Title: Nippon Ichi, NIS America Head Says Company Is ‘Researching’ AI But Personally Doesn’t Think It Will Make Development Faster Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 19:00:02 +0000 Link: https://kotaku.com/nippon-ichi-nis-america-head-company-researching-ai-2000737211 'The best way to [apply AI] would be in a way that actually improves the quality of the game'

Title: Microsoft CEO On Recent Xbox Layoffs: ‘There’s Some Amount Of Streamlining Asha Is Doing…Which Is Great To See’ Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 18:38:57 +0000 Link: https://kotaku.com/microsoft-ceo-on-recent-xbox-layoffs-theres-some-amount-of-streamlining-asha-is-doing-which-is-great-to-see-2000737217 Don't worry folks, everything is going great and according to plan

Title: Disgaea Dev CEO Says Company Is Having ‘Discussions’ With Sony About The End Of Physical Discs: ‘I Think That They’re Hearing A Lot Of The Feedback From Customers’ Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 18:11:16 +0000 Link: https://kotaku.com/disgaea-dev-ceo-discussions-sony-physical-discs-2000737194 'It's possible that the discussion may change in the future'

Title: RuneScape: Dragonwilds Devs Admit Switch 2 Port Looks Bad, Promise Improvements, And Plan To Update Eshop With Accurate Screenshots Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 17:30:46 +0000 Link: https://kotaku.com/runescape-dragonwilds-devs-admit-switch-2-port-looks-bad-promise-improvements-and-plan-to-update-eshop-with-accurate-screenshots-2000737184 Jagex has warned players that it will take some time to overhaul and improve the survival game on Nintendo's console

Title: Several Final Fantasy XIV Modding Communities Have Banned Popular NSFW Modder Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 17:00:02 +0000 Link: https://kotaku.com/final-fantasy-14-nsfw-modder-noffletoff-alleged-csam-discussion-ring-2000737071 The bans came after modder Noffletoff was credibly accused of participating in graphic discussions of illegal content

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: Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Made Me Realize I’ve Been Playing Action Games Wrong Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 18:17:14 +0000 Link: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/onimusha-way-of-the-sword-made-me-realize-ive-been-playing-action-games-wrong/ There are a number of fights in Onimusha: Way of the Sword that get on my nerves. Greater Nue. Byakue for the, like, umpteenth time. Sasuke Uchiha--I mean, Sasaki Ganryu. The stupid last boss, who I thought would literally never die. I felled them, one after the other, most times on the first or second try, but it forced me to rethink how I played the game because the greatest enemy of all was actually the fickle camera. On multiple occasions, the camera would get stuck in a wall or phase through an enemy’s torso. Seeing where I was and who I was fighting became a battle itself as I fought on the actual battlefield--until I did one simple thing: I stopped locking on to what was in front of me. Suddenly, I felt like a true samurai warrior, my eyes observing the full combat zone as I more accurately predicted and reacted to my enemy’s movements. With this new freedom, I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to locking on to everything again. An Old Tactic In A New Game "What's that, Shizuka? You want me to stop locking on?" For the early stages of my time with Capcom’s macabre samurai adventure, I clicked the right stick in to lock onto the enemy who stood in front of my sword. It didn’t matter the number of enemies that were there; that lock-on was literally always toggled, and I could very easily switch my target from one to the other if necessary. It wasn’t until about seven hours into the game that I began to reconsider this tactic. During the game’s 11th story mission, What Lurks in the Shadows, you encounter two Raikou-looking monsters named Nue (Blue) and Nue (Red). You battle one of these quadrupedal beasts earlier in the mission, so you should be familiar with their moveset, but fighting two of them, with their lightning-fast movement, sucks. I died. A lot. It’s frustrating because neither the fight (nor the game itself) is all that challenging, but the camera kept getting in the way, making it difficult to keep one Nue in focus while the other charged me from offscreen. This is where I tried something different. I toggled my lock-on off, and before I knew it, those Nues were no more. Clicking The Lock-On Off Just Clicks This isn’t a new tactic in action-adventure and action-RPGs. Players have been fighting without lock-on for decades, and Souls players in particular have long discussed the advantages of doing so. A netizen in the Dark Souls subreddit asked two years ago why people hate locking on in the game, and user Gabosh responded that unlocking “simply [allows] you to manually control the camera or aim spells” and is “useful against giant enemies or 1v2 boss fights.” Someone in the Dark Souls 3 GameFAQs forum asked a similar question nine years ago, explaining that Souls games become “SO much easier if you don't lock on and just learn to free aim.” And even in Elden Ring’s Steam discussions page, someone decried how sick they’ve grown of the lock-on system two years ago, with user Sockwallet saying that you should “NEVER use lock-on for melee in Souls games, [because] it gets you killed.” Evidently, I never got the memo that locking on was bad. But many of these discussions highlighted two things I learned in my own testing: control and freedom. I thought that, as I fought through Onimusha’s hell-transformed world, locking on was the way to go. It squared me up with the enemy in front of me, ensuring that I was always looking ahead at what was coming. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbmpcYkUh_U Sometimes, though, what’s coming isn’t in front of you, and when you’re locked on, you’d never see that. I learned that the hard way during my fight with those two annoying Jolteon knock-offs. By unlocking, I had much more freedom over the camera, giving me greater awareness of my surroundings. On top of the freedom, I gained a greater sense of control over the flow of battle and protagonist Miyamoto Musashi’s movements. While locking on let me react to the enemy, employing free aim let me react to the fight as a whole. Instead of the camera dictating who I fought and where I was positioned, I was able to scan the arena, reposition Musashi based on enemy tactics, and make informed combat decisions in response to what was happening around me. I stopped circle-strafing and stood my ground more. I stopped dodging haphazardly and parried more effectively. I stopped letting the camera determine my next target and, instead, thinned the pack based on enemy priority. In essence, I became a combat strategist, analyzing the battlefield and enemy movements to attack and defend at the perfect moments. A Tactic For One Is A Tactic For All I really hated this boss fight... Ever since my encounter with the Nue Twins, I’ve opted for free aim in almost all combat scenarios. Whether I’m fighting a horde of monsters, two bosses at once, or one big bad, my lock-on is typically off now. I’m enjoying the control and freedom too much to relinquish it to the automation of Onimusha’s lock-on system. I’ve gotten so accustomed to it that, after beating the game in roughly 40 hours, I went back to other action games like Ghost of Yotei and Mortal Shell 2 to see just how effective free aim is. And yep, free aim works! I don’t know why I never considered not locking on before this, but I’m glad to have experimented with it now. Locking on certainly has its place--don’t get me wrong. The final boss in Onimusha: Way of the Sword is a real piece of s**t and a great example of this. It’s a 1-on-1 duel, locking onto your opponent makes sense here. But even then, toggling the lock-on off during certain segments of the fight--particularly the second phase--provides a better sense of control and freedom, and those two traits are important in action games. I’ll continue to lock on when necessary, but from now on, I’m entering fights with no target in mind, allowing myself to flow like water from one enemy to the next, regardless of what game I’m playing.

Title: Yes, Beyond Good & Evil 2 Is Somehow Still In Development Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 17:13:13 +0000 Link: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/yes-beyond-good-evil-2-is-somehow-still-in-development/ No news is good news, they say. They also say that some news, however little, is good news, too, and girl, do we have some news: Ubisoft's struggling action-adventure game Beyond Good & Evil 2 is still alive despite remaining in development hell. Ubisoft Bordeaux's lead writer and associate narrative director Rik Godwin took to Bluesky on September 22 to provide a brief update on the game. "Odd sort of non-announcement but for the past few months I've been working on Beyond Good & Evil 2 in a support/consultant role," Godwin, who was a writer on Assassin's Creed Shadows, said. "I am allowed to say this, I checked." It makes sense that Ubisoft Bordeaux would assist with Beyond Good & Evil 2. According to IGN, Ubisoft Montpellier, which is leading the project's development, is just south of the Bordeaux studio. And although Ubisoft Bordeaux was the lead developer on both 2023's Assassin's Creed Mirage and Shadows' 2025 expansion Claws of Awaji, that studio typically operates in a support role for Ubisoft's myriad other teams. This minor update comes nearly 10 years after Ubisoft re-revealed Beyond Good & Evil 2 at E3 2017, and nearly 20 years after Ubisoft announced the action-adventure sequel all the way back in May 2008. There have been some rumblings of progress, with Ubisoft posting hints that development was ongoing in November 2025 and January 2026. However, whatever progress that has been made has been slow at best and invisible at worst. Although there's no release date at the moment, Ubisoft has continued to swear that Beyond Good & Evil 2 will be released in due time. Just don't expect it anytime soon, and at this rate, maybe don't expect it in this current console generation.

