Marathon game director Joe Ziegler has announced that he's leaving Bungie for a new job, and his departure comes at a tumultuous time for the studio.

Ziegler said in a note that taking over for him as game director on Marathon will be Del Chafe III, who was previously the assistant game director. Chafe III will work alongside creative director Julia Nardin to "guide the game forward."

"Both of them have been operating in a strong leadership capacity for the team and are ready to guide Marathon into the next chapter with an even better and brighter future," Ziegler said. "I'm proud of them and I'm excited to see them helm the future of this crazy little world we've created together."

Marathon has lost another game director.

Ziegler said he is "heading to something new, somewhere else," and will announce his new job soon.

"I just want to say a deeply heartfelt thank you to all of you for supporting me and Marathon in our windy mission to bring a dark and terrifying space survival frontier to your screen," Ziegler said. "The mission will continue in new and surprising ways so stay tuned for what this team has in store for you!"

Ziegler was not Marathon's first game director. Christopher Barrett was game director on the project until he was dismissed over misconduct allegations. Earlier this month, Barrett settled his case with Bungie and Sony.

Ziegler joined Bungie at the end of 2022, following a 12-year run at Riot Games. He's leaving Bungie at a challenging time for the Sony-owned studio, which enacted a round of layoffs at the end of June. The cuts impacted the Destiny and Marathon teams.

Another day, another layoff announcement. This time it comes from Zero Parades: For Dead Spies developer ZA/UM, which said on social media that despite the game's critical acclaim, the studio can't sustain the size of its team.

ZA/UM took to Bluesky on July 17 to share the unfortunate news. The team said that although Zero Parades reviewed well, "its commercial performance" made it difficult for the studio to maintain its current employee count. As a result, the company has "served redundancy or at-risk notices" to up to 32 staffers at the RPG studio.

https://bsky.app/profile/zaumstudio.bsky.social/post/3mqu7qi4txc24

"Throughout this difficult process, we have continued to consult and work with representatives of the ZA/UM Workers' Alliance," the studio wrote on Bluesky. "This changes the shape of ZA/UM, but not its purpose. Our artistic standards remain unchanged: We will persist."

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is the second game from ZA/UM following the studio's 2019 outing Disco Elysium. Released in May 2026 for PC with a PS5 version coming later this year, Zero Parades is an isometric espionage RPG about a female operative named Hershel Wilk who's tasked with uncovering the secrets of her haunted past. It's chilling and thrilling in the best ways, receiving an 8/10 in GameSpot's Zero Parades: For Dead Spies review and an 83 score on Metacritic.

ZA/UM is the latest developer to suffer layoffs, as 2026 has seen the games industry rattled by myriad studio closures and employee terminations. Earlier this month, Xbox let go of 1,600 staffers as part of its big "reset" earlier this month, with another 1,600 planned to get laid off in the next 12 months. Skate studio Full Circle was also hit with layoffs in February 2026, as was 2XKO developer Riot Games in the same month. Meanwhile, Sony shut down Bluepoint Games, the developer responsible for some excellent remakes, in February as well. It seems like everywhere you look, another layoff happens.

Bethesda boss Todd Howard has addressed rumors of a rivalry between Bethesda Game Studios and Obsidian, saying the online discourse does not reflect reality.

He told Windows Central, "I appreciate some of the fan chatter, but behind the scenes, there's a huge amount of mutual respect [between Bethesda and Obsidian]."

Obsidian developed 2010's Fallout: New Vegas, which was a much-loved entry in the series. The studio is now working on a new Fallout game, though we still don't know exactly what it is.

New Vegas developer Obsidian is making a new Fallout game.

A baseless online myth cropped up suggesting that Howard was annoyed or upset with the success of New Vegas.

Over the years, Howard spoke multiple times about how much he enjoyed New Vegas and working with Obsidian, including a 2018 interview with The Guardian in which Howard said Obsidian "did a fabulous job" with New Vegas.

In the new interview with Windows Central, Howard said Bethesda was "always" trying to find a way work with Obsidian again "in the right way." It's now happening, with Obsidian developing a new Fallout game.

"You sort of say, is there a way or a window or a pocket where we could do something together that really, really made sense? And so we're super excited about the opportunity, working together," he said.

Obsidian was among the Xbox studios impacted by Microsoft's latest round of cuts. Obsidian was said to be hit particularly hard, with 25% of staff let go.

In other Fallout news, Bethesda has confirmed that Fallout 5 is in pre-production and that remasters of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas are coming. Additionally, a prequel story to Fallout 3 is coming to Fallout 76.

After announcing its $55 billion acquisition of EA in September 2025, the European Union is reportedly set to approve Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) purchase at the end of July, according to new reporting from Reuters.

As Reuters reported on July 17, people familiar with the deal said Saudi Arabia's PIF will secure the EU's approval under EU subsidy rules. This means that, after the EU completes its preliminary review under its Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) on July 22, the purchase will reportedly be cleared to go through on July 30. All told, the deal is expected to win unconditional EU clearance under merger rules.

The FSR is meant to prevent non-European subsidies from distorting competition in the EU's internal market. However, as Reuters reported earlier this month, the FSR received tons of criticism that the regulation was too bureaucratic. Now, with the FSR essentially being moved aside by the European Commission--the EU's competition enforcer--Saudi Arabia's PIF is seemingly poised to acquire EA.

Rumors of the deal swirled in September 2025, which saw Saudi Arabia’s PIF, the private-equity firm Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners all involved in the purchase. While EA admitted in November 2025 that there's a risk of selling to Saudi Arabia, the company confirmed that it would still "maintain creative control" going forward. However, in December 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported that a majority of EA's control would shift to Saudi Arabia's PIF after the purchase gets finalized. The deal has riled gamers since, prompting cosplayers to raid EA's California headquarters in protest.

