I spent a few days playing Section 9 Interactive's creepy metroidvania and writing my End of Abyss review, and ultimately concluded it was a fun but inconsistent experience hindered by a few particular issues. Now, just a day after it launched on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via the Epic Games Store, the studio has already cleared up most of those issues with a newly released patch.

If you missed the review, my main concern was how the in-game map would sometimes share incorrect information, like telling me a door was locked when I had unlocked it, or failing to signify when I'd found the key to a particular door. In a metroidvania, this means a whole lot. End of Abyss is a game about exploration, including lots of backtracking via roundabout paths, so when I'd plan long treks across the world based on a faulty map, it was really frustrating to find out too late that I'd essentially been lied to.

But a patch has fixed that, among other problems, and it presents an uncommon issue for me. My review only went out two days ago. The game only launched yesterday. Now much of my review is already outdated. In this era of live-service games and post-launch updates, it's common for games to change shape over time, but for End of Abyss's patch to fix many of its lesser parts essentially right after the deadline isn't normally how it goes.

Usually big, important changes happen in one of two ways:

In one common scenario, a game that critics are playing for review may be patched during that pre-release review period. It's often the case that critics are made aware of bugs we might see, and we're usually told when they've been patched out, or that those fixes are in the "day one" patch that comes with the game's public launch, leaving us to confirm as much once the patch drops.

This even applies to End of Abyss. I bumped into a few bugs during my time with the game, and the very worst of them--in which a boss failed to drop a quest item--was patched just a few hours before I had to write my review, allowing me to beat the game on time. This made the issue irrelevant to my review, and thus I didn't even specifically call it out. 

If the public wasn't going to experience it, then I take it as my job to basically erase it from my memory of the experience--or at least, if I do mention it, I should explain how it's no longer a concern for players jumping in at launch.

In another common scenario, a game changes shape much later in its lifespan, and probably over the course of several updates. Games like Sea of Thieves, Overwatch, and Fallout 76 are great examples. These kinds of games often become the subject of re-reviews years later. But it's not just multiplayer games that do this. Games such as Starfield, Mass Effect 3, and Cyberpunk 2077 have been affected by such major changes that they merited follow-ups, too. 

But End of Abyss is a much rarer case. The game just came out. My review could only speak to my experience, and so it does, but I'd planned to revisit it once my biggest problems with it were addressed and write something like what I've written here--something that says, "Hey, it's better now!" when I could recommend it with more confidence. I just didn't expect that would be a mere 48 hours after I published my thoughts on the game.

Section 9's debut landed in a weird gray area, where some important fixes came neither early enough for my review to consider them, nor late enough for my review to feel like it accurately reflected the experience of playing the game for a reasonable period of time. As it stands, only the players who jumped in yesterday--likely a relative few compared to the many more who will play the game over the next several years--bumped into the map issue I had during my time with it. No one else will ever have to deal with it. 

That's good for players, and good for the studio, even if it leaves reviews like mine feeling more swiftly outdated than anything I can remember writing.

A new screenshot from Grand Theft Auto 6 has arrived, and fans immediately noticed that it appears to be referencing the iconic opening scene from Quentin Tarantino's 1994 crime movie Pulp Fiction.

The image was shared by Love magazine on Instagram. The GTA 6 Countdown social media account put it next to the diner scene from Pulp Fiction, and the similarities are there, especially in the framing.

In Pulp Fiction, Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer's characters, Pumpkin and Honey Bunny, go on to rob the diner, and given that Lucia and Jason are criminals as well, it's not a stretch to think that could happen in GTA 6. Maybe they're just enjoying breakfast, but that seems unlikely given the image clearly shows both gripping their pistols, with Lucia seemingly ready to fill the empty duffel bag next to her with cash and other valuables.

https://twitter.com/GTAVI_Countdown/status/2106042257443049741

GTA 6 tells a Bonnie and Clyde-style story of two lovers who are also criminals. Things did not end well for them, and many are speculating as to how GTA 6's story could wrap up for both Lucia and Jason. It also wouldn't be surprising to see GTA 6 reference Pulp Fiction given how GTA games in the past have featured very overt references to movies, like how Vice City had Scarface references and GTA 5 had nods to Heat.

"We wanted both protagonists to be vulnerable, tough, flawed, right sometimes, wrong sometimes, able to learn from each other,”GTA 6 writer Elizabeth Gauvey-Kern told Love magazine. “That’s what we felt made them authentic, and a great team.”

Jason and Lucia in GTA 6.

Another GTA 6 game writer, Alexa D’Agostino, told the magazine, “When you are focusing on writing a fully realized person with their own wants, you’re going to get something perfectly imperfect--with clichés, but also undeniably real.”

GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. On November 18, the Miami Heat will wear GTA 6-inspired jerseys and play on a court that references Vice City, the game's setting, and a stand-in for Miami.

GTA 6 will take players outside of Miami to other places in Florida, just don't expect to go to Rockstar's version of Walt Disney World.

Rockstar's GTA 6 is priced at $80 for its standard edition. Another voice has come forward to say they hope other teams follow suit and charge more for new games to help the industry at a time when developers are closing up shop, cancelling games, and laying off developers on a regular basis.

