Title: The Next Version Of Unreal Engine Is Going To Be Filled With GenAI Tools Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 16:17:20 +0000 Link: https://kotaku.com/the-next-version-of-unreal-engine-is-going-to-be-filled-with-genai-tools-2000707607 Epic is also merging Unreal's Fortnite Editor into Unreal Engine 6

Title: Final Fantasy Tactics Finally Gets A New Game Plus Mode 29 Years Later And Fans Are Already Being Complete Sickos About It Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:53:50 +0000 Link: https://kotaku.com/final-fantasy-tactics-finally-gets-a-new-game-plus-mode-29-years-later-and-fans-are-already-being-complete-sickos-about-it-2000707558 Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles just gave fans an unexpected bonus

Title: GTA 5′s Older Versions Can Be Upgraded For Free Starting June 18 Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:33:48 +0000 Link: https://kotaku.com/you-can-upgrade-your-old-version-of-gta-5-for-free-starting-june-18-2000707580 Rockstar has announced GTA Online players can jump forward a console generation for no cost

Title: Assassin’s Creed Shadows Is A Great Game That Now Has A Perfect Ending Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:16:56 +0000 Link: https://kotaku.com/assassins-creed-shadows-is-a-great-game-that-now-has-a-perfect-ending-2000707569 The game's last update also connects the entry to the rest of the series, including the upcoming Black Flag remake

Title: Some People Still Can’t Play Xbox 360 Games On Their Xbox Series Console, Nearly Two Months After Xbox Said The Issue Was Fixed Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:48:11 +0000 Link: https://kotaku.com/xbox-360-games-xbox-series-console-broken-months-later-2000707563 Issues have been reported as far back as November 2025

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: GTA 5 For PS5 And Xbox Series X|S Will Be Free For Last-Gen Owners This Week Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:26:26 +0000 Link: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gta-5-for-ps5-and-xbox-series-xs-will-be-free-for-last-gen-owners-this-week/ Ahead of GTA 6's release in November, Rockstar Games has announced that anyone who owns a digital copy of GTA 5 for PS4 or Xbox One will get a free upgrade to the PS5 or Xbox Series X|S version. The native versions for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S normally cost $40. They include better graphics and faster loading times, among other things. This starts on June 18, Rockstar said. The free upgrade offer is coming ahead of the release of GTA Online's next big update, The Kortz Center Heist, which releases in July. The Kortz Center. The Kortz Center Heist is a multi-stage heist where players will break into The Kortz Center and steal works of art. "Now the time has come to raid this prestigious gallery’s esteemed collection for personal gain," Rockstar said. That's all Rockstar had to say about the upcoming expansion, but more information will be announced in the weeks ahead. GTA 5 and GTA Online have been enormously successful, with GTA 5 passing 230 million copies sold and GTA Online staying strong with its ongoing updates. GTA 6 releases on November 19, and Take-Two's top boss recently re-committed to that date and explained why the game is taking so long.

Title: Gears of War: E-Day – Raven Extract Cinematic Trailer Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:22:09 +0000 Link: https://www.gamespot.com/videos/gears-of-war-e-day-raven-extract-cinematic-trailer/ Debuted at Unreal Fest Chicago, meet Specialist Daan Riggs as Bravo squad struggles to make a daring Raven extract aboard KR-80. Pre-order Gears of War: E-Day to get Early Access to the Open Beta starting August 6th. Pre-orders also unlock the Exfil Dom Character Skin and the Exfil Weapon Set in-game at launch.

Title: Sony Didn’t Do It, So Someone Else Made An App To Unlock DualSense On PC Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:52:10 +0000 Link: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sony-didnt-do-it-so-someone-else-made-an-app-to-unlock-dualsense-on-pc/ Almost six years after it was first released for the PS5 console, the DualSense controller is still one of the best peripherals for gaming thanks to its haptic feedback features. But on PC? Those features do work, but with a USB-C string attached, technically. Hope might finally be on the horizon, as one app is promising to make the full DualSense package work wirelessly on PC--for a price. A new update to the third-party app DSX has unlocked wireless haptics and Bluetooth audio on PC--alongside several other features like custom profiles and a suite of customization options. Spotted by Digital Foundry, the beta version of the new patch essentially allows a DualSense to operate the same on PC as it would on PS5, by creating a "virtual" DualSense that receives signals from supported games. The feature is available to owners of the DSX Steam app and its DSX+ DLC, which is moderately priced at under $12 if you buy it in a bundle deal. Normally, the only way to unlock full DualSense features on PC is to connect it directly to your system via USB-C. See on Steam For now, it looks like this is the best option for anyone wanting to get the most out of games that support the unique features of the DualSense, including Sony's own PlayStation Studios ports. Bafflingly, Sony never once sought to capitalize on the PC market by releasing a dongle for the DualSense that could unlock the full functionality of the controller on that platform, although homebrew efforts have sought to fill that gap in the market. The DualSense controller has remained largely the same since it was first released, with software updates further tweaking it over the years. A few years ago, Sony released the beefier DualSense Edge controller, an upgraded peripheral designed to offer a high-end experience to users. What does the future hold for controller technology? Sony isn't ready to spill the beans just yet, but it is exploring several ideas--like a controller with buttons that can dynamically harden or soften depending on what's happening in your game.

Title: Sharknado, Meth Gator Studio Made A Live-Action Dave The Diver DLC Short Film, And It’s Incredible Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:05:33 +0000 Link: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sharkando-meth-gator-studio-made-a-live-action-dave-the-diver-dlc-short-film-and-its-incredible/ Developer Mintrocket and movie production studio The Asylum have teamed up to create a live-action short film for Dave the Diver's soon-to-launch In the Jungle DLC. The Asylum is known for its work on the Sharknado series, as well as Meth Gator more recently, and the Dave the Diver short film is keeping with the over-the-top tone you'd expect. The short film was written and directed by Anthony C. Ferrante. Steven Tulumello plays Dave the Diver, with Steve Falcone as Cobra, Kofi Baffour as Bancho, Von Antonio as Dr. Bacon, Vivian True as Muna, and G. Anthony Joseph as Chief Panutah. Dave the Diver: In the Jungle launches on June 18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkL-kZ8UsBc In the Jungle is a $10 expansion that sees Dave and his team travel to the jungle to "investigate a mysterious phenomenon" and explore a new underwater ecosystem. The DLC promises more than 10 hours of new story and gameplay.

