it.

Even if the point hadn't been hammered home, returning players would have noticed from Shepard's first woozy steps across a Cerberus lab. The Commander, once stately and tank-like under the sticks, now moved with a fluidity uncommon in the recently deceased, sliding into cover across Teflon floors on Vaseline-smothered boots. Even your starting pistol could dominate early combat spaces with a snap, crackle, and mechhead pop that flash-vaporised expectations of another 20-plus hours of drab, feedbacklight gunplay.

But the real revelation would come when you fired up the power wheel for the first time and unleashed one of the new biotic or tech abilities. Mass Effect's array of buffs, debuffs, and crowd-control powers had hewed close to BioWare's RPG roots, though yoinking enemies out of cover and into the path of a sniper rifle was quite the trick in 2007. The sight of Shepard dashing across no man's land in a haze of roiling blue fire to explode into the enemy and shove a shotgun up their nostrils, however, promised a very different kind of combat interstitial between conversations. If Mass Effect games were Luc Besson movies, the original had been Lucy, all big ideas but little convincing peril, and 2 was The Fifth Element: an intergalactic excuse for daft, glorious carnage.

Daft, not stupid. Players didn't even have to wait for the introduction of creepy new Reaper lackeys, the Collectors, before they started having to manage enemy damage, with a separate bar each for tracking shields, barriers, armour and health. Of all the combat system's renovations, this was perhaps the most crucial, a gentle subversion of the RPG's long-in-the-tooth type-based attacks that meant the series could jettison the notion of a tough fight as one where health bars are hidden behind multiple blocks of blue shield and bullet-sponge powers. Mass Effect 2 wouldn't ask you to face ice monsters that were weak to fire, but shields did melt away under the sustained pressure of an SMG, while biotic power Reave stopped health regenerating so you could put down tough organics such as the Krogan or nightmare-imp newcomers, the Vorcha. And you'd have to control space as well as damage output, since enemies were as aggressive as you, flanking, setting up kill boxes, invading your personal space or flushing you out with flamethrowers.

BioWare could afford to bury the needle north of hectic, because any Shepard, regardless of gender or class, had a secret superpower: the ability to freeze time. While others have made entire games out of frozen moments, here they elegantly and invisibly support tactical play, as you let the stale air in your lungs seep from your lips, read the situation, and adapt. Yes, Shepard may have been able to make enemies hilariously pinwheel in slow motion through the air, then biotically dash them to oblivion – kudos to whoever worked out how to really get some use out of Unreal Engine 3's physics simulations – but on the higher difficulties, Mass Effect 2 became as much the thinking man's cover shooter as a heady power fantasy.

Whizz bang pop

The shooting brought the game in line with the best of its peers, but the series' newfound sense of personal drama is what makes it unforgettable today. BioWare's genius was to add a generous extra glug of soap opera to its po-faced space opera mix, producing something all its own as a result. Where else in games can you assemble a team that consists of a dying part-monk, part-hitman seeking absolution in your noble suicide mission, a none-too-stable tatted-up psychopath who looks like Natalie Portman circa V for Vendetta, and an unflappable sentient machine construct housing 1,183 digital minds, much less bicker with or seduce half that crew? You may have to put the old band back together, but damn if you haven't pulled in an orchestra's worth of exotic new instruments along the way.

Indeed, the reason Mass Effect 2 still stands as the high point of the series is that it is fundamentally a game about people, not concepts. Every Shepard is different, and so will their interactions be, but those are simply the filling between layers of rich character drama. Every principal cast member has something to say. Miranda has to deal with the pressures of being engineered for perfection, putting up an all-too-human wall of ice after years of dealing with a pushy father. Garrus and damp squib Jacob are takes on feeling ineffective in their work, though the former gets a chewy revenge subplot, too. The list is too long to recount here, and loyalty missions double down on the character development – success in the final act, where the entire galaxy is threatened, is dependent on solving personal crises, changing inner universes.

