The legal battle between the former leaders of Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds and publisher Krafton has taken another turn. In new documents filed with the court, Subnautica director and designer Charlie Cleveland, Unknown Worlds co-founder Max McGuire, and ex-CEO Ted Gill allege that Krafton executives turned to AI as part of a bid to get out from under a $250 million bonus that would have been due if Subnautica 2 met certain financial goals.

At the heart of the latest filings are exchanges between Krafton CEO Kim Chang-han and the company's head of global operations Richard Yoon that were obtained via discovery. As reported by Kotaku, the documents allege "Kim turned to artificial intelligence to help him brainstorm ways to avoid paying the earnout. ChatGPT likewise advised that it would be 'difficult to cancel the earn-out.'"

The founders also alleged that Krafton refused to produce those ChatGPT conversations and stated that they no longer exist. However, there is a series of messages between Kim and Yoon that appear to suggest that Krafton's inability to renegotiate a lower payout for the bonus led Yoon to say "it might be easier to take over [Unknown Worlds]," than to obtain better terms.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Indie MMORPG Ashes of Creation, first announced in 2016, is finally coming to Steam. While the game once it fully launches won't have an upfront box cost, developer Intrepid Studios announced it will begin selling access to the game's alpha and beta tests for $50.

That's actually a discount, as alpha access currently costs $100 on the official Ashes of Creation website. Come December 11, however, that price will go down to $50 to coincide with the game's arrival on Steam.

Intrepid makes clear it doesn't have a specific end date for early access, but that following alpha testing, the game will move into two beta periods before releasing in full. Following early access, Ashes of Creation will require a monthly subscription to play.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Final Fantasy I-VI Collection Anniversary Edition

$40 (was $75) for Nintendo Switch 1/2

See at Amazon

Final Fantasy I-VI Collection Anniversary Edition

$40 (was $75) for PS4/PS5

See at Amazon

Some of Square Enix's best JRPG remakes, remasters, and retro compilations are featured in Amazon's early Black Friday video game sale this week. Most notably, Final Fantasy I-VI Collection Anniversary Edition is on sale for only $40 on Nintendo Switch and PS4. The $35 price cut is the biggest discounted yet for Square Enix's stellar Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters. The Anniversary Edition comes with a Final Fantasy character sprite sticker sheet.

The six-game Final Fantasy compilation has been one of the most popular Switch and PlayStation game deals during major sales events since its launch last fall. If you're interested, we'd recommend snagging this deal soon; the Switch version, in particular, tends to sell out during promotions.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Microsoft has announced that the next Xbox Partner Preview event is coming up this Thursday, November 20. The event promises news and updates on partner titles, including information about games like 007 First Light, Tides of Annihilation, Reanimal, and "other great games" coming to Xbox platforms.

Every game shown during the Xbox Partner Preview is part of the Xbox Play Anywhere program, and that means they can be played across console, PC, and handhelds with one purchase.

The event also promises "brand-new reveals and Game Pass announcements."

Continue Reading at GameSpot

The delay of Grand Theft Auto 6 to November 2026 disappointed the general public, but Rockstar's release date shuffling also has a significant impact on competing game development studios.

Speaking to The Game Business about a variety of industry hot topics, Arrowhead Game Studios CEO Shams Jorjani spoke about how GTA 6's delay affects his studio's planning and work on Helldivers 2.

"It gives us a stay of execution," Jorjani said, adding: "Us and everyone else."

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Arc Raiders is out now and putting up big sales and player numbers, and it's achieved strong results thus far amid debates and discussions about how the PvPvE game implements AI technologies. Now, industry executive Shams Jorjani, the CEO of Helldivers studio Arrowhead, has weighed in with his thoughts on the matter, imploring people to consider the nuance and perspective of the matter.

He told The Game Business that what he's observed is that people commenting on AI tend to fall into two camps: people and studios who are leaning into AI enthusiastically and other developers who say "the very fabric of their being is being threatened and therefore all AI is bad AI."

