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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to play the Halo games in release order

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

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

How to play the Halo games in chronological order

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

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

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

1. Halo Wars (2531)

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

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

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

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

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

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

3. Halo: Reach (2552)

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

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

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

4. Halo: Combat Evolved (2552)

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

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

5. Halo 2 (2552)

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

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

6. Halo 3: ODST (2552)

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

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

7. Halo 3 (2552)

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

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

8. Halo: Spartan Assault (2554)

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

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

9. Halo 4 (2557)

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

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

10. Halo Spartan: Strike (2557)

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

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

11. Halo 5: Guardians (2558)

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

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

12. Halo Wars 2 (2559)

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

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

13. Halo Infinite (2560)

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

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

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

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

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

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

All Be the Final Boss codes

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

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

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

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

How to redeem Be the Final Boss codes

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

Expired Be the Final Boss codes

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

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

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All Anime Astral Simulator codes

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

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

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

How to redeem Anime Astral Simulator codes

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

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

Expired Anime Astral Simulator codes

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

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

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

As Sony inches ever closer to a future where it permanently halts the production of PlayStation discs and as GTA 6 prepares to ship without a true physical version at all, Rockstar Games and Grand Theft Auto co-founder, Dan Houser, has some thoughts about the physical versus digital games debate.

The former GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 lead developer - who also had a hand in several more Rockstar classics - was recently asked about the topic at San Diego Comic-Con 2026. His thoughts? Houser isn't personally enthusiastic about physical games shipping on discs, but he doesn't see why companies should stop making them altogether.

"I don't know that I care, but if people want that, I think companies should provide it," Houser tells IGN in an interview at SDCC. "But I don't know that I personally care."

He also acknowledges that people sure are critical of digital games, but from a developer's perspective, "the ability to update and fix problems in games has been really useful for the quality of games."

The future of physical games are on a lot of peoples' minds right now after PlayStation announced plans to axe PlayStation disc production starting in 2028. That means new games that come out past that point won't get true physical editions on PlayStation hardware - it also means your ability to lend, borrow, sell, and truly own the games you pay for is seriously constricted. An ironic demonstration of how our all-digital future could go very wrong happened this week, when The PlayStation Network almost went down and stopped waves of people from downloading or even playing their digital library.

Also speaking to IGN, former Rockstar veteran Lazlow Jones chimed in, too: "We all have that sort of feeling when you get that copy, and you put the disc in the console, but I also have to say I really like being at the airport and going, 'Oh, cool. I can download some quick games to my Steam Deck for this 12-hour flight.'"

Jones and Houser are now both working at Absurd Ventures, a company making multiple multimedia projects, including an upcoming AAA open-world game and a new comic book. Jones says that's "a different creative process but also just really fulfilling to have a physical thing you can say, 'Look. We made a thing.'"

"I love physical media," Houser adds.

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

Developer World's Edge has seemingly uncanceled an Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition DLC that it scrapped last year, but all is forgiven since the upcoming Baltic Powers expansion is bringing two new civilizations, over 25 new maps, and so much more on September 10.

Early last year, World's Edge said it was canceling an unnamed expansion that it revealed the year prior. The developer felt the project's announcement was "premature," and the team hadn't really built anything proper before sharing its plans with the player base.

At the time, we didn't know much about the then-scrapped expansion outside of a tiny hint production director Earnest Yuen gave in 2024 by showing off the flags of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Denmark. (Thanks, PC Gamer!)

Who would've guessed? World's Edge have now revealed The Baltic Powers, an expansion that adds both the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to the game as playable civilizations. While the developer hasn't outright confirmed that The Baltic Powers is, in fact, the same expansion it binned last year, all the signs point in one direction...

"The Baltic Powers brings two new civilizations, new Challenge Scenarios, new game modes, more than 25 maps, and over 50 hero customizations," the dev's announcement post reads. "More importantly, it is built around what Age 3 fans value most: new strategic problems to solve, new matchups to learn, new ways to master the map, and new reasons to return for a game they love."

The best part? You can try out the Danes and the Poles right now since The Baltic Powers' open beta is available over on Steam.

The only other thing to note is that Age of Empire 3: Definitive Edition's free trial is being retired on Steam come August 13. "We're grateful to everyone who discovered Age III through the free trial, invited friends into the community, tried rotating civilizations, and joined the battlefield," the studio notes. Should free trial players want to continue strategizing in-game, then you'll need to buy the full release by next month.

In the meantime, here are the best strategy games you can play right now.

Xbox is testing a new "ad-supported" version of its game streaming service, which will frontload advertisements at the start of a session, folding additional monetization into gaming time.

Microsoft announced the program today, July 23. Xbox Insiders who signed up for the platform's early access features can now test ad-supported streaming for "a limited time."

"During this test period, XBOX Insiders with an XBOX account will be able to stream games they own for free with ads," the company clarifies. "Players will have one hour session limits across supported devices and regions."

Microsoft maintains that "the core game experience is unchanged" once you get through the initial ads. Additionally, this ad tier is "optional" and "players can choose other ways to play at any time."

Some games and gaming services have had ads for many years, and platform holders are increasingly experimenting with more ways to monetize screen time and space.

Microsoft reckons advertising in gaming "hasn’t always been built with the player in mind," but insists that, "when done well, advertising can help lower the cost of access," loosely echoing the ad-supported tiers of TV and movie streaming services.

After this test for streaming, Microsoft says it will "continue to improve it based on how players use it and what they tell us. Our goal is simple. Give more people more affordable ways to play."

The company lays out the core pillars for "ad-supported services across Xbox," indicating that this is not a one-off experiment.

In short, Microsoft says such ads should "not interrupt the flow of gameplay," must be held to "the same quality bar as our content," should be "clear" about what's being advertised, and ought to suit "what players expect on each platform."

In the starchiest bit of corporate speak, Microsoft stresses, "We start with the player. Ads should create value." Players: they love value.

Following eyebrow-raising comments last month, Xbox's new chief strategist Matthew Ball explained that in-game ads that interrupt gameplay would be a bad idea.

Earlier this month, EA advertising VP Alexander Dao argued that in-game advertising is a "huge opportunity" for many developers.

A former Disney CEO can only barely remember the name Kingdom Hearts, and he definitely can't recall what made him give Square Enix's (or SquareSoft at the time) pitch the thumbs up.

Kingdom Hearts' entire existence already seemed like an impossible Disney miracle come true. Some of the company's biggest mascots, Mickey Mouse included, being deeply involved in a nonsensical JRPG's twisty storyline for over two decades, while crossing over with Final Fantasy characters, I might add, doesn't sound like it would've made Disney loosen its usually tight grip on its IP. (This preceded Fortnite's bonkers crossovers, mind you.)

Trying to get to the bottom of what turned Square Enix's wish upon a star into a long-running video game franchise, The Game File's Stephen Totilo managed to get a hold of Michael Eisner, the man who ran The Walt Disney Company for over 20 years.

According to the outlet, Eisner apparently didn't remember Kingdom Hearts at all until it was referred to as the "Final Fantasy plus Disney characters" project. "Oh, I remember now," he then says. Asked if he recalls why he green-lit the first game, he simply says, "I don't." Ouch.

As the story goes, famed character designer Tetsuya Nomura and producer Shinji Hashimoto were early in development on a game that would try to emulate the free-flowing movement of Super Mario 64. When Hashimoto found himself in an elevator with a Disney executive, conversations about what eventually became Kingdom Hearts began in earnest.

Finding out what convinced Disney to relent and have its most iconic characters fight darkness alongside an anime protag wearing clown shoes and a key-shaped sword would've been fascinating, but Eisner likely signed off on many deals during his tenure, so all is forgiven here. Even well before Fortnite, Disney wasn't a total stranger to wacky video game ideas, either, between Disney Infinity and Epic Mickey.

Kingdom Hearts has had a life of its own many years after Eisner's departure, too. Kingdom Heart 4 is up next, with a "deep dive" into the series also scheduled for next month's D23 event.

Canceled Kingdom Hearts spin-off's intro apparently leaks online and not even veteran fans understand what's going on: "Why does it look like Pacific Rim but with Keyblades"

Shindo Life codes are here to give you a massive boost in the Naruto-inspired RPG, which is still incredibly popular despite launching in 2020 and being one of the longest-running Roblox experiences around! There are plenty of mini-games to play as you explore the huge worlds, while collecting new abilities and awakens.

The gacha element means you're constantly striving for better pulls, but the promos listed here will give you many free spins to improve your odds, along with a significant amount of in-game currency to spend in this Roblox experience. If you're ready for adventure, then here are the codes for Shindo Life and how to redeem them.

If you'd prefer some more general promos that apply across all of your experiences, here's what you need to know about Roblox promo codes.

All Shindo Life codes

The following Shindo Life codes can be redeemed for rewards:

• FixingShindoBuggyTimes! – 10K RELLcoins, 100 Spins new!
• TickDamageBugs! – 10K RELLcoins, 100 Spins new!
• LetsGOOOO40k! – 10K RELLcoins, 100 Spins new!
• PatchUpdate249point5! – 10K RELLcoins, 100 Spins
• ThankYouForPatience249Patch! – 10K RELLcoins, 100 Spins
• FACEIDFIXUPD! – 10K RELLcoins, 100 Spins
• 6YearsofShindoSoon! – 10K RELLcoins, 100 Spins
• Shindo4Life2026! – 10K RELLcoins, 100 Spins
• ShindoLife2026Peak! – 25K RELLcoins, 250 Spins
• WalkingOnTheWalls! – 25K RELLcoins, 250 Spins
• 2mLikesC0d3d! – 40K RELLcoins, 400 Spins
• RELLGIFTsc! – Server Creator
• RELLGIFTbag! – Bloodline Bag
• ThankYouAllTruly! – 5K RELLcoins, 50 Spins
• TimeFliesForFiveYears! – 5K RELLcoins, 50 Spins
• ItrulyDOMissTheseTimes! – 5K RELLcoins, 50 Spins
• ButWelooktowardThe! – 5K RELLcoins, 50 Spins
• FutureAndRELLSeas! – 5K RELLcoins, 50 Spins
• IsTheNextinLine! – 5K RELLcoins, 50 Spins
• ItsTrulyLegendary! – 5K RELLcoins, 50 Spins
• OneOfaKind! – 5K RELLcoins, 50 Spins
• ThisPlatformaintReady! – 5K RELLcoins, 50 Spins
• TheCommunitygonnaEat! – 5K RELLcoins, 50 Spins
• BoredomWillBeRescued! – 5K RELLcoins, 50 Spins
• WePerfectedRELLSeas! – 5K RELLcoins, 50 Spins
• forTheFuture! – 5K RELLcoins, 50 Spins
• ofOurGames! – 5K RELLcoins, 50 Spins
• WeGotaLotofTestingtoDo! – 5K RELLcoins, 50 Spins
• beforeWerecord! – 5K RELLcoins, 50 Spins
• RELLSeasMovie3! – 5K RELLcoins, 50 Spins
• theWorkloadSeems! – 5K RELLcoins, 50 Spins
• neverENDING! – 5K RELLcoins, 50 Spins

There is a long history of codes for Shindo Life being released, with plenty of them still active. Claiming them all will give you a huge balance of RELLcoins to spend, along with a significant amount of free spins to help modify your character.

