BlizzCon 2026 brings big news for reigning hero shooter champ Overwatch. Season 5 will introduce a new "cool vampire" hero called Doctrine, it'll finally rework Roadhog to become less annoying, and in a very surprising turn, Sombra will become a support hero.

First things first, Doctrine. Game director Aaron Keller introduced the crowd to the game's upcoming support hero with an animated trailer that shows him joining forces with bad guy Doomfist and his entourage. He can apparently heal and dish out damage with a sceptre, rush across maps "shrouded in darkness," and utilize drones to buff allies. Keller also made mention of mechanized bats. Very cool...

BlizzCon attendees can try out Doctrine on the show floor, while players at home should have access to his 'Hero Trial' in-game that'll stay live through September 14. He'll properly end his slumber and stalk into the roster next month when Season 5 goes live.

As for next season's reworked heroes - or re-reworks, I should say - Roadhog will become much less annoying from here on. The developers say his signature hook and one-shot kill combo will be retired, and the chunky tank will finally be able to help out his team in a more meaningful capacity.

Overwatch's other super divisive hero, the sometimes invisible hacker Sombra, is getting an even bigger revamp. The DPS hero will become a support hero starting next season, rather surprisingly. Both heroes' new skill kits are under wraps, but we should see more as BlizzCon 2026 chugs on throughout the weekend.

Overwatch's huge "battle pass revamp" is out tomorrow and makes things a lot more complicated but, seemingly, better

Search for the Needle codes can help you get a leg up when scouring through hay piles for a tiny needle. It's a tiresome task, and any boost that helps you clear the hay that little bit faster is a godsend, be it a useful Class skill like increased earnings or faster hay collection or some more cash to spend on better tools.

Thankfully, these Search for the Needle codes give you exactly that, usually in the form of Gems which you can exchange for Class Rerolls. Be careful, though, as you're not guaranteed a decent class, so think carefully before rerolling. Don't think before redeeming these codes, though, as they can expire at any time.

For other more general rewards that you can use across all of your experiences, then take a look at our list of the current Roblox promo codes you can use.

All Search for the Needle codes

These are all the valid Search for the Needle codes right now:

• ALIEN - 200x Gems, 200x Alien Coins

The code above is the first and only Search for the Needle code so far, as codes have only just been introduced to the popular game. I would expect future codes to grant similar rewards, though, including more Gems and update-specific coins that you can use to open update-specific chests for update-specific items!

How to redeem Search for the Needle codes

To redeem Search for the Needle codes, simply click on the Codes button on the right of the screen, indicated by the blue bird icon. Enter the code into the box and hit Redeem to receive your rewards.

Expired Search for the Needle codes

• There are no expired codes.

As the promo above is the first and only Search for the Needle code so far, you haven't yet missed out any free rewards. However, I've no doubt that this code, and future codes, will expire eventually, so redeem any promos as soon as you see them.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

These Legacy Piece codes offer you a ton of rewards, including Chests, Potions, Shards, and Boss Tickets, so you can battle bosses for even more valuable rewards. To do that, though, you'll need to increase your strength and buy weapons, and these codes can help with that, too.

In this Roblox RPG, you'll adventure across a series of islands, defeating foes and destroying deadly bosses, and the further you travel, the more of a challenge they'll provide. Use these Legacy Piece codes, then, to get better weapons, better passive items, and a helpful boost of Gold.

If you're searching for more general rewards that you can apply to all of your experiences, then we've got the latest Roblox promo codes you can claim.

All Legacy Piece codes

These are the current Legacy Piece codes you can redeem right now:

• HELLUPDATE!! - 10x Almighty Chest, 2x Drop Potion, 1,000x Boss Tickets, 10,000x Shards new!
• SORRYFORDELAY7!! - 1x Secret Gem Chest, 1x Drop Potion, 10,000x Shards new!
• UPD2.0!! - 5x Almighty Chest, 50x Secret Fish Chest, 5,000x Boss Tickets, 10,000x Shards new!

The latest Legacy Piece codes grant loads of chests, which you can open for valuable rewards including special fish, which you can equip to grant you passive buffs. Otherwise, you'll see you can get plenty of Boss Tickets, which usually cost 10,000 Gold, so you're getting your money's worth by stocking up for future boss fights.

Legacy Piece codes are not case-sensitive, but I still suggest you copy and paste codes from my list to make sure enter them correctly, as they've all been tested as they are.

How to redeem Legacy Piece codes

To redeem Legacy Piece codes, hit the Settings button in the menu on the left-hand side of the screen and you'll see the codes redemption box at the bottom. Enter a code as it appears above and hit Enter, or the equivalent button on your device, to claim your rewards.

Expired Legacy Piece codes

• 19KLIKES!! - 5x Heavenly Fish Chest, 2,500x Trait Reroll, 500x Clan Reroll, 1x Drop Potion, 10,000x Shards
• 18KLIKES!! - 2,000x Boss Ticket, 5x Heavenly Fish Chest, 2,500x Trait Reroll, 500x Clan Reroll, 1x Drop Potion, 10,000x Shards
• UPDATE1.75!! - Spawns Ancient Infernal Core, 5,000x Boss Ticket, 25x Heavenly Fish Chest, 2,500x Trait Reroll, 500x Clan Reroll, 2x Drop Potion, 10,000x Shards
• SORRYFORDELAY5!! - 2x Drop Potion, 10,000x Shards
• DONTKNOWWHATTOTYPEFORTHISCODE!! - 2,000x Boss Ticket, 100x Ultimate Chest, 10,000x Shards
• BALANCECHANGE1!! - 1,000x Boss Ticket, 10,000x Shards
• 4MVISITS!! - 15x Whale Blessing Chest, 10x Secret Fish Chest, 10,000x Shards
• OCEANUPDATE!! - 10x Whale Blessing Chest, 5x Secret Fish Chest, 10,000x Shards
• THANKSFOR17KLIKES!! - 10x Whale Blessing Chest, 5x Secret Fish Chest, 10,000x Shards
• SORRYFORBUGS10!! - 100x Clan Reroll, 10x Fireforce Chest, 10,000x Shards
• SORRYFORBUGS9!! - 100x Clan Reroll, 10x Fireforce Chest, 10,000x Shards
• SORRYFORDELAY3!! - 20x Whale Blessing Chest, 10x Secret Fish Chest, 100x Clan Reroll, 10,000x Shards
• UPDATE1.5!! - 20x Whale Blessing Chest, 10x Secret Fish Chest, 10,000x Shards
• SORRYFORBUGS11!! - 1x Ultimate Enhancement Gem, 50x Abyssal Chest, 1,000x Shards
• BUGFIXFORUPDATE1.1!! - 100x Clan Reroll, 50x Abyssal Chest, 10,000x Shards
• SORRYFORDELAYYY2!! - 50x Abyssal Chest, 1x Godly Ascension Stone, 10,000x Shards
• SORRYFORDELAYYY!! - 100x Clan Reroll, 50x Abyssal Chest, 10,000x Shards
• UPDATE1.1!! - 100x Clan Reroll, 50x Abyssal Chest, 10,000x Shards
• THANKSFOR4KCCU!! - 5x Aura Crate, 10x Ultimate Chest, 100x Clan Reroll, 10,000x Shards
• FIREUPDATE!! - 100x Clan Reroll, 10x Fire Force Chest, 10,000x Shards

Plenty of Legacy Piece codes have expired since the game launched, as you can see above, so be sure to redeem current codes while you have the chance. When they expire, I'll move them down here so you don't waste time redeeming invalid promos.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Dungeon Lootr codes grant all sorts of useful rewards, including valuable chests and Reforge Stones for upgrading your gear. Since loot is what we're after in this dungeon crawling adventure, it makes sense that you'd want to get as much free gear without fighting through caverns as possible, and that's just what these codes do.

The more you explore, the tougher the enemies get, of course, and to stand a chance against them in this Roblox RPG, you need the best gear, the best items, and the best class you can get. So, to help you out, I've listed the latest Dungeon Lootr codes below.

If you're searching for more general rewards that you can apply to all of your experiences, then we've got the latest Roblox promo codes you can claim.

All Dungeon Lootr codes

These are the valid Dungeon Lootr codes you can claim right now:

• LOVETHISGAME - 10x Aspect Gems new!
• COURAGE - 5x Random GM Blessing
• RAIDTIME - 5x Forge Stone Bundles, 10x Reforge Stones
• WEEKENDBUFFS - 2x Luck Potion 1, 2x Luck Potion 2, 2x Luck Potion 3, 10x Reforge Stones
• 15KCCU - 100,000x Coins, 5x Luck Potion 3
• UPDATE1 - 10x Event Chests, 10x Reforge Stones, 5x Exotic Ingots
• LOOTR - 1,000x Coins, 1x Random GM Blessing

As you can see from my list, there are loads of different rewards available for redeeming these Dungeon Lootr codes, including thousands of coins to spend on reforging your gear or with the merchant, and chests for obtaining plenty of valuable loot.

We have seen some reports of different rewards for the codes above, but those listed are what I received - it could be that some codes grant random rewards.

How to redeem Dungeon Lootr codes

To redeem Dungeon Lootr codes, you must first complete or skip the tutorial. Then, click on the Menu button on the right-hand side of the screen, followed by the Extras button, indicated by three dots and three lines. Here, you'll find a Codes button, where you can open the codes window, enter a code from the list above, hit Claim, and enjoy your rewards.

You must also join the ClickBytes community if you haven't already, but the first time you try to redeem codes, you'll be prompted to do so in-game, meaning you don't have to leave the game to redeem your first code.

Expired Dungeon Lootr codes

• 10KFAV
• 8KLIKE
• 20KPLAYERS
• 4KFAV
• 3KLIKES
• FULLRELEASE
• LOOTRISBACK
• GIVEMEGEMSPLEASE
• FORGESKIP
• JACKPOT
• BYEMETA
• NEWASPECT
• EARLYACCESSYAY

As shown above, there are a few Dungeon Lootr codes that have already expired, and I'm confident those that are currently valid will join them soon, so be sure to redeem them as soon as possible to avoid missing out.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

A couple of weeks ago, Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 provided us with our first look at both The Witcher 3 Remastered and CD Projekt Red's brand-new expansion for the RPG, Songs of the Past – an expansion that wouldn't have happened without the remaster.

Or, at least, that's what CD Projekt Red says in a recent interview with BBC News over on YouTube.

As Jakub Rokosz, game director behind both The Witcher 3 and now Songs of the Past, recalls, "the stars had to align and the conditions had to be just right to make this [the new expansion] happen." And right they became, as "the story of Dandelion's past and homeland came into our spotlight" at the perfect time.

Right when "CD Projekt Red started talking to us about about doing it," other "work on the remaster" was underway – "and those two things are intertwined in a way that the realization of Letten, Dandelion's hometown, wouldn't be possible without the remaster upgrades."

As Rokosz concludes, "there are a few things that had to click together" to make Songs of the Past "possible." And, thankfully, those things did indeed click.

Considering the sheer scope of Songs of the Past, I'm honestly not too surprised to hear Rokosz say that The Witcher 3 Remastered was practically necessary to make the expansion work.

After all, the original RPG from CD Projekt Red launched way back in 2015, leaving over a decade of technological advancements between then and now. Plus, it sounds like the remaster will be quite the overhaul, also.

We've got everything from "improved combat" to massively reworked visuals to look forward to, at times making it sound more like a remake than a remaster, honestly.

It's one heck of an undertaking for developers, undoubtedly, anyway, considering all of the other upcoming CD Projekt Red games, too. Coupled with Songs of the Past – which Rokosz makes seem huge as well – we Witcher stans have a lot to be excited about.

After 20 years voicing Geralt, The Witcher 3 star Doug Cockle says revisiting his character for Songs of the Past is "like slipping into a warm bath"

Kaiju Alpha codes give huge buffs to Exp and cell generation, not only letting you power up faster, but also helping you reach any cell goal you might be headed towards to unlock new Kaiju or Skins.

Exp has a significant use in terms of getting stronger in this Roblox experience where you fight as a Kaiju against other Kaiju, and while skins don't have any benefit in combat, looking cool is part of the experience when you're playing as Godzilla or Kong. So, whether you want an Exp boost or a new skin, here are all the latest Kaiju Alpha codes.

If you're after other rewards that you can use across all of your experiences, head on over to our list of general Roblox promo codes.

All Kaiju Alpha codes

These are the Kaiju Alpha codes you can redeem right now:

• ROSE - 2x 60-minute Exp boost, 2x 60-minute Cell boost new!

As usual, the latest Kaiju Alpha code grants a boost in Exp and Cells, giving you a chance to level up your favorite Kaiju. If you're saving up cells for a new character, you can always hang on to your Exp boost for when you have it.

Codes aren't case-sensitive, but it may still be worth just copying and pasting them from above to be sure they're right.

How to redeem Kaiju Alpha codes

You can only redeem Kaiju Alpha codes from the main menu. You cannot do this in-game, and can only return to the main menu when you die or when you are not engaged in combat. When not engaged in combat, you can return to the main menu by clicking on the Menu button above your skills and waiting 10 seconds.

From the main menu click on Options, where you'll see the codes redemption box at the bottom. Enter codes from the list above and then hit enter on your keyboard or the equivalent button on your platform of choice.

Expired Kaiju Alpha codes

• KAONTOP - 60-minute Exp boost, 60-minute Cell boost
• XECRETISREAL - 60-minute Exp boost, 60-minute Cell boost
• DEAWYGIGACHAD - 30 levels
• SRRYFORBUGS - 3-hour Exp boost
• SRRYFORREVERTLEVEL - 50 levels

Kaiju Alpha codes tend to expire as new updates launch, so it's worth redeeming new codes as soon as possible so you don't miss out on these boosts.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

All Star Tower Defense codes might have been around a long time, but they're still showing no signs of slowing down as the popular game stands the test of time. Whether you're just getting involved for the first time or you're a long-term player, the following promos will be super helpful to your progression.

Anime tower defense games are rife on Roblox, so it's hard to know which ones to play, but thanks to its longevity, you know ASTD is a good choice. As you assemble your best team of anime champions and prepare to take on your next boss, redeem these ASTD codes for a boost.

Plus, if you want more general rewards that apply to all your experiences, take a look at our list of the latest Roblox promo codes up for grabs.

All ASTD codes

These are the All Star Tower Defense codes you can redeem right now:

• ReturnOfTheLobbies - 4,000x Gems, 150x Stardust
• ALateSummerAwaits - 4,000x Gems, 100x Stardust
• AwesomeBeginnerCode - 4,000x Gems, 50x Stardust, 1x Otherworldly Pickle

As you can see, ASTD codes tend to grant players with a combination of Gems and Stardust, which you need to summon new units to your team. On occasion, you may even get a special Unit, which could either be pretty weak but fun, or incredibly powerful, so don't miss out.

