Death Stranding 2: On the Beach - The Official Novelization (Paperback)

$19 | Releases October 20, 2026

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After launching on the PlayStation 5 last summer, Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is receiving a novel adaptation. Like the novelization for the original Death Stranding, the Death Stranding 2: On The Beach story is getting two prose volumes, and you can preorder your copy of the first 336-page paperback book at Amazon and Barnes and Noble for $19 (or for $11 as an eBook) before it releases later this year on October 13.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach - The Official Novelization (Paperback) $19 | Releases October 20, 2026

Like the first novelization, On the Beach is penned by Hitori Nojima and translated by Carley Radford. And also like the previous, this is a retelling of the events of the game, picking up where Sam Porter Bridges left off after restoring America and vanishing from the public eye. Now joined by Fragile and other allies, Sam's new mission is take rescue humanity from extinction, and will travel from Mexico to Australia to do so.

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The Death Stranding 2: On the Beach novelization is being advertised as Volume 1, so it's safe to say that we'll get at least another volume to follow the trend of the first game's novelization, which was divided into two volumes as well. At 332 pages, On the Beach is already significantly longer than the first adaptation's first volume so it'll be interesting to see how far into the game's story this book goes. Luckily, at that page count, it shouldn't take up much space on your bookshelf, and it'll fit nicely next to your physical copies of the games if you prefer to display that way. The cover uses the game's iconic theatrical poster art, which features a collage of Death Stranding 2's cast, and is reminiscent of work by Drew Struzan vibe, who famously did the poster art for the original Star Wars and Indiana Jones films.

While we don't know when the next book in the Death Stranding 2: On The Beach novelization is launching, you can fill the wait by catching up on the 600-page, two-volume novelization of the first game, which is currently available in physical and audiobook editions via Amazon. Of course, if you're looking to play the game itself, you can also grab Death Stranding 2 on PS5 for $59 (was $70) via Amazon.

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The debate over Love and Deepspace's age rating is almost as hot as the game's five love interests. Though Love and Deepspace's official website states the game is not intended for players under the age of 13, select countries have opted to raise that number in recent months. In developer Infold Games's home country of China, the game is currently listed as intended for audiences 18 and older. After seeing the game's next event, Lingering Lust, I'm left wondering if more countries might soon follow suit.

Running from April 30 to May 15, Lingering Lust looks to be one of the steamiest events in LADS history, perhaps even giving Nightly Rendezvous a run for its money. During the two-week-long event, players will be able to earn five 5-Star memories--one for each love interest--as well as five corresponding outfits that are unlocked once players get a memory to Rank One.

All five of Lingering Lust's memories take place in a hot bath, in which one of the game's love interests--Xavier, Zayne, Rafayel, Sylus, and Caleb--awaits you, drenched and eager to know you a bit more intimately. Each memory--[Xavier: Sunken Glow], [Zayne: Silent Underflow], [Rafayel: Rippling Blossoms], [Sylus: Darkbound Souls], and [Caleb: Vinesurge Instinct]--has its own steamy teaser trailer, which can be viewed on the official Love and Deepspace Instagram account.

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Double Fine's pottery-throwing party brawler is finally here, and even the studio itself has been hard at work embracing just how cheeky its creation tools let players be.

With Kiln, Double Fine continues its tradition of creating slightly out-there games for slightly out-there people--this time going so far as placing greater importance on player creativity than content moderation. But with changes to parent company Microsoft's leadership, a growing trend of creative censorship in games, and a plethora of other friendslop games also vying for players' attention, I've been left wondering how the studio's approach to making games--games like Kiln, for example--has been impacted. Will Double Fine keep getting to make weird games forever? Does a new CEO--one with a history of supporting AI, no less--pose a threat to developer creativity?

Fortunately, Kiln director Derek Brand offered to meet with GameSpot to discuss these topics and share even more insight on Kiln's development. From group pottery lessons to the team first meeting Asha Sharma, Brand offered a closer look at how the studio is remaining true to its creative agenda amidst changes, challenges, and internal debates.

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A new quirk--whether it's a bug or a feature remains unclear--has begun affecting PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 owners with digital game purchases. It appears the systems' latest updates have introduced a 30-day online license check for digital games, leaving those who have extended internet outages without access to certain games.

Several users, including the game-accessibility Twitter account Does it play?, have reported that all new PlayStation Store purchases--those made before March 2026 appear to be unaffected--feature a 30-day timer that shows when you will need to connect to the internet again before losing access. This timer doesn't appear to be visible on the PS5, but according to Does it play?, it is still being tracked in the background.