Title: The Best New Co-Op Games From The Last 6 Months Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2026 09:28:00 +0000 Link: https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/best-new-co-op-games/2900-7377/ The best new co-op games are those that do something a bit different, offering more than just a single-player experience with another player thoughtlessly tacked on. If you're going to sit down with your friends and dig into a great game, you want to make sure every person has their own equally-weighted, unique role to play. So if you're looking for a chilled out co-op experience--or something a bit more frenzied--we've got you, all of these games are especially designed for groups, or at least have a solid multiplayer mode. The last six months have been especially rich with new co-op titles for you and your pals to gather around. This list (which will be updated regularly) looks at the full spectrum of new co-op games, from drop-in party games for 10+ people, to detailed story-based adventures requiring just two players. These games all require a joint investment from at least two people to really get the most out of them, making them the perfect games to show to friends, partners, kids, and family. If you're looking for a couples night in, try one of our best two-player co-op games, and if you're wanting to play side-by side, we've got you covered with our best couch co-op games list, too. Burglin' Gnomes Release Date: June 10, 2026 If you and up to five friends have ever wondered what it would be like to be gnomes invading strangers' houses--and let's be honest, who hasn't--now is your chance to live that dream. That's the whole premise of the aptly titled Burglin' Gnomes, a game where you get to be tiny and stealthy: stealing, crafting, completing tasks, and looking out for one another. There's plenty of replayability as you can come up with your own solutions to ridiculous puzzles, and the more chaos you cause, the better your experience will be. See at Steam Advertisement Aniimo Release date: September 16, 2026 Aniimo is adorable. It's genuinely a key selling point. But the fact you can explore this entirely free-to-play game with your friends and catch fantastical creatures is another. We noticed months ago how wildly ambitious Aniimo is, but now it's out you can see for yourselves. The open-world map is enormous, players can battle and trade, and you can catch and tame over 200 creatures and create a homestead base of your own design. See at Steam Advertisement Wand & Order: Tidy Up The Magic Shop Release date: September 23, 2026 A cozy tidying-up game for up to four friends who want something cute and mystical to keep them busy these cooler fall nights. The more you tidy, the more spells you unlock to help you get things done, neatly stacking books and removing bottles and cards from the chaos. Each room is beautifully crafted (and the devs have proudly stated everything is human-made with no AI input), and full of thousands of objects to sort, organize, and categorize. It's a great game to jump into when you need to catch up with your pals, keeping your hands busy but allowing you to chat comfortably while you clean. See at Steam Advertisement RuneScape: Dragonwilds Release date: 15 September, 2026 If RuneScape was feeling a bit dry, Dragonwilds is the answer, introducing a whole new continent (and content) to previously established lore. You and your friends will join forces online to create a thriving community that continues to adapt and develop even while you're offline. It's more of a survival-y crafting game than previous iterations of RuneScape, so you'll be able to make your own base and truly form a clan of dragon-slaying heroes. We've put together a list of things you need to know before you play Runescape: Dragonwilds, so check that out before you go adventuring. See at Steam Advertisement Dawson Oaks Trailer Park Release date: September 17, 2026 Dawson Oaks is what you'd get if Trailer Park Boys was turned into a social deduction game, so obviously it's great. The game has you and your pals coming up with illegal schemes and carrying out crimes, while avoiding being caught by the park supervisor. Unfortunately for your band of dirtbags, there's a snitch among you, feeding info back to the authorities. You'll have no idea who keeps snitching, so it's easier to suspect everyone. There's 13 individual roles within one game--drug dealer, junkie, moonshine cook, creep, scrapper, pyromaniac, gambler, thief, drunk, prankster, and hobo are the criminal roles, while two other friends play as park supervisor and snitch. Committing the crimes is one thing, but keeping info locked down and avoiding arrest is another. See at Steam Advertisement Fears To Fathom: Scratch Creek Release date: June 10, 2026 The latest in the Fears To Fathom anthology series, Scratch Creek is an online two-player co-op horror that plays out like a walking simulator with all the bells and whistles. Proximity chat means you and your partner can negotiate your choices, and you can text back and forth when you're apart. If you can't find someone you know to play with, the game will match you up with someone else online, as you need two people to stand a chance of surviving in Scratch Creek. See at Steam Advertisement Subnautica 2 Release date: May 14, 2026 (Early Access) While Subnautica 2 is still in Steam Early Access, you'll want to grab it ASAP if you like exploring alien worlds with your pals. The sequel to 2018's Subnautica supports up to 4-player co-op, meaning you can combine skills and wits to build a sturdy base and survive in a challenging underwater environment. Everything here is new, so scanning and learning to understand the local lifeforms is a big part of your job, and could make all the difference to your survival chances. Early Access means a few features, such as character customization, are not yet present, but if you're already playing you'll be the first to know when it drops. We're staying ahead of the curve with our list of the best Subnautica 2 mods to download, so keep an eye on that for more custom options. See at Steam Advertisement Swapmeat Release date: June 17, 2026 Swapmeat is a fairly grotesque premise, but nevertheless makes for an excellent, fast-paced, drop-in co-op for up to 4 players. Combat is about grabbing body parts and making the most of them, hitting people with their own hands, outmaneuvering them on their own legs, and stealing their head to power yourself up. Pretty much everything the enemy might turn against you can be stolen and used against them, and these parts are combined at random, meaning no two runs will ever be quite the same. Difficulty scales when new players join,s o the more you have, the more of a challenge enemies will present, whereas tackling it alone might be a little easier. Within that you have four difficulty levels, though, so if the extremely quick-on-the-draw combat takes some time to adjust to, you can always dial things down a notch. See at Steam Advertisement 33 Immortals Release date: 10 June, 2026 When we say co-op or multiplayer we don't usually mean 33 players at once. That's the premise of 33 Immortals though, a co-op action roguelike for 33 players that lets you swarm enemies and try to overpower them in both skill and sheer numbers.  You and your fellow Immortals are damned souls, going up against God and starting a rebellion, so the stakes couldn't really be higher. There are no lobbies for online co-op, you'll just be dropped straight into the action, or you can play with up to 4 of your pals in a more streamlined version of the game (or even alone, but that seems like a challenge). See at Steam Advertisement Meccha Chameleon Release date: 10 June, 2026 You might have seen this one being streamed already, as Meccha Chameleon quickly became  in turn viral, and then a meme in its own right within just a few days. It's a chaotic hide-and-seek variant where plain white-bodied mannequins look to hide from the Seekers by painting their bodies to match with their surroundings. Hiders can pose and hide all they like, but without a bit of artistic flair their bright white bodies might be spotted against the colourful backgrounds of the game. It's recommended to play the game with up to 10 players, but adding more is possible depending on your network capabilities. See at Steam Advertisement Forza Horizon 6 Release date: 15 May, 2026 It seems like just about everyone is going to Japan this year, and the world of gaming is no different. Forza Horizon 6 is set on the sleek streets of Japan, one of the most requested locations from fans worldwide. The world-crafting doesn't disappoint, with gorgeous Fuji-adjacent high‑speed highway stretches, tight mountain roads, and festival‑style events that capture the region’s cultural and automotive diversity. With all the attention to detail, enhanced features, and smooth driving simulation, Forza Horizon 6 signals a new peak for open world driving games. You can read our review here. See at Steam Advertisement Gamble With Your Friends Release date: 1 May, 2026 Gamble With Your Friends is a 1-6 player "casino-crawler" where you and your pals are let loose in a casino with a shared bank account. You're all working together to make terrible life choices and try to pay off your massive debt through gambling, upgrading your items, and climbing higher into the tower as your lone shark looms. The game combines 17 games of chance and 4 casino floors with an intense need for co-ordination between you all, as one risky all-in could spell disaster for you all. See at Steam Advertisement Hold Your King Release date: 30 June, 2026 We love a physics-based platformer, especially one you and your less-coordinated pals can grapple with together, and Hold Your King is a hilarious royal challenge that'll cause chaos in the friend group. In the game, you and a friend team up to carry a demanding King on a stretcher, while navigating challenging medieval courses packed with deadly obstacles. You’ll need to keep momentum, speed, and balance in check, so communication will be key in keeping the stubborn king from rolling down a hill or into a river. It's a great addition to your library if you're always on the look out for great two-player co-op games. See at Steam Advertisement Far Far West Release date: 28 April, 2026 Far Far West plays like Helldivers at 2X speed, with teams of up to four players battling the rootin' tootin' wild west with everything they've got. As a team of robot bounty hunters, you'll have to fight Wild West-themed enemies like bulls, vultures, and even six-shooting reanimated skeletons. If you can hold onto your hat while changing up weapons, upgrading equipment, and shooting fast with both hands, you'll enjoy the chaotic challenge offered by Far Far West. You can even customize your horse. See at Fanatical Fanatical and GameSpot are both owned by Fandom Advertisement

Title: Not Everything Needs To Be A Soulslike, And Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Shows Why Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 16:25:26 +0000 Link: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/not-everything-needs-to-be-a-soulslike-and-onimusha-way-of-the-sword-shows-why/ In 2011, Dark Souls let players praise the sun, and that sun cast a shadow long enough to engulf the whole industry. The action-RPG--boosted by its spiritual predecessor, Demon’s Souls--kickstarted a new subgenre with a refreshing level of boldness that made it unignorable for any developer making a game with a sword. It was a paradigm shift that swallowed the action genre and meant almost everything was molded after Dark Souls and its stamina meter, methodical movement, and esoteric world. Even with small deviations here and there, there was seemingly little room for action games unwilling to stick to this blueprint. This dearth of variety is precisely what makes Onimusha: Way of the Sword so refreshing. Instead of capitulating to trends, Capcom’s latest hit bravely demonstrates a level of versatility action games should have had all this time in this post-Dark Souls world. Way of the Sword sheds a number of key soulslike principles. There are no bonfires that repopulate the lands, interlocking paths filled with shortcuts, corpse runs, stamina bars to micromanage, obnoxious boss runbacks, or obtuse lore bits hidden in item descriptions that require VaatiVidya explainers to fully grasp. Way of the Sword doesn’t begin with a four-minute monologue from a cockney witch speaking cryptically about the Blight or Corruption sweeping the earth. Instead, it kicks off with a gaggle of jokes that demonstrate hero Musashi Miyamoto’s character well: He’s an unserious goofball who is seriously talented with a blade and just wants to eat his rice ball in peace. Its ability to subvert soulslike tenets is more important when the swords start clanging. Soulslike games are often built upon reacting. Every time Malenia does her dive-bomb move, you have to dodge and wail on her during her abundant amount of recovery frames. When the King of Puppets does his spin and slam, you just need to react to whether or not he will do a second one before you unload. The bosses may have various tentacles or mechanical parts, but the dance of waiting to parry- or whiff-punish can often be broadly similar.  The King of Puppets from Lies of P. Action games can and should be more than this, but the penchant to follow From Software so intently has narrowed what's possible. This is in contrast to other types of action games like Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, and Ninja Gaiden, the Holy Trinity of franchises that get brought up when dissecting the genre. The former two are all about freestyling on enemies and using a variety of weapons to create YouTube-worthy juggle montages. Ninja Gaiden, at its best (and it’s not always at its best), prioritizes speed and efficiency, since vindictive enemy AI requires perfection to skirt on by. It's a rush to execute elaborate, S-rank aerial combos and slice through a room of ninjas unscathed, and even though these are different paths, both roads are paved through the player’s active choices. Whereas being an active participant is typically defined in the genre through offense, Way of the Sword flips this on its head by primarily using defense to give players a more active role. Blocking, parrying, deflecting, dodging, and the all-powerful Issen all have various uses and have players balancing risk and reward. Regular parrying is relatively easy to do, thanks to a forgiving window, but the payoff is meager. Deflecting is riskier because it requires two button presses and delays the reward by negating the opportunity for an immediate counter slash, but it can melt stamina bars more quickly. The Issen is the most explosive of them all, as it requires near-perfect timing and, more importantly, punishes failure, yet it can lop off a sizable chunk of health and stamina upon success. Dodging is more fruitful for physical, non-weapon attacks, however, it’s tricky to remember that in the heat of the moment when so much else requires a parry of some kind. This layered process yields layered choices. Is deflecting better when the stakes are high or will parrying suffice? Performing a last-second Issen may put the lanky and ever-annoying Ganryu into an exhausted state, but goofing it up will undoubtedly prove fatal. Players have to constantly make these decisions within a split second and have the skill to actually pull them off. The high skill ceiling also means boss fights can evolve after each handful of retries, as players get more confident with each death. Although it is a little tedious to fight Dohatsu-ten around a dozen times, the repeated attempts are swaggier every time and serve as valid ways to mark your skill progression. A battle against Dohatsu-ten in Way of the Sword. Even with a focus on action, Way of the Sword still has reactive elements. There are blade barrages, blade locks, parry and block breaks, grab counters, and unavoidable attacks, all of which require reactions and often have one correct response. But this breadth is the point. The variety is what keeps players on their toes and duels unpredictable. Players may get used to deflecting an incoming flurry but then a blade lock requires sudden mashing. A boss might look stunned but then whip out a counter stance that spells death if players don't halt their offense and break out the Oni arms. As illustrated through this balance, reactive elements don't automatically make a game lesser. Titles like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Lies of P, and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty are all centered around parries and remain thrilling tests of skill. This also isn't to say these games don't have more active elements--that's where pre-fight weapon and gear choices come into play--but they, with a few exceptions, place a lot of weight on a single type of parry. These three games are just designed well enough so this approach doesn't feel like a setback or cliché. A close up of a parry in Way of the Sword. And there are some solid to fantastic games that go down the Dark Souls route and abide by many of its restrictions, but the problem here is the sheer quantity of them and how they contribute to the imbalance. Stamina-based action-RPGs have become the default for action games, and no genre should be this narrow. Whether it's Dark Souls with anime or Dark Souls with Italians, it's still Dark Souls and not something willing to trek into more uncharted territory. God of War played a similar role in the mid-2000s, as titles like Dante’s Inferno, Conan, Heavenly Sword, Ghost Rider, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow all prayed at the altar of the newly minted Greek deity. Genre titans come and go, but this current trend is much more prevalent and has been going on for a lot longer. But there has been a burgeoning vanguard of action games that have resisted the urge to conform to From’s template. Hi-Fi Rush was a gorgeous and thoughtful Devil May Cry-like game with a focus on rhythmic beatdowns. Ninja Gaiden 4, despite its bloated runtime and tanky mobs, recalled the series’ glory days well enough. Control Resonant, for all of the valid criticism that could (and should) be leveled at its shallow combat, isn’t even close to being a soulslike. The jury is still out on Phantom Blade Zero, but various leads have repeatedly talked about games like Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Sifu, Ninja Gaiden, and Devil May Cry as influences or personal favorites, while also explaining how the studio wanted to have a “totally different combat system” to buck the perception it was a soulslike. There’s clearly a smidge of soulslike in Phantom Blade Zero--even the developers don’t deny that--but it is actively trying to be more than Dark Souls in faux China. The same goes for Onimusha: Way of the Sword. There are some soulslike elements sprinkled in here and there, but Capcom set its sights on something greater. Other developers should take a similar charge and realize there is more than one way to make an action game. It’s quite ironic how Way of the Sword has players sucking up countless souls when avoiding Souls is what makes the game so engaging.