Should everything go as planned--and it reportedly sounds like it all will--this acquisition will be the second-largest gaming buyout ever after Microsoft's $75.4 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard in October 2023.

Diablo 4 Season 14's most controversial change, only being able to equip one crafted-Mythic item at a time, is now a thing of the past.

In a surprise patch on July 16 for PC (and coming sometime on July 17 for console players), Blizzard opted to remove the one equipped crafted-Mythic restriction introduced as part of Season of Death Awakening, as well as increase Mythic and Iconic Mythic drop rates from the new seasonal Lair Boss.

Blizzard announced the season's other most controversial addition, the Mythic Upgrade function of the Horadric Cube, will see changes too, but not until next season. As it currently works, Mythic Upgrade isn't really an upgrade at all, and instead takes a Unique item and then transforms it into an entirely different Mythic Unique item, much to the confusion of players. For reasons that aren't elaborated on in the patch notes, that change won't come until Season 15 several months from now.

Both changes have been the subject of frustration in the Diablo community, with both prominent content creators and the wider community largely lambasting the changes to Mythics, the crafted-Mythic equip limit, and the Mythic Unique upgrade system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nuu7aOAw0is

Dan Tanguay, design director for live service on Diablo 4, offered a brief explanation for the changes in a forum post. He said the team has heard player feedback surrounding topics like Mythic Unique drop rates, the equip limit, and more.

"Seasons are where we experiment with new ideas and push Diablo 4 in new directions," Tanguay said. "Not every idea lands exactly as intended, but we'll continue listening to your feedback, addressing what's not working, and applying those lessons to future seasonal updates."

The surprise patch 3.1.1a update on July 16 comes just a few days after a July 14 update increased drop rates for Pandemonium Fragments needed to upgrade Uniques into Mythics using the cube, as well as a reduced the number of fragments needed. That resulted in players being able to craft more Mythics than ever before, though they were still limited to equipping just one unless they were able to get extremely lucky and find a usuable Mythic out in the wild. Now, at least, players can actually deck themselves out in the purple items they craft, should they so choose.

While the changes outlined above are likely to be well received in the Diablo 4 community, Blizzard has stopped short of walking back its Mythic changes entirely. Season 14 controversially nerfed the game's previously existing Mythics (now called Iconic Mythics) as part of an overhaul it coined "Mythic Uniques 3.0." 

Post-Season 14, any Unique item ccan potentially be found (or crafted into) an even stronger Mythic version, in theory opening up more diverse build options for Diablo 4's endgame. More than just a temporary seasonal change, Blizzard stated it intends Mythics 3.0 to be Diablo 4's new normal going forward, and in an interview with GameSpot, said the changes were for the good of the game's "long-term health."

Physical PC games have been out of fashion for many years, thanks to the rise of digital distribution platforms like Steam. While big PC game boxes containing CD and DVD-ROMs have essentially died out, one modder has decided to bring back game cartridges to their Steam library, blending solid-state drives with Steam's flexible desktop client.

Over on the PC Master Gaming Race subreddit, Jibril-sama detailed their plug-and-play approach to playing Steam games. They'd recently purchased a stack of used SATA SSDs, loaded a custom script on them, installed games onto each one, and created custom graphics to stick to the cases. Once done, a custom Steam Game Cartridge was born, with some of Jibril-sama's games being Cyberpunk 2077, Forza Horizon 5, and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2--all games with a chunky install size.

If you're interested in making your own cartridges, Jibril-Sama has uploaded the code online for modders to check out. According to their post, the code "should" work with other storage mediums like SD cards, USB drives, and flash drives. "No guarantee that it's going to work for you. I only tested on my old Win10 install, but you should at least be able to take the general code and make it work or improve it," they wrote.

Going with the SSD method is obviously the pricier option, as on average, you're looking at around $30-$50 for a quality 128GB SSD. Once the games start piling up, so too does the price.

Memory prices have surged in recent months due to rampant investment in AI data centers and various global factors, making what was once an affordable upgrade more expensive than ever. The future is also looking increasingly digital for next-gen video game consoles, as Sony has confirmed that it will stop manufacturing PlayStation discs in 2028. Microsoft's next-gen console, Project Helix, is also rumored to be a digital-only console.

Todd Howard, the top man at Bethesda Game Studios (BGS), has finally broken his silence on just about everything Bethesda. This includes news on Fallout games (like Fallout 3, Fallout 5, and Fallout: New Vegas), confirmation of Obsidian Entertainment's Fallout spin-off (which we kinda already knew), updates on Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6, and more.

https://twitter.com/BethesdaStudios/status/2078117386935214101

There's a lot to get into, so let's jump in.

What's up with The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5?

In separate interviews with Jason Schreier of Bloomberg and Jez Corden of Windows Central, Howard confirmed that progress on The Elder Scrolls 6 is going well. He reiterated that the game is currently Bethesda's primary focus and that the project is "where we planned [it] to be, loving how it looks, and playing every day."

Meanwhile, Fallout 5 is in pre-production.

There are no launch windows or release dates for either project, and Howard said it's too early to talk about Xbox exclusivity.

What's the word on Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas?

Howard confirmed that Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas will get full remakes, but like ES6 and F5, there are no dates yet.

Obsidian Entertainment is returning to Fallout, then?

Howard said that, yes, the legendary RPG studio is going back to Fallout with a new spin-off. Details on the project are scarce at the moment, but Howard confirmed that "there's a huge amount of mutual respect [between Bethesda and Obsidian]" because their workflows are similar.

More information about whatever Fallout spin-off game Obsidian Entertainment is working on will come in the future.

So, there's more Starfield?

Howard said that Starfield development continues. The open-world space-exploration sim will get more content in the future, with a Starborn DLC coming down the pipeline. Alongside this expansion, the game will get more tools and features to enhance the Creation Club content, with Starfield being "an important part" of Bethesda Game Studios' future.