How to redeem Shindo Life codes

To redeem Shindo Life codes, you first need to use the arrows from the main menu to access the Edit screen, where you can customize your character. Once there, tap on the [ENTER-CODE] text box in the top-right corner of the screen, then type in a promo and when you enter the final ! the code will be automatically redeemed – if that doesn't happen either you've typed it incorrectly or it has since expired. Note that codes for Shindo Life are case-sensitive, so you need to enter them exactly as shown otherwise they won't be claimed automatically.

Expired Shindo Life codes

• ShindoDownAGAIN2x! – 25K RELLcoins, 250 Spins
• ShindoLifeTakenDown! – 25K RELLcoins, 250 Spins
• Year5ShindoLife! – RELLcoins, Spins
• 5YearsReleased! – RELLcoins, Spins
• 5YearsOfShindoLife! – RELLcoins, Spins
• 5YearSL2! – RELLcoins, Spins
• ShindoLife5YearCodes! – RELLcoins, Spins
• ITSBeen5Years! – RELLcoins, Spins

There have been many expired Shindo Life codes over the years, so I've included the most recent ones in the list above for reference only. Some of them seem to stick around for longer than others, but you should always ensure you've redeemed the current codes while you can to get the maximum benefit.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

It seems Japan's Patent Office is getting tired of Nintendo's ongoing patent infringement lawsuit against Palworld as both the Office and Nintendo spar over a particular, related patent application whose rejection is now under review.

Patent Publication No. 2026-077713 describes Pokemon's typical "in-game monster-capturing system," according to Automaton, which also points out that even Japanese patent law professionals are surprised how the Patent Office and Nintendo are sparring over how "inventive" it is to huck a Pokeball, using language "rarely seen in standard patent practice," according to attorney Kiyoshi Kurihara.

The Office was apparently unimpressed by the fact that "selecting a Poke Ball displayed at the bottom right of the screen causes Ash to throw it; if it hits Pikachu, Pikachu can be captured," but it expressed this while citing a gameplay video from 13 years ago, of the unofficial indie game Pokemon: Generations. The video now has new comments reading, "This game defeated Nintendo in court," and, "You saved Palworld."

But it's not that simple! Nintendo fired back at the Patent Office in a counterargument, telling the Office it "acted extremely inappropriately" by citing a copyright-infringing game like Pokemon: Generations in its rejection of its ball-throwing patent.

The Patent Office then came back with a tommy gun, saying "this argument has no bearing on determining inventive step," but if Nintendo really wanted to talk about copyright infringement, "accuracy should take precedence."

"In that case," it continues, "the notice would need to use cumbersome descriptions such as 'an object in the form of a small animal' instead of Pokemon, 'an object in the form of a boy wearing a red cap' instead of Ash, 'an object in the form of a small yellow animal' instead of Pikachu, 'an object in the form of a small green animal' instead of Bulbasaur, and 'a spherical object with a red upper half and a white lower half' instead of Poke Ball."

"However," continues the Patent Office, "even with such rephrasing, the logical structure of the grounds for refusal remains unchanged."

Ouch – but Nintendo has a band-aid, and it seemingly successfully filed a petition against the rejection. The Patent Office's website now categorizes Patent Publication No. 2026-077713 as having its "rejection decision under review." This patent isn't the one at the center of Pokemon's legal battle against Palworld, but it does belong to the same patent family, and its approval certainly wouldn't help Palworld.

Japanese patent law expert says Nintendo may have strengthened its claims specifically to target Palworld.

They don't make 'em like they used to, but this week, Season 5 of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will introduce an updated matchmaking system that's more in line with how they used to make 'em.

In a new tweet, the official Call of Duty Twitter account reflects, "Over the past year, we've continued to learn a lot about Multiplayer matchmaking through player data and community feedback."

This comes on the heels of the recent PS4 and PS5 release of Call of Duty: Black Ops and Black Ops 2, which has finally given the latest PlayStation consoles official versions of the first two games in this sub-series. Their release also stoked discussion of how Black Ops used to feel (spoilers: sometimes full of cheaters).

"We're also excited to see all the recent love for Black Ops and Black Ops II, which reinforced that there are many elements of those experiences that players appreciate," Activision agrees. "Starting this week with Season 05, we're updating Black Ops Classic, Quick Play, and Party Games in Black Ops 7 with a new matchmaking system inspired by those classic games."

With this change, the exact vibe of which will warrant some hands-on testing in the days ahead, Black Ops 7 will "continue to offer" modern Open playlists, and Activision says "we'll also include Open playlist options in the upcoming Modern Warfare 4 Beta." But if you're an older Call of Duty fan who maintains that the newer games have lost a little something, you may be in better company than you realized.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 expands Ricochet anti-cheat to combat exploits in Ranked after banning over 263,000 cheaters already this year.

Amid the rubble of the layoffs across Xbox, which included numerous positions at Bethesda and ZeniMax, the remaining developers on The Elder Scrolls Online are starting to struggle. The MMO is one of numerous projects impacted by Microsoft's restructuring of its games division, with only a fraction of the staff attached now as opposed to prior.

To mitigate their own workload, devs on The Elder Scrolls Online are making changes to what features are available to players. As of today, July 22, that includes in-game purchases, since the ability to do so through the official site has been removed.

"To help manage workload, we have decided to remove the Web Crown Store from the official elderscrollsonline.com website," reads a message from Kevin Gbolie, community manager on ESO, on the official forum.

"The ability to acquire crowns via the website will remain," he says, "and, of course, this does not affect the items that will be offered on the Crown Store in The Elder Scrolls Online, you will just need to login into the game to view and purchase the latest offerings."

It's noted that the blog for showing off what's in the Crown Store will change as well, due to "team bandwidth." In response to comments on these changes, Gbolie mentions that while the new version of the blog is still being sorted out, it'll definitely come with a bullet list of new items.

This is unfortunate because the high-res screenshots accompanying the items were used by the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages, and Gbolie even mentions the team is aware of that symbiosis. But alas, the time and energy just aren't there any more.

"The team responsible for the blog and those screenshots doesn't have the capacity to provide those at the scale we could before," he writes in another post. "But we will provide what we can for now and adjust from there."

It is a sad time for Bethesda, ZeniMax, this game, and the legacy behind it. These devs deserve better, but at least the game is still going – for now.

Bethesda reportedly canceled an unannounced PvP shooter, likely from Wolfenstein dev MachineGames.

Anime Expedition codes will give you a significant head start in this tower defense experience, where you summon units from across the world of anime. Once you've assembled your team, you can process on your own or with friends to fight off enemies and continue your journey.

The developers have been particularly generous with Anime Expedition codes so far, with plenty of promos available to stock up on Equipment and Stat Locks and Rerolls to modify units, along with Trait Crystals and Gems to spend in this Roblox experience. To prepare for your travels, these are the codes for Anime Expeditions and how to redeem them.

If you're looking for general promos that can be used in all of your experiences, then we've got the current Roblox promo codes covered.

All Anime Expeditions codes

The following Anime Expeditions codes can be claimed right now:

• 250kCCU – 100x Trait Crystals [expires July 31, 2026]
• 300kCCU – 100x Trait Crystals, 1,500x Villain Coins [expires July 31, 2026]
• 200mvisits – 50x Trait Crystals, 15x Stat Locks, 15x Stat Rerolls [expires July 31, 2026]
• VillainInvasion – 50x Trait Crystals, 1,000x Villain Coins [expires July 31, 2026]
• releasetournamentsorry – 50x Trait Crystals, 15x Stat Locks, 15x Stat Rerolls [expires July 31, 2026]
• sorryforlongmaintenance – 50x Trait Crystals, 15x Stat Locks, 15x Stat Rerolls [expires July 31, 2026]
• EA+ – Rewards [requires Early Access+]
• EA – 20x Trait Crystals, 2,500x Gems [requires Early Access]

As you can see, there are currently a number of of codes available for Anime Expeditions to be claimed, which add up to a significant number of crystals, rerolls, locks, and gems. Stack all of these rewards up, and you'll be in a solid position to make good progress.

How to redeem Anime Expeditions codes

To redeem Anime Expeditions codes, you just need to tap the (...) icon at the top of the screen, then choose Redeem Codes from the menu that pops up. This will then take you to the Codes screen, where you can use the Enter Code... text box to type in a promo before using the Redeem Code button to claim your reward. The good news is that codes for Anime Expeditions are not case-sensitive, so as long as you use the correct spelling it doesn't matter about capitalization.

Expired Anime Expeditions codes

• wfade – 50x Trait Crystals, 25x Equipment Rerolls, 25x Stat Rerolls, 2,500x Gems
• 1MGROUP! – 50x Trait Crystals, 25x Equipment Rerolls, 25x Stat Locks, 25x Stat Rerolls, 5,000x Gems
• WanderingFix – 10x Trait Crystals
• HAPPYBDAYCOOP – 10x Trait Crystals
• 100mvisits – 50x Trait Crystals, 25x Equipment Rerolls, 25x Stat Locks, 25x Stat Rerolls, 5,000x Gems
• AE#1 – 5x Equipment Locks, 5x Equipment Rerolls, 5x Stat Locks, 5x Stat Rerolls, 1,000x Gems
• RELEASE – 100x Trait Crystals, 2,500x Gems
• EXPEDITIONS – 30x Equipment Locks, 30x Equipment Rerolls
• 100K! – 50x Trait Crystals, 20x Stat Locks, 20x Stat Rerolls, 2,500x Gems
• 30KLIKES! – 2,500x Gems
• WeekendSurge – 25x Trait Crystals, 2,500x Gems
• 200KCCU – 50x Trait Crystals, 10x Stat Locks, 10x Stat Rerolls, 2,500x Gems
• SorryForRestart – 50x Trait Crystals
• sorryforguilds – 250x Trait Crystals
• SorryForBugs – 25x Trait Crystals, 2,500x Gems

There are already plenty of expired Anime Expeditions codes, highlighting that they don't seem to be sticking around for too long once they've been announced. As always, make sure you claim all of the active codes as soon as you can, so you don't miss out on any rewards.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Xbox has announced Xbox backward compatibility for PC, with four original Xbox games released today on the Xbox app.

In a post on Xbox Wire, Microsoft says, "Today, we’re introducing Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC, making it easier to play classic Xbox games from the past across PC and handhelds, including the ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X."