Title: Xbox Hypes Up Gamescom Return Amid Questions About Its Future Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:02:44 +0000 Link: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-hypes-up-gamescom-return-amid-questions-about-its-future/ The summer of gaming is far from over, as following a week of showcases, the next big event is Gamescom in August. With the show drawing closer, more gaming companies are confirming that they'll be headed to Germany soon, including Xbox. Microsoft's gaming division will once again have a presence at the Koelnmesse, but it's pushing ahead with these plans while its future looks increasingly uncertain. For now, Xbox says that its Gamescom presence will be headlined by Gears of War: E-Day, which will be playable on the Gamescom showfloor. Typically, Xbox also holds a dedicated Gamescom showcase after Geoff Keighley's Gamescom Opening Night Live event, dropping a new look at upcoming games. Since this takes place in the wake of the June Xbox Games Showcase, the broadcast is usually more of the same, with several Game Pass announcements mixed in. Gamescom's stomping grounds of Cologne, Germany, is also the first stop on the Xbox FanFest event--a global tour that celebrates Xbox's 25th anniversary--this year. While the external messaging around Xbox has certainly been positive throughout 2026, recent reports indicate that there's some major turmoil happening behind the scenes. https://bsky.app/profile/xbox.com/post/3moieyr267s2m Some analysts are claiming that upcoming Xbox exclusives like Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution are being sent out to die--something Xbox has disputed--and reports say that Microsoft is preparing to lay off staff and close multiple development studios soon. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has also alluded to upcoming changes at Xbox, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says that Xbox needs to find a way to transform into a "sustainable" business for the company. While Xbox hasn't confirmed yet which of its other upcoming games will be at Gamescom, things do look dire for the studios that are making them. Compulsion Games, Double Fine, and Ninja Theory are said to be facing potential closures, but there might be hope for them to spin off from Xbox. The news looks especially bad for Ninja Theory, as the studio has just announced its new game, Senua. According to Stephen Totilo's Game File, Microsoft was already planning to split from Ninja Theory, and the decision to reveal Senua during the Xbox Games Showcase was made to draw investor interest.

Title: New Dispatch update tones down censorship on Switch Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 16:01:39 GMT Link: https://www.polygon.com/dispatch-censorship-nintendo-switch-update-adhoc-studio/ When Dispatch launched on Nintendo Switch in January 2026, it came with a rather clunky, inelegant surprise: big black boxes censoring things like butt cracks, Toxic's free-flying green dong, and even Sonar giving Robert the middle finger. Developer AdHoc Studio is toning some of the severity of that censorship down in a free new update and apologized for not being transparent about what Switch players could expect at launch.

Title: 1666: Amsterdam's terrible demo shows AI is only part of the problem Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 16:01:24 GMT Link: https://www.polygon.com/1666-amsterdams-demo-impressions/ 1666: Amsterdam, an upcoming historical action-adventure game, was re-revealed at Summer Game Fest 2026. You'd be forgiven for forgetting it exists though, because it was originally a THQ title that began development in 2011, before the studio declared bankruptcy. Patrice Désilets, a former creative director at THQ and at Ubisoft for the first two Assassin's Creed games, founded Panache Digital Games and resumed development on 1666: Amsterdam.

Title: How to get Mega Stones in Pokémon Champions Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:56:24 GMT Link: https://www.polygon.com/pokemon-champions-mega-stones-how-to-get/ There are 73Mega Stones in Pokémon Champions that you can use to supe up your Pokémon. We have a full list of Mega Evolutions over in our guide to all Pokémon in Pokémon Champions, but if you're wondering exactly how to get your hands on Mega Stones, we're here to help.

Title: 'Choose Your Path: Fossil Fun' June 2026 Timed Research in Pokémon Go Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:50:20 GMT Link: https://www.polygon.com/pokemon-go-choose-your-path-timed-research-bonuses-steps-rewards/ "Choose Your Path" Timed Research has appeared in Pokémon Go, giving you something to do and a bonus of your choice during weeks when there are no week-long events. You can pick from three different options that yield different bonuses, so you can pick based on how you plan on playing that week to make the most of said bonuses.

Title: All available Pokémon in Pokémon Champions Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:42:26 GMT Link: https://www.polygon.com/pokemon-champions-all-pokemon-list-pokedex/ In total, there are 186 Pokémon in Pokémon Champions, not including Mega Evolutions or regional forms, according to the in-game list, which can be found when viewing your achievements in the submenu. These range from plenty of iconic Pokémon, such as Charizard, Dragonite, and Snorlax, to more recent additions in later generations that are some of the most powerful Pokémon in the battling meta. All of these Pokémon can be recruited in-game, or transferred via Pokémon Home.