Forget fetch quests, strip mining and moon caches – helping Jack get some closure after her time as Subject Zero at the hands of Cerberus felt like it mattered. It is these stories, these little moments of pathos and reconciliation, where BioWare finally grounds its big questions about life. Gradually, you begin to feel as if it might be a tragedy to lose this universe, this diversity of damaged characters trying to find their way in the uncaring vacuum, to the Reapers. In providing robust inner lives for its alien-packed cast, BioWare finally found the window on humanity it had been seeking.

Shepard's uneasy alliance with Cerberus is the smouldering fuse that regularly threatens to detonate all of these volatile personalities, but it is also an excuse to let the player deviate from the virtuous Paragon path if they so wish. Anecdotal evidence suggests that when given the choice, many will opt for video game good over video game evil. But so often in games, the evil path is simply the stupid one where you act like a dick to others for no good reason. Human civilisation is founded on social imperatives, so it's little surprise many struggle to shrug off their conditioning without incentive. By casting Shepard not as the white knight of humanity trying to earn our place in the stars but as an agent of a pro-human terrorist group that cares more about results than ramifications, the Renegade options finally made a little more narrative sense.

Which isn't to say Mass Effect 2 delivered nuanced morality – that takes more tallying up good and bad actions on separate scales – but it did at least make roleplaying meatier. Would you taser an engineer to sabotage the gunship of a telegraphed later boss to make the fight easier? Or are you the sort of person who leaps in to defend a Quarian from racial harassment at the hands of a pompous Volus and a bent cop? You might feasibly be both, assuming you're not gaming the system to max out one type of conversation-wheel option. Getting the player involved in everyday strife as well as world-ending crises lent the series an intimacy it had lacked. Anyone can be a hero when the only criterion is that all the bad men are dead at the end, but how you played Mass Effect 2 had the power to say something about you as a person.

It's easy to forget, in the wake of Mass Effect 3's reductionistic endings, how much Mass Effect 2 felt like a realisation of the series' promise to respect your choices. Entire missions winked into existence or out of it based on your Mass Effect playthrough, old faces appeared in unexpected places, and you could alter the texture of the galaxy, even if the artifice involved meant the core structure had to be much the same. To replay Mass Effect 2 now is not just a chance to pursue new combat options and morality; it is a reminder of what the most ambitious ongoing saga in video games set out to achieve, and how choice-centred the universe it provided was, even when it fell short.

Perhaps most importantly, it is proof that just because something's a sequel, that doesn't mean it can't be a total reinvention, at least given a studio at the height of its powers and a silly sound effect.

This Mass Effect 2 article was first published in issue 273 of Edge Magazine. To get more like this delivered straight to your doorstep (or digital device) consider subscribing to Edge.

A24 and Alex Garland's Elden Ring movie is supposedly the studio's most expensive production of all time with a reported budget of $200 million. FromSoftware's RPG adaptation ain't cheap.

The figure comes courtesy of a recent Wall Street Journal report that states A24 is spending "nearly $200 million" to adapt the landmark dark fantasy game, not including marketing costs, according to sources in the know. Earlier in the year, the reported figure was closer to $100 million - still A24's biggest movie at the time.

A $200 million budget would make Elden Ring far and away the studio's priciest feature yet. To put things into perspective, the arthouse company reportedly spent around $70 million on last year's Marty Supreme, starring Timothee Chalamet, which was previously its most expensive big screen flick. Before that, Alex Garland's Civil War carried a $50 million price tag.

A24 is essentially dropping blockbuster cash on one of its first major blockbuster bets - at $200 million, the cost of adapting Elden Ring is closer to the budget the Marvel Cinematic Universe normally plays around with.

But it's not necessarily a hugely risky bet. Elden Ring is one of the generation's most popular and defining games - analyst Rhys Elliott recently reported the game of the year winner had sold over 36 million copies, bringing in more than $2 billion in revenue. There's no guarantee that the Elden Ring movie can repeat the game's success - it still needs to be good first - but the name awareness could definitely help it become a box office hit.

