Title: After Unprecedented Leak, The New Avatar Movie Looks Great In First Official Trailer Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:34:37 +0000 Link: https://kotaku.com/avatar-aang-last-airbender-movie-trailer-date-paramount-2000713384 The animated sequel is finally debuting on Paramount+, even though many people have already seen it

Title: 2014’s Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth Is More Popular Than Ever And Setting New Records On Steam Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:17:30 +0000 Link: https://kotaku.com/2014s-binding-of-isaac-is-more-popular-than-ever-and-setting-new-records-on-steam-2000713366 The remake of the original 2011 indie hit is blowing up on steam with over 150,000 active players

Title: Hands-On With The Blood Of Dawnwalker, Which Might Be The First ‘Witcher-Like,’ And Has One Killer Twist Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:00:41 +0000 Link: https://kotaku.com/blood-dawnwalker-rpg-witcher-vampire-combat-impressions-2000713351 For Honor-style combat meets Witcher-style storytelling

Title: A Great Way To Experience Persona 4 Is Free For A Limited Time Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 15:32:51 +0000 Link: https://kotaku.com/persona-4-animation-anime-golden-youtube-streaming-dub-sub-2000713367 The game is great, but so is its anime adaptation

Title: RPG That Earned Over A Million Dollars On Kickstarter In 2013 Provides First Update In Seven Years: ‘Aiming To Finish Production At The End Of 2031’ Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 15:00:12 +0000 Link: https://kotaku.com/rpg-that-earned-over-a-million-dollars-on-kickstarter-in-2013-provides-first-update-in-seven-years-aiming-to-finish-production-at-the-end-of-2031-2000713325 The long wait for Project Phoenix continues...

Title: Monopoly Go x The Simpsons crossover is almost here Date: Tue, 02 Jun 2026 08:41:21 +0000 Link: https://www.vg247.com/monopoly-go-the-simpsons-crossover-details Monopoly Go players have been looking forward to a major crossover event for what felt like months, and though most of the details ended up leaking, nothing actually beats official information. Read more

Title: Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.3 will take us deeper into the World in Canvas and make Mortenax Blade playable Date: Fri, 22 May 2026 13:43:44 +0000 Link: https://www.vg247.com/honkai-star-rail-version-4-3-all-details HoYoverse has today delivered full details on the next major update for Honkai: Star Rail. Version 4.3, dubbed The Lethe Below the Living, will be available for all players on June 1. The upcoming update adds a new chapter to the Planarcadia arc, and introduce a new playable character. Read more

Title: Forza Horizon 6 explodes on Steam even before it's officially out Date: Fri, 15 May 2026 11:00:02 +0000 Link: https://www.vg247.com/forza-horizon-6-steam-numbers-big-launch Steam is abuzz this week with a couple of long-anticipated launches, but in Forza Horizon 6’s case, at least, the game isn’t even out for what will be most of its players. The anticipated sequel in the open-world driving game series doesn’t officially launch until May 19, but owners of its most expensive version - the Premium Edition - can play it right now. Read more

Title: Mystic Messenger's most loyal players are getting banned in droves for seemingly playing the game too much Date: Fri, 15 May 2026 10:02:10 +0000 Link: https://www.vg247.com/mystic-messenger-ban-wave-thousands-of-hourglasses-anniversary Mystic Messenger, arguably one of the best dating sims around, has been dormant for about seven years. Despite not receiving new content or any meaningful updates in all that time, the game remains popular with its core fans, many of whom just woke up to some shocking news about their accounts. Read more

Title: Forza Horizon 6 review - The driving game for everyone still can’t seem to escape its car-collecting legacy Date: Thu, 14 May 2026 12:00:03 +0000 Link: https://www.vg247.com/forza-horizon-6-review There is this idea that, for a long-running series to remain as consistently popular as Forza Horizon has been, it needs to diminish itself somewhat with each new entry, gradually losing more and more of its edge in a bid to appeal to the widest possible audience. Read more

Title: In The Blood of Dawnwalker’s Vampire Story, Death Is Not Always The End | Preview Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0000 Link: https://www.gamespot.com/videos/in-the-blood-of-dawnwalkers-vampire-story-death-is-not-always-the-end-preview/ Rebel Wolves' action-RPG balances different quest approaches and tons of consequences to create a story in which you might murder your best friend, and that's okay.