Did Howard say anything about the Xbox layoffs?

Howard told Schreier that the layoffs that came as a result of Xbox's massive "reset" were difficult for him and everyone involved. He mentioned that there have been periods in the past where Bethesda Game Studios has gone through changes, like how it almost went out of business back in the '90s. It's no different now.

"We're going through a change so that we focus best on the franchises and what we need to do to deliver for everybody."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3vP8EOmtRk What else is happening?

A "huge" DLC called Raven Rock is coming to Fallout 76 next year, which will serve as a prequel to Fallout 3. Bethesda Game Studios said the journey is "far from over."

This is maybe more for me, as someone who recently returned to The Elder Scrolls Online, but ZeniMax Online Studios (ZOS) will "partner closely" with Bethesda Game Studios on The Elder Scrolls franchise. While this means ZOS will play support for The Elder Scrolls going forward, the team is also working on more seasons for ESO.

Is Bethesda Game Studios' future looking alright?

Based on all these new updates, the answer is likely yes. While The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5 are probably still years away from release, Howard said that the entire studio is "building for the future of Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and Starfield."

According to a lengthy July 17 post on X from Bethesda Game Studios, the team is investing in their technologies, bringing the teams closer together, supporting their live-service games, and "developing the next generation of Bethesda RPGs." Overall, it sounds as if Howard and BGS are excited about what's to come. The layoffs may have hit Xbox--and Bethesda--hard, but they're still trucking along.

Final Fantasy games have been rendered in 3D engines for far longer than they have in 2D, but the new trailer for Final Fantasy: Resonance wants you to imagine a world where Square Enix's risky 1997 gambit never happened. What would Final Fantasy look like if it stuck to its 2D pixel-art guns? We'd probably have gotten the HD-2D aesthetic a lot sooner, but regardless, this reimagining of the mobile gacha game Fantasy Brave Exvius continues to look stunning:

https://youtu.be/ftCvnEE6rfI

While the new trailer doesn't outright say it, it heavily suggests that viewers should use their imagination to dream up a world without a 3D Final Fantasy 7. It was the first game in the series to shift to 3D graphics, which were in their infancy back then. It was a high-stakes move for Square--which had not yet merged with Enix--and it required a shift to CD-ROM so that the idea of pre-rendered backgrounds and high-fidelity audio could be realized.

The budget was also enormous, and Square was essentially betting its entire future on a single project that required its developers to quickly learn how to operate in a 3D space and scale up to meet the demands of an ambitious game. Fortunately, Final Fantasy 7 made it across the finish line, and the wow factor of it made it an instant best-seller--a game whose legacy can still be felt to this day and has been the focus of a grand remake trilogy.

Final Fantasy 7 characters would also appear many years later in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, provided you were lucky enough to summon them when you burned through tickets. One of the cool things about the mobile game was that these high-level pulls came with CG-rendered movies whenever they activated their Limit Break attacks, with Cloud and Sephiroth looking especially impressive in action. Final Fantasy Resonance won't include characters from the Final Fantasy franchise, as all those free-to-play mechanics have been stripped out.

Instead, the focus is on the core cast of original characters--Rain, Lasswell, Fina, Lid, Nichol, and Jake--as they set out to protect the Crystals scattered across the world from the mysterious Sworn Eight of Paladia. It'll be coming to PC and console on October 22, but if you're planning to grab it for Switch, you'll want to think carefully which Nintendo handheld you choose it for, given Square Enix's lack of upgrade paths for its HD-2D games. It's not the first time that Square Enix has resurrected one of its mobile games for new platforms, and we'd love to see the company bring more of its dead mobile projects back to life.

As part of Bethesda's big announcements today about its future and what's coming next, the company also gave an update on Starfield. In its statement, Bethesda said, "Starfield remains an important part of our future."

Starfield released in September 2023, so the game is now going into its third year. Bethesda said it will continue to expand the game with "new stories, targeted gameplay improvements, and additional updates." There will be "new Starborn content" coming to the game in 2027, Bethesda added.

Starfield fans are getting more Starfield in 2027.

The game reached more than 17 million people, but it hasn't sold that many copies, as it's also available on Xbox Game Pass.

Starfield got an expansion called Shattered Space in 2024, and the game expanded further from there with a PS5 release in 2026. An update called Free Lanes arrived in April 2026, along with a new story expansion called Terran Armada.

Bethesda's other updates today included the announcement that Fallout 5 has entered pre-production and that remasters of Fallout 3 and New Vegas are in the works. Additionally, Bethesda gave an update on The Elder Scrolls 6, saying, "We’re where we planned to be, loving how it looks, and playing it every day."

Bethesda made these announcements amid a tumultuous time at studio owner Xbox. The company laid off 1,600 people recently, with another 1,600 set to lose their jobs in the next year. Microsoft also confirmed plans to divest studios as part of a plan to "reset" the business.

In a games industry that is increasingly shifting to digital, amplified by PlayStation phasing out physical game discs starting in 2028, where does a brick-and-mortar chain like GameStop fit into this future? GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen appears to have no concern for this monumental shift whatsoever.

When asked by Bloomberg about how Sony's digital policy would affect GameStop's business, Cohen responded: "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter at all."

While his answer appears flippant and preposterous on the surface (the word "game" is in the company's name, after all), the company's financial reporting appears to support his stance that the potential decline of physical games, new and used, would impact GameStop.

"Software--it mattered in the past. Software today makes up less than 12% of the business, and collectibles make up over half the business. So it's totally, totally irrelevant," Cohen said.

https://youtu.be/G3fCkeo2kY8?si=0cZ6O9FzWL9o_ER1&t=983

GameStop's stock price was largely unaffected by Sony's bombshell announcement about its plans to abandon physical media--in fact, the company's share price jumped up.