The Elden Ring movie hits theatres on March 3, 2028. Kit Connor (Heartstopper) and Cailee Spaeny (Beef, Alien: Romulus) are starring in the fantasy picture, which wrapped filming earlier this summer. George R.R. Martin is on board as a producer after helping FromSoftware create the game's lore.

"The biggest L From Soft has taken in a long time": Emergency Elden Ring patch stops players from getting the new $5 DLC items for free

In 2009, GTA 6 developer Rockstar Games revealed a totally new series to the public: Agent, an open-world stealth romp set during the 1970s' Cold War that was due to be exclusive to the PS3. Agent never came to be, but Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser says it wasn't for a lack of trying.

After a series of years-long rumors and teases, Agent was formally announced to the world at E3 2009. The famed developer never properly announced the project's cancelation, but it eventually abandoned the trademark and quietly moved on.

"We tried with two or three different teams to make an open-world spy game and could not get it right, so it never came out," Houser recalls in an interview with IGN (below). "We concluded it was not a game we were ever going to figure out how to be able to make. Other people can try, but I personally think it's hard."

According to Houser, a frequent problem with Agent was how the spy genre was at odds with Rockstar's iconic open-world formula. Spy romps are built on a sense of urgency and globe-hopping locales, which are harder to pull off in a Rockstar sandbox.

"I think the momentum of a spy story pushes you forward in time, whereas you want games to be a bit more spread-out. And part of the fun of a spy movie is that you move from location A to very distant location B, and that's not an experience in an open-world game that really works. So we tried lots of things, and we didn't get it quite right, and there were great things that we tried, but it never quite worked," Houser explains.

As far as we're aware, Rockstar hasn't tried to pursue the idea since. But in fairness, the studio's gargantuan games - like Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA 6 - don't leave much room for all-new experiments.

GTA 6 could beat Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's record-breaking Game Awards haul - but I wouldn't bet on it

New gameplay details from the canceled Mass Effect game have emerged, following developer BioWare's abrupt demise. Mass Effect Universe was reportedly set to feature a galactic Cold War between the galaxy's remaining factions, espionage mechanics likened to the Hitman series, and, of course, romance.

The new tidbits come from YouTuber Dantics, who was supposedly on the Mass Effect player council composed of community members and content creators who gave BioWare feedback during production. IGN has backed up some of his comments and even reports that "every major [alien] race" was working in an in-production build, citing an anonymous development source.

A leaked trailer for Mass Effect Universe already gave us a small taste of what could've been, but Dantics now has more concrete details. The game, set more than 600 years after the events of the original trilogy, would've had three major factions caught up in a Cold War conflict with a mysterious threat lurking in the background. The story would've been a departure from the Reapers and their galactic invasion.

As for how this Mass Effect Universe would play, BioWare apparently wanted players to step into the boots of an N7 agent who was a "cross between John Wick and James Bond" - think up-close melee takedowns, gadgets, hacking, experimental tech implants, and more potentially stealthy options. Instead of large open-world environments, the scrapped Mass Effect would've also featured handcrafted linear missions "with Hitman-style freedom in how you complete them."

Deep romance options and "squadmates who can clash with each other" are also said to have been in development. We had previously seen series mainstay Liara in the game's debut trailer, and with the passage of a few hundred years, she had reportedly become an "incredibly powerful Asari Matriarch."

"Not to rub salt in the wound, but they were a lot further in development than their statement suggested. and we were going to get something truly magical," Dantics claimed.

Mass Effect 5 was "something special", dev says – it was BioWare's response to what Baldur's Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 devs "were bringing to the table"

The developers behind Peak have finally launched their viral co-op climbing game on consoles, but the long-awaited port also had the side effect of tripling the game's file size on Steam. Why? Well, Team Peak explains that it's because there's now 208 maps in rotation, rather than the usual 30.