Title: In The Blood of Dawnwalker’s Vampire Story, Death Is Not Always The End Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0000 Link: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/in-the-blood-of-dawnwalkers-vampire-story-death-is-not-always-the-end/ The Blood of Dawnwalker's best feature might be that it sometimes takes choices away from you. In this story-driven action-RPG, you play a vampire, but even the most good-guy vampire ever still has an insatiable hunger for human blood. Sometimes in Dawnwalker, that hunger can get the best of you, even if you're actively trying to resist it. Whether you're talking to your best friend, working to bandage an injured comrade, or battling opponents to save your father's life, when the hunger takes hold, your actions may suddenly be out of your control. Dawnwalker is a game all about making you live with the consequences. I recently played about four hours of The Blood of Dawnwalker and what I liked most was how much developer Rebel Wolves leans into the possibility of player failure in the game. Well, "failure" isn't really the word for it. Sometimes people die whether you mean them to or not. But ultimately, that's part of the story you're building, and for Coen, your half-undead protagonist, life goes on. Take, for instance, a story quest in Dawnwalker's prologue, which sets up just how nasty things have become for Coen and his fellow humans in 14th-century Europe. As the Black Death swept through the valley where you live, a group of powerful vampires called the Vrakhiri offered a reprieve--the humans are given the vampires' healing blood in return for their total fealty.  The quest has you brewing up a potion for your ailing mother, who is so disengaged from reality that Coen and his father are struggling to get her to eat. You need her to be lucid, because tonight is the Blood Mass, when the vampires show up to exact their tithe of blood from the villagers. If your mother is out of it during the mass, the vampires will notice, and they don't leave people they perceive as weak to live for long. Were you listening to the recipe Anca gave you? Your mother's life might depend on it. So you head to the local herbalist, Anca, to get something that will help Mom keep it together long enough to get through the mass. Anca tells you to mix three spoonfuls of the powder she gives you into water that is hot but not boiling. But then Anca asks if you want to hang around for a bit so she can continue the Latin lessons you've been having with her. And then a storm hits and a tree falls on the hut she uses to dry out herbs, so you race out and help her gather the stock before they're destroyed. When you finally get back to your mother some time later, you have to mix up the concoction. Do you remember the recipe? I did, but several of the other people I spoke with at the preview did not. During my story's take on the Blood Mass, Coen's mother lived through the event. In the games played by those other folks, she drew the vampires' attention and didn't fare so well.  Consequences in Dawnwalker's story aren't just the result of moments like correctly brewing up a drug, though. They're also borne out of its brilliantly executed time mechanic, which forces you to think carefully about what actions you take, and when. You start Dawnwalker's prologue in the morning before the Blood Mass and have several in-game hours at your disposal. What you do with that time is up to you--there are side quests you can undertake all over the place. Time advances when you take on quests, not when you're running around between them, and you're told how long each task will take, so you can make decisions about what sounds important and what maybe doesn't. But crucially, you can't do everything. Completing quests often requires using Focus to find clues in the environment. One woman in the village, a seamstress, was charged by the vampires with sewing a banner to display in the church--replacing its cross--but when you find her during the prologue, she's crying out about how the banner was stolen. She entreats you to find the thief, because she fears the vampires will kill her for failing them. So you start searching for clues, using Coen's Focus ability, a sort of detective vision that highlights things in the environment, like footprints or important objects. I didn't complete this quest, and in fact, failed to do so by accident thanks to another one of Dawnwalker's smart mechanics: Time is also advanced when you level Coen up to unlock new skills and perks in the game's extensive skill tree. Most of those skills require Coen to literally read a book to learn, rather than the ideas just popping into his head as is implied by leveling trees in other games, and reading takes time. So when I opted to stop at one of the shrines scattered throughout the world and level Coen up ahead of the mass, I accidentally chose his improvement over completing the seamstress's quest. She was right about how the vampires would react. Arriving at the Blood Mass, we were greeted by her body hanging from its rafters, left there as an example to everyone else of the price of failure. As senior quest developer Patryk Fijalkowski told me, how you spend your time also affects how quests can play out, even if you don't just skip them altogether. In another prologue quest, you're tasked by a farmer with tracking down his brother, Lazar, who you'll discover has fallen into a cave. Hidden in the cave is also an undead mini-boss creature. If you wait too long to go after Lazar, instead of finding him hiding in the cave, you might discover his body, explained environment artist Adam Payet. Fail to help the seamstress and you'll see how the vampires reward her for her failure. "Even if you know what's going to happen, and you want to go underground, and you know that there's that mini-boss, and you've got a couple of skill points--do [you] risk leveling up now, [and maybe not leave] enough time for him not to die, or do [you] go under-leveled and just try to beat that undead anyway?" Payet said. "That friction is what we're aiming at," Fijalkowski added. But Dawnwalker's coolest demonstration of narrative branching and consequences came later in the prologue, after Coen undergoes his vampire transformation. It happens when a group of villagers head to a local silver mine to gather metal they can turn into weapons to mount a resistance to Vrakhiri rule; not all popular vampire lore is taken as real in Dawnwalker, but its vampires are vulnerable to both sunlight and silver. The Vrakhiri, who are supposed to be off on the other side of the valley, show up in force and kill most of the rebels, but leave several alive in the mine after infecting Coen. It's a sadistic punishment--the Vrakhiri want Coen to wake up ravenous and start murdering his friends. Through some lucky circumstances, you're saved from immediately killing all your pals, and instead fight your way out of the mine using your cool new vampire powers, which include deadly claws and enhanced speed. Combat in The Blood of Dawnwalker is pretty standard for the genre and has you blocking, parrying, and dodging incoming attacks, then striking when there's an opening. How much blocking and attacking you can do is determined by a stamina gauge that refills over time. Timing for parrying and dodging is important, with windows that give you time-slowed "perfect" versions that let you counterattack and which don't cost stamina, so it's in your best interest to develop your fighting skills just to keep your defenses up.  You can also set the game's combat to be "directional" to experience the challenge as its developers intended, which adds the caveat that you have to press the right analog stick in the direction a blow is approaching from to block it, and use the direction to dictate how you'll swing your sword to try to find openings in an opponent's defense. Once you get the hang of it, The Blood of Dawnwalker's directional combat system is intuitive, but fights are still tough, especially early on, since enemies hit pretty hard. In vampire form, Coen can heal himself by drinking blood, and you can do that with a special attack that has him quickly appear behind an opponent and sink his teeth into their neck. But the ability has a fairly long cooldown, so you can't rely on it to survive. After you escape the mine, you can pursue the other vampires back to town, or you can divert to a burning building up on a hill, where Vladimir, Coen's best friend and the leader of the rebels, fled in the confusion. The Vrakhiri's soldiers have him trapped there, and if you kill them, Coen will try to convince his friend that it's safe to come out, in spite of Coen's vampire transformation. After a few dialogue choices, I managed to talk Vladimir out of the burning building, but the battle with the two tough soldiers--one of whom had been, effectively, a mini-boss--had left me desperately weak. Crucially, Coen's health bar is also his hunger level, and that bar is split into two main chunks. If your health is over the middle line that separates them, your hunger is under control. If it's under it, Coen starts to struggle. Once Coen is transformed into a vampire, his hunger can influence him in conversations. In conversations in which you're hungry, a new option appears when you have choices: "Give in to the hunger." And the hungrier you are, the more the other choices on the menu move and flicker, sometimes disappearing or switching positions with each other. "Give in to the hunger" might suddenly flash from the third position on the list to the first, catching you off-guard when you're trying to choose something else. But if you're hungry enough, the choice can disappear altogether, and I had only barely won the battle with the soldiers. I never had a chance to mess up picking a response to Vladimir after I talked him out of the burning building. The hunger overtook Coen and he attacked and bit the man, murdering him, before I could do anything about it. Whoops. It was a great moment, where my fighting ability conspired with my vampire nature to change the outcome of a story beat. Fijalkowski and Payet told me that this moment was somewhat atypical, though--the developers don't want to routinely punish players for being bad at combat by making them rage out in conversations. So you won't be regularly thrown into conversations right after a fight, and instead will have the ability to initiate conversations yourself, which gives you time to maybe hunt around the area for a few small animals you can drain to sate your bloodlust. But managing your hunger is still important, and it's something you'll need to keep an eye on, lest you find yourself losing control. All in all, it seems like a lot of people can die in The Blood of Dawnwalker as a result of choices you make, actions you take, and unforeseen consequences. The last two hours or so that I played took place after the somewhat more linear prologue, opening up into Dawnwalker's open world, where you're free to explore and address problems as you like. Your main goal is to rescue Coen's family from the castle where the Vrakhiri are keeping them, but you only have 30 in-game days to do so. The general idea is to use the time to gather allies who can help Coen in that final assault. You'll need to figure out how to deal with each of the Vrakhiri lieutenants. Dawnwalker maintains its narrative freedom by working on a framework that's reminiscent of Shadow of Mordor. In that game, the story had you working to take down a number of lieutenants in order to weaken and draw out tougher Mordor leaders, and all those parts worked more or less independently of one another. The same looks to be true here, both in that you can take part in quests and activities that will anger members of the Vrakhiri and draw them out, and that the story is made up of a series of smaller, discrete goals and chunks.  This is how The Blood of Dawnwalker allows you to get so many people killed, whether on purpose or by accident. Your goal is to get to the Vrakhiri castle and save your family, but how you end up there, and with whom, is pretty open-ended. If you "fail" a quest or "accidentally" eat your best friend, it might affect how you go about attacking the castle, but it doesn't change the fact that you eventually will. If you eat the wrong guy and it closes off your ability to complete a quest, you just move on to the next one--or maybe to another approach to that quest. "When you have this sort of approach, it's kind of freeing that you can kill everybody, because at the end of the day they are not permanently needed for you to experience the story," Fijalkowski said. "You experience a different kind of story, but it will still be coherent and whole." You might talk your way through a situation during the day, or murder your way through it at night. Fijalkowski and Payet explained that a lot of quests can be pretty malleable, and how you approach them changes depending on when you approach them. Coen isn't just a normal vampire--thanks to some supernatural shenanigans, he reverts to his human form during the day, and only becomes a vampire at night. That gives you options for how you take on problems. As a vampire, you might infiltrate a stronghold by using your powers to climb a wall or teleport to a window, but you'll be attacked on-sight. As a human, you can talk your way in, convince people to help, lie or use guile to get what you want, or help people to get them on your side. Functionally, the human/vampire dichotomy means that the Dawnwalker experience balances a lot of different elements. Human Coen fights with a sword (although you can pull your sword as a vampire) and unlocks a different set of abilities to use in battle. You also can't heal by drinking blood during the day, which means you have to rely on items like food if you get into trouble. The combat system is largely the same when it comes to parries, dodges, and strikes, but feels a little different depending on what weapons and abilities you're wielding. But more interestingly, the balance of human and vampire means that, just because a quest went badly for Vampire Coen, that doesn't mean Human Coen can't pick up the pieces--or vice-versa. Some actions and deaths will lock out pathways and quests, but not all the time; Fijalkowski said the developers don't want players to necessarily feel punished for their choices. So while you might kill someone who was important to a certain quest, there are often other paths you can discover that might let you complete it. Managing time is a big part of the Dawnwalker experience--you'll need to pay attention to how long quests take, and think about when you want to undertake them. All in all, The Blood of Dawnwalker seems like it offers a ridiculous amount of flexibility in how you can play it and how its story can shake out. Once you have access to both human and vampire forms, quests have lots of different ways they can go.  More than anything, my The Blood of Dawnwalker experience was one of consequences, both foreseen and unforeseen. From which quests to pursue, to when to level up, to whether you're at risk of eating someone important, it's a game that's constantly giving you choices to make, and in the moment, a lot of them feel like they might be life-and-death. The Blood of Dawnwalker releases on September 2 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Title: Next Minecraft Update Release Date – 26.3 Contents Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2025 15:31:00 +0000 Link: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/next-minecraft-update-release-date/1100-6530316/ Mojang's sandbox game pivoted from one large update to four smaller drops per year over two years ago now. With the second game drop of 2026, Chaos Cubed, Minecraft got new blocks, a new area, and more. The next Minecraft update will add a new biome, but details are limited right now since Chaos Cubed only released in mid-June. We'll cover all of the new Minecraft features, including the next Minecraft update release date and what it includes. We've also got the dates of all of the recent Minecraft updates. In This Article Next Minecraft release date estimateNew Minecraft update featuresDappled ForestPoplar TreesAbandoned CampsiteWool BlocksCushionsStraw bedsPrevious Minecraft updates Next Minecraft release date estimate The next Minecraft update could be released around September 29, 2026. Mojang has promised four updates a year, and since Chaos Cubed was released on June 16, the release date falls in line with the update cadence. Alongside this, we're beginning to notice a pattern of the release dates falling one day prior to the same date they were last year. As this quarterly update process continues to play out, we'll see whether this remains true. For players using the game's Snapshots feature, where you can try out new additions in beta form, you will be able to get up close and personal with the new Minecraft drop's contents ahead of time. Thanks to a recent video put out by the Minecraft team we can let you know what won't be included. "We try to avoid bringing in pop culture references," commented X, "Like hot dogs or pirates!" added X. "However, we could do Villagers that live on the sea, so it's about finding that balance to ensure that the Minecraft world is its own unique place." Having said that, in a recent interview with product manager Anna Lundgren, she told us "nothing is off the table" for future releases. Mojang also said, "When it's time for us to start work on a new update we start to brainstorm ideas and we look at community feedback. Someone says a joke and we're like, 'That's so fun.' For example, when we worked on Village and Pillage, we added a lily of the valley, and it's really poisonous in the real world. We wanted to educate players about that. One of the developers overheard our discussion and popped up like, 'What about adding a suspicious stew?'" New Minecraft update features We got our first look at the contents for the next Minecraft update, which doesn't have a name yet, during Minecraft Live. As the season turns to fall, there's a new forest biome to explore, and structures within that biome that could prove pretty fruitful. There's also a new wood type for all of your construction needs. The Dappled Forest. Dappled Forest The Dappled Forest is a new biome in Minecraft. The colorful forest was first shown during the Twitchcon edition of Minecraft Live in May 2026. The forest is home to several structures and even a new wood type, detailed below. You'll find red shrubs, fallen logs, and mushrooms decorating the area. The Dappled Forest red shrubs are unique, since they're not colored based on the biome they're in--so you can take them from the Dappled Forest to any other biome and they'll stay red. Poplar Tree wood. Poplar Trees Poplar trees are brand new to Minecraft, because at this point which trees have they not got in there? They have a grayish tinge to them, which Mojang says matches well with stone and pale oak for your builds. An Abandoned Campsite Abandoned Campsite These new structures can be found in the Dappled Forest, and usually consist of a chest, a fire, and a covered area. It's not been detailed exactly what you might find in those chests, but we're hoping it could be some valuable starter items and materials, such as armor, iron, or even diamond. Wool Blocks There are going to be wool stairs and wool planks, which players have been asking for since we can remember. These new blocks can be used in building and, much like the normal wool block, can be dyed any color. Sitting on any surface you like is now possible. Cushions The cushion can be placed in the world and interacted with, so you can sit down on it. It'll be available in 16 different colors, and is crafted using three wool slabs of the same color. You can place it on any flat surface, but they'll break if the block beneath it is removed. They can overlap with other objects, so you can place them on chairs made of slabs, or other items, to finally make it look like you're sitting at a table. Straw beds Straw beds can use used to sleep through the night without resetting your spawn point--perfect for those long adventures where you want to avoid mobs, but also want the option of following a compass to your home base at the end of it. It can only be used once, and will be destroyed afterward, so you'll need to make a few if you're going on a truly epic mission. You can't use them in the Nether or The End, though. You can use three hay bales to make four straw beds--and there's even a new statistic to show your total time spent sleeping in one. Previous Minecraft updates Here are the previous Minecraft updates and their release dates: Chaos Cubed - June 16, 2026 Tiny Takeover - March 24, 2026 Mounts of Mayhem - December 9, 2025 The Copper Age - September 30, 2025 Chase the Skies - June 17, 2025 Spring to Life - March 25, 2025 29 Games Like Minecraft To Play In 2025 View Images