The post adds, "As players, we don’t want to leave our gaming legacy behind even as technology continues to evolve and advance. We expect our library of games to move forward with us and to be able to play them in entirely new ways." If that isn't a soft confirmation of Project Helix having backwards compatibility, I don't know what is.

Included in this list is Rare remake Conker: Live and Reloaded, flight combat title Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, failed mascot Blinx: The Time Sweeper, and Bill Gates' favorite game Fuzion Frenzy.

The post continues, "This marks the beginning of a broader effort to preserve Xbox games from the past and bring them to PC over time." Oh, and all four are included with all Xbox Game Pass plans.

Microsoft also says these editions will have enhancements, explaining, "We are also adding new features to make your gaming experience better than ever."

These include "4x resolution upscaling, VSync support, Fullscreen and Windowed display modes, anisotropic filtering, enhanced anti-aliasing, and more. These games also include customizable language and audio settings."

Xbox confirms that Achievements will be coming to these original Xbox games, with the four games released today set to be updated to include them "in the coming months."

Arkane founder asks Xbox CEO "how much" Microsoft wants for the studio: "I'm asking for a friend"

DBD Chaos Shuffle, along with 2v8, is one of the most prominent limited-time modes added to the horror game. It only comes around occasionally, so I for one am always looking forward to the next iteration of the LTM.

By randomizing your perk loadout in every match, you never know what's going to happen - especially since the other four players also have random perks, too. Not only is this just a recipe for fun, but it's also a great way to learn some of the more obscure perks you might not use much or even own, so here's when DBD Chaos Shuffle returns next.

When is DBD Chaos Shuffle back?

DBD Chaos Shuffle returns from Tuesday, July 28, 2026, at 8AM PDT / 11AM EDT / 4PM BST, and end at the same time on Tuesday, August 4, when it will be replaced by the Lights Out modifier.

This is just a short period of one week, so make sure you don't miss the return of Dead by Daylight Chaos Shuffle. The reason this event is so short is that it makes up just one third of the Summer of Screams, with Chaos Shuffle, Lights Out, and DBD's 2v8 mode each making a return for one week only.

As I've mentioned above, Chaos Shuffle randomly selects your four perks, but you can still choose your item, add-ons, and Offering. You won't know what your perks are until you load into the game, so I recommend using the first few seconds of the match, before play begins, to read your perk descriptions. You can do this by entering the menu and hovering your mouse or controller cursor over each perk. You can look at these at any time, but you will be out of commission while you do so.

This latest Chaos Shuffle event comes ahead of the next DBD update, which is coming soon, boasting heaps of thrilling new content, so redeem the latest DBD codes to ensure you're stocked up on Bloodpoints to spend on the next new character.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Palworld recently hit the tremendous milestone of 40 million players, and its fireball 1.0 update is already sending it speeding toward the next one. Alinea Analytics market analysis lead Rhys Elliott estimates the survival game has already sold close to around 1.8 million copies since Palworld 1.0 launched on July 10.

Elliott explains on Substack, "In terms of premium unit sales, our platform estimates put Palworld at roughly 30.5M copies sold, with nearly 86% of that total originating on Steam." We can now christen Palworld "one of the biggest new gaming IPs ever," as Elliott calls it, as it's already amassed something like $700 million in revenue its mere two-and-a-half years of life.

In comparison, Pokemon – also known as Palworld's opponent in an ongoing copyright infringement showdown with IP owner Nintendo – hasn't sold over 30 million copies for a single game since Pokemon Red, Green, and Blue in 1996, according to Serebii webmaster Joe Merrick. The entire Pokemon universe nonetheless outsells little Palworld by at least a couple hundred million copies.

So, some players on Steam, in particular, are eager to defend fragile franchise Palworld from barking dog Pokemon, as Elliott etsimates 65% of Palworld players are on Steam, compared to 31% of players on Xbox and Xbox Game Pass, and a meager 4% on PS5.

Elliott observes, "English-language reviewers framed buying [Palworld] as an explicit statement against – in their words – Nintendo's anti-competitive business practices, actively celebrating the resolution of Nintendo's legal challenges against Pocketpair." (It's worth noting the lawsuit technically remains unresolved.) Lack of console loyalty radicalizes you.

It also activates your Apple Pay. 1.5 million of those total 1.8 million, post-1.0 Palworld copies sold were on Steam, this report finds. PS5 players, in comparison, bought about 300,000 Palworld 1.0 copies, while Palworld sold only another 70,000-ish units on Xbox once it launched in full – probably because the game continues to be available for 'free' on Game Pass Premium.

To me, all this makes Palworld a gleaming example of how strong the PC market has become now that Xbox and PlayStation are openly just experts in being unlikeable. Because of the customizable nature of the platform, PC gamers tend to value flexibility, agency, and a sense of ownership. This self-effacing spirit seems to have fueled Steam players rallying around Palworld, itself, in some eyes, a bulwark for free will against Nintendo's angry Gengar eyes.

"The console sector is undeniably facing an existential crisis," Elliott says. "If the baseline buy-in for next-generation hardware approaches a $1,000 digital-only box, mass-market growth is effectively dead on arrival. High-priced, drive-less hardware introduces a nuts barrier to entry."

"Casual consumers will simply opt out of newer hardware," the analyst continues, "redirecting their time and wallet share toward mobile, PC, or existing hardware." Good for Palworld, bad for consoles.

Palworld has been "life-changing," lead says as Pocketpair's survival game hits almost 1 million concurrent players on Steam.

Palworld 1.0 has been out for over a week now, giving players ample time to get to know the survival game's latest monster Pals and their, um, curves. Which is to say, Pocketpair publishing and communications lead John "Bucky" Buckley regrets putting out an open call for new skin ideas.

"Theoretically, hypothetically, conceptually, and spiritually…if, with absolutely no promise of it being realized or coming to fruition ever, but if…capital I and capital F…" Buckley writes on Twitter, "IF…any of the new Pals in 1.0 were to get a skin, which would it be and what would the skin be." Fans express-delivered the answer straight to his doorstep, and he screamed: Sekhmet maid skin.

Sekhmet's namesake is a fearsome Egyptian goddess, but Palworld instead decided to create a heavy-lidded catgirl wearing a strapless black dress. So, I'm sorry, Buckley, but we were always going to arrive at "Sekhmet maid skin."

Still, I know that accepting the consequences of your actions doesn't necessarily make them more palatable, and so Buckley has decided to explode maid skin proponents with psychokinesis. A mere three minutes after posting his initial call for skin ideas on Twitter, the Pocketpair lead followed up with an image of the Watchmen's Doctor Manhattan disintegrating an enemy to his left while maintaining perfect posture.

"'Sekhmet maid skin,'" Buckley says gravely. "Me on the right, you on the left."

"How about Venusa maid skin though?" responds one Palworld player.

"But an actual maid outfit for Solene though?" says another.

Another wonders, "Fine then how about Anubis maid skin?"

Come on, people, show some decorum. Save your thirst for the upcoming Palworld dating sim.

Palworld 1.0 brings a revelation to longtime fans who never crafted an invaluable item: "I thought they were consumable."

Forza Horizon 5 director Mike Brown says Xbox Game Pass simply hasn't taken off enough to be viable.

Speaking to MinnMax (via Eurogamer), Brown – who departed Playground Games in 2023 and is now directing open-world racer Clutch at Maverick Games – was asked about the current wave of layoffs facing Xbox studios. Brown singles out Xbox Game Pass and says Microsoft "invested a fortune in the concept," which led to teams being acquired, games being funded, and jobs being created. However, he adds, "The reality is not enough people have subscribed to it at the prices that they needed to pay in order to make that business viable."

Brown explains, "We’re now going to see studios getting shut down or spun off. Loads of people are going to lose their jobs. And that is honestly just a result of a well-meaning player-focused concept of Xbox Game Pass not quite landing."

Bloomberg's Jason Schreier talked about Xbox Game Pass on the Triple Click podcast, where he claims, "there are a lot of people out there in studio leadership within Xbox who absolutely detest Game Pass and think it has destroyed the value of their games, think it has taken away from the value of all games in general just as a service" He adds, that some of those people believe "It's been a detriment to the games industry."

Brown has a bit more of a favorable view of the service, however, saying, "It's a good idea. Let's have a subscription, make it affordable, try and get games to more people. We'll have a really diverse selection of games on there. We'll get a load of studios involved. We'll make some games that probably couldn't exist otherwise."

Last year, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate reached $30 per month, which led to subscriber loss according to Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, who promptly took the price down to $23 per month.

Arkane founder asks Xbox CEO "how much" Microsoft wants for the studio: "I'm asking for a friend"

Cyberpunk 2077 is a six-year-old game at this point, but the open-world RPG probably still offers even its most committed players more tucked-away secrets to discover, according to CD Projekt Red associate game director Paweł Sasko.

Responding to a fan on Twitter who hadn't yet realized they could creep through Cyberpunk musician Kerry Eurodyne's laptop and read his aspirations about being painted nude, Sasko says, "Part of our design philosophy is to provide the player with optional ways to explore the depth of the design and narrative."

"In Cyberpunk those are emails, files, shards with additional articles and books," Sasko continues, "all telling the story of the place, characters and completing their arc."

Kerry's hilltop mansion Villa Eurodyne is particularly crammed with detail, as Sasko says, "This whole villa was designed and implemented by me, and I have hidden a lot in this space."

Some intriguing threads leave you with nothing once they're pulled – like the "random locked room" fans assumed Kerry had designated as a sex-murder dungeon, but noclip-ing into it revealed a much less fascinating, empty room. Other times, you might discover – as one fan on Reddit did – that there are two corpses facedown in the dirt outside of Kerry's villa, and this is what happens to you after you try to steal one of Kerry's guitars; a datashard near the thieving pair reveals their thwarted, deadly plan.

Cyberpunk 2077 fans are good about sharing their in-game finds as they stumble upon them, though Sasko does not not say that there are more Villa Eurodyne mysteries to unearth. So who knows – even after six years, Cyberpunk 2077 and its sleazy mansions might have more for you to learn, if you look hard enough.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a better role-playing game than The Witcher 3.

Nier series director Yoko Taro has expressed his concerns over the decline of physical video games, after Nintendo started to replace some Switch 2 cartridges with Game-Key Cards, and PlayStation announced plans to end physical disc production for new games in 2028.

Following up from a tweet in which he showcases his physical copy of Hi-Fi Rush, the legendary game designer writes about how he is "saddened" by the loss of physical games. Yoko thought that publishers would continue to distribute games physically in some form, but now believes the industry is going in a different direction.

As translated by GamesRadar+, Yoko says: "Personally, I'm saddened by the loss of physical media, but that's just the way things are going." He goes on to explain that he never thought physical media would be phased out completely.

"As keeping control of physical distribution has its advantages compared to just releasing games on Steam etc, I thought that in the future, even if digital game downloads were pushed, there would still be expensive limited editions (like what we see with CDs). Seems I was wrong," he writes.

