Earlier this month, GameStop disclosed that it achieved the highest profit in the company's history during the first quarter of its latest fiscal year. Now, GameStop appears to be taking further steps to cut costs by reportedly making significant changes to its Pro Membership rewards program.

According to Kotaku, new GameStop Pro members will no longer be able to earn Pro Points starting on July 15. Current Pro members are only getting a temporary reprieve until August 15. On that date, members will stop accruing Pro Points.

Prior to these changes, GameStop Pro members could earn roughly 2% of their total purchases in points, which they could redeem for games or other merchandise at a later date.

On Reddit, some GameStop employees are calling out the decision to take away the Pro Points and suggesting that they should collectively stop trying to upsell Pro Membership to customers. Their apparent disdain for this decision probably won't deter GameStop from going ahead with these changes.

GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen has been in the news recently because of his intention to buy eBay even though his company lacks the resources or the full financial backing to purchase the online auction house. In response to Cohen's plans, eBay rejected his overture and described it as neither “credible nor attractive.” Cohen could still attempt a hostile takeover by appealing directly to eBay stockholders, but he has yet to do so.

Microsoft's potential options for the future of the Xbox brand reportedly include spinning it off into a separate company or operating as a "wholly owned subsidiary" rather than a division within Microsoft.

According to The Information (via Reuters), these are just a few of the options Microsoft is considering. Xbox has struggled mightily in recent years, most recently losing millions of subscribers to its Game Pass subscription service after a major price hike. Game Pass has, at least partially, seen improvement following a price cut that also removed new Call of Duty games from the library.

A spin-off would, on paper, make the Xbox brand free from the high-profit-margin expectations of Microsoft as a whole, though it would also no longer have access to the vast resources of such a large company.

The Information's report also said Microsoft is planning to increase investment in a few of Xbox's biggest franchises, including Halo, The Elder Scrolls, and Fallout, in order to speed up development, but just what that means remains unclear. The Elder Scrolls VI and Fallout 5 were both technically announced many years ago, with very few updates on either, while Halo: Campaign Evolved will serve as a stopgap of sorts when it launches next month--for the first time on PlayStation 5 in addition to Xbox and PC.

That PS5 release may be a one-off for Halo, however, as Microsoft looks to renew focus on console exclusives. Gears of War: E-Day, for instance, reportedly had a PS5 version in the works, but is no longer coming to the platform.

Last year, Ubisoft confirmed that it is developing a new Ghost Recon game, but a new report suggests that the project has been troubled and may face a "complete reboot or outright cancellation" if its problems can't be fixed.

Insider Gaming is reporting that the next Ghost Recon, which is internally known as Project OVR, failed to meet Ubisoft's objectives during a recent review. Unnamed sources blamed the failure on "unrealistic deadlines and poor planning and management." According to the report, Ubisoft rejected the alternative production plans proposed by Project OVR's directors.

In response to the failed review, Ubisoft is reportedly taking a more hands-on approach with Project OVR by bringing in additional executives to oversee the development. The report cites an internal memo that describes Project OVR as having a "strong" foundation, but that may not be enough to prevent the game's development from being halted or redirected to other projects. Insider Gaming notes that there have already been "silent layoffs" on the Project OVR team, with potentially more soon.

Earlier this week, Ubisoft reportedly shut down studios in Winnipeg and Belgrade whose titles included Rainbow Six Mobile, Far Cry 6, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and support for the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced.

During an investor disclosure in May, Ubisoft acknowledged a record €1.3 billion operating loss for its 2025-2026 fiscal year. However, it also touted a potential return to profitability in the 2027-28 and 2028-29 fiscal years because of upcoming titles, including Assassin's Creed Hexe, a new Far Cry, and the aforementioned Ghost Recon, which will potentially be a first-person shooter.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 will feature "campaign early access," allowing people who preorder or pre-buy the game to start playing the story mode early.

This applies to preorders and pre-purchases for the MW4 standard digital edition or the Vault edition, across Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Switch 2, and Steam. The campaign early access begins on October 16, which is a full week before the game releases for everyone on October 23. During that week, only the game's campaign will be available; multiplayer unlocks on October 23.

Modern Warfare 4 releases in October.

Existence of the campaign early access for Modern Warfare 4 leaked already, so the announcement today is not a total surprise.

There is also precedent for it, as 2022's Modern Warfare 2 was the first game in the series to offer campaign early access. 2023's Modern Warfare 3 did as well, but 2024's Black Ops 6 did not, and neither did 2025's Black Ops 7.

See at Amazon

The Modern Warfare 4 campaign puts players into the shoes of Private Park, a young, inexperienced Korean soldier. He's played by Young Mazino, who is best known for his roles on Beef and The Last of Us.

For more, be sure to check out GameSpot's Modern Warfare 4 preorder guide.

Two more games are losing their online services, but the good news is that the server shutdowns aren't happening all that soon.

Delisted Games spotted notices from EA and 2K informing fans about forthcoming server closures. Grid Legends will lose its online service on PlayStation and Xbox consoles on September 11 this year, but servers will stay up for the game's Steam and Switch 2 editions.

Grid Legends is riding ... off into the sunset.

2K, meanwhile, announced that TopSpin 2K25's online support will go dark on December 31, 2027. 2K had previously said servers will close at the end of 2026, so players are getting an entire year more than expected.

2K said in its notice that supporting older titles while managing newer ones eventually becomes "commercially unfeasible." EA, for its part, said a similar thing, noting that, as player populations on older titles fall, "it's no longer feasible to continue the behind-the-scenes work" involved with operating them.