Title: The Barbarian Limited Edition 4K Steelbook Is Available To Preorder Now Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 15:35:39 +0000 Link: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-barbarian-limited-edition-4k-steelbook-is-available-to-preorder-now/ Barbarian 4K Steelbook $45 | Releases August 11 Preorder at Amazon Preorder at Walmart Zach Cregger's Barbarian has been available to watch for a couple years, having released in Fall 2022. But for fans of physical media, it's finally coming to 4K Blu-ray for the first time. You can preorder the Barbarian Limited Edition 4K Steelbook from Amazon or Walmart before it drops August 11. It comes with a nice selection of bonus features to get insight into the horror comedy's process, including director commentary and some deleted scenes. Barbarian 4K Steelbook $45 | Releases August 11 Barbarian 4K Steelbook Preorders. The Limited Edition Steelbook features the now-iconic monster and unassuming house on its cover, with the rest of the cast and production information on the reverse. When you crack open the case, you're met with an eerie silhouette of the Mother's hand and protagonist Tess (Georgina Campbell). The two-disc set includes the film on regular Blu-ray and on 4K Blu-ray, with both versions supporting Dolby Vision and Dolby Audio. The bonus features you'll get access to are: Behind Barbarian Audio Commentary by Zach Cregger and Roy Lee Deleted Scenes Preorder at Amazon Preorder at Walmart Barbarian is director Cregger's first foray into horror and helped paved the way for his Oscar-winning next film Weapons and his take on the world of Resident Evil, releasing in theaters September 18. It follows Tess, who travels to Detroit for a crucial job interview. She arrives late to her Airbnb, unable to see just how rundown the street she's booked on truly is, to find that the house has been double-booked with Keith (Bill Skarsgård). But things aren't always as they seem, and Tess is thrust into a life-or death situation rife with scares, laughs, and moments you won't see coming. More Deals And Preorders Get Discounts On 300+ Items During Minecraft Marketplace’s Summer Sale Get Games For Less Than $10 During Green Man Gaming’s Summer Sale The Criterion Collection 40-Film Set Is Down To 50% Off Save Up To 80% Off Digital Games In Fanatical’s Red Hot Sale Save Up To 95% Off Thousands Of Games In The GOG Summer Sale

Title: Phasmophobia Twitch Drops: How to Earn In-Game Rewards Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 15:32:42 +0000 Link: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/phasmophobia-twitch-drops-how-to-earn-in-game-rewards/ Phasmophobia Twitch Drops are a great way to earn special in-game rewards that you can't obtain simply by playing. By linking your Twitch account with your Phasmophobia account and watching Kinetic Games partner streams for a set amount of time, you can unlock special ID cards and badges, with Kinetic promising future updates will offer cosmetics and other in-game items, too. However, these Twitch Drops aren’t available all the time. Instead, Kinetic Games launches limited-time Twitch Drop campaigns through which you can earn these rewards. These typically occur around the release of map reworks and events, with the last drop coinciding with the Alan Wake crossover event in May 2026 and requiring players to watch two hours of Twitch partner streams to claim The Seer ID card and badge. Below, we break down how to connect your Phasmophobia account to your Twitch account, how to claim Twitch Drops once you have, and when we expect the next to take place. How to link Phasmophobia to your Twitch account Select 'Connect' to get your Twitch code. To claim Phasmophobia Twitch Drop rewards, you first need to link your Phasmophobia account to your Twitch account. To do this, follow the steps below: Launch Phasmophobia and select the ‘Twitch Drops’ button from the main menu (next to ‘Training’). Select ‘Connect’ from the Twitch Drops pop-up menu. A code will then appear: make a note of it or copy it. Next, go to Twitch’s ‘Activate Your Device’ page in your browser. Enter the code and select ‘Activate’. Select ‘Authorize’ on the next page to approve the link. Return to Phasmophobia, and you should now see a text that reads ‘Connection Good!’ rather than the ‘Connect’ button. If the 'Twitch Drops' button on the main menu has a red exclamation mark next to it, you've either not connected your accounts yet or there's an issue with the connection. We've found this also happens when there are no active Twitch Drop campaigns, so you may need to link (or relink) when a new one starts.  How to claim Phasmophobia Twitch Drops Watching streamers is a great way to learn new tips. If a Phasmophobia Twitch Drop campaign is active and your accounts are successfully linked, you now need to watch an eligible stream. Phasmophobia Twitch Drops are available from official Kinetic Games Twitch streams, streams by streamers in the official Kinetic Games Partner Program, and creators streaming Phasmophobia who have signed up to partake in the campaign. We’ve found that watching official partner streams is the best way to secure these rewards, as these streamers get first access to Twitch Drop campaigns and you know they’re definitely above board. Phasmophobia Twitch Drops will be announced by Kinetic Games via their official channels and typically run for about a week, with the developer revealing the in-game rewards up for grabs and the requirements to claim those rewards. Usually, players need to watch two hours of a Phasmophobia Twitch Drop stream to be granted their special goodies. So, when a campaign goes live, head over to an official streaming partner's stream on Twitch and watch it for the designated amount of time. Just make sure you’re signed into Twitch so your watching time can be tracked properly. Watching these streams is a great way to pick up some new Phasmophobia tips and tricks, but if you’ve not got the time, you can always leave the stream running on your phone on mute. Rewards should appear in your game within a few days. However, some can take longer. For example, from August 7 to August 9 2025, there was a campaign ahead of the release of the Grafton Farmhouse rework on August 12, but players weren’t actually granted the drop until the map went live publicly on August 12. When is the next Phasmophobia Twitch Drop? A Phasmophobia Twitch Drops campaign will coincide with the launch of the Willow Street rework. While Kinetic Games hasn’t confirmed when the next Twitch Drop campaign for Phasmophobia will be, we’re expecting one to take place towards the end of July 2026. Historically, the developer has run campaigns to celebrate the release of map reworks--this was the case for Tanglewood and Grafton Farmhouse. With the Willow Street rework arriving on July 21, alongside a major quality-of-life update, we expect Kinetic Games to launch a limited-time, partners-exclusive Twitch Drop campaign a few days ahead of the rework’s release--lasting maybe three days--to give players a sneak peek at the new map, before rolling out a standard campaign to all Twitch streamers on July 21, which will likely last around two weeks. If the format is similar to Grafton’s Twitch Drop campaign, the partner-exclusive campaign will likely require players to watch one hour of streams, with the rewards given when the map goes live, while the standard campaign will require two hours of view time before they are eligible for in-game rewards.