He continues by talking about Nintendo's controversial Game-Key Cards, which the company has been offering as a replacement for some physical releases. Rather than having the data for the purchased game on the cartridge, Game-Key Cards allow players to download the digital game once they are inserted into the Switch 2.

"Switch 2 keycards are more confusing than normal ROMs," Yoko says. "And they're specified with a huge label on the cover of the box like 'THIS IS A KEY CARD.' I guess that's just the future…"

It seems as though like many players, Yoko has resigned himself to a future without physical games despite how unpopular Sony's announcement has been.

As PlayStation declares nobody wants physical discs anymore, Gen Z is helping fuel a 16% surge in US music CD sales.

Final Fantasy 10's developers chose to move away from sci-fi after finding out that The Lord of the Rings was being adapted into a big-screen trilogy, and hoping they could be a part of the "next big global trend."

Square Enix is now celebrating 25 years since the original Final Fantasy 10 first launched, and in an effort to stop fans crumbling into dust, the company released an interview between Takashi Tokita (of Chrono Trigger and Parasite Eve fame) and series producer Yoshinori Kitase about the iconic game's production.

While Final Fantasy frequently flips between the sci-fi and fantasy genres, Final Fantasy 10 was originally supposed to follow on from Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 8's more tech-forward approach. According to Kitase, that quickly changed.

"During development, we initially took a more sci-fi approach at first, but when we thought about what would be trending in Hollywood around the time of FF10's release, we learned that The Lord of the Rings was in production," Kitase explains. "So we thought fantasy was going to be the next big global trend, and that was one of the reasons we decided to go with fantasy rather than sci-fi."

The timing worked out perfectly, too. Final Fantasy 10 began development in 1999 and came out in 2001, just a few short months before The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone made waves in theatres.

Yuna's pilgrimage and Frodo's trek aren't too dissimilar when you take a step back, either. Both are tragic characters carrying a literal burden too heavy for anyone else, tasked with saving the world from a calamity that'll likely kill them in the process. But Final Fantasy 10's sci-fi routes still show up here and there in the final game, as well.

"It began with Mr. [Kazushige] Nojima wanting to explore a fantasy atmosphere that wasn't rooted in medieval Europe, but instead drew from more Eastern influences, since both FF7 and FF8 had maintained a sci-fi tone," Kitase adds.

Japanese gamers vote Final Fantasy 10 the most tear jerking JRPG of all time, but it seems the emotional appeal of Western indies like Undertale and Omori is universal

Despite having 15 years between them, Call of Duty: Black Ops' PS4 and PS5 port is seemingly suffering from the same exploits that its PS3 version has also been a victim of.

Activision released both Call of Duty: Black Ops and Black Ops 2 for the PS4 and PS5 last week in the form of straightforward ports, not remasters – both games are also on Xbox Series X|S via backward compatibility. While making two fan-favorite games available to more people should've been a slam dunk win for Activision, XP exploits quickly made multiplayer lobbies nearly unplayable for large waves of Black Ops 1's online population.

As spotted by IGN, YouTuber Tdawgsmitty recently chatted with a modder who explained that the problem might actually be a leftover exploit from the original game's PS3 and Xbox 360 days. Right now, there aren't any aimbots and such flooding the game, but people are modding save files to farm more XP than is usually possible by spamming themselves with grenades, say, which is ruining competitive games for regular players.

"Essentially, what you're doing is that it's like PS3 where you copy [a save file] to your USB, and there's a website that lets you unencrypt it," the modder says. "The site lets you use a jailbroken PS4/PS5, and it will decrypt it for you. The save data is the exact same as PS3. What sucks about this port is that Iron Galaxy [and] Activision didn't bother changing the encryption on the files, which is the whole reason why this is available right now. That's the only reason why."

Activision disabled "select playlists" a few days ago while it investigates reported issues. It then updated some playlists with "a server-wide fix," though the modder suggests other game modes are still exploitable.

For now, reminisce with the best Call of Duty games of all time.

After almost three weeks of community outcry, Blizzard is modifying the drop rates for Mythics in Diablo 4 Season 14. Players had been finding it tough to get Unique Mythics, to the point where many couldn't find any despite farming specifically for them, and now hotfixes are being rolled out to take the edge off.

"We've heard your feedback on Season of Death Awakening, including Mythic unique drop rates, equip limits, and more," Dan Tanguay, the design director of live service for Diablo 4, says on the official Blizzard forums, as relayed by Marcus 'Marcoose' Kretz, senior community manager for the Diablo series.

"In a patch releasing today, we're increasing the drop rate for Mythics from the Corrupted Reaper boss fight and removing equip limits for Mythic Uniques," he writes. "Additionally, in a patch coming next week, we're adding Superior Lair Keys to the Glints of Hope repeatable cache and increasing the Mythic Tribute drop rates in the Undercity."

How much the drop rate for the Corrupted Reaper battle increases will need to be tested, but seeing as numerous players have gotten exactly zero uniques from that encounter, things can really only go up. Letting people equip more than one is helpful as well – you can only have one crafted Mythic at a time currently, significantly reducing the options for any given build.

His post was made on July 16, yesterday at time of writing, meaning it should be live and available to you whenever you boot up Diablo 4 next. A fan on Reddit amusingly told others they can now "re-install Diablo 4," since a few had commented they were ostensibly avoiding this season due to what was happening with Mythics.

The second patch Tanguay mentioned should massage out further problems, too. "Seasons are where we experiment with new ideas and push Diablo 4 in new directions," he finishes. "Not every idea lands exactly as intended, but we’ll continue listening to your feedback, addressing what’s not working, and applying those lessons to future seasonal updates."

Diablo 4's Overwatch crossover skins have been revealed and they are completely cursed: "Mercy looks like a 90-year-old grandma."

Rockstar Games' open worlds are humungous affairs full of things to buy, shoot, collect, rob, and do. Although with games as lush and extravagant as Red Dead Redemption and GTA 5, it might surprise you to learn that Rockstar Games is actually quite restrained, and the developer cuts a lot of content before passing the finish line.

That's according to former GTA 5 producer John Ricchio, who recently told Kiwi Talkz about how the Grand Theft Auto developer trims the fat on its mammoth games. "There was so much stuff in GTA, particularly GTA 5 – oh my god, there was so much stuff that was like done," he says in the interview. "Like, minigames that were completely done and ready to go, except for like animation, right?"

Minigames were allegedly binned because "the animation team were getting destroyed," and there was "so much animation work to do to bring everything to the same level" in a game as large as GTA 5 "that we had to cut stuff that was otherwise completely done." There simply wasn't enough time on the calendar to have everything meet the same level of quality.

Ricchio was often told by fellow developers that sweeping cuts are just "'a thing that happens, you know, because the game is so big – GTAs are always gigantic.'" Rockstar leaders wouldn't hesitate to bin larger parts of the game, either: "They'll throw out entire levels and they'll throw out entire things because they don't have enough resources to get everything to the same level."

Major cuts were sometimes "hard to deal with" for the dedicated developers who had been working on features or levels or minigames for a "really long time," especially when everyone on the team was happy with the cut work. "It wasn't like they went into DLC or anything… They just disappeared," Ricchio adds.

But he also acknowledges that such cuts are part of working under a "large production" like Rockstar Games, and it's sometimes for the best. "Every decision can't be made by everyone," he says, and when a developer's headcount stretches as wide as Rockstar's, there'll inevitably be decisions that not everyone will agree on.

According to another ex-developer, an entire single-player Agent Trevor DLC was abruptly scrapped after the dizzying success of GTA Online. Rockstar Universe also lists all of the games' supposed cut content, mostly based on glimpses of features from old trailers that never made it into the finished product.

GTA 5 is still selling millions a year, letting Rockstar do whatever it wants with GTA 6: analyst estimates 1.8 million just on PS5 in 2026.

The Iconic Mythics saga in Diablo 4 just won't end, and as Blizzard continues to step on rakes to the wide ridicule of the game's most hardcore fans, the devs have announced that they're looking into how to escape the rake field they now seem to permanently reside in. In less hyperbolic terms – yes, they know Iconic Mythics aren't dropping, and yes, they're trying to figure out a solution.

A recent update was meant to actually get Iconic Mythics dropping again, as the patch notes promised that Blizzard had "increased the chance of naturally dropped Mythics being an Iconic Mythic." By all accounts, however, they're still effectively impossible to farm.

"Clearly the patch failed," as one irate post on the official message board put it. "Iconic mythics were supposed to start dropping. Now the community has collectively wasted millions of lair keys for no chance at iconic mythics still. Remove the crafted tag from AT LEAST the iconic mythics at blacksmith. They got nerfed with patch anyway. I just wasted 70 Lair keys on Grigoire for ZERO mythics of ANY kind."

In response to that message, a Blizzard community manager promises that "this is being looked into, as well as other issues surrounding mythics." The CM has, in fact, repeated that sentiment several times in response to other, similar messages over the past few days. But if you're looking for concrete details about what's changing and when, the devs have not provided them just yet.

Outrage over the state of mythic items across the game has been ongoing since before Season 14 hit the PTR at the start of June, and while Blizzard has offered various olive branches to the community and implemented changes to the system, it seems that there's still work to be done.

Diablo 4 streamer spends "20 hours non-stop" farming bosses for the ARPG's rarest items, doesn't get a single one: "Don't try this at home."

Finding Ancient Bone in Palworld is not easy, as it's perhaps one of the rarest resources in the game, found only in one very small, secluded location. There's not even a Fast Travel point on the island where you get it to make life easier. So you'll either need one of the new flying mounts or a water one to get there every time.

You can only obtain Ancient Bone at the No. 3 Wildlife Sanctuary, which is a forcefield-protected island off the northeast coast of the Desiccated Dunes. However, once you finally make your way over the ocean, your problems are far from over, as I can explain below.

Where is Palworld Ancient Bone?

Palworld Ancient Bone can only be found at the No. 3 Wildlife Sanctuary, which is off the coast of the Dessicated Desert. You'll find the resource by mining skeletal remains in this area - note that skeletal remains found in other areas of Palpagos don't drop Ancient Bone.

The No. 3 Wildlife Sanctuary in the forcefield-protected island to the northeast of the Dessicated Desert, and there is no Fast Travel point there, so you'll need to use either the Deep Sand Dunes or The Furthest Flats travel points.

Once you get to the island, getting Ancient Bone is still far from easy, as there are level 50+ Alpha Pals roaming the area, and security drones crossing the skies. As a result you'll need to stealth around the area to get in and out alive - by crouching and avoiding the red scanner of the drones you can make your way to skeletal remains you can see, mine them, and get out - but always keep one eye on your surroundings until you're in the clear.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Ex-The Elder Scrolls Online senior encounter designer Morgan Goin was one of the devs let go from Zenimax Online Studios and says she can't see how the studio can maintain the same cadence of updates going forward.