This all may be true, but anyone who is playing and enjoying Grid Legends and TopSkin 2K25 may not be thrilled by the shutdowns. In the case of TopSkin 2K25, that's the newest game in the series, so it's even more of a bummer.

Actor Ben Starr, known for his roles in Final Fantasy XVI, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and Hades 2, has revealed that he auditioned for the role of James Bond in 007: First Light. He didn't get the part, which ultimately went to Patrick Gibson, and Starr said he was "so f**king happy" to have not gotten the role.

"I never would have gotten it. I was terrible,” Starr told VGC. “I remember doing a self-tape for it. I did the GoldenEye scene, and I got recalled to meet the team.

“I was a couple of years into doing Final Fantasy at that point, and it hadn’t been released, so I was just a young actor who liked video games," he added.

Ben Starr.

Although Starr got a callback for the part, he said he "kind of crumbled under the pressure" and did not "deliver what they wanted."

"I’m so f**king happy I didn’t get anywhere near it, because my god, Patrick Gibson is so f**king good. He’s unbelievable,” Starr said.

First Light is expected to get a sequel, and we'd imagine that Gibson would come back for it. As for Starr, one of his upcoming projects is for the strategy game Stronghold 4.

Splitgate developer 1047 Games is back with Empulse, a new competitive shooter that, as GameSpot discovered, is to Titanfall 2 what Splitgate was to Halo. Jean-Luc got to go hands-on with the new shooter, which enters early access later this month.

Though it's heavily inspired by the Titanfall games, which should be pretty clear from the gameplay footage, it wasn't the sole source of inspiration for Empulse. Jean-Luc found the gunplay to feel closer to the Halo-y style of Splitgate than the ADS-heavy Titanfall, but the movement and grappling abilities, as well as the mechs (yes, this game has mechs) should be very familiar to fans of Respawn's masterpiece.

One big change from Titanfall 2 is the way you deal with those mechs if you're on the ground. There are no dedicated anti-mech guns here, but you do have access to a big ol' hammer that is very effective against them.

Rather than use a free-to-play model like Splitgate, Empulse is a $20 release, and 1047 is going with an old-school monetization approach--there will be no cash shop when the game launches in early access on June 24 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. A demo will be available via Steam Next Fest on June 15.

After months of speculation, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was unveiled for Switch 2 during this week's Nintendo Direct. It's the latest in a long line of remakes and remasters for Zelda 3D titles, but also raises the question: Why aren't there new versions of the franchise's first three mainline entries?

Nintendo has never remade The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, or The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. These 2D classics for NES and SNES are what made people fall in love with the action-adventure series to begin with. They even feature gameplay features still seen today in the series, like puzzle-filled dungeons, pot breaking, and satisfying secrets to discover. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze-346WTsI0

Weirdly, the only 2D Zelda to get a proper remake is The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening on Switch. That's the fourth entry in the mainline franchise, and while a dark-horse favorite of fans, it doesn't have the same widespread acclaim as A Link to the Past. In fact, to this day, many still consider that SNES game as the pinnacle of the series. 

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past did get re-released on Game Boy Advance, with multiplayer-centric The Four Swords added on to the experience. That game's version of Hyrule was also remade in A Link Between Worlds--so maybe Nintendo considers that 3DS title to be a remake of sorts. 

But still, in a world where every 3D Zelda game has received the remake or remaster treatment (including Switch 2 Edition upgrades), it's a bit odd Nintendo hasn't given the same glow-ups to the original triforce of games in the franchise. Sure, I'd prefer new Zelda games over these, as someone who remembers playing A Link to the Past as a kid. But at the same time, those 2D classics deserve a second time in the spotlight.

Meanwhile, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will see its second remake later this year on Switch 2 after previously getting a 3DS makeover in 2011. Nintendo withheld showing any gameplay in the reveal trailer, which hopefully signals bigger changes than just a visual overhaul.

Best Zelda Games, Ranked – Where Does Echoes of Wisdom Fall? View Images

The latest developments for HBO's The Last of Us are coming into focus, including production shutting down due to the World Cup and a big name joining the cast.

Deadline reports that production on Season 3 is undergoing a "mid-shoot hiatus" for about a month. This is because the show films in Vancouver, and that's also a World Cup regional site. This is causing headaches and disruptions locally, so HBO has opted to shut down production temporarily.

The World Cup final takes place on July 19. It's not precisely clear when production on Season 3 will resume, but Deadline said it's expected to film through the end of 2026, with the new season debuting in 2027. As previously reported, it could be the show's final season.

As for the new cast member, the report said veteran character actor Peter Sarsgaard is going to play the role of Amon, a leader of the Seraphites. If that name does not sound familiar, it's because Amon was invented for the show, and we'll apparently be seeing a lot of him. The report said Amon will be a recurring character.

Amon isn't The Last of Us show's first original character not from the games, as Yellowjackets actor Melanie Lynskey played the revolutionary leader Kathleen. Additionally, Season 1 showed fans the life of Frank (Murray Bartlett), who was only seen in the games as a dead body.

Sarsgaard has more than 70 acting credits to his name. He is known for his roles in the movies Garden State, Jarhead, Black Mass, The Batman, and Green Lantern. He's done a lot of TV work as well, including Dopesick and Presumed Innocent; he earned Emmy nominations for both of those shows.

Craig Mazin is the sole showrunner for Season 3, following the departure of Neil Druckmann. The story is expected to focus on Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), though Ellie (Bella Ramsey) is going to show up as well. Ramsey has said that after The Last of Us, they plan to steer away from those kinds of roles.

As for the game series, The Last of Us: Part III is rumored to be in the works at Naughty Dog, but this is not confirmed. The company is working on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet right now

Ahead of GTA 6's release this November, GTA 5 is now available on a subscription service, and it's Rockstar's own GTA+.