Martin Klima, the co-founder of Kingdom Come developer Warhorse, told PC Gamer that raising unit prices would "help a lot," but "everybody's scared to death" to do it.

"Now, hopefully, GTA will blaze the trail, and it will allow us to increase the cost," he said, adding that Rockstar and Take-Two are among the only companies who can "afford, or who can dare" to raise prices in this way.

He added that price increases for new games are "long overdue and also necessary for this business to survive."

GTA 6 should kick off a trend of games costing more, Warhorse co-founder says.

Take-Two was among the first big publishers to drive prices up from $60 to $70, kicking this off with NBA 2K21 in 2020. Numerous other publishers followed suit, and now $70 is the norm. Defending the price increase, Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick said production costs increased by 300%.

Former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden said in 2025 that the price of new games should have gone up with every new console generation for the past 20 years. That largely did not happen, and now the industry is worse off for it, he said.

“I think it’s because everyone’s afraid,” he told GI.biz. “No one wants to be the first one to raise the price, because you’re afraid to lose traffic. So what you do is you just end up eating into your operating income, your profit margin.”

“There were more sports cars in the parking lot in the PS1 era than there were in the PS4 era, because if you’re selling 20 million units at $60 for something that only cost you $10 million to make, that’s different than selling 20 million units at $60 for something that cost you $160 million to make.”

To help make up the difference, developers have hawked things like microtransactions, DLC, and battle passes. If more games go up in price, those trends will likely continue, too.

Before GTA 6's price was revealed, a Bank of America stock analyst said Take-Two should charge $80 to help spur other publishers to follow suit.

We already have $80 games, as Nintendo charges $80 for Mario Kart World, saying the game's ambition justifies the price tag.

Every game is priced differently, even within the same publisher, as Take-Two launched Mafia: The Old Country for $50–to great success. For its part, Nintendo's newly released Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave costs $80 for its physical edition or $70 for its digital counterpart.

GTA 6, which releases on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, also has a $100 Ultimate Edition and a $400 collector's edition that does not include the game. Zelnick said earlier this year that Rockstar could have leveraged the monumental demand for GTA 6 to charge a higher price to consumers, but chose not to.

In addition to the mountains of money Rockstar and Take-Two are due to make off GTA 6 game sales, the game is likely to eventually have some kind of new version of GTA Online, and that's no doubt going to print money.

Video games are usually a few steps removed from reality, but with Grand Theft Auto 6, developer Rockstar Games aims to reflect and amplify the current state of the world with an "over the top" experience. As seen in the trailers and gameplay previews so far, GTA 6 is a contemporary game about doing whatever it takes to make it to the top, and that pursuit of fame and glory is often bookended by shootouts, car chases, and explosions in its Bonnie and Clyde narrative.

"If you are going to put all this effort into creating a version of today’s world, it has to be more over the top, more insane, more in your face," senior VP of narrative Rupert Humphries said to Love Magazine. "Otherwise, you could just go outside and live in the real world."

Humphries also described the world of GTA 6 as "a pressure cooker for all kinds of insanity," as the protagonists, Lucia Caminos and Jason Duval, are polar opposites. Game writer Elizabeth Gauvey-Kern described Lucina as an ambitious go-getter who'll do anything to get the life she dreams of, while Jason is bound by life's circumstances. "We wanted both protagonists to be vulnerable, tough, flawed, right sometimes, wrong sometimes, able to learn from each other," Gauvey-Kern said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vlzIPpyJR0

GTA 6 is also making some big changes to the franchise formula, as getting out of trouble won't be as easy as hiding in an alley and waiting for your wanted level to drop. Actions have consequences, and with the cops being much smarter and more persistent, players will have to be more cunning before they embark on a crime spree. The relationship between Jason and Lucia is also surprisingly more nuanced and deeper than you think, and it'll be a major part of the overall GTA 6 experience when the game launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

With the wait almost over, the marketing machine for GTA 6 has begun to get into gear. Advertising has already taken over a Miami stadium, and the NBA's Miami Heat have announced they'll wear GTA 6-inspired jerseys when they face off against the Milwaukee Bucks on November 18. Rockstar Games also announced a $400 GTA 6 Collector's Edition last week; while it doesn't include the game, it does include various trinkets typically associated with users of the devil's dandruff.

GTA 6: 268 Screenshots To Ease The Wait View Images

The start of the month usually brings several new Xbox Game Pass titles for subscribers, along with confirmation of which games will leave the subscription service in the coming days. This month, at least nine games will be leaving, including one of the best games of 2025, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Other big departures this month include A Plague Tale: Requiem and-- inconveniently for horror fans during the spookiest month of the year--the Dead by Daylight spin-off The Casting of Frank Stone. Evil West is another great game you only have a few days left to play, with a solid 7/10 experience full of monster-slaying energy.

Pacific Drive was another one of our favorites when it was released a few years back, as this eerie roguelite driving game combined a tense atmosphere with themes of mystery and survival.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Leaving Xbox Game Pass on October 15

• The Casting of Frank Stone
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Crime Scene Cleaner
• Donut County
• Evil West
• Superball
• Nova Roma (Game Preview)
• Pacific Drive
• A Plague Tale Requiem

As a reminder, you can save 20% on these games if you decide to buy them before they leave Game Pass.