Microsoft kicked off its fifth batch of layoffs since spending $75 billion on acquiring Activision Blizzard in 2023. Since then Microsoft has effectively had yearly layoffs each July, with Zenimax Online Studios – which was hit in a major way last year's layoffs, resulting in the cancellation of Project Blackbird and several high-profile departures from the company – being one of the biggest hits for of this year's wave alongside Doom developer id Software, as up to half of the devs behind Bethesda's MMO have reportedly lost their jobs.

While Bethesda did try to damage control this somewhat with a statement saying its team is the same size as in 2015, devs are painting a different story. Speaking to BBC News, Goin says she was "blindsided" by the sheer number of cuts and estimates that some disciplines at the studio have been reduced to a quarter of their pre-layoffs size. Goin adds, "We're not going to be able to put out the amount of content at the speed that we were… or anything approaching that."

Andrew Young, a senior content designer on Elder Scrolls Online from 2012 until 2024, said the MMO "basically funded other failing projects." While nothing specific was mentioned, The Elder Scrolls Blades and Legends didn't exactly light the world on fire, but it could be in reference to any number of underperforming Zenimax titles (two bad Wolfenstein spinoffs releasing on the same day, anyone?).

Like with last year's layoffs, Zenimax Online Studios is losing several high-profile staff as a result of this year's cuts, with studio head Joseph Burba, Elder Scrolls Online executive producer Susan Kath, studio game director Rich Lambert, and production director Ala Diaz all reportedly leaving the company.

Making Fallout and Elder Scrolls games will "be harder than ever now" following Xbox cuts, say laid-off Bethesda devs calling loss of institutional knowledge "staggering"

Palworld Cryogenic Coolant is required to make some of the most powerful cold-resistant items in the game. I'd have thought a coolant would have been required for heat-resistant gear, but clearly I'm wrong.

If you're after some of the best armor to take to Mount Obsidian or Feybreak Island, then, you might be hunting high and low for this Cryogenic Coolant. Unfortunately, looking for it to drop around the Palworld environment is going to leave you wanting, as this item can only be crafted at your base.

How to get Palworld Cryogenic Coolant

The recipe for Palworld Cryogenic Coolant can be unlocked in the Technology Tree at level 31, and it can only be crafted at a Production Assembly Line.

While it looks relatively simply to make - you only need Pal Fluids and Ice Organs to make it, both of which are easy to get by farming ice and water-type Pals like Kingpen - this mid-level item can't simply be crafted at a normal workbench. You instead need a Production Assembly Line.

This is unlocked at Level 29 and requires some hefty resources to build: 100x Ingots, 10x Cement, 5x Wooden Board, and 20x Nails. Let's hope your Base Pals have been hard at work.

With the Production Assembly Line in place and a few Ice Organs and Pal Fluids in your chests, you can now make Cryogenic Coolant. You'll need it to craft any of the following items:

• Ghangler Saddle (Level 31)
• Water Grenade (Level 33)
• Quivern Saddle (Level 36)
• Jormuntide Saddle (level 39)
• Cold-Resistant Refined Metal Armor (Level 41)
• Whalaska Saddle (Level 42)
• Quivern Botan Saddle (Level 45)
• Cold-Resistant Pal Metal Armor (Level 50)
• Cold-Resistant Plasteel Armor (Level 54)
• Plasma Multicutter (Level 54)
• Powerful Fishing Magnet (Level 61)
• Cold-Resistant Hexolite Armor (Level 64)
• Overheat Rifle (Level 64)
• Combat SMG (Level 68)
• Cold-Resistant Ancient Armor (Level 77)

Now you've got an assembly line going, put those Pals to work. To make some of the items on this list, you'll also need to find Palworld Hexolite Quartz, and you'll need some Ancient Civilization Parts, too.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Palworld's Mozzarina isn't exactly one of the most desirable Pals for combat, but it is one of the most important animals for ranching purposes. This cute cow drops milk, which itself is required to make cakes, which are then required for breeding Pals.

This might be why it's a little harder to come by than most of the other low-level Pals. While sometimes it seems you can't move for Foxparks or Herbils, Mozzarinas are only found in an area you might not bother to access for some time. It's a low-level area, but there's not much driving you there, so you may go some time without finding a Palworld Mozzarina. When it's time to bake a cake, then, here's where to go.

Palworld 1.0 Mozzarina location

If you've already encountered a Mozzarina, for example in the Small Settlement, it should appear in your Paldeck, where it shows the location as Marsh Island and Eastern Wild Island. This is correct, but the best place to look is right near the Natural Bridge fast travel point, along the marsh island coast to the south. For some reason, these rotund milk makers seem to like lounging on the beach - who doesn't?

Once you've found one or two, you'll need to set them to work in your ranch in order to start farming milk. That's not all you'll need for Palworld breeding, though - you also need eggs, honey, and flour. Chikipi drops eggs while ranching, and honey can be obtained from Beegarde or Cinnamoth. You'll need a wheat pasture and a mill to get your hands on some flour.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Bethesda Game Studios – and, in particular, ZeniMax Online Studios – have felt the impact of Microsoft's recent plan to cut over 3,200 employees at Xbox, with the company's union representatives reporting a loss of "dozens of programmers, artists, designers and testers."

It's no secret that the layoffs have torn through Bethesda and its Elder Scrolls Online studio, which has been hit particularly hard.

An MMO team that grew over time to quite mind-boggling figures has now been reduced to the same size it boasted over a decade ago, leaving remaining developers – and fans – concerned about the future. Those affected didn't just include devs, however… leadership has faced the chopping block, too, apparently.

We learn as much from Game File, which reportedly obtained a copy of the official notice from ZeniMax Online Studios regarding its plans to "transition" to new leadership "over the next few months" – leadership that consists of company veterans.

Leads departing include studio head Joseph Burba (who has a 14-year history at the company and was just appointed to his role last July), Elder Scrolls Online executive producer Susan Kath, studio game director Rich Lambert, and production director Ala Diaz.

They "will remain in place during the transition period to help ensure a smooth handoff," however.

As for who will step in to take the helm, head of business operations Joshua Henderson will run ZeniMax Online Studios alongside Nick Giacomini, who was just promoted to Elder Scrolls Online game director last August.

In their statement, the former leaders note that they predict "growth" for the MMO.

"We have tremendous confidence in Josh and Nick," they write, "the future of this studio, and the continued growth of ESO. With exciting experiences still ahead for our players as we wrap up work for Update 51 and beyond, we believe that your passion, creativity, and commitment to each other and the community will continue serving as the heartbeat of ESO."

It's bittersweet – especially after some 200+ losses at the studio.

Here's hoping that the affected developers are able to land on their feet, and ZeniMax Online Studios can pick up the pieces somehow – these certainly aren't easy times in the industry, and the impact is more evident than ever.

Making Fallout and Elder Scrolls games will "be harder than ever now" following Xbox cuts, say laid-off Bethesda devs calling loss of institutional knowledge "staggering"

The day I never thought I'd witness is near – EA is finally introducing an autosave feature to The Sims 4… you know, a good 12 years after its 2014 launch.

How many Sims have I lost to random crashes? How many houses have perished before my eyes due to buggy shutdowns? Too many to count, I'd say – and sure, I could've been more vigilant about saving, but The Sims 4 has needed an autosave feature for well over a decade now.

Some of the best Sims 4 mods (I'm looking at you, MC Command Center) have tried to rectify the issue, but EA hadn't officially addressed it… until now. On July 21, the studio is finally adding an autosave ("AutoSave," as EA calls it) option to the life sim – but that's not all.

As outlined in its latest Laundry List of upcoming fixes, EA says, "This month we're introducing a new AutoSave to The Sims 4, and rolling out Memory Boost to Mac and console players to improve overall performance for more Simmers."

The team is also looking to target "the top-reported issues from players via EA Forums."

The autosave feature is undeniably the most eye-catching tidbit here, though. So… how will it work, exactly? "Quietly in the background, automatically creating save points at key moments while you play," apparently.

"You can customize when AutoSave happens in Game Save Settings, with options like saving after traveling between lots, after a period of playtime, or at important gameplay milestones."

There's another option for Simmers who hate themselves (I kid, I kid). "If you'd rather stay in control, Save Reminders like the friendly (or slightly grumpy) gnome notification… can prompt you to create a manual save at the frequency you choose. Together, these features help reduce the risk of lost progress while giving you the flexibility to save the way you want."

Not bad, EA. Not bad at all. It just took, erm, 12 years.

EA goes into some of its other big tweaks, too, like the Memory Boost system that "improves how The Sims 4 manages memory while you play, helping deliver a smoother experience with reduced lag, improved frame rates and responsiveness, shorter loading times, and a lower risk of memory-related crashes."

It sounds like, all in all, The Sims 4 will crash less – and when it does crash, it'll be far less painful thanks to autosaving.

I don't know about you all, but I think this is a step in the right direction – even if it's coming a bit late to The Sims 4. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some mods to delete…

The Sims 4's microtransaction Marketplace has officially shown me the door after 24 years of Simming.

Pure Quartz is one of two types of Palworld quartz, along with Hexolite Quartz. Both have different uses and are mined in different biomes, so to help you avoid confusion, I've got the locations of both, and how to farm them right here.

Both types of quartz are incredibly valuable, owing to their inclusion some pretty essential high-level blueprints, such as Hexolite armor and the all-important Circuit Board. So, if you're having trouble locating either, here's everything you need to know.

How to get Palworld Pure Quartz

Pure Quartz is found in the Astra Mountains in Palworld, which is a challenging area to navigate due to the extreme cold. Fortunately, there are a few Pure Quartz deposits in the grassy areas along the eastern coast, which aren't as cold, making for easier mining.

As always with any ores, you could also be sure to have a mining Pal in your party, such as Tombat, who will aid will collecting the mineral faster.

Once you've found some, Pure Quartz is used for a few recipes, but the most important is the Circuit Board, which itself is then used in electrical blueprints like advanced workbenches and assembly lines.

You can farm Palworld Pure Quartz at your base once you reach Technology Level 52 and unlock the Pure Quartz Quarry.

How to get Palworld Hexolite Quartz

Palworld Hexolite Quartz is found on Feybreak Island, and this pretty mineral can be used for crafting some pretty decent armor, but only once you reach Technology Level 59. The good news is that there's also a Hexolite Quartz Mine available on the Ancient Technology tree at Level 63, so you can farm plenty of the resource from the safety of your own home - or, rather, get Pals to do it for you.

For help farming other materials, check out our guides on Palworld leather, hardwood, and Meteorite Fragments.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

The past couple of weeks have been undeniably difficult for the video game industry, with Microsoft's plan to cut 3,200 employees at Xbox affecting various in-progress titles and studios – one of which is id Software, the team behind Doom.