According to GameStop's financial reports for the first quarter of 2026, collectibles, such as Pokemon cards, made up 41.8% of the company's total revenue, with hardware and accessories making up nearly 40% of its revenue. Gaming software is by far the smallest portion of GameStop's business today.

Bloomberg also brought up Rockstar Games' plan for Grand Theft Auto 6's discless release having no resale value for a retailer like GameStop. Cohen pivoted the conversation hard, saying he wanted to "go back and talk about eBay," referring to his ongoing push to acquire the famous online marketplace and turn a combined eBay-GameStop entity into a "$1 trillion business."

How Cohen hopes to achieve such a feat is unclear. What is clear, however, is Cohen's apathy toward the medium that built GameStop's business in the first place.

The post-apocalyptic world of Fallout expanded a few years ago with the release of a TV series on Prime Video, but anyone expecting a new Fallout game to release in time with the show was out of luck. Two seasons have already aired--and a third is on the way--but the gap between new Fallout video games continues to widen. Bethesda Game Studios boss Todd Howard has a different viewpoint on the MIA status of the games, and as he explained to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier on his YouTube channel, it all comes down to timing.

"I look at it from what does the franchise look like to the audience? I view TV as one chapter, and I view when is a franchise really, really healthy, and when can we execute whatever we're doing, whether it's a mobile game or a TV show or remasters, making sure that we execute those at the highest level," Howard said to Schreier (who was relaying the quotes back to his YouTube audience).

https://youtu.be/j3vP8EOmtRk

Howard also added that Bethesda was looking for the right "pocket-timing" (synchronizing a rhythm perfectly with a band's groove) for the Fallout franchise.

Bethesda also spoke about its future plans for the Fallout franchise today, confirming that remasters for Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas are on the way. As reported last week, Obsidian Entertainment will be teaming up with Bethesda to work on a new Fallout project, and Fallout 76 will receive a major new update later this year, Raven Rock, that serves as a prequel to Fallout 3.

Bethesda says that Fallout 5 remains the "long-term destination" for the company, and it is currently in pre-production.

Fallout’s Weirdest Vaults Ever: Human Sacrifices, Too Many Puppets, And More View Images

EA Sports has officially announced NHL 27, with 20-year-old Macklin Celebrini gracing the cover. The new entry in the pro ice hockey series includes all the stuff fans would expect, including better graphics, rebuilt team playbooks, and updated camera work, but there were also a few reveals fans might not have seen coming.

One of the marquee new additions to NHL 27 is Connected Franchise, a feature fans have requested for years. It hasn't been in an NHL game since 2013's NHL 14. People were initially excited about the mode coming back, but the hype didn't last long for some, after key detail about the mode was uncovered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkz-p4wYegU

The NHL 27 website confirms that Connected Franchise only supports human-controlled teams, and a screenshot from the announcement trailer states, "Teams without a human user cannot be controlled, traded with, or played against." Given that, players will need to have 32 real human people in a league. This is upsetting some fans, who are asking EA to add in AI teams.

There was also some confusion about if Connected Franchise would be limited to a single season, but that is not the case.

"Want to clear up one misconception: NHL 27 Connected Franchise is not limited to one season. Your league does not end after Year 1," NHL 27's franchise strategy and marketing manager said. "You can continue the same league, and roster moves like trades and free agent claims will carry forward. But for this year, aspects like player aging, retirement, season stats, do not carry over. We know those features matter, and the upcoming blog and Feedback Portal will give the community a place to share what they want prioritized next as we continue to build on the mode. More to share soon!"

NHL 27 also features a new broadcast commentary team with John Buccigross and Darren Pang. The game launches on September 11 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

In a statement today, Bethesda re-confirmed that Fallout 5 is in the works, along with officially confirming remasters of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. These projects are in the works alongside Obsidian's new Fallout game, so there are a lot of Fallout games coming. Bethesda has been talking about Fallout 5 for years already, but Bethesda today also confirmed the game is now in pre-production.

"Fallout is one of our biggest priorities today. Fallout 5 remains our long-range destination, and we have multiple Fallout projects in active development right now," the developer said. "We also know many players want to revisit previous Fallout experiences. While we're not announcing any dates today, we have been working on remasters for both Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas."

A scene from Fallout 76.

Fallout 5 is now in pre-production, Bethesda confirmed. But the company's current focus is The Elder Scrolls 6. "We know it’s been a very long wait for the sequel," the developer said. "The next chapter is on the way. We’re where we planned to be, loving how it looks, and playing it every day."

Beyond Fallout 5 and the remasters, Bethesda confirmed the reports that New Vegas developer Obsidian is making a new Fallout game. "The wasteland continues to expand as we team up once again with our longtime friends at Obsidian Entertainment. We're happy to confirm they're working with us on a new Fallout project. We'll have more to share in the future," the developer said.

Bethesda also provided updates on other Fallout projects, saying Fallout 4 has hit 35 million copies sold and that the mobile game Fallout Shelter reached 250 million players. The Fallout Shelter franchise is growing with a new reality TV show.

Fallout 76, meanwhile, is getting a "major" expansion in 2027 called Raven Rock, which is a prequel story to Fallout 3.

"And while we won't host a traditional Fallout Day broadcast this year, we're already planning something special for Fallout's 30th anniversary in 2027, when Fallout Day will be celebrated live in Washington, D.C.," the developer said.

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As part of Netflix's latest earnings report, the streamer gave an update on its growing video game efforts, which include cloud-based TV games and mobile games. In short, the business is growing and showing positive signs, but it's still early days.

June 2026 saw the release of Netflix's two "most successful" launches ever for cloud games on TV with FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition and the horror game Unhinged, though Netflix did not share any specific datapoints about them.

