If you're yearning for a modern reinterpretation of Star Fox's rail-shooter gameplay but don't own a Switch 2 to play the upcoming remake, then you'll want to consider playing Wild Blue Skies. Developed by Chuhai Labs and published by Balor Games, the game got a release date during today's The Mix Summer Game Showcase.

Specifically, Wild Blue Skies will be released for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S on August 13. Like Star Fox, it's a sci-fi rail shooter starring anthropomorphic animals. In this case, players control a dog named Bowie Stray who is on a mission with the Blue Bombers to stop Grimclaw (this game's version of Andross). They do so during on-rails missions where players have to fly across alien planets and deal with whatever obstacles or gimmicks each level throws at them.

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

There's a free demo of Wild Blue Skies you can try on Steam. When you play it, you'll find that it's a very polished spiritual successor to classic games like Star Fox. It doesn't reinvent the genre, but at the time of its reveal, it did not need to.

When Wild Blue Skies was first announced last year, the Star Fox series had been missing in action for several years as Nintendo did not seem interested in continuing it. The game also had the pedigree of being worked on by Giles Goddard, one of the programmers of the original Star Fox.

That changed in April, when Nintendo revealed a Star Fox 64 remake for Nintendo Switch 2, simply titled Star Fox. That game is out on June 25, beating Wild Blue Skies to the punch by about a month and a half. Still, Wild Blue Skies won't have its thunder completely stolen, as it's not coming out on any Nintendo systems.

When it comes out on August 13, Wild Blue Skies can serve as a nice alternative for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox players who can't play the new Star Fox. Perhaps both of these games can kick off a renaissance for the rail shooter genre as a whole.

BioWare's Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2, some of the most critically acclaimed RPGs of all time, are reportedly being remade. 

According to PC Gamer, Dungeons & Dragons parent company Wizards of the Coast is specifically working on a Baldur's Gate 2 remake, but states that from what it's heard, a remake of the original game also sounds likely. 

Former BioWare developer and co-lead designer on Baldur's Gate 2 Kevin Martins is said to be involved with the project, having technically already been in the Wizards family as part of the team working on upcoming space-RPG Exodus over at Wizards subsidiary Archetype Entertainment. 

Unfortunately, there aren't many additional details on what these remakes may end up looking like or when they might arrive. The two games are massive in scope and no small feat to remake. One might expect them to play similarly to Larian's smash-hit Baldur's Gate 3, but since that decades-later sequel used Larian's own proprietary engine, it's unclear what route Wizards may go for bringing the remakes to life. For a look at what the original Baldur's Gate would be like in Baldur's Gate 3, there is, at least, a mod for that.

Both Baldur's Gate and its sequel received remasters from developer Beamdog back in 2012 and 2013, bringing modern enhancements like support for high-resolution displays, bug fixes, and cross-play multiplayer for Baldur's Gate 2. The first Baldur's Gate was originally released in 1998, followed by its sequel in 2000. Both are considered seminal classics within the genre and made BioWare a household name for RPG fans.

Considering Baldur's Gate 3's massive success (it won numerous Game of the Year Awards in 2023 and has sold over 20 million copies to date), it certainly makes sense that Wizards would want to try to continue the franchise's momentum. Larian made clear it would not be developing Baldur's Gate 4, and is instead returning to its own fantasy universe for its next game, Divinity. That leaves Wizards in a bit of a tough spot, though a Baldur's Gate 3 television show from Chernobyl and The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin and HBO will reportedly be a continuation of the events and storylines from Larian's RPG.

The Baldur's Gate remakes aren't the only D&D games in the works at Wizards. Another sword-and-sorcery project, Warlock, was announced last year at The Game Awards. Meanwhile, Wizards recently canceled a D&D game from Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order director Stig Asmussen's new studio.

13 Best Games Like Baldur’s Gate 3 To Get Sucked Into In 2026 View Images

If a new map condition in Arc Raiders' Chinese beta is any indication, developer Embark Studios may be testing the waters for a widespread PvE-only mode in its popular extraction shooter.

As revealed via social media posts, the Chinese version of Arc Raiders, which is currently in closed beta, contains multiple modes focused on PvE, including one called "Rebellion Incident" that imposes immediate consequences on those who opt to shoot another player. Known as map conditions, these modes join other rotating events--typically available for an hour or so at a time--that change up the game by adding new modifications to the maps or rules.

https://twitter.com/Babaoisland/status/2060892896430374975?s=20

"Rebellion Incident" has PvP turned off by default, requiring players to press a button to declare themselves hostile before they can damage other players. In doing so, these traitors become permanently exposed on the map and compass, opening themselves up for other players to band together and kill them for their transgressions.