How to redeem ASTD codes

To redeem All Star Tower Defense codes, you must first click on the Settings button in the top-left hand corner of the screen. You'll find the codes redemption box at the bottom of the window that opens up. Enter the code into the box as it appears above then hit Enter or your platform equivalent.

There is no on-screen message to let you know that the code has been redeemed unless it awards a Unit, which will pop up, but if it's been successful, you'll see a change in the amount of currency beneath the window.

Expired ASTD codes

• FusionReborn - 4,000x Gems, 150x Stardust
• TheOverlordArrives - 4,000x Gems, 250x Stardust
• WhoInvitedThisGuy - 4,000x Gems, 250x Stardust
• tboicats - 3,000x Gems, 170x Stardust
• sorryfordelayandmonkeyking - 4,000x Gems, 280x Stardust
• yickadee - 2,000x Gems, 230x Stardust
• twete93dont - 2,700x Gems, 170x Stardust
• tungtungnobannersahur - 2,700x Gems, 170x Stardust
• cosmicrebel - 2,700x Gems, 170x Stardust
• omgupdate2026 - 2,700x Gems, 170x Stardust
• fordanielxd - 67x Gems, 67x Stardust

Since ASTD has been around for over six years, there have been plenty of expired codes, including the selection seen above. The valid codes will also expire at some point, so it's worth redeeming them as soon as you see them to avoid disappointment.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

I've got a theory about why people enjoy playing survival games. From Minecraft (or Unreal World if you're cool) all the way through to Valheim's 1.0 launch today after five years in Early Access, they all have something in common. Starting with nothing and building up to a mighty fortress is great, but what these games really offer is a sense of discovery – a journey into an unfamiliar world.

It's something Welsh poet Dylan Thomas explores in his poem Fern Hill. Here, he writes about being "green and carefree, famous among the barns" in "the sun that was young once only". That pretty much sums up my first few hours of Valheim: it's a game that nurtures and encourages a childlike sense of wonder.

Waxing poetical

Valheim's epic wonder is there from the jump. You arrive into the Tenth World in the clutches of a Valkyrie, with only a raven named Hugin for amenable company. Hugin provides you with some helpful tips as a new arrival in the peaceful Meadows – a world away from the moody, stormy lands you saw during your flight.

With almost nothing to your name, like a child angry about a lost kite, you start punching trees only to realize with sore hands that you're actually meant to gather branches from the ground.

From there, Valheim flows into the usual routine you'd expect from a survival game. I spend most of the time foraging rocks, flint, and becoming a kind of Genghis Khan figure to local wildlife. If the survival game loop was all that there was to Valheim, it'd be a fun, if somewhat disposable slice of Viking life. But one aspect that really makes the game stand apart is the sensory experience.

Valheim's late-PS1/early-PS2 aesthetic has some modern flourish hidden beneath its horned helmet. The lighting is one standout aspect, with night skies seeing countless stars spill across a firmament of pure black. Meanwhile the Meadows biome is underscored by a bucolic clarinet melody, caught somewhere between folk and soft jazz, that never fails to soothe. And it all links back to that poetic sense of expanse and wonder as penned by Thomas.

There's some entertainingly bouncy physics, too. My first death on day 1 isn't attributed to one of the goblin-like Greylings or an aggressive boar, but to gravity, a tree, and my own hubris. Chopping down a tree makes it fall. It's a very tricky concept to grasp, I know, and it turns out that chopping up a huge trunk also splits it in two. I'm standing downhill from one of the large logs as it falls to the ground, and thus begins my first corpse run.

Valheim is also a full-on RPG, which is a point I have used to sell it to my survival-skeptic friends. There are skills ranging from magic to cooking to wood-chopping, as well as a shockingly competent combat system, complete with a parry mechanic. All of these hang together to make exploration extremely fun, my character taking shape alongside the world around them as I learn more about myself and this strange new land.

Man of the land

Tracing the shoreline, venturing out on your first raft, building a simple homestead – it's easy to forget that there is more to this game than simply existing within it, green and carefree. And there is so much more, with each major biome culminating in a boss fight against a suitably fantastical enemy. After each boss, you move on to the next biome, building forward bases and exploring – ever exploring, like a true Erik the Red.

Despite my generally wonderful time with Valheim 1.0, my one sticking point is the building mechanics. Level ground prime for building is hard to come by in the Tenth World, even after setting-to it with a newly-crafted hoe.

This means that making your homestead look like a building rather than a load of panels that have been chucked together is a matter of some genuine skill. I was left with huge gaps that, if nothing else, let smoke trail out beautifully from my campfire. It holds some of the game's creative potential hostage, and I can't truly feel like the author of my own pastoral poem as a consequence.

Still, I have to hand it to developer Iron Gate Studios. The sun may be young once only, but if you ever want to wander, Valheim's near-endless scope for epic journeys is hard to beat. What a fantastic synchronicity there is to the fact that 1992's Unreal World, one of the first survival games ever, doubled as an RPG about surviving the Far North. Valheim 1.0's addition of the Deep North biome echoes it beautifully, calling forth the bravest souls who wish to venture further and marrying the RPG and survival genres in a genuinely fantastic way.

These games like Valheim offer stunning worlds to explore and survive, if you dare...

These Anime Dice codes grant a handsome number of rewards, all of which are useful for obtaining better characters and upgrading your best for increased earnings and better fighting abilities.

Anime Dice is a combination of some of the most popular Roblox experiences, rolling Gacha and combat into one. Not only do you need the best anime-inspired characters to rake in as much cash as possible, but you can also pit them against bosses in a combat card game to climb the tower and earn even more rewards. You'll need all the help you can to get as far as possible, so redeem the Anime Dice codes below.

If you're searching for more general rewards that you can apply to all of your experiences, then we've got the latest Roblox promo codes you can claim.

All Anime Dice codes

These are all the Anime Dice codes you can redeem right now:

• 5KCCU - 2x Lucky Spins, 5x Trait Rerolls, 5x Gems
• 1KCCU - 2x Lucky Spins, 5x Trait Rerolls, 5x Gems
• UPDATE3 - 2x Lucky Spins, 7x Trait Rerolls, 7x Gems
• UPDATE2 - 2x Lucky Spins, 5x Trait Rerolls, 5x Gems
• UPDATE1 - 2x Lucky Spins, 3x Trait Rerolls, 3x Gems
• RELEASE - 1x Lucky Spin, 2x Trait Rerolls, 2x Gems

As you can see from the list above, Anime Dice codes tend to reward a combination of Lucky Spins, Trait Rerolls, and Gems. While Lucky Spins can get you some superb rewards if luck is on your side, Trait Rerolls and Gems can be used more specifically to upgrade your best characters.

Anime Dice codes aren't case-sensitive, so you only have to worry about spelling, but you should still just copy and paste them from above if possible to avoid mistakes.

How to redeem Anime Dice codes

To redeem Anime Dice codes, you must first click on the Shop button in-game. The confusing thing is that there are two Shop buttons, so you must choose the one on the left-hand side of the screen, marked by a shopping basket icon. You can also get here by heading to the Market stall in the center of the arena.

Either way, you should then scroll to the bottom of the shop screen where you'll see the codes redemption box. Enter a code into the box as it appears above, and then hit Redeem.

Expired Anime Dice codes

• There are no expired Anime Dice codes.

Anime Dice is still a relatively new Roblox experience, so no codes have expired since release. However, I don't doubt that those codes above will expire at some point, when I'll move them down here, so redeem them while you can.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Elden Ring players were happy to discover there was a glitch that made the game's new $5 Tarnished Pack DLC appear in their multiplayer kingdom, even if they hadn't paid for it. But developer FromSoftware has speedily issued a patch stopping players in their path.

"Patch 1.17.1 has been released for #ELDENRING," says the official Elden Ring account on Twitter. "This update fixes an issue in multiplayer where, under specific conditions, DLC-specific items could be obtained when not normally eligible. No additional content is included. Thank you for your support, Tarnished."

After Patch 1.17 introduced new, paid content that comes included with Elden Ring's fresh Switch 2 edition – the $5 pack contains the Idus Knight and Heavy Knight starting classes, plus more weapons and glamorous horse armor – a helpful bug made it so players with DLC items would automatically spawn copies of those items as pick-ups when entering a multiplayer game with someone who didn't have the DLC. It was the Lands Between's equivalent of dollar bills raining from the sky.

But Patch 1.17.1 smacks players' wrists and tells them to get their own $5. While Elden Ring fans can still trade DLC items with each other, including with people who don't own the Tarnished Pack, they can no longer enjoy a bounty of doubles. And they are not happy.

One exasperated Twitter reply says to the official Patch 1.17.1, "In other words someone found out how to get the $5 Tarnished DLC stuff for free. It should have been free anyway, guys. Charging $5 for a few pieces of gear is the biggest L From Soft has taken in a long time."

"I'll get downvoted for this, but it's crazy they released a whole patch for something as harmless as this," another player reacts in a Reddit thread on the topic, "but they can't bother to give us more balance or QoL changes. You know stuff that would actually improve the game's experience?"

"People love to claim that From soft is somehow beyond criticism," says another Reddit comment in the same thread, "but this was clearly a financial decision. They want more money from people. Simple as that."

As much as it pains me to agree as a hardcore FromSoftware fan (I've played all the games more than once, I've watched a total of at least 100 hours of lore videos), I do. The Tarnished Pack DLC is the developer's first experiment with something close to "microtransactions," and I have to try hard not to see it as the first ember in a house fire. Usually, I fail. But it's clear from Patch 1.17.1 that FromSoftware has the opposite reaction – if $5 DLC is an ember, it wants to keep it glowing.

Deep in FromSoftware's sicko arc, Elden Ring and Dark Souls boss Hidetaka Miyazaki says "you can't make anything that's as fun" just by following the same old rules.

Ubisoft, Sega, Bandai Namco, and Square Enix are reportedly some of the publishers who are not supporting the Xbox disc-to-digital program, leading to concerns of the initiative's viability as a preservation tool.

Microsoft announced its disc-to-digital initiative for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One games last month, and at the end of the month, users on the Xbox Insider Program were able to access the feature in a beta form. This led to interesting discoveries like Activision's Deadpool, Transformers: Devastation and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan, as well as assorted titles from other publishers like Rock Band 4 and Lego Dimensions being available despite being delisted from digital stores.

However, unfortunately, Xbox Insider users have seemingly discovered another piece of the puzzle. As reported by users on Reddit, Ubisoft-published games are completely locked out of the program, with a message that reads, "This game is not participating in digital licensing." And since then, players on Reddit have reported the same thing is the case for Sega, Square Enix, and Bandai Namco, which in turn means every FromSoftware game, barring Sekiro, is unavailable on the service.

Sega is particularly interesting given that Sega president Shuji Utsumi pledged his support for physical games following Sony's announcement it's abandoning preservation by killing PS5 discs. On top of that, Sega has been a big supporter of the likes of Xbox Game Pass and Play Anywhere, so many are disappointed to see it seemingly isn't on board with this. However, the feature is still in beta, so hopefully Sega and others get on board once it's out in public.

13 years after famous Microsoft dunk, ex-PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida says Xbox disc-to-digital feature is "a great move"

Jujutsu Zero codes award you with a variety of items to help you level up your fighting style - and you'll need to fight hard as you embark on any of the dangerous quests this fighting RPG has to offer.

This Roblox experience is also a gacha game, in a way, and you'll need to roll for attacks in special, limited-time banners. For this, you'll need Crystals, while Lumens unlock rewards in the standard banner. Both are commonly available by redeeming Jujutsu Zero codes, so take a look at the list below.

For more general rewards you can use across all experiences, check out our up-to-date list of all the Roblox promo codes you can redeem now.

All Jujutsu Zero codes

These are the Jujutsu Zero codes you can redeem right now:

• 210KLIKES - 3,500x Lumens, 300x Crystals, 35x Clan Rolls
• INFINITEVOID - 1,000x Crystals, 5,000x Lumens, 50x Clan Rolls
• 200KLIKES - 500x Cursed Crystals, 3,500x Lumens, 50x Clan Rolls

As you can see, there are loads of Lumens and Crystals up for grabs with these Jujutsu Zero codes, letting you save up to roll multiple times in both the standard and Disaster banners.

How to redeem Jujutsu Zero codes

You must redeem Jujutsu Zero codes from the main menu, which is available when you launch the game. If you want to return to the main menu from the experience, hit the Menu button in the top left-hand corner, then select Return Menu, the bottom left option. This takes you back to the main menu, where you can select the Codes button, enter your code into the box, and hit Redeem to claim your rewards.

Jujutsu Zero codes aren't case-sensitive, so you don't have to worry about that, but you still need to make sure you spell the codes correctly, so I'd still recommend copying and pasting from the list above.

Expired Jujutsu Zero codes

• CODE_LIMITED_EVENT!! - 500x Cursed Crystals, 6x Shadow Essence
• TradingUP - 3,000x Lumens, 500x Cursed Crystals
• AURA - 4,000x Lumens, 35x Clan Rolls

There are already a few expired Jujutsu Zero codes, and I have no doubt that those that are currently valid will expire soon, so be sure to redeem them before I have to move them down here.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

The Veil codes can help you to expand your character options as you attempt to endure the mysterious and foreboding labyrinth that stretches ahead of you. Hordes of monsters stand in your way, along with any other players that choose chaos and take a PvP approach to their adventures instead of working together.

The promos you can claim provide free Race Rerolls, which are used to roll the RNG dice in the character creator to give you different base stats to build on, as well as cosmetic items to wear in this roleplaying Roblox experience. If you're ready to brave the labyrinth, then these are the codes for The Veil and how to redeem them.

If you'd prefer some more general promos that can be applied to all of your experiences, we've got the most recent Roblox promo codes covered.

All The Veil codes

The following The Veil codes can now be claimed:

• SORRY4SHUTDOWN – 3x Race Rerolls new!
• VERITYBOMB – 3x Race Rerolls
• RELEASE – 6x Race Rerolls, Party Hat

As you can see from the first couple of codes for The Veil, Race Rerolls are the main reward you'll receive, though this offering may expand as the experience develops. The launch promo also gets you a Party Hat to wear to celebrate the game's release as you explore the labyrinth.

How to redeem The Veil codes

To redeem The Veil codes, you first need to join the BlackstarDW Studios community group, which you should do from the Roblox menu before you jump in as I couldn't see a way to join from within the experience. Complete the initial tutorial to learn the controls, then hit the three vertical dots icon at the top of the screen before scrolling down to select the glowing Shop option.