The Netflix Playground app, designed for kids, saw 3x growth in daily players since it debuted in April this year. This new app has helped "engagement" for kids' mobile games from Netflix to surge 600% year-over-year, Netflix said.

"While off a small base, these early signals give us increasing confidence that we are building a foundation with exciting future growth potential," Netflix said.

The Netflix Games business is growing.

During an earnings call, Netflix co-CEO Gregory Peters said Netflix continues to be in the building stage for its video game efforts. “We’ve been building some solid foundations, and now we’re seeing exciting positive signals that help inform and give us increased conviction in our future growth and the nature of that growth here,” he said.

Peters went on to say that another “big positive sign” for Netflix Games has been its cloud-based TV games, which began to scale in earnest in October 2025. Since that time, “monthly active players for cloud games have increased 11x, and adoption is significantly ahead of that curve that we had for mobile games with even higher retention value,” he said. “So we’re definitely excited about that and focused on scaling up cloud games.”

Peters said the gaming market is massive, and Netflix is taking it slow as it defines a strategy and determines its investment levels.

"We're just getting started here. We're scratching the surface in terms of what we think the total potential of the space offers for us," he said. "You're going to see us continue to calibrate and refine our level of investment here, which is still very small relative to our overall content spend based on demonstrated performance based on what is working for our members and what's delivering returns to our business."

The next big Netflix game, Netflix Minigolf, launches on July 28, bringing together franchises like Squid Game, Bridgerton, and Stranger Things.

Netflix Games has endured a rocky road in recent years as it set out to establish a strategy. At one point, Netflix invested in AAA games, and hired big names, but those plans fell apart. Today, Netflix is more focused on social and party games that people can play quickly and easily. Netflix Games' narrative executive Sean Krankel told The Game Business that, in the next couple of years, he wants people to see Netflix as "natural" destination to play games, as opposed to it being perceived like it is today, as "experimental."

"I would love, in a year or two, for people to be going: ‘This is naturally the place that I would go to play a story’. And that ‘playing a story’ doesn’t sound weird," he said. "The ambitious thing here is that we create a new way of interacting with story and character that doesn’t feel like you have to be trepidatious or worried about trying it, or, ‘Am I going to be good at this?’"

"The same way that somebody’ll go to Disneyland and jump on a ride or go into an escape room, and it just becomes a new form of entertainment. That’s where I’d love to see this go," he added.

Creators of Backrooms-inspired liminal horror have been exposed to something far more terrifying than creepypasta fiction: takedown notices from their work. Users online are reporting that copyright claims have been issued against them by "A24 Films LLC," the production company behind one of this year's biggest movies.

On the r/backrooms subreddit, user GnarlyNet detailed their experience, saying that their Backrooms-inspired artwork received a copyright strike on the commerce site Redbubble. GnarlyNet's image design was derived from the original 2019 Backrooms image, not the movie, and other creatives are also feeling the brunt of A24's enforcement. Indie team Davilkus Games (via Kotaku) says that it was hit with three copyright strikes this month over its own liminal horror game project, resulting in its Google Play developer account being banned from the platform.

https://twitter.com/maywrence/status/2077507230631338424

In response to these complaints, Backrooms director Kane Parsons has said that he's investigating the issue. "I'm looking into this. Should not be happening," Parsons wrote on the subreddit.

So what's happening here? A24 is likely using an automated system that has resulted in mass copyright strikes being issued against users. While it's within its legal right to protect the Backrooms movie, the genre itself does not belong to any one person, as there have been numerous fan projects, artwork, and video games inspired by this particular brand of creepypasta content.

A24 hasn't won any fans either for its decision to sign a $75 million AI research partnership with Google's DeepMind, with many film buffs and fans blasting the deal. Parsons also weighed in on the drama, explaining on his Discord server that "those resources" would not be spent on Backrooms or any potential sequels. In case you missed it, Backrooms launched earlier this year and was a box office smash, making almost $375 million off of its $10 million budget. For his next project, Parsons is aiming to make a movie based on Valve's Portal game.

30 Best Horror Games To Play In The Dark In 2026 View Images

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 lead studio Infinity Ward has addressed claims that the game features an AI assistant. After retired Call of Duty leaker TheGhostOfHope labeled the Gunsmith assistant "Gunny" as an AI chatbot, Infinity Ward responded by saying that the virtual helper is a "hand-crafted" creation by the studio.

"Wrong (again.) Gunny is hand-crafted by our developers, not AI. It recommends builds based on the attachments you've unlocked for each weapon. It helps make quick loadout changes between matches," Infinity Ward wrote online. Like previous games, the Gunsmith mode in this year's Call of Duty is designed to help players fine-tune their loadouts for various combat scenarios, whether that be equipping a weapon with quick-snap optics for close-quarters or outfitting a sniper rifle for maximum accuracy over extreme distances.

In an online post, one user showed off some footage of Gunny in action, and how it provided recommendations to the player while reminding them to keep grinding so that they could unlock more attachments. As you might surmise from Infinity Ward's response to TheGhostOfHope, there's no love lost between the studio and the leaker, who has prompted several Call of Duty studios to respond to their reports and dismiss them for being inaccurate.

This all came to a head in March this year, when Activision demanded that TheGhostOfHope stop leaking information, as they were causing problems even when they were proven to be inaccurate. TheGhostOfHope agreed and now keeps a watchful eye on Call of Duty with their comments. While Gunny doesn't appear to be an AI creation, Call of Duty has experimented with generative AI in the past. Last year, Activision admitted to using AI as a means to "help develop some in-game assets," and the controversial technology has been used in Modern Warfare 3's Yokai's Wrath DLC and holiday-themed content for Black Ops 6.

Activision claims that while AI tools were also used in the development of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, humans handle the creative process, and that none of that content made it into the game.