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: Forecast: Fun Ahead — 18 Games Join in June to Stream on GeForce NOW Date: Thu, 04 Jun 2026 13:00:27 +0000 Link: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/geforce-now-thursday-june-2026-games-list/ June’s forecast with GeForce NOW: 100% chance of gaming. GeForce NOW is lining up new adventures for the month, from big-name blockbusters to quirky indies ready for the spotlight. Members can dive into fresh worlds, squad up in new playlists and discover “just one more run” favorites — all streaming from the cloud, no downloads or upgrades required.  Eighteen games are coming this month, starting with the 10 games arriving this week with the highly requested Neverness to Everness.  A World Beyond City limits end where reality bends. Step into a surreal, supernatural open world in NTE: Neverness to Everness from Hota Studio. Reality bends, streets twist into impossible angles and the uncanny waits around every corner. Play as an anomaly hunter drawn into a strange metropolis alive with anomalies, cosmic oddities and dreamlike encounters. Explore the city’s districts at street level or from impossible heights, uncovering secrets, side stories and hidden paths woven through the tangled skyline. Combat and exploration blend together as players move between quiet, eerie spaces and sudden bursts of action.  Every alleyway and rooftop hides something strange and new, from bizarre characters to otherworldly phenomena that reshape the environment in unexpected ways. Streaming with GeForce NOW lets the game’s distinctive art direction and atmospheric lighting shine, keeping the city’s moody glow, deep shadows and supernatural effects crisp and sharp.  Whether wandering its streets on a big screen or checking in from a laptop, NTE: Neverness to Everness stays fluid and immersive — powered by the cloud. June Games Juicing Up the Cloud A legend returns. Return to the Valley of Mines in Gothic 1 Remake, a faithful rebuild of the original experience that expands the world with more detailed questlines, additional nonplayer character routines and reactions, new traversal abilities and a fully modernized combat system. Step into the role of the Nameless Hero and explore a dangerous prison colony filled with rival factions, ancient magic, deadly creatures and choices that shape the journey ahead.  Whether revisiting a classic or discovering it for the first time, GeForce NOW makes it easy to jump into the adventure instantly across nearly any device, no downloads required. Check out what all is available this week: Jurassic World Evolution 3 (New release on Xbox, available on Game Pass) Fatekeeper (New release on Steam, available June 2) House Flipper Remastered Collection (New release on Steam, available June 4) Pro Cycling Manager 26 (New release on Steam, available June 4) GOALS (New release on Steam, available June 4) Gothic 1 Remake (New release on Steam, available June 5) NTE: Neverness to Everness (Launcher) The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition (Steam and Xbox, available on Game Pass) Tomb Raider I-III Remastered (Epic Games Store) XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Steam) And look forward to the games coming throughout the month: STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions (New release on Steam, June 11) SpaceCraft (New release on Steam, June 11) Denshattack! (New release on Steam and Xbox, available on Game Pass, June 17) The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales (New release on Steam, June 18) Dark Scrolls (New release on Steam, June 22) Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains (New release on Steam and Ubisoft, June 30) Farever (Steam) FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves (Steam)  More From May In addition to the 16 games announced last month, 18 more joined the GeForce NOW library: Alchemy Factory (Steam) Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes (Steam) Blades of Fire (Steam) BeamNG.drive (Epic Games Store) Directive 8020 (Steam) Disco Elysium (Xbox, available on Game Pass) Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure (Epic Games Store) Ostranauts (Steam) Planet Coaster 2 (Epic Games Store) PowerWash Simulator 2 (Xbox, available on Game Pass) Resident Evil Requiem Demo (Steam) Romestead (Steam) SPLITGATE: Arena Reloaded (Xbox, available on Game Pass) Subnautica 2 (Steam, Epic Games Store and Xbox, available on Game Pass) Sunderfolk (Epic Games Store) TerraTech Legion (Steam and Xbox, available on Game Pass) Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II (Steam) World of Tanks: HEAT (Steam) What are you planning to play this weekend? Let us know X or in the comments below.

Title: The Name’s Gaming … Cloud Gaming: ‘007 First Light’ Launches on GeForce NOW Date: Thu, 28 May 2026 13:00:37 +0000 Link: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/geforce-now-thursday-007-first-light-launch/ License to stream, shaken and stirred. GeForce NOW is dialing up the espionage with the launch of 007 First Light, letting members slip into James Bond’s reimagined origin story from almost any device — no tux or preloads required.  For a limited time, the game is included with the purchase of a 12‑month GeForce NOW Ultimate membership, letting members lock in Bond’s next mission and a year of top-tier cloud gaming in one shot. And for those stepping into the role, the look comes with it. Daring Elite Outfit, a signature look capturing the spirit of a rising agent, is now available for Ultimate members — equal parts discipline, ambition and edge. And catch Capcom’s Resident Evil Requiem demo in the cloud — catch an early portion of the game and discover its two sides: terrifying survival horror with Grace Ashcroft, and pulse-pounding action with Leon S. Kennedy This GFN Thursday also brings eight new games to the cloud, expanding the library with even more ways to play across genres. Mission Assigned First light, first mission. The mission begins before the legend. 007 First Light puts players in the shoes of James Bond at the dawn of his career, when instincts are sharp, rules are flexible and every decision shapes the agent he’s destined to become. This is a Bond who’s still earning his “00” — unpolished, dangerous and learning when to trust a plan and when to improvise under fire. A cinematic spy thriller unfolds with high-stakes infiltration, tense encounters and stylish set pieces. One moment brings thrills working undercover at an opulent event — the next, white‑knuckle chases and close‑quarters confrontations where timing and composure are everything. Approaches to each mission — quiet and calculated, bold and aggressive, or something in between — define Bond’s path and the allies and enemies that cross it. Stream it all with GeForce RTX 50 Series GPU power in the cloud, with up to 5K high dynamic range and cinematic-quality streaming for Ultimate members. Experience Bond’s origin story in razor-sharp detail across devices — no high-end PC required. Keep It Daring Tailored. Tactical. Dangerously sharp. Looks speak first. A new 007 First Light reward drops today on GeForce NOW, delivering Ultimate members a refined,  unmistakably bold way to step into the world of espionage. The Daring Elite Outfit blends calculated precision with effortless style — the kind that turns heads before the mission even begins. Sleek, confident and just a little dangerous, it’s built for agents who understand that presence is a part of the playbook. All rewards are available starting now through Saturday, June 27, or while supplies last. To claim, log in to a GeForce NOW account, head to the rewards section in the account portal and redeem. Keep It Heated Time to get heated. Armored battles get hero-driven in Wargaming’s free-to-play, player vs. player vehicle shooter, World of Tanks: HEAT, now streaming on GeForce NOW. World of Tanks: HEAT is the franchise’s first hero-driven tank action game, where powerful Agents and their experimental machines shape every fight. Fast-paced 5v5 and 10v10 matches erupt into high-velocity brawls as hero-enhanced tanks trade explosive bursts, clutch escapes and momentum-shifting abilities. Each Agent brings a unique tool kit and vehicle lineup, layering team roles and synergy on top of sharp aim and smart positioning. It’s classic steel-on-steel combat with a hero-shooter twist, now available in the cloud. The next match is always just a quick deployment away on GeForce NOW. Keep It Playing Community stories take the spotlight this week as an Ultimate member on Reddit shares a heartfelt note about what GeForce NOW means to daily gaming. In addition, members can look for the following: Romestead (New release on Steam, May 26) World of Tanks: HEAT (New release on Steam, May 26) 007 First Light (New release on Steam, Epic Games Store and Xbox, available on the Microsoft store, May 26) Starminer (New release on Steam, May 27) Resident Evil Requiem Demo (New release on Steam, May 27) Alchemy Factory (Steam) BeamNG.drive (Epic Games Store) Ostranauts (Steam) What are you planning to play this weekend? Let us know on X or in the comments below. nvidia geforce now delivers such flawless performance, it is possible to exert dominance upon the squad ‘w/ absolute precision & @ ease' ♡ more about @nvidiagfn @ https://t.co/pFHAv1zXRS https://t.co/q67SOJNpbO #nvidiapartner #geforcenow pic.twitter.com/NsiK3FIX6v — airie (@airiesummer) May 22, 2026