Title: Marvel Rivals Characters: Every Superhero And Supervillain Revealed So Far Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2026 10:53:00 +0000 Link: https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/marvel-rivals-characters-every-superhero-and-supervillain/2900-5216/ Marvel Comics has one of the best rosters of superheroes and supervillains, and you're able to smash them against each other in Marvel Rivals now that the game is available to play on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. A free-to-play team-based competitive shooter, Marvel Rivals is developed by NetEase and features playable characters from superteams like the Avengers, X-Men, and Guardians of the Galaxy. So far, dozens of heroes and villains are in the game, giving players a diverse group of portal-manipulating wizards, not-so-jolly green giants with astonishing anger management issues, and a fictional K-pop sensation to use in combat. Set in a universe where Doctor Doom and his 2099 incarnation have mucked about with time and created an anomaly called the Timestream Entanglement, this event eventually leads to heroes and villains battling each other in 6v6 battles across destructible environments. For a closer look at how these characters stack up when compared to each other, you can also check out GameSpot's tier lists on the best Vanguard, Duelist, and Strategist characters to play as. You can also read up on how NetEase chooses new characters for the game. Advertisement Iron Man A tech-savvy powerhouse, Iron Man looks like a versatile character with plenty of powerful tools in his arsenal. He can attack foes with his Repulsor rays, unleash a barrage of missiles, and can go airborne. Advertisement Spider-Man With the proportionate speed, strength, and agility of a spider, Spider-Man is an agile option for anyone looking to disrupt the momentum of the opposition. Thanks to his web-shooters, he can temporarily trap opponents and leave them in a vulnerable state. Advertisement Hulk Interestingly, it looks like players will be able to take control of both the Hulk and his puny alter-ego, Bruce Banner. Once Banner hulks out, he gets an enormous health bar boost and he uses a variety of ground-and-pound techniques to smash foes. As part of the team-up gameplay mechanic, Hulk can even channel excess gamma radiation into Iron Man and supercharge the armored Avenger's energy attacks. Advertisement Black Panther The defender and ruler of Wakanda, Black Panther can slash away at the competition with his Vibranium claws and summon the power of the Panther God Bast in battle. Advertisement Loki The god of stories, Loki hasn't forgotten his trickster roots and can confuse enemies by summoning a mystical doppelganger. Loki can even shapeshift into one of the opponents, using their unique skills to cause some chaos. Advertisement Storm Briefly seen at the end of the Marvel Rivals trailer, we're not too certain how Storm plays in the game just yet, but we do know that this mutant weather goddess is no pushover. In media, Storm's weather-manipulating powers allow her to summon lightning, fly with air currents, and even create tornadoes. Advertisement Namor An oceanic powerhouse, Namor can dish out some pain with his trident or summon a squid-like familiar for some extra firepower. Advertisement Doctor Strange Very little has been shown of Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, but from what we have seen so far, it looks like this master of the mystic arts can use portals to safely close gaps and can stop time with the Eye of Agamotto. Advertisement Magik Magik looks like the last person you want to have invading your personal space, as she can send you flying with her Soulsword. And if that wasn't bad enough, she can transform into her demonic form, DarkChylde, and make use of new abilities to level the playing field. Advertisement Groot Everyone's favorite tree titan, Groot hits hard and from a mid-range distance thanks to his flexible limbs. This Guardian of the Galaxy can also team up with Rocket Raccoon for some extra devastation. Advertisement Rocket Raccoon Rocket might be a bit of a glass cannon with his small health bar, but he could also be hard to pin down as he comes equipped with a jetpack and can quickly scale buildings. When he's not dodging attacks, he can fight back with his long-range weapons and team up with Groot during matches. Advertisement Star Lord Briefly teased, Star Lord can be seen with his trademark Element Guns. In other Marvel games, these blasters allow Star Lord to fire various elemental rounds, and with a bag of technological tricks at his disposal, he usually allows for flexible playstyles in those games. Advertisement Mantis Mantis hasn't been seen in action yet, but if she's anything like her comic book or MCU counterpart, she'll likely be a close-quarters combat specialist who can immobilize enemies with her empathic powers. Advertisement Peni Parker One of the standout stars from the Spider-Verse, Peni Parker doesn't have Peter Parker's arachnid-themed powers, but she does have a powerful mech suit armed with lethal appendages. Advertisement Luna Snow Previously seen in games like Marvel Future Fight and Marvel Super War, Seol Hee AKA Luna Snow mixes ice-manipulating powers with K-Pop style. In the debut trailer, it looks like Luna can team up with Namor to enhance his water-based skills in combat. Advertisement Scarlet Witch Another character who made a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance, the Scarlet Witch is a magic-wielding titan in Marvel comic books, film, and television. We're not certain what she can do just yet, but the official gameplay screenshots for Marvel Rivals suggest that she'll use her arcane powers to hex opponents. Advertisement Magneto The mutant master of magnetism is looking swole in Marvel Rivals, but beyond that, details on Magneto are scarce. From what we have seen so far, it looks like he'll be a defensive character in the same vein as Overwatch's Reinhardt, as he can generate magnetic shields to block projectile attacks. Advertisement The Punisher Between Asgardian gods, Avengers, and mutants, Frank Castle might seem like an odd fit for this superhero game. The vigilante is undeniably talented when it comes to using weapons, and it looks like he'll be the Bastion of Marvel Rivals, as he can use a gun emplacement to lock down a part of the battlefield. Advertisement Hela The most chilling duelist in the roster, Hela can summon the powers of Nastrond to conjure cursed crows and swords in battle. Advertisement Venom The slimy symbiote pounces onto the battlefield as a heavyweight Vanguard-class brawler in Marvel Rivals. Not only can Venom dish out massive damage, but he can also stay in the fight longer thanks to his health-siphoning abilities. Advertisement Adam Warlock Also known as the Golden Guardian of the cosmos, Adam Warlock is a strategist who can keep your team fighting fit thanks to his multiple healing and resurrection abilities. Advertisement Captain America Fittingly, Captain America is a beefy star-spangled tank in combat. As a Vanguard character, he can soak up damage, protect teammates, and smash through enemies. Advertisement Winter Soldier A Duelist type, the Winter Soldier excels at eliminating a cluster of enemies with his explosive rounds. Combined with his other abilities, this Cold War assassin hits hard from multiple ranges. Advertisement Thor The god of thunder is a great character for drawing enemy fire thanks to his high amount of health and powerful Thorforce abilities. A one-man army, he can easily throw himself into the middle of a superhero fracas and wreck the opposition. Advertisement Jeff the Land Shark He might look cute, but Jeff is an adorable monster in the hands of someone who knows how to use him properly. Able to heal and boost his allies, Jeff can also defy the laws of physics and swallow up the opposition with his powerful ultimate ability. Advertisement Psylocke She might be a bit of a glass cannon, but when you master Psylocke's ability to sneak her way behind enemy lines and slash her way back to her team, she becomes a force to be reckoned with. Advertisement Moon Knight There's a high learning curve when it comes to Moon Knight, but mastering this Duelist-type character's various abilities is worth it as he's one of the best damage-dealers in the game. Not only does he have impressive mobility, but his skills also allow him to dish out pain across wide sections of a map as well. Advertisement Hawkeye Fittingly, Hawkeye is a rewarding character for skilled players to use. His bow allows him to dish out absurd amounts of damage with a single charged arrow, and even if enemies close the distance in an attempt to take him down, his close-range skills make him dangerous when he's backed into a corner. Advertisement Wolverine Wolverine hasn't been a popular choice since he debuted, but a recent update has fine-tuned the legendary X-Man and turned him into a lethal brawler. In the best scenario, you'll want to throw Wolverine into a mob so that he can chip away at them, as his healing abilities and close-quarters skills turn him into a mutant menace on the battlefield. Advertisement Iron Fist Few things in life are as terrifying as an Iron Fist player on a collision course for your Marvel Rivals character. The martial arts legend can demolish a health bar with ease, and in the right hands, he makes up for his low health with hard-hitting combos and impressive survivability. Advertisement Squirrel Girl She's beaten Dr. Doom with nothing but her furry friends, and in combat, Squirrel Girl is a beginner-friendly character thanks to her explosive primary attack and her ability to take out groups of enemies from a (relatively) safe distance. Advertisement Black Widow You'll need plenty of practice to become an ace Black Widow player, but once you do, you'll find that she's a cool sniper who can easily find tactical positions on the map to ply her deadly trade. Advertisement Cloak and Dagger The first duo in Marvel Rivals, Cloak and Dagger occupy the Strategist slot in the game's roster. The pair are at their best when they support their team with healing abilities and buffs, but they can also turn a battlefield into hostile territory thanks to their Eternal Bond ultimate ability. Advertisement Mister Fantastic At the time of writing, it's still early days for Mister Fantastic, the stretchy super-genius and leader of the Fantastic Four. What we do know so far is that he's a Duelist-type character who can absorb damage and bounce back from danger thanks to his rubber body. Advertisement The Invisible Woman While you'll never see her coming thanks to her signature powers, The Invisible Woman can also support her allies with healing orbs, force-fields, and an ultimate attack that can turn the tide of battle in her favor. Advertisement Human Torch The hot-headed duelist of the Fantastic Four, Johnny can take to the skies and hurl fireballs at enemies. Armed with a wide range of abilities, it looks like the Human Torch excels at corraling enemies and melting them with his flames. Advertisement The Thing It's clobberin' time! As you'd expect from the Thing, his rocky exterior allows him to soak up damage and deliver powerful knockout blows as soon as he closes the distance between himself and a target. Advertisement Ultron Fittingly, Ultron is a strategist-class character who can strike from a distance and send a swarm of drones in to get up close and personal with his foes. Advertisement Emma Frost The 38th hero introduced to Marvel Rivals, Emma Frost steps into the Vanguard role as a mid-range specialist who can armor up and dish out devastating psychic attacks. Advertisement Phoenix The Omega-level telepath of the X-Men, Phoenix is a Duelist-class character. Advertisement Blade was teased in the recent trailer for the next season, The Abyss Awakens, and while we don't know too much about the legendary Daywalker yet, it looks like he'll be a close-quarters combat specialist in his role as a Duelist. Advertisement Angela Raised in Heven, a realm that exists separately from the Nine Realms of the Marvel Universe, Angela is the daughter of Odin and one of the heirs to his throne. A Vanguard character who wields powerful melee weapons, her ultimate ability Heven's Retribution can deal massive damage over an area and can synchronize well with similar abilities. Advertisement Daredevil This isn't the man without fear you're used to! While Matt Murdock has always grappled with his darker side, an encounter with the demon known as "The Beast" left the vigilante with a literal demon inside of him. For Marvel Rivals, Daredevil excels in close-range combat as he burns stacks of Fury to empower his attacks. His ultimate ability, Let the Devil Out, makes all opponents take damage over time if they're caught in the area of effect. Advertisement Gambit The ragin' Cajun hits the battlefield as a Strategist hero who can synergize attacks with Magento and Rogue. An agile character with high healing and support utility, Gambit wields his trademark deck of cards that he charges with explosive kinetic energy. Advertisement Rogue Joining Gambit as a Vanguard hero is Rogue. A powerhouse who can quickly close gaps and weaken enemies, Rogue's ultimate ability also allows her to deal damage over time and drain Ultimate charges from enemies if they are above 80%. Advertisement Deadpool Can't decide between playing as a Vanguard, Strategist, or a Duelist? Deadpool can shift into all three of those roles, and he has a deadly arsenal of weapons to wield. Advertisement Elsa Bloodstone You called for a monster hunter, mate? Else Bloodstone steps into the arena, and as a master Duelist, she's armed with plenty of weapons, deadly traps, and the ability to summon monsters to aid her in battle. Advertisement Black Cat Black Cat will sneak into Marvel Rivals as part of the Season 7.5 update. Her abilities and skills haven't been revealed yet, but we'd wager that her "bad luck" powers and cat burglar talents will come into play to make her a unique and agile character. Advertisement White Fox Anyone looking to master a new Strategist character can grab White Fox and bring order to chaos. The South Korean super-agent can adapt on the fly to buff her teammates and charm enemies, or she can transform into a melee-focused fighter who can slash away at enemies while healing nearby allies. Throw in the ability to teleport teammates out of harm's way and an Ultimate that transforms her into her nine-tailed form, and White Fox has the potential to be a powerful all-rounder. Advertisement Devil Dinosaur The brawn to Moon Girl's brains, Devil Dinosaur brings prehistoric power to the Marvel Rivals battlefield. Serving as a Vanguard character, Devil Dinosaur specializes in charging headfirst into danger and is protected by a force field. Once he gets close enough, he can chomp down on targets, and his Ultimate turns him into an unstoppable brute.  Advertisement Cyclops Optic blast! The X-Men team leader might have only a single power at his disposal, but he knows how to make the most of it. As a Duelist, Cyclops can focus on a single target with his primary attack, ricochet optic blasts between enemies with his secondary ability, and quickly escape from danger with a propulsive blast. His Ultimate, Ruby Rage, is a massive blast of energy that can wipe out anyone caught in the beam. Advertisement Jubilee Get ready to see some fireworks once Jubilee enters the scene! An X-Man who steps into the Strategist role, Jubilee can use her energy plasmoids to damage foes and heal allies, while her Ultimate ability unleashes a massive fireworks display across the battlefield. Advertisement The Hood Not just one of the most powerful leaders of the supervillain underworld, The Hood is also a demonic powerhouse thanks to his arcane equipment. Able to switch between human and demon forms, The Hood is a gunner who can channel the chaotic energy of Oblivion, summon protective shields, and debuff enemies with mystical orbs in his role as a Vanguard character. When the odds are stacked against him, The Hood can also enter his Full Demon State, transforming into a being that looks a lot like Chainsaw Man's Gun Devil--and is almost as destructive thanks to high-impact piercing rounds that demolish defenses. As an added bonus, nearby teammates will also gain bonus health. Advertisement Gorr: The God-Butcher All gods must die! Gorr takes on a Duelist role in Marvel Rivals, wielding the first symbiote, All-Black the Necrosword, in battle. Able to team up with Hela and Venom, Gorr can also summon Berserkers to his side. His Ultimate, Twilight of the Gods, summons a Berserker for every nearby enemy and turns his active minions into frenzied warriors. Advertisement