Meanwhile, another mode adds either a King or Queen to the map alongside a Matriarch, unleashing absolute mayhem that indirectly incentivizes players to work together against the chaos. While players can still easily (and sneakily) kill each other in this mode, the fact that it facilitates cooperative play seems to be testing how the game's community reacts to one another when the PvE threats are so intense.

At this time, Embark Studios has not expressed any intentions of bringing these PvE-centric modes to other regions, so they could be beta-exclusive map conditions designed for general testing purposes. That being said, it's equally plausible that the developer is specifically gauging interest in cooperative game modes.

It's uncertain how the Arc Raiders community would ultimately react to the long-rumored addition of PvE modes in the main client, especially considering it appears fairly evenly split between PvE and PvP playstyles. Embark Studios told The Guardian that 30% of players seek exclusively peaceful lobbies, while another 30% actively seek out PvP encounters. Meanwhile, 40% engage in a mix of PvE and PvP.

Either way, it could be some time before Embark Studios adds any substantial changes to the main game anyway, as it has recently announced a move to bi-annual updates.

9 Best Games Like Arc Raiders View Images

The second episode of Call of Duty's new Modern Warfare 4 docu-series gives an insider look at Infinity Ward’s development of the game's multiplayer, and the developer shows off gameplay on an ambitious new map that constantly changes in design.

Midway through the video, Studio MP Creative Director Geoff Smith talks about taking Call of Duty's map designs to the "next level" and the creation of the game's Kill Block multiplayer map.

https://youtu.be/NKvnPNzqqTk?si=nSKjaq_hOmMu70NW

"Like how can you keep coming up with map designs and layouts?" Smith asked while discussing map design. "What if we just made one that was living and it keeps changing every time you play it?"

Modern Warfare 4's Kill Block is a map that consists of three "slabs" that are all modular pieces that can be swapped out and connected with other pieces in various different ways. The map will change every match, with the three slabs being randomly decided before a game. 

Smith shows off both real and prototype slabs, giving a behind-the-scenes look at how the map is designed. The developer also boasts that Infinity Ward has the content to do "upwards of over 900" different slabs to feature for the map, but technical limitations will likely bring the number down to 500.

In terms of size, each slab is about the size of Call of Duty's 2v2 Gunfight maps. When all three are pieced together, Smith says the full map size is equivalent to the popular Shoot House map from 2019's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

The video also showcases Modern Warfare 4's movement, which doesn't include wall taps or omnimovement of the recent Black Ops games, but it does include fluid movement and sliding. Additionally, the game also adds the new ability to climb poles.

The developer acknowledges the criticism of Modern Warfare 2's movement. "We took some things away. Some Freedom," admits Co-Studio Head Mark Grigsby. The goal for Modern Warfare 4 was to make the movement feel fluid and unrestricted.

Modern Warfare 4 will launch with multiplayer, DMZ, and a classic "linear-style" campaign. The game releases on October 23 for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch 2. Unfortunately, this means the old generation of consoles are losing support, and Warzone will also no longer be playable on PS4 and Xbox One post-launch.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 preorders are live now, and Activision has also confirmed a “Loyalty” discount that allows players to get 10% off the game’s Vault edition.

A Minecraft Movie's sequel, which was revealed in 2025 under the working title A Minecraft Movie 2, and it has an official name. Revealed during Minecraft Live, the sequel is called A Minecraft Movie Squared. 

That's not all--in a promotional video, actor Matt Berry appeared in a tease for his role in Squared. What that role is, however, remains a mystery. The What We Do in the Shadows actor was supposed to play Steve in the first movie, but had to play a smaller role--a villager who gets hit by a car and goes on a date with Jennifer Coolidge--due to scheduling conflicts.

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

Jack Black ultimately landed the role of Steve, and he will reprise the character in Squared. Jason Momoa, who played Garrett, is coming back in that role as well, while Danielle Brooks will reprise her character, Dawn.

Squared is currently filming in New Zealand. Black said in the video that there is a "massive team hard at work taking this production to the next level." Brooks, for her part, said the sequel goes "so much deeper into the Minecraft world," featuring new biomes, new characters, and new mobs. 

Additionally, Kirsten Dunst joins Squared in the role of Alex. After the first movie came out in 2025, Dunst lobbied to be in the sequel because her kids love Minecraft and she wanted to make some big money.