The game's single-player campaign is now included with the GTA+ games library, while GTA+ members on PC can now get GTA Online through the games library.

Available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, GTA+ costs $8/month and includes access to a library of games, as well as a variety of perks. Some of the other games included in the library are Bully, L.A. Noire, and Red Dead Redemption. Games don't always stay forever, though.

A scene from GTA Online.

As for the perks, GTA+ subscribers get an allotment of $GTA 500,000 every month, access to "The Vinewood Club" in GTA Online, a free car each month, and other member benefits that change each month.

GTA 5 has been available on Game Pass and PlayStation Plus for periods of time over the years, but it's no longer part of either library. The game keeps selling, too, as it's now passed 230 million units sold.

GTA 6 arrives on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, but one of the many unanswered questions about the game is what the multiplayer may look like, or how GTA+ may factor in.

Rockstar Games will kick off the marketing efforts for GTA 6 this summer, so it may not be much longer until we finally see and learn more about the game.

Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball believes one way to help revitalize gaming is through something most people do not care for: in-game ads.

Speaking to The Game Business, Ball said there exists a "two-sided problem" in the modern gaming space. Development costs for many games are now "way too high," and consumers do not want to pay more. Something has got to give, and one possible solution, as Ball sees it, is through advertising.

He cited streaming TV as an example here, saying most of the growth for a variety of streaming platforms comes from ad-supported tiers. At the same time, people can still pay money to kill the ads on higher-priced tiers.

While ad-based games are already prevalent and popular on mobile, they are less so on console. Finding a solution on console for ad-supported games could be one of the ways the gaming business can return to growth, Ball said.

"The question is not can we cram ads in everything. The question is, are there opportunities that allow the people who can’t afford, or wouldn’t try, to have an onboard to our properties and franchises?" he said.

Ball went on to say he has nothing to share about Microsoft's plans specifically, but he said companies would be smart to look at advertising to help grow and manage costs.

“How do we keep our products affordable? How do we make sure that we can continue to fund outstanding work from our development teams? That’s the goal. It’s not about placing an ad in front of someone so that we can sell, you know, a pizza," he said.

Ball previously advocated for more in-game ads, saying people should embrace them, or else things may just get worse for developers and consumers alike.

"We don’t want layoffs, we don’t want fewer games, we don’t just want the same games … We don’t want price increases. The money needs to come in one way or another," he said.

Developers have tried in-game ads before, like with EA Sports UFC 4's pause-screen ads. There was a swift and angry backlash, and EA removed these ads. Before that, Square Enix launched a gaming platform, Core Online, that allowed people to play games for free in exchange for watching ads, but people didn't embrace it and Square Enix quickly shut it down.

Former BioWare veteran Mark Darrah recently said developers can make more money and help the industry become more sustainable by selling product placement.

“Product placement is a very small part of video games right now compared to movies and television. Maybe it could be a larger part of development. Maybe there are relationships there to be formed," he said.

Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick, meanwhile, has said in-game ads for full-priced games "would seem unfair."

Ball joined Xbox earlier this year as Chief Strategy Officer as part of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma's new leadership team. He recently said Xbox languished under previous leaders Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond and has said he is a "strategic optimist" when it comes to trying to fix Xbox.

Sharma recently announced plans to "reset" the Xbox business, and this is expected to include more layoffs and possible studio closures in July.

Summer Game Fest Live and various other live events and showcases littered throughout early June have talked up dozens of upcoming games to get excited about. But just as Steam is filled with too many games for anyone to keep up with them all, it can also be hard, if not impossible, to keep up with all of these early June announcements and demos. That's where we come in.

Below, you'll find our picks for some of the numerous games that caught our eye but you may have missed, perhaps because it didn't get a showing during one of the big events like Summer Game Fest Live, Nintendo Direct, or the Xbox Games Showcase, or because, again, there are so many games. Whether it's jaunts through your hometown with a sledgehammer, a long-awaited 1.0 release of a game coming for Stardew Valley's crown, making a deal with the devil, or trying to convince a woman that you actually are her daughter and don't deserve to die, there's sure to be something to add to your wishlist.

Virtue and a Sledgehammer

I'm a sucker for destruction in games. Give me a sledgehammer with robots and structures to smash with it, and I'm going to dive in. Give me that within the context of a game that appears to have a spooky vibe and explores the feeling of no longer feeling at home in your own hometown through the lens of old friends and family being replaced by robots? Now you really have my attention. -- Chris Pereira

See at Steam Time Strike

I've already noted my enjoyment of destruction in games, but Time Strike also capitalizes on my interest in messing with time and how you fundamentally interact with a game from moment to moment. Superhot excelled with its approach to how time worked in a first-person shooter, and Time Strike looks to be taking that further by letting you pause time to consider your next action, which can include causing walls, bullets, or other objects to be flung at your foes. Sign me up. -- Chris Pereira

See at Steam Sunset Summit

We're seeing an incredible surge of mountain-climbing games, not to mention what's often deemed to be friendslop (fair or not). That makes it more challenging to stand out in the space, yet Sunset Summit has still caught my eye: the 8-player limit, freeform climbing, long jumps, floating platforms, quirky-looking characters, pogo sticks, checkpoints, and edible beans that make you fly (!) all seem to combine for a more casual experience that feels like it could nicely complement my friend group's more competitively oriented game rotation. -- Chris Pereira