More than a year after the game's swift ascent on PC, Peak has now - ahem - peaked on PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox PC. The new ports also introduced cross-play across all platforms, as well as a new 10GB update that brought the game's total size to about 15GB.

"Why is it so big? So, the way daily map rotations work is we upload about 30-ish new maps in a Steam patch, which means every few weeks we've had to keep patching just to swap out the game with new maps that we have to manually generate on our side every god damn time," Team Peak explains in a recent video.

"So, since we're wrapping up development on Peak, we wanted to make sure there was still re-playability for players. Instead of the same 30 daily maps rotating forever, you get 208 maps rotating forever. That's why the update was so big," the dev added.

As huge new updates begin to slowly wind down, it's understandable that joint developers Aggro Crab (Another's Crab's Treasure) and Landfall (TABS, Haste) wanted to somewhat future proof their 'friendslop' mainstay. Still, the devs are hard at work to clean up any remaining bugs.

"Steam specific users might also encounter a bug with joining lobbies where the lobby created is in a different region to you… We actually fixed this bug, so it's actually live right now… You don't even have to worry about it," the video continued. A Switch 2 bug that causes layers to clip through the floor when jumping too high is also being fixed, as are some reported framerate drops on Xbox.

Team Peak also warned that PlayStation players in different regions, such as Brazil, might be affected by unusually high regional pricing: "We're fixing that, so feel free to wait a few days before purchasing."

Peak co-dev says games like its iconic friendslop hit "wouldn't exist" if the studio tried to turn everything it makes "into the next Fortnite" with endless content updates

After weeks of outcry, Blizzard has seemingly caved to pressure from the ever-vocal Diablo 4 community and increased stacking on Prime Evil Splinters from 1, which means no stacking, all the way up to 99, a 9900% increase. That's not just a compromise, that's a full-blown reversal seemingly based on feedback from the players.

"WE GOT A SPLINTER STACK SIZE INCREASE," reads an excited Reddit post featuring a screenshot from the latest Diablo 4 patch notes, which confirm, "The stack size for Prime Evil Splinters increased from 1 to 99" starting October 28. Unfortunately, the reaction at least on the Diablo 4 subreddit hasn't been as positive as Blizzard is probably hoping. In fact, the vast majority of comments, including those with the most upvotes, are from players who feel the change is too late, if not too little.

"Nice. Wait until the bulk of the playerbase has given up in disgust," reads the top comment on the post. I very much doubt "the bulk of the playerbase" has really given up on Diablo 4 because of this, and in fact I'd argue the majority of players don't give a damn about stackable Splinters, but it seems the subreddit is in agreement that it simply took Blizzard too long to make this change.

Season 15 has been out for a few weeks now, and this whole time the seasonal Prime Evil Splinters you use to grant yourself Prime Evil powers have been locked to one per inventory, meaning you could only have one of each type on you at any given time. Diablo 4's endgame grinders hated that so much that they came up with an incredibly fussy and demanding workaround, but now Blizzard has made that technique obsolete by letting you stack up to 99 of the suckers, which seems excessive to me.

Regardless, Diablo 4 players aren't letting Blizzard off the hook for this one.

"Too fuckin late," says another disgruntled denizen of Sanctuary.

"I’m good. Too little too late!" says another, and so on...

Although unstackable Splinters have been seen as a season 15 bug by many, I'm convinced Blizzard was being very intentional when it limited players to just one per type. The wording in the new patch notes to me suggests a reversal rather than a bug fix, which makes this yet another example of Blizzard's willingness to make significant design changes in response to feedback from players.

Diablo 4 PTR 3.3.0 confirms Season 16 is "carrying forward" some features by popular demand, and Blizzard is taking Druids back to school to address broken tags

Arc Raiders streamer aimkey wondered, in an October 20 Twitter post, "how am I not banned yet" as he posted a gameplay clip that some viewers interpreted as a sure sign of aimbotting given the unusually fast and accurate reticle work. Today, October 23, he confirmed that he has been hardware banned from Arc Raiders for aimbotting.