Title: Xbox Game Pass loses Dungeons of Hinterberg and 9 other games this month Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:32:19 GMT Link: https://www.polygon.com/xbox-game-pass-leaving-july-2026-dungeons-of-hinterberg/ Xbox announced its "most significant restructure" in its history on Monday as 3,200 employees will be laid off by July 2027. In the same memo announcing the layoffs, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said Xbox Game Pass "did not grow at the pace we expected." A new report stated Game Pass' subscriber count was currently at 30 million — less than the 34 million reported in February 2024, and well short of the 77 million subscribers Xbox had projected to reach by July 2026.

Title: Rise of the Lazy Gamemaster is the new essential D&D book you need in your collection Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:30:20 GMT Link: https://www.polygon.com/lazy-dungeon-master-sly-flourish-new-book-kickstarter/ If you were to ask a group of tabletop role-playing game enthusiasts the most important quality of a good Game Master, few would answer “laziness.” However, that’s exactly what Michael E. Shea has built his TTRPG career on. Mike is the creator of the Sly Flourish website, an invaluable resource for GMs, and the author of a dozen RPG books, including the Lazy Dungeon Master series. He’s also a member of the D&D Community Advisory Group established by Wizards of the Coast in June of this year.

Title: Dustpile is a Steam dating app that will help clear your backlog Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:28:37 GMT Link: https://www.polygon.com/steam-dating-app-dustpile-backlog/ We all have a gaming backlog. Games that we started then fell off for one reason or another, those we bought on sale, promising that we'd play them as soon as possible. Those games that have sat in our library, taunting us because despite knowing they're good, we lack the motivation to begin.

Title: Overwatch is no longer Steam's worst-reviewed game Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:28:30 GMT Link: https://www.polygon.com/overwatch-mixed-steam-review-score-blizzard/ Overwatch crossed a major milestone this week: Blizzard's hero shooter has gone from "Mostly Negative" (39% or fewer positive reviews) on Steam to "Mixed," based on user reviews. Cue the confetti and dance emotes.

Title: What time does Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced release in your time zone? Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:10:55 GMT Link: https://www.polygon.com/assassins-creed-black-flag-resynced-release-times-edt-pdt-preload-preorder/ The Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced release times are just around the corner, and if you want to get a head start on the download, preloads are live, too. Ubisoft's reimagining of Assassin's Creed 4 has a staggered rollout, and the specific time depends on the platform where you're playing.

Title: Joyride Through July With 12 Games Coming to GeForce NOW Date: Thu, 02 Jul 2026 13:00:23 +0000 Link: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/geforce-now-thursday-july-2026-games-list/ Summer is heating up — and GeForce NOW is taking players along for the ride. Start the month with Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains, bringing a galaxy far, far away to the iconic board-game franchise, alongside 12 new games joining the cloud this month.  Plus, don’t let the sun set on the biggest GeForce NOW savings of the year. Level up for less before the deals disappear. Light Side, Dark Side, Cloud Side  The Force is strong with this one. Rule the board, you must. Choose a side in Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains, the classic property-trading board game reimagined with legendary characters, locations and rivalries from across the Star Wars universe. Play as iconic heroes or infamous villains — each with unique abilities — to assemble a team and experience cinematic moments while competing with family and friends across locations from every era of the saga. Every roll of the dice brings new opportunities to build an empire and claim victory. GeForce NOW makes it easy to take the battle between the light and dark sides across nearly any device. Jump into a match on a low-powered PC, Mac, phone, TV, tablet or handheld device and keep the fun going across the galaxy. Check out what’s available this week: Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains (New release on Steam and Ubisoft, available June 30) Meccha Chameleon (Steam) And look forward to the games coming throughout the month: Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced (New release on Steam and Ubisoft Connect, available July 9) Denshattack! (New release on Steam and Xbox, available on Game Pass July 15) The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu (New release on Steam, available July 15) Heave Ho 2 (New release on Steam, available July 16) Fogpiercer (New release on Steam and Xbox, available on Game Pass July 17) ZeroSpace (New release on Steam, available July 20) The Planet Crafter (New release on Xbox, Available on Game Pass July 21) Carnival Hunt (New release on Steam, available July 23) The Ranchers (New release on Steam, available July 30) Corsair Cove (New release on Steam and Xbox, available on Game Pass July 31) Juicy Extras From June In addition to the 18 games announced last month, 10 more came to the cloud.  Deer & Boy (Steam) DOOM Eternal (Epic Games Store) Embers of the Uncrowned Demo (Steam) EMPULSE (Steam) The Elder Scrolls Online (Xbox, available on Game Pass) NBA THE RUN (Steam) SAND: Raiders of Sophie (Steam) Voidling Bound (Steam) Witchspire (Steam) World of Tanks: HEAT (Wargaming) Last Call for Cloud Summer Savings The clock is ticking. Get gaming at the best price of the year. The final days of the GeForce NOW Summer Sale are here. Before the savings disappear, gamers can save $35 on a 12-month Performance membership or $70 on a 12-month Ultimate membership — unlocking GeForce RTX-powered gaming in the cloud across devices they already own. The Performance membership delivers smooth, high-quality gaming with RTX-powered servers, making it easy to jump into favorite titles across PCs, Macs, phones, handhelds and TVs. The Ultimate membership takes cloud gaming to the max with RTX 4080‑ or 5080‑class performance. Experience cinematic visuals, ultralow latency and responsive gameplay powered by technologies like NVIDIA DLSS, ray tracing and NVIDIA Reflex — all without the cost of a new gaming rig. Hear directly from the GeForce NOW Community. One GeForce NOW member recently called the Summer Sale “quite significant” after realizing the savings were even larger than expected in their local currency. By locking in a year of Ultimate, they calculated their monthly cost dropped from roughly 29 CAD to 17 CAD – showcasing how GeForce NOW continues to help gamers around the world enjoy the games they love, wherever they choose to play. Plus, check out this spreadsheet, made by a community member, featuring discounted games streaming on GeForce NOW  and build out a bigger library at the best bargains during the Steam Summer Sale. What are you planning to play this weekend? Let us know on X or in the comments below.