September was a pretty big month for Game Pass removals, with a total of 18 games packing their bags. The list included some big titles, like The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Sifu, and Frostpunk 2.

Netflix has been experimenting with video games for a while, but is the streaming giant going to eventually drop out of gaming? That's the question Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw put to Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos at the Screentime event this week.

Regarding whether Netflix will still host games in five years, Sarandos said, "I think so." He said Netflix's push into mobile gaming was "a gateway to cloud gaming," which is something Netflix is "much more interested in."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lsV9I2NDO8

Netflix hosts a variety of mobile games, including Red Dead Redemption, Sonic Mania Plus, and RollerCoaster Tycoon Touch, just to name a few. The games are included with a Netflix membership and have no ads. Netflix also hosts streaming games that can be played on your TV, and they are more family- and party-focused.

Netflix's gaming ambitions have bounced around over the years. At one point, the company wanted to make big, AAA games, and hired some big names to get it done. However, Netflix later wound down these efforts, closing studios and laying off staff in the process, leading many to wonder what Netflix's ambition for video games actually was.

Sarandos said cloud gaming makes more sense for Netflix "in a post-console world." He didn't elaborate here, but it sounds like he's talking about a future where more and more people play games without dedicated hardware like a PlayStation, Xbox, or Switch console. All of those systems have gone up in price in recent times due to AI-fueled component and memory issues, along with bigger global macroeconomic trends.

The cloud gaming market hasn't popped the way some have predicted, but Sarandos isn't the only person who is optimistic about the future potential. Strauss Zelnick, the head of GTA 6 owner Take-Two recently said, "I think we'll be in commercial streaming mode within three years."

Sarandos said there will be "all kinds of opportunities for gaming on the television," and the executive said Netflix wanted to be "early invested in that."

"I like it for IP extension. I certainly like it for brand value, for people who want to spend time on that screen gaming instead of watching, then we have an option for them," he said.

Also in the interview, Sarandos was asked if Netflix would again reach into its coffers to buy a large-scale gaming company to help its gaming ambitions become realized faster. The interviewer asked if Netflix could buy Take-Two or Xbox, and Sarandos said it doesn't have any specific plans to buy more gaming studios, though he's not ruling anything out either. For what it's worth, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma recently said Xbox is not for sale, while Take-Two selling itself would be shocking.

Sarandos said Netflix prefers to grow organically instead of buying companies to spur growth. Of course, this isn't a hard-and-fast rule, as evidenced by Netflix offering to buy Warner Bros. Discover for many billions of dollars before Paramount swooped in and made a deal. He said Netflix went after WBD because the company was "so clean" and contained only the elements and assets of the business that Netflix actually wanted, and that was rare.

Netflix will look at other opportunities to buy game studios if they complement the company's wider business goals, Sarandos said.

In other news about cloud gaming, Microsoft has reportedly canceled its new controller for it, ahead of price hikes to the service soon.

Netflix has also said it's still very early days for its gaming output, saying the company has “tons more work to do." Netflix's financial investment in gaming is minuscule relative to its other business areas, and management sees gaming as a "significant market opportunity." Netflix investors no doubt want to see Netflix find new ways to make money; after all, Netflix stock has crashed more than 25% in 2026 so far.

It looks like Sony has quietly revised the PS5 console once again, with new internal changes across the (mother)board. It's not clear when these new models came into service, but they seem to have entered circulation around the same time Sony released limited-edition Marvel's Wolverine PS5 consoles.

Spotted by Modyfikator89, longevity and repairability appear to be the key areas that Sony has focused on. The redesigned motherboard offers easier access to the CR2023 battery, the streamlined internal layout makes repairs less risky, and the hardware takes a page from the PS5 Pro playbook with refined liquid-metal containment and revised heatsink materials. In theory, the updated barrier around the processor die should keep the liquid metal better contained over time, ensuring stable thermal transfer performance even under intensive loads.

https://twitter.com/Modyfikator89/status/2105382987755814984

Sony has also moved to a newer, lower-cost HDMI retimer chip, which likely cuts down bill-of-materials costs and improves display signal stability. Overall, this will likely lower production costs while maintaining higher assembly yields, at a time when sourcing components has become more challenging. Companies routinely make stealth revisions to cut manufacturing costs, but unlike previous console generations that shrank and became cheaper over time, the PS5 has only gotten more expensive since it launched in November 2020.

When it first launched, the entry-level PS5 Digital Edition had an MSRP of $400, but in 2026, you can expect to pay $600 for one. The base model PS5 with a disc drive has increased from $500 to $650, while the PS5 Pro has shot up from $700 to $900. Sony is aiming to make the PS5 a better value proposition as it heads into the lucrative holiday season, after recently launching a new AI-upscaling technology for its base-model PS5s.

Only two of its exclusive games support it currently--Marvel's Wolverine and Ghost of Yotei--and the technology will be released to more developers soon. By enabling the base PS5 to deliver sharper visuals through Quick Spectral Super Resolution, Sony offers a visual upgrade in select games without having to splash out on the more expensive PS5 Pro.