Title: Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4 birthday power hour times in your time zone Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 19:02:04 GMT Link: https://www.polygon.com/fortnite-chapter-7-season-4-birthday-power-hours-what-time/ To celebrate Fortnite's birthday, there will be two sets of birthday power hours this weekend — and they'll be an hour longer than the usual weekend power hours.

Title: Xbox Downplays GTA 6's Massive PS5 Pre-Order Numbers Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 18:58:32 GMT Link: https://www.polygon.com/gta-6-preorders-xbox-ps5-sales-matthew-ball-response/ Sony has basically spent the last year acting as if Grand Theft Auto 6is a PlayStation 5 exclusive. Rockstar's open-world action game isn't a platform exclusive, of course: it's coming to Xbox, and perhaps eventually, to PC. Still, with so much pomp and circumstance on PlayStation — and estimates that the PS5 version of GTA 6 is vastly outperforming its competition — one might wonder how leaders at Xbox are feeling about the game's imminent release.

Title: Bird Time correct answers in Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 18:23:05 GMT Link: https://www.polygon.com/fire-emblem-fortunes-weave-bird-time-correct-answers/ Bird Time is the only way to raise any character's support level with Eshmel during Part 1 in Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave. Whenever characters interact, either in or out of battle, they can gain support points. However, Eshmel is only a bird throughout the first routes, and you can't control them. Your only option to form a bond between them and the other characters is by having a quick chat with Eshmel at the Perch — an activity similar to the tea time in Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

Title: 'I Play Rocky' Review: Your Dad's New Favorite Movie Has Officially Arrived Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 18:00:16 GMT Link: https://www.polygon.com/i-play-rocky-review/ Let's get this out of the way: I Play Rocky is probably going to get some awards buzz. Peter Farrelly's trademark humor, much more subdued from his early days of teaming with brother Bobby for comedies like Dumb and Dumber and There's Something About Mary, shines brightly in a feel-good, underdog story about perseverance and triumph in the face of overwhelming odds. That probably sounds familiar if you've seen Rocky. It has strong performances and a lot of heart, a script that moves quickly despite a few stumbles, and a message that's punctuated explicitly by the film's final scene.

Title: This 'Overwhelmingly Positive' Steam Cozy Sim Is Officially Outselling Major Game Releases Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 17:35:16 GMT Link: https://www.polygon.com/steam-top-sellers-dressmaker-new-releases-cozy-sim-what-is/ There's a new big dog in town, and it's wearing a frilly dress. Dressmaker is a new cozy crafting game on Steamall about sewing together frocks and gowns. The game began as a humble three-week project and has since blown up to a full-fledged release that is tearing up the Steam charts. Currently, Dressmaker is number 10 on the Steam Top Sellers, outdoing recent releases such as Silent Hill: Townfall and The Blood of the Dawnwalker.