Within the Shop menu, either scroll to the bottom or hit the Codes option on the left to jump straight to it, then use the Redeem codes here! text box to enter a promo and redeem it. Codes for The Veil are case-sensitive so type them carefully, and there is no obvious visual indication that a promo has been successfully redeemed – though you'll see any physical items awarded appear in your inventory at the bottom of the screen.

Expired The Veil codes

• No expired codes

At the moment there are no expired The Veil codes, as they haven't been part of this experience for long. It's unlikely the launch promos will stick around, so make sure you claim the active promos as soon as possible.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

These Anime Fighting Simulator codes will come in super handy as you're levelling up your weapons and abilities in the fighting game. Whether you need to buff you Chakra, your sword, or your durability, you'll be able to do so with most of the codes below.

Luckily, redemption codes come in thick and fast for this Roblox experience, and I'll be keeping an eye on the latest announcements so you don't miss any. So, whether it's Tensei Shards or a training speed boost you're after, take a look at the Anime Fighting Simulator codes below.

If you'd also like some rewards that can be used in many other experiences as well, then we have all of the current Roblox promo codes too.

All Anime Fighting Simulator codes

These are the Anime Fighting Simulator codes you can redeem in-game right now:

• TOURNEYFIX - 1x Temporary Server Boost, 4x Stat Boost, 4x Chikara Boost, 2x Tensei Shard Booster
• TRIPLET - 2,000x Tensei Shards, 1,000x Tower Tokens, 2x Shifting Serum, 4x Training Speed Boost, 4x Stat Boost

As you can see from the list above, there are a load of great rewards to be had from redeeming these Anime Fighting Simulator codes. New codes often come through every few days, so I'll be updating this list regularly. Check back frequently to make sure you don't miss out.

How to redeem Anime Fighting Simulator codes

To redeem Anime Fighting Simulator codes, simply access the Shop via the basket button on the left-hand menu. From here, you'll see the Codes tab at the end of the top bar. Select this, enter your code into the box, and hit Redeem.

Enter codes exactly as they appear above to ensure that you get your rewards.

Expired Anime Fighting Simulator codes

• FASTFIX - 1x Server Boost
• FIGHT - 2,000x Tensei, 4x Speed, 4x Stat, 10x Trait Rerolls
• TOURNEY - 1,500x Chikara, 1,500x Tensei Shards, 4x Training Speed Boost, 4x Stat Boost, 4x Yen Boost
• 7.5SHUTDOWN - 1,500x Tensei, 1x Temp Server Boost
• SEASON2 - 750x Tensei Shards, 4x Stat Boosts, 4x Training Speed Boosts, 10x Trait Rerolls
• MOREFIXES - 1x Server Boost, 2x Stat Boosts, 750x Tensei Shards, 2x Yen Boosts
• FLAMEBREATHING - 5,000x Chikara, 750x Tensei Shards, 5x Stat Boosts, 5x Training Speed Boosts, 5x Yen Boosts
• MIDWEEK - 500x Tensei Shards, 2x Training Speed Boosts, 2x Yen Boosts, 10x Trait Rerolls
• DIM2FASTFIX - 500x Tensei Shards, 1x Server Boost
• DIM2FIXES - 1x Temp Server Boost, 500x Tensei Shards
• DIMENSION2 - 500x Tensei Shards, 2x Yen Boosts, 2x Stat Boosts, 2x Speed Training Boosts
• UPDFIXES - 1x Temporary Server Boost
• LIBERATION - 2x Stat Boost, 2x Yen Boost, 1,000x Chikara, 1x Server Boost
• WTOPSPEED - 1x Temp Server Boost
• RUMBLING - 4x Stat Boosts, 2x Training Boosts, 10x Trait Rerolls, 1x Temp Server Boost
• SHUTDOWNBOOST - 1x Temporary Server Boost
• FIVEUPDATE - 2,000x Chikara, 2x Stat Boosts, 2x Yen Boosts, 2x Training Speed Boosts
• UPDATEWED - 2x Stat Boosts, 2x Yen Boosts, 1,000x Chikara, 1x Server Boost
• UPD4RELEASE - 3x Stat Boosts, 2x Yen Boosts, 1,000x Chikara, 2x Fruit Rolls
• SWORDINCIDENT - 4x Stat Boosts, 2x Yen Boosts, 1,000x Chikara, 2x Limbo Keys
• MIDBUGFIX - 1,000x Chikara, 1x Server Boost, 2x Stat Boosts, 2x Yen Boosts
• BPEXP - 400x Battle Pass XP
• 100THOUSANDLIKES - 1,000x Chikara, 3x Stat Boosts, 3x Fruit Rolls
• HOTFIXPATCH - 3,000x Chikara, 2x Fruit Rolls, 2x Stat Boosts
• UPD3RELEASE - 3x Chikara Boost, 3x Yen Boost, 3x Stat Boost, 1,000x Chikara, 1x Champion Luck Boost
• MIDWEEKUPD - 3x Stat Boost, 3x Yen Boost, 3x Fruit Rolls, 1,000x Chikara
• QUICKSHUTDOWN - 2,000x Chikara, 2x Stat Boosts, 2x Yen Boosts
• UPDATE2PLAY - 3x Yen Boost, 3x Stat Boost, 3x Fruit Rolls, 12x Trait Rerolls, 1,000x Chikara Shards
• DELAYCODE - 8x Dungeon Keys
• QUICKFIX - 3x Server Boosts
• THANKYOUFOR50K - 3x Fruit Rolls, 2x Yen Boosts, 2x Stat Boost, 10x Trait Rerolls, 2x Training Speed Boost
• 100KFAVS - 2x Chikara Boosts, 10x Trait Rerolls, 3x Fruit Rolls, 3x Stat Boosts, 500x Chikara Shards
• UPDATE1 - 1x Stat Boost, 1x Chikara boost, 1x Yen Boost, 12x Trait Reroll, 5x Fruit Rolls, 1x Malevolent Key, 1,000x Chikara
• THANKYOUSUPPORT - 1x Fruit Roll, 2x Stat Boost
• RELEASE - 600x Chikara Shards, 1x Speed Training Boost

Loads of Anime Fighting Simulator codes have already expired, as you can see from the list above, so be sure to redeem any current codes while you have the chance.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

There's another Palworld update out, and it's a big one. Besides a couple of fresh missions, fishing is now considerably easier, Pals make our life easier in combat, and Pocketpair's provided a wealth of quality-of-life improvements.

Right up top of Pocketpair's characteristically long patch notes for update 1.0.4, you can see the two added quests, both sub-missions. One comes from an NPC at Fisherman's Point, and the other is a follow-up to that first mission.

After those, we get into tweaks to help our Pals be more efficient when it comes to battles and completing missions. Pals and base Pals have been changed slightly to now prioritize moves that'll deal the most damage, a handy distinction when you're in a skirmish and don't want to micro-manage quite as much.

Pals and NPCs that are mission-critical, then, won't fall asleep on your either. Not a frequent occurrence, I don't think, but definitely something that sounds like a worthwhile change because I know if my playing was delayed because of someone having a nap, I'd be annoyed. (No disrespect to nappers, I'm of your kin, there's just a time and a place.)

In terms of casting out your line for a big catch, the baseline difficulty for fishing has changed for bodies of water around the World Tree and in Sunreach. Your rewards have been altered for every kind of bait, and there's now a sliding scale for fish behavior during minigames. That last one sounds, to me, like some people were having an unnecessarily hard time, and I'm glad Pocketpair's providing more options for players.

To round off the highlights, the fact that returned materials now go straight back into your inventory if you cancel something at a production facility is a real plus. You'll get everything back unless you have a weight limit set, at which point anything over your limit will sit at your feet instead.

Handy. As ever, it's worth scanning the full notes yourself to see if any niggling problems you were seeing have been addressed.

"Palworld's not finished": With update 1.1 coming, Pocketpair lead says "we're doing something players have been screaming at us to do" after the "soft prologue" of 1.0.

Double Fine has just regained its independence as a studio after seven years at Microsoft, who founder Tim Schafer initially didn't want as a dad anyway. But things seemed OK until new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma stepped in for Phil Spencer.

"No one puts Double Fine out of business except for me," Schafer tells Bloomberg in a new report. "Asha's not going to shoot my dog. I'm going to shoot it. But I'm not going to shoot it because it's going to do great. A lot of people want to walk the dog." It's a good dog – Double Fine made the fantastic Psychonauts 2 and always commits to weird experiments like pottery brawler Kiln.

The developer's allegiance to the strange is what made Schafer suspicious of Microsoft in the first place, when it offered to buy the entire studio in 2019. He remembers thinking, "I don't want to get bought by you," since, "You guys love shutting down studios." But former Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer was a real fan, and current Xbox CCO Matt Booty assured Schafer that Double Fine would get to feel self-sufficient – and it did, until Xbox's huge leadership overhaul this year.

"It's not all at once out of the blue," Schafer says, seemingly nodding to the realization that Sharma might have planned to include Double Fine in Xbox's mass layoffs. "It's like – oh, that person didn't reply to my joke text. That's kind of how you find out these things. So I knew before I knew."

Double Fine officially regained its independence on July 6 along with three other studios, including South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games. Schafer was convinced the studio would be dead at Microsoft "unless we had a breakout, Minecraft hit that year," but now he doesn't have to worry about such things; Double Fine just announced its new game Thank You Bus Driver on September 4. You play as a bus driver who wants passengers to say thank you.

"After all these years," says Schafer, "how little I understand about the business just shows how hard it is to know."

He continues, "That's why I'm focused on keeping my team alive. That's why we do these creative things all the time. If we stopped doing these wacky creative things, we'd eventually be like, 'Who cares?' These games aren't lucrative enough to make up for how hard they are. They have to also be really fun and rewarding to make."

After escaping Xbox, Double Fine lays off 23 people as Tim Schafer says "only the survival of our studio would ever make us consider such a painful action."

No Man's Sky and Hello Games lead Sean Murray is back on social media with more vague emoji-posting – this time in the form of a cocktail emote that sure looks a whole lot like it might be referencing the upcoming Cosmos update for the survival game.

You know, because of the drink, the cosmopolitan? Also known as a "cosmo" – and that's what folks think Murray is teasing here.

It all started with a post on X that included a single cocktail emoji. Then, the official Hello Games account responded with a few more cocktail emojis.

Understandably, fans immediately went wild with theories, ranging from martinis (which, just, why?) to, of course, cosmos.

Over on Reddit, the theorizing is running wild as well… much to nobody's surprise, ever. As one response to a screenshot of Murray's emojis reads, "There's a cocktail called a Cosmo. So multiple are 'Cosmos'… right?" Right, indeed, anon. Right, indeed.

Another jokes, "Cosmos update is actually just adding alcoholic drinks to the game." Honestly, at this point, it could be, seeing as we know next to nothing about the huge patch.

It exists, and it's coming – that's about all that Hello Games has confirmed thus far, aside from its name, and the developers have said absolutely zilch about it since they first unveiled it in August.

This isn't the first time Murray and the team have posted mysterious emojis, either. It's how they teased the Remnant update in February, which launched with a Garry's Mod-style gravity gun and more just days later.

It's also the way that The Swarm update, which brought a bit of Helldivers 2 flair to the survival game's mix, was hinted at in May… also shortly before it launched.

Then there were the stadium emojis, which were teasing the big Xeno Arena update that dropped earlier this year, introducing a fun Pokemon and Palworld-esque creature battling system that fans had been requesting for nearly two years – so, yeah.

Does this mean that the Cosmos update is coming sometime soon, perhaps within the next few days or weeks? Maybe – I know that I'd certainly recommend keeping an eye on the Hello Games social media accounts, personally.

No Man's Sky fan adds Nvidia's DLSS 5 to the game, Hello Games programmer worries the AI filter could ruin its "unique look and feel"

People have been inflicting the cruel colors and harsh lines of Nvidia's DLSS 5 on games that were normal before they were forced to look like AI-enhanced Love Island, and Hello Games' stylized space explorer No Man's Sky is the latest victim. A popular fanmade clip showing No Man's Sky looking more unnaturally crisp than a hangnail reveals plenty of people actually want DLSS 5 – but that developer Hello Games probably won't give it to them.

The original post from Twitch streamer Oskar1up has over 6,000 likes and 1.8 million views on Twitter as comments commend the dramatic peach sunset and glassy ocean waves DLSS 5 gives the otherwise subtly beautiful game from 2016. The post ultimately caught Hello Games engine programmer Martin Griffiths' attention, but not for entirely innocent reasons.

Another Twitter user says of Oskar1up's DLSS 5 experiment, "No Man's Sky is like the perfect game for DLSS 5, no human faces so no weird uncanny valley, and tons of natural and space scenes can use the realism boost." But Griffiths doesn't seem convinced by this claim that DLSS 5 has no downsides when applied to environments.

"It would probably fall to me to implement DLSS 5 in No Man's Sky, since I coded our DLSS support," Griffiths writes on Twitter. "But adopting it isn’t really a technology decision – it's much more an art-direction choice."

On this note, GamesRadar+ learned during our early hands-on time with DLSS 5 at Gamescom 2026 that the tech that applies a 2D generative AI filter to images is "only" made for photorealistic games, as Nvidia insisted. So, it shouldn't apply to No Man's Sky, which was carefully crafted to be its own soft rainbow galaxy.

That said, Nvidia's intentions are irrelevant when it comes to the unruly desires of curious gamers, who've crafted their own DLSS 5 button with files from NBA 2K27. It's this bootleg that is making No Man's Sky look like it's been deflated and then stuffed with clear jelly.

Personally, I think it looks awful – generic and unmotivated. To add DLSS 5, Griffiths says, "The question isn't whether we can do it. It's whether it enhances the image, or starts to subtract from No Man's Sky's own unique look and feel."

So, could Hello Games litter their beloved game's universe with AI? Sure. Should the developer do so? I hope no one actually believes that.

Nvidia says it's only targeting "photorealistic" games with DLSS 5, but am I the only one who thinks "realistic" visuals are worse?

Banjo-Kazooie composer Grant Kirkhope says he'd still love to work on the series, but pitches for its return have been turned down over the years.

Banjo-Kazooie is probably the game series with the biggest being dead to huge fanbase ratio (that or Mother). It's coming up on two decades since Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, which divided fans for not being a platformer despite being a great game in its own right. So, for most, it's been closer to 25 years since the last Banjo-Kazooie game, and despite appearances in Super Smash Bros. and re-releases of the original games, it doesn't look like there's much going on with the series.