Title: The Ultimate Summer Sale Pairing: Steam Sale Meets GeForce NOW Discounts Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2026 13:00:34 +0000 Link: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/geforce-now-thursday-steam-summer-sale-2026/ Summer savings are heating up. From the Steam Summer Sale to GeForce NOW membership discounts, this week’s GFN Thursday delivers double the deals and more ways to get the most value from cloud gaming. Plus, Dark Scrolls joins the growing Devolver lineup, alongside Square Enix’s The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales. They lead the charge for six new games joining the GeForce NOW library this week. Steam Dreams Are Made of These Add to cart, not to storage. The Steam Summer Sale is here, bringing discounts across thousands of PC games as one of the year’s biggest opportunities to grow a gaming library. Supported Steam games can be streamed across devices with GeForce NOW, making it easy to buy a game once, keep progress synced and pick up where the gameplay left off on PCs, Macs, handheld devices, phones, TVs and more. In other words, the Steam Summer Sale brings the deals; GeForce NOW adds the flexibility.  As new titles expand collections, storage demands and hardware requirements expand with them. GeForce NOW helps remove those barriers by streaming supported games from powerful GeForce RTX servers in the cloud, allowing members to enjoy today’s biggest games on devices they already own. Since downloads and installs are handled in the cloud, games can be added to the cart without being added to storage. Check out the “Sales & Special Offers” row in the GeForce NOW app to discover the discounts today. The Ultimate Upgrade to Level Up for Less The upgrade every game deserves. The deals don’t stop there. Pair GeForce NOW’s summer sale with the Steam Summer Sale to spend less time waiting on downloads, managing storage or needing pricey hardware upgrades — and more time gaming. Get $70 off a 12-month Ultimate membership or $35 off a 12-month Performance membership and experience GeForce RTX-powered gaming in the cloud across devices. The Ultimate membership unlocks GeForce RTX 4080- and 5080-class performance in the cloud with up to 4K resolution, up to 120 frames per second (fps) and advanced technologies like NVIDIA DLSS, ray tracing and NVIDIA Reflex. Dig Into Devolver Written in chaos. Dark Scrolls, the kinetic action roguelite from Devolver Digital, arrives on GeForce NOW with its blend of fast combat, evolving builds and unapologetic chaos. Set in a warped fantasy world that doesn’t take itself too seriously, players battle through shifting arenas packed with enemies, hazards and power-ups that can turn a run from fragile to unstoppable in seconds. Stack abilities, experiment with wild combinations and adapt on the fly as the game constantly raises the stakes — rewarding bold play as much as careful movement. On GeForce NOW, Dark Scrolls is ready the moment players are, streaming across devices with no downloads or setup required. It joins a growing lineup of Devolver Digital titles on the service — Cult of the Lamb, Hotline Miami, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, Inscryption, Enter the Gungeon and Ball x Pit — each delivering that distinct mix of style, surprise and controlled chaos, and just a click away with GeForce NOW. A Storybook Across Centuries The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales arrives on GeForce NOW, delivering a charming, narrative-driven adventure filled with mystery and discovery. With a hand-crafted world and a focus on exploration, it blends classic adventure gameplay with modern, character-driven storytelling. Follow Elliot — a curious traveler bound to a mysterious Millennium Core — as he’s pulled across eras in a journey that spans neon skylines, forgotten ruins and quiet villages on the edge of legend. Each era has its own rules and rhythms, with Elliot’s reactions and scribbled journal notes giving the story a warm, personal touch. Stream the cinematic-quality visuals and responsive gameplay with GeForce RTX power in the cloud for Ultimate members. Experience Elliot’s time-twisting journey in sharp detail across supported devices — no high-end rig, patches or paradox prep required. Just jump in and pick up from wherever the last chapter left off. In addition, members can look for the following: Dark Scrolls (New release on Steam, available June 22) SAND: Raiders of Sophie (New release on Steam, available June 22) Deer & Boy (New release on Steam, available June 23) EMPULSE (New release on Steam, available June 24) The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales (Steam) FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves (Steam) Leaving the last word to the Community Corner, one GeForce NOW member recently shared being “so impressed” by GeForce NOW. They gave the service a spin because of affordable pricing and took a lower-end PC from 20-30 fps on low settings to 60+ fps with settings maxed out — really putting the WoW in their World of Warcraft.  What are you planning to play this weekend? Maybe even more importantly, what device are you planning to play on? Let us know on X or in the comments below.

Title: Sync and Stream: GeForce NOW Connects to Members’ Game Libraries Across Devices Date: Thu, 18 Jun 2026 13:00:32 +0000 Link: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/geforce-now-thursday-game-stores/ Play favorite titles from popular game libraries, keep progress synced and jump back into gaming sessions on virtually any device. That’s the power of GeForce NOW cloud gaming. From providing access to members’ favorite game libraries to offering some of the season’s best membership pricing, GeForce NOW is making it easier than ever to get more from the cloud this summer. Plus, check out the seven new games arriving in the GeForce NOW library this week. Hit Play Across Top Game Stores That’s a whole lotta ways to play. Whether it’s blockbuster franchises, competitive shooters, sprawling role-playing games (RPGs) or indie gems, GeForce NOW supports thousands of games from leading PC game stores, making it easy to bring existing game libraries to the cloud. Connect supported game store accounts and stream titles with GeForce RTX power. Games that include cloud-save functionality help keep progress intact across devices. Start a game on one screen, pick up where playtime left off on another and spend less time managing installs and storage space. Jump into fan favorites like Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt streaming through GOG. These sci-fi and fantasy favorites support cloud saves, making it easy to continue where play left off. GOG single sign-on and game library syncing — coming this summer — will make that process even smoother. Explore ancient mysteries in the Assassin’s Creed franchise or team up for tactical action in Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege through Ubisoft+, delivering iconic worlds and competitive experiences to the cloud.  Whether joining massive, all-in combat in Battlefield 6 or shaping the fate of Thedas with compelling companions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the EA app offers action-packed experiences and beloved RPGs. Find them in the GeForce NOW app by simply searching and filtering by store. Choose the Screen, Keep the Adventure Gaming doesn’t always happen at a desk — community members are sharing how GeForce NOW lets them play across their favorite devices. GeForce NOW Ambassador and cloud gaming creator Anytime Anywhere Gaming recently showcased Dead as Disco — a PC title without a native mobile version — running on an iPhone through the cloud. As he put it: “One of the coolest benefits of GeForce NOW is I can take the same copy of the game I own on Steam and carry it to my iPhone … it’s super awesome being able to play a game on a multitude of devices without having to buy it again.” That flexibility extends beyond mobile. One GeForce NOW member on Reddit shared being “blown away” by the experience of playing on Mac through the cloud, highlighting how GeForce RTX-powered gaming can be enjoyed across devices, no upgrades required. Whether via phone on the go, on a MacBook between work meetings or on a TV in the living room, GeForce NOW helps make PC gaming accessible across nearly every screen. Upgrade and Unlock More This Summer Summer lovin’, havin’ a sale. For a limited time, annual memberships are available at the best prices of the year: $35 off a 12-month Performance membership $70 off a 12-month Ultimate membership Performance memberships deliver high-quality cloud gaming across devices, while Ultimate unlocks GeForce RTX 5080-class performance in the cloud with up to 5K resolution, up to 120 frames per second and advanced technologies like NVIDIA DLSS, ray tracing and NVIDIA Reflex. Pair these special prices with thousands of supported games across top PC game stores. Plus, with GeForce NOW, spend less time downloading, upgrading hardware and managing storage — and more time gaming. New on the Cloud  In addition, members can look for the following: Embers of the Uncrowned Demo (New release on Steam, available June 13) Pro Cycling Manager 26 (New release on Steam, available June 15) Aphelion (Steam) Citizen Sleeper (Epic Game Store, free from June 18-25) Megastore Simulator (Steam) OPERATOR (Steam) Super Meat Boy 3D (Xbox, available on Game Pass) What are you planning to play this weekend? Let us know on X or in the comments below.