"Maybe, could it be, that reality is somewhere in the middle? Could it be?" he said, as reported by GamesRadar.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

The live-action Legend of Zelda movie is around 18 months from theaters, but recent leaks from the set in New Zealand may have spurred Nintendo to share a behind-the-scenes glimpse from the film.

Through the Nintendo Today app, Nintendo released the first official pictures of the two primary cast members, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth and Bo Bragason, in costume as Link and Princess Zelda, respectively.

Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Link in The Legend of Zelda.

Ainsworth's best-known role to date prior to this film was lending his voice to Disney's live-action remake of Pinocchio. He has also appeared in Netflix's adaptation of The Sandman, as well as the streamer's horror show, The Haunting of Bly Manor.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Resident Evil's next entry, Resident Evil Requiem, arrives next year, but it's very different from its original idea. While it'll have the trademark horror and aesthetics, Requiem was originally designed as an online open-world multiplayer game before Capcom decided to return it to a single-player format. However, not everything was completely reformatted from the ground up.

"There are some remaining elements, but we can't disclose what [they are]," producer Masato Kumazawa told Press Start, explaining that while the multiplayer project was shaping up to be a good game, it wasn't scary enough.

"Looking at the game when it was multiplayer, the horror part was very mild," he continued. "However, in that build, we made a game that was fun to play, but we looked deeply into this game and wondered if a fan of the franchise would really like this, so we thought they probably wouldn't enjoy it as much."

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Development on Cities: Skylines 2 is changing hands after publisher Paradox Interactive and developer Colossal Order have "mutually decided to pursue independent paths."

In a forum post, Paradox announced Cities: Skylines' development would be moving to one of its internal studios, Iceflake. The studio will take over "all existing and future" development updates for Cities: Skylines 2 and continue development on the game's long-delayed console versions.

As for Colossal Order, the studio will deliver a few more updates before Iceflake fully takes over. Those will include a major update that will add bikes, Old Town buildings, and other improvements. A beta version of the game's editor with mod-asset support will also arrive before the end of the year. Iceflake will then take over the franchise at the start of 2026.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Sonic Colors celebrated its 15-year anniversary on November 16, 2025. Below, we look back at how the game shifted the nature of Sonic games with new gimmicks.

Sonic Colors marked a significant turning point in Sonic the Hedgehog's gaming career. Four years prior, the franchise had hit a horrifying low with Sonic the Hedgehog 2006. Two years after that, Sonic began a slow and shaky climb from rock bottom with 2008's Sonic Unleashed. And in 2010, Sonic Colors finally brought the blue hedgehog back into gamers' good graces, becoming the best-received 3D title since the Adventure games of the late '90s and early 2000s. Things were finally starting to look bright again for the franchise--but with the good came the bad as well.

Up to that point, 3D Sonic games had learned more heavily into their narratives, with the Sonic Adventure duology and Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 standing out as significant examples. For Colors, the plot was scaled back considerably, harkening back to the simpler stories of Sonic's classic games. In fact, like most of the classics, Colors foregoes an opening cinematic completely. Once the player moves beyond the title screen, they're immediately dropped into the first level. Only then does the story begin to take shape: Sonic and Tails have made a trip to space to investigate Eggman's Interstellar Amusement Park, a creation of the mad doctor designed as penance for his evil misdeeds in the past.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

It's not every day that a billionaire gets a new superyacht and the chance to unveil a new video game console. But Valve co-founder Gabe Newell experienced just that last week. On November 12, Newell received his new luxury boat--a diesel-electric yacht that's over 360 feet long--from Oceanco. It's named Leviathan and was delivered the same day that the Steam Machine was revealed.

The Leviathan has a hospital, science lab, dive center, hot tub, basketball court, and 15 "gaming stations." That's not all for video games, either, as there are two racing simulators to take for a spin on the superyacht. It's unknown if a Steam Machine is on board--or even some form of Half-Life 3.

"Yachts have great potential to serve as platforms for scientific research," said Newell. "It's about recognizing that you're part of a broader community and ensuring the yacht's presence adds value to the communities around it."