This week, Fortnite is adding multiple skins based on Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey film, including one of Matt Damon as Odysseus. While this is the first time the actor's likeness has been in a video game, that was nearly not the case. Way back in 2008, a little game called The Bourne Conspiracy released, and the plan was originally for Damon to reprise his role of Jason Bourne for the project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nb97lgpung

We heard rumors over the years, but it was a 2021 interview Matt Damon gave with Sean Evans' Hot Ones that gave us concrete details. Damon was interested in the project and said he was offered a bunch of money to make it happen, but he didn't want the game to be "just a first-person shooter" and hoped for something a little more cerebral. His point of reference for this was the puzzle-adventure game Myst, which famously has no gunfire, car chases, stealth, or fisticuffs.

Despite the star power that Damon would bring to the project, the development team at High Moon Studios evidently thought his idea was a bit of a non-starter. The game was developed without his involvement, nor the involvement of Chris Cooper, who played Alexander Conklin in The Bourne Identity. Franka Potente, who played Marie in the first two Bourne films, did reprise her role.

All in all, Damon didn't end up missing out on that much. While The Bourne Conspiracy wasn't a bad game, its mix of brawling, stealth, shooting, and driving made it a jack of all trades and master of none. The Bourne movie franchise has been on ice for years at this point, with the stinker sequel Jason Bourne releasing back in 2016. Really, as someone who loves the first three movies, you do not need to watch it. Just pretend it all ended with Ultimatum.

French metal band Gojira has confirmed that its drummer, Mario Duplantier, will not be able to perform on some upcoming shows, and he's being temporarily replaced by Luigi Paraventi. That's right, Luigi is stepping in for Mario.

In its announcement, Gojira played up the gaming angle, writing, "Player 2 has entered game. RESPECT!" The band also included an image of Mario and Luigi from the Mushroom Kingdom in its post.

Gojira's US tour kicks off today, July 16, at Rock Fest in Wisconsin, continuing with a string of summer festival shows that wrap up in September.

Mario Duplantier could not make it due to an "immigration issue that has made it impossible for him to travel to the US" in time for the shows, the band wrote. "Mario is heartbroken not to be here with us and has fought hard every step of the way to find a solution."

No further details on the immigration issue were provided.

His replacement, Luigi Paraventi, plays with the band Paleface Swiss and is known for his covers that he posts across social media, like the Gojira video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfLejFcr69c

There's a new Street Fighter 6 collaboration about to drop in mid-October that comes with three scents inspired by the "signature moves" of three brawlers from Capcom's fighting game, which, of course, includes Juri--in case you wanted your room to smell like her.

The Japanese fragrance company CODE Meee revealed on July 16 that it will produce three scents through its perfume brand Gaming Fragrance based on three Street Fighter 6 characters: Ingrid, Ed, and Juri. All three fragrance oils are unique to the characters they represent, with Ingrid's evoking her "optimal stock management," Ed's inducing his "pokes that can't be whiff-punished," and Juri's conjuring her "precise hit confirms." CODE Meee made it clear that these scents aren't just translations of the character's image, but representations of what it's like playing them and using their signature moves.

Both Ed and Ingrid's fragrances are "citrus woody scent[s]." Designed to "enhance clarity in stock accumulation and release timing," Ingrid's oil smells like grapefruit, leafy green, rose, jasmine, cedarwood, amber, and musk. Meanwhile, Ed's has hints of bergamot, clove, spearmint, rosemary, vetiver, and amber, and is created to "let you throw out counter pokes without getting whiff-punished."

Juri's is perhaps the star of the show--and not just because you can imagine the scent emanating off her feet as she shoves her toes in your face during her long combos. With notes of raspberry, passionfruit, violet, blueberry, strawberry, and musk, the brutal South Korean taekwondo martial artist's fragrance was "crafted to make your hit-confirm feels razor-sharp."

Game director Takayuki Nakayama commented on the collaboration, expressing his excitement for the scents and how they'll help you focus on Juri's Foothajin--I mean, Fuhajin and nailing her level 2 super, Feng Shui Engine, perfectly.

"This is an item that dramatically deepens your sense of unity with the characters you love," Nakayama said. "The fragrances deliver both the focus essential for long gaming sessions and a refreshing sensation that gently soothes a mind heated by intense matches. Perfect for switching between on and off, it will make your time in battle feel even more special. The beautiful package art, which expresses each character's charm to the fullest, is also a must-see. Thank you for creating such a wonderful product."

All three scents cost 6,850 yen (roughly $43), ship in mid-October, and come with the wood diffuser and the fragrance oil.

Battlefield 6's next big update, 1.4.1.0, is launching on July 21, introducing Season 4 : Pacific Front and a naval warfare system. The update also brings back a feature that Battlefield hasn't had since 2005's Battlefield 2, and it looks like a Top Gun crossover is coming as well.

The old feature that's coming back is two-seater, fixed-wing jets. No Battlefield game since Battlefield 2 has had those, according to Eurogamer, but they are finally coming back, or at least that's what fans are surmising based on the Season 4 announcement trailer.

As for the Top Gun crossover, at the end of the trailer, it's plainly obvious that EA is teasing this with Harold Faltermeyer's Top Gun music and general Top Gun imagery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc3cxBPwaLU

As for what is explicitly confirmed for Season 4, players can expect a new map, Tsuru Reef, which takes place in a massive Pacific archipelago with land, naval, and air warfare possibilities. That's fitting because Season 4 introduces naval combat to the game, along with a wave system that makes your boat rock up and down to alter sightlines and make combat more challenging.

Another map, the fan-favorite Wake Island, is making a return in Battlefield 6's new Season 4 as well, but not at launch.