In fact, id Software producer Andrew Willis has spoken at length about the layoffs and their impact across the board. A few days ago, he called them "incomprehensible," saying that small worker-owned studios are "the only path forward" from here.

Since then, he's continued to share his thoughts over on LinkedIn, writing, "The games industry must change if it is going to create art and franchises that have long-term sustainable value."

As the producer states, "Right now, it feels like the monopolies that control it are simply trying to extract as much goodwill and value (that took decades to build) as they can with little concern for the diminishing returns it's leading to. This is what happens when the people who control it (most Ivy League MBAs) do not play games, have never shipped a game, and fundamentally do not understand the industry they manage."

Willis then says, "You'll never get another WoW or Morrowind in the current climate" – a statement I can't help but feel rings especially true right now.

It's difficult to imagine such impactful games releasing when so many developers are struggling to mitigate the blow that widespread layoffs are leaving in their wake… and according to the producer, a lot of the issues stem from improper management.

"One thing that drives me nuts while watching the games industry be mismanaged is how everyone is looking for these massive 10x returns but is so focused on short-term growth that they essentially kill the goose before it can start laying eggs," as he explains.

"Disbanding and destroying a team after just one commercial letdown… makes it so you won't ever have a group that learns from their mistakes and perfects their next attempt (see Helldivers 2)."

With such quick trigger-pulling, Willis says studios will "never get that breakout success" they're after.

"These people would've turned down funding for George Lucas, Walt Disney, etc., and they wonder why they can't establish another colossal IP that pays dividends for decades. It's mind-boggling. There is lots wrong with the game industry, but I believe that one of the main things is that the people who manage it today have no idea how it actually works and refuse to learn or listen to the people that do."

The producer cites how wild it is to see spending on hardware and software go up, but layoffs never settling.

"It's really amazing how demand and consumer spending on video games continues to increase year over year, and yet the supply side continues to be extremely volatile for employees," he describes. "The failure to connect these two sides in a way that creates sustainable growth points to a direct failure of executive leadership – the consequences of which are only suffered by workers."

Willis signs off with one final thought: "The more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that the executive management class that controls the video game industry is so severely inept that they have somehow failed everyone all at once in every aspect – the shareholders, the consumers, the employees, and anyone who cares about games. They tried to sacrifice quality for profit, and they didn't even manage to generate the latter. Abysmal choices."

I'm inclined to agree with Willis on his point about a "breakout success" in this climate – it feels near impossible. Here's hoping the industry is able to heal a bit over time, and that we see less news regarding mass layoffs, too.

Layoffs might offer "better short-term financial results," late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata admitted in 2013, but "employees who fear that they may be laid off" will never produce the same results

After nearly a year since it first released on current gen consoles, Techland has announced the PS4 and Xbox One versions of Dying Light: The Beast are cancelled.

Over on Twitter, the official Dying Light account posted a message announcing the cancellation. "After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision that Dying Light: The Beast will no longer be released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One." Techland explains "Dying Light: The Beast was built from the ground up to take full advantage of current-generation hardware. Its open world, advanced visuals, and fluid combat and traversal all depend on processing power and memory that previous-generation consoles simply cannot provide."

The post continues, "As development progressed, it became clear that bringing the game to those platforms would require compromises that would prevent us from delivering the experience we set out to create." Adding, "This was not a matter of choosing to leave those platforms behind. Rather, it reflected the technical realities of development and our commitment to delivering the best possible experience."

While the fact that we're talking about almost 13 year old consoles makes this not much of a surprise, Dying Light 2 – which The Beast started out as DLC for before being spun off into a full game – ran pretty well on those consoles when it was released back in 2022. However, we are talking about 13 year old consoles, and while the PS4 has had an especially long tail considering we're almost at the end of the PS5's life, it's probably safe to expect that most new games won't be coming to the platform anymore. Techland adds, "We know many of you were looking forward to playing on PS4 or Xbox One, and we are truly sorry for the disappointment this causes."

Dying Light The Beast is "very strong proof" that slowing down and focusing on the core details works, former series lead says: "We learned that quality beats quantity"

Palworld recently saw the release of its long-awaited 1.0 update, with patch notes so big they can only be described as monstrous – but with the new content has come new controversy.

Social media is being, well, social media. Amid all of the praise Palworld 1.0 is receiving, there are folks hoping to spur a bit of negativity, apparently – a seemingly never-ending story for the survival game, which has been in the limelight since its early Pokemon comparisons back in 2024.

Recent conversations have caught the eye of head of Pocketpair publishing and communications, John "Bucky" Buckley, though. He reveals as much in a new online post, calling the online chatter out. "The usual suspects out in force on Twitter trying to stir up as much Palworld fuss as they can for $," he warns. "Stay vigilant, gamers. Play games, enjoy your hobby, don't get sucked into manufactured dramas by people posting 50 times a day to make $1."

Bucky signs off with a conclusion I think many of us would agree with: "You can like any game you want!!"

Although the publishing lead doesn't point out what specific "Palworld fuss" he's seen, I've spotted a few, erm, opinionated threads floating about here and there myself recently – but overall, Palworld 1.0 is doing just fine reception-wise.

Heck, the game has seen extremely positive reviews on Steam and massive player numbers. It's safe to say that many fans are enjoying Pocketpair's full launch… and then some.

It's important to note that this isn't the first time Bucky has commented on online "hate," so to speak. Earlier this year, he referred to what he jokingly called "professional Palworld haters" in an interview with us, saying that ultimately, they're "not really" the developers' problem to deal with.

"There's a couple accounts out there that make it their life's mission to, almost daily, go after us," he said. "But at this point, just, who cares?"

That's a good way to think about it, if you ask me – and like I said earlier, Palworld certainly isn't hurting for positive feedback. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a base to go build.

Palworld devs have "a few other little secret things in development" amid plans to "keep expanding" the survival game's universe.

Clean the Squishies codes can be used to get a boost in this tidying simulator, as you try to put your local squishy shop back in order. There are cute collectibles all over the floor that need returning to their correct shelves, so work alone or with friends to complete the cleanup.

The initial Clean the Squishies codes provide you with Squishies, which is also the in-game currency used to purchase upgrades. Using it you can unlock Trails and Auras to equip on your character, which boost the cash and Squishies you earn while cleaning up in this Roblox experience. If you're ready to sort, then here are the codes for Clean the Squishies and how to redeem them.

If you'd prefer more general promos that apply across every experience, then take a look at the current Roblox promo codes.

All Clean the Squishies codes

The following Clean the Squishies codes are currently available:

• UPDATE3 – 1,100 Squishies new! (currently not working)
• WELCOME – 100 Squishies new!
• SQUISHY – 250 Squishies new!
• UPDATE1 – 1,000 Squishies

There are currently a few codes for Clean the Squishies that can be claimed, despite them being a relatively new addition to the experience. They all provide the Squishies currency for in-game purchases, to help get you up and running.

How to redeem Clean the Squishies codes

To redeem Clean the Squishies codes, all you have to do is hit the Cog icon at the top of the screen to open up the Settings menu. This has a code... text box at the bottom, so type in a promo and then tap the Redeem button to collect your reward. Codes for Clean the Squishies aren't case-sensitive, so it doesn't matter how you enter them as long as the correct spelling is used.

Expired Clean the Squishies codes

• No expired codes

As they are a recent addition to the experience, there are currently no expired Clean the Squishies codes to be aware of. However, these situations don't tend to last for long, so make sure you've claimed any active codes before they get moved down here.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

These days, it's hard to imagine a world without Stardew Valley. Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone's pixel perfect village escape is the modern standard bearer by which all other cozy and retro-styled games are measured against. Explicitly inspired by the early Harvest Moon games, Stardew Valley has ballooned in popularity beyond anyone's expectations since its release in 2016, taking on its own identity and inspiring countless other indie games of the cute and cuddly variety. None of this would be true, however, if Barone hadn't been able to salvage the game data from a computer crash that happened about a year into development.

PC Gamer recently republished a 2016 interview with Barone in which the solo developer brushed with the idea that his ragtag Harvest Moon-like could become a phenomenon. Barone couldn't have had any idea just how revolutionary Stardew Valley would one day become, but he had the foresight to know he was very lucky to recover from a PC crash that almost put Stardew Valley in a pixelated grave before it was ever born.

Barone told PC Gamer that the project was almost canceled when the PC he was using to develop the game unexpectedly crashed. Since he had no backups, Barone thought it was over for Stardew Valley, but was ultimately able to restore the project from the old hard drive and build a new rig.

"In retrospect, it feels crazy that it all worked out," he said. "The whole development was so sloppy. It was the most indie development you could imagine: no professional style at all, figuring it all out as I go, and just the scrappiest code you could imagine. I'm almost embarrassed to have other people look at my code!"

Barone's next game, Haunted Chocolatier, very much seems to be being built using the foundation laid down by Stardew Valley, and with Barone having all of that experience under his belt, not to mention a small team helping him put everything together, fans can expect a much smoother development process while they wait for the darker, sweeter follow-up.

Haunted Chocolatier is "taking a long time," admits Stardew Valley creator ConcernedApe – but going "over every last detail" is just what it takes "to make a game I'm satisfied with"

Palworld 1.0 is finally here, over two years on from its monumental early-access launch, but once upon a time, Pocketpair's creature-collecting survival game could have fallen into a very different genre – albeit still with all the cute Pals that fans have grown to love.

While often compared to Pokemon when it comes to its creature collecting aspects, and the likes of Ark with its survival gameplay, speaking in a recent interview with Game8, head of communications and publishing at Pocketpair John "Bucky" Buckley explains that Palworld was originally supposed to be a factory game like Satisfactory.

"It started life as, 'Wouldn't it be fun to have a factory game like Satisfactory, but instead of machines, it was little creatures? Wouldn't it be fun if those little creatures were each their own individual, rather than just miscellaneous creatures that were working? Wouldn't it be fun if [there was] creature collecting?'" he begins. "And then it turned into open world and survival crafting naturally. The game has changed a lot from the original concept, but I think the core idea of Factory Sim with your Pals is still there."

Of course, we can still see some elements of Palworld's factory sim inspirations in the game today. Your Pals are capable of using workbenches to craft things for you, for example, or farm things for you.

It makes me wonder if Pocketpair could ever release a spin-off that leans even more into the factory sim genre in the future. After all, the devs are already making Palfarm – you guessed it, a farming game – as well as, uh, Palworld ~ More than Just Pals, a dating sim which (for better or worse) isn't an elaborate April Fool's Day joke.

Palworld devs "had high expectations for 1.0," but with over 855,000 concurrent Steam players, lead says "this is staggering."

The Elder Scrolls Online team is unfortunately part of Microsoft's ongoing plan to cut 3,200 employees at Xbox, leaving the developers behind the Bethesda MMO far fewer in number than before.

