Gaming News

Electronic Arts has never been a particularly popular company in the eyes of consumers, but Hazelight Studios founder Josef Fares, who collaborated on three titles with the publisher, was willing to go up to bat for it during a recent interview. Speaking to The Game Business, the Split Fiction director said that there are "a lot of great people at EA" who "respect" Hazelight's work and "leave [them] be." Then, in classic Josef Fares fashion, he argued that "there’s not a publisher in the...
Tom Clancy's The Division is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, but The Division 2 players are the ones who are getting a gift. An update coming this March will add a Realism Mode to The Division 2, giving fans a new way to experience the game. Realism Mode is only available for players who purchased the Warlords of New York expansion. The mode itself is a stripped down version of the game that drops or modifies some of the series' traditional elements, like the HUD, the map, and...
Every game has a rich visual language at its core, but few can compare to the elegance of Okami. Capcom's 2006 action-adventure game features a unique art style inspired by Japanese Sumi-e ink illustrations, even incorporating brush strokes and caligraphy into the gameplay mechanics. If you want to explore the game's artistic design, Amazon recently restocked the Okami: Official Complete Works art book, and you can snag a copy for $35.65 (was $40). This sought-after art book has been out of...
Those discontent with their current World of Warcraft housing neighborhood may soon have another option at their disposal. Currently, those participating in WoW's recently added player housing feature have two options when it comes to joining a neighborhood. The first is to join a public neighborhood that is open to anyone, while the second is to be a member of a guild and join a neighborhood that only fellow guild members can live in. Soon, however, it looks like there will be a third...
Battlefield 6's much-anticipated Season 2 update won't launch on time. Battlefield Studios has confirmed that the update will now arrive on February 17, which is later than expected. "This extended launch has been implemented to allow extra time to further develop and refine Season 2 as a result of community feedback," the developer said (via Charlie Intel). The update was previously expected to arrive sometime in late January. Battlefield 6 had a strong start in October 2025 and even...
Developer Sandfall's RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was one of 2025's breakout hits, and with a budget of reportedly less than $10 million, a relatively small development staff, and a price point below $70, some have said the game could be representative of a "AA"-style project that can break through. It may have worked for Expedition 33, and it could work for other titles, but Hazelight boss Josef Fares wants to see the AAA space continue and hopes that decision-makers in gaming don't go...
When Mushy relogged onto her Animal Crossing: New Horizons island after years away, she expected the weeds, cockroaches, and angry villagers. She didn't expect a blast from the past when she checked in on her ex-partner's room, which was designed like a jail cell. "He had a weird sense of humor and once he saw that there were jail items in the game--jail bars, wallpaper, toilets-- he thought it would be hilarious to turn his island home into a jail cell," she told GameSpot. "I helped him...
Playground Games is working on two new games, including Forza Horizon 6 and a new Fable title, and both are expected to release on PS5--but only one may come to Sony's console day and date with the Xbox and PC versions. VGC's Andy Robinson said he expects Playground's new Fable game to be released day-and-date on PS5 because the team has been "targeting PS5 for a while." Forza Horizon 6 is confirmed for release on PS5, but not until after the Xbox and PC versions arrive. According to...
Former Bethesda lead artist Nate Purkeypile has discussed The Elder Scrolls 6, sharing insight on why he thinks the game was announced so early in development, where he'd like to see the game go in terms of setting, and how Bethesda can deliver the game when there is a fever-pitch of hype for it. Speaking to Esports Insider, Purkeypile said he assumes Bethesda announced The Elder Scrolls 6 back in 2018 because "it had been so long already since Skyrim" that the studio wanted to tell fans...
Nexon has officially announced that Arc Raiders has sold more than 12.4 million units since the $40 game launched at the end of October 2025. The sales number is not a surprise, as the research firm Alinea Analytics previously estimated sales to be around 12 million. Nexon president and CEO Junghun Lee said sales at this level, along with the fact that Arc Raiders reached 960,000 peak concurrent players, demonstrates "the potential for Arc Raiders to become another pillar in Nexon's...