Title: Cute Critters Come to the Cloud: ‘Aniimo’ Launches on GeForce NOW Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2026 13:00:55 +0000 Link: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/geforce-now-thursday-aniimo/ A new creature-catching adventure is ready to stream from the cloud this week. Pawprint Studio’s Aniimo arrives on GeForce NOW at launch, inviting gamers to explore the vibrant continent of Idyll across supported devices. Also this week, 007 First Light receives a path-tracing update on GeForce NOW, alongside a smashing limited-time Deluxe Edition sale on Steam and Epic Games Store. Gaijin Network’s fractured-multiverse action game Active Matter and Annapurna Interactive’s acclaimed space mystery Outer Wilds are also among 11 new titles joining the cloud this week. Explore Idyll With the Cutest Companions The path to Idyll begins now. Aniimo is a free-to-play, open-world creature-catching role-playing game where every creature encountered can become a companion. Catch Aniimo with Aniipods, then Twine with them to take on their form and use unique skills to solve puzzles, win battles and overcome challenges. Glide, dive and burrow across Idyll, then return to a personal RV to build a warm, interactive Homeland alongside Aniimo companions. Stream Aniimo on a Steam Deck, in the newly supported Firefox browser and across any other supported devices — without waiting through its 45GB download or making room in local storage. There’s always room in the Homeland for one more Aniimo. Choose Your Path Licensed to render. In the critically acclaimed, multimillion-selling 007 First Light, follow James Bond as a young, resourceful and sometimes reckless recruit in MI6’s training program, and discover a reimagined origin story of the world’s most famous spy. Incorporating IO Interactive’s signature stealth gameplay with world-class Bond action, players can embark on missions in breathtaking locations around the globe, drive iconic vehicles and dive into a cinematic adventure in pursuit of a rogue agent who’s always one step ahead. Path tracing has now been added to 007 First Light, introducing extra-detailed lighting, shadows and reflections, making its levels and set pieces even more cinematic, immersive and realistic. And NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 Ray Reconstruction ensures the fidelity, clarity and accuracy of these additions are at their absolute best. Ultimate members can stream with GeForce RTX 5080-class performance, with up to 5K high dynamic range and cinematic-quality streaming. DLSS 4.5 Super Resolution and Dynamic Frame Generation accelerate frame rates and enhance image quality. A limited-time opportunity awaits: the 007 First Light Deluxe Edition is on sale on Steam from Sept. 15-29 and on Epic Games Store from Sept. 3-18. The mission is on sale. The getaway car is in the cloud. Matter of Time Gaijin’s Active Matter, a realistic military shooter set in a fractured multiverse, has launched on GeForce NOW. As an operative stuck in a time loop, join dangerous raids for loot or intense player vs. player battles. Fight against rivals from other timelines, survive physics-breaking anomalies and try to stay alive. Harvest active matter, gather loot and extract to a safe place before the whole zone ceases to exist. Ultimate members can take on each raid with GeForce RTX 5080-class performance in the cloud, delivering high frame rates, advanced graphics features and low latency across supported devices. The zone won’t wait — and neither does the next loop. Let’s Get Loopy Every loop holds another secret. Outer Wilds joins the GeForce NOW library this week. As the newest recruit of Outer Wilds Ventures, search for answers across a strange, ever-changing solar system trapped in an endless time loop. Gamers can trace mysterious signals, decipher alien writing and discover hidden locations before an underground city is swallowed by sand or a planet crumbles beneath their feet. There’s even more to stream this week: Active Matter (New release on Steam and Gaijin, Sept. 15) Aniimo (New release on Steam, Sept. 15) RuneScape: Dragonwilds (New release on Xbox, Sept. 15, available on Game Pass) Train Sim World 7 (New release on Steam, Sept. 15) The Guild 1 Remake: Europa 1410 (New release on Steam, Sept. 17) The Blood of Dawnwalker (GOG.com) Mixtape (Steam) Neon White (Steam) Outer Wilds (Steam) Stray (Steam) What Remains of Edith Finch (Steam) Dates listed above reflect when games are released on their respective stores. GeForce NOW availability may vary, as games are onboarded after they’re released and added throughout the week. Keep an eye on GeForce NOW channels and GFN Thursdays for availability updates to announced titles. Ready to take this week’s new games for a spin? Start with a day pass to try premium cloud gaming before committing to a membership. Even better, the cost of the day pass can be applied toward a first monthly membership — making it easy to level up with GeForce RTX-powered cloud gaming. What’s on the playlist this weekend? Let us know on X or in the comments below.

Title: Boots on the Ground: ‘WARDOGS’ Goes All Out on GeForce NOW at Early-Access Launch Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2026 13:00:18 +0000 Link: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/geforce-now-thursday-wardogs/ Gear up: The latest PC games and major updates are ready to play on GeForce NOW this week. WARDOGS drops onto the cloud at early-access launch, alongside the Valheim 1.0 Deep North update and Bus Simulator 27 — part of nine new titles joining the cloud. The newest PC releases can demand serious hardware, storage space and upgrade budgets. GeForce NOW puts GeForce RTX-powered performance in the cloud, so members can jump into the newest titles across supported devices without needing expensive PC upgrades to keep up. From a 100-player tactical firefight to a frozen Viking frontier and a growing bus empire, every adventure is ready when members are — no downloads or storage management required. Who Let the ‘WARDOGS’ Out?   Take on the Control Zone: WARDOGS launches on GeForce NOW today, bringing BULKHEAD’s large-scale tactical first-person shooter to the cloud at early-access launch. Up to 100 players across three teams battle to control randomized zones in a large-scale military sandbox, where tactical gunplay, combined-arms combat, building and destruction can change the course of a match. There’s no single route to victory. Outfit a loadout, coordinate a squad, fortify a strategic position or take the fight to the enemy in vehicles. Every team play action earns cash, giving players more ways to invest in gear and vehicles that can turn the tide. Ultimate members can stream the fight with GeForce RTX 5080-class performance in the cloud for a tactical advantage. Pick up the battle across supported devices without waiting on a huge game install or clearing local storage first. Ice, Ice in the Deep North, Baby Sharpen the axes and raise the shields – Valheim has left early access with its 1.0 update, letting members stream the final biome in Iron Gate’s Viking survival saga through Steam and Xbox Store.  Set sail for the Deep North, a frozen frontier filled with new enemies to face, weapons to craft and strongholds to build before the cold closes in. The 1.0 launch also arrives alongside new platform versions with full crossplay support, making it easier to rally the clan. Whether returning to a long-running world on a PC or Mac or beginning a fresh voyage on a Steam Deck or Amazon Fire TV Stick, members can head to the Deep North across supported devices without waiting for downloads. The Wheels on the Bus Go ‘Round in the Cloud The route to the top starts here. Hop into the driver’s seat. Bus Simulator 27 is now streaming from GeForce NOW.  Drive a fleet of more than 45 officially licensed buses from 13 manufacturers through Felicia Bay, a sunny region with two cities, 20 districts and a full day-and-night cycle. Build routes, manage timetables and grow a successful bus company in Story, Career or Sandbox mode. And there’s even more to stream from the GeForce NOW library this week: Bus Simulator 27 (New release on Steam, Sept. 8) Halloween: The Game (New release on Steam, Sept. 8) Honeycomb: The World Beyond (New release on Steam, Sept. 8) Wanderburg (New release on Steam, Sept. 8) Shroom and Gloom (New release on Steam, Sept. 10) Train Sim World 7 – Advanced Access (New release on Steam, Sept. 10) WARDOGS (New release on Steam, Sept. 10) Welcome to Elderfield (New release on Steam, Sept. 10) Death Stranding Director’s Cut (Epic Games Store) Dates listed above reflect when games are released on their respective stores. GeForce NOW availability may vary, as games are onboarded after release and added throughout the week. Keep an eye on GeForce NOW channels and GFN Thursdays for availability updates on announced titles. One GFN community member recently returned after six years, saying NVIDIA DLSS 5 technology renewed their interest in GeForce NOW cloud gaming. Ready to try it out, too? Start with a day pass to test premium cloud gaming before committing to a membership. For those who decide to keep playing, the cost can be applied toward their first monthly membership. What are you planning to play this weekend? Let us know on X or in the comments below.

Title: ‘NBA 2K27’ With NVIDIA DLSS 5 Leads 28 New Games Coming to GeForce NOW Date: Thu, 03 Sep 2026 13:00:35 +0000 Link: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/geforce-now-thursday-september-2026-games-list/ September is here with 28 more games streaming on GeForce NOW this month, led by a slam dunk: NBA 2K27 with the NVIDIA DLSS 5 3D-Guided Neural Rendering feature. Through NVIDIA’s close collaboration with Visual Concepts and 2K, DLSS 5 brings a new level of lifelike lighting and material detail to the court — tuned by developers to support the game’s authentic broadcast-style presentation. Members can also walk the line between human and vampire in Rebel Wolves’ The Blood of Dawnwalker and step into genma-haunted Kyoto in Capcom’s Onimusha: Way of the Sword — part of the 10 games joining the GeForce NOW library this week. Take the Court With DLSS 5 Showcase your moves. NVIDIA, Visual Concepts and 2K have brought DLSS 5 3D-Guided Neural Rendering to NBA 2K27, delivering a new level of sports realism for players streaming from the cloud at launch.  DLSS 5 enhances and tunes lighting and materials to make the action feel even more lifelike — from how light catches hair and skin to the detail preserved in the facial geometry of real-world athletes — achieving new levels of authenticity.  GeForce NOW Ultimate members in NVIDIA-operated regions can stream NBA 2K27 across PCs, Macs, handhelds, mobile devices, TVs and more. DLSS 5 is available when streaming from a GeForce RTX 5080-powered rig in the cloud. Tip off without waiting for downloads or managing storage, and experience NBA 2K27 from the cloud with the visual fidelity of DLSS 5. Walk the Line Between Day and Night Human by day. Vampire by night. Rebel Wolves’ newly launched The Blood of Dawnwalker is streaming from GeForce NOW. The open-world, dark-fantasy action role-playing game transports players to 14th-century Europe, where war, plague and rising vampire powers have reshaped history. Play as Coen, a young Dawnwalker fighting to save his family while caught between his humanity and cursed vampiric strength. His abilities — and the choices available to him — change between day and night, shaping how players explore, fight and uncover the secrets of the world around them. Sink teeth into the fresh adventure from nearly any supported device, with Ultimate members tapping into GeForce RTX 5080-class performance in the cloud. Skip the installs and let GeForce NOW handle the heavy lifting, leaving more time to take a bite out of everything Coen’s new world has to offer. Skip the Downloads and Sharpen the Sword Pick up the Oni Gauntlet. Capcom’s Onimusha: Way of the Sword arrives on GeForce NOW at launch, giving members a way to jump straight into the series’ return instantly from the cloud. Fight across a twisted vision of Edo-period Kyoto as a lone samurai wielding the mystical Oni Gauntlet. Master precise swordplay, unleash powerful abilities and absorb the souls of fallen enemies while battling relentless Genma beneath mysterious clouds of Malice. Ultimate members can stream every clash with GeForce RTX 5080-class performance in the cloud across PCs, Macs, handhelds, mobile devices, TVs, the newly supported Firefox browser and more. Cut to the chase by skipping any downloads and storage management and step into battle. In addition, members can look for the following titles streaming this week: Breathedge 2 (New release on Steam, Aug. 31) Serious Sam: Shatterverse (New release on Steam, Aug. 31) Crimson Moon (New release on Steam, Sept. 1) The Blood of Dawnwalker (New release on Steam, Sept. 2) NBA 2K27 (New release on Steam, Sept. 3) SpeedRunners 2: King of Speed (New release on Steam and Xbox, available on Game Pass, Sept. 3) Onimusha: Way of the Sword (New release on Steam, Sept. 4) How to Fish (Steam) Shelves and Sorcery: Tidy Up the Enchanted Shop (Steam) VHOLUME (Steam) And look forward to the games coming throughout the month: Bus Simulator 27 (New release on Steam, Sept. 8) Halloween: The Game (New release on Steam, Sept. 8) Honeycomb: The World Beyond (New release on Steam, Sept. 8) Wanderburg (New release on Steam, Sept. 8) Shroom and Gloom (New release on Steam, Sept. 10) WARDOGS (New release on Steam, Sept. 10) Welcome to Elderfield (New release on Steam, Sept. 10) Active Matter (New release on Steam, Sept. 15) Aniimo (New release on Steam, Sept. 15) Train Sim World 7 (New release on Steam, Sept. 15) The Guild 1 Remake: Europa 1410 (New release on Steam, Sept. 17) CONTROL Resonant (New release on Steam, Sept. 24) Nivalis Nights (New release on Steam, Sept. 29) Mixtape (Steam)  Neon White (Steam)  Outer Wilds (Steam)  Stray (Steam) What Remains of Edith Finch (Steam) All the Extras From August In addition to the 26 games announced last month, 18 more joined the GeForce NOW library.  Cat Mail Co. (Steam) Monster Hunter Wilds Prologue Demo (Steam) Stars Reach (Steam) DIVE or DIE – Children of Rain (Steam) Escape the Backroom (Xbox, available on Game Pass) Hell Is Us (Xbox, available on Game Pass) Parcel Simulator (Steam) The Thaumaturge (Xbox, available on Game Pass) Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered (Epic Games Store) STAR WARS Zero Company (EA app and Steam) Baldur’s Gate 3 (GOG) Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (GOG) Cold Fear (GOG) IRON NEST: Heavy Turret Simulator (Steam) Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (GOG) Mount & Blade: Bannerlord II (GOG) No Man’s Sky (GOG) The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (GOG) Dates listed above reflect when games are released on their respective stores. GeForce NOW availability may vary, as games are onboarded after release and added throughout the week. Keep an eye on GeForce NOW channels and GFN Thursdays for availability updates on announced titles. New to GeForce NOW? Start with a day pass to try premium cloud gaming before committing to a membership. Better yet, the cost of the day pass can be applied toward a first monthly membership — making it easy to try GeForce RTX-powered cloud gaming with the latest releases, then level up for more. What are you planning to play this weekend? Let us know on X or in the comments below.