Potential major DRM issue rolled out by PlayStation (and Xbox as well, allegedly). All new PSN purchases now have a 30 day validation countdown. Already investigating to find out more details. pic.twitter.com/4hqMdWfJ2T

— Does it play? (@DoesItPlay1) April 25, 2026

While unlikely to be a tangible issue for most players, there are definitely use-cases that could see a PS4 or PS5 disconnected from the internet for extended periods of time. It's unclear as of now if this was rolled out as an intentional feature or was a bug included with the recent firmware updates. The online-support bot on the official PlayStation website implies it was done on purpose, but AI has certainly given us false information in the past. GameSpot has reached out to Sony and will update this post if and when we receive a response.

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The namesake of Resident Evil's Leon S. Kennedy has been revealed, and, as many fans suspected, he's named after director Luc Besson's 1994 French action film Leon: The Professional.

Resident Evil 2 director Kideki Kamiya recently took to X and casually confirmed the long-held fan theory in response to a fan pointing out the apparent references to the film in Resident Evil. He said Leon's name came about after talking with Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, who shot down several name ideas before Kamiya offered up another suggestion.

"Well, why don't we just take it from that movie I watched the other day," Kamiya said (via Google Translate), that movie being Leon: The Professional, starring Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, and a young Natalie Portman. Kamiya said Mikami said "Yeah, that works," and the rest is history.

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Last Flag, the multiplayer PvP game from Imagine Dragons singer Dan Reynolds and developer Night Street Games, will host free weekends every weekend for the foreseeable future.

Players can try the demo version of Last Flag each Friday through Monday until the game's summer patch arrives, though we don't know when that will be.

The demo version of Last Flag is the full game, and players will match up against other demo and non-demo players on Steam and the Epic Games Store. The demo version contains all nine characters and the game's two maps, Copper Falls and Snowfield. Players on the demo version can level up and earn free cosmetics, too.

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Twitch can be a wonderfully diverse place. My morning routine goes coffee, emails, then find a Twitch stream to have on my fourth monitor while I work. That can be anything from a standard game playthrough, to a live podcast, to someone just chatting about their life. Often, I will check out creators I'm less familiar with. Sometimes that can give me some unexpected results.

In the Just Chatting category recently, Twitch streamer Morgpie appears to be in full conversational flow before she presses a clicker twice and yells, "Place!" A PVC-clad person crawls from beneath her desk and on to what appears to be a pet bed, before Morgpie throws some treats in their direction. It's sparked conversation across social media, with many complaining that "fetishized" content like this shouldn't be shown on the streaming platform.

Further, a post on X, which was widely shared, claimed that Twitch CEO Dan Clancy said, “It doesn’t violate our TOS, and she wasn’t viewbotting. As far as I’m concerned, this also appears to be consensual. I admire the innovation streamers bring to the platform.” However, that post was unsourced and Clancy never made the statement.

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Peter Berg is signed on to direct the upcoming Call of Duty movie from writer Taylor Sheridan. It's now come to light that Berg said in 2013 that video games are "pathetic" and people should go outside and do something instead of playing games for hours on end.

He also shared some words for Call of Duty specifically, saying the only people who play the game that he gives a pass to around soldiers who play the game for entertainment while deployed.

GamesRadar did the digging and found that these quotes from an Esquire interview in 2013 when Berg promoting his war movie Lone Survivor. Berg, being a public advocate for "American manhood," as the interview put it, was asked for his take on video games.

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UFC 6 (PS5)

$70 | Releases June 19

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UFC 6 (Xbox Series X)

$70 | Releases June 19

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EA and Frostbite's UFC 6 is set to launch for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on June 19, and you can preorder your copy now. $70 physical editions are available for PS5 and Xbox Series X, or if you prefer digital games instead, you can preorder the digital standard and Ultimate Editions on all platforms. All preorders include a bundle of in-game fighter skins as a bonus, and those who grab the Ultimate Edition will also get plenty of exclusive DLC and early access to the full game. Let's go over all the UFC 6 preorder information, including full breakdowns of each edition, preorder bonuses, and where to buy.

UFC 6 Preorder Bonuses

All UFC 6 preorders include a digital download voucher for the Iconic Moments Bundle, which comes with three exclusive Fighter Skins from across UFC's storied history.

Additionally, those who preorder the Ultimate Edition will also get early access to the game starting June 12.

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Although there is ambiguity around the launch timing of the Steam Machine, Valve is preparing to release one piece of new hardware soon: the Steam Controller. It officially launches on May 4.

Previously, Valve released a rather experimental take on a gaming controller. Now, the company has taken a big stride forward in the world of hardware through the Steam Deck, arguably the most popular PC-grade gaming handheld. The Steam Deck also further established the design principles for Valve's products--values that have carried through to its second crack at a controller.