Speaking to FRVR, Kirkhope reckons the chances of a return are higher than they've been in some time, saying "I used to always say there's zero chance of another Banjo-Kazooie game and right now I feel there's a slight chance." And that if such a game were to happen, he'd "absolutely" want to be involved in it. Kirkhope previously returned to create a new arrangement of his music for the duo's Smash Bros. appearance in 2019.

Kirkhope notes that the lack of a new Banjo isn't down to a lack of interest, at least outside of Rare itself. He explains that he knows of "like three companies" that have pitched to either Microsoft or Rare "about making another Banjo-Kazooie game, and I don't think anyone was successful." Kirkhope claims "Rare just typically say no to everything," saying that the likes of cartoons were rejected by the company over the years.

As for who could make a new Banjo game, Kirkhope says "Rare would never do it because they're too busy," but reckons the developers of Bradley the Badger – which he is composing the music for – Day 4 Night Studios, would be a good fit for the job. Spyro developer Toys For Bob is also reportedly interested in taking on the franchise, however it is currently working on Spyro: A Realm Beyond.

New Banjo-Kazooie releases are "native ports," so devs could add cut content and "bonus features" to the N64 classics.

Last week, Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 provided us with our first look at both The Witcher 3 Remastered and CD Projekt Red's new expansion for the RPG, Songs of the Past.

The expansion marks the return of Geralt's voice actor, Doug Cockle, who is taking on the role of the game's silver-haired protagonist once more… a role he's now been familiar with for over 20 years, since the original Witcher game.

How does Cockle feel stepping back into Geralt's boots for Songs of the Past, though? Well, he tells GamesRadar+ at Gamescom 2026.

"It's always a thrill to step back into Geralt's shoes," Cockle admits. "He is a character I know very, very well, so it's always a pleasure to revisit him, and it has been for Songs of the Past as well."

It's comforting, too, as per the actor's words – sort of like… taking a hot bath at the end of a tough day, apparently? "I always describe it as like slipping into a warm bath," as Cockle puts it. "It's just very comfortable, very easy."

Acting is "still work," however, as he goes on to say – "but it's work that is very comfortable for me to to move back into, and it's always a pleasure." That makes sense.
After all, "I've been voicing Geralt since 2006, I think it is," Cockle recalls, "so over 20 years now, and as long as CDPR keeps asking me to come back…" he will. Yes, even if he's "like 80 years old," he'd still be willing to voice the beloved witcher.

John Schwab, voice of Dandelion, largely feels the same. He tells GamesRadar+ that he "got more excitement stepping into the booth because I was returning to the character."

So The Witcher RPG series is one its actors are not only comfy with at this point (and then some), but also one that they genuinely enjoy being a part of. As a fan myself, as much is made obvious by their observable talent.

Nobody was more surprised by The Witcher 3 Songs of the Past than Geralt and Dandelion's actors: "They announced the expansion pack before we knew what we were doing."

CD Projekt Red's games – think banger RPGs like Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 – perform quite well on consoles… and even though such platforms have hit a bit of a wall costs-wise with the RAMpocalypse and what have you, the studio isn't worried.

Michał Nowakowski, joint CD Projekt Red CEO, explains as much in a new interview with The Game Business, describing how he believes console brands like Xbox and PlayStation will live on despite RAM shortage struggles and other roadblocks – and his own company's games' potential performance on such platforms in the future is not a concern at this point.

"I'm not worried," as Nowakowski says. "Consoles are still necessary to broaden the audience on the casual or semi-casual level. It's important to have easy to plug in and enjoy gaming."

I suppose he's right there. Although I'm more of a PC gamer myself, I can appreciate the moments I kick back to play on my Switch 2 for a change. It's a matter of convenience – and, yes, price… even if consoles are hiking their own price tags.

Regardless, Nowakowski doesn't see them going anywhere.

"I'm a big believer that they're going to weather the storm," he admits, going on to say he's aware of the "the objective challenge" that is pricing – and the rumors of next-gen consoles being delayed.

I mean, Sony's CEO couldn't give a release date for the PS6 last month, and the ongoing shortage of hardware components isn't helping settle consumers' concerns. But, does it really matter either way?

Nowakowski thinks not.

"How we reach gamers is a little irrelevant. Content is the king. And if the content is right, people will find a way to play it," the CD Projekt Red lead says. "When we launch, if PS5, Xbox Series X/S is what people are playing, we're going to be there. We're going to find a business model that’s going to work for us, that's going to be fine for players, and that's it."

Sounds pretty good, if you ask me… deliver to the players, wherever they may be.

"If the next-gen gets delayed, it could be the case that some ideas are put on a shelf for the future," Nowakowski concludes. "We'd have to adjust. We're not worried on the commercial side. Consoles are here to stay" – and, you know, something tells me he's right.

The Witcher 3 Remastered won't scrap saves or achievements from the OG RPG as CD Projekt Red confirms it'll all carry over

Last week's Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 showcase saw the reveal of The Witcher 3 Remastered, a reworked take on CD Projekt Red's original 2015 RPG – and excited fans don't need to worry about losing their decade-old progress, apparently.

Developers reveal as much in a new post over on X, explaining that all of our saves from The Witcher 3 will, in fact, carry over to the remaster coming later this month.

"We've seen your questions about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered," it reads. "Good news: your current saves will work with the upgrade, so you can get back on the Path right where you left off."

Good news indeed, especially for those of us with hundreds of hours clocked in-game.

That's not all, either. Apparently, all of our unlocked achievements (or trophies, for all you PlayStation 5 enjoyers) will still be unlocked in The Witcher 3 Remastered – no need to spend ages grinding Gwent cards and the like again.

As CD Projekt Red says, "Your unlocked achievements and trophies will carry over too!" I'm thrilled, personally, and I'm evidently not alone, with folks commenting that this is "great to hear."

Some people, however, do wish they could redo it all – because of course they do. As various other replies highlight, a lot of fans want to "100%" The Witcher 3 once more… which makes sense, I suppose, when you consider just how good the original RPG is.

As grueling a task completing everything again might be, I can see why players would want to. Heck, I have nearly 1,000 hours in the game on PC alone myself.

Regarding what The Witcher 3 Remastered brings to the table that we've not yet seen, there's everything from "improved combat" to overhauled visuals to look forward to.

There's also CD Projekt Red's new DLC for the RPG, Songs of the Past, and, of course, The Witcher 4, to anticipate. It's a better time than ever to be a fan of the Polish studio's lineup of games, I'd say – I know I certainly am, and I can't wait for it all to release.

After avoiding game-key cards with Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red says The Witcher 3 Remastered's Switch 2 physical edition details will come "when the time is right"

Xbox users have discovered that the new disc-to-digital feature allows players to access games that have been delisted from digital stores, but not all of them.

Microsoft announced its rumored disc-to-digital initiative last week, which will allow you to turn your physical game collections into digital licenses, which Xbox describes as part of its "commitment to game preservation." This has naturally been seen as a good win for Xbox off the back of PS5's total focus on abandoning preservation by killing physical games, leaving fans with a license that can be revoked at any time. But there were some caveats with Microsoft's initiative, notably that "most" games will be supported at launch, which led to fears it will not be all-encompassing and could be tied to licensing restrictions.

However, users who have access to the feature through the Xbox Insider Program have found that it isn't as cut-and-dried as fears have made it seem. As Twitter user Flaass points out, Activision's 2014 Deadpool game, which has long been delisted from digital stores, still grants a digital license for physical owners. And in the same thread, they note that Platinum Games' Transformers: Devastation and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan, Ghostbusters, Lego Dimensions, Rock Band 4, and many more still grant licenses.

Unfortunately, it's not the case for every game; they note that Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 currently do not work. However, there's still a chance these could be added down the line, given the claim that "most" games will be supported at launch, hopefully meaning we eventually get every Xbox One and Xbox Series X physical game. And as someone who has a box full of Xbox 360 games taking up space in my office, I would very much appreciate support for older consoles.

13 years after famous Microsoft dunk, ex-PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida says Xbox disc-to-digital feature is "a great move"

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has, for seemingly the first time, called the next-gen Project Helix a "family of devices."

In an interview with BBC News, the console maker's boss spoke a little about the company's approach to its next generation of console - or consoles - known only by its codename, Project Helix.

"We've been hard at work on a great next generation and a great family of devices for Project Helix," Sharma says, perhaps soft-confirming that there won't simply be one Xbox machine you can buy when the next generation finally rolls around.

This current console generation offered folks the Xbox Series X, the more powerful and expensive sibling, and the Xbox Series S, a cheaper and less capable machine that can play the same games. There's no official word on what Project Helix's "family" will offer yet, but I could see Microsoft trying to repeat its dual-console approach or even dive deeper into handheld gaming.

"We will, of course, continue to push the boundaries of performance. We've talked about being able to not only play your console games, but also play your PC games on your console. I think, in addition, all of the industry needs to start to innovate on affordability and efficiency. That is something that we have not had to do," she adds. "But with the crisis that's currently happening in hardware and components, it is absolutely something all of us need to be thinking about and innovating on and giving people more choice in terms of how they play their console and how they purchase their console."

We don't know much about the Project Helix outside of the fact that it's increasingly sounding like a PC-hybrid machine that can play both your PC and Xbox console games - and the fact that it'll probably be very expensive to buy outright.

Elsewhere in the interview, Sharma did allude to the various different ways people can buy smartphones as a potential solution for the affordability of next-gen consoles, explaining that different business models could suit a wider audience.

And on the subject of The Elder Scrolls 6 potentially launching as an Xbox console exclusive, Sharma simply said "every platform needs some form of exclusive experiences."

Making sense of Xbox's messy return to console exclusivity

The wait for The Elder Scrolls 6 is admittedly brutal, but it feels a tad bit lighter when you go back to Bethesda Game Studios' older series gems – like Morrowind.

It's a dated RPG, all things said, seeing as it first launched a whopping 24 years ago, back in 2002. The visuals are… difficult to stomach at times, gameplay can feel clunky, and the world feels empty if you're not sure what to look for.

Morrowind is my favorite – and many other fans' – Elder Scrolls, though, and that's what makes Tamriel Rebuilt, a mod that aims to overhaul Bethesda's old game from the ground up with new content, so special.

Tamriel Rebuilt might not seem easy to install for folks unfamiliar with modding, however – but digital game platform GOG has swooped in to make it much simpler. So simple, in fact, fans can snag it in one click over on GOG.com for free.

Don't have Morrowind yet, or own it elsewhere? No problem, as the Game of the Year edition is a solid 60% off right now on GOG, too, as the storefront reveals over on X.

Talk about good timing, eh?

The new price – $6.59 – will apply until September 10, apparently, so we've all got plenty of time to grab it.

As for Tamriel Rebuilt itself, it's a mod that is 25 years in the making. Yes, it entered development before Morrowind was even out in the wild, founded on Bethesda's old online forums.

Now, it's regularly seeing updates, with the latest having dropped just five days ago. You can explore all of its details on the project's official website.

Tamriel Rebuilt is shaping up to be quite long-lived, and downright massive. So massive, in fact, that the team behind it expects it to outlast The Elder Scrolls 6 – just as it previously did Oblivion, Skyrim, and now Oblivion Remastered, too.

When will it be complete? Well, it's a continuous work-in-progress backed by many volunteers… so, maybe never. I'm not one to complain about eating good, though, so I'll just conclude with how grateful I am.

Excited for some new games? Here's everything you need to know about The Elder Scrolls 6 after replaying Morrowind.

Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy overlord Naoki Hamaguchi can't believe he got to share the Gamescom stage with his hero, Geralt of Rivia – in spirit, at least, since developer CD Projekt Red used Opening Night Live 2026 to announce its unexpected The Witcher 3 refresh and expansion. And The Witcher 4 lead level designer Miles Tost feels the same way.

"The pleasure was ours," Tost writes in an August 26 Twitter reply to Hamaguchi. "Final Fantasy, especially 7 have a special place in my heart and I'm so happy I get to relive that through your and your team's hard work!"

Originally, Hamaguchi wrote on Twitter after Opening Night Live (ONL), "Sharing the final spotlight at ONL alongside The Witcher 3, one of my favorite games of all time, was a truly special moment for me.
It was a great honor to stand on the same stage as a game that has inspired me for so many years."

It's rare that you see developers as seemingly untouchable as Square Enix's Hamaguchi show that, in the cocoon of their living rooms, they're still fans who feel that knot of excitement forming each time a certain title screen comes up. It's nice!

Hamaguchi has always been generous in sharing his love for The Witcher franchise, though, spending the past few years emphasizing that The Witcher 3 is one of his major Final Fantasy 7 remake inspirations. In 2024, Final Fantasy producer Yoshinori Kitase even told fans that, while watching that year's Witcher 4 trailer at The Game Awards, "Hamaguchi was so excited when Ciri removed her hood, he almost stood up!"

So I'm especially glad for him to be at Gamescom this year, where he was also recently able to meet CD Projekt Red joint CEO Michał Nowakowski and show him some of Square Enix's upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Revelation. Hamaguchi says on Twitter about the experience, "It was a great honor to have Michał Nowakowski, Joint CEO of CD PROJEKT RED, stop by the Square Enix booth.

"Sharing the stage at ONL alongside The Witcher 3, one of my all-time favorite games, was already a special moment. Having Michał come by in person made it even more memorable.

"I was also very happy to tell him directly that The Witcher 3 continues to be one of the biggest inspirations for me as a game creator." Let us pray, now, for Hamaguchi's sake, that the new The Witcher 3 expansion Songs of the Past is just as sweet as he probably thinks it is when it launches in 2027.

Keep up with the entire Gamescom 2026 schedule.

A couple of days ago, Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 provided us with our first-ever look at both The Witcher 3 Remastered and CD Projekt Red's new expansion for the RPG, Songs of the Past – an expansion the voice actors didn't even know was happening.

Well, not at first, anyway. Geralt actor Doug Cockle and voice of Dandelion John Schwab reveal as much in a new live stream with CD Projekt Red, explaining that they had no idea why the studio wanted them back in for more lines.

In fact, Schwab wasn't even in the loop at all until after Songs of the Past was public knowledge. "They announced the expansion pack before we knew what we were doing," he admits.

"So, I was like, 'They've announced it, I haven't got called… oh well, it was fun being Dandelion – good luck to whoever does it now!"

Thankfully, Schwab did indeed return as everyone's favorite bard. On the other hand, Cockle says he did know he's be coming back to voice more Geralt… but he wasn't sure why he got the call. "I had a little bit more of a headstart on John," as the actor describes.

"I got a little heads up from someone at CDPR – they were like, 'Are you available around these times for something that might be happening?' So, that's kind of how I found out… but I didn't know exactly what it was until it was actually announced officially on social media."