Continue Reading at GameSpot

The new line of Rog Ally devices made by Asus in partnership with Microsoft and Xbox have exceeded expectations, and Asus is now undertaking efforts to ramp up production to meet demand.

Asus management said during the company's latest earnings briefing that the new Xbox-branded devices have seen an "extremely positive" response from the market, "exceeding expectations."

Some balked at the $600 and $1,000 price-points for the Rog Xbox Ally and Rog Xbox Ally X devices, but Asus said the market has spoken and there is demand for "premium, higher-end models" of the Rog Ally.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Concord barely lasted two weeks before Sony pulled the plug on it, and it seems determined to keep the game offline as it just issued DMCA notices against a fan-made effort to revive the live-service shooter as Concord Delta. Recently, several Concord fans had managed to resurrect the game with some technical wizardry, and although the project was in a buggy WIP state, it was still a playable build on a custom server.

The team of developers responsible for reviving Concord did take measures to protect themselves and kept the player circle small, but copyright infringement claims against videos filed by Marscan--a company that monitors online content for large clients such as Sony and has issued DMCA notices to multiple creators in the past for content like the Bloodborne demake--has the group fearing that legal repercussions might be on the way.

"Due to worrying legal action we've decided to pause invites for the time being," one of the devs behind the project said in the team's Discord group (via The Games Post). So far, the custom server for Concord Delta has not yet been targeted by Sony--only footage of it in action on YouTube or other social media platforms.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Bungie has fully settled the copyright lawsuit over Destiny 2's Red War campaign, closing a dispute that lasted more than a year. According to an entry cited by The Game Post, a settlement conference held on November 12 was successful. As the filing states, "Negotiations were successful and resulted in the settlement of all claims," and the court thanked both sides for reaching "an amicable resolution."

The case began in October 2024, when sci-fi writer Matthew Kelsey Martineau claimed the studio copied "major parts" of his 2013–2014 stories posted on his Wordpress site. He argued that elements such as the Red Legion faction, the Red War storyline, and several plot details were "taken directly" from his original work.

After Bungie failed to get the case dismissed, both sides entered a long discovery process. Bungie repeatedly called the accusations "baseless," but because the original campaign is no longer in the game, the company had to rely on community videos and wiki entries instead of submitting the game itself as evidence. However, since those are third-party sources, the judge dismissed them.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

The Entertainment Software Association has released the results of its annual holiday shopping survey, and the data shows that kids really want video games, but not as much as they want cash.

The ESA's survey found that video games are among the top three things that kids want this holiday, with 58% of kids saying they would like games as gifts this year. Money and gift cards (69%) was the most sought-after gift for kids, followed by clothes/accessories (63%), and then video games at 58%.

The survey also found that 58% of kids want to play more video games with their parents; the percentage increases to 73% for kids ages 5-7, 66% for ages 8-9, and 62% for ages 10-12.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Valve is making a play for living rooms again with its new Steam Machine hardware, and the company believes that the compact gaming PC could be equal to or better than what "70%" of people have at home currently. In a new interview, Valve engineer Yazan Aldehayyat explained that the Steam Machine is designed to be both a powerful and entry-level gaming device, capable of running most of the games in your Steam library at high performance levels.

"As you know, we definitely learned a lot, from 10 years ago. We learned a lot from the Steam Deck. We really feel like we have all the hardware and the software bits to make that vision a reality," Aldehayyat said to Tested. "It needs to have enough performance to play all your Steam games; we wanted it to be a pretty simple experience. We also wanted to target more of an entry-level device. Affordability is really important, and definitely the price-point played a huge factor in what performance level we're trying to target. Another thing we looked at is the Steam Hardware Survey. It gives us a good benchmark of where people's home devices are at in terms of performance, and the Steam Machine is equal or better than 70% of what people have at home."

Aldehayyat's comments might not be too far off the mark. Older gaming PCs are still capable of running a wide variety of games thanks to upscaling technologies, while in the console space, many games are still released for both current and last-gen machines, like the PS4 and the Switch. Valve has also said that the Steam Machine is over six times more powerful than the Steam Deck, and the official tech specs released for it do suggest that it'll be capable of comfortably playing modern PC games.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Retailer GameStop has announced a "Trade Anything Day," and as part of this, people can visit a store and trade anything. Well, not quite anything. There is a list of items that GameStop will not accept, including dead animals and illegal drugs.