A Minecraft Movie Squared releases on July 23, 2027. That's a couple months after the live-action The Legend of Zelda movie arrives in April 2027.

A Minecraft Movie made $960.4 million in theaters. It ranked as the No. 2 highest-grossing video game movie ever until The Super Mario Galaxy Movie passed it with $992 million worldwide.

With the growing cost of PC hardware and no defined end in sight, AMD is leveraging older hardware and promising extended support of existing platforms as its business strategy for the foreseeable future.

AMD made a variety of announcements at Computex, but two of the most important involved hardware that many PC builders have been familiar with for some time already. AMD announced that its bringing back arguably its most popular CPU ever made, with the 5800X3D AE returning to shelves on 25 June for $350. The AM4 chip was originally released in 2022, and was the first to feature AMD's 3D V-Cache memory technology that boosted performance in games substantially. This re-release gives gamers still stuck on older AM4 platforms a means to upgrade without having to replace their entire system, and leverage the lower prices of older DDR4 memory as faster DDR5 models are swallowed up by the AI industry.

If you have already made the jump to AMD's latest AM5 platform, or are still planning to do so, then a new 7700X3D gives you the cheapest entry point into 3D V-Cache CPU power. Retailing at $330 and launching on 16 July, this slightly cut-down version of the 7800X3D features the same 16 cores and 32 threads, but with 200MHz less core clock speed, and a further 500MHz less on the boost clocks. That might affect very specific CPU-limited workloads, but should be negligible in most gaming scenarios. It's only a fraction less expensive than the better chip, but given how AMD has gone in the past it's likely the 7800X3D will be discontinued soon to allow for the 7700X3D to take its place.

Upgrade to AM5 might not be a terrible idea either, with AMD committing to an extended lifespan for the platform. The company says that it will continue to support AM5 through 2029, giving you over three more years of official support and hardware releases. AM4 has endured far longer than AMD anticipated, and continues to do so with the re-introduction of the 5800X3D. So it's possible that AMD pushes out AM5 support even longer still, especially with the environment PC gaming hardware finds itself in currently.

That's especially true when considering that AMD didn't mention its new platform, AM6, at all during Computex, with the company likely reserving more announcements for CES next year.

A new battle of the billionaires kicks off this week in Monopoly Go, as the game's mustachioed mascot takes on Springfield's sun-blocking tyrant from The Simpsons, Mr. Burns. Scopely has announced a Simpsons crossover in Monopoly Go, which has been created in partnership with the team behind the long-running animated series. Starting June 3 and continuing through July 29, the event will see iconic Springfield locations given a Monopoly Go makeover.

Players can also expect to see the entire Simpsons family and Mr. Burns in the game, alongside other fan-favorite characters. Some of the new gameplay twists include hidden details, deep-cut references, and Easter eggs. Find yourself in jail, and you can even bribe Chief Wiggum to get out of the joint early. 

"Working closely with The Simpsons creative team, our talented game-makers at Scopely set out to do much more than simply place Springfield inside the game; we wanted to build an entirely new shared universe where these iconic characters, stories, and gameplay experiences could cross over," said Victor Diaz-Roig, president of games at Scopely. "Every part of the season was designed with our Tycoons in mind, introducing fresh ways to play the game they love, while opening the doors for Simpsons fans to step into Monopoly Go for the very first time."

https://youtu.be/pDxn0CD41b0

Scopely says that Monopoly Go will feature interconnected gameplay and original Simpsons narratives unfolding across seasonal maps, animated sequences, and sets. Narrative-driven episodes are at the heart of the crossover, as Simpsons-inspired storylines will kick off every two weeks inside of Monopoly Go. From Homer-triggered nuclear meltdowns to Bart and Lisa disappearing inside Krustyland, each episode will be accompanied by collectibles, mini-games, and more than 50 Simpsons-themed Chance Cards.

The crossover will start with the debut of a Simpsons short, written and produced by The Simpsons team. The short sets the stage for the collaboration's narrative, as it sees Mr. Monopoly (voiced by Will Ferrell) go head-to-head with Mr. Burns, in a rivalry that has been brewing for decades. This isn't the first time that The Simpsons have headlined a mobile game--remember The Simpsons: Tapped Out?-- and last year, Springfield's favorite family took over Fortnite for an entire season.