That's honestly amusing and, well, a bit mind-boggling, seeing as Songs of the Past was first unveiled online in May of this year.

Even more interestingly, CD Projekt Red first conceptualized Songs of the Past "years" ago, only for Fool's Theory to step in and breathe life back into it later on down the line.
As for when it's set to release, though, Songs of the Past is coming sometime in 2027.

Excited for The Witcher 4? Be sure to browse through our roundup of all the upcoming CD Projekt Red games for even more to look forward to.

Elden Ring patch 1.17 will arrive Friday, August 28, alongside the new Tarnished Pack DLC, adding a few classes, cosmetics, NPC events, and buyable items.

The patch notes from publisher Bandai Namco are more substantial than expected, and chock-full of buffs.

The Tarnished Pack itself adds the Idus Knight and Heavy Knight starting classes, three outfits for your mount Torrent, NPC invasions in Caelid and Leyndell, and some "weapons that can be purchased from merchants or found in the Lands Between." The pack is bigger news for Nintendo fans, as it's also bringing Elden Ring to the Switch 2.

Though the Tarnished Pack is $5, everyone will get to experience the changes in version 1.17 for free. The headliner is a change to "certain items found in the field or obtained by defeating certain powerful enemies in the Realm of Shadow." These items will now be of "higher-tier" or "other treasures." FromSoftware is being characteristically vague, but I'm hoping this translates into fewer junk items marked as rare. For years, players have moaned about the onslaught of Arteria Leafs and Rune Arcs. Will we finally be spared?

Most of the patch is weapon, spell, and shield buffs. Importantly, tons of greatshields have had their guard boost increased and their weight reduced, making them more competitive with medium shields.

The once-broken perfume bottles had their attack power increased, the Smithscript weapons will deal more damage with throwing attacks, and Rellana's Twin Blades got a welcome critical hit buff.

Buffed spells include Founding Rain of Stars, Carian Retaliation, Meteorite, Meteorite of Astel, Gravitational Missile, Feather of the Divine Bird, O Flame, and the previously memed Rain of Fire, all generally enjoying more damage, quicker casting, or greater range.

A few parry skills were also buffed. The basic Parry skill, Thops's Barrier, and Storm Wall are all sporting "improved parry performance." Storm Wall and Thops's Barrier are more niche than parrying attacks to set enemies up for critical hits, but deflecting ranged attacks can be handy too.

The only real nerf in here is to Rakshasa's Great Katana, which will cause users to take more damage in PvP mid-attack, and cause a longer attack delay when wielded in the left hand. Rugalea's Roar, Rotten Breath, and Ekzykes's Decay also got small PvP-exclusive nerfs.

Elden Ring is more than four years old at this point, so this Tarnished Edition patch could well be the last sizable update we ever see. "We will continue to make improvements so that you can enjoy ELDEN RING more comfortably," the patch notes conclude.

Meanwhile, FromSoftware is coming up on the release of The Duskbloods, and apparently has multiple other games in the works. After Elden Ring Nightreign and The Duskbloods, the studio will seemingly return to its usual single-player adventures.

Even after Elden Ring exploded, Hidetaka Miyazaki says FromSoftware doesn't make games for anyone: "The motivation is that this is a game I want to see exist"

Earlier this week, Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 gave us our first look at The Witcher 3 Remastered and as CD Projekt Red's huge new DLC for the RPG, Songs of the Past – an expansion that's apparently existed in theory for quite some time now.

Fool's Theory, the studio partnering with CD Projekt Red for the expansion's development, reveals as much in an interview with Eurogamer, explaining that The Witcher 3 team had in fact conceptualized Songs of the Past "years" ago – but "had to put it aside for various reasons."

How did the original developers feel about that, though? Well, according to quest designer Philipp Weber, it wasn't easy for them to do.

"Good things take time," however – and that's precisely the case with Songs of the Past.

As he goes on to write over on X in response to Fool's Theory's words on the expansion's "age," if you will," it was still tough. "At first, we were heartbroken when our story disappeared in the vaults."

But, then, Fool's Theory swooped in and came to the rescue… breathing life back into The Witcher 3, 10 years after its last expansion, Blood and Wine.

"Imagine the wonderful surprise when years later, our good friends at Fool's Theory would take the bones of this story and developed it into the Songs of the Past," as Weber recalls.

It's a bittersweet memory, I'm sure – helping think up what might end up standing as one of the greatest Witcher 3 expansions, having to scrap it for a good while, and then seeing it come back into the limelight with the help of fellow devs at another studio.

Songs of the Past itself takes us to Letten, home of everyone's favorite bard, Dandelion, as Geralt journeys to find the whereabouts of his musically talented friend. From Belleteyn to silver chains as a weapon, the expansion will let us experience many series firsts as the snowy-haired protagonist… and I, for one, cannot wait.

Between that and The Witcher 4, I'm honestly not sure what I'm more excited about.

It's a good time to be a Witcher fan, eh? Be sure to browse through our roundup of all the upcoming CD Projekt Red games for even more to look forward to.

Here you'll find our ranking of the best Metal Gear games in the almost 40-year history of the iconic stealth action series.

Despite being MIA for over a decade, Metal Gear Solid still remains one of the most beloved video game series' and one that many – namely, me – consider to be the greatest saga of games ever made. The series put Hideo Kojima on the map, and each of the mainline entries received rave reviews. And to answer the question here, play them in release order.

With Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater releasing recently, and the release of the new game, Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 2 now here, it's time to reflect on the series' past. And for someone who has played each of these games multiple times, it's been a herculean task to rank some of my personal favorite outings. Still, after much deliberation, I've found the top dogs in Kojima's saga. Here's my ranking of the 10 best Metal Gear games of all time.

The best Metal Gear games, starting with...

10. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops

The PSP's first Metal Gear Solid game has largely been overlooked thanks to its status as a canon entry in the franchise being up in the air (from what I gather, the gist of it is that it did happen in series canon, but anything that contradicts what happens in the Kojima-led games didn't happen).

While it sows the seeds of recruiting soldiers, building an army, and mission-based stages that would later be expanded on in Peace Walker, Portable Ops plays more like Metal Gear Solid 3 in a way that doesn't really translate in the most clean way. But behind the somewhat awkward gameplay is a full-blown Metal Gear Solid game worth checking out, as it still ranks among the best PSP games, and forgetting that, it's worth it purely to spend some more time with Big Boss

9. Metal Gear Acid 2

The Metal Gear Acid duology should not work. The most iconic stealth action game being turned into a deckbuilder tactics title doesn't sound like the most natural crossover, and while there were some definite growing pains with the first game, Metal Gear Acid 2 is among the best that the tactics genre have to offer.

The premise is simple: you play as Snake (no relation), use decks of cards based on past Metal Gear and Hideo Kojima games in order to sneak or fight through missions, and take down an arms manufacturer and maybe scrap with a Metal Gear along the way. Integrating stealth into a tactics game works way better than I'd ever expect, and the card pricing mechanic adds an extra layer of risk vs reward to proceedings that make for tense encounters. It's a game that I'd love to see make a comeback now that tactical games as a whole are back in fashion.

8. Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake

Our first canon entry on the list, Metal Gear's MSX2 duology, is often overlooked compared to the later games, with many opting to skip the original titles. Understandably so, given that the games were not officially available until 2006, when they were translated for Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. While the original Metal Gear is somewhat tough to go back to, Metal Gear 2 should not be missed.

Eight years before Metal Gear Solid and still within the NES era, Metal Gear 2 feels ahead of its time. Not only is Kojima's directorial style in full swing this early on, but a number of iconic moments from Metal Gear Solid – codec number on the back of the box, the radar, a secret admirer over codec – were actually done first in Metal Gear 2.

7. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Metal Gear Solid 4 has gained a somewhat elusive legendary status thanks to its PS3 exclusivity, and many are about to experience it for the first time thanks to Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 2. It marks the latest point in the series timeline – taking place in the far-flung future of 2014 – and marks the end of Solid Snake's story.

While the gameplay is fantastic, the story is full of brilliant moments and has some of the best nostalgia work ever put in a game. However, I will say that Metal Gear Solid 4 is also a bit messy. Gameplay innovations are abandoned by the end of Act 2, Act 3 is a really weak tailing mission, there are some rubbish retcons (here's looking at you, Para-Medic), and finally, we also have a few of the most convoluted plot points told through the lengthiest cutscenes in series history. It's still a classic that's well worth experiencing, but it's a flawed one.

6. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is easily the best spin-off the series has to offer. Starring the cyborg ninja version of Raiden, we only got to see him be the coolest guy in cutscenes during Metal Gear Solid 4; Metal Gear Rising ditches the stealth gameplay to be one of the greatest hack-and-slash action games ever made.

If there was a textbook definition of over-the-top, Metal Gear Rising is it. You start the game with Raiden launching a Metal Gear Ray – which was a massive threat the last time we played as him – over his head like it's nothing while the iconic heavy metal soundtrack kicks in with impeccable timing. It only gets wilder from there, with the entire finale with Senator Armstrong standing toe-to-toe with the best moments from the main series.

5. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

Aside from the classic MSX2 games, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is the most overlooked entry in the mainline series. While the lack of a number and its original release as a PSP game may feel like spin-off material, Peace Walker is Metal Gear Solid 5 in all but name (not to mention it originally was Metal Gear Solid 5 in name). Mixing Metal Gear with Monster Hunter, this portable entry follows on from Metal Gear Solid 3 and shows how Big Boss eventually became the villain seen in the original games.

Peace Walker is the best story in the series behind the original Solid trilogy, thanks in part to its phenomenal supporting cast of characters. While the moreish mission-based gameplay and base management were perfect for a handheld, these aspects would eventually be built on for the actual Metal Gear Solid 5 down the line, and the series was all the better for it.

4. Metal Gear Solid 5

I've never looked forward to a game more than Metal Gear Solid 5. While it's unfinished and has the worst story in the series, Metal Gear Solid 5 is incredible. Not only would it bridge the gap between the Big Boss and Solid Snake eras of the saga, but it was Hideo Kojima's final Metal Gear. The prologue game, Ground Zeroes, introduced one of the greatest areas in the series' history with Camp Omega, and despite its short runtime is a fantastic taste of the full game.

Meanwhile, The Phantom Pain is, simply put, one of the best open world games ever made. The outing retains the mission-based structure of Peace Walker but places it in an open-world, and unlike some of the genre's biggest titles, freedom is the name of the game in Metal Gear Solid 5. You can approach any mission in a number of different ways, and it's the type of game where you can have the dumbest idea possible only for it to actually work. It could've easily been the best Metal Gear game had it lived up to the expectations of its story, but it's still an unmissable part of the franchise.

3. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Controversial at launch thanks to one of the biggest twists in gaming history, Metal Gear Solid 2 has been reappraised for what it truly is, a postmodern classic. Kojima's subversive storyline is ahead of its time, with the game predicting a number of parts of modern-day society and internet culture, so much so that "Metal Gear Solid 2 predicted this" is a meme in itself.

The jump in technical prowess between the PS1 original and the PS2 debut is also stunning. The graphical bump, effects, physics, enemy AI, and scale of the game feels like a true generational leap that we simply don't see anymore. It was the killer app for those of us who remember the launch of the PS2, and one that still holds up 25 years later.

2. Metal Gear Solid

What can even be said about Metal Gear Solid at this point? The PS1 hit was revolutionary thanks to its storytelling, redefining the stealth genre, and an iconic cast of characters and bosses that have yet to be beaten by Kojima's later games. But even outside of the industry-shaking changes, it's a brilliant stealth action game that still holds up as one of the best to ever do it.

Metal Gear Solid laid the foundation for what would become the greatest series of video games ever made, Metal Gear Solid 2, 3, and 4 all pay massive homage to the game. Meanwhile, the rise of cinematic-focused AAA games from the likes of Naughty Dog owes a debt to Metal Gear Solid for laying the foundations. Every time I've replayed the game in the years since my first encounter with it, I am left in awe at just how brilliant it is, especially compared to a majority of its PS1 contemporaries.

1. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is the greatest game ever made. I felt that way moments after rolling credits on it for the first time, and I still feel that way years later. Instead of following up on Metal Gear Solid 2 and Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid 3 is a prequel showing a young version of series antagonist Big Boss, with the player taking on the role of Naked Snake. Snake Eater takes the "you're on your own" feeling of infiltrating the Shadow Moses military base in Metal Gear Solid to the next level, as Naked Snake must sneak through the Russian jungle, securing his own weapons, gear, and food to survive. This was an evolution of the stealth mechanics that later games would build upon.

Snake Eater also marks Kojima's peak as a storyteller. Naked Snake is inherently more human than his supersoldier clone spawn, making for the most personal story in the series as Snake has to come to grips with hunting down his mentor in the name of his country to prevent nuclear armageddon – all while goofy James Bond-esque nonsense is going on. This culminates in the emotional final act that still gets me teary-eyed countless replays later, with the final boss fight being the greatest moment in the series' history.

For more recommendations, check out the best stealth games of all time. Or look ahead with our round up of all the upcoming Hideo Kojima games on the way.

This week's big Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 showcase delivered a reveal no one expected from CD Projekt Red: an official remastered version of The Witcher 3.

Fit with everything from "improved combat" to stunning overhauled visuals, The Witcher 3 Remastered is one heck of a huge undertaking for the studio – but, apparently, it's got a bit of help from an unexpected source: a modder known as "HalkHogan" (brilliant, I know) over on Nexus Mods.

In case you don't recognize him by name, he's the mastermind behind The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project NextGen Edition.

It's a mod that, well, upgrades and essentially "remasters" The Witcher 3 – but with CD Projekt Red's official remaster coming, fans understandably had concerns about the mod and how relevant it'll be (or what HalkHogan may plan to do with it).

Turns out it'll be relevant indeed… because it's being integrated into the actual game. The modder confirms as much in a new post over on the modding platform, and I am thrilled.

"It's been a while since the last news and I would like to clarify any questions and confirm that I am cooperating with CDPR on the Witcher 3 Remaster and my work will be officially available in the game on September 29th (on PC and consoles)," HalkHogan writes. "HDRP will no longer be needed."

If this is a dream, please don't pinch me. I'm getting a brand new remaster and I can scrap the one and only mod I ever used?

Much like CD Projekt Red, HalkHogan has also been hard at work to ensure everything going into the game from his end is pixel-perfect. "Almost all in-game characters, monsters, animals, vegetation, armors, and equipment for Geralt and Roach, and a large part of the environment, have been reworked," as he explains. "And I've put a lot of effort into ensuring the highest quality."

I have no doubts myself here, honestly.