See at Steam Into the Wind

A calm seaside town where you have to make deliveries with your motorcycle sounds nice, if perhaps unremarkable (though I should note, those deliveries can sometimes be giant, living sea creatures). But that motorcycle can also turn into a plane with guns, which can be used to fend off sky pirates as you also spend your time seeking out your missing uncle, bringing decorations back to your home (earning you bonuses), and dealing with challenges stemming from terrain, weather, the weight of your deliveries, and ensuring you have enough gas. It looks like there's more than enough here to keep me engaged in a way that delivery games sometimes don't. -- Chris Pereira

See at Steam Grave Seasons

After following its development for literal years, I finally got the chance to play Grave Seasons at this year's Summer Game Fest. Despite building up what I presumed were impossibly high hopes for the farming-sim-meets-horror-whodunnit, I walked away from my demo absolutely elated by what I played. In Grave Seasons, the sleepy town of Ashenridge is violently awakened when a string of grotesque murders begins. Your farmer then takes it upon themselves to get to the bottom of things, using journals, polite conversation, an old crowbar, and the power of deduction to do so. 
Though the killer is not randomized (a fact developer Perfect Garbage was careful to emphasize following inaccurate rumblings online), you can expect a lot of replayability from this title. According to the studio, there are multiple, year-long campaigns to play through and each one features a killer selected at random from a pre-existing pool of potential murderers--many of which you can even romance. When not witnessing grisly deaths and supernatural horrors, you'll be able to farm and flirt to your heart's content. In fact, Perfect Garbage admitted you could play the game as a straight farming sim and ignore the call to prevent your neighbors deaths--just don't be shocked if your crush winds up with an axe sticking out of their skull. -- Jessica Cogswell

See at Steam Red Kiss

If like so many of us you finished up 2025's Dispatch and were dismayed by the lack of games with a similar gameplay loop, Red Kiss is here to save the day. In this "seductive narrative RPG" you play as a recently turned vampire in a Cold War-era Berlin. However, you're not just a vampire--you're an Agur, a psychic dispatcher tasked with sending out vampiric spies to help gain influence over the city. While this conceit alone was enough to sell me on the game, Red Kiss's trailer is hypnotizingly stylish. With its boldly lined characters, dramatic color palette punctuated by crimson and indigo, and thrumming electronic music, Red Kiss promises style on par with your favorite Persona game alongside strategic, narrative-driven gameplay. "Coming soon" can't come soon enough. -- Jessica Cogswell

See at Steam Fields of Mistria

Yes, I have already put well over 60 hours into Fields of Mistria, but that doesn't stop its 1.0 release from being my most anticipated game release of 2026. When it comes to Stardew-likes (for the love of god, let's not make that an actual genre name please), I'd argue that Fields of Mistria is not just the best, but that it actually surpasses Stardew Valley in just about every way possible. It approaches the genre with a far more interesting angle and narrative than its competitors, and adds more variety and polish, too. Its stellar writing, swoon-worthy characters, anime-inspired art direction, and sheer amount of things to do make Mistria a world I love getting lost in. I highly suspect the 60 hours I've spent in this lush and lovely town will be doubled long before 2027 rolls around. -- Jessica Cogswell

See at Steam Super Yooka-Laylee Kart

The kart racer is a genre mainstay, and lots of developers have attempted to put their own spin on the concept. Super Yooka-Laylee Kart caught my attention by riffing on what Yooka-Laylee already is: a retro throwback. The visual style of SYLK recalls Mario Kart Super Circuit, which just isn't a style that we often see imitated. I love modern kart racers like Mario Kart World and Sonic CrossWorlds, but the Super NES and N64 era that dawned the kart racer had its own feel that isn't often imitated, so I'm excited to see how this will iterate on it. -- Steve Watts

See at Steam Hidden Folks 2

I’ve waited 10 years for the follow-up to Adriaan de Jongh’s 2017 hidden-object puzzler, Hidden Folks. Drawn by hand, the black-and-white landscapes sprawling across bustling cities, lively forests, and roaring factories set the benchmark in a sub-genre of puzzle games that you’d usually only enjoy in the backs of kids' magazines at the dentist's office. Clicking around an interactive environment to cause chaos and create the events in which you'd find the hidden folks on your checklist is the ingenuity of the game's design.  – David McCutcheon

See at Steam Gone Feral

Turning the tides on the wave of asymmetrical horror games, Gone Feral plops you and your slasher buddies into a big sandbox, where you must hunt down the spoiled rich kids that tried to murder you all in a heinous prank gone awry. Stages—featuring horror staples like summer camps and eerie mansions—generate anew with different layouts every time you play, but the real bread and butter is the ability to off your victims with a myriad of non-weapons. No axe? Grab a turkey leg instead. Eat up. – David McCutcheon

See at Steam Tenebris Somnia

I have never seen anything quite like Tenebris Somnia. Jolting from the look of a pixelated Clock Tower-style '90s point-and-clicker to a live-action film, the game will make you feel like you're losing grip on reality. Tenebris Somnia transforms the safe feeling of a video game ("I can just pause this and it all goes away") into something real and visceral. You never know when these scenes will trigger, which keeps you both on edge and imagining every gruesome scene you come across in pixels as reality. The anticipation of the scare is survival horror's most advantageous tool, indeed. – David McCutcheon

See at Steam Lazy River

Looking at Lazy River, a game in which you and three friends trek down a cartoonishly colored lazy river fighting off zombies with squirt guns and pool noodles, you'd be forgiven for assuming it's been made as a reaction to the "friendslop" trend taking over indies right now. In truth, the game has been in development for four years. Developer Mike Boxleiter told me that when games like Peak and Lethal Company started popping up, it only validated his small team's ideas. Though Boxleiter added that he wishes his game were a bit less complicated, with players building their floats from scraps as they coast deeper into chaos, I didn't feel like it was overly complicated. It seems primed to be the next big thing in this emerging genre that my usual gaming group and I adore. -- Mark Delaney