Title: GeForce NOW Gives Gamers More Ways to Play at Gamescom 2026 Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2026 13:00:33 +0000 Link: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/geforce-now-thursday-gamescom-2026/ NVIDIA’s Gamescom announcements are revealing what’s next for GeForce NOW, with new ways to play, more supported devices and platforms, and even more big PC games headed to the cloud. New NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 technology controls give members more ways to fine-tune gameplay, while expanded support for new Steam devices, GOG single sign-on, Firefox browser support and more Amazon Fire TV devices continue broadening where and how GeForce RTX-powered PC gaming can be enjoyed. Gamescom is also bringing a blockbuster lineup of PC games to GeForce NOW. CONTROL Resonant, Gears of War: E-Day, Onimusha: Way of the Sword, The Blood of Dawnwalker and STAR WARS Zero Company are all coming to the cloud at launch.  For a limited time, members can also get CONTROL Resonant with the purchase of a 12-month GeForce NOW Ultimate membership. The Gamescom extras don’t stop there. To celebrate, GeForce NOW is giving away more than 40 prizes in our Community Giveaway — including gaming hardware and GeForce NOW Ultimate memberships. There’s even more fun to come. Check out the list of 13 games joining the GeForce NOW library this week. Next-Level Cloud Gaming More ways to choose how to play. This fall, GeForce NOW is introducing new NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 controls in the cloud, giving Ultimate members more choice over how supported games look and perform, even without the latest hardware. Powered by NVIDIA RTX graphics, each control offers something different: DLSS Super Resolution sharpens image quality, while Dynamic Frame Generation delivers lower latency and stutter for smoother streaming, and Ray Reconstruction enhances ray-traced visuals. Together, these technologies make it easier to tune supported games for image quality, responsiveness or a preferred balance between the two.  Stay tuned to GFN Thursdays for details about best practices for enabling DLSS 4.5 overrides and how Dynamic Frame Generation can help Ultimate members enable more graphic settings while still getting smooth streaming. Stream full steam ahead with the Steam ecosystem. GeForce NOW is also adding community-requested support for Steam Machine with Steam Controller later this fall, and later for Windows and macOS, delivering more ways to play and making it even easier for longtime Steam players to jump into the cloud using familiar hardware. The additions build on existing Steam Deck support and expand compatibility across the Steam ecosystem. Get your GOG on with one click into the library. Launching GOG games just got even easier. With GOG single sign-on now available on GeForce NOW, members can securely link their account once, automatically sync supported games and launch them without having to sign in to GOG again — all with a single click. With fewer steps between opening the app, skipping any downloads and jumping into gameplay, it’s another way GeForce NOW continues streamlining access to PC gaming libraries, making it easier to play the GOG library of games on TV platforms since gamers are automatically logged into their GOG accounts. Find popular titles, like Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, in the app in the dedicated GOG row. Or search and filter for GOG games, then jump into supported titles from almost anywhere — all streamed from the cloud. Check back on GFN Thursdays for the latest games joining the GeForce NOW library, including newly supported games streaming from GOG. Outfox nearly any device with GeForce RTX gaming. Plus, GeForce NOW is now officially supported on Firefox, expanding browser access across all major Windows browsers. Members can jump into supported PC games directly from Firefox without downloading a dedicated app. Ultimate members can enjoy GeForce RTX-powered gaming at up to 1440p and 120 frames per second. Simply download the latest version of Firefox and visit play.geforcenow.com to get started. The cloud handles downloads, installs and updates, keeping local storage free while games stay ready to play in the cloud.  Bring the fire to living rooms with GeForce NOW. GeForce NOW is expanding support to additional Amazon Fire TV devices. GeForce NOW first launched on Fire TV devices earlier this year, and will soon expand to the Fire TV Stick 4K Select, a 4K streaming stick that’s ready to game right out of the box. Streaming from the cloud means supported PC games are ready to play using a compatible controller, making it easy to enjoy GeForce NOW on the biggest screen in the house with even more options to play from the comfort of the couch.  And that’s not all the awesomeness from Amazon. Later this year, Fire TV users will be able to purchase GeForce NOW memberships directly through Amazon, creating a more seamless path from device setup to gameplay. These new features will arrive alongside some of the biggest games coming to the cloud throughout the year. Get Ready for Launch Five newly announced and highly anticipated games are coming to GeForce NOW at launch: CONTROL Resonant, Gears of War: E-Day, Onimusha: Way of the Sword, The Blood of Dawnwalker and STAR WARS Zero Company.  Better yet, members can lock in one of them early: For a limited time, purchase a 12-month GeForce NOW Ultimate membership and receive CONTROL Resonant at launch at no additional cost, and be first to experience Faden’s next chapter. The offer is available Tuesday, Aug. 25, through Sunday, Sept. 27. Ultimate members can stream the full lineup with GeForce RTX 5080-class performance in the cloud, including NVIDIA DLSS 4, ray tracing, NVIDIA Reflex and Cinematic Quality Streaming technologies, with up to 5K high dynamic range on supported devices.  Whether diving into new worlds or returning to iconic franchises, GeForce NOW lets members skip expensive hardware upgrades, massive installs and storage management so they can jump straight into the action the moment each game launches. Here’s a closer look at what’s coming: Contain the chaos. Explore a warped Manhattan on the brink of paranatural annihilation in Remedy’s CONTROL Resonant. Harness Dylan Faden’s extraordinary powers to battle the Hiss, the Mold and other reality-bending threats while searching for his sister, Federal Bureau of CONTROL Director Jesse Faden. Emergence begins. Experience the horror and brutality of Emergence Day in the Coalition’s Gears of War: E-Day. Fourteen years before the original Gears of War, join Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago in a gripping origin-story campaign as the Locust Horde first erupt from below, igniting a desperate fight for survival. Rally squads and fight on in multiplayer with a reimagination of Gears’ iconic PvE mode, Horde Siege, or go head to head with a refined versus PvP. Pick up the Oni Gauntlet. Fight across a twisted vision of Edo-period Kyoto in Capcom’s Onimusha: Way of the Sword. Wield the mystical Oni Gauntlet, master intense swordplay and battle relentless demonic Genma beneath mysterious clouds of Malice. Walk the line between day and night. Step into 14th-century Europe in Bandai Namco’s The Blood of Dawnwalker, where war, plague and rising vampire powers have reshaped history. Play as Coen, a young Dawnwalker torn between humanity and cursed strength, and shape his path while fighting to save his family. Command the galaxy’s finest. Lead an elite squad behind enemy lines in STAR WARS Zero Company, a single-player turn-based game set during the twilight of the Clone Wars. Command former Republic officer Hawks and Zero Company through tactical battles and high-stakes missions where strategy, squad composition and player choices shape the fate of the galaxy. More Ways to Win Gaming gear and Ultimate memberships are up for grabs. GeForce NOW is marking Gamescom with a community giveaway featuring more than 40 prizes. Gamers will have a chance to score a MacBook Neo, Steam Deck or Chromebook — each paired with a one-year GeForce NOW Ultimate membership — along with Amazon Fire TV Sticks and GeForce NOW Ultimate memberships ranging from one month to one year. Head over to the GeForce NOW community on Reddit for all the giveaway details and how to enter. The Hunt Is On Squad up and fight for survival in Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2, streaming on GeForce NOW this week at launch. Assemble a four-player fireteam of Colonial Marines and battle through swarms of Xenomorphs, deadly new threats and increasingly desperate encounters. With deeper squad mechanics, new and improved classes, smarter enemies and expanded customization, every mission puts teamwork — and nerves — to the test. Members can also look for the following games joining the cloud this week: Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 (New release on Steam, Aug. 25) Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy (New release on Steam and Xbox, Aug. 27, available on Game Pass) STAR WARS Zero Company (New release on EA app and Steam, Aug. 27) Baldur’s Gate 3 (GOG) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 – Open Beta Weekend (Battle.net, Steam and Xbox available from Aug. 28 10am PDT  to Sep. 1 at 10am PDT. For more information please visit the Call of Duty website). Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (GOG) Cold Fear (GOG) IRON NEST: Heavy Turret Simulator (Steam) Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (GOG) Mount & Blade: Bannerlord II (GOG) No Man’s Sky (GOG) Paradise Killer (Steam) The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (GOG) Dates listed above reflect when games are released on their respective stores. GeForce NOW availability may vary, as games are onboarded after release and added throughout the week. Keep an eye on GeForce NOW channels and GFN Thursdays for availability updates on announced titles. To experience GeForce NOW, gamers can start with a GeForce NOW day pass and try premium cloud gaming before committing to a membership. Better yet, the cost of a day pass can be applied toward a first membership purchase, making it even easier to level up when ready. Check back every GFN Thursday for new games, new features and even more ways to play on GeForce NOW. Which Gamescom announcement has you most excited? Let us know on X or in the comments below.  The future of PC gaming is on display with GeForce NOW. DLSS 4.5 controlsExpanded device support Upcoming AAA games More ways to play Community giveaway Firefox browser support… and more! #gamescom Details https://t.co/Rz6RnX0Pt4 pic.twitter.com/sShKRhzrD3 — NVIDIA GeForce NOW (@NVIDIAGFN) August 25, 2026