I'm sure that the folks behind his mod's 725,582 downloads don't either – but I suppose we'll all find out next month, come The Witcher 3 Remastered.

The Witcher 3 Remastered tweaks combat "to be much more smooth and precise," as CD Projekt Red wants the 2015 RPG "to stand up to today's games"

PlayStation plans to end production of new game discs in 2028, which almost certainly means that PS6 will have no disc drive. What, then, of Project Helix? Xbox boss Asha Sharma won't say for sure one way or another whether the next-gen console will have a disc drive, but as she emphasizes the need to make the box affordable, it doesn't take much reading between the lines to think we're looking at another all-digital console.

Asked by the BBC whether Project Helix would have a disc drive, Sharma did not give a definitive answer. "This next generation, we have to be thinking about efficiency and affordability alongside performance," she responded.

Certainly, affordability is the biggest concern around next-gen gaming machines right now, and given the tech pricing apocalypse that the rapidly expanding AI bubble (one Microsoft itself has a lot of responsibility in inflating) has brought us, fears of $1,000 consoles are not unfounded. Disc drives do add a not-insignificant amount to a console's manufacturing cost for a feature not every player uses, hence why even the PS5 Pro offers disc drives only as an optional add-on.

"All of the industry needs to start to innovate on affordability and efficiency. That is something that we have not had to do [previously]," Sharma says. "But with the crisis that's currently happening in hardware and components, it is absolutely something all of us need to be thinking about and innovating on and giving people more choice in terms of how they play their console and how they purchase their console."

Still, Xbox wants to offer an olive branch to disc enthusiasts with a feature that'll let you turn your Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S discs into digital games. "I know players love physical media, and I know there's a lot of benefits in digital media, and I want to make sure people have a choice," Sharma says, acknowledging that "there are stacks of games on everybody's shelves."

But the disc-to-digital program might just be an effort to ensure that Project Helix – assuming it's digital-only – will still have a way to offer backwards compatibility, a feature Xbox has an admirably front-and-center approach to. "We've long pioneered backwards compatibility and so you'll continue to see that as we go forward in the generations," as Sharma puts it.

Whether the next set of generations will have discs of their own, though, remains to be seen.

Sony reminds PlayStation users they don't own anything: "The software is licensed to you, not sold."

Today, Microsoft announced that players will soon be able to turn their physical Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S discs into digital games. It's a good idea, but even this initial announcement has some red flags that are leaving me nervous as a physical game collector.

"Most XBOX One and XBOX Series X disc-based games support this new feature," the company says in its announcement. "Players can claim a digital entitlement by inserting a supported disc into an XBOX One or XBOX Series X console and launching the game. Once the entitlement is claimed, you can experience the benefits of digital, including XBOX Play Anywhere and XBOX Cloud Gaming where supported, while your physical disc continues to work exactly as it always has."

The feature will enter testing for Xbox Insiders on August 31. No information has yet been provided on when it will roll out to all Xbox users. "We’re starting with thousands of titles, and we’ll continue to add more over time," the publisher says.

In theory, this is a great feature. It offers both the convenience of digital games and the ownership rights of physical ones. While the official announcement isn't specific on this point, The Verge reports that the digital entitlement is tied to the disc itself. That means that you'll be free to trade or resell your disc games even after you've claimed a digital version, and that entitlement will simply carry over to the new owner.

As much as I enjoy the little rituals associated with physical media, that's not why I've argued that PlayStation's decision to end discs is bad for everyone. When you purchase a digital game, you're not actually buying anything – you're simply acquiring a license that can be revoked at any time. Xbox's disc-to-digital plan gives you something you can actually own tied to a digital game. In that regard, this is excellent.

But the red flags start with the fact that "most" games will be supported at launch. What's stopping the entire library from being supported at once? Is it a technical issue, or a licensing one? The fact that Xbox is vague on this point – and makes no promises that the entire Xbox library will eventually be supported – leads me to believe that this effort is tied to the same sorts of licensing issues that have hampered the platform's backward compatibility efforts.

Original Xbox and Xbox 360 games have to be whitelisted by their original publishers for backward compatibility on modern Xbox consoles. If the same is true of this disc-to-digital plan, then I'm afraid the whole thing has been cut off at the knees. What's to stop a publisher from simply barring disc owners from digitizing an old version of a game when they have a new remaster to sell? And if obscure titles with inattentive license-holders can't get whitelisted for digitization, then this is essentially useless as a preservation push.

"This is part of our broader commitment to game preservation," Xbox says. "As technology, devices, and distribution continue to evolve, preserving access to the games people own matters more than ever."

That's a great sentiment, but I'm afraid Xbox might have a different definition of "preservation" than I do. That talk of evolving distribution and preserving access suggest, to me, that this is merely a step toward an all-digital Project Helix. Unlike Sony, Microsoft has not yet announced the future of its own disc manufacturing, but this disc-to-digital plan does feel like a Trojan Horse for an all-digital future.

Admittedly, promising disc owners a future is better than PlayStation's handling of this whole situation so far. But unless either company is willing to keep making discs – or, better yet, actually offer digital owners the same rights that disc buyers have – I'm afraid that none of this is good enough.

Sony ending PlayStation discs "was always going to happen," says analyst, as the PS6 costing $1,000 would "limit your audience quite significantly."

Elden Ring remains one of the most important and best RPGs of the decade and it's easy to talk me into replaying it. This made a new journey to the Lands Between on Nintendo Switch 2 enticing before I'd even touched the port. While early reports last year weren't exactly encouraging, I trusted FromSoftware to take its time and eventually deliver a conversion worthy of an Elden Lord.

After a more convincing showing in early 2026, we hoped for the best. Ahead of The Duskbloods' launch on Switch 2, the Hidetaka Miyazaki-led studio needed a major win that makes it clear Nintendo's latest console isn't getting second-grade material. Thankfully, Elden Ring Tarnished Edition makes an excellent first impression and feels perfectly fine to play... As long as you're happy with a conservative framerate lock and no major additions.

Tarnished, this port isn't

Despite its cross-generation nature and more than a few aging elements, Elden Ring wasn't a guaranteed win on Nintendo's second hybrid console. Whether it was the in-house engine's limitations or a lack of optimization, this (otherwise) excellent action RPG wasn't a great performer on PS5 and Xbox Series X. A constant 60 FPS lock isn't possible even on Performance mode, so everyone who played Elden Ring on consoles has gotten used to its unevenness.

This could've spelled doom for the Switch 2's Tarnished Edition. Yet the final result is visually convincing. Smart sacrifices prevent it from presenting a lesser version of the gorgeous world FromSoftware introduced in 2022. None of its visual identity is lost, and even with an obviously lower graphical preset when running it in handheld versus docked mode (compared in the gallery below), the final image output is shockingly sharp.

Though Elden Ring Tarnished Edition on Switch 2 lacks visual modes (or framerate targets), playing it handheld automatically cuts distant shadows, fog density, asset level of detail, lighting, and, of course, resolution. The overall visual features survive the transition, but lighting is an obvious change; the Lands Between seem a bit dimmer if you're not playing docked, at least when exploring outside.

The presence of so many visual changes versus a simpler resolution downgrade to hit a 30 FPS target – yes, as far as I can tell, it doesn't go higher than that – may be explained by the fact FromSoftware's engine isn't compatible with DLSS. Frustratingly, the press materials provided by Bandai Namco neither confirm nor deny what's happening under the hood, so I have to assume the lower graphical preset makes up for the lack of that upscaling crutch.

In any case, the resolution looks to be 1080p on both TV and the console's own screen. It's among the sharpest-looking third-party ports I've played so far on Switch 2 even in its more compromised form, that's for sure. In fact, I'd say it looks better than it did on Xbox Series S, which makes me think some sort of upscaling might be involved. As an extra, the HDR support, even on the Switch 2's below-average screen, gives a depth to darker areas and shaded environments that's often quite remarkable.

Delays and further optimizations have paid off

With a 30 FPS lock in place that generally holds steady, Elden Ring Tarnished Edition on Switch 2 actually feels a lot like playing Bloodborne on the PS4.

Well, except for the load times. On both the internal SSD and a microSD Express, the port is blazing fast to load from the main menu, and fast travel never takes longer than a few seconds. That comparison also means there's a hint of input lag to the experience. It's to be expected, but potentially frustrating for more competitive players.

During my time with the pre-release build, I explored three major areas of the map and cleared several bosses, up to the Raya Lucaria Academy area. Though I'd have liked to see an uncapped framerate option, I didn't feel like the 30 FPS lock was getting in the way of my enjoyment at all. This isn't the disaster other journalists experienced last year, that's for sure.

That conservative target is missed at times, though, as Stormveil's crowded courtyards and rooftops can trigger some frame drops. I think the suddenly higher NPC count might be the issue here, and Liurnia of the Lakes' reflective surface is as problematic as it was on other platforms.

Other obvious hits to the framerate come from abundant particle effects in fire attacks or dense smoke and mist. These are less noticeable in most cases, as they generally happen when you're getting toasted and are knocked down, but trained eyes will catch them. Overall, docked play seems sturdier, but when FPS drops happen, the console's own screen fares better once again. VRR and low framerate compensation to the rescue!

What's surprising is that I've also seen no major drops in open world boss encounters, which adds to my suspicion that nearby NPC counts putting extra pressure on Switch 2's so-so CPU are the culprit here. This has been part of a larger problem with Elden Ring that has affected other platforms since launch. Switch 2 just has less headroom to work with. Considering the faraway enemies are often seen with low-framerate animations, there might be something to this theory.

Judge this book by the cover

But the Tarnished Edition is still just Elden Ring on a new platform. There's nothing that makes it special or markedly different from other console versions, aside from a few extra goodies – sold as a minor DLC for other platforms – that feel like little goodbye gifts.

You could argue there's some value to the two new classes, but they're only a way to start with a different stat distribution and new armor pieces that you won't be using for too long. As for Torrent's cosmetics, they feel like a throwback to Oblivion's horse armor DLC moment. This also wouldn't fully be a complete port to a modern Nintendo platform without gimmicks, so it'd feel wrong not to mention that you can perform all of Elden Ring's emotes with motion controls if that's your thing. I don't care, but someone probably will. Real Wii-era vibes.

Still, Elden Ring Tarnished Edition is a huge reminder of how meaty the third-party support for Switch 2 has become in 2026. With Oblivion Remastered bringing another Bethesda heavyweight to the hybrid console and Diablo 4 likely coming sooner rather than later, there's no better piece of hardware to play modern open-world RPGs on-the-go.

It seems that Bandai Namco and FromSoft knew they had to get this one right. Despite some rough edges, this version of the massive action RPG stands tall beside the others – and I plan on replaying Elden Ring all the way through on Switch 2.

Elden Ring Tarnished Edition might just become one of the best Switch 2 games ever, but time and opinions will tell...

Yesterday brought us Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026, which saw the reveal of various new games – and, perhaps most excitingly of all, a first look at The Witcher 3 Remastered as well as CD Projekt Red's new DLC for the RPG, Songs of the Past.

In case you missed it, the showcase outlined some of what we can expect to see in the new revamped take on The Witcher 3 come its release on September 29, from "improved combat" to overhauled visuals – and much, much more.

GamesRadar+ got to hear more about it all from Miles Tost, level design lead on The Witcher 4, starting with how the combat system is indeed going "to be much more smooth and precise."

Tost shows it in action, too, and boy, is it smooth – and there's quite a lot at play that makes it so. "We updated the camera system, character animations, sign visuals, a lot of things to make it feel more modern," as the lead puts it.

There's "cleaner foliage, improved rendering and lighting, advanced ray tracing" as well – "it really, really tries to stand up to today's games," basically, and as much is obvious from what we witness of the remaster.

As per PC Gamer, CD Projekt Red had quite a lot in mind while tweaking The Witcher 3 Remastered's improvements – including new players.

Executive producer of external projects Jakub Kutrzuba states as much: "We're mostly thinking about new players, you know? We're looking at The Witcher from that perspective – so what would be the biggest pain points? What would a player expect to be changed in order to enjoy the game?"

And, echoing Tost's own words, what would The Witcher 3 feel like "if it was a game which released in 2026?" Well, there's the smoother combat – but there's also more player freedom.

"You can change target while playing the animation or performing strikes, and it gives the game a kind of freshness," for instance, as studio head Adam Badowski explains. And CD Projekt Red put a lot of work into this whole "freshness" thing.

"We put a lot of our time into how the game actually plays…" Kutrzuba confirms. "We went through all of them and asked ourselves, 'What can we do about it, without rebuilding the game from scratch?' And we have changed a lot… the game just plays smoother, you know? There's no immersion-breakers anymore."

I, for one, am thrilled to hear that. I mean, who wants their immersion to be broken in an RPG, right?

The Witcher 3 is already admittedly pretty good at handling that as it is now, so we're thrilled to experience how much better it might be come the remaster next month. Something tells me it'll be a massive leap, considering everything CD Projekt Red says.

Blizzard and CD Projekt Red team up for Diablo 4 Geralt skin and The Witcher 3 on Battle.net

Tonight's big Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 showcase provided us with a neat glimpse of many, many exciting new games underway – and, perhaps best of all, The Witcher 3's own big Songs of the Past DLC.

Yep, we actually have finally seen Geralt front and center in the DLC, and I couldn't be more excited after watching CD Projekt Red's new teaser trailer myself. It contains a first look at the protagonist wielding silver chains – a weapon he hasn't used since the opening of the original 2007 Witcher RPG, nearly two decades ago now.

It's kind of a huge deal, to say the least, seeing as we've only witnessed Geralt with a silver chain in that cinematic and in The Witcher books by Andrzej Sapkowski, where he used one against Adda when she was reborn as a Striga.

That's not all we see of Songs of the Past, either. Those Belleteyn theories that had folks convinced we'd finally get to experience the massive celebratory fertility festival (you know, Beltane, basically)?

It sure looks like they're ringing true, as Geralt can be seen in the midst of Belleteyn's festivities in CD Projekt Red's new trailer. Yet another first (sort of, anyway, seeing as we never got to actually wield chains ourselves) for Witcher gamers – and I'm so here for it.

The DLC isn't the only exciting news we got at Gamescom 2026 about The Witcher 3, however. We also got to see The Witcher 3 Remastered (yes, you read that right) in action, with all of its improved visuals, combat tweaks, reworked skill trees, and much more. It's never been a better time to be a Witcher stan, basically.

All of this and the fact that The Witcher 4 is still underway, too – along with the other upcoming CD Projekt Red games, of course. Please don't pinch me if this is all a silly little dream... I don't want to wake up.