The 15 Best Simpsons Episodes From The Modern Era View Images

Grand Theft Auto 6's marketing push is set to begin soon, and many are wondering how much Rockstar and Take-Two actually have to do to promote the game given the unprecedented levels of hype behind it. Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick discussed this in an interview, saying "no matter how big a franchise is," marketing remains important, and GTA 6 is no exception. 

"The consumers need to engage with that prior to release. And I think the motion picture business reflects that as well," Zelnick, a former movie executive, told IGN.

He cited the Mission: Impossible series as an example. It's a famous franchise, but the studio behind would still "spend a whole lot of money" marketing the sequels "even though we kind of know what we're going to get." 

"Marketing is still an important part of any entertainment release," he said. He didn't comment specifically on GTA 6, saying Rockstar itself will make its own announcements later on.

GTA 6's marketing push is set to begin this summer, so it could happen anytime now. Before this, Zelnick said promoting GTA 6 will be a “challenge” because Rockstar and Take-Two want to be “delicate” with how they push the game.

“It has to feel like, you know, this is real. We’re not selling hamburgers. We’re selling this unique art form,” he said.

GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. A PC edition has not been confirmed, but history suggests it will come later.

GTA 6 is expected to sell 40 million copies and drive more than $3 billion in revenue during its first year. GTA 6 has enormous shoes to fill, as predecessor GTA 5 has sold more than 230 million copies and generated tons more money from GTA Online.

Developer Rockstar has yet to announce a price point, but Zelnick recently said the game will be price at a “reasonable” level, whatever that means.

Former BioWare veteran Mark Darrah has weighed in with his thoughts on what the AAA video game business can do to make more money and become more sustainable: sell product placement.

In a video on his YouTube channel, Darrah said the fascination with live-service games and "over-reliance on microtransactions" is stopping other genres from flourishing. Development budgets keep going up and up, and without an increase to the current $70 going rate for new releases, developers could look to product placement to help make money, Darrah said.

He said the live-action Smurfs movie "paid for itself entirely through product placement," and he wonders if product placement could become a bigger deal for games.

"So, is there an opportunity for games to take a step back and think about different ways that we could make money? I think there is," Darrah said. "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."

Product placement in video games does already exist, and a recent high-profile example was 007 First Light, which featured many famous real-world brands just like the movies do. The game's budget is unknown, but a recent report said it was the most expensive piece of entertainment ever made in Denmark.

Mario Kart 8, meanwhile, featured a Mercedes-Benz partnership, while Alan Wake had Verizon and Energizer in-game product placement. Death Stranding featured Monster Energy drinks in the game.

Beyond product placement opportunities, a Bank of America stock analyst has said GTA 6 should cost $80 to help encourage other companies to raise prices to help with the sustainability issue.

Take-Two's Strauss Zelnick said major new releases have actually come down in price over the years when you consider how inflation has affected pretty much everything else you buy these days. Games have held steady in the $60-$70 range for 10 years, and that “doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” according to Zelnick.

"Everything can't be a live-service"

Darrah went on to say that no one wants to see a video game industry dominated by live-service games. 

"Everything can't be a live-service, which is something I hope we've proven pretty definitively over the past year and a half, and if monetization is coming predominantly from live-services, we run the risk of living in a world where there are no AAA games that aren't live-services. And I don't think that's a world that any of us want to live in," he said.

Also during the video, Darrah said PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass are not doing all that much for developers in terms of money, and that developers taking deals to come to either program could encourage "degenerative design in order to try to juice the numbers."

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has said it was a "miss" for Microsoft to re-commit to showing the logos of its competitors during Xbox broadcasts, going on to say the company is now looking at how to "adjust" this for future events.

"Seeing the feedback on logos. It was a miss, and I own it. We are talking about how we adjust for future Xbox shows," she wrote.

https://twitter.com/asha_shar/status/2060501522556022919?s=46

Sharma said this on the same day that Microsoft published the newest Xbox Podcast in which Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty doubled down on showing the logos of competitor consoles during the upcoming Xbox Games Showcase on June 7.

"Yes. Absolutely. We'll be very clear about what platforms a game is coming to. We want to continue the precedent; I think we have a good system going where we make it clear [what platform a game is coming to]," he said.

In February 2025, Microsoft said it would start showing PlayStation and Nintendo logos during official broadcasts as part of a transparency effort that many fans and industry observers praised. Apart from the Xbox events, it remains commonplace for gaming showcases from platform holders like PlayStation and Nintendo to only show their own logos, even if their games are multiplatform. This was seen as shifty, and many praised Microsoft for changing the tide.