The NBA's Miami Heat have announced that they will wear GTA 6-inspired jerseys when they host the Milwaukee Bucks on November 18, a day before the game releases. Additionally, the game will take place on a "never-before-seen court," and it'll be inspired by GTA 6 and Vice City.

The Heat play at the Kaseya Center in Miami, which was recently adorned with "Vice City" signage, airlifted in by helicopter. The game will air on ESPN on November 18. Tickets are on sale now.

https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/2106007519545974792

There will also be "special activities" and "unique game night activations" on November 18 that the team will detail later. The new Heat jerseys and court design will also be revealed later.

As for what's available now, the Heat have rolled out a "Vice City Collection" of merch, including a $55 t-shirt that says, "Went to Vice City and all I got was this lousy t-shirt" and a $45 shirt that says, "I love Vice City." You can see the full collection at the Heat's online store.

The November 18 matchup is also notable because Heat star Giannis Antetokounmpo is playing against his former team, the Bucks, where he had spent his entire career until this season.

Rockstar is spending big money to advertise GTA 6 in Miami, and some local officials have expressed concerns.

GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The game has reportedly already sold close to 6 million copies, generating more than $570 million in pre-sales.

Also this week, Rockstar revealed that GTA 6 will have more than 170 animal species, including cane toads and monkeys. We also learned that GTA 6 has a new dynamic weather system.

A prominent World of Warcraft: Forever streamer has been banned following comments made on stream encouraging his viewers to buy gold on his behalf. 

Forever, which is currently in beta ahead of the MMORPG's full launch in November, is currently mired in a gold buying and real-money transaction (RMT) controversy. Players buying gold from third-party websites that use bots to farm the game's primary currency has been a problem for the entirety of WoW's existence and has always been against the game's terms of service. What's changed is that developer Blizzard has made comments that it's looking to more aggressively punish gold buyers in Forever, even going as far to admit its been too "lenient" on the matter in the past.

That more hardline stance against gold buyers was put to the test earlier this week when WoW: Forever streamer Ziqo was seen on stream accepting suspiciously large amounts of gold from strangers in the lead-up to a $100,000 prize pool PvP tournament he and many other streamers will be competing in. Given the huge sums of gold being traded, many believed there was little chance the gold had been acquired naturally through farming and was likely bought by a third party and then given to Ziqo as a gift.

https://youtu.be/dvueCoFTkCk?si=YqPAFYzvWt5J5WiC

Almost immediately, the Forever community was up in arms demanding Blizzard take action. In a forum post seemingly issued in response to the Ziqo controversy, Blizzard stated that it would increasingly punish not only gold sellers, its standard practice, but also those buying the gold. In addition, accounts accepting large amounts of questionable gold could also be punished by having the illicit gold removed, their account suspended, or even permanently banned. Blizzard encouraged players not to accept "suspicious" transactions to avoid these consequences.

Even if Ziqo wasn't the buyer, according to Blizzard's own words, he could in theory be punished for taking what many viewed to be ill-gained gold. That same gold in question was later removed from Ziqo's account by Blizzard, though the streamer was not banned or suspended, as many players called for.

https://www.reddit.com/r/classicwow/comments/1wtnmfr/i_never_hid_the_fact_that_i_wanted_my_chat_to_buy/?share_id=zh96vvQnxd9xojUBRfqN7&utm_content=share_button&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1

The same can't be said for another WoW streamer looking to participate in the game's upcoming tournament, Payo. Amidst the Ziqo drama, Payo said on stream he hadn't been shy about the fact he is more than okay with members of his community buying gold on his behalf.

"I never hid the fact I want my chat to use their credit cards to fill my bags," Payo said on stream.

Those comments look to have caught Blizzard's ire, as it was only a few days later that Payo's account had been banned from the game. He has since apologized and said he's never bought gold personally. He said he was "happy" about the ban, because it shows Blizzard is serious about the RMT problem.

Though his main account was banned, Payo was not banned permanently and was allowed to create another account and continue streaming Forever.

"I learned from my mistake, and I will never ever promote gold buying again, that's for sure," Payo said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKtc_UCcmZA

In the wake of Payo's ban, Blizzard issued another warning shot of a forum post. Community manager Kaivax in a post on October 1 said Blizzard has continued to take action against botting accounts and those who have bought or "knowingly received illicit gold." In addition, Kaivax announced Blizzard will be adding a warning to Forever that will appear when trading with strangers. The warning that will appear is as follows: 

"Be wary of accepting gold from unknown or suspicious sources. If the provider is engaged in Real Money Transactions, you could put your account at risk of closure."

Kaivax concludes by making Blizzard's stance on RMT "crystal clear:"

"Any account belonging to any player that is found to have participated in generating, selling, buying, or receiving illicit gold is subject to the gold being removed, account suspensions, or permanent account closers."

Some players on places like the WoW Classic subreddit are still skeptical. Blizzard has always talked a big game about banning bots, for example, but as any WoW Classic player can tell you, botting is still a major issue. More than a few in the community point to the fact that Payo and Ziqo weren't permanently banned as Blizzard still being too lenient, especially towards streamers. For others, Blizzard going as far as adding an actual in-game warning about the dangerous consequences of engaging with RMT is a major escalation in the war against gold buyers and sellers.

"Players are being given plenty of warning," user Dessiato said in a post discussing Kaivax's forum post. "I look forward to the reckoning."