"I've been falsely banned from ARC Raiders for aimbotting," reads a recent post from aimkey. "I've dedicated my life to this game since release, streaming thousands of hours of my gameplay publicly. I'm willing to FLY OUT to Embark HQ and play in front of the developers to prove I'm 100% legitimate. My reputation and career are being destroyed, and I've even received death threats over this ban."

False positives do happen with anti-cheat systems, but for future reference, offering to play the same game on a different computer is not a great defense against cheating accusations. That's like an accused shoplifter saying, "Put any item in front of me right now and I won't steal it while you're watching, officer."

A shared message from Embark support agent Alan reads: "Our investigation has identified a consistent pattern of abnormal behaviors that are evidence of aimbotting, which constitutes a violation of Section V (Code of Conduct) in our Terms of Service and End User License Agreement."

On his Twitch stream, aimkey also shared a longer exchange with Embark that confirms he has been banned from Arc Raiders at the hardware level, preventing him from playing the game at all on his system.

Ahead of the game's big Frozen Trail update, which has brought a lot of life back to Arc Raiders after several dull months, Embark announced sweeping anti-cheat reforms which would see offenders permanently banned rather than slapped with temporary limitations or escalating warnings.

Over on the Arc Raiders subreddit, many players are celebrating as though the local house egger was finally caught, thrilled to at least see the new anti-cheat leading to decisive action. "With a name like aimkey... that's ironic," observes one user.

Arc Raiders TV and movie adaptations can do what the game doesn't: "We feel like we have created a world that's fertile ground to tell all kinds of different stories"

Ahead of GTA 6, Rockstar veteran Obbe Vermeij marked the 25-year anniversary of Grand Theft Auto 3 with a lengthy retrospective examining its difficult development.

GTA 3 was a pioneering open-world game and a landmark release for Rockstar, but in a recent Twitter post, Vermeij says, "For most of development, GTA 3 was in a sorry state."

Vermeij says "it crashed frequently, the frame rate was terrible and the map was full of holes. Only in the last six months did everything come together. For the longest time, it looked like the frame rate was going to be 20 fps. Only in the final months did we manage to hit 30."

This sort of late assembly is pretty common in game development, particularly among large teams who may have siloed disciplines handling projects of larger scope. In the messy intersection of art and technology, the heart of a game may be hard to see until it's relatively close to release. For example, Bethesda boss Todd Howard said in 2023 that it took seven years for Starfield to become something that's actually fun to play.

Vermeij notes that the beginning of GTA 3 was messy, too. Rockstar North, then operating as DMA Design, had just been snapped up by Take-Two Interactive, "and a satellite office had opened in Edinburgh. Space Station Silicon Valley for the N64 had been finished in 1998, but there was no new project lined up. Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut started working on GTA 3. Unprompted. Meanwhile, the original GTA 1 and GTA 2 team had started work on GTA 2.5, set in Miami. It was called 2.5 because it used the 2.5D (isometric) perspective."

What would have been GTA 2.5 was canned in 2000, that Dundee office closed, and GTA 3 was finally officially greenlit by Take-Two and Rockstar, Vermeij adds. "Everything was written from scratch," he explains. "Only two people worked on both GTA 2 and GTA 3, and no code or art from GTA 2 was reused."

"The way we worked was organic. People would come up with ideas for missions and we'd just try them. If they were fun, they were in. The story was secondary. In fact, the opening plot involving Catalina trying to kill Claude was added well into development."

Back when GTA teams were still pretty small (and downright tiny by today's standards), Vermeij says, "Working on GTA 3 was a lot of fun. Every day there was something new going in. A new mission, radio station, car, pedestrian, building or whatever. The game was growing at an incredible rate. Other than the multiplayer mode we did some work on, I can’t remember a lot of wastage."