Other people did not embrace the change, saying it was important for Microsoft to speak directly to its loyal consumers and show them preference. With Sharma taking over as Xbox CEO, she has promised a "return to our roots" and has said Xbox-exclusives could return.

So when Booty re-committed to the transparency push for the upcoming Xbox Games Showcase, some people were upset, prompting Sharma's response. That very response hasn't gone over entirely smoothly, though, as many are saying she is ultimately doing Xbox a disservice by trying to appease fanboys.

The Xbox Games Showcase takes place this coming Sunday, June 7, and it will be immediately followed by a presentation focused exclusively on Gears of War: E-Day.

Mojang's blocky sandbox game is currently inaccessible--a rarity for Minecraft. The last major widespread Minecraft outage was in October 2025, when the global Microsoft Azure cloud disruption affected services, including Minecraft authentication and Xbox Live.

Around 12:30 AM PT on June 1, players began to report problems with launching Minecraft via Downdetector. Attempting to connect to the game via the Minecraft Launcher shows the message, "Oh no! Something went wrong, and we couldn't connect to the Minecraft services. Please connect to the internet to refresh your offline access." A further error message reads, "We were unable to verify what products you own. Please check your internet connection."

https://twitter.com/rsdworker/status/2061382916035256762?s=20

The two messages suggest an issue with the authentication servers, meaning players will be unable to log in or may experience problems in Realms, servers, or multiplayer sessions. This issue is also affecting those opening Minecraft from a third-party launcher, such as Prism or Curseforge.

At the time of writing, nothing has been posted from the official Mojang Support X account. We'll continue to monitor the problem.

Bandai Namco's Tekken team has had several high-profile departures over the past year. First was assistant director Yohei Shimbori in August of 2025, followed by Executive Director and the "face of Tekken" Katsuhiro Harada--who recently revealed his new studio in partnership with SNK. Today, another Tekken developer and fighting-game veteran has officially announced his departure.

Kohei Ikeda, known among fans under the moniker "Nakatsu," has worked at Bandai Namco for over 20 years--primarily on the Tekken series but also contributing to games like Soulcalibur IV and the Project X Zone titles. He served as both game director and chief producer on Tekken 8. But that tenure appears to be ending, as he announced in a post on X, in both English and Japanese, that he is leaving after two decades with the company.

https://twitter.com/nkt_dreamer/status/2061296807259595212?s=20

"Becoming part of the company I had always admired--[Bandai] Namco--was truly a dream come true," he wrote. "Dedicating ourselves wholeheartedly to game development together remains one of the most cherished experiences of my life."

While Nakatsu didn't give a definitive reason for leaving the company, it does not mark the end of his career in games development as he also said he will "continue to take on new challenges" in the field.

While Tekken 8 has been a sales success for Bandai Namco Games--and it's getting plenty of future DLC support, including the recently-announced Yujiro Hanma guest character--there's also been a lot of controversy surrounding the gameplay direction from longtime players. With Ikeda's departure, there's sure to be a lot of speculation on who will step up to assume his mantle, and where the future of the Tekken series will be headed.

During today's Minecraft Live broadcast, Mojang dropped some small teasers about a new biome coming to the blocky sandbox game this fall.

While the next Minecraft update, Chaos Cubed, is officially set for release on June 16, this fall sees the arrival of the Dappled Forest--a cozy red, green, and yellow forest environment that houses some new structures, new Poplar trees, and by extension, the Poplar wood blocks to construct with.

Minecraft's new Dappled Forest biome.

Those structures, known as Abandoned Camps, are, well, abandoned camps. When you stumble across one of these in the wild there'll be a handful of chests left behind by former explorers with some goodies inside.

Mojang didn't mention what the rarity of those goodies might be, but with other forest structures, like the Woodland Mansions, you can often find diamond gear, rare music tracks, the Vex armor trim, and enchanted apples--all pretty sought-after stuff.

An Abandoned Camp in the Dappled Forest.

The drop will be focused on playing with friends, and given that Mojang recently added a direct peer-to-peer connection to its Java Snapshots feature, before removing it a few short days later, it seems likely this feature will be implemented in the fall drop. Mojang also says that the drop will focus on exploration and adventure, although it didn't go into more detail on what that means.

If you're already deep in the Minecraft, well, mines, check out our Minecraft guides hub for everything you need to know.

This year’s annual Call of Duty release--Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 4--is set to arrive in just a few months. But according to a new report, Modern Warfare 4 may give players the chance to start the campaign during an early-access release period.