Whether Blizzard lives up to its word remains to be seen, but there's no doubt the Forever beta is putting WoW in the spotlight in a way that hasn't been seen since the launch of WoW Classic in 2019. Blizzard developers have commented that the Forever beta is breaking records, with the Forever beta population cap needing to be raised multiple times since its launch on September 17. The beta, which requires the purchase of the $60 Skyborne Heroic pack in order to gain access, will run until October 21. WoW: Forever launches in full November 4.

One juicy gaming rumor that continues to swirl is that The Walt Disney Company could buy Epic Games and Fortnite. It remains to be seen if such a deal may materialize, and now a top boss at the House of Mouse has directly responded.

Speaking at Bloomberg's Screentime event this week, Disney executive Dana Walden reminded everyone that Disney already invested more than $1.5 billion into Epic for an equity stake. But could talks progress to a full acquisition?

"Those are not the conversations we're having right now," Walden said. "But we have a great partnership."

Disney and Epic are working together to create “transformational” new games. So far, they have showed up in Fortnite in a variety of ways, including the recent integration of Fortnite at Disney's real-world parks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf2bRcSIUsE

Walden said people can look forward to even more to come in the next few years. "A number of launches coming up over the next two years ... are going to demonstrate the value of this partnership," she said.

Kevin Mayer–a former Disney and TikTok executive who now runs Candle Media–said Disney's new CEO, Josh D’Amaro, will need to take “bold steps” to help Disney make more money and grow its stock price. One part of this could be buying Epic Games or another game studio, he said.

Technology reporter Alex Heath recently said on Matthew Belloni’s podcast, The Town, that he knows “for a fact” that some senior executives at Disney want to buy Epic Games and are waiting for the right moment. Other executives at Disney believe it would be a bad idea, Heath said.

Epic Games is a founder-controlled company, with CEO Tim Sweeney retaining full voting stock control. He has the ability to make unilateral decisions to control and secure Epic's future.

Epic would not be Disney’s first potential acquisition target. In 2023, it was reported that Disney was interested in pursuing a purchase of Electronic Arts, but nothing ever came of that, and now EA has been sold to Saudi Arabia's PIF.

Beyond Disney's investment in Epic for Fortnite, some of Disney's shows, like The Mandalorian, use Epic’s Unreal Engine to project scenes onto LED screens surrounding the physical set.

D'Amaro is a big believer in video games and has said he wants to do more in gaming going forward. Wall Street is looking for some kind of catalyst for Disney's stock, and many have said further investments into tech and gaming could be a way to help get Disney's stock price out of its 10-year slump. Disney stock exploded during COVID, but is actually lower today than it was a decade ago.

D'Amaro has floated numerous ideas for further Disney integration into Fortnite, including giving players the ability to book Disney cruises or watch a Disney movie on the platform.

Fortnite is a big push from Disney in gaming, but it's just one small piece. Disney today has nine gaming franchises that have individually earned more than $1 billion.

Ahead of its release later this month, marketing for the Street Fighter movie has focused on deep references to the long-running fighting game series. How deep? We already knew that fighting game legend Justin Wong--alongside Michael "IFC Yipes" Mendoza--was making a cameo as one of the inmates who watches Ryu take on Blanka in a prison fight, but even his prisoner costume hides one heck of an Easter egg. Any fighting game fan will instantly recognize it: on Wong's neck, you can spot the number 37, a reference to the legendary Evo Moment 37.

In a new behind-the-scenes video, Wong detailed the time he spent on the Street Fighter movie set getting fake dirt and dressing up for his cameo. If you're unfamiliar with the significance of the fake 37 tattoo his character sports, it's a deep-cut nod to what many consider one of the greatest fighting game comebacks in history. Back in 2004, Wong faced off against Daigo Umehara, and with his chosen brawler, Chun-Li, down to just a sliver of health and backed into a corner, Wong parried over a dozen attacks from Umehara's Ken Masters and found the perfect window to counter the onslaught.

https://youtu.be/ssipFrggf58

It's a moment that has yet to be equaled within the fighting game community, with the clip earning an obscene number of views over the decades. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the accuracy the Street Fighter movie is aiming for, as the film embraces the unique look of the Capcom games with its choice of costumes, special attacks, and goofy hairstyles that double as the perfect popcorn bucket. Chun-Li actress Callina Liang even went the extra mile to get into fighting shape for the movie, focusing on conditioning her thighs to look impressively muscular and memorizing Chun-Li's various attacks.

On the audio side, composers Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson (Cobra Kai) have even used classic video game soundtracks for the film's score, including a new version of Guile's theme that fits everything. Street Fighter hits theaters on October 16.

Street Fighter Movie: Release Date, Cast, And Everything We Know So Far View Images

Halo has a new home at Activision following recent changes at Xbox, and while it's still early days, Activision has reportedly proposed a total reboot for the series. This would be a fresh start, moving away from the convoluted Halo lore built up over the last 25 years through various games and spin-off media. That's according to sources who spoke to Rebs Gaming, who also stressed that nothing is concrete right now. Call of Duty developer Sledgehammer Games presented conceptual prototypes for a free-to-play multiplayer game and a story campaign built in the Infinity Ward engine, and it's believed the studio will lead development.