Title: License to Stream: ‘007 First Light’ Coming to GeForce NOW With an Ultimate Bundle Date: Thu, 21 May 2026 13:00:22 +0000 Link: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/geforce-now-thursday-007-first-light-ultimate-bundle/ The mission begins now. GeForce NOW is dialing up the action with a blockbuster mix of spy thrills, high-speed racing and member rewards — plus eight new games joining the cloud this week, all ready to stream instantly. Leading the drop: the 007 First Light Ultimate Membership Bundle, which brings a brand-new way to jump into one of the year’s biggest releases and discover James Bond’s reimagined origin story. Rev the engines — the Horizon Festival is calling. Forza Horizon 6 is now available on GeForce NOW — bringing the series’ signature open-world racing and festival energy directly to members, wherever they play. Stream a world built for speed, style and freedom instantly across devices, with no downloads required. Step Into the Cloud of Espionage A license to stream. A mission worth accepting arrives. Starting today through Wednesday, June 10, 007 First Light is included with the purchase of a 12-month GeForce NOW Ultimate membership. Lock it in before the game’s launch, and it’ll be ready to play the moment it goes live on Wednesday, May 27 — no preloads, no waiting, no mission briefings required. This is a new, original take of Bond’s story — before the tux fit perfectly and the martinis got specific. 007 First Light drops players into a sharp, cinematic origin story packed with globe-trotting espionage, close calls and choices that shape how the world’s most famous agent takes form. Expect stealth, spectacle and just enough chaos to keep things interesting. Stream it all with GeForce RTX 50 Series GPU power in the cloud, with up to 5K high dynamic range and cinematic-quality streaming for Ultimate members. It’s high-end PC gaming, minus the high-end PC. Redeeming the mission is simple: After purchase, get the game by going to the “Available to Redeem” section in the account portal, signing in to a Steam account and completing the redemption. The game is for members to keep — and ready to play across devices at launch with GeForce NOW. Welcome to the Festival Engines roar. Crowds surge. The road stretches endlessly forward. Forza Horizon 6 is the ultimate automotive playground — a shared world where racing, exploration and creativity come together. Every road, trail and skyline is designed to be driven, discovered and mastered. Take on a wide range of events, from high-speed street races to off-road expeditions, or drop into live activities happening across the world. Build a garage of iconic cars spanning decades of automotive history, each brought to life with incredible detail and customization. The Horizon Festival is more than competition — it’s a celebration of car culture and music. Seamless online features connect players across events and challenges, making every session feel alive and unpredictable. Powered by the cloud, GeForce NOW delivers the festival in stunning detail. Members experience ultrasmooth performance and vivid environments without needing to wait for installs or upgrading hardware. With technologies like NVIDIA DLSS enhancing performance and visual fidelity, every reflection, speed blur and finish-line sprint hits at full intensity. Community Spotlight Community-created content takes the spotlight this week, as GeForce NOW ambassador Cloud Gaming Battle sits down with Andrew Fear, GeForce NOW product manager director at NVIDIA, to dive into what makes the service tick. The conversation covers how GeForce NOW brings high-performance PC gaming from the cloud to a wide range of devices, giving a closer look at the tech, thinking and passion behind the platform. It’s a conversation that the GFN Reddit community is calling “genuinely inspirational.” In addition, members can look for the following: Forza Horizon 6 (New release on Steam and Xbox, available on Game Pass, May 19) Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core (New release on Steam, May 20) Luna Abyss (New release on Steam and Xbox, available on Game Pass, May 21) Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II (New release on Steam, May 21) ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies (New release on Steam, May 21) Splitgate Arena Reloaded (Xbox, Available on Game Pass) Sunderfolk (Epic Games Store) TerraTech Legion (Steam and Xbox, available on Game Pass) What are you planning to play this weekend? Let us know on X or in the comments below. Rev your engines — the Horizon Festival is calling. @ForzaHorizon 6 is now streaming on GeForce NOW – stream a world built for speed in the cloud today. pic.twitter.com/hJuKFT2GZp — NVIDIA GeForce NOW (@NVIDIAGFN) May 19, 2026