See at Steam The Road of Dust and Sorrow

I'm a sucker for story-driven games, and an intriguing-enough narrative is typically all it takes to convince me to give a chance to genres I'm normally not a fan of. That's the case for The Road of Dust and Sorrow. Survival-horror isn't usually for me, but ever since I saw its trailer in the Future Games Showcase, I've been unable to stop thinking about it. We have so few "mom games" in the space, which makes The Road of Dust and Sorrow alluring enough to wishlist it on Steam, but the way this game seems to amplify the desperation of its dystopian world by utilizing both empathetic connections with back-stabbing characters and feral-looking combat mechanics has me desperate just to try this game. Plus the pixel art is just really pretty. -- Jordan Ramée

See at Steam Every Wednesday

Visiting a laundromat was never something I had to do growing up, but I did start visiting them regularly once I moved out of my parents' house to go to college in another city. I was so surprised to see that the space was like a small world, with regular customers establishing relationships and growing from strangers into something more--not quite friends in most cases, but definitely more than mere acquaintances. That experience seems to be the basis for Every Wednesday where protagonist Hideki visits his local laundromat every Wednesday and slowly becomes a mainstay in his community. The game looks charming and a whole lot of fun, placing an emphasis on goofy minigames and choice-driven dialogue. It looks like a game that will both make me laugh out loud and quietly sob, and I cannot wait to experience both emotions. -- Jordan Ramée

See at Steam Thousand Hells: The Underworld Heists

This game seems so freakin' cool. In it, you take on jobs from a mysterious benefactor to delve into the thousands upon thousands of layers of the underworld. With every mission, you recruit four would-be heroes and then you do your best to direct them through the challenges you come across. A guardian demon could be snuck past with a thief, for example, or taken out by a trained warrior. As you go, your party becomes more and more injured and your options narrow, leaving you scrambling to come up with the best solution you can. Your allies might not make it, and then you have to live with the consequences of your mission, whether you succeed or fail. This game looks tense, but having every outcome be determined by tactical choices instead of real-time gameplay means I don't have to worry about my slow fingers being the reason my party members die--it will always just be my piss-poor choices. -- Jordan Ramée

See at Steam Burn-9

While the trailer for Burn-9 got me excited for this spy thriller, the free demo is what sold the game for me. Stylized to emulate games like Metal Gear, Burn-9 has you in the seat of the coordinator directing the soldier on the ground, not the soldier themself. This makes it easier to suggest risky plans of attack, but also endears you to the soldier under your command. It's your job to take care of them to the best of your ability, while also weighing the cost of failing the mission and getting a reprimand from your supervisor. The demo was tense and absolutely thrilling to play through, and I cannot wait for the full experience. -- Jordan Ramée

See at Steam In The Drift

In the Drift seems like the type of game that will be welcome to return to after a busy day when I just want to unwind to something that is simple to play, nice to look at, and pleasant to listen to. The game has you play as a repairperson who lives with a crew of other people on an asteroid belt, and it's your job to help the people of the solar system reconnect with each other after the space internet goes out. The game appears to be a very calming experience, though since the creators of Sable are behind it, I'm prepared for it to surprise me with a devastating emotional or introspective gut punch at some point. -- Jordan Ramée

See at Steam Cassette Beats 2002

I like RPGs. I like monster-collecting games. I like isekai stories. I'm going to like Cassette Beasts 2002, especially if it's as good as its stellar predecessor. I'm most intrigued by how this game can be played as is or with your saved data from the first Cassette Beasts imported in. Will importing your character drastically change this sequel's story? And if so, how? Regardless, I'm going to be playing this game when it comes out and spend way too much time figuring out which of the 57,000+ monster combinations are my favorite. -- Jordan Ramée

See at Steam Duppy Detective Tashia

I first learned about this game during the Story Rich Showcase, only to see that it then dropped right then and there. With how time-consuming Summer Game Fest week is for those of us at GameSpot, I haven't had the chance to try this game yet but it's sitting at a "positive" on Steam right now, so I assume it's as good as it looks. And with a runtime of 1-3 hours, this is something that I should be able to knockout during a free weekend afternoon. I'm looking forward to it--it's been way too long since I've been able to just sink my teeth into a point-and-click adventure game, and save for Voodoo Detective, I don't get to play many games in this genre that feature characters who look and act like my family and I do. -- Jordan Ramée

See at Steam The Heart and Harbor

The Hearth and Harbor stole my heart during the Story Rich Showcase, rising to one of my most anticipated games. A management RPG set in a harbor city, you play as a recent immigrant who must transform a run-down restaurant into the establishment of your dreams, all while going out to attract new customers, create lasting relationships with suppliers, and beautify your building. The game reminds me of the likes of Stardew Valley or Discounty, but seems to put a bigger emphasis on the roleplay part of your business, with smart decisions and big mistakes having major consequences on what happens to you, your restaurant, and the community at large. -- Jordan Ramée

See at Steam Am I Nima

I love, love, love word association games but I don't think I've ever seen someone take that concept and run in a psychological horror direction to tell a story that deals with child neglect and gaslighting. Whether or not Am I Nima is the first to do it, I am fascinated at the idea. I don't know if the game is having us play as a changeling, or a robot, or a clone, or something else entirely, but I am invested in this narrative of not knowing who you are, knowing your mother will kill you if you don't figure it out, and needing to use your environment to learn new words and ideas in a desperate attempt to figure out who you're supposed to be.