"Activision is building a development team for the next Halo game, and based on my information, that team could be built within Sledgehammer Games. I'm also told they created the prototypes in the Infinity Ward engine. This doesn't confirm the game will be developed in Call of Duty's engine instead of Unreal Engine, but the prototypes indicate it's definitely possible. Apparently, Activision's idea for the campaign project was a soft reboot that doesn't follow Halo Infinite's story, but also doesn't retcon established canon," Rebs Gaming said.

"However, it sounds like plans are changing. I'm told they discarded their original project ideas for a full Halo game."

https://youtu.be/wPWqTRrCgX0

Rebs Gaming added that this means a sequel to Halo Infinite is unlikely and that "at least some of Halo's story" will be rebooted. One major criticism of Halo after its original developer, Bungie, left the franchise and handed it over to 343 Industries/Halo Studios was that the franchise shifted away from telling standalone stories. Halo books and media were supplementary material that added to the franchise, but weren't essential to the overall narrative.

But with Halo Studios, there was a period of mandatory homework for fans as novels, comics, and spin-off games featured crucial plot points and new characters. For example, the Forerunner history in Halo 4 and the appearance of Blue Team in Halo 5 required outside reading to understand what was going on, while later games jettisoned major villains like the Didact and Jul 'Mdama, resulting in a messy lore with abrupt resets.

In related Halo news, former franchise director Frank O’Connor offered plenty of advice to Activision as it builds the new game, including pitfalls it should avoid.

Developer Ember Lab has announced that its upcoming PS5 game Kena: Scars of Kosmora, the sequel to 2021's much-loved Kena: Bridge of Spirits, has been delayed. The game--which gives off major Zelda vibes--was previously set to release this year, but now it's been delayed to 2027.

In a blog post, the developers said they need more time to "deliver a top-notch game that exceeds the quality" of Bridge of Spirits. "Pushing our release into 2027 gives us the ability to really polish the expanded game experience we want to deliver," the studio said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhgxkBxiCyg

Scars of Kosmora is a linear adventure game, just like the 2021 entry, but the sequel has a "broader and deeper scope," the studio said.

"We hope you’re just as excited to jump into Kena’s next adventure as we are to share it with you. We’ve been working hard to fill it with the wonder, charm, and challenge fans have come to expect," the team added. "We appreciate your patience and support as we take the time for Scars of Kosmora to be the evolution of Kena’s journey and experience we want to deliver."

In Scars of Kosmora, main character Kena is now a seasoned spirit guide and embarks on a journey to the island of Kosmora to find a "cure for her affliction and to reconnect with a friend from her past." The island holds a "powerful corruption" that fractures her staff, so Kena adopts a new method of manipulating the elements to her advantage.

"On her journey, Kena discovers and nurtures memorable spirit companions-- whose powers she will harness to solve puzzles and defeat enemies using new elemental abilities," reads a line from the game's description.

2021's Bridge of Spirits was released initially on PS4, PS5, and PC, and later came to Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S in 2024. A Switch 2 edition arrived in March this year. Kosmora has been confirmed only for PS5 and PC so far.

Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 6 includes a number of updates and improvements over the developer's past games, and that includes new weather systems.

Rockstar's vice president of art for lighting and rendering at Rockstar, Owen Shepherd, told Game Informer that the studio has "re-engineered" the studio's weather system to "make everything more more localized and persistent."

He said the goal was to make the weather in GTA 6's setting of Leonida--a stand-in for Florida--feel "dynamically solid and achieve a sense of scale" that the studio has never done before.

GTA 6 launches on November 19.

What that means in practice is that GTA 6 will have "fully dynamic cloudscapes that roll across the map" to provide a "broad spectrum of weather" in the game.

Florida is known for its heat and humidity, along with its localized and fast-moving rain systems. Look one direction and you may see bright sunshine. Look the other and you could see a downpour. GTA 6 will replicate this with localized rain showers, along with rainbows that appear. Additionally, places where it recently rained in the game will remain wet, with puddles also popping up.

GTA 6 also has a new wind system that includes "offshore breezes after sunset, convectional updrafts, and occlusion from buildings,” Shepherd said. “Hair and debris will swirl around on rooftops; gusts of wind will blow ripples over the water surface and bend the grass in swamps.”

GTA 6 will also include tropical storms and hurricanes, along with thunder and lightning. Shepherd did not, however, get into how GTA 6's new weather systems could affect gameplay. Florida is known to experience devastating hurricanes, but it remains to be seen if, for example, a hurricane could knock down structures or trees.

GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, priced at $80 for its standard edition and $100 for the Ultimate Edition. Rockstar is also selling a $400 collector's edition that includes a bunch of physical goodies, but not the game.

Diablo 4 Season 15's biggest bug, one revolving around Hellfire Torch and being able to equip more Unique charms than should be possible, won't be fixed this season, Blizzard has announced.

Hellfire Torch is a new Unique charm that counts as an extra set charm and comes with some great beneficial stats, like +All Skills, +All Stats, and +All Resistances. Players can usually only have one Unique charm equipped at a time, but Hellfire Torch breaks that rule, allowing players to use it and another Unique charm.