Title: The VFX tech behind Saros: from NGP to Graphite Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 12:00:21 +0000 Link: https://blog.playstation.com/2026/06/17/the-vfx-tech-behind-saros-from-ngp-to-graphite/ Five years ago, we wrote about how the visual effects in Returnal came to life, including the real-time voxeliser that dissolved Phrike into volumetric fog. If you haven’t read it, that post is a good companion to this one. This is how that story continues. With Saros, we didn’t just extend what we’d built for Returnal. We stepped back, looked at thirty years of accumulated engine development, and rebuilt it as a unified framework: Graphite. What we had, and why we changed it Our proprietary particle engine, NGP (Next-Gen Particles), started as a prototype for Resogun in 2013 and grew with every game since, all the way to Returnal. By SAROS, NGP was mature, but it was also a product of twelve years of incremental decisions, each one made in the context of a specific, isolated game. Then something else changed: us. Joining PlayStation Studios meant delivering experiences at the level our players expect, and our tools, and the names we’d given them, no longer matched the studio we were becoming. Enter Graphite. It brings GPU simulation, rendering, tooling, and DCC integration under one architecture, built directly for PlayStation hardware. NGP didn’t disappear, it became part of Graphite, evolved and more capable than ever. Every Housemarque game has a visual identity players recognise immediately. Graphite is what makes that possible. And what it actually does, frame by frame, is best explained by the incredible people who built it: Housemarque Graphics Architect Sharman Jagadeesan and Senior Graphics Programmer Konsta Toivanen will walk you through the volumetric fog in Saros: how it evolved from Returnal, and the two systems we built to make Carcosa’s atmosphere feel alive. Risto Jankkila (VFX Architect) will explain how we extended Graphite with data from Houdini, including a full breakdown of the player spawn sequence. Volumetric fog Fog in games is often an afterthought, something that fills empty space and hides draw distances. In Saros, we wanted it to be a living part of the world, reacting to everything happening in it. In Returnal, our volumetric fog was already reactive, but too low frequency, and heavy temporal filtering kept it from showing fine detail. For Saros we built two complementary solutions: low frequency fog for ambient atmosphere, and high frequency fog for the character effects seen in special story rooms in Carcosa. Low frequency fog We took Unreal Engine’s froxel fog, a frustum-aligned voxel grid, as a starting point and rebuilt significant parts of it to meet our vision. The first challenge was temporal stability. The hysteresis coefficient controls how much of the previous frame’s data the fog holds onto: Unreal’s default of 90% keeps the image stable but makes the fog sluggish on fast-moving cameras and lights. We pushed it down to 50%, using blue noise jitter and depth clamping to keep the resulting aliasing under control. Saros also needed fog that could represent everything from low density ambient mist to high density ground fog. To render these faithfully we used: A dual Henyey-Greenstein phase function, modelling how light scatters forward and backward through the fog depending on viewing angle. A coloured absorption coefficient, determining how much light is absorbed as it travels through a medium, for a far wider range of colours than traditional monochromatic solutions. A self shadowing system that aggregates incoming light sources into a dominant shadowing direction and ray-marches toward it. A physically based sky lighting integral, for accurate distant lighting without sacrificing performance. Together these gave Carcosa’s atmosphere a grounded, physical quality. Finally, the low frequency fog is fully interactive. Advection from our player-following fluid simulation feeds directly into the density hysteresis step, making every player movement, projectile, explosion, and enemy readable in the fog in real time. High frequency fog For the high-frequency fog we built a custom ray marcher. To keep performance in check while preserving fidelity, we cluster the scatter data into 8x8x8 voxel groups before marching, drawing only the clusters that contain data, with a user-defined threshold keeping their number in check. While marching, empty regions between clusters get skipped, letting the marcher take larger steps where it can. For lighting, we evaluated a light volume per scatter volume, containing irradiance from all light sources, with pre-marched self-shadowing for every light voxel. We exposed parameters for albedo, absorbance, density, and shadowing, letting artists balance visuals against performance for each volume. The two fog systems are then merged: we sample the low frequency fog’s scatter data during the high frequency march, and feed results back so both stay consistent with each other. Use cases We used the high frequency volumetric fog in a few scenarios. One use case was in the Prologue in the form of a smoky skull with cables attached to it. Another use case was with what we call Mirages. In four of our biomes there are specific narrative rooms where Arjun is faced with smoke creatures. 1/2Now showing slide 1 of 2Show all View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image Fog skull at the beginning of the Prologue View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image Four story rooms with Mirages Reactivity is key to all the VFX we make, and these effects were no exception. Since impact data doesn’t need high resolution, we store it in a separate, low resolution volume, which for the skull also holds its low frequency velocity field. The videos below show that volume on the left, and combined with the skull on the right. Impacts are evaluated as a Signed Distance Field that closes back up over time, while velocity is shown in colour, you can see both the impact holes and the turbulence they create. 1/2Now showing slide 1 of 2Show all Here’s the final skull effect without the cables and other secondaries and in a different environment. The mirage effect is similar to the skull effect. The difference is that there are so called mirage “scenes” that rotate. We also used our real-time skeletal mesh voxelizer to bring existing meshes into the scenes. The video below shows a sweep between the voxelized result and the final result with advecting data from the previous frame. Here’s the final effect with rotating two mirage scenes in a test environment. For reactivity, we used the same method described for the skull effect. Extending Graphite with data from Houdini In addition to improving the rendering quality of our volumetric effects we wanted to introduce new ways for our artists to author them. Previously, volumetric effects were created by writing per-voxel expressions for density emission, combined with fluid simulations driving the advection (the directional movement) of the density field. Because this grid-and-voxel approach is the industry standard for film VFX, it was our natural first step as well. From Returnal days: voxelising Phrike into a grid for density emission During Returnal’s development, we realized we needed tighter control over exactly where density is generated. Per-voxel logic let us emit density on nearby surfaces or voxelised meshes, but anything more complex came with severe runtime overhead. Emitting density from just a character’s arm, rather than their whole voxelised body, was very difficult to do efficiently in real time. Also from Returnal: full body density emission from the voxelised mesh To solve this, we turned to particles to drive volumetric density emission. Graphite’s fully programmable particle system gave us a solid foundation for tightly controlled volumes, resulting in two new tools: An Offline Houdini Data Pipeline: lets artists pre-compute complex, high-fidelity data in Houdini that would be too expensive to generate at runtime. A Runtime Point Cloud Rasterizer: a high-performance component that takes simulated points and rasterizes them directly into a volume in real time. Together, these freed us from stateless per-voxel expressions and rigid fluid simulations. Particles can now precisely follow a character’s animated mesh, giving artists full control over an effect’s behavior and lifecycle. In practice, an artist imports an animated Saros character into Houdini and uses its tools to compute starting positions and attributes for an effect. That baked data feeds into the game engine, where real-time simulation takes over. In the video below, points generated in Houdini closely match the in-game character, and custom runtime logic detaches them from the enemy on bullet impact, so initial positions come from Houdini, but the behavior reacts dynamically to the player in real time. Creating point data in Houdini Using point data from Houdini in engine Since artists can export any kind of data from Houdini to Graphite, it’s easy to go beyond static particles attached to characters. Below, particles flow across the surface of an animated mesh: the surface was unfolded in Houdini into a 2D simulation space, then exported and mapped back onto the animated mesh in real time. Particle flow on Arjun’s body on the left. In the middle we extract an ISO surface from the particles. On the right we have volumetric fog emitted from the particle flow. A prime in-game example of this technology in action is the player spawn sequence in Saros. This complex effect is built in multiple layers, starting offline in Houdini, where we generate splines directly onto the player’s skeletal mesh. When exporting these splines into Graphite, we treat each control point along the spline as an individual particle. Simulating particle positions in Houdini. These are only used as target positions in the engine and the growth motion will be re-simulated dynamically during runtime. At runtime, our programmable particle system controls how these elements behave over time. At first, the splines drift freely in space, then gradually guide back toward their target positions on the character mesh. We wanted the player to look like they’re physically reforming from a pool of shifting “goo.” Marching Cubes gave us that viscous, solid-surface look, and controlling it with particles let us build a sequence where the player forms from separate strands into a character. Marching cubes constructed from particle splines Much like the splines that generated the goo surface, we can also emit volumetric density as well. In the spawn sequence we placed a number of particle splines near the player location and spawn volumetric fog from them to simulate rising steam or smoke.  Volumetric fog emitted from particle splines As a final touch, we added spark particles that collide with the player character, using a signed distance field computed from the player’s collision capsules. The programmable particle system again gave us flexibility here: the player attracts particles, but once they get too close, the player mesh repels them, helping sell the look of emerging from hot, lava-like liquid. Particles colliding with player capsule SDFs Here’s everything combined. Every element is simulated at runtime, at 60 fps on base PS5, with no baked simulation assets. This lets us ship multiple spawn animations, each with slight randomization so it looks a little different every time the player wakes up. Final player spawn sequence An ever-evolving development journey Reading through what Risto, Sharman, and Konsta broke down here, the goal for us and our technology has always been the same: every simulation, every effect, every rendering decision exists to make you feel something when you play. Making games means believing in something you can’t yet prove, and the only people who can ever confirm it are the players themselves. Saros players told us, in their own words, that what we built mattered. And that means everything to us. Our games will keep informing the technology we develop for Graphite, always showcasing what PlayStation as a platform can do. We can’t wait to share that future with you.