Title: Leading Publishers Bring Blockbuster PC Games and Technology to NVIDIA RTX Spark Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2026 15:30:48 +0000 Link: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/gamescom-rtx-spark-pc-games-technology/ NVIDIA is bringing the next wave of RTX gaming to the Gamescom conference running this week in Cologne, Germany, with support for new games, anti-cheat technologies and increased visual quality.  Electronic Arts, Embark and Ubisoft are among the latest game publishers and developers bringing their blockbuster titles to NVIDIA RTX Spark ahead of its launch this fall. They join the publishers that announced RTX Spark support at COMPUTEX in May, including KRAFTON, NetEase, Riot Games and XBOX.  NVIDIA is working closely with game developers and ecosystem partners to ensure today’s top PC games — including EA’s EA SPORTS F1 25 and Apex Legends, Ubisoft’s Anno 117: Pax Romana and Embark Studios’ ARC Raiders and THE FINALS — run seamlessly on RTX Spark devices. “We’re excited to bring Anno 117: Pax Romana to a new generation of RTX-powered PCs,” said Stéphane Jankowski, Ubisoft executive producer of Anno 117 : Pax Romana. “Our teams build the game to be seen wide: full districts, long sightlines, thousands of details at once. Seeing RTX Spark hold that level of fidelity from a single chip is genuinely impressive.” RTX Spark reinvents personal computing, bringing personal AI agents, advanced content creation and high-performance gaming together in a platform engineered from the ground up for the next wave of Windows PCs. For gamers, RTX Spark combines Windows devices with NVIDIA RTX technologies, including DLSS and Reflex.  Bringing Anti-Cheat to RTX Spark Supporting modern PC gaming goes beyond running the game itself. Many of today’s biggest online games rely on sophisticated anti-cheat technologies, to enable fair play across the multiple platforms these games run on.   NVIDIA has been working with EA to bring native EA Javelin Anticheat support to RTX Spark, including for EA’s biggest multiplayer games, such as EA SPORTS F1 25. RTX Spark launches this fall.  RTX Delivers Next-Generation Gaming RTX Spark is just one part of NVIDIA’s lineup of gaming announcements at Gamescom, including: DLSS 4.5 Ray Reconstruction is available now, featuring NVIDIA’s latest second-generation transformer model to deliver even higher image quality in ray- and path-traced content. It replaces traditional denoisers with an NVIDIA supercomputer-trained AI network to reconstruct higher-quality pixels in the parts of a ray-traced frame where rays were not sampled. Path tracing comes to CONTROL Resonant and 007 First Light to deliver new levels of visual fidelity.  NVIDIA ACE technologies are coming to Aniimo in early 2027, letting players naturally interact with their creatures. Gears of War: E-Day includes RTX Mega Geometry integration, advancing image quality on GeForce RTX GPUs, alongside ray tracing and DLSS 4.5. RTX Remix keeps remastering PC classics, with a major Painkiller RTX mod update available now and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind RTX coming soon. GeForce NOW gives members more ways to play with new DLSS 4.5 controls, expanded support for Steam Machine and other devices and platforms, plus blockbuster PC games including CONTROL Resonant, Gears of War: E-Day and more coming to the cloud at launch. Find more on NVIDIA’s announcements at Gamescom in this GeForce article. 

Title: Official PlayStation Podcast Episode 548: September Selects Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 17:20:35 +0000 Link: https://blog.playstation.com/2026/09/25/official-playstation-podcast-episode-548-september-selects/ Email us at PSPodcast@sony.com! Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or download here Hey, everybody! We’re back this week to talk through September’s big releases and other recent titles we’re still playing. Stuff We Talked About Next week’s release highlights: Minecraft Dungeons II | PS5  Toem 2 | PS5  Way of the Hunter 2  | PS5  End of Abyss  | PS5  Dynasty Warriors 3 Complete Edition Remastered | PS5 Ghost of Yōtei Complete Edition | PS5  Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve | PS5 Silent Hill: Townfall hands-on  — Discover how the new claustrophobic perspective makes even mundane actions like checking emails and opening doors a terrifying experience, along with more inventive ways the latest entry in the franchise elevates gameplay. Experience it now for yourself.  Lisa DualSense collab — Lisa fans can pre-order the new Lisa Limited Edition DualSense on October 2. Designed with the help of the lady herself, this new controller will be a fun way to glam up your collection. Head to PlayStation Blog for the full details. Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve Hands-on  — Ahead of its October 2 launch, learn how the game uses first-person to tell a more intimate story full of compelling characters, giving players a reason to come out on top in every dogfight. The Cast View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image Sid Shuman – Senior Director of Content Communications, SIE View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image Kristen Zitani – Senior Content Communications Specialist, SIE View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image Brett Elston – Manager, Content Communications, SIE View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image O’Dell Harmon Jr. – Content Communications Specialist, SIE Thanks to Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music. [Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]

Title: Share of the Week – Marvel’s Wolverine Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 16:00:47 +0000 Link: https://blog.playstation.com/2026/09/25/share-of-the-week-marvels-wolverine/ Last week, we asked you to share ferocious moments from Marvel’s Wolverine using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured. Here are this week’s highlights: adambomb2mk shares Wolverine’s claws illuminated in the shadows NickVPgamer shares a hairy and shirtless Wolverine crisg_art shares Wolverine lunging past a fiery backdrop RhodWulfLeon Wolverine taking on Omega Red scionjay96 shares Jean ready to attack lets_gaming.vp shares Wolverine crossing his claws to strike 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: Marvel’s Wolverine – LoganSUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on September 30, 2026 Next week, share heroic portraits of Logan in Marvel’s Wolverine using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

Title: How Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve uses first-person to tell a more personal story Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 14:00:34 +0000 Link: https://blog.playstation.com/2026/09/25/how-ace-combat-8-wings-of-theve-uses-first-person-to-tell-a-more-personal-story/ The world of Strangereal, setting of the Ace Combat games, has developed a deep and storied history over the course of the series. But with Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, developer Project Aces has changed its approach to storytelling to create a more intimate and emotional tale than it has in the past. That approach brings you a lot closer to the desperate attempts of the Federation of Central Usea’s battered navy to fight off the invading Sotoans, and the many characters fighting that war. Play Video The biggest change is that, in Ace Combat 8, you play a fighter pilot silent protagonist who is, nevertheless, a major character throughout the story. The game opens with a cutscene in which you’re found floating in a life raft after a battle by the Endurance, one of the FCU’s last remaining aircraft carriers.  After you’re aboard, you’re sent up as navigator for fighter pilot Jan “Rex” Cope, whose job isn’t to engage in battles, but to serve as a propaganda tool. He’s known as the Wings of Theve, a legendary fight pilot ace named for the FCU’s capital, but you quickly find out that Cope isn’t the incredible ace he’s portrayed to be on social media. Instead, his instructions are to run from every fight, but when the two of you are shot down, Cope is killed in action.  But the Wings of Theve is too important to the struggling FCU to go out that way, so you inherit Cope’s call sign and secretly replace him. As the new Wings of Theve, you have a central role in the war effort, and your skills help bolster the propaganda — for better or worse. First-person cutscenes put you in the story Previous Ace Combat games have told their stories through detailed cutscenes, but in Ace Combat 8, those cutscenes are mostly presented from a first-person perspective, putting you in a room or on the deck with other characters. The story unfolds as if you’re living it both in and out of the cockpit, rather than having it narrated to you, and haptic feedback in the DualSense controller helps make those moments feel realistic and intense, especially in the heat of battle. While your character Rex, as in past games, is silent, you occasionally get the chance to answer yes-or-no questions by pressing left or right on the DualSense’s D-Pad, and to interact during cutscenes by looking around with the right analog stick or responding to prompts at key moments by hitting Triangle or Square. Through those minor interactions, you can do a bit to shape Rex as a person, and the other members of Joker Flight, your squadron, will respond to how you choose to lead them with your decisions. Becoming part of the squadron Ace Combat 8 puts a big emphasis on all its characters, especially the members of Joker Flight. You spend almost the whole game with them, whether it’s hanging out during cutscenes between missions that expand on the plot, sitting through briefings where they’ll chime in with comments or information, or listening to them over the radio while you’re taking down enemy aircraft.  That focus on characters makes the story of the FCU’s battle to repel Sotoa feel immediate, personal, and harrowing. You’re not just running a series of disjointed missions, you know the stories of the pilots who are being asked to risk their lives to complete them, and you know what’s at stake if you fail. You also get a lot of chances to make small decisions that give the sense that you’re influencing your squadron’s perception of you. In one early mission, you encounter an allied group of pilots who are also a famous rock band — and a member of your squadron, Coster, is a big fan. When he asks if he can briefly leave your formation to help them, the choice is up to you, but Coster appreciates it if you let him lend his guns and missiles to protect his heroes. Little moments like this help create a bond between you and the rest of Joker Flight. Those extra character moments also get you invested in your squad’s well-being. You can issue orders to them with the D-Pad, sending them out to engage targets on their own, calling them back in formation to attack your target, or asking them to cover you. Since your squad feels like a group of able pilots who you know personally, it helps push you to put their skills to use and to rely on them during the story, as well as to help them out when they get into trouble in the skies. A war effort full of individuals The radio is a huge part of Ace Combat 8’s storytelling. Throughout missions, you’ll communicate with your commanders and your squadmates via radio as they give you key information and comment about what’s happening. But the radio, and the sound design that accompanies it, also do a great job of selling what it feels like to take part in missions. When a mission to retake FCU territory turns into an ambush by Sotoan forces, you hear the struggle and fear of your ground forces as they all yell into their radios at once, reporting their situations or begging for help from the Wings of Theve. The radio also gives you chances to do a little to shape your story. If troops on the ground call for your aid and you respond, they acknowledge it — and often, those same characters might show up on later missions. The legend of the Wings of Theve affects more than just the number of likes on social media, and while the story doesn’t change based on your decisions, those small character moments with the people who fight alongside you make it feel like your contributions to the war effort are important ones. Through its approach to its Story Mode, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve pulls you into the struggle of the FCU in a way that’s deeply personal and often intense and emotional. You can fly the skies of Strangereal yourself when Ace Combat 8 takes off on October 2 on PlayStation 5.