That's strong on its own, but there is currently a bugged interaction with Hellfire Torch that is allowing players to equip two Unique charms in addition to Hellfire Torch instead of one, granting even higher levels of power. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L55dgNzpQ8

The bug seems to stem from Hellfire Torch being used first alongside the Seal of the Golden Epiphany, which allows players to equip up to three Unique charms. However, players are later swapping out Golden Epiphany for the Mythic Seal of the Diamond Mind, a seal that reduces the number of charms needed for set bonuses, but are still able to benefit from having additional Unique charms equipped. That, in turn, allows players to gain advantages from a full five-piece set bonus, Hellfire Torch, and two Unique charms all at once. 

Now, Diablo 4 design director Dan Tanguay in a forum post said Blizzard is aware of the bug and said Hellfire Torch' s current behavior is "beyond what was originally intended." That being said, Blizzard will be letting it ride this season as it works towards a fix in the future.

"We know many players have spent significant time earning the Hellfire Torch and building characters around it," Tanguay said. "Because of that, we want to be thoughtful about making adjustments mid-season that could disrupt those investments."

Tanguay continued: "We've also seen the positive reception to the Hellfire Torch itself from many players. The item has created a lot of excitement this season, and we've taken note of the feedback from those who have enjoyed earning it and incorporating it into their builds. While we don't have anything to announce today, it is something we're considering for the future, which makes it even more important that we fully understand and address this interaction the right way."

The post states Blizzard will continue to investigate the issue so that any future changes will be "implemented correctly and behave as intended." 

Players in Season 15 just might be stronger than ever before. Alongside the bugged Hellfire Torch interaction, players can also use this trick to get around the game's crafted Mythic item restriction and fully deck themselves out in Mythic gear.

It's just the last development in what has been one of Diablo 4's wildest, and most surprising, seasons yet. Season 15, Hell's Legacy, introduced all kinds of new content based on previous Diablo games, including boss fights against Diablo, Baal, and Mephisto ripped straight from earlier entries in the franchise. It's also filled to the brim with secrets upon secrets, including a showdown with the cow god Moophisto and even the return of the secret pony level, Whimsyshire, from Diablo 3.

Diablo 4 will continue to receive new seasons going forward, but won't be getting new expansions, as Blizzard instead shifts its focus to Diablo 5. A new Diablo 4 class, the Amazon, will release as standalone DLC in the first half of 2027.

The base PS5 console is no slouch when it comes to games, but compared to the PS5 Pro, it doesn't pack the same visual punch. That could change soon, as Sony has unveiled a new AI-upscaling upgrade for the older machine called Spectral Super Resolution (QSSR). Like PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), it is designed to make games look sharper and maximize performance.

While PSSR will still remain the "gold standard" for what Sony games can look like on PS5 Pro, QSSR looks like it'll offer a noticeable improvement on PS5. A result of the AI graphics collaboration with AMD, Sony says that it offers a "streamlined neural network architecture" for games. The only catch? For now, only two PS5 games will support it: Marvel's Wolverine and Ghost of Yotei--which is getting a new Complete Edition this month. Here are a few samples of it in action:

https://youtu.be/RcFYsDKbAIk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E929-XwrS_Q

"QSSR adds more pixel-level clarity and stability to our environments, bringing out extra detail amidst the busy streets of Madripoor, the dense alleyways of Shinjuku, and many other areas across Logan's epic journey. It’s a perfect companion to the launch of Marvel's Wolverine, and it brings a great taste of the PS5 Pro experience to our players on PS5," head of technology at Insomniac Games, Mike Fitzgerald, wrote in a PS Blog post.

Jasmin Patry, lead rendering engineer at Ghost of Yotei developer Sucker Punch Productions, added that QSSR excels at "resolving the fine details" in characters and environments that previously wasn't possible on the base PS5. Both PS5 exclusives are receiving a patch today to add QSSR as an additional graphics option, and Sony says it will be offered to all PlayStation developers soon.

If it's implemented widely and across many more games, QSSR could become a big selling point for the PS5, as the console will be six years old in November. Price hikes have made it more expensive to jump into the current console generation, and for anyone who can afford the $900 PS5 Pro, stock seems increasingly harder to find as demand begins to outpace supply. In Japan, potential consumers are now being asked to enter a lottery system and prove they've played at least 60 hours over the last two years on their current PS5 console.

In comparison, an improved gaming experience on a regular PS5 console sounds like it makes financial sense--even if the console was much cheaper when it first launched in 2020.

Microsoft agreed to several big changes to appease regulators in its effort to get the blockbuster $75.4 billion deal to buy Activision Blizzard approved, including tweaks to its cloud-gaming projects. Now, more than a year later, we're still learning more about this, including a new claim from The New York Times that Microsoft canceled plans for a new Xbox controller "devoted to cloud gaming."

A spokesperson for Microsoft denied that the controller concept was abandoned due to the regulatory process, but did not provide a reason.

Microsoft never formally announced or unveiled any controller for cloud gaming, but an image of it leaked this year, prompting raised eyebrows for its ... unique design.

Microsoft cut deals with a variety of companies--including Ubisoft, Nware, EE, Boosteroid, Ubitus, and Nvidia--to help mitigate concerns from the UK's Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) that Microsoft might give preferential treatment to its own cloud gaming networks.