Title: The Planet Crafter launches on PS5 July 21 Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2026 13:00:13 +0000 Link: https://blog.playstation.com/2026/06/16/the-planet-crafter-launches-on-ps5-july-21/ Hello! I’m Amélie from Miju Games. We’re so excited for you to finally get to try our survival game The Planet Crafter when it launches on PS5 next month.  Play Video The Planet Crafter is unlike many of the survival games you’ve played in the past. When we were designing it, we sought to make a chill, non-violent survival experience. The Planet Crafter will still challenge you. The player has to carefully manage needs like oxygen, food, and water; especially early in the game, you can push your limits too far and discover that there’s a fatal result to that. But this isn’t a game with jump scares and monsters. There’s nothing to dread behind that boulder or in the depths of that cave. But there is wonder. We’ve made some big worlds for you to explore, and secrets to uncover. The planets and moons you will find are evolving as you start the long journey to terraform them. When you build heat pumps and drill into a planet’s core to raise the atmospheric pressure and temperature, you’ll find that the changes are more than just cosmetic. Maybe a glacier has melted, revealing a new valley you couldn’t access before. When life starts to take root in your world, perhaps you’ll notice trees growing that provide a bridge to a new location. The Planet Crafter is not a violent game, but we promise that it is full of adventure. One point of inspiration for us when creating The Planet Crafter surprises people when we tell them. We’ve always appreciated idle games, and you’ll find some of that DNA in our game. When you build terraforming machines they keep operating as long as your grid has power. You’re always making progress towards that next terraforming milestone. We think that’s a great way of encouraging you to explore. Let the machines do their thing while you go hunt for relics from a lost previous expedition, prospect for rare minerals in the shards of a fallen meteorite, or get acquainted with the new life forms that you’ve introduced into the world. In The Planet Crafter, things are always getting a little better. We can’t wait to see the bases that you and your friends create in single-player or co-op in The Planet Crafter on PlayStation 5. The worlds we’ve created for you to terraform may be stark and desolate when you first arrive. But with a little effort, we hope you will find that they’re warm and inviting places for you to hang out. Good luck out there, and we hope to see you soon in-game.