Contrast this with GTA 6, which Rockstar admits stalled during development due to conflicting, evolving, or unclear creative visions. GTA 6 hasn't actually been in full production for all of the 13 years since GTA 5, but it did eat up incomparably more labor hours than Rockstar's original breakout hits. With its new development pipeline now stress-tested, studio leadership says future games won't be as difficult or time-consuming to make as GTA 6.

Vermeij also touches on the studio's reputation for crunch – something Rockstar leadership and staff have worked to tackle out in the open in recent years. At least on GTA 3, Vermeij says, "Although everybody worked hard, I don't remember many people doing crazy hours. On the rare occasions I was in over the weekend, there were usually only one or two others. Even during crunch time, most people left the office around 9 or 10 in the evening. I always thought it was better to work eight focused hours than spend your life in the office."

What did all that work get them? Pre-release anxiety. GTA wasn't always the unstoppable hit-maker it is today, and GTA 3 presented a major and risky shift in gameplay. "Although we liked the game," Vermeij says, "it wasn't at all clear that it would be a hit. GTA 3 had a disappointing showing at E3 in May 2001. Most people weren't interested, and those who were thought it was too violent. It had an OK launch, but sales never tapered off."

"The thing I remember most is the camaraderie," he concludes. "In a small team, everybody relies on each other and everybody has a lot of input. Most of us were young and had only recently moved to Edinburgh. We went to the pub together. It felt like a group of friends who happened to be working on a project together."

Nowadays, Rockstar has thousands of devs on its payroll, with a studio larger than post-DMA Rockstar North purely dedicated to NPCs in GTA 6. Edinburgh is gonna need a bigger pub.

Rockstar is "at least 10 years ahead" of other games with GTA 6's NPC crowd technology, says dev behind 007: First Light's incredible crowds

Sadly, we learned this week that BioWare is being shut down by EA. The legendary studio was responsible for many beloved RPGs, including the Mass Effect series, for which a new installment was deep in development. In the aftermath, fans have been scurrying for ways to salvage the project, including courting Palworld developer Pocketpair.

No, seriously - and apparently this isn't the first time that's happened, either. "Soon after a game is canceled or a studio shuts down, we get a lot of comments and emails from fans saying 'You should buy this IP!'" John 'Bucky' Buckley, head of communications and publishing at Pocketpair, posted on Twitter.

"Then, as months go by, those comments turn into 'Why didn't you buy it? You have the money!'" he adds, before explaining the reality that buying and selling IP is complicated, and often the asking price is obscene compared to the potential value. He then points out that, yes, people have been bugging him about Mass Effect 5.

"I got close to 30 DMs/emails from fans about buying Mass Effect in the last day," he says in response to someone asking. He then jokes that Jade Empire would make him more keen.

Pocketpair saving the new Mass Effect would be a plot twist and a half on this whole debacle, but I suspect it's wishful thinking at best. Despite the fact the studio seems to be doing well, who knows if EA would even be open to conversations around selling the sci-fi property, and if it was, whether the amount wanted would make any kind of sense.

I'm not sure it's a great fit to fly BioWare's flag, either. Palworld and the spin-offs that have been revealed are very different to the expansive role-playing games that make up the home of Dragon Age's repertoire. You don't want just anyone making the next Mass Effect - you want a studio that'll honor the existing work and legacy.

Ultimately, those who could've given us a sequel worthy of the first trilogy have just been let go. Mourn what could've been, and let the bargaining stage pass. And then boot up the first Mass Effect yet again.

Mass Effect 5 lead says outpouring of support following BioWare closure "means so much to us," but is looking on the bright side: "At least I don't have to call in sick when GTA 6 comes out"

Final Fantasy Resonance – the first game in the series to be made in Square Enix's HD-2D style – is already the second-biggest Steam launch for any turn-based RPG title from the developer.

Square Enix has finally relented to years of suggestions and released a Final Fantasy game in the HD-2D style, with the latest spinoff in the series, Final Fantasy Resonance, dropping this week. Like last year's Octopath Traveler Zero, this HD-2D RPG adapts one of Square's previous mobile games – Final Fantasy Brave Exvius – into a full-blown console RPG.