Former Xbox CEO Phil Spencer, who led Xbox during the sale process, said such deals freed up one of the concerns the CMA had and helped bring more games to more people.

The Xbox cloud-gaming service showed some initial signs of growth, but the program suffered a setback recently when Microsoft announced that it will soon put limits on how much people can use the service, and then charge them more to keep playing. Additionally, Windows Central recently discovered that the dedicated cloud gaming app for older Samsung TVs will go away soon due to a compatibility issue.

Access to cloud gaming is one of the perks of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, allowing people to stream their games. Later this year, people will be able to buy game time for cloud gaming on Xbox without a Game Pass membership.

One of the appeals of cloud gaming, at least in theory, is that it requires no expensive local hardware like an Xbox or PC, both of which are more expensive than ever due to the AI-fueled demand for memory and components. People need a consistent and fast internet connection for the best experience.

In other Xbox news, CEO Asha Sharma recently stressed that Xbox is "not for sale," following rumors and reports that Microsoft could unload the struggling company.

Early access for Gears of War: E-Day has kicked off for anyone who bought the Premium Edition, and if you're on PC, you're probably dreading the traditional shader compilation wait that comes with it. There's good news, as Gears of War: E-Day supports a neat feature on this platform that cuts down on that process significantly.

Called Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD), it addresses how modern games rely on shaders to calculate how light, shadows, reflections, and textures should look on screen. This usually involves you sitting for a while when you first boot up a game after installing it, resulting in the infamous "Compiling Shaders" loading bar. In comparison, ASD is like buying a Gundam model kit that's already assembled, right out of the box.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTxwN-Ck1Zw

ASD pre-translates and delivers shader files directly to your device ahead of time, so you wait mere seconds. It also works across a wide variety of systems, and while I haven't installed Gears of War: E-Day on my main PC yet, I did load it up on my Asus Xbox ROG Ally X. The shader compilation waiting time was around 20 seconds, far better than waiting up to 15 minutes as I've experienced with other new games.

It's also worth noting that ASD works with multiple hardware configurations, including devices powered by AMD, Intel, Nvidia, and Qualcomm. Gears of War: E-Day will be the first game to support ASD across Windows devices, and it's currently available for users with AMD graphics cards. Owners of Nvidia GPUs will receive ASD-compatible drivers shortly after E-Day launches.

I was slaying the Locust, not my patience.

While our impression of the multiplayer portion of Gears of War: E-Day is still coming, the campaign is a mostly solid excuse to take cover and pop some Locust heads. "For better or worse, E-Day is distinctly Gears, and I had a good time with it, even if the story is disappointing and the open areas are fairly dull," Richard Wakeling wrote in GameSpot's Gears of War: E-Day review. "But that’s all it is: a good game, propped up by combat that hasn’t changed all that much over the past 20 years. That’s enough to skate by, but I wish Gears of War would dig deeper."

Rockstar's games are known for their impressive attention to detail, along with their massive scopes, and GTA 6 is seemingly going to up the ante in that regard. Rockstar boss Aaron Garbut said in an interview that a developer might compromise scale for detail or detail for interaction "but not with this project."

"We went the other way," he told Game Informer. "Everything is dialed up--detail, scope, breadth, scale, interaction, and density." He went on to say Rockstar has never "created anything close to this before."

"As the pressure for us on this project is huge, we dealt with that by doing our best to overdeliver," Garbut said.

Lucia and Jason in GTA 6.

No game can have everything, though, and GTA 6 is no different. The game takes place in Florida stand-in Leonida but doesn't feature Walt Disney World, for example, but Rockstar says the game will deliver the "full Florida experience."

GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The game has reportedly already sold close to 6 million copies, generating more than $570 million in pre-sales.

Also this week, Rockstar revealed that GTA 6 will have more than 170 animal species, including cane toads and monkeys. We also learned that GTA 6 has a new dynamic weather system.

Mike Tomlin served as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2007-2025, which is a remarkably long tenure in the NFL. During more than half of that time, Tomlin was secretly working on a massive Minecraft city, and he's now revealing it to the general public.

In the first episode of his deep dive into the Minecraft city--and the first video on his YouTube channel--Tomlin shared how the city began, initially with his kids' participation, but as they grew older, it became more and more of a focus for him alone. Much like the Steelers' roster changed every season, Tomlin remained the constant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h_pQ1-5iQg

As you can see in the video, Mike Tomlin put an enormous amount of effort and time into building this city, not only creating the skyscrapers and nearby neighborhoods, but also sports stadiums. He said in the first episode that he'd go into more detail on these stadiums later, but the city includes a baseball field and a soccer pitch, alongside the obvious football field.

His son Mayce also shared that Tomlin would sometimes take his PlayStation, presumably due to a sudden creative spark.

https://twitter.com/maycetomlin/status/2105457694148821231

Tomlin has a lot more time to focus on Minecraft since resigning as the Steelers' head coach following the 2025 season. During his tenure, the team famously never had a losing season, which might just change this year with a grandfather at quarterback and a defense that has major issues stopping the run. Pittsburgh native Mike McCarthy is the team's new head coach, and it's unclear if he plays Minecraft.