Title: Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ final update features Animus-bending endgame content Domains Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:00:36 +0000 Link: https://blog.playstation.com/2026/06/15/assassins-creed-shadows-final-update-features-animus-bending-endgame-content-domains/ Assassin’s Creed Shadows will launch its final update on June 16, featuring a final story quest which sees Naoe and Yasuke face off against a mysterious pair of Templars and includes a few narrative connections to the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced. Plus, a whole new endgame feature called Domains will bring new ways for players to test their skills and builds in the ultimate arena. We sat down with Associate Game Director Simon Lemay-Comtois to dig into what Domains is and how it’s designed to break your beloved gear builds. Play Video What is Domains? Simon: Domains is a new Animus-bending activity that remixes some parts of Shadows and puts them into a very different, more fantastical context. It’s basically the final exam for Shadows players who love the RPG elements of the game. It features five maps, known as Domains, and each time you play there will be different modifiers thrown in. You’ll need to switch up your build to suit the map, the challenges, and the modifiers. What kinds of challenges can players expect? Simon: Killing the Daishos in each map will unlock the final boss arena where you will take on one of three corrupted, Animus-altered boss fights, all while dealing with the modifiers. The harder the difficulty, the more modifiers you’ll have to deal with at once, and the more negative modifiers you are likely to get. For example, in the easier challenges maybe you’ll get a health boost, but as you progress the deck becomes stacked against you. We also have Animus Exploits which you can use to nullify some of those modifiers, but if your build and skills aren’t on point, then you’re still going to have a rough time. Are builds unique to Domains? Simon: Builds carry over from the main game and anything you create in Domains will be usable there too, since it uses the same interface. The Animus Exploits can’t be used anywhere else, but equipment that you already have will be accessible in Domains and rewards you get will be accessible in the main game. Although, you might find your existing builds need some tweaking, especially as you get to the higher difficulties. Which modifier is your favorite? Simon: So, there’s one called “Like a Prayer” that creates a circle around you. That circle does damage over time, and breakable objects that end up inside the circle get destroyed: doors, barrels, everything just tearing itself to shreds as you advance through the world. It’s super cool. What rewards can players earn in Domains? Simon: There are a bunch of weapons and equipment that are completely unique to Domains, and you can’t get them any other way than completing the challenges. They’re not for purchase and they’re really a badge of honor for players who meet the challenges. And you won’t want to miss them, especially if you’re a fan of the Assassin’s Creed series. This isn’t a narrative-driven feature, but it does fit within the context of the modern-day, real-world Animus setting. In Domains, you are dealing with a human rather than the AIs you interact with in the main game. MOD is a hacker who breaches the Animus and creates Domains, and if you dig around, ask some questions, and find a few little clues, you will get more context and lore about her and what the future might hold. There’s second-degree knowledge to gain from Domains, even though it’s not a narrative-heavy feature. Is there any map that you think is more challenging than the others? Simon: Oh, they’re all very challenging in different ways. For example, if you’re anxious about limited visual distance, the Whiteout Domain is inspired by the harsh winters of Canada, and it can be somewhat tricky to find your way around. I know Quebec City like the back of my hand, but in a blizzard that all goes out the window. But as you kill more and more Daishos, the weather should react and clear up which is a nice feature I wish I had during those Quebec blizzards. Do you have any advice to help players master Domains? Simon: Don’t sleep on Yasuke – a lot of players have put a ton of time into Naoe, but not so much into Yasuke builds. Sometimes he’s the only valid answer to certain modifiers. The power fantasy of Yasuke maxed out, being able to do everything with all his weapons, is definitely a good strategy for some of those domain runs. Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ final update launches completely free on June 16 on PS5. Make sure to download the latest content to dive into the final chapter of Naoe and Yasuke’s tale and challenge yourself to unlock the exclusive rewards (and associated bragging rights) from Domains.

Title: Share of the Week: Duality Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2026 16:00:26 +0000 Link: https://blog.playstation.com/2026/06/12/share-of-the-week-duality-2/ Last week, we asked players to share Duality using reflections, opposites, or anything that comes in pairs using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here’s are this week’s highlights: Crimsonashtree shares two different Conor’s in Detroit: Become Human ContinuousGojo shares Cal Kestis undercover in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Mur4dQ shares Mio and Zoe escaping a city in Split Fiction Rorottino shares Sam in a climactic battle in Death Stranding Call_me_xavii shares Atsu and her mother in Ghost of Yōtei Parmindernangla shares Miles and Peter in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 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: SarosSUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on June 17, 2026  Next week, Saros takes the spotlight. With the new photo mode update share your favorite moments from exploring Carcosa using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

Title: Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis hands-on report Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2026 13:00:07 +0000 Link: https://blog.playstation.com/2026/06/11/tomb-raider-legacy-of-atlantis-hands-on-report/ Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis is a fresh, reimagined take on Lara Croft’s first adventure. I recently played about an hour of Legacy of Atlantis at Summer Game Fest 2026, and saw first-hand how developers Crystal Dynamics and Flying Wild Hog are bringing elements from the original game and its first remake, 2007’s Tomb Raider Anniversary, into the modern era. The preview took me to the Lost Valley area in Peru, where I was tasked with solving a new version of Tomb Raider’s iconic cog puzzle. Here, two cogs are needed to reconnect a mechanism that can stop the flow of a nearby waterfall, revealing the door that will let her deeper into the hidden jungle. The mechanism sits in a small pond, and while the first cog is easy to come by, you’ll have to discover the second on your own. Play Video This first portion of the Lost Valley contains no combat, instead putting an emphasis on finding your way through an area full of side paths that can lead you to collectibles and hidden items. Pointedly, Legacy of Atlantis provides little guidance on where to find your missing cog. Instead, you have to use clues in the environment to figure out where to go for yourself. It’s an intentional choice that plays into Lara’s character as an archaeologist and explorer — and finding the right path through the area was, at times, pretty difficult. “If we put you in the boots of Lara Croft, and then hand you a map, or give you Waze directions on where to go, you’re going to feel like, ‘Where’s the challenge in that? Where’s the connection to the character and the headspace that she’s at?'” said Jeff Adams, Experience Director at Crystal Dynamics, during an interview after my session. But Game Director Raul Siqueira at Crystal Dynamics also noted that the team didn’t want to give the impression that Legacy of Atlantis is meant to be a difficult game. Instead, he said, it’s meant to give players the tools they need to create the experience they enjoy, including the ability to increase guidance, and to set the difficulty of puzzles and combat independent from one another. Exploring is its own reward, too. You can find caves by diving down into the pool by hitting Circle while you’re swimming, or discover handholds in walls that lead into ruined buildings, and more. Many of the items to be found yielded rare materials that suggested crafting will be a big part of Lara’s experience, too, although it wasn’t part of the demo.  As in the past, Lara is an acrobatic explorer, hanging off and leaping between ledges with X and using a grappling hook to cross large gaps with Triangle. You’ll even sometimes swing between horizontal poles, timing when to hit X to let go at just the right moment. Though it took a while of searching, I eventually found my way to the last gear, stuck to an ancient wooden contraption. I found a path to climb up and swing across to the gear so Lara could kick it loose, knocking it down into the stream so it would flow down to the mechanism below. After aligning the cogs, the ancient machine started working, the waterfall closed off, and Lara made her way through the doors. Moments later, I stepped back into the jungle — only for velociraptors to leap from the foliage and attack. Here, I finally got to fire away with Lara’s classic dual pistols, which unload as you hold down R2. You can either fire the guns one at a time while on the run, or tighten your aim and go full bore by holding L2 while you shoot. The raptors are quick, fearsome predators, heaving themselves at Lara with vicious attacks, and it quickly became clear that the key to combat in Legacy of Atlantis is to stay mobile and aggressive yourself. When you press Circle, Lara will dive, roll, and cartwheel to deftly escape incoming attacks. Between the exploration elements like swinging from poles, Lara’s long jumps, and the acrobatic dodges and dives in combat, Legacy of Atlantis takes on a bit of a throwback feel. Lara has a slight floatiness that gives the impression of how she felt to control in older Tomb Raider games. It’s a fun melding of modern game design and old-school game feel.  Verify your age to view this content. Verify your age to view this content. “We did look at combat from the lenses of, like, what did we do during the Survivor era [during the last three games] that made sense for Lara at that time in her life, that may not make sense for Lara at the top of her game, which is where we find her in Legacy of Atlantis?” Siqueira told me. “So we were very conscious of, Lara in combat needs to move the same way that she moves in traversal, she needs to move the same way that she does with her puzzles, it needs to be distinctively hers, it needs to have like all the flourishes that you expect, the acrobatics — everything that you want that power fantasy of Lara Croft to be needs to be present.” Verify your age to view this content. Verify your age to view this content. As you attack enemies, you’ll earn Focus, which you can then spend by hitting R1. Doing so lets Lara do a gymnastic flip while time briefly slows, allowing you to fire your guns while dodging. Siqueira said the developers used Focus to help give players an advantage over enemies, so they wouldn’t feel like Lara’s distinct, acrobatic movements were leaving them vulnerable. After pushing down the path and fighting off a few more groups of dinosaurs, things really took a turn. A massive tyrannosaurus rex burst through the trees, triggering a chase scene as Lara and the raptors both went sprinting away from its snapping jaws. While this was a set piece moment, it was still challenging, requiring me to make a careful leap as Lara went sliding down a muddy hill, or to quickly climb a wall, to avoid becoming a snack. The demo ended soon after on a heart-pumping cliffhanger as the T-rex closed in. During my brief time with it, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis did a lot to capture the old-school feeling of the Tomb Raider series, but with a lot of modern sensibilities. You can leap into Lara Croft’s first adventure yourself when Legacy of Atlantis launches on February 12, 2027.