Well-known CoD leak and news site CharlieIntel shared a screenshot of a “Campaign Early Access” pass on Xbox, which appears to be one of several packs available for installation. However, there's no mention of that pass on Modern Warfare 4’s official store page on Xbox. Instead, the store states that players who preorder the digital version will get early access to the open beta. It wouldn't be the first time campaign early access has been available for a Call of Duty game, however--Modern Warfare 2 had a similar program back in 2022, for instance. 

https://twitter.com/charlieINTEL/status/2060080572177731642

The details about Modern Warfare 4 have only begun to come out, but developer Infinity Ward is aiming to put players back into the shoes of ordinary soldiers rather than the larger-than-life action heroes from some of the more recent games. Infinity Ward has also laid out some key improvements and quality-of-life adjustments for MW4, including movement and gunplay. Black Ops 7’s omnimovement is being dropped from MW4. The Prestige system is also getting a big change.

Some of the announced cast members for MW4 include Shrinking’s Luke Tennie and The Last of Us’ Young Mazino in leading roles as Lieutenant Wet and Private Park, respectively. The game will also feature supporting performances by Prisca Kim, Lanny Joon, William Lipton, and Barry Sloane, who will reprise his role as Price.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 will be released on Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC on October 23. Preorders are already live, and unlike Black Ops 7, MW4 will not be a day-one release on Game Pass. Infinity Ward has also assured players that MW4 runs smoothly on Switch 2.

All Call of Duty Games In Order View Images

James Bond has been a cultural staple for decades, and with his latest adventure--the 007 First Light game--the super-spy gets to wear a variety of suave and sophisticated outfits. Some of these are quite similar to the clothing Bond wears in the film series, dating back to his earliest appearances with Sean Connery, and GameSpot put together a compilation to show off a few examples.

https://twitter.com/GameSpot/status/2060047300689350813

As you would expect, the classic tuxedo, appropriately named "Classic Tuxedo" in-game, makes an appearance, and looks almost identical to the tuxedo Connery wore in the franchise's early days. The "Day of the Dead" outfit will be recognizable to anyone who saw Daniel Craig's Spectre.

The "Observant Spy" outfit, meanwhile, bears a striking resemblance to a coat Roger Moore wore when he was on his very long run as James Bond, and the "Espresso Command" outfit closely matches a suit worn by Pierce Brosnan. Brosnan's legacy in video games perhaps stands above some of the other Bond actors, as it's his portrayal that was used for the N64's GoldenEye in 1997.

Regardless of the outfit you choose to wear, 007 First Light is a fantastic super-spy simulator that blends Bond's signature charm and improvisation with the open-ended design of developer IO Interactive's Hitman games. In our 007 First Light review, Mark Delaney said, "007 First Light wisely repurposes what works in both universes but isn't afraid to reimagine or ditch those parts that don't."

The Witcher developer CD Projekt Red is collaborating with Saudi Arabia-owned game developer Scopely for a new mobile game, but it's not releasing soon.

During CD Projekt's latest earnings briefing, joint-CEO Michał Nowakowski was asked for an update on how the mysterious project--which is a game based on a CD Projekt franchise--is coming together. The executive said the game is "definitely not" coming out this year.

Nowakowski said the nature of game development is ongoing iteration, and this takes time.

"We've been previously suggesting that this would take some time. Scopely
and their team are very iterative, and they work very fast and very hard, but it’s more about iteration and reaching a certain level of satisfaction that is felt on both side--them and us--so things are happening, but, once again, it’s definitely not a story for 2026."

CD Projekt announced its partnership with Scopely in March 2025, saying at the time that the game was based on one of CD Projekt’s franchises. This came after CD Projekt said it was considering a Cyberpunk mobile game.

Saudi Arabia's Savvy Games bought Scopely in 2023 for $4.9 billion–that is the No. 8 biggest gaming acquisition of all time.

Scopely is one of the biggest mobile game companies on the planet. The company reached a new stratosphere of success with Monopoly Go. Scopely also now owns Pokemon Go.

In 2024, CD Projekt said it was considering the possibility of making The Witcher and/or Cyberpunk mobile games. The company does have experience with the mobile market, as Gwent: The Witcher Card Game received mobile ports, though support for the title ended in October 2023. Another Witcher mobile game, the Pokemon Go-inspired The Witcher: Monster Slayer, released in July 2021 but shut down nearly two years later in 2023.