In fact, the team is apparently as small as it was about a decade ago, when the game only really began to take off after its shaky launch – or, at least, that's what prominent community figure Baratron, who helps run the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages and its Discord, reports.

He reveals as much in a new message, explaining that he learned the news from associate design director Jason Barnes and associate director of community management Jessica Folsom.

It came during the past weekend's Elder Scrolls Online Tavern event in Hesse, Germany, where fans and developers gathered to celebrate the MMO.

"This is important," writes Baratron. "According to both Jason Barnes (Associate Design Director) and Jessica Folsom (Associate Director of Community Management), Zenimax Online Studios is now at the same size as it was when they made both Wrothgar and Summerset."

That's shocking, to say the least – but he doesn't seem to think it's a bad thing. After all, "both are highly acclaimed DLCs," as the UESP admin puts it. "So while the layoffs are extremely upsetting for everyone involved (of course including players), this is not necessarily the end of new content or the game going into maintenance mode."

Baratron assures that there's more reason to think the end of Elder Scrolls Online isn't near, too.

"Also Nick Giacomini (Game Director) and Susan Kath (Studio Executive Producer) are specifically not at the ESO Tavern because they're working on the new Roadmap of when content will be released," he states. "It really is not the end yet."

It's a bit of bittersweet, good-and-bad news, all things considered – the layoffs, obviously, are not nice to hear about… but it's reassuring that they don't spell the demise of the MMO.

Here's hoping any and all affected developers are able to land on their feet, and The Elder Scrolls Online proves to have a brighter future than fans expect following the upsetting news circulating recently.

"There's really no one left": Former Elder Scrolls Online dev says the MMO "basically funded other failing projects" as Microsoft guts the studio

Palworld developers are reacting to the game's massive resurgence in player count thanks to the launch of 1.0.

Over on Twitter, the Palworld Twitter account celebrated hitting 850,000 concurrent players on Steam (with the game's 24 hour peak on Sunday, July 12 hitting 855,525, per SteamDB). The post reads, "We can't believe it! Following the official release, Palpagos is once again bustling with Pal Tamers! A huge, heartfelt thank you to everyone playing Palworld. We hope you're enjoying Palworld 1.0!"

Meanwhile, head of publishing and communications at Pocketpair, John 'Bucky' Buckley, reacted on his own account, giving his thanks to the players who have dropped in for the game's 1.0 launch. "Obviously, we had high expectations for 1.0 internally, but this is staggering. We really hope you are enjoying your time in Palworld again!"

The 855,525 concurrent player count lands Palworld within the top 15 biggest games ever on Steam when it comes to concurrent players, just below Baldur's Gate 3 (875,343) and above Battlefield 6 (747,440). Or rather, it would land Palworld there, except it's not even Palworld's biggest.

When Palworld launched into early access in 2024, the game reached 2,101,867 players. That number – at the time – gave it the second-highest number of concurrent players on Steam ever, just behind PUBG: Battlegrounds. However, it's since slipped into third following the release of Black Myth: Wukong.

Even so, this new number is still a hell of a resurgence, given that the highest the game ever reached post-launch was 273,204 the following month, and since last August, the game's monthly peaks have generally stayed below 100k.

Palworld 1.0 redesigns multiple Pals and makes them look less like Pokemon.

The Palworld 1.0 patch notes are gigantic, but an understated element of the update was only spotted after players dove into the new content themselves. Several old Pals have been redesigned, seemingly to bring them up to par with modern creature designs, but many fans also noted that the new versions put some distance between similar Pokemon designs that sparked comparisons in the past.

On the Palworld subreddit, user Silverr98 assembled side-by-side comparisons of the new designs for four updated Pals. Verdash, a green bipedal Pal, is now a bit shorter but has much longer ears, a less pronounced collar, and poofier shorts.

I think this is all redesigns from r/Palworld

"Verdash actually has its own identity now instead of giving off 'legally distinct Cinderace' vibes," Reddit user Pends101 says in a reply, and they're not the only one that feels this way.

"Verdash is now a smol boi instead of grass Cinderace," says Twitter user Rasen.

The Pal Robinquill, whose colors and overall shape drew comparisons to the Pokemon Decidueye, now sports an olive green cloak and a leaner silhouette which sheds the feather headpiece altogether.

Similarly, Fenglope, which previously used colors close to the horse-like Pokemon Cobalion, now uses a purple palette and has more flame-like horns.

Players also spotted a small change to the Pal Grintale, whose bright yellow eyes and jagged smile were often compared to the Galarian version of the Pokemon Meowth. After update 1.0, Grintale has subtle eye markings and straight teeth, with more of a Cheshire Cat vibe overall. Congratulations on getting the braces off.

Obviously, Pocketpair hasn't drawn a straight line from these changes to the Nintendo lawsuit it's still dealing with, but assuming it was a motivating factor, this wouldn't be the first time the developer has updated Palworld to avoid overlap with Pokemon.

Reactions to the new Pal designs seem pretty positive overall, and they do feel closer to the more recent (and, in my opinion, generally better) Pal designs. We still haven't topped the best Pal design of all time, though: Chillet.

Palworld 1.0 sees the survival game's biggest Steam player spike since its record-breaking early access launch and 96% positive reviews: "Better than even Pokemon."

Well, it's here. Palworld 1.0 is now officially out, with a short story's worth of patch notes for fans to pore over before they dive in. Naturally, plenty of people have been flocking to the monster-collecting survival game, either for the first time or as returning veterans, causing the biggest spike in concurrent players on Steam since the period around its massive early access launch.

According to SteamDB at time of writing, Palworld currently has 302,384 people playing at once on Steam. Although that pales from the two-million-plus we saw when the game first became available back in 2024, that's a sizable amount of concurrent players nonetheless, and this is during unsocial hours in the United States.

Once North America wakes up, we can expect plenty more to join the party. The closest peak to this post-launch was in December 2024, where over 212,000 people were playing at once. Palworld's kept a consistent audience while it's been in early access, always staying in the tens of thousands even when not much was going on update wise.

On top of this, Steam reviews are in an extremely healthy position as well. Right now, Palworld 1.0 is at 96% positive reviews looking at the hundreds of ratings posted today, as dedicated fans have decided to give credit where it's due.

"Thank you for creating the game so many of us always wished Pokemon would become," says one review left today, July 10, from a fan with 140 hours on record. "Rather than waiting for that vision to happen, you brought it to life through your own original IP, and the result feels both familiar and refreshingly unique."

There's a lot of anti-Nintendo sentiment after the company pulled Pocketpair into a legal battle over alleged patent infringement. "Much better than any Pokemon game I have ever played," a fan writes. "Better than even Pokemon," another echoes.

Whether by protest against the home of Mario and Zelda or genuine curiosity, plenty are enjoying Palworld. Now that Pocketpair's put out 1.0, the sky seems to be the limit. Just don't expect any underwater swimming.

Playing Palworld 1.0 with mods can "cause issues," Pocketpair warns, so it's recommended you uninstall each one before updating the survival game.

You'll need a keen eye looking for Subnautica 2 Sandspears. These powerful creatures might be large and deadly, dealing significant damage with just one bite, but they also hide themselves underground until you get too close to avoid them.

Unfortunately, you need to get close enough to Bioscan one of these killer fish if you want to unlock all the Subnautica 2 biomods, so here's where you can find them, and how to scan a Sandspear without dying.

Where to find Subnautica 2 Sandspears

You can find Subnautica 2 Sandspears in the area around your lifepod and around the Observatory. However, they bury themselves almost completely under sand, so look for a blue antenna sticking out of the ground, surrounded by sharp teeth, as seen in the image above.

Get too close to this ominous indicator, and a Sandspear will instantly pop out of the ground and sink its teeth into you, dealing serious damage - so you might want to make sure you have some medkits on you when seeking them out.

Here are some good locations to look for Sandspears in Subnautica 2:

• Swim 65m from the lifepod at 250° SW, then to a depth of 25m
• Swim 110m from the lifepod at 60° NE, then to a depth of 30m
• Swim 140m from the lifepod at 90° E, then to a depth of 20m

Generally speaking, you can find these fish by swimming along the surface of the ocean, both in the area around your lifepod and near the Observatory - there are no Sandspears in the Alien Ruins area of the map.

You'll then need to scan the monster in order to unlock two new Biomods, so read on to find out how to get close enough to do so.

How to Bioscan Subnautica 2 Sandspears

To scan Subnautica 2 Sandspears, get close enough to hit one with your Feedback or Sonic Resonator, which should force it out from underground. The Sandspear will then become passive for a while before reburying itself, during which time you can use your scanner.

If you get too close and the creature attacks, it will also become passive before it hides again, so you can also use this time to scan the Sandspear. Clearly, since it only attacks when you get too close, it's just a bit defensive.

The most important thing to note if you're trying to unlock the associated Biomod is that you need to scan the Sandspear with a Subnautica 2 Bioscanner - not just a regular scanner.

If you're looking for some other fish to scan, check out our list of all the Subnautica 2 leviathans, but be careful getting close to them.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Playing Palworld 1.0 on a modded save file might accidentally break a few things, so developer Pocketpair is telling everyone to uninstall all mods ahead of the survival game's update. You've been warned.

After more than two whole years and over 40 million players, Palworld is officially leaving early access tomorrow - that's July 10, if you're deprived of a calendar - and the full game's changes sound absolutely sweeping. Communications lead John 'Bucky' Buckley recently shared that Palworld's 1.0 patch notes were sitting at 10,626 words and 66,550 characters, well above Steam's 32,000 character limit for blog posts.

That means Pocketpair are likely dusting off and making changes to almost every corner of the already-huge game, which will have unintended side effects for many a mod.

"Thank you to the amazing Palworld modding community, for their continued creativity and dedication to making fun mods for all to play," the developer writes in a recent social media PSA. "Palworld 1.0 introduces major changes to the game's underlying systems, and we've confirmed that mods installed before the update can cause issues during gameplay if left installed."

To avoid anything breaking or crashing or otherwise going weird, the studio recommends "temporarily removing all installed mods before updating the game." And to ensure everything keeps working normally, the dev asks everyone to re-install each mod one at a time and check their compatibility status with 1.0.

"It may take some time for mods to be updated for 1.0, so we kindly ask for your patience and understanding," it writes. "Palworld has always welcomed mods, and this will remain unchanged even after 1.0. It's been about 2.5 years since we started Early Access, and we're truly grateful to everyone in the community! We look forward to continuing to make Palworld even better with your help."

In other news, Pocketpair recently walked back plans to raise the price of Palworld once it left early access. As a thank you for the game's outsized support, the dev instead decided to keep selling it with a $29.99 price tag.

For now, here are the best Palworld mods to download now (just cross your fingers they work in a few days time.) If you're just getting into the game, also check out the best Palworld starters to catch first.

Former Marathon and Destiny 2 director Christopher Barrett has reached an agreement with both Bungie and Sony following his $200 million lawsuit against the companies.