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has clarified his statements regarding X's AI generation of nonconsensual sexual images of minors and women, saying he merely "criticized a government official" for pressuring publicly traded companies for attempting to "block a speech app owned by their political opponent." Right around the January 9 weekend, news broke that X users were turning to Grok, the platform's AI tool, to create images of minors and women in sexually compromising outfits and positions...
It's no secret that a video game based on 2008's The Dark Knight was in development at one point, before the plug was ultimately pulled. Footage of the game--which was being developed by the now-shuttered Monolith Productions--has surfaced online over the years, and this week, a new video showed how this Batman adventure would have taken a cue from the live-action films with its dynamic soundtrack. As part of a treasure trove of materials uncovered by retro games enthusiast and archivist...
Last summer, solo developer Eero "Rakuel" Laine released Hardest, a free-to-play card game roguelike that he openly admitted was created with AI-generated assets. Since then, Laine has had a change of heart about AI and decided to delete Hardest from Steam on January 30. In a message posted to Hardest's Steam page, Laine credited his epiphany to his significant other and explained why he used AI assets in the first place. "I made this game during the summer in couple months and thought to...
When single developer Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone officially released Stardew Valley in 2016, the farm-life sim wasn't intended to have any voiceovers. That hasn't stopped a dedicated fan from creating a Stardew Valley mod that adds vocal performances to the game. Voice actress and software engineer Shannon Hobby released the Stardew Valley voice over mod as a proof of concept in 2024. But this week, Hobby has updated the mod with vocal performances for all of the romanceable characters in...
How expensive can a game be while still feeling like you're only dropping five bucks on it? According to Peak co-creator Nick Kaman, $8 is the ideal price point for a $5 game. In an interview with Game File, Nick Kaman explained that the team had a $5 "joke" that actually ended up informing Peak's standard pricing. "We had this joke of, like, how much is a game really?" he said. "In a player's mind, what does it mean to spend five bucks? Well, that’s five bucks. But six bucks? Well, that's...
Just a week after its last record-setting day, Steam has hit a new concurrent player peak of 42,042,778, passing the 42 million milestone for the very first time on January 11. The gaming platform has seen sustained growth in recent years, with record-setting peaks happening more and more regularly. Although Steam has been around for over 20 years, its popularity has picked up dramatically in recent years--especially in the six years since the Covid-19 pandemic was officially declared...
Six months ago, Hytale was was canceled by Riot Games after 10 years of development. However, the game's development studio Hypixel was saved by co-founder Simon Collins-Laflamme in November 2025, and Hytale is set to hit early access today, J According to the countdown on Hytale's official site, the game will launch on January 13, 7 AM PT/10 AM ET. For now, Hytale will only be available on PC, but Mac and Linux versions will follow. It's important to note that Hytale will not be...
While you might be looking to reestablish your gym routine now that the festive season is over, at least you can count on your Switch 2 console having an extra layer of stability thanks to a new firmware update. Nintendo has rolled out a new system update for the Switch 2 that brings it up to version 21.2.0, and as you've probably guessed, it doesn't do much. "General system stability improvements to enhance the user's experience," the very succinct update notes read. Since its launch, the...
Nintendo Switch 2 players can grab a surprisingly good alternative to the Joy-Con 2 for handheld mode for only $42.49 (was $54) at Amazon. This is the lowest price yet for the Gammeefy JC400, a Bluetooth controller with a cradle designed specifically to hold the Switch 2 console. The JC400 has Hall Effect sticks with RGB light rings, two remappable back buttons, rumble with five intensity levels, six-axis motion controls, and numerous other features that make it a bargain. You're probably...
January is a quiet month on the 2026 gaming calendar, but this frees you up to check out games that flew under your radar. If you're looking for something to fill the quiet period on PC, Fanatical is offering three new bundle deals worth checking out. The new January 2026 Platinum Collection, New Year 2026 Collection, and Triple Pack deals are all build-your-own bundle offers that let you mix and match from their own unique lists of games--and the more you add to your bundles, the more...