The new vehicles in Season 4 are the four-seat RCV-90 patrol boat and the 7.7m NSW RHIB: a fast, four-seat boat featuring a mounted machine gun. There are new weapons as well, including the BROD 3, EF88, and VSMM, along with more attachments.

Season 4 launches on July 21. You can see the full patch notes below.

Battlefield 6 Season 4 patch notes

PLAYER:

• Slide activation now requires a slightly higher movement speed, reducing cases where sliding could trigger without sprinting first or while crouch-sprinting.
• Sliding no longer retriggers when the crouch hold input remains held after an initial slide.
• Sliding no longer triggers when landing from a fall or jump if the crouch hold input was released before touching the ground.
• Soldier visual effects while swimming and resurfacing have been updated
• Spawning on a squad mate in crouch stance now deploys you in crouch stance as well.
• The soldier no longer slowly blends into position after mounting an object in the world.
• Weapon attachments are now less likely to appear floating when using soldier skins.
• Zipline and flash effect animations now behave as intended while spectated in first-person.

Swimming has been revamped for Season 4, with reworked animations, updated physics, improved wave behaviour, and support for Drag and Revive in water.

• Aim assist now fully supports enemy targets while they are swimming.
• Fall damage is now slightly reduced when falling into shallow water.
• Parachutes now deploy as expected when nearing the water surface.
• Players can now drag and revive squad mates in water.
• Players can now spawn on squad mates who are swimming in deep water.

VEHICLES:

• Helicopter rotor wash now affects vegetation more realistically.
• Tank driver aiming now behaves more consistently between third-person view and first-person scoped view when aiming upwards on steep slopes.
• The visual effects of Boats, Amphibious-, and Ground vehicles interacting with water have been improved.
• Vehicle zoom behaviour now correctly follows the player’s “Toggle Zoom” setting after spawning.

GADGETS:

• Aiming with the Incendiary Airburst Launcher in third-person no longer causes the launcher’s optic to disappear.
• Launchers that discard their tubes now continue to reload even if they are no longer the active weapon.
• RPG detonations underwater no longer create dirt impact effects.
• The EOD Bot Arm and the Sledgehammer can no longer be used while swimming.
• The MAS 148 Glaive can no longer lock on to vehicles through rocks or cliffs.
• The Sledgehammer can no longer be used for quick swings while swimming.

WEAPONS:

• Muzzle visual effects now align correctly when using the Compensator attachment on the UMG-40, SCW-10, and PW5A3.
• Projectile behaviour when interacting with water has been updated. Bullets now lose damage while travelling through water, and may deal no damage after travelling far enough underwater.
• SS26 Incendiary Rounds no longer ignite the ocean floor when fired underwater.

MAPS & MODES:

• Adjusted objects near Objectives B, C, and E on Railway to Golmud to prevent players from getting stuck.
• Commander Tactical Advice has returned to Obliteration and Tactical Obliteration and now works alongside Player-Placed Tactical Advice. Commander attack markers now only appear on M-COMs while your team is carrying the bomb.
• Operation Firestorm Team Death Match spawn points have been adjusted to prevent players from spawning inside objects.

UI & HUD:

• Battle Pass points and path text no longer overlap on the End of Round screen.
• Bomb Carriers in Obliteration no longer receive a “Bomb Dropped” notification instead of “Terminated” after being eliminated or when the bomb times out.
• Category icons now appear correctly in the Challenges menu during gameplay.
• Challenge reward icons now appear correctly when unlocked during gameplay.
• Corrected a typo in the description for the “Mercy Stroke” weapon package.
• Improved the readability of the Anti-cheat watermark.
• Incoming hit radial blur has been reduced near the screen centre and now attenuates more towards the screen edges, making damage feedback less intrusive.
• Increased the size of the bomb icon in the Obliteration game mode HUD.
• Interior map details now appear correctly on the minimap.
• Kill indicators now expand outwards and fade out faster, reducing how long they remain in view.
• Magazine attachment indicator alignment has been improved when customising the M/60.
• Magazine attachment indicator alignment has been improved when customising the SL9.
• Main menu tiles now remain visible as intended when returning to the menu after a match.
• Muzzle attachment indicator alignment has been improved when customising the DB-12 with no muzzle attachment equipped.
• Muzzle attachment UI alignment has been improved when customising the Vz.61.
• PP-19 weapon tags now appear correctly in the front end.
• Resolved an occasional client-side crash that could occur when the tutorial system updated.
• Responding to “Quick Message” notifications no longer also triggers in-game actions.
• Reward icons for Season 2 Hardware Assignments now appear correctly during gameplay.
• Reward icons for Season 3 Hardware Assignments now appear correctly across Challenges, the pause menu, and the End of Round screen.
• Reward icons now appear correctly in in-game challenge completion notifications.
• Selecting an empty statistics slot in the Player Profile now takes players to the intended location on the statistics page.
• Sight attachment indicator alignment has been improved when customising the RPK-74M and M39 EMR with Iron Sights.
• Spotting is now blocked while underwater: players can no longer spot enemies while deep underwater, and spotted players are cleared from the world and minimap when they dive into it.
• The “Backwoods Battler” character skin now displays the correct icon artwork.
• The “Chemical Agent” character skin now displays the correct icon artwork.
• The Bomb Timeout timer on the Bomb Carrier HUD in Obliteration now updates correctly and displays the correct remaining time.
• The Challenges button has been removed from the in-game attachment screen to prevent UI overlap.
• The crosshair now displays correctly when aiming the Defibrillator at a revivable teammate.
• The filter selection on the Season Stats page no longer resets when switching between seasons.
• The LTLM II Portable Laser Designator crosshair now appears correctly after redeploying.
• The pre-game lobby background video no longer gets stuck after opening and closing the pause menu from the class selection screen.
• Tutorial prompts no longer remain on screen after redeploying or being eliminated.