Title: Save Big and Play Bigger: GeForce NOW Summer Sale Brings Major Membership Savings Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2026 13:00:17 +0000 Link: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/geforce-now-thursday-summer-sale-2026/ The GeForce NOW summer sale kicked off today with limited-time savings of up to $70 off a 12-month membership, making now the perfect time to upgrade to get the best of the cloud and see just how far Ultimate gaming can go. PC gamers are driven by one thing: the love of the game. But getting there can be complicated — setups take space, hardware takes planning and downloads take time. GeForce NOW removes the barriers and delivers instant access to games, high-performance GeForce RTX power in the cloud and the ability to play across nearly any device — all with one membership. Regular upgrades and new features continue to expand the experience, building the value of that membership over time.  Plus, GeForce NOW is always delivering new games — including epic adventures across Tyria. Guild Wars 3 is coming to GeForce NOW, bringing its next-generation massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) experience to the cloud at launch. While awaiting its arrival, the journey begins today with Guild Wars 2 and Guild Wars Reforged, along with limited-time exclusive rewards. Instantly Elevate Every Device PC gaming demands more from players than ever. Bigger game files and more frequent updates can turn the urge to play into a long list of to-dos. GeForce NOW streamlines that experience. Installs, patches and updates are handled in the cloud, so games are ready to launch in just a click. Time that would’ve been spent waiting on progress bars can go back into playtime, making it easier to fit gaming into quick breaks on busy days. High-performance NVIDIA GPUs in the cloud means access to always-ready GeForce RTX performance without having to purchase new hardware. Members can tap into powerful servers that meet rising game requirements and keep pace with today’s games. And memberships continue to improve with platform upgrades — like the free Ultimate upgrade to the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture — extending their value, as well as the life of gamers’ devices, over time. All of the gaming. Laptops, phones, tablets and TVs — devices most gamers have at home and already use for school, work and everyday life — can all act as gaming screens. Streaming means not having to worry about hard drive space for installs and updates, or needing the latest devices.  Level up playing on Linux. These benefits are reinforced by continuous quality-of-life improvements like smoother sign-ins, new platforms — like Linux and Amazon Fire TV — and refinements that make it faster and easier to get into a gaming session. Together, these benefits make GeForce NOW the easiest way to enjoy PC gaming both instantly and over time, while keeping the focus on what matters most to gamers: getting into the game. The Biggest Gaming Upgrade, the Best Price of the Year Sale-ing into summer with huge savings. For a limited time this summer, GeForce NOW memberships are available at some of the year’s best pricing — with major savings on 12-month memberships: $35 off a 12-month Performance membership $70 off a 12-month Ultimate membership The Performance membership delivers smooth, high-quality cloud gaming across devices, with streaming up to 1080p at 60 frames per second (fps) and access to RTX-powered servers for supported games. The Ultimate membership steps things up with RTX 4080‑ or 5080‑class performance in the cloud, supporting up to 4K and beyond on ultrawide displays, up to 120 fps, and advanced features like ray tracing, NVIDIA DLSS and NVIDIA Reflex for a more responsive, visually rich experience. These limited-time discounts won’t last long — beat the heat and jump into GeForce NOW.  A New Legend Rises One of the best things about the cloud is that every week, new games become available to stream — including new AAA games at launch and the latest content and rewards.  The land of Orr awaits. Guild Wars 3 marks the next adventure in Tyria — an action-adventure MMORPG where fluid combat, deep character building and a living world of magic and mystery shape every journey. Alliances are forged, spirits awaken and every step forward leaves a lasting mark on an untamed frontier. Be among the first to raise the banner. Gamers can add Guild Wars 3 to their wishlist today and stay up to date on every reveal as it marches toward launch. While the next chapter in Tyria prepares to unfold, its legacy is ready to be played today. Return to adventure in Guild Wars 2 and Guild Wars Reforged, and unlock exclusive in-game rewards for a limited time — available for GeForce NOW Premium members today through Saturday, July 11, and free to all members beginning Friday, June 12. Be on the lookout for an email with codes to redeem.  In Guild Wars 2, the “Masterpiece Emote Tome” turns every victory into a moment of flair — a chef’s kiss to triumph. Start playing by applying the code through an ArenaNet account or during account creation, then log in to access the emote. In Guild Wars Reforged, the “Vision of Lyssa” costume brings elegance and illusion to life and includes an account upgrade. Inspired by the twin goddess, this striking ensemble can be worn over any armor. Redeem by adding the code in game, then visit a Costume Maker NPC to claim the reward. But Wait, There’s More Duet Night Abyss from Hero Games makes a splash on GeForce NOW, plunging players into a submerged world where survival is shared. Control a synchronized duo tethered by fragile oxygen lines, navigate glowing reefs, drowned ruins and shadowy chasms where every move demands trust and timing. The game’s moody visuals and tense, cooperative focus give each dive the feel of a playable deep-sea thriller. GeForce NOW is kicking off a new Community Corner for the summer, spotlighting stories and creations from members across the globe. This week, a community story takes the spotlight as a Linux gamer on Reddit shares how GFN has helped them with accessibility gaming, saving storage space on massive titles and minimizing upgrades. In addition, members can look for the following: NBA THE RUN (New release on Steam, available on June 9) Witchspire (New release on Steam, available on June 10) SpaceCraft (New release on Steam, available on June 11) Duet Night Abyss (Launcher) DOOM Eternal (Epic Games Store) The Elder Scrolls Online (Xbox, available on Game Pass) Farever (Steam) World of Tanks: HEAT (Wargaming) Finally, Pro Cycling Manager 26 is now scheduled to launch on Monday, June 15, and Denshattack! is now expected to launch on Wednesday, July 15.  What are you planning to play this weekend? Let us know on X or in the comments below.

Title: NVIDIA, KRAFTON, NC and Reigning ‘League of Legends’ Champions T1 Celebrate RTX Spark at Korea’s PC Bangs Date: Sun, 07 Jun 2026 07:00:15 +0000 Link: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/krafton-nc-t1-korea-gaming-pc-bang-rtx-spark/ At GTC Taipei at COMPUTEX last week, NVIDIA unveiled RTX Spark, the superchip that reinvents Windows PCs for the era of personal AI agents. On the heels of this announcement, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang headed to South Korea, where he introduced RTX Spark to the nation’s passionate gaming community. Leading game developers — including Korea’s KRAFTON and NC — are already working to bring their titles to RTX Spark-powered systems.  Designed for local AI, creating and gaming, RTX Spark brings together 30 years of NVIDIA innovation to slim Windows laptops with all-day battery life and small, ultraefficient desktop PCs.  With the superchip, gamers can play AAA games at 1440p resolution and over 100 frames per second with NVIDIA ray tracing, DLSS and Reflex technologies. In addition, RTX Spark supports all NVIDIA RTX technologies, including the recently announced DLSS 4.5 Ray Reconstruction, which features a second-generation transformer model for realistic image quality.  RTX Spark Ignites Korea’s Gaming Community Korea has played a major role in spearheading esports and driving the boom in PC bangs, or internet and gaming cafes. With longstanding collaborations rooted in the country, NVIDIA in October celebrated 25 years of GeForce in Korea with a free festival for gamers, highlighting the rich gaming ecosystem that has been built over decades.    On Friday, Huang headed to T1 Base Camp — a PC bang owned by T1, one of Korea’s top esports teams. There, he met with T1’s reigning League of Legends World Champion team, including six-time World Champion Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok to unveil RTX Spark.  NVIDIA and Riot Games — developer of League of Legends — are collaborating to bring the title as well as VALORANT to RTX Spark, expanding gamers’ access to high-performance gaming on slim laptops.  To mark the occasion, T1 Base Camp attendees had the chance to win RTX Spark laptops, League of Legends and T1 merch signed by Huang and Faker, as well as GeForce RTX 5090 GPUs.  Surprising PC-Bang Gamers  Later, Huang headed to Seoul’s Gangnam district, where he surprised PC-bang gamers with a first look at RTX Spark with KRAFTON and NC.  At the first stop, Optimum Zone PC, Huang and KRAFTON Chairman Byung-gyu Chang showcased PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS and Subnautica 2 on RTX Spark to a captivated crowd of gamers.  Gamers then got the surprise chance to play with the unreleased PUBG Ally, a co-playable character built with NVIDIA ACE technologies on RTX Spark laptops. PUBG Ally resulted from AI research and development at KRAFTON and NVIDIA, part of an initiative to create next-generation game characters that act like teammates and enable more meaningful, immersive engagements with players. Next, Huang stopped at another PC bang, Portal PC, where he showcased NC’s CINDER CITY and AION 2 on RTX Spark, with support from Taekjin Kim, co-CEO of NC.  NC and NVIDIA began working together in the early 2000s on the Lineage franchise and have since collaborated to integrate RTX technology into many of NC’s flagship games, including Lineage 2, AION, Blade & Soul, AION 2 and CINDER CITY.  Gamers at Portal PC were given the chance to play a demo of NC’s highly anticipated open-world massively multiplayer online tactical shooter CINDER CITY on GeForce RTX-powered PCs.   CINDER CITY will support the DLSS 4.5 Dynamic Multi Frame Generation and Super Resolution features at launch. Plus, gamers will be able to experience the title on slim RTX Spark laptops and compact desktops when the game is released later this year.  In addition to KRAFTON, NC, and Riot Games, 100+ Windows software providers and game developers are embracing RTX Spark. These partners include NetEase, Remedy Entertainment and XBOX.  Learn more about RTX Spark and its launch partners.