We got some hands-on time with the new Steam Controller and put it through its paces. It may not surprise you to learn that, in many ways, it maintains continuity with the Steam Deck in terms of how it feels, alongside how it looks. The controller comes with a "puck" that both serves as a wireless transmitter and acts as a charger, with battery life lasting up to 35 hours or more.

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Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred will introduce a number of new features to Blizzard's ARPG when it officially launches globally April 28, and one of them just might be a secret players have been hunting for since 2023--the cow level.

Blizzard blew the doors off Lord of Hatred with a livestream last week, revealing all the new details players need to know going into the expansion. During that livestream, Blizzard explicitly stated there were new secrets to be uncovered in Lord of Hatred. In an interview with Diablo content creator Rhykker, associate game director Zaven Haroutunian said there is a new secret to be found specifically in the Pit, one of Diablo 4's endgame activities.

That alone doesn't mean the cow level is a certainty, but a few other details that have emerged do make for a compelling case. As spotlighted by another content creator, Raxxanterax, those who received early press copies of Lord of Hatred found two cow-related items in the expansion. One of them is an old cowbell that can be acquired through fishing, a new activity being added in the expansion. Another new item, the Crown of the Cow King, can also be seen in the game's transmog list.

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The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has finally been dethroned at the box office after finishing every weekend No. 1 since its release on April 1.

The hugely popular animated movie that has earned more than $830 million globally so far was finally beaten in the US this past weekend by the Michael Jackson biopic Michael. Jaafar Jackson, the nephew of Michael Jackson, plays the lead in the movie.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie made another $21.2 million in the US for the April 24-26 weekend, its fourth in theaters. Michael, meanwhile, banked $97 million in the US for its opening weekend to land at No. 1, according to data from Hollywood news site Deadline.

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A former Naughty Dog developer who worked on the first The Last of Us and its sequel has discussed the controversial decision to kill off a major character in The Last of Us: Part II.

Major spoilers for The Last of Us: Part II and the franchise in general follow below.

Heather Cerlan, an environment and texture artist for both The Last of Us games, said on Kiwi Talkz that the studio was "pretty split" on the decision to kill off Joel. "It was controversially internally, too," she said, as reported by GamesRadar.

Joel's death leaked before The Last of Us: Part II was released, creating much hullabaloo online, as fans passionately weighed in on the shocking death of one of the franchise's core characters.

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The last couple of years have seen several new genres emerge, and this week, developers from across the world are looking to cement "Fake OS" games as the next big thing. These are the games that simulate operating systems, desktops, and mobile phones, using that digital canvas to tell engaging stories designed to thrill and mystify the user on the other end of the screen.

To get recognition for Fake OS games as a genre, more than 150 developers have teamed up to shine a spotlight on their games with a coordinated community push on Steam. All of these games will have the Fake OS tag during a week-long sale starting April 27 and running through May 4. A live showcase highlighting these games will be held on May 2 in the form of InterfaceX, and hosted by GameSpot's very own Lucy James and Kurt Indovina--they've always got you covered.

Fake OS Steam Sale

As for the sale that has just begun, nearly 100 games have been discounted. While this isn't an official Steam sale like Valve's other themed events, the core idea is a community-first approach designed to encourage players to tag these games on Steam and help define the genre from the ground up. There's precedent for this push as well, as back in 2024, Dwarf Fortress and Deep Rock Galactic developers managed to get Valve to greenlight a Dwarf Steam tag. To see how you can help, you can use the event's custom-built web app to help guide you through the tagging process.

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The PowerWash Simulator series is getting its biggest crossover yet, as developer FuturLab has announced a partnership with Lucasfilm for an upcoming Star Wars DLC pack for PowerWash Simulator 2.

The Star Wars Pack is coming this summer and allows players to clean a variety of Star Wars ships, including X-Wings. The DLC is set during the events of the original Star Wars trilogy, and lets players take on the role of the P0-W2 droid.

Wielding a power washer made specifically for the DLC, players will travel to six locations from the Star Wars universe to clean things off, including Hoth and Tatooine. The rest of the locations will be announced later.

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Actor Patrick Gibson plays James Bond in the upcoming video game 007: First Light, and he should be considered to play the part in the upcoming movie, according to First Light actor Lennie James.

"He's fantastic in our version of Bond, and I genuinely think he should be a candidate for the main role that they're trying to find someone for," James told Radio Times Gaming, as discovered and reported by GamesRadar. "I'm sure he's under consideration. The people in control would be mad not to consider him."

