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Gaming
Releases, studios, hardware and the business behind them. Coverage for people who play, written without the marketing gloss.
Dune Awakening adds solo play and stops taking things away
Funcom has rebuilt its survival MMO for one player, made PvP optional almost everywhere, and removed most of the systems that punished absence. Arrakis is now a gentler desert.
Japan skipped the layoff crisis by skipping live service
Smaller teams, no rush into live service, and executives paid two or three million instead of thirty. An industry analyst lays out why Japanese studios held staff while Western ones cut.
FC 27's New Gallery Turns Every Pulled Card Into Progression
EA Sports FC 27's new Ultimate Team Gallery tracks every card, pays out for club and league sets, and restyles a 3D hub as you level it.
A 192GB GTA leak shows the Liberty City DLC that never was
An archive of Rockstar files contains an early playable GTA VI map, an outline of a scrapped Liberty City expansion, a cancelled Trevor campaign, and an alternate ending in liquid nitrogen.
A fan patch gave Thief dynamic shadows the remaster won't
NewDark 1.29 brings hardware transform and lighting to a 1998 engine, and the shadows it casts change how stealth works. Nightdive's official remaster is deliberately not doing this.
A two-year fan expansion adds a new region to Baldur's Gate 3
The Chionthar Wilds is a custom zone roughly the size of the Act 1 wilderness, with 30 encounters, 70 items and its own quests. It took one modder nearly two years.
CD Projekt says dropping REDengine was never about Cyberpunk
Co-CEO Michal Nowakowski rejects the popular theory that Cyberpunk 2077 killed the in-house engine, and describes a deal with Epic that puts the studio inside Unreal's source.
Gabe Newell's rule about hackers is still the right one
A decade-old clip resurfaced in which Valve's founder argues that developers keep mistaking their best player stories for cheating. The Lord British assassination is his example, and it still lands.
Cheerleader, chainsaw, 2027: Lollipop Chainsaw 2 hits TGS
Lollipop Chainsaw 2 Back2Back arrived at Tokyo Game Show with a playable demo and a 2027 PlayStation 5 window, which is more than a nostalgia logo with no studio attached.
Gundam Rogue Orbit Plays Like Armored Core Crashed Into Devil May Cry
Bandai Namco's Gundam Rogue Orbit is playable at Tokyo Game Show as a high-mobility action game that mixes Armored Core mechs with Devil May Cry tempo and skips the lore homework.
Forsaken Kingdom is Blizzard's attempt to stitch WC3 to WoW
Ian Hazzikostas and Brad Chan sat down to explain why Warcraft III Reforged is getting Forsaken Kingdom now, and how the campaign is meant to connect that RTS to World of Warcraft.
Magic's Next Crossover Is Magic, and the Mirror Is Being Rude
Reality Fracture is Magic: The Gathering crossing over with itself: a mirror set where the game's own cast looks at their reflection and does not love what they see.
The Aniimo Bestiary Is Finally on One Page. Mind the Spoilers
Aniimo launched this month as a creature-catcher, and a complete list of every Aniimo is now in one place with notes on each creature. Completionists needed it. Newcomers should wait.
Bloomwalker Is a Ni no Kuni Game Now, Not a Ghibli Cosplay
A Tokyo Game Show 2026 trailer confirms Netmarble's cozy adventure-crafting game Bloomwalker lives in Level-5's Ni no Kuni universe. The Howl's Moving Castle look finally has a franchise excuse.
After EA's $55 Billion Close, Queer Fans Are Already Leaving
Electronic Arts closed its sale to Saudi PIF, Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner's Affinity on August 4. Developers were told owners will not touch creative. BioWare, Sims, and Apex fans are walking anyway.
Tristram Returns to Diablo 4, and the Music Does the Heavy Lift
Blizzard's Diablo 4 anniversary event rebuilds Tristram with a level of detail seasonal hubs almost never get. The town is back. The original theme is doing the emotional work.
Most Official Game Reveals Never Get the Trailer Slot
A packed reveal week buried eight official announcements. The viral clip is not the slate. Here is why mid-presentation title cards vanish, and how to catch them before the wishlist window closes.
Generous Pokémon 30th Packs Are Flattening the Resale Market
Early openings of the Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration set show Crown Zenith-level hits, with ex cards in more than half of packs, and sealed resale has gone flat for the first time in two years.
A 2027 Window for GTA 6 Multiplayer Just Got Very Loud
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy says Grand Theft Auto 6's multiplayer will launch in 2027, and he does not sound like he is guessing. He is not Rockstar. Treat the date as a confident outsider stamp.
A Glitch Walks You Out of Wolverine's Intended Map
YouTuber Turned clipped out of Marvel's Wolverine and into a larger, unfinished-feeling space. It is not Spider-Man 2's city. It is more geography than Insomniac's campaign usually lets you touch.
A Blizzard PR Whisper Just Confirmed Diablo 5 for PC
At a BlizzCon 2026 press conference, Diablo 5 still had no platform slide. Game director Joe Shely said they had nothing to announce. Then a comms staffer whispered "PC version."
An EU Kids Ban Would Hit Games, Not Just Social Apps
The EU KIDS Act would put strict new rules on social media, video sharing, gaming, and other online services. Epic's Tim Sweeney says a ban for under-13s would be terrible for the next generation.
Cregger's Resident Evil Finale Is Built to Demand a Sequel
Zach Cregger's Resident Evil sprints for most of its runtime, then lands on a transformation, a last-second cure, and a National Guard run at Raccoon City. The ending is the argument.
Edge of the Abyss Starts Filling Andor's Offscreen Gaps
The latest Reign of the Empire novel fills Andor's leftovers: Aldhani, and whether Leida Mothma and Leia were ever friends. Television did the prestige. The book does the stitching.