And that last shot in the trailer, where the smiling protagonist punches the mirror in a tearful rage brought about by the psychological toll to be someone they're not just to live for one more day? Beautiful. Chef's kiss. No notes. Please give me this game right now. Oh, the devs are saying that it's coming out October 8? Nah, that's not soon enough. -- Jordan Ramée

See at Steam Signet City

I'll have a lot more to say about this game in a bit, having just wrapped up an interview with its developer, Gareth Damian Martin, for GameSpot but I also only need the slimmest of excuses to excitedly point at a game I really want to play. You may not know this about me but... I like tabletop role-playing games. And the creator of Citizen Sleeper knows a thing or two about making video games that pulls on an interesting TTRPG idea.

For Signet City, an upcoming first-person fungalpunk RPG, it's the idea of "bleed," the concept of the emotions of the character you're pretending to be beginning to affect you in the real world. This game runs with that idea to tell a story in first-, second-, and third-person: You're a fungal spore that must slowly assimilate into a city, bringing more and more perspectives into your consciousness and shaping how you as the player views the world, the spore views the world, and the individual citizens of the city view the world. -- Jordan Ramée

See at Steam Dressmaker

If not for the arrival of Pokemon Scarlet/Violet, Potionomics would have been my entire personality back in 2022 and all I would have been able to talk about when it came to GameSpot's deliberations of best games of the year. There's just something so appealing about games in which you carefully put together something you're proud of, sell it to customers, and befriend your regulars and the people you work with. Dressmaker seems to be just that, but it's about designing, cutting, and sewing dresses, not potions or coffee. The art for the game looks very pretty, and I'm thrilled at the idea of losing myself in another game that somehow makes the pressures of being a struggling artisan feel rewarding. And if the devs let me smooch any of the cute characters who wander through your door, I fear Dressmaker will become just as much of an obsession for me as Potionomics was. -- Jordan Ramée

See at Steam Magicians: The Devil's Deal

The first-person shooter is a genre so often associated with giant guns and dude-bro machismo that it's easy to forget just how varied and different it can be. Case in point for Summer Game Fest Live 2026, at least for me, was Magicians: The Devil's Deal. It certainly looks as if it'll play like a first-person shooter, but rather than relying on firearms or bows, protagonist Jacob Menteuro is a performing magician who makes use of his wand and cards. He's battling rival magicians who betrayed him--a premise that reminds me of one of my favorite movies: The Prestige--and the BioShock-like art style was just the icing on the cake for me. I'll be there on launch day, asking people, "Is this your card?" before throwing it directly at their face. -- Gabe Gurwin

See at Steam Final Fantasy Resonance

For years, I couldn’t put down my iPad because of Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius. This free-to-play gacha game was a nostalgic highlight reel that always tried to tempt me into spending extra money. Nice try! Still, it was the perfect comfort game with a surprisingly charming story at its heart. Now, it’s being remade as the first 2D-HD Final Fantasy game, similar to Octopath Traveler. What excites me most is the chance to revisit a familiar world without worrying about all the freemium hassles.Make no mistake, as much fun as it was to switch my brain off and tap away with reckless abandon in Brave Exvius, this was a mobile game through and through. Artificial limits placed on play time, confusing gameplay mechanics, and a constant reminder that Square Enix would stop at nothing to hoist me by my ankles and shake some spare change out of my pockets did sour the experience somewhat, but I'm hoping that Final Fantasy Resonance proves that a one-time fee to rejoin Rain, Laswell, Fina, and Lid is worth paying. The mobile game may have ended service a long time ago, but a full-fledged PC and console release that rebuilds the adventure from scratch is one that I can happily sink dozens of hours into. -- Darryn Bonthuys

See at Steam Castlevania: Belmont's Curse

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse looks like everything I could ask for from a new game in the series. The best Castlevania adventures have been a slick blend of style and substance--cult-classics fusing tight platforming with an arsenal of monster-slaying weapons--and Curse of Belmont looks like a worthy successor to that legacy. But what excites me the most about it is the pedigree behind the game, as Evil Empire has established itself as one of my favorite studios thanks to last year's super--and criminally underrated--The Rogue Prince of Persia.Evil Empire had already done some terrific work in Dead Cells alongside Motion Twin, but The Rogue Prince of Persia showed just how well the studio could stand on its own two feet. Combining the roguelike DNA of Dead Cells with a tight and fast-paced metroidvania, The Rogue Prince of Persia is an absolute blast that never outstays its welcome. Castlevania: Belmont's Curse isn't a roguelike and hews closer to the 2D metroidvania era of the franchise, but if Evil Empire can build on that foundation with combat that keeps you on the edge of your seat, we could have a new Castlevania game that was worth waiting more than a decade for. -- Darryn Bonthuys

See at Steam Stellar Blade: Blood Raid

Stellar Blade changed my opinion of how enjoyable a souls-like could be, especially when the framework for that genre combines an arsenal of special skills that feels like it was pulled from the Devil May Cry games. Stellar Blade: Blood Rain doesn't look like it'll deviate too far from the formula established in the first Stellar Blade, but it doesn't need to. It looks action-packed, the new pint-sized powerhouse looks like a blast of fun thanks to her close-quarters combat skills, and once again, the prequel looks visually decadent with its combination of cool cyberpunk aesthetics and grotesque monsters.

I'm also hoping that Stellar Blade: Blood Rain continues to make souls-like action accessible, as the first game was terrific at doing this while still providing a decent challenge. The first game is essentially a souls-like for people who aren't fans of souls-likes, and I can't wait to see how Shift Up aims to improve on it. -- Darryn Bonthuys

With GTA 6 launching in November, developers are trying to line up their releases in the months before and after it, and that's made September 2026 very busy. One September release is now shifting to October due to the pileup of September games.