Diablo 4 players looking for even more of a challenge will be able to create Solo-Self-Found characters starting in Season 14.

Developer Blizzard revealed Diablo 4's Solo-Self-Found (or SSF) mode as part of its Season 14 public test realm patch notes, offering the first details on all the new seasonal mechanics, item reworks, and balance changes coming to the ARPG for its upcoming season.

For those not in the know, SSF is a mode that's gained popularity over the years in the ARPG community across different games. It forces players to play solo, disabling the ability to team up with others to tackle more difficult challenges. More importantly, it also restricts players to only using gear they find themselves. That means no trading with other players or using an in-game auction house to buy better gear. 

In Diablo 4's case, SSF characters will be seasonal-only, and won't be able to join parties or trade with others. Stashes, currencies, and Paragon points will be shared only with other SSF characters on the same account. Additionally, SSF characters won't have access to the game's free trial, couch co-op on consoles, or multiplayer-focused Dark Citadel activity. SSF characters will be locked into the mode for the duration of the season. Once the season ends, they will revert into normal characters that can group and trade as usual. 

A look a SSF character creation in Diablo 4.

Those hoping for some kind of benefit to rolling a SSF character, such as increased rewards or better item drop rates (as is the case in some other ARPGs like Last Epoch) to make up for the fact that trading is disabled are out of luck. There will be no real benefit to playing Solo Self Found, other than access to SSF-only Tower leaderboards. And bragging rights, of course.

SSF is just one major shakeup coming as part of Diablo 4 Season 14. In addition to the return of Riftwalkers as a seasonal mechanic and a new Lair Boss, Season 14 will also controversially overhaul how Diablo 4's Mythic Uniques work. Instead of Mythics being the best items in the game as they currently are, any Ancestral Unique item will instead have a chance to roll as Mythic quality, though this change also means Mythic Uniques will now have largely random affixes.

Season 14 will bring major changes to some of Diablo 4's most powerful builds as well. One trick allowing players to become practically immortal is being nerfed, for example, while some popular builds, like Companion Druids, are also being brought down a peg.

Diablo 4 Season 14's PTR will run June 2-9, allowing players to get a taste of the new season and all its changes (and offer feedback to Blizzard) before it officially kicks off June 30. 

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Diablo 4 Season 14 will dramatically reimagine how Mythic Uniques work, and it's a change that doesn't seem to be sitting well with many in the game's community.

Since Diablo 4's launch, a handful of Mythic Uniques have been the best, and rarest, items in the entire game, with nearly every maxed-out endgame build wanting to use at least one (or likely several) if possible. Not every Mythic Unique currently in Diablo 4 is a winner, but finding or crafting items like The Grandfather, Heir of Perdition, and Harlequin Crest have always been a surefire way to gain an incredible amount of power. That was, in part, because these items had guaranteed stats and affixes. In a game of random loot, Mythic Uniques were set in stone, letting players build around them with confidence.

A look at some of Diablo 4 Season 14's Unique items as Mythics.

That's changing in Diablo 4 Season 14. As revealed in the public test realm patch notes for Diablo 4's next season, Mythic Uniques will go from best items in the game to simply a "modifiable item quality," according to Blizzard. Every Ancestral Unique item in the game (of which there are over 100) will have a chance to drop as a "Mythic" Unique. Existing Mythic Uniques are now becoming regular Uniques with drastically reduced power. On top of that, just like Uniques in the game's Lord of Hatred expansion, Mythic Uniques will have mostly random stats and affixes.

In Season 14, a Mythic Unique simply means that a particular Unique item has rolled with max stat values and the potency of its special power increased by 30%. Regular Uniques can be crafted into Mythic Uniques using the Horadric Cube, though Blizzard notes players will only be able to equip one crafted Mythic Unique at a time. Players can additionally use the cube to re-roll affixes on Unique items before potentially turning them into Mythic Uniques, giving at least some control over the randomness.

It's a massively controversial change, in more ways than one. Players have already voiced their displeasure with the RNG added to regular Unique items as part of Lord of Hatred, which once upon a time also had set stats. Now Uniques can roll with completely unwanted affixes, making the hunt for a usable one much more time-consuming. Blizzard appears to be doubling down on the already unpopular idea and proposing that exact change to Mythic Uniques too. Whereas before seeing a purple item drop on the ground would cause a rush of excitement, there will now be a good chance it will be practically worthless if it doesn't have the right stats.