SETTINGS:

• Add support for NVIDIA DLSS Multi Frame Generation x5, x6.
• Add support for NVIDIA DLSS Dynamic Multi Frame Generation.
• Add support for Vsync with NVIDIA DLSS Frame Generation and Multi Frame Generation.
• Corrected an issue where setting Primary Mouse Button to “Right” in Windows could cause the Right Mouse Button to fire and zoom at the same time in-game.
• The “Game Settings” page no longer appears blank when accessed through the “Voice Chat” section.

PORTAL:

• A “Default Combat Area” is no longer added automatically when a Spatial Editor experience already contains Sectors.
• Added a warning that “Players Required to Start Lobby Timer” is linked to “Max Player Count” for Battle Royale experiences.
• Added missing help text for Impulse blocks in the Rules Editor.
• Added support for the “IsClosed” property on Waypoint Paths.
• Added the “GetPlayer” and “GetVehicle” functions.
• Additional Season 3 weapons, attachments, and gadget have been added to Portal.
• Andy’s Custom Breakthrough Template has been added to the SDK.
• Corrected errors that could occur when publishing the Moving Platform Example.
• “Create Custom Mode” now generates the files needed for “Import from File”.
• “GetPlayerVehicleSeat” and “GetVehicleFromPlayer” now both return undefined when the player is not in a vehicle.
• HQ team colours now display correctly.
• “IsCurrentMap” now works correctly for remotely hosted games.
• Multiple mutators in the “Teams” tab now display their correct names, descriptions, and dropdown options.
• “SetUIWidgetAnchor” and “GetUIWidgetAnchor” now use the correct enums.
• The “ForceBombDrop” action can no longer be used when there is no bomb carrier.
• The “mod.GetSpawner” function now accepts arguments correctly.
• The M-COM “Requires Carriable to Arm” setting in the SDK now works correctly.
• The Railway to Golmud train capture point now follows the train correctly on the map.

AUDIO:

• Added Commander voice-over lines for arming and defusing M-COM bombs in Obliteration.
• Added female soldier voice-over lines for drowning and surfacing.
• Added new Commander voice lines for the Foxtrot, Golf, and Hotel M-COMs in Obliteration.
• Added new Season 4 Battle Pass radio station music.
• Added new soldier voice-over lines after breaching and resurfacing from underwater.
• Commander voice-over now plays as intended during Overtime in Obliteration.
• Corrected a phasing issue with stationary launcher audio while aiming down sights.
• Improved audio responsiveness for sea vehicles moving through waves.
• Improved audio responsiveness for stationary turret movement.
• Third-person death efforts from underwater soldiers can no longer be heard by other players.
• Vehicle audio now plays more reliably, resolving several causes of missing vehicle sounds.

AI:

With the arrival of naval warfare in Season 4, Bots have received a broader behaviour pass to better support combat and traversal around water. Bots can now swim to shore, use boats to reach objectives, respond to pick-up requests, leave beached boats behind, and cross shallow water more reliably with land vehicles.

• Bots can now swim and will move towards shore after ending up in water.
• Bots can now use boats to navigate to objectives.
• Bots can now use land vehicles to cross rivers and very shallow water.
• Bots no longer eliminate themselves after falling into certain pools on Eastwood.
• Bots no longer immediately drive boats away at the start of a round, giving players time to join as passengers.
• Bots no longer take all available boats at the start of new rounds, leaving boats available for players.
• Bots now abandon boats that become beached.
• Bots will now respond to “Request Pick-Up” requests while navigating boats.

REDSEC

PLAYER:

• Opening a tank container while parachuting in Gauntlet no longer prevents the tank from spawning.
• “Squad Wipe” score events now trigger correctly after eliminating an enemy squad.

UI & HUD:

• In-world icons no longer flicker on the Big Map when hovering over them in Battle Royale.
• Neutral vehicle map icons now remain visible as intended when entering a vehicle underground in Battle Royale.
• Selecting “Edit Favourite Weapons” in Battle Royale now opens the “Favourite Weapons” tab directly.
• Squad colours now display correctly on the Gauntlet End of Round screen.
• The Tactical Armory can now be pinged correctly in Battle Royale.

AUDIO:

• The Handler briefing now plays as intended during the Battle Royale insertion cinematic.
• The Handler no longer warns players who are underground about parachuting enemies nearby.

COMPETITIVE:

• “End of Round” now combines RP earned from confirmed kills and confirmed assists with their respective cap reductions for improved clarity.
• “End of Round” RP progress now displays correctly when a player’s RP value drops below zero.
• Improved the clarity of player Ranks and Class during the Pre-Round sequence in Ranked Battle Royale.
• Players now receive RP correctly when a downed enemy disconnects before the kill is confirmed.
• Updated “End of Round” RP tally animations to improve scoring clarity.
• Vehicle Keycards, Main Battle Tanks (MBTs), and Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs) are now removed in Ranked Battle Royale.

VEHICLES:

• The Emergency Repair ability on APC vehicles has been replaced by the Smoke Generator ability in Battle Royale modes.

WEAPONS:

• M320A1
• Level 2 Grenadier Trait
  • Removed the bonus M320A1 HE ammunition previously granted immediately upon reaching Level 2.
  • Reduced the M320A1 HE maximum ammunition increase from 5 to 4.
• Level 3 Cluster Munitions Trait
  • Reduced the number of submunitions created from 6 to 3.
  • Reduced submunition maximum blast damage from 30 to 20.
  • Reduced submunition blast radius from 2m to 1.5m.
  • Reduced maximum damage distance from 0.6m to 0.3m.
  • Updated submunition dispersion so bomblets spread more effectively after impact, reducing the likelihood of multiple explosions occurring in the same location.
  • Adjusted submunition bounce behaviour to further reduce clustering after impact.