Developer One More Level has announced that Valor Mortis is being delayed from September 24 to October 13 because "September has become absolutely stacked with incredible-looking games."

"We want to give Valor Mortis (and your wallet) some room to breathe," the statement went on.

The developer said it knew Valor Mortis could be delayed some time ago. However, because it was featured in the Xbox Games Showcase, the studio had to show a date it couldn't necessarily commit to because "dates get locked weeks in advance."

“When we picked September 24th, it looked like a very, very clear date,” Blake Rochkind, the head of Valor Mortis publisher Lyrical Games told Game File.

After Remedy announced during the June 2 State of Play that Control Resonant would also release on September 24, "We knew were were moving the date [for Valor Mortis]," he added.

One More Level said the 19-day delay also gives the studio even more time to improve the experience. A free demo for Valor Mortis is available now on Steam.

Valor Mortis is a first-person action souls-like. You play as William, a former soldier of Napoleon's army, who rises for the dead to fight monsters. French actor Vincent Cassel plays Napoleon.

Valor Mortis is coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. It will also be on Xbox Game Pass at launch.

Here are some of the other games releasing in September 2026:

• The Blood of Dawnwalker (September 3)
• Marvel's Wolverine (September 15)
• Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave (September 17)
• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV (September 17)
• Control Resonant (September 24)
• Silent Hill: Townfall (September 24)
• Minecraft Dungeons II (September 29)

Clutch revolves around professional motorist siblings Theo and Cass who, while competing in the fictional R1K tournament along the French Riviera, get caught up in the seedy underbelly that dictates the entire racing scene. As such, the duo compete in both track and street races, allowing for closed-off circuit competition and open-world driving, bringing both halves of the Forza series into a single experience. 

Developer Maverick Games is a studio filled with former developers from Playground Games, the team behind the Forza Horizon series, and it was clear from my hour-long hands-off preview that the game is strikingly reminiscent of the popular racing franchise. That was until Theo climbed into the driver’s seat of an Aston Martin Valhalla, punched through the floor-to-ceiling windows of a luxury condo, fired a harpoon affixed to the car’s chassis into the side of a helicopter, haphazardly swinging him to the road below and right into a chase with local law enforcement. Check out our hands-on preview in the video below.

https://youtu.be/CSagWF90E6o

Clutch is set for release in 2027 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

While rumors are stirring that Capcom teased a new Dino Crisis at Summer Game Fest, an answer during a group Q&A GameSpot attended suggests you shouldn't be getting your hopes up for a revival anytime soon.

Rumors about Dino Crisis' return first started to swirl when Famitsu posted a transcript of a Resident Evil: Veronica Q&A it attended during Summer Game Fest Play Days. X user and Resident Evil insider DuskGolem shared a translated version of the Q&A in which producer Yoshiaki Hiabayashi allegedly said, "I have no comment ... even though I know the answer."

That was subsequently aggregated by YouTuber Centre of Evil and users on Reddit, which Dino Crisis fans took as a sign of hope that the franchise could return. There hasn't been a new Dino Crisis game since 2003, so many people really want Capcom to bring the franchise back. Unfortunately, Gematsu's Sal Romano followed up on ResetERA, stating that Hiabayashi's response was a less playful "no comment." GameSpot can corroborate that interpretation.

During Summer Game Fest Play Days, I attended a group Q&A session with Hiabayashi. While we were told to only ask about Resident Evil: Veronica prior to the start of the Q&A, someone still took the chance to ask, "Any comment about Dino Crisis?" In response, Hiabayashi said through a translator, "Sorry, no comment. I think you saw that one coming."

While it's possible that Hiabayashi said something different in another Q&A, his very intentional "no comment" response here shows that Capcom really isn't trying to tease a Dino Crisis right now, especially during a discussion about a different game. In terms of new action-horror games, Capcom's sole focus is clearly on Resident Evil: Veronica right now.

Resident Evil: Veronica is slated for release on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2 in 2027. If you want to play the first Dino Crisis, the original has been re-released on PC via GOG and PS4 and PS5 through the PlayStation Classics' program.

The Fable reboot from Playground Games was planned for release this year, but Microsoft delayed it to February 2027, and the reason for the delay was to give the game the attention it deserves.

That's according to Playground GM Ralph Fulton, who told GamesRadar that there was "a little bit of disappointment" when the game was delayed because the studio was "gunning" for a 2026 release. The developers got "really focused" on hitting the 2026 release.

However, now that the developers have had time to "digest," they can "absolutely see the benefits" of the delay, Fulton said. One of those benefits? Not having to compete with GTA 6.

"First of all, moving out of that really congested period towards the end of this year, obviously avoiding Grand Theft Auto. And honestly, the thing I love about it now, and the thing I've tried to sell the team on, is going in February, having a much less contested window allows us the opportunity to go out and really make a moment for ourselves, and I think the attention this game deserves," he said.

People are expecting GTA 6 to "blot out the sun," and because of that, the game doesn't have much competition in November. It doesn't have no competition, though, as Godzilla and Barbie aren't afraid of launching near GTA 6.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0z3ThIb-3w

Fable is now releasing on February 23, but people who pay extra can start playing on February 18. More details about the game were divulged at Summer Game Fest, including how Hayley Atwell will play the villain.

The game will be available on Xbox Game Pass day one. Eidos Montreal is co-developing the new Fable alongside Playground.

As Not-E3 season starts to wind down and everyone's wishlist starts to look crowded with games scheduled for September and October, the next big event on the calendar is Steam Next Fest. The second of three planned week-long demo showcases for 2026, Next Fest is positioned to provide an early taste of upcoming games across a wide variety of genres. The demo showcase has grown in the years since it was first introduced, and the June 2026 edition has ballooned to a truly ridiculous size, with 4,931 demos being featured at the time of writing.