Players are already arguing about the pros and cons of the change on places like Diablo 4 subreddit. While there are some players who like the changes and argue Mythic Uniques will be even stronger with the addition of being able to re-roll affixes with the cube, many don't see the point and sound frustrated by yet another layer of RNG.

https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/comments/1tqhe42/mythic_uniques_no_longer_mythic/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

"I'm not looking for constant RNG within my RNG," user VagueSomething writes. "Uniques and especially Mythics need some consistency to stats or they're not worth mixing into your build. I'm already gambling if they'll drop and now I'm gambling if they will drop in a usable state."

But not everyone agrees. User StrikingSpare100, in a post diving into the details of the changes and arguing why it's an improvement, is a fan of the changes. What were once Mythic Uniques will now drop far more frequently, with players having the option to craft them into even more powerful Mythic versions than existed previously. 

"Personally I like this much more than [the] current situation of Mythic Unique," they write. "70% of them are utter trash, and the rest are mandatory [items] that exist on every single build."

https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/comments/1tqpg3e/the_changes_to_mythic_uniques_are_vastly/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Blizzard hasn't yet fully explained its reasoning for the change or whether or not it will be a permanent addition to Diablo 4 or is just in place for Season 14. It's possible the developer thinks this change will increase build variety and give players more options--something the community is always wanting to see more of. But if a greater variety of builds comes with the cost of far more work and hours of slogging through bad drops, it might not be a good trade. 

The Diablo 4 Season 14 PTR will run from June 2-9, so perhaps player feedback will see Blizzard divert course on the Mythic Unique changes before the season's launch on June 30.

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The upcoming Xbox Games Showcase on June 7 will not feature announcements about the Project Helix console. Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty said on the latest Xbox Podcast that Microsoft also won't share much about the company's broad strategy plans for its future under the leadership of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma. Instead, the Xbox Games Showcase will be all about games .

"We really want to focus on the teams and on the games. This is not going to be a place where we talk about strategy broadly. There are certainly some strategic things out there and some things we want to bring clarity to. But the focus here is on the games," he said. "For the long term, we want to make the right decisions, not fast decisions. There won't be Helix news. Helix will not be in this showcase. We want to get everything about that right."

Booty said Xbox will provide answers to "broader strategic questions" and the Helix console at some point later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwYglyND1EA&rco=1

The Xbox Games Showcase takes place on Sunday, June 7, with an Xbox Direct event immediately following that will focus on Gears of War: E-Day.

One of the games confirmed for the Xbox Games Showcase is the Fable reboot, which has been delayed to February 2027. Booty said Microsoft will have "some really cool stuff to show for Fable" at the showcase.

Fable was going to be developer Playground's second big release for 2026, following the successful launch of Forza Horizon 6. Another big game that Microsoft has on tap for 2026 is Halo: Campaign Evolved, which will bring the Halo series to PlayStation for the first time.

Fable has officially been delayed to February 2027, Xbox has confirmed. Originally scheduled to release in late 2026, the next game from Forza Horizon 6 developer Playground Games has instead been shifted to Q1 2027. Talking about the delay, Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty explained that while Xbox is confident with how Fable is shaping up, it wants to give the game a "window" to shine all on its own.

"We're excited about where the game is. We want to make sure that the game has a window of its own, so we are going to move it from this fall to February," Booty said in the Xbox podcast.

While he didn't outright mention it, Booty's comments do suggest that Microsoft wants to avoid competing with Grand Theft Auto 6, which launches on November 19. Fable originally had a nebulous release date of Fall 2026, but signs of a possible delay cropped up earlier this year when Playground stopped signing off messages to fans with a Fall 2026 release date at the end.

https://youtu.be/BwYglyND1EA

"In order to plan our game launches through the holidays, in a way that works best for players, we’re moving Fable to February 2027 so it can have the dedicated moment it deserves," Xbox added in a social media post.

Fable steering clear of GTA 6--which Booty described as one of the "biggest entertainment moments" of the year--makes sense when you also factor in Xbox's tentpole game for the year, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.

Launching on October 22, Modern Warfare 4 should have enough breathing room to avoid direct competition with GTA 6, and the game is only coming to Xbox Game Pass a year after launch. Call of Duty games are usually one of the best sellers of the year, but last year's Black Ops 7 was the worst-performing Call of Duty game since 2008.

Microsoft hasn't revealed concrete dates yet for Halo: Campaign Evolved and Gears of War: E-Day, but it's likely that more details on those games will be revealed at next month's Xbox June Showcase.

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