Title: Fired Rockstar developers can bring blacklisting claims against the GTA 6 developer, UK tribunal rules as final trial looms Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 16:01:50 +0000 Link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fired-rockstar-developers-can-bring-blacklisting-claims-against-the-gta-6-developer-uk-tribunal-rules-as-final-trial-looms An employment tribunal in the UK has ruled against striking blacklisting claims levied against Rockstar Games by staff the GTA 6 studio abruptly fired last year from ongoing legal proceedings between the two sides. The staff were let go in autumn last year, with Rockstar subsequently claiming that they were fired due to the leaking of "confidential information" via a public forum. The IWGB Game Workers Union, representing the ousted workers, have accused Rockstar of union busting over the firings. Read more

Title: Abe Lincoln dodged the bullet in goblinAmerica, a brain-mottling shooter set in a putrefying alternative USA Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:52:09 +0000 Link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/abe-lincoln-dodged-the-bullet-in-goblinamerica-a-brain-mottling-shooter-set-in-a-putrefying-alternative-usa Towards the end of goblinAmerica's tutorial level, you mercilessly gun down a huge cherry tree. Like much else in the game's world, the tree is an abomination – beige and rubbery as a stunted hatchling, with hard, tacky fruit hanging from it like dumbbells torturously sewn into the skin. Its death throes are pathetic, and somehow erotic. It sags and sprawls, breasting across the arena boobily with an undefinable cry. I am happy that this creature is slain, and hope never to encounter its like again. I know in my heart that I will. Read more

Title: From its electric melee fights to its surprise Firewatch nods, Control Resonant's radical sequelcraft looks like it might just pay off Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:52:36 +0000 Link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/from-its-electric-melee-fights-to-its-surprise-firewatch-nods-control-resonants-radical-sequelcraft-looks-like-it-might-just-pay-off It seems appropriate that Control Resonant drags the Remedyverse back away from Alan Wake II’s screeching horror, as it’s spent the past few weeks – and as of yesterday, about three hours of playable preview build – assuaging my fears. Control the First, in my defence, took its kinetically supernatural shooting, put it in the hands of a likeable hero, and wrapped everything in a delightfully weird megastructure of brutalist concrete. Could Resonant get away with changing all three? Read more

Title: "The world is built": Skyblivion devs call for extra quest-making hands to help overcome the massive mod's "final roadblocks" to release Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:21:50 +0000 Link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-world-is-built-skyblivion-devs-call-for-extra-quest-making-hands-to-help-overcome-the-massive-mods-final-roadblocks-to-release A couple of months on from pushing to make some vital veteran additions to their team in order to get their massive Oblivion remake mod over the line, Skyblivion's developers are once again appealing for volunteers to aid in overcoming some "final roadblocks" standing the way of its release. Meanwhile, it sounds like the chances of another statistical breakdown from the modders running down exactly what's left to be done are low, with Skyblivion's implementation lead asserting that the mod's so close to the finish line such data's no longer "a super relevant way of displaying our remaining work". Read more

Title: Many live service games are just an MMO subscription "hidden inside of a neat 'optional' package", argue Guild Wars 3 devs in a post about the new game's monetisation Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 12:10:39 +0000 Link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/many-live-service-games-are-just-an-mmo-subscription-hidden-inside-of-a-neat-optional-package-argue-guild-wars-3-devs-in-a-post-about-the-new-games-monetisation Guild Wars 3 developers ArenaNet have published a Hot Take of sorts about the MMORPG genre, while explaining in broad strokes how their forthcoming "modern evolution" will differ from Guild Wars 1, released in 2005, and Guild Wars 2, released in 2012. As they note, MMOs and gaming at large have changed enormously over the course of the series. Entire business models, storage formats, and subsets of bikini armour have come and gone. In particular, the developers offer some thoughts about how the MMO genre at large has bled into the concept of live service, making the case that a lot of notionally "optional" live service game monetisation consists of talking around the fact that you're effectively demanding a subscription. Read more