As per his LinkedIn, Barrett spent over two decades at Bungie, starting his career there as an art director back in 1999. Most recently (for well over 10 years, mind you), the developer was a game director leading projects like Marathon and the now-dying Destiny 2. He left Bungie unexpectedly in the spring of 2024 – and that's where things get a bit messy.

Reports following his departure alleged inappropriate behavior toward female colleagues.

Barrett said he was actually fired so his employers could avoid paying him about $45 million under his employment contract, stating that they were trying to "deflect attention from their massive business failures."

Then, he sued both Bungie and Sony for $200 million, citing a "premeditated scheme to terminate" him and "avoid paying him the tens of millions of dollars he was owed." It's all… a lot.

Sony did respond, sharing supposed examples of Barrett's allegedly inappropriate behavior and a rundown of his financial earnings.

There hasn't been much to say about the case since then, but Barrett's most recent post on LinkedIn confirms that moves have been made – and that a settlement has been reached.

"I am pleased to share that Sony, Bungie, and I have reached an agreement to resolve the lawsuit," it reads.

"The outcome is one I am very satisfied with, and I am grateful to everyone who stood by me. Closing this chapter allows me to focus my attention on what's next in my gaming journey, and I look forward to what lies ahead."

At the end, Barrett includes "the parties' joint statement," which reasserts that they've settled the case and the dev's name has been added to the credits of Marathon "to reflect" his work on the shooter as game director.

Like I said earlier, it's all certainly a lot. Here's hoping that this truly is in the past now, and that every party involved can move forward.

In the ashes of Destiny 2, furious developer creates playable Pete Parsons-themed parody raid where the former Bungie CEO attacks "the entire playerbase" with cars

One Destiny 2 player, an apparent game developer, has made their own raid to throw one last tomato at former Bungie CEO Pete Parsons, who departed the struggling company amid controversy over the small fortune he'd seemingly recently spent on exotic cars.

Satire Twitter account Pete Carsons, whose operator is currently unclear, proudly revealed "The Vault of Cars" this week – a fully playable, in-browser Destiny raid which parodies the Vault of Glass and features Parsons, reborn as a Taniks-like machine hybrid with a South Park-style bucket mouth, as the final boss.

Spite absolutely drips off of this joke raid. A simulated orbit popup asks, "Do you have what it takes to face Pete Carsons in the Vault of Cars and stop him from purchasing all of the remaining cars in The Last City?"

A Twitter post adds: "Note: This experience is not affiliated with or endorsed by Bungie. It is satire only." You know, in case you weren't sure.

Once you log in to "The Final Car," you're thrown into a conversation with "Pete Carsons, Destroyer of Guardians" in a blurry Vault of Glass. Like every freaking Destiny boss, "Pete Carsons" throws up an invincible shield and starts chucking MacGuffins at you – in this case, a procession of cars with labels like "team reduction, crunch enforcer, layoff candidate, micro management, bad taste," and more.

This is a multilayered fight and a fairly impressive lo-fi recreation of the Vault of Glass final boss, Atheon. If you survive the cars – obviously, by throwing tomatoes at them – you'll be whisked to another realm beset by blinking oracles. If you fail the mechanics, you'll see a wipe screen which confirms that the Guardian in this scenario is named "The Entire Playerbase."

Clearing the raid seems to pull up a "We Want Destiny 3" page, which links to the petition calling for a sequel. The parody's creator, "a random developer," writes, "Building video games is hard. It is very hard.

"This industry is neither forgiving nor secure, and yet – we build these worlds because we know millions of people will be invited to experienced the combined efforts of tens of millions of hours it takes to build those worlds."

This sentiment hits hard as the games industry bloodbath continues amidst, most recently, thousands of layoffs and multiple studio divestments at Xbox.

Skewering "very bad and sometimes obvious decisions" made at the expense of game devs, the creator of Pete Carsons continues: "For me, Destiny was special, and although I never got to work on it, a lot of my friends did, friends who can no longer continue to build their world. This is the devastating reality of those bad decisions. The conditions that presented themselves to make Destiny a reality might not be conditions we see for a very, very long time again, if ever."

This parody comes as Bungie reels from massive layoffs, struggles to even hotfix Destiny 2 now that it's in permanent maintenance mode, and watches Marathon lose players. In May, as players prayed for a Destiny 3, a former Destiny 2 writer said, "It turns out the real Destiny killer was Pete Parsons."

Destiny 2 community manager calls out "leaders who made multiple years of poor decisions" as former Bungie VP shares post blaming industry implosion on the market.

Before taking on the role of level designer at Valve, game developer Chuck Wilson toyed with recreating Half-Life 2 levels in Source 2.

In case you're out of the loop, Source 2 is Valve's most recent iteration of its in-house engine, powering games like Counter-Strike 2, Deadlock, and Half-Life: Alyx. Older titles from the studio, like the ever-beloved Half-Life 2, used Source – and before that, the GoldSrc engine.

As for Wilson himself, his portfolio includes stints at Sucker Punch Productions, Respawn Entertainment, and now, of course, Valve.

Prior to joining Valve as a level designer in 2022, however, Wilson experimented with Source 2 – perhaps to try and learn the engine before joining the company, or as a test project for the team.

An eagle-eyed fan on Reddit has spotted as much, linking to the dev's website, where he recalls recreating Half-Life 2's spooky ghost town, Ravenholm, in Source 2. Wilson first describes his goal with the recreation.

Chuck Wilson’s (Valve Level Designer) Ravenholm Source 2 project [2022] from r/HalfLife

​"Learn how the editor works by looking over the example content Valve provided, and dive into the levels they shipped to better understand their construction," he writes. "Then build something with what I learned."

Attached are screenshots of his Ravenholm recreation – and, yep, it looks pretty dang great. Much smoother textures than we saw as kids, with improved lighting… but the same eerie vibe from 2004.

Wilson explains why he chose Ravenholm, then goes on to describe his process. "The opening to Ravenholm seemed like it would be an appropriately scaled project to tackle. I started by loading up Ravenholm and taking tons of pictures of the opening area and reacquainting myself with the look, feel, and scale of the space. From the ref, I was able to deduce the scale and re-block it out with Hammer 2's modeling tools."

He's likely referencing Hammer, known by some as Hammer 5 or Hammer 2, which serves as Valve's in-house level editor for games in the Source 2 engine.

"After I got the whole space blocked in, I decided to make some compositional changes to the space to better guide players to the zombie and to the eerily lit sawblade shack," continues Wilson.

Once he was done with the composition, he explored "some of the new features Hammer 2 had to offer." It sounds as though he was a big fan of his time in Source 2 recreating Ravenholm, too – even if there was much to learn.

"Throughout the project, I was able to learn and make use of Hammer 2's modeling tools for geometry, physics sims for cloth, cables, and the hanging zombie ragdoll, tilesets (3d meshes placed off of a single face), hotspot materials (insanely fast UVing of faces), volumetric fog, cubemaps, compile processes, and more."

The level designer concludes: "A small space proved to be a fantastic way to learn a wide variety of tools and prepare me for future projects. I walked away being blown away at how powerful these tools are for Level Designers, and even more so if you are a Level Designer with some environment art background. These are easily my favorite tools I have worked with to date." That's quite the compliment.

Unsurprisingly, Wilson's portfolio share here has sparked new hope in fans' hearts for a Half-Life 2 remake in Source 2. As one commenter exclaims, "This genuinely makes me excited for a Half-Life 2 Source 2 remake in vein of Black Mesa."

Others aren't convinced this means anything at all, though. As somebody else says, "There’s nothing to be read into here." Hey, a girl can dream… right?

Sadly, I doubt we'll see a Half-Life 2 remake from Valve anytime soon, however. Heck, we're still playing the waiting game for Half-Life 3.

Steam is more than 50% larger than PlayStation according to expert's estimate, which puts Valve's store around 200 million monthly active users

A bloodied Ada Wong screams as a meat hook pierces her shoulder – for the third time this match – and she’s pulled skyward. The Entity, Dead By Daylight's villain above villains, draws her into its claws before she wakes by the bonfire again, ready to start the process over.

In the real world, as the one controlling Ada, I push my chair away from my desk and put my head in my hands, despairing at yet another team letting me down, another killer tunneling me out, my own poor judgement. I stand up to walk out the room – but not before hitting the button to ready up and start the process over.

Little do I know that, not only is Ada’s tragic and repetitive death feeding The Entity, but so am I.

Mixed Emotions

We don’t know much about Dead by Daylight’s mysterious Entity, the ultimate evil presiding over the whole affair, drawing killers and their victims into a sick, cyclical game. In a blog post for the game’s tenth anniversary, though, developer Behaviour Interactive gave fans a bit more insight. It turns out that what feeds The Entity in DBD isn’t death itself, or the dead, but rather the emotions felt by each character, both killer and survivor, during a match.

“Consider the various emotions each victim must experience over the course of a Trial,” the blog reads, “The thrill of the hunt. The highs of escape. A fleeting hope like a surge of electricity. The sick satisfaction whenever the light leaves a Survivor’s eyes. It’s speculated that everything [characters] feel over the course of a Trial somehow sustains The Entity.”

Reading this, it occurs to me that this mirror’s the player’s experience, too.

Whether it’s loading into a killer lobby with a tightness in my chest, anxious about going up against a good team or being abused in the post-game chat, or the buzz of getting a four-man escape from a seemingly impossible situation, the DBD player experience is as much of a rollercoaster of emotions as that of the in-game characters. In fact, playing Dead by Daylight is almost exclusively about highs and lows.

As a solo-queue survivor, these feelings are especially elevated. While it feels good as a killer to outplay a sweaty swf (survive with friends) team, it’s even sweeter when a solo-queue survivor squad beats the odds to get every man out. Especially since there are no comms. When wordless communication, excellent game sense, and solid understanding of the HUD come together to result in a narrow escape from a decent killer, the fleeting high is enough to see me through the devastating lows of the other 90% of the trials. The ones when I’m hooked for the first time and see my three team mates creeping around the edge of the map or hiding in a locker, making no effort to rescue me. The ones where I’m intentionally tunneled out at five gens or slugged until I bleed to death.

Meanwhile, when I’m playing as a killer and can feel my heart in my stomach for the entire trial, it’s worth it for those few occasions that I win or even draw. Even then, I just get a “ggwp” in the post-game chat instead of a “ggez”. So every time I’m teabagged at the exit gates, I still ready up again, masochistically putting myself through the ringer once more in the hopes of a close, fun, but wholesome and friendly match.

In doing so, I'm feeding The Entity as much as Ada and the others. By coming back time and time again, struggling and succeeding, lamenting and celebrating, I keep this deadly power alive. Perhaps this was The Entity’s plan all along.

If you're logging back into the action, make sure you've redeemed the latest DBD codes for free rewards.