Gibson is known for his roles on The OA and Shadow and Bone, but he rose to a new level of fame and popularity with his starring role as a young Dexter Morgan on Dexter: Origin Sin.

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Ever since 2015's Until Dawn, I've been a big fan of Supermassive Games. From wincing as Rami Malek meets a grizzly end at the hands of a buzzsaw in Until Dawn, to fleeing an undead monstrosity in Man of Medan years later, the Guildford-based team has always excelled in delivering thrilling, cinematic scares that I enjoy. It's why I came into my preview session with high hopes for the studio's fifth outing, Directive 8020. Yet after finally going hands-on with Supermassive's first foray into sci-fi, my bizarrely brief demo left me feeling more underwhelmed than terrified.

Part of Supermassive's ongoing anthology series, The Dark Pictures, Directive 8020 sees the studio swapping teen slasher tales for eerie interstellar intrigue. A spaceship named the Cassiopeia is sent to survey a mysterious planet, Tau Ceti, as part of a routine resettlement mission, but a mysterious disaster occurs mid-orbit, causing the ship to violently crash on the planet's surface. Stranded and with no way to contact Earth, things only get worse as the crew quickly discovers they are not alone. As they encounter unsettling alien lifeforms that can mimic the appearance of their prey, the researchers find themselves stranded, not knowing who to trust.

This is essentially Supermassive's homage to Alien and The Thing, with a sprinkle of Event Horizon for good measure. Loading into the game a couple of hours in--with details of the crash and their first encounter still kept tightly under wraps--I join the crew of the Cassiopeia after the mysterious crash has awoken them from hypersleep, but seemingly before true Kurt Russell-worthy paranoia has hit.

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One of the upcoming Assassin's Creed game, Assassin's Creed codename Hexe, will continue development without its game director. Benoit Richer announced that he left Ubisoft Montreal after nine years to co-found his own company. Richer is just the latest big name to leave Hexe, following creative director Clint Hocking's exit earlier this year.

Writing on LinkedIn, Richer said, "This is the beginning of a new chapter." He will become game director at Servo Games, an independent studio in Quebec that is focusing on single-player "atmospheric experiences with top-tier visuals, industry-defining character animation, and meticulously refined controls." The studio is building games using Unreal Engine 5 and targeting current-generation consoles and PC.

Richer founded Servo Games alongside Alex Drouin, who started at Ubisoft Montreal when it opened its doors in 1997. He led the animation teams for Price of Persia: The Sands of Time and Assassin's Creed, and would later leave to start THQ's Montreal studio (which Ubisoft eventually acquired). The other co-founders at Servo include other former Ubisoft veterans Luc Tremblay and Dany Marcoux.

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Epic Games has confirmed that refunds will be available for cosmetics related to D4vd, the singer-songwriter connected to Fortnite who is accused of killing 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. However, the cosmetics are not being removed entirely as many asked for.

On social media, the Fortnite Status account said, "We hear the concerns," adding that an update coming April 28 will allow people who bought a D4vd cosmetic to get an immediate self-service refund. You don't have to wait, though, as players who request refunds now can get one, it's just that the immediate self-service refunds won't be available until April 28.

Many online commenters are saying this doesn't go far enough and that Epic should remove the D4vd cosmetics entirely. This isn't the first serious issue with Fortnite cosmetics. Before this, Epic disabled and then modified a Peacemaker emote after fans pointed out the connections to Nazi imagery. Prior to that, Epic faced legal battles over its dance emotes.

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Michael Amazon-exclusive steelbook (4K Blu-ray)

$35 | Release date TBC

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Michael Walmart-exclusive steelbook (4K Blu-ray)

$35 | Release date TBC

Preorder at Walmart

Michael Jackson was a musical force during the '80s and '90s, and it was only a matter of time before a big-budget autobiographical movie about the King of Pop was made. That film, Michael, has just hit theaters, and preorders for are already live for the upcoming Blu-ray, including unique steelbook edition 4K Blu-rays exclusively at Amazon and Walmart. An exact release date hasn't been revealed for Michael's home media release, but the exclusive 4K steelbook editions are priced at $35 and available to preorder now.

Michael Amazon-exclusive steelbook (4K Blu-ray)

$35 | Release date TBC

Preorder at Amazon

Amazon's exclusive steelbook edition features a stylized image of Michael Jackson (played by his real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson) in one of his iconic touring outfits. The slipcase cover can be removed to reveal more of the illustration's details. The rear cover shows images of Jackson throughout his musical phases, from Billie Jean to Thriller. Tech specs have yet to be confirmed, but the 4K release will likely offer Dolby Vision, HDR10, and Dolby Atmos support.

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