The fine print for the December 6 event states that people can only bring in for trade items that fit into GameStop's own 20x20x20 box and that employees have discretion to reject any item.

In terms of the specific exclusions, GameStop said people cannot bring hazardous waste, weapons, dead or alive animals (taxidermy is OK, though), alcohol, tobacco, drugs (illegal or otherwise), "sexual and explicit" items, or items "resembling body parts." The full list of exclusions is available on GameStop's website.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Earlier this month, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 players called out the apparent use of AI in the game, especially the "Ghibli-style" Calling Cards. Activision subsequently acknowledged that some AI was used in the creation of Black Ops 7, but it insisted that the creative process is still in the hands of humans. Regardless, a US Congressman has weighed in on the Black Ops 7 debate and called for extensive AI regulations.

California Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna--who has previously accused Roblox of not doing enough to protect children who use it--reposted a message about the Ghibli-like Calling Cards and wrote, "We need regulations that prevent companies from using AI to eliminate jobs to extract greater profits. Artists at these companies need to have a say in how AI is deployed."

We need regulations that prevent companies from using AI to eliminate jobs to extract greater profits.
Artists at these companies need to have a say in how AI is deployed.
They should share in the profits. And there should be a tax on mass displacement. https://t.co/uU2tmt8pDJ

— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) November 14, 2025

In a subsequent post, Khanna shared some proposals from Nobel Laureate Acemoglu, including "tax reforms to discourage excessive automation" and allowing workers and unions to benefit from AI gains rather than being replaced by artificial intelligence. Khanna also stressed that he isn't calling for a complete ban on AI.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Embark Studios' brand-new extraction shooter Arc Raiders hit a new peak player count on Steam over the weekend, seeing 481,966 raiders online at the same time. As Arc Raiders was breaking its own concurrent player record, Black Ops 7's launch weekend saw lower than usual player counts for a Call of Duty Steam launch, suggesting the competition may be impacting CoD's success on Steam.

Black Ops 7, the latest mainline Call of Duty game, hit a launch weekend peak of 100,332 players on Steam, less than a quarter of Arc Raiders' weekend high. Of course the two numbers aren't directly comparable--Arc Raiders is only available on Steam and the Epic Games Store for PC, while Black Ops 7 can also be purchased through Battle.net or the Microsoft Store, and is playable on PC Game Pass from launch--however the Black Ops 7 launch numbers are also lower than CoD's previous Steam launches.

While last year's Black Ops 6 also was available on Game Pass from launch, it still saw a Steam launch peak of over 300,000 players, almost three times the numbers clocked by its direct sequel. Modern Warfare 3's November 2023 release was also higher, with a launch window peak of 190,000 players.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Lego Disney Pixar: Up House (598 Pieces)

$30.39 (was $60)

See at Amazon See at Target See Walmart Bundle

If you have a Disney Pixar fan on your holiday shopping list, there's an early Black Friday deal at Amazon and Target that you should consider before it inevitably sells out. Both retailers have discounted the 598-piece Lego Up House to only $30.39 (was $60). The nearly 50% price cut is one of the best deals yet for the highly rated Pixar building set. The Up House is recommended for kids ages 9 and up, but just like the wonderful 2009 animated movie, parents might appreciate this "playset" even more than their kids.

Lego Disney Pixar: Up House (598 pieces)

Despite releasing in 2023, Lego's Up House remains one of the most popular Disney Lego sets at major retailers each month. It has received similarly large discounts during previous Black Friday and Prime Day sales, and retailers almost always run out of units before the promotion officially ends. The only Pixar Lego set that has outsold the Up House on Amazon recently is WALL-E and EVE. The new 811-piece set hasn't received any price cuts yet, but Walmart has a 2-in-1 bundle with the Up House and WALL-E and EVE for $95 (was $130).

Continue Reading at GameSpot