Title: Luma Island is coming to PS5 Date: Thu, 24 Sep 2026 13:00:40 +0000 Link: https://blog.playstation.com/2026/09/24/luma-island-is-coming-to-ps5/ We’re Feel Free Games, the team behind Luma Island, and we’re very excited to share that Luma Island is coming to PlayStation 5! Luma Island launched on PC in November 2024, and since then more than 800,000 players have joined us on the island. Now we’re getting ready to welcome PlayStation players too. Play Video Luma Island is designed to bring different kinds of players together, whether you’re an experienced gamer or new to games. Different difficulty modes and plenty of ways to play mean everyone can explore the island at their own pace. In Luma Island, players start out with an old caravan and a rundown farm. From there, what you do is really up to you. You can build and decorate your farm, grow crops, raise animals, choose from eight professions, meet townsfolk and hatch Lumas, magical companions that join you on your journey. But there’s a lot more to discover away from the farm. Explorable environments on Luma Island include forests, mountains and thick jungles, along with caves full of resources, ancient temples with puzzles and traps, hidden treasure and plenty of secrets waiting to be uncovered. You can also make your way to Pirate Cove, with its own areas to explore and pirate-themed minigames and challenges. Gameplay variety is an important part of the Luma Island experience. You can spend an evening working on your farm or fishing, then head out the next day to explore the island or venture into its many mysterious temples. There’s always something else to discover, and exploring one part of the island can lead you towards your next adventure. You can do all of this by yourself, or play together with up to 4 players online. Build together, share resources, explore the island, or head out looking for your next challenge. Luma Island will also support cross-platform play across PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, so you can explore the island together, even when your friends are playing on another platform. Players get to decide how relaxed or challenging they want their adventure to be. Luma Island has three difficulty modes: Cozy, Adventure and Hero. In Cozy Mode, there’s no combat unless you choose it, while Adventure and Hero add more challenge. There are no stamina bars or inventory limits either, so you’re free to spend your time on whatever you feel like doing. If you want a relaxed evening tending your farm, decorating or fishing, you can do that. And when you’re ready for something more adventurous, you can grab your tools and see what else the island has waiting for you. We’re really excited to finally bring Luma Island to PS5, and we hope PlayStation players will feel right at home on the island. Luma Island is coming to PS5. You can wishlist it on PlayStation Store starting today.

Title: Fading Echo makes a splash on PlayStation 5 today Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2026 15:00:40 +0000 Link: https://blog.playstation.com/2026/09/22/fading-echo-makes-a-splash-on-playstation-5-today/ Hi PlayStation players! This is Sylvain from Emeteria, a New Tales studio, the team behind Fading Echo, and we’re excited to share that our fast-paced elemental action-adventure RPG is launching today on PlayStation 5. In Fading Echo, you play as One, a young Legend fighting to save Corel, a fractured world being consumed by a mysterious force known as the Paradox. To survive, you’ll experiment with One’s powers, manipulate the elements around you, and shift between realities to find new ways through combat, exploration, and puzzles. So, let’s dive in! Become water – then weaponize it Water – or Æther, as it’s known in the world of Fading Echo – is at the heart of One’s abilities. She can manipulate it, use it against enemies, and even transform herself into a living blob of it. One of our goals with Æther form was to make movement itself part of your toolbox. As a blob, you can build momentum, surf through pipes, squeeze through narrow cracks, and launch yourself across the environment. This can help you reach new areas and solve environmental puzzles, but it can be just as useful in combat. Get above an enemy, for example, and you can water-bomb them on the way down, making quite a splash. It’s as effective as it is fun. And movement is only the first ripple. One can also unleash waves of Æther and powerful charged blasts, drenching enemies and changing the state of the battlefield. But drenching an enemy is just the beginning: Æther reacts with elements such as lava, toxic waste, and even Paradox corruption, opening up all kinds of possibilities. Drench an enemy before conducting energy through them. Solidify elements to change the battlefield. Or look to your surroundings and set off a chain reaction that turns the situation in your favor. Play Video We designed these systems to reward experimentation rather than push you toward a single sequence of attacks. When you enter an encounter, we want you to look at the enemies, the environment, and the elements at your disposal and ask yourself: What happens if I try this? Sometimes everything will flow according to plan. Sometimes you’ll find a solution we didn’t see coming. There’s rarely just One answer. Bend reality to find another way Corel is no longer one stable world. The Paradox has fractured it into alternate realities, and One can shift between different versions of the same space – and even different versions of herself. Reality shifting is another system we wanted players to use across exploration, puzzles, and combat rather than for one specific purpose. A path blocked in one reality might be accessible in another. An element you need to solve a puzzle could exist on the other side of a shift. Sometimes, instead of looking for another route through the space in front of you, you’ll need to think about what that same space looks like in another reality. Combat follows the same principle. Shifting can change the resources, hazards, and elements available around you, so the same encounter can play out differently depending on where you choose to fight. For us, Æther, movement, elemental reactions, puzzles, and reality shifting are all parts of the same toolbox. We want you to learn how each system works, then start combining them and finding your own solutions. Explore a world consumed by the Paradox Of course, One has bigger problems than finding increasingly creative ways to deal with enemies. Paradox Corruption is spreading across Corel, twisting reality and consuming what remains of the world. At its center is Maddock, the ruthless leader of the Paradox on Corel, who stands in the way of One’s attempt to save it.Your journey will take you across floating islands and fractured realities as you search for a way to stop the corruption before there’s nothing left to save. And while Fading Echo is a single-player adventure, One won’t make that journey entirely alone. Across Corel, you’ll meet a small group of unlikely allies. Some stand beside One out of loyalty, others out of guilt, and some because they have nowhere else left to go. Each has their own relationship with this decaying world, and with One herself. But One’s journey isn’t only about saving Corel. It’s also about discovering who she is, uncovering the mysteries of her past, and finding the answers she’ll need to save her future. We’ve built Fading Echo around experimentation and giving you the freedom to find your own way through its world. If you’d like to get a first taste before jumping into the full adventure, a demo is also available today on PlayStation 5.  Now it’s time to dive in, PlayStation 5 players! Fading Echo is yours, and we can’t wait to see how you make your way through Corel.

Title: Microsoft's failure to find a home for Ninja Theory voids the one, very tenuous upside to Senua's SGF reveal Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 14:04:10 +0000 Link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/microsofts-failure-to-find-a-home-for-ninja-theory-voids-the-one-very-tenuous-upside-to-senuas-sgf-reveal There’s plenty to dislike about this latest round of corporate-mandated Xbox misery. The hundreds more human beings losing their livelihoods. The embracing of risk-averse factory line development. The fact that nobody, still, knows what on earth is happening with Arkane. Read more

Title: Hytale's Chapter 1 update is all about them goblins, adding its first proper boss and "handcrafted" dungeon in October Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/hytales-chapter-1-update-is-all-about-them-goblins-adding-its-first-proper-boss-and-handcrafted-dungeon-in-october After months of smaller patches, Hytale’s early access phase is getting its inaugural Chapter update, confirmed release date and all. Chapter 1 is out on October 12th, and it’s a bundle of (mostly goblin-related) firsts: chiefly the game’s first "handcrafted" dungeon, a gruesome underground lair, and Hytale’s first bonefide boss fight, against a flamethrowing gob-king. Read more

Title: I got whomped by an Ork horde in Total War: Warhammer 40,000, definitely on purpose, to teach you a lesson about positioning Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 11:05:00 +0000 Link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/i-got-whomped-by-an-ork-horde-in-total-war-warhammer-40000-definitely-on-purpose-to-teach-you-a-lesson-about-positioning Demo sessions are often terrible ways to see a game, doubly so at conferences. You want to sink into a game at your own pace (and with unbroken access to fresh cups of tea), not get dropped into the middle of the action, hoisted up again 20 minutes later and plonked into another section of a game. However, that's the nature of these things sometimes and it suits some games more than others. Total War: Warhammer absolutely does not suit it. Grand strategy games are built for armchair generals. Not just any armchair, either, a wingback one where the leather on the arms is nearly worn through where said general has rested their elbows in deep contemplation. They're not games made to be played in short bursts. As such, I can't really speak to Total War: Warhammer 40,000's end quality from its Gamescom demo, but perhaps it says something that after an hour where I played 20 minutes of the battle tutorial, 20 minutes of the campaign tutorial, and 20 minutes in a scenario where my Space Marine army faced an overwhelming assault from an ork horde, I still came away keen as the baked beans found in an Astra Militarium ration pack to play the full game. Read more

Title: Colourful JRPG Armed Fantasia has been cancelled, four years after a successful Kickstarter campaign descended into delays and lawsuits Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 10:12:53 +0000 Link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/colourful-jrpg-armed-fantasia-has-been-cancelled-four-years-after-a-successful-kickstarter-campaign-descended-into-delays-and-lawsuits Armed Fantasia, a JRPG pitched as a spiritual successor the PS2-era roleplaying series Wild Arms – and led by former Wild Arms producer Akifumi Kaneko – has been cancelled. Digital Bros, the parent company of Armed Fantasia publishers 505 Games, announced in a financial statement that it was one of several games for which "The Group decided to discontinue development," the others being a sequel to F2P strategy game Battle Islands and action RPG Directorate Novitiate, which had already revealed its own demise in May. Read more

Title: Arc Raiders is testing a PvE mode because "a large and growing group" refuse to hunt each other Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 09:01:56 +0000 Link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/arc-raiders-is-testing-a-pve-mode-because-a-large-and-growing-group-refuse-to-hunt-each-other Arc Raiders developer Embark Studios is bowing to the pacifists and trialing a PvE mode in their extraction shooter. If you play between October 13th and 20th, you'll be able to flick a toggle that means you load either into the traditional world of Arc Raiders, where human players vie for the valuable scraps left behind in a ruined world watched over by killer robots, or a slightly safer version where the machines are still deadly but the humans can't hurt you. "We’re seeing a large and growing group of Raiders who come to the Rust Belt for the co-op and the ARC, not fighting with other Raiders," Embark say in the post announcing the trial. "That group has become a core part of our community, so it’s important we learn how to support them properly rather than leave them working around the game." Read more