Title: The Blood of Dawnwalker: unique time-driven quest system and player choice detailed Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:01:28 +0000 Link: https://blog.playstation.com/2026/07/07/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-unique-time-driven-quest-system-and-player-choice-detailed/ The world has gotten very small for you and your family, Coen. It was never a grand world to begin with, tied as you all were to your farm in the tiny village of Laslea, but with the arrival of the plague, your sister’s illness, and then the vampires, it has shrunk even further. When you wake up, it’s the day of the Blood Mass for Laslea. Tonight, the vampires, the vrakhiri, will arrive to collect the oblation of their livestock. Every adult in the village must attend and give of their blood to sustain their rulers, Brencis and his clique. It is known. It is normal. Shockingly, it’s becoming more normal every day as the hope of change or salvation withers among the people of Vale Sangora. Not everyone is cut out for this new normal. Your mother is barely able to hold herself upright under the weight of her fear. Your father, pulled in two directions by his family and his past, has become grim and hard. Your siblings are struggling to understand everything happening around them. And you, Coen, a young man in your prime, are stuck staring down a long future of being bled every fortnight, little hope for anything other than the life of cattle. Is it any wonder some say it’s the end of the world? And yet, the daily concerns of life must go on. Your mother is in no condition to attend the Blood Mass tonight and if she is not present, your family and maybe the entire village will suffer. The gates are guarded by Knyaz Brencis’s men – no one will be permitted to leave until the offering is extracted. Between dawn and sunset, the day is divided into 8 parts. You must use that time to find a solution. So, you wander the sunny dirt paths of Laslea. Somehow, in spite of the clamp of the vrakhiri around your neck, even in this tiny village, the possibilities are endless. You could decide to go directly to Anca, the local herbalist, and ask for medicine for your mother and wind up spending most of the day reading Latin, soaking up every moment you can in her presence. You could punch one of the Uriash, gigantic ram-like warriors occupying the village at Brencis’ command in an attempt to burst the boils of rage festering in your heart. You could go looking for an escaped pig or a lost neighbor, you could save the weaver by searching for a stolen tapestry commissioned by the vrakhiri, you could beat an upstart boy for insulting you, you could even uncover the start of a revolution against the vampires… but you may not be able to do it all. You see, as long as you are wandering, watching, listening, never intervening, the sun will stay high in the sky. The Blood Mass will not arrive. The day will never turn to night. To move time forward, you will have to choose. So you wander. You speak to an old woman weeping by an unearthed grave. You confront the man who lurks by the river. You ask your sister about the dark dreams that jolt you awake at night. You practice your sword skills on the animals in the woods. And, in your own time, you choose how your day unfolds. Yet it is quickly made clear to you that some choices are out of your hands. There is no combination of actions and words at Coen’s disposal that can stop the Blood Mass once the sun sets. Some events have their own tides that cannot be resisted. Everyone has their own free will and no matter how earnestly you try, you can’t control the power of grief, of fear, of revenge. The Blood Mass goes poorly. Decisions are made by you and your family that cannot be taken back, and deep in the night, you wake up in the bowels of Laslea’s silver mine with a strange new hunger. You are no longer fully human. The wrath of the vrakhiri at the defiance of Laslea has chosen you as its scion. Brencis picked you to turn into one of his own, a familiar face to destroy your friends and neighbors as one more twist of the knife. The surviving villagers, including your father, mother, and siblings, will be made a sacrifice to his coronation in 30 days. Your family has been crammed into the darkness of a cell, your existence squeezed down into the palm of Brencis’ hand. And yet. As the village burns, as the sun rises, you are given a new choice. All is not lost. The light of the sun does not burn you, sear your flesh. Not even the vrakhiri could control this. In that moment, the world opens up, the shackles fall away. For you now have all the power and ferocity of a vampire, but all the feelings and connections of a human. You have something denied to you for so long: the ability to choose. As you step out of the remains of your home, your village, the whole of Vale Sangora lays before you. There is a sword at your side. Your arm still aches from the magic runes Anca carved into your skin. The taste of copper lingers in the back of your throat. You realize that, with enough blood and rage, you could rip this valley from the vrakhiri’s claws and feast upon its riches yourself. You could join the revolution, save your family and dispose of the vrakhiri. You could wash your hands of the entire affair and pursue whatever pleasures the next moment offers you. You are a unique thing, Dawnwalker, and no one will ever write a future quite like yours. A new day is beginning; how will you spend it? The Blood of Dawnwalker rises on PlayStation 5 this September 3, 2026.

Title: (For Southeast Asia) PlayStation Store: June 2026’s top downloads Date: Mon, 06 Jul 2026 03:51:35 +0000 Link: https://blog.playstation.com/2026/07/05/20260706-top/ It’s time to see which PS5, PS4, PS VR2, and free-to-play games topped last month’s download charts. In June, Sports games (NBA 2k26 and EA SPORTS FC 26) and DAVE THE DIVER from South Korea studio topped Asia charts while creepy, empty spaces took over the charts as Escape the Backrooms topped the charts in US/Canada.   Check out the full listings below. What titles are you playing this month? PS5 Games US/CanadaAsiaEscape the BackroomsNBA 2K26007 First LightEA SPORTS FC 26UFC 6DAVE THE DIVEREA SPORTS FC 26007 First LightNBA 2K26Resident Evil 4MinecraftForza Horizon 5NBA THE RUNFINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTHGrand Theft Auto VIt Takes TwoLEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark KnightThe Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium TalesMLB The Show 26Ghost of YōteiCall of Duty: Black Ops 7UFC 6Forza Horizon 5Grand Theft Auto VResident Evil 4The Witcher 3: Wild HuntGhost of YōteiTEKKEN 8Mortal Kombat 1FINAL FANTASY TACTICS – The Ivalice ChroniclesFINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTHMoving Out 2ARK: Survival AscendedSplit FictionStar Wars Jedi: SurvivorGran Turismo 7Ready or NotCONTROL Ultimate EditionPoppy Playtime: Chapter 5Hogwarts Legacy *Naming of products may differ between regions *Upgrades not included PS4 Games US/CanadaAsiaRed Dead Redemption 2Red Dead Redemption 2Gang BeastsBlasphemousBatman: Arkham KnightUNCHARTED: The Nathan Drake CollectionSTAR WARS Battlefront IICall of Duty: WWIICall of Duty: Black Ops IIIShadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive EditionNeed for Speed HeatEA SPORTS FC 26MinecraftWatch Dogs 2CupheadSEKIRO: SHADOWS DIE TWICEUNCHARTED The Nathan Drake CollectionNeed for Speed HeatLEGO Marvel Super HeroesNBA 2K26The ForestGod of War III RemasteredEA SPORTS FC 26A Way OutResident Evil 6Resident Evil 6Call of Duty: WWIITomb Raider: Definitive EditionGod of WarRise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year CelebrationGrand Theft Auto VDying LightRESIDENT EVIL 5Minecraft DungeonsA Way OutDetroit: Become HumanNBA 2K26Grand Theft Auto VBlasphemousLEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 *Naming of products may differ between regions PS VR2 Games* US/CanadaAsiaI Am CatBeat SaberBeat SaberMoss II VRAmong Us 3D: VRArizona Sunshine VR 2Job SimulatorGun Club VRArizona Sunshine VR 2Angry Birds VR: Isle of PigsEscape – Backrooms Horror VRMetro AwakeningSynapseArizona Sunshine VR RemakeMetro AwakeningHorizon Call of the MountainArizona Sunshine VR RemakeCrossfire: Sierra SquadGORN 2Subside *PlayStation Store purchases only. Game upgrades or games bundled with hardware not included Free to Play (PS5 + PS4) US/CanadaAsiaFortniteeFootballRobloxNTE: Neverness to EvernessCall of Duty: WarzoneRobloxRocket LeagueWhere Winds Meet (F2P)Marvel RivalsDelta Force (F2P)Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege – Free AccessAsphalt LegendsApex LegendsPUBG: BATTLEGROUNDSFall GuysGenshin ImpactAsphalt LegendsWuthering Waves × CyberpunkeFootballFall Guys