The Witcher 3 devs tried to give NPCs "fear reactions" but it got cut after a few horrifying weeks when "women were just dropping their babies, left and right"

King Legacy codes have been around for a long time now, but they are still useful in this popular RPG adventure as you sail the seas fighting pirates, dragons, and other enemies. Your search for a wide range of physical in-game fruits will take you all over the map, so any help is always welcome.

The promos that are currently active provide a variety of benefits, from a significant cash injection and some free stat resets so you can respec your character to a decent period of double EXP earning in this anime-flavored Roblox experience. If you're keen to hunt down that elusive fruit, then these are the codes for King Legacy and how to redeem them.

If you'd prefer some promos that provide rewards for all of your experiences, then we've got the Roblox promo codes covered as well.

All King Legacy codes

The following King Legacy codes can be redeemed in-game:

• 2MFAV – +1 Refund Stats
• FREESTATSRESET – +1 Refund Stats
• RainbowDragon – 100x Gems (Need to have unlocked Rainbow Dragon color before Update 7)
• DragonColorRefund – 50x Gems (10x Gems if your old color was original red)
• SKGames – 2x EXP for 30 minutes (Need to join the Sea King Games Roblox group first)
• WELCOMETOKINGLEGACY – 2x EXP for 30 minutes
• <3LEEPUNGG – 2x EXP for 30 minutes
• Peodiz – $100,000
• DinoxLive – $100,000

There are a decent number of active codes for King Legacy available, though none of them have been released recently. You can use them to get Cash and Gems, as well as stat resets that will get added to your menu. Note that the EXP boost periods stack and they only count down while you are in the game, so you don't need to worry about losing any benefits from them.

How to redeem King Legacy codes

To redeem King Legacy codes, you first need to tap the Menu icon to the right of the Health bar at the bottom of the screen, then from the row of options that appear above it select the Basket icon to open the Shop. Scroll to the bottom of that menu to find the Enter Code text box, then type in a promo and hit Redeem to receive your reward. Note that codes for King Legacy are case-sensitive, so you need to enter them exactly as we've written them in our list.

Expired King Legacy codes

• FIXEDBUG1003 – 3x Gold Keys
• Serpent10 – 10x Gems
• FreePterSpin – 10x Copper Keys
• EchoOfNine – 1x Gold Key
• Update8Release – 2x EXP for 15 minutes
• YT90KCELEBRATION – 5x Fortune Tales
• YT100KLEGEND – 5x Chronicles Lore
• FreeQuakeSpin – 10x Copper Keys
• EchoMelody – 10x Copper Keys
• RiseOfPhoenix – 1x Iron Key
• QuakeSurprise – 2x EXP for 15 minutes
• PvPArenaFun – +1 Refund Stats
• KioruV2PowerUp – 2x EXP for 15 minutes
• QuakeTsunamiBoost – +1 Refund Stats
• DragonColorsUnlocked – 1x Gold Key
• ThirdSeaAdventures – 25x Gems (Need to have unlocked Third Sea)
• Halloween2024 – 50x Candies, +1 Refund Stats
• Update7Release – 2x EXP for 15 mins
• TelekinesisFruitPower – 1x Iron Key
• EpicAdventure – +1 Refund Stats

There are plenty of expired King Legacy codes as they've been around for a long time now, but I've included the most recent ones above for reference. While the currently active promos have also been available for a while, don't risk leaving them unclaimed!

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is still going strong despite being a good eight years old now, with fans keeping it alive via expansive mods – like Nuevo Paraíso, the "ambitious recreation of the Mexican territory from RDR1" we've waited some time for.

We don't have much longer to wait, thankfully, as creator Rixus has unveiled the mod's big release date in a new trailer over on YouTube – and it's coming next month on September 16.

Seeing as we're just a few weeks away from the launch now, that's quite big news… and it's accompanied by a fresh sneak peek at Nuevo Paraíso, too. Between the searing landscapes and populated towns showcased, I'm honestly not sure what I'm personally most excited for.

As Rixus writes, there's plenty to look forward to, after all – and it's all been "recreated to fit seamlessly within the story and timeline of Red Dead Redemption 2 in 1907" as well: "Explore a Mexico on the brink of change, where beautiful landscapes and growing settlements stand alongside political unrest, government oppression, and a population struggling under an increasingly unstable regime."

Yes, it's the period leading into the Mexican Revolution of 1911… with loads of new features.

"Discover new settlements, hidden locations, activities, encounters, mysteries, Easter eggs, wildlife, local people, classic characters, and dangers as you travel across the state," as Rixus puts it. Yep – Easter eggs, Rockstar Games-style. There are gang hideouts, train robberies, and shops galore to also uncover.

The modder describes Nuevo Paraíso as "more than a journey across the border" and "an ambitious fan-made expansion created to bring Mexico back to life, while remaining faithful to the atmosphere, identity, and canon of Red Dead Redemption" – the perfect mod, if you ask me.

It'll be entirely free over on Nexus Mods, too (exclusively for PC players, sorry, console users), as Rixus confirms, come mid-September... and yeah, I've bookmarked his page on the website already.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's "excellent storytelling" praised by Red Dead Redemption 2 lead actor Roger Clark as he finally sits down to play Warhorse's RPG

Roblox has been in the limelight the past couple of days thanks to Steal an Egg, a pet-raising simulator that encourages users to continuously doomscroll through reels while running on a virtual treadmill Black Mirror-style – or, well, used to encourage.

Used to, because Roblox actually deplatformed the game yesterday following folks' outrage online over Steal an Egg's encouragement of short-form video overconsumption (you know, doomscrolling). At first, users weren't sure why Roblox removed Steal an Egg – but now, it all makes sense.

The company explains its reasoning in a new post, confirming that it won't allow Roblox to host such games any longer. So, what do we mean by "such" here? Well, games that encourage doomscrolling, basically.

"Effective immediately," as the Roblox developers write, "games will not be allowed in Roblox Kids and Select if they combine all of the following: A media feed (short-form videos, images, or story-style posts). A feed that autoplays, loops, or scrolls on its own. A reward, or implied reward, for continued watching."

The devs conclude with their reasoning here: "Rewarding users to consume a continuous feed of content without natural stopping points is not appropriate for younger users."

They specify what kinds of games and what sort of content isn't okay further, then, but it's safe to say that this was a pretty decent move on the Roblox team's part. Between Grow a Garden and Steal a Brainrot, there's already plenty of mind-melting content to fall under the spell of, anyway.

Comments show users happy to see the change, too. "This is incredible," reads one. "I am extremely glad that the team is making changes in response to creator and community feedback. I really appreciate how fast this change was made as well."

Another replies, "This is a genuine breath of fresh air to see Roblox actually making good decisions for the health and quality of the platform instead of whatever will pump the stock up."

The comments make sense here, considering past statements from the company, like CEO Dave Baszucki's instructing parents to simply not "let your kids be on Roblox" when they raised concerns… and seeing as it's basically the biggest gaming platform in the world now.

Fan of the virtual platform yourself? Here are some up-to-date Roblox promo codes to use for free, effortless goodies.

Runaways codes will provide you with a helping hand as you hit the streets and go on the run from the law, before the crimes you've committed catch up with you. As you try to escape over the border you can rob banks and shops along the way, pawn the loot you swipe for cash, and evade the cops so you don't end up behind bars.

The promos available at the moment will give you a fistful of Credz to spend, as well as arming you with a Light Pistol to protect yourself until you can get hold of a better weapon in this high-octane Roblox experience. If you're ready to outmaneuver the police, then here are the codes for Runaways and how to redeem them.

If you're looking for some promos with a wider use across all of your experiences, then take a look at the most recent Roblox promo codes.

All Runaways codes

The following Runaways codes are available to claim:

• SUPERCAT – Pistol (Light)
• RUN – 1,000 Credz

There are currently a couple of codes for Runaways to help get you started, providing you with some Credz cash to spend and a Light Pistol to arm yourself with. No doubt more promos will be added soon, so keep checking back here for updates.

How to redeem Runaways codes

To redeem Runaways codes, you need to select the SHOP icon on the left side of the screen, then scroll to the bottom of the menu that opens to find the CODES section. Type a promo into the Insert Code Here... text box, then hit the USE button to collect your reward. Codes for Runaways are not case-sensitive, so it doesn't matter if you use all caps or not.

Expired Runaways codes

• No expired codes

There are currently no expired Runaways codes, due to their recent addition to this experience. This situation can often change quickly though, so make sure you've picked up the active promos while you can.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

After three long decades, Terranigma is finally getting a modern re-release. The Super Nintendo JRPG, which was developed by Quintet and published by Enix in 1995, was never released in North America and had never been re-released on a later platform. But now, publisher Clear River Games is bringing the beloved classic to modern consoles and PC.

The new version of Terranigma will be released on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Switch, Steam, and GOG in "early 2027," according to a press release.

Judging by the first trailer and Steam page, this will be a re-release that preserves the original game's look, feel, and gameplay – though the announcement notes that this version "thoughtfully adds to the original masterpiece, bringing a host of upgrades, tweaks and bonus features, designed to make the best, better still and provide an ideal point of entry for modern gamers."

Terranigma is an action RPG where you play as a boy who resurrects the Earth, charting its history from primordial evolution up through the modern day. Developer Quintet was known for Super NES classics like ActRaiser and Illusion of Gaia, and Terranigma is widely regarded as one of the best RPGs ever released on the platform. A shame, then, that its worldwide release was so limited.

Unlike many cult classic JRPGs, Terranigma actually was released outside of Japan – just not in North America. Nintendo published the game in Europe and Australia late in 1996, but by that time the gaming world was already obsessed with the newfangled 3D graphics of platforms like the PS1 and N64. Whatever plans might've existed for a North American version were dashed by the closure of Enix's US office, well before the Square merger, in late 1995.

Before the HD era largely standardized television formats worldwide, PAL TVs were fundamentally different from the NTSC televisions used in the US and Japan – most notably in the fact that they refresh 50 times per second instead of 60. That makes Terranigma's PAL-only release a problem for English-speaking players worldwide these days, since it runs at an improper speed that's out of line with the Japanese original.

Numerous fan patches and console mods have given RPG fans ways to play Terranigma over the years, but the rights situation around the game – with part of its ownership tied up with the original developers at Quintet, and part held by the modern Square Enix – meant that it had never gotten an official, modern port. And thus, there was never a way to officially play it in English at the intended 60Hz speed.

“I hope the themes of god and humanity, creation and destruction, and the atmosphere of the world itself resonate with today's players too," original artist Kamui Fujiwara says in the press release. "Not as a relic of the past, but as a living, breathing work. This moment has been long awaited and now it is finally here. I hope you will enjoy it with all your heart.”

Check out more of the best SNES games of all time.

Story of Seasons (previously known as Harvest Moon outside of Japan), the cozy series that inspired Stardew Valley, is returning five years after its last original entry with another gem – and a fresh JRPG spin-off for Rune Factory stans, too.

In case you're out of the loop, Story of Seasons – which used to be Harvest Moon, but is now a separate franchise overseas – hasn't seen the release of a new mainline entry since Pioneers of Olive Town back in 2021.

Sure, we've had remakes and all, like the recent (and, yes, good) Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar, but a never-before-seen release? It's been five years, y'all. Turns out developer Marvelous Inc has one up its sleeve, however.

The team confirms as much in a new live stream over on X, unveiling a brand-new Story of Seasons with some downright adorable footage. I'm talking bubbly cows, crystal-blue waters, and a charming seaside town I can't wait to learn more about.

That's not all that Marvelous has in the works, though. It showcases Rune Factory 6 as well, the latest entry in Story of Seasons' spin-off JRPG series… and, yep, it looks just as gorgeous.

As excited as I am for both, the most wholesome part of the stream stands out as a message from Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone – the mastermind behind Stardew Valley himself.

"The Harvest Moon and Rune Factory series are the best games of my life and have played a huge part in shaping who I am today," it reads (as translated in-house by GamesRadar+). "Playing Harvest Moon on the SNES as a child it was obvious that it set itself apart from every other game I had played."

He explains why: "Many games focus on grand adventures, battles, and saving the world, while Harvest Moon presents a very different world, a little life that's centered around farming, the bonds people share, and building a home. It reminds me of the unspoken comforts of slow-paced everyday activities."

That it does, ConcernedApe. That it does – and that's probably why so many of us harbor so much love for it.

We'll likely learn more about both Marvelous projects soon, but for now, I'll be rewatching the live stream over and over again for better glimpses of Story of Seasons' farm animals and Rune Factory 6's chibi little beast-like characters.

Searching for other new games to play? Browse through our roundup of the best games like Stardew Valley to hop into while you wait for Story of Seasons and Rune Factory 6.

Amid all of the GTA 6 leak shenanigans and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake rumors coming to fruition, word has been circulating online about another series potentially getting a new entry: the beloved Ori games.

If you're not familiar with Ori and the Blind Forest or Ori and the Will of the Wisp, they're charming Metroidvanias developed by Moon Game Studios – but published by Microsoft Studios and Xbox Game Studios, respectively. In other words, Microsoft essentially owns the rights to the IP rather than Moon Game Studios.

So, when rumors about another Ori game started coming to light, folks thought it'd be handled by new devs.

According to Thomas Mahler, CEO of Moon Game Studios and director behind both Ori games, however, that's not the case – and, in fact, there is supposedly no Ori 3 in the works anywhere.

"Once again there's a bunch of people asking me about Ori 3 since there's rumors floating about," as he writes over on X. "As before, I haven't heard anything about any of this." He then explains why he believes only his studio could pull a threequel off.

"I think after having put billions into 343 to handle Halo and not being able to recapture the old magic, I'd guess that by now Microsoft has learned their lesson that the right talent needs to work on those IP's, otherwise you'll undoubtedly get more slop," the lead states, alluding to the more mixed reviews Halo entries headed by 343 Industries saw, like Halo 4.

What Mahler says next about Moon Game Studios' own plans is quite eye-catching, though.

"Internally, we've been discussing our interest in purchasing the IP back," the CEO describes, because "I doubt any other studio could really do much with it, so it makes sense for this one to come home to Moon!"

In a later post, he reiterates all of this, writing, "I can confirm that the Ori 3 rumors are nonsense" and stating that composer Gareth Coker "asked me if we'd be ready to do another one" – another Ori game, that is. "'It's time,' he said!"

So, there you have it – there might not be a new Ori in the works after all. It's important to note that Xbox could still have something up its sleeve, as there's no real way to tell – but that may truly just be wishful thinking at this point, considering everything.

Searching for some new games to play? Browse through our handy little roundup of the best Metroidvania games out there right now.

A new game in the Ori series is rumored to be in production at Xbox, according to the same prominent leaker who spilled the tea on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's Switch 2 remake.

Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps are some of the best Metroidvania games around - they're drop dead gorgeous, brutally tough but always totally fair, and occasionally sad enough to make a Pixar third act climax feel quite cozy, in comparison.

That's why I'm trying not to raise my hopes too high after comments made by prominent insider NateTheHate, who recently said a "new Ori" is in the works. In the past week, he's dropped hints about Xbox potentially working on a sequel to one of its modern franchises in collaboration with a developer you might not expect.

Series creator Moon Studios is currently all hands on deck for No Rest for the Wicked, an ARPG that's leaving early access on PC and PS5 this October. Not only is the developer pre-occupied with another project, reports once suggested the studio's "oppressive workplace" led to its relationship with Xbox fizzling out, so you can probably expect an outside developer to jump aboard for a potential third Ori game.

NateTheHate also says he's not sure if the project will debut at next week's Gamescom Opening Night Live show or sometime after. Previously, the insider accurately let the internet know that a new Star Fox game and an Ocarina of Time remake were in the works weeks before Nintendo said anything official about either. Even before that, he was a somewhat trusted source within the Nintendo fandom - add in the fact that Ori and the Blind Forest sold over 10 million copies, and the prospect of a third adventure seems ever more likely.

Ori boss shares "one of the crazier ideas" for a possible third game that would flip the Metroidvania on its head: "Think Katamari, but with a Ghibli-twist"

Evercade has just come out with a new physical release combining both Banjo-Kazooie platformers, but the retro handheld maker didn't rely on emulation for its new double pack. The Banjo-Kazooie re-releases are "brand new native ports" because Evercade wanted to retroactively add cut content and features to the classic platformers.

In a new video diving deep into the Banjo-Kazooie Double Pack, developer Pete Davison says the N64 gems have been "rebuilt from the ground up" for Evercade's suite of best retro consoles. "We didn't want to tamper with the core nature of these games too much, but developing brand new native ports rather than emulating the original 64-bit versions has allowed us to introduce quality-of-life features that make playing them much more comfortable and enjoyable from a modern gamer's perspective," he explains.

One of the new features is a tip-toe button that lets Banjo take slower, more careful steps without the player having to lightly graze an analogue stick - handy if you're playing on one of Evercade's smaller handhelds. Similarly, camera movement can be shifted to the shoulder buttons or you can simply have the camera follow Banjo automatically rather than wrestle with it as you would on the N64.

Other quality-of-life highlights include the ability to skip cutscenes, an overhauled options menu, a fine aim mode for Banjo-Tooie's first-person sections, inverted camera toggles, and the option to return to the hub world from anywhere in the game. "This is a cut feature from the original release that we have restored," apparently.

"We've also added new unlockable bonus features and secrets. You'll have to work hard to get them as you'll need to acquire some secret items which were normally inaccessible in the original game," the port makers explain.

Bear in mind, this is entirely separate from the Super Pocket Rare Edition handheld that bundled in 30 games from legendary developer Rare's catalogue, including the Banjo games and a Conker's Bad Fur Day prequel that was trapped on the Game Boy for literal decades. Very cool company, indeed.

We asked Xbox exec Matt Booty about legacy IP like Banjo-Kazooie: "There's options to do all kinds of things, and we're certainly looking at those all the time"

Fallout co-creator Timothy Cain, whose most recent portfolio entries include the likes of The Outer Worlds 2 and its predecessor over at Obsidian Entertainment, thinks developers have a lot to learn from bad games – not just successful titles.

It's a tale as old as time, as Cain describes in his latest YouTube video (below). A game becomes a smash hit – think anything from indie to AAA, Meccha Chameleon to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – and the industry goes wild with copies or clones, attempting to recapture that same success.

This might even lead to other folks copying the bad aspects of "good" games. As Cain puts it, they may "blindly copy" them. These bad aspects could be obvious, and so they're not often overlooked – but "bad" games are, on the other hand, and that takes valuable lessons away from aspiring devs, according to Cain.

"In general," as he says, "bad games are ignored, especially if they weren't part of a popular franchise and or never sold very well." This checks out. When they're sequels of "good" titles, they're not as oft forgotten.

But, "there are so many games out there that one game came out, it wasn't very good, and it was forgotten," Cain explains, concluding, "and I'm saying you could learn a lot from games like that."

Honestly, I get what he means. I'm immediately reminded of that quote about those who don't learn from history being doomed to repeat it, and of the concept of survivorship bias – the overarching theme of the Fallout mastermind's video, actually.

In his own words, "the whole point of this video was [to] please remember about survivorship bias. The qualities of successful games… may not be those qualities which made them successful. And conversely, look at failed ones because some of the things that they share in common may be the reason that they failed."

It's a much-needed message for the industry (and any outside of it as well, for that matter).

Comments see viewers agreeing with Cain, too. "It's the slow path to eventually making the same video game over and over again," reads one. Another adds, "such a simple concept, but you're totally right, they don't ever analyze what makes a game bad."

Fallout co-creator says turn-based and real-time RPGs both have "loud vocal advocates" who won't play anything else, so devs can't please everyone.

Fortnite Cheat Codes have been introduced to replace the Sprite Chests this season, and this fresh mechanic fits in with the general gaming theme for Override. Once you discover a cheat code emblazoned on a surface, you need to match the arrow directions accurately to collect your rewards – it's not quite the Konami Code, but you know the general idea! To get up to speed, this is how Cheat Codes in Fortnite work.

Note that these cheat codes are separate to the Fortnite admin panel codes you enter on the Battle Royale lobby screen, though both provide ways to add more Fortnite Sprites to your collection.

Fortnite Cheat Codes locations

Fortnite Cheat Codes appear on surfaces in many locations around the island, and make a distinctive chime sound when you are close to them in the same way that Chests do. If you've turned on the Visualize Sound Effects option under Audio settings (which I highly recommend you do if you haven't already) then you'll see a blue glow and four arrow icon appear that will lead you to the Cheat Code. The color of it represents the rarity of the Sprite you'll receive if entered correctly, as follows:

• Blue Cheat Code – Rare Sprite
• Purple Cheat Code – Epic Sprite
• Gold Cheat Code – Legendary Sprite

Note that although Fortnite Cheat Codes can appear in the same location for multiple matches, the rarity is randomized each time – so if you find a Gold Cheat Code then unfortunately you can't keep returning to that location and guarantee a Legendary Sprite every visit.

How to use Fortnite Cheat Codes

Once you've found a Fortnite Cheat Code, approach it and follow the ENTER CHEAT prompt to start typing it in using the d-pad or direction controls. Sometimes the camera angle and visual glitches can make it difficult to read the code, so have a quick look at it before interacting so you know what you need to enter. Make a mistake and you'll have to restart, but there's no actual timer so you can take as long as you need to enter the Cheat Code.

Note: If you have one of the Cheat Master Sprites equipped, you can just mash buttons and the correct code will be entered automatically!

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Earlier this year, Terraria saw the release of its long-awaited 1.4.5 update (known also as by its official name, Bigger and Boulder) – but developer Re-Logic has still been working since to patch things up.

The proof is in the pudding, as they say, and the latest serving of pudding is 1.4.5.7 – a handy, seemingly little new "hotfix" that is actually anything but little.

As outlined in the patch notes on Steam, this version of Terraria sees a plethora of additions, adjustments, and reworks land, with some including changes I (and many other fans, judging by circulating discussions online) have spent the last 10 or so years waiting to see come to fruition.

First and foremost, we've got a bunch of new items to look forward to in 1.4.5.7, from staves to accessories, and even materials like the Kinship Peach. There are also "two new secret seeds," as per Re-Logic's patch notes… which I can't wait to explore.

The real excitement (for me, anyway), though, comes from the tweaks the so-called hotfix – which truly does feel like an update – brings. Let's start with the respawn timer.

You know how when you die, you annoyingly have to wait to respawn? Well, not anymore – as long as there's "no great danger around," anyway.

And yoyos, the weapons that have arguably been universally hated and seen as, well, useless since 2015? As one fan so eloquently puts it in a post over on Twitter, they're "not ass" anymore, with buffs and specific yoyo changes like one to the Eye of Cthulhu that spawns an, erm, Eye of Cthulhu upon hitting an enemy.

There are changes across the board to classes and weapons, however, so I'd advise taking a look at the full patch notes – especially if you like playing with magic, like me.

Bosses are different now, too, with nerfs to some (thankfully, the Empress of Light is one of these), and adjustments to many. The Moon Lord, for example, has better-telegraphed attacks in 1.4.5.7, making the fight a bit less painful. The Deerclops' attacks better line up visibly as well.

All in all, it's a downright loaded hotfix, and apparently the "last" to come for the Bigger and Boulder update.

There's genuinely too much to cover here, so again, I'd recommend reading through Re-Logic's roundup – but I personally can't wait to see what's next.

Terraria's biggest mod, Calamity, is shutting down after 10 years over what the makers call a "troubled past" and "irrecoverably tainted reputation."

Fortnite admin panel codes are a new system introduced with the Override season, allowing Lobby Hacks that tie in to the general gaming theme that's now up and running. By opening the admin panel from the lobby screen, you can type in a selection of secret codes to receive instant rewards, including some powerful Sprites to kickstart your collection and handy gizmos to deploy for an advantage in matches. To find out more, here are all of the admin panel codes in Fortnite and how to redeem them for Lobby Hacks.

Note that these codes are separate from the Fortnite Cheat Codes you can find and enter during matches, though both of them will unlock new Fortnite Sprites to add to your collection.

All Fortnite admin panel codes

The following Fortnite admin panel codes can be redeemed now to activate Lobby Hacks:

• Sprites
  • 8BITBLAST – Cheat Master 8-Bit Sprite
  • BORN2PLAY – Cheat Master Adventure Sprite
  • GATHERANDCRAFT – Cheat Master Bush Sprite [need to complete all Wrixel (Ziggy) Part 1 Story quests before claiming]
  • GOTTAGOFAST – Cheat Master Sonic Sprite
  • IWANNAFLYHIGH – Cheat Master Tails Sprite
  • JONESYISGOLDEN – Gold Jonesy Sprite
  • PLAY4ALL – Cheat Master Jonesy Sprite
• Sprite Dust
  • ABGESTAUBT – 2,000 Sprite Dust
  • CHISPAMBO – 2,000 Sprite Dust
  • DUSTINTHEWIND – 5,000 Sprite Dust new!
  • H0P0NVC – 2,000 Sprite Dust [code contains zeros]
  • MAGILUME – 2,000 Sprite Dust
  • PERLIMPINPIN – 2,000 Sprite Dust
  • WHEREISTHEDUSTYTREE – 5,000 Sprite Dust new!
  • YOURTHOUGHTSAREMINE – 5,000 Sprite Dust [need to complete all Geno Part 1 Story quests before claiming]
• Gizmos
  • CHATWHEREDOYOUFINDTHEKEY – 2 Extraction Accelerators
  • FINDITCHAT – 2 Cheat Code Locators
  • INVALIDCHEAT – 2 Cheat Code Locators
  • NOPROLLAMA – Llama Supply Drop [expires September 14, 2026] new!
  • O2OVERRIDE – Llama Supply Drop, 5 Portable Extractors
  • PERFECTORDER – 4 Spicy Tacos
  • SURVIVETHENIGHT – 2 Cheat Code Locators
  • TAKEYOURHEART - 2 Extraction Accelerators
• Cosmetics
  • BEMOREALIEN – Override Ready Loading Screen
  • BRB – Briefly turn into a toilet (can be used more than once)
  • DONTBLOCKME – Briefly turn into a Tetris Piece (can be used more than once)
  • INSERTCOINTOCONTINUE – Briefly turn into an arcade machine (can be used more than once)
  • LETSBLOCKANDROLL – Briefly turn into a Tetris Piece (can be used more than once)
  • OVERRIDEXP – 40,000 XP
  • REACHYOURIMPOSSIBLE – Block Party Loading Screen

Note that the first time you redeem an admin panel code you'll also unlock the Cuddle Team Leader Outfit Style for Wrixel, and if you redeem a code for a Sprite that you already have in your collection then you'll receive 10,000 Sprite Dust as a reward instead.

How to redeem Fortnite admin panel codes

To redeem admin panel codes in Fortnite, go to the Battle Royale Lobby in the main menu and select the .../ admin panel in the top-right corner of the screen by following the button prompt or clicking on it. This will open the fortnite admin panel, where you can type in any of the promos before hitting the SUBMIT button to claim your rewards. Fortnite Lobby Hack codes are not case-sensitive, so you don't have to enter them in all caps as long as the correct spelling is used.

These are all of the Fortnite admin panel codes that have been revealed so far, but as more are discovered I will add them to this guide.

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After 11 years, The Witcher 3 might finally let us experience Belleteyn firsthand in new DLC, Songs of the Past – if a Gamescom booth from CD Projekt Red offers anything to go by.

Belleteyn has sadly only been mentioned by the developer in The Witcher 3 thus far, as a massive celebratory fertility festival with food, drink, love, and you name it (think Beltane, its real-world Gaelic counterpart).

Interestingly enough, however, it is the birthday of Yennefer, and in The Witcher books, Geralt believes it's also around the same time that Ciri herself was born… so, yeah, it's a pretty big deal.

Why do we think we might get to witness Belleteyn in all of its glory come Songs of the Past, though? Well, it just so happens that Gamescom 2026 is upon us and CD Projekt Red's booth artwork at the annual event appears to show a scene from Belleteyn – fire, festivities, and the like by the water.

It's already caught the eye of excited fans, too, with one post on X reading, "That looks like Belleteyn." Indeed, it does.

Over on Reddit, theories are running wild as well, as a picture of the Gamescom booth has folks convinced it is, in fact, referencing Belleteyn.

The top response literally just says "Belleteyn," so there you have it. Another chimes in, "Looks like there might be Belleteyn festivities artwork on the left side," further solidifying that the festival is what's on all of our minds – but this isn't the first time it's presence in Songs of the Past has been proposed.

A solid five months ago now, a separate thread on the website saw somebody note, "I noticed an X post, it talks about Geralt's sword (surprisingly his THIRD sword here since he already has two on his back) being the exact same one he had next to him during Belleteyn, which is a major spring and fertility festival that corresponds to the real-world Celtic Holiday of Beltane."

This older theorizing stems from older Songs of the Past artwork showing the sword.

So, could this all truly tease some sort of Belleteyn festivities in Songs of the Past? I certainly hope so, but I suppose only time will tell – and the DLC is set to launch in 2027.

The Witcher 3 devs tried to give NPCs "fear reactions" but it got cut after a few horrifying weeks when "women were just dropping their babies, left and right"