Per SteamDB, the RPG has hit a peak of 27,933 players over the course of its first day available, which places it at the higher end of Square Enix's roster of turn-based RPGs on the platform. In fact, this number sees it narrowly overtake this year's Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, which peaked at 27,390. However, Dragon Quest isn't out just yet, as the peak of Square's turn-based player count goes to Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, which sits at an impressive 45,357 from its launch back in 2024.

Of course, this is only day one for Final Fantasy Resonance, and given that the majority of Steam games tend to peak on the first weekend after their release, there's still a chance for Resonance to steal the top spot. But at the very least, it's looking like a pretty successful launch for Square Enix, who will hopefully make a wholly original HD-2D Final Fantasy game in the future, rather than an adaptation of a mobile game.

Final Fantasy 14 players get 1 free day of game time after Square Enix lifts the MMO's PHP lockdown

The MW4 DMZ Police Stations are spread across the map, but if you can find their locations you can complete the Orders connected to them, as well as simply loot them for high value items. Police Stations have quickly become an easy point of reference in Modern Warfare 4 to get good loot, especially related to weapons and guns. If you want to know how to find them and loot them effectively, here's where to look, as well as how to get into the Police Armories.

For more help with the latest Call of Duty, check out all the MW4 DMZ best traits for your operators, or find out all the best weapons and guns in Modern Warfare 4!

Where to find all DMZ Police Stations in MW4

There are five Police Stations across the MW4 DMZ map, all shown above. They're easy enough to find, as they aren't hidden, and they are marked on the map by default with a sheriff Star symbol.

There's no major difference between the layout or contents of each of the DMZ police stations, though keep in mind that if you have an Armory key (see below) it will be specific to one station or another, described by its relation to major landmarks (such as "North of Wolves Stadium").

How to loot Police Stations and open the Armory

Police Stations are several floors (including a basement) with various randomized containers, similar to other buildings. However, what's of note is that there's an armory/evidence room in the basement of each building that holds high-level loot and requires a key to open. This room should be down the stairs on the right when you enter through the main doors.

Some have reported finding Armory keys within the Police Stations themselves (I have checked and have yet to be so lucky), but you can find them around the DMZ as random rare rewards, or through mission completion.

Still learning the particulars of MW4? if you've already got DMZ in front of you, find out how to uncover the Modern Warfare 4 Counting Room Vault location for an early source of great loot, or how to uncover the Modern Warfare 4 Dynamic Op Phone and complete the early challenges!

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Modern Warfare 4 has received a much-needed update to stop people from UAV-hogging during DMZ matches.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is finally out today after what can – in the nicest way – be described as a unique launch rollout. Last week, players were able to access the game's campaign mode, and earlier this week, the DMZ mode became available to drop into. DMZ is Activision's take on the extraction shooter genre, letting 20 squads drop onto a massive map and play a dangerous version of Supermarket Sweep without the quizzing.

However, from what seemed like the moment DMZ launched, players found one element of it particularly frustrating. Namely, UAV towers are able to be taken over by players and expanded throughout a game, meaning that there are huge no-go zones unless you fancy being spotted the moment you walk in. This would cause a rush to UAV towers to get this benefit for yourself, with some going as far as to say this choice was a "mistake, and so oppressive you can't do anything."

This week Infinity Ward announced some new changes in a minor update for the game, with the magic words included "In DMZ, players can now steal back UAV Towers from enemy control." This change has naturally excited DMZ fans, with Call of Duty news account ModernWarzone saying the change was "so badly needed" and "Awesome to see that get fixed so quickly."

However, this was somewhat undercut about the other part of this update, which allows parties of four players to queue up into free-for-all bouts. Which, in theory, will allow squads to team up against everyone else in the all-for-one battlefields, with the replies to the update mostly consisting of players calling this change out.

Check out our Modern Warfare 4 review here!