Normally, having too many free game demos to play is a great problem to have, but with Next Fest, the sheer number of participating games feels like overkill. It's worth noting that the original goal of Next Fest was for each demo to only be available to play for the week of the event, but it's not unusual to see these early slices of game remain in place long after the Steam event wraps up. It's also not unusual for these demos to go live before Next Fest even begins, and plenty of these demos have also been around for a while before they got a quick rebranding.

https://bsky.app/profile/kriswbennett.co.uk/post/3mnzbtpjlok2u

Prepare for some choice paralysis, because the only way to experience everything that Next Fest has to offer would be to forego sleep for a week and work out a way to complete a game demo once every 122 seconds. Or if you really like what you're sampling off of Steam, you can just replay the same demo for as long as it's live--or wonder if certain game demos should even be eligible.

Beyond Next Fest, several more Steam events have been dated for June and beyond. The Steam Summer Sale kicks off on June 25 and runs through July 9. Choo-choo fans can check out Train Fest starting July 20, and Cyberpunk Fest is shining a spotlight on neon-soaked sci-fi games. Later in the year, the Steam Autumn Sale will run for one week starting October 1, and the Steam Winter Sale is scheduled to start on December 17.

The 2026 Men's World Cup begins today, June 11, and EA Sports has announced the result of its simulation for this year, predicting which team will win.

This year, the simulation has Spain winning the World Cup, capturing its second World Cup victory on the men's side and first since 2010. EA's simulation has been correct for the past four Men's World Cups, previously predicting Spain (2010), Germany (2014), France (2018) and Argentina (2022).

The simulation hasn't been wrong since 2006, when it picked the Czech Republic to win. That year's simulation was very wrong, as the Czech Republic didn't make it out of the group stage.

https://twitter.com/EASPORTSFC/status/2063274777335214273

According to ESPN, this year's simulation also found that 18-year-old Lamine Yamal of Spain will be the tournament's overall top goal-scorer in his first World Cup and that the United States team will likely get eliminated in the round of 16.

EA Sports no longer has the FIFA license, so you won't see any official World Cup branding in the newest game, EA Sports FC 26. Instead, the game recently got a "World's Game" update featuring a 48-team tournament mode that is legally distinct from the World Cup but is effectively the same.

If you're interested in an officially licensed FIFA World Cup game, Netflix just launched a new game that will be updated as the tournament unfolds.

Like a Dragon and Yakuza developer RGG Studio has built its gangland dramas around a very distinct combat core over the years, but with its upcoming game Stranger Than Heaven, the studio is introducing a brand-new way to bang knuckles.

At Summer Game Fest, we got to go hands-on with the Yakuza prequel, which spans 50 years and five distinct periods in Japan's history. Yakuza and Like a Dragon games have a very arcade-inspired approach to their beat-'em-up action, but in Stranger Than Heaven, RGG Studio wants players to put more thought into every fist thrown or attack parried.

How is the team doing this? By introducing a combat system where the left and right sides of the protagonists are controlled independently. For example, you'll use the right shoulder and trigger buttons to throw out attacks from the right side, and vice versa for the left side. In practice, this creates a dynamic sense of action, allowing you to chain attacks together organically, parry enemies, and stun them long enough for you to follow up with a knockout blow.

https://youtu.be/hvySwE-Kiu0

You don't have to rely on just your fists, either, as weapons can also help even the odds when you find yourself outnumbered. Overall, it looks like RGG Studio is aiming to expand on its action game heritage and move players closer toward some visceral ground-and-pound violence that isn't as over the top as what you'd see in its other games.

Stranger than Heaven launches on January 15, 2027, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. The game features a star-studded cast of actors, as well as the rapper Snoop Dogg. The game even features people in its cast who have been deceased for a while, like beloved Japanese actor Bunta Sugawara and legendary rapper Tupac Shakur.

• Stranger Than Heaven Standard Edition

  $70 | Releases January 15, 2027

  Preorder at Amazon
• Stranger Than Heaven Deluxe Edition

  $90 | Releases January 15, 2027

  Preorder at Xbox
• Stranger Than Heaven Collector's Edition

  $130 | Releases January 15, 2027

  Preorder at Amazon

The new look for Lara Croft--seen in the upcoming remake Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis--has gotten the internet talking, and arguing. But according to the game's development team, it wasn't attempting to appeal to any specific audience with her design.

Speaking to GameSpot at Summer Game Fest, game director Raul Siqueira and experience director Jeff Adams said the process for designing Lara was a lot more organic, and the team wasn't trying to necessarily balance her attractiveness with talent or ability.

"We try not to view it from either of those angles," Adams said. "We're not trying to make one camp happy and the other camp miserable. We don't think of it that way. We're just like, 'Hey, this is Lara. This is who she is and this is the icon that we've come to know. How do we bring her into the most fully focused version that she's ever been presented in?' She's Lara. She is the icon for a reason. So we just want to do justice to her."

Siqueria added that the character's personality plays a key role in her truly being Lara Croft, as well.

"The confidence, the wittiness ... the personality that she has is so important for us [and we're] making sure that we are doing that right. That's why we all love Alix [Wilton Regan] so much--she just nails it."

Crystal Dynamics' latest Tomb Raider game, a remake of the original, comes following the Survivor trilogy, which radically reinvented the series with a grittier story, more violent gameplay, and a new look for Lara. In those games, she was played by actor Camilla Luddington. Meanwhile, a Tomb Raider series is also in the works for Prime Video, and stars Game of Thrones alumna Sophie Turner.

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis releases in 2027 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, and PC.