Title: Share of the Week: Sparks Date: Fri, 03 Jul 2026 16:00:20 +0000 Link: https://blog.playstation.com/2026/07/03/share-of-the-week-sparks/ Last week, we asked you to share sparks and fireworks using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights: ​​ call_me_xavii shares Sam taking in spinning fireworks in Death Stranding 2: On The Beach JAA_PhMode_0510 shares some use of spark bokeh in Cyberpunk 2077 Couch_Gamer2k23 shares Arjun dodging blue orbs and sparks in Saros RhodWulfLeon shares Cal surrounded by sparks as he fights in Star Wars Jedi Survivor Taser9001 shares Cloud fighting a mech surrounded by sparks in Final Fantasy VII Remake ​​ 4mllr shares Stacy and the gang taking in fireworks in Mixtape Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme, or be inspired by other great games featuring Photo Mode. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week? THEME: PortraitsSUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on July 8, 2026  Next week, zoom in on your favorite characters and share detailed portraits from the game of your choice. Use #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

Title: PlayStation Store: June 2026’s top downloads Date: Fri, 03 Jul 2026 14:07:54 +0000 Link: https://blog.playstation.com/2026/07/03/playstation-store-june-2026s-top-downloads/ It’s time to see which PS5, PS4, PS VR2, and free-to-play games topped last month’s download charts. In June, creepy, empty spaces took over the charts as Escape the Backrooms topped the charts in both the US and EU, while other backroom-themed games appeared in the PS VR2 rankings. Check out the full listings below. What titles are you playing this month? PS5 Games US/CanadaEUEscape the BackroomsEscape the Backrooms007 First Light007 First LightUFC 6EA Sports FC 26EA Sports FC 26UFC 6NBA 2K26NBA 2K26MinecraftMinecraftNBA The RunGrand Theft Auto VGrand Theft Auto VGothic 1 RemakeLEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark KnightResident Evil 4MLB The Show 26Forza Horizon 5Call of Duty: Black Ops 7The Witcher 3: Wild HuntForza Horizon 5LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark KnightResident Evil 4Resident Evil RequiemGhost of YōteiArk: Survival AscendedMortal Kombat 1Poppy Playtime: Chapter 5Final Fantasy VII RebirthIt Takes TwoARK: Survival AscendedGhost of YōteiStar Wars Jedi: SurvivorBackrooms: Escape TogetherReady or NotCall of Duty: Black Ops 7Poppy Playtime: Chapter 5Star Wars Jedi: Survivor *Naming of products may differ between regions *Upgrades not included PS4 Games US/CanadaEURed Dead Redemption 2Red Dead Redemption 2Gang BeastsEA Sports FC 26Batman: Arkham KnightUncharted The Nathan Drake CollectionStar Wars Battlefront IIThe ForestCall of Duty: Black Ops IIIGang BeastsNeed for Speed HeatNeed for Speed HeatMinecraftBatman: Arkham KnightCupheadA Way OutUncharted The Nathan Drake CollectionStar Wars Battlefront IILEGO Marvel Super HeroesFirewatchThe ForestGrand Theft Auto VEA Sports FC 26Unravel TwoResident Evil 6MinecraftCall of Duty: WWIILEGO Marvel Super HeroesGod of WarBlasphemousGrand Theft Auto VCupheadResident Evil 5Resident Evil 6A Way OutMafia: TrilogyNBA 2K26BlasphemousBlasphemousCuphead *Naming of products may differ between regions PS VR2 Games* US/CanadaEUI Am CatI Am CatBeat SaberJob SimulatorAmong Us 3D: VRBeat SaberJob SimulatorMetro AwakeningArizona Sunshine VR 2Among Us 3D: VREscape – Backrooms Horror VRSubsideSynapseArizona Sunshine VR 2Metro AwakeningArizona Sunshine VR RemakeArizona Sunshine VR RemakeSynapseGorn 2Escape – Backrooms Horror VR *PlayStation Store purchases only. Game upgrades or games bundled with hardware not included Free to Play (PS5 + PS4) US/CanadaEUFortniteGoalsRobloxFortniteCall of Duty: WarzoneRobloxRocket LeagueRocket LeagueMarvel RivalseFootballTom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege – Free AccessCall of Duty: WarzoneApex LegendsTom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege – Free AccessFall GuysAsphalt LegendsAsphalt LegendsFall GuyseFootballValorant

Title: Players’ Choice: Vote for June 2026’s best new game Date: Thu, 02 Jul 2026 15:00:04 +0000 Link: https://blog.playstation.com/2026/07/02/players-choice-vote-for-june-2026s-best-new-game/ Last month was filled with fighting, sports, and adventure! Some big new releases included The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, Dead or Alive 6 Last Round, and NBA The Run. Which game was your favorite?   How does it work? At the end of every month, PlayStation Blog will open a poll where you can vote for the best new game released that month. After the polls close we will tally your votes, and announce the winner on our social channels and PlayStation.Blog. What is the voting criteria? That’s up to you! If you were only able to recommend one new release to a friend that month, which would it be? Note: re-released games don’t qualify, but remakes do. We define remakes as ambitious, larger-scale rebuilds such as Resident Evil 4 (2023) and Final Fantasy VII Remake. How are nominees decided? The PlayStation Blog editorial team will gather a list of that month’s most noteworthy releases and use it to seed the poll. View Poll

Title: Appa is a gorgeous, surreal card game about grieving siblings where every move your opponent makes can be reacted to Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:11:36 +0000 Link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/appa-is-a-gorgeous-surreal-card-game-about-grieving-siblings-where-every-move-your-opponent-makes-can-be-reacted-to I love a digital card game as much as the next person, but honestly, most of the time I feel that they're a bit of a letdown in the visuals department. There's never been one I've played where I've been satisfied in how it plays and how it looks. But! I am hopeful about the upcoming Appa, a deliciously surreal and vibrant looking narrative-driven card battler about a couple of siblings dealing with the death of their father. Read more

Title: Left 4 Dead lives on in The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu, a Lovecraftian extraction game from the creators of Zeno Clash Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:01:19 +0000 Link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/left-4-dead-lives-on-in-the-mound-omens-of-cthulhu-a-lovecraftian-extraction-game-from-the-creators-of-zeno-clash Seeking relief from the terrible light of the Xbox resettification, I fall into the sweet, dank embrace of The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu, a 17th century extraction game in which four crucifix-wielding, musket-toting Spanish explorers venture to a jungle full of creatures inspired by Lovecraftian horror. Why would they set foot in such an awful place? For loot, of course. Why else do Europeans travel to other countries? Read more

Title: After split with Xbox, Hitman developer IO will "continue to develop" Project Fantasy independently, but they're closing their Istanbul Studio Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 14:47:35 +0000 Link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/after-split-with-xbox-hitman-developer-io-will-continue-to-develop-project-fantasy-independently-but-theyre-closing-their-istanbul-studio Last week brought the news that Xbox had dropped their support for Project Fantasy the, er, fantasy project in development at IO Interactive. The Hitman maker announced they would remain "100% committed" to the game, and ensure "This wonderful universe will see the light of day", but they also acknowledged that there would need to be layoffs. IOI have now confirmed that they have been able to regain full ownership of Project Fantasy and they will "continue to develop and fund it independently". But that production has come with a significant cost: the closure of their Istanbul office. Read more

Title: "I know how devastating it is, and my heart's with all of you": Doom's John Romero responds to id Software reportedly losing half their team Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 14:32:23 +0000 Link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/i-know-how-devastating-it-is-and-my-hearts-with-all-of-you-dooms-john-romero-responds-to-id-software-reportedly-losing-half-their-team Xbox aren't closing or selling off Doom developers id Software as part of their latest business teardown, but they are reportedly laying off around half the studio, with swinging cuts aimed at id's legendary technology team in particular. Even as out-going staff fulminate about the situation, studio co-founder John Romero has urged all concerned to preserve "code, assets, stories" and other historical artefacts that risk being wiped away during the restructure. Read more

Title: While several Xbox studios regained independence or found new owners yesterday, Arkane's staff must negotiate their own future Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 12:27:31 +0000 Link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/while-several-xbox-studios-regained-independence-or-found-new-owners-yesterday-arkanes-staff-must-negotiate-their-own-future Yesterday, Xbox announced that they were spinning off five major studios in the course of the latest round of "historic" restructuring, with 1600 jobs instantly chopped and 1600 more layoffs to follow over the next financial year. It's the latest in a string of failures on the part of Xbox leadership, who have repeatedly butchered the division after an evidently overambitious acquisition spree that dates back to the 2010s. It has, at least, not yet resulted in any outright studio closures. Double Fine and Compulsion are going indie again with a little funding from Microsoft, keeping ownership of their games. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs have been sold to unnamed new owners. And then there's Dishonored and Marvel's Blade developers Arkane, whose fate is still being negotiated. Read more