If you watch anime regularly, you are certainly aware of Crunchyroll, a subscription streaming service owned by Sony that delivers many new and classic anime series to audiences across the globe. It's the biggest name in that space, regularly beating out Netflix and Amazon for rights to stream the medium's biggest hits. It's also got an online store where you can buy your favorite anime on physical media--which many devoted fans do, since streaming rights to shows can and do frequently expire. However, in a move that has familiar echoes to Sony's decision to end production of PlayStation game discs, the Crunchyroll store is being severely scaled back--and fans of anime on disc are very unhappy.

Some background: In 2023, Crunchyroll purchased The Right Stuf International, an Iowa-based online retailer of anime DVDs, Blu-rays, manga, and merchandise, to bolster their sales and merchandising presence. Right Stuf was folded into the Crunchyroll store, where it continued to be a source of physical anime media, offering discs of not just Crunchyroll-licensed anime but also shows and films from a wide variety of licensors.

Unfortunately, it seems that the time of the Crunchyroll store being a massive anime retail store with a broad selection open to all is coming to a close. According to a recent statement and FAQ posted online, the store will be dropping much of its current stock and transitioning to "a brand-new shopping experience that will be available exclusively for Mega and Ultimate Fans (subscription tiers)." Instead of physical discs, the Crunchyroll store will focus on "collectibles, curated drops, and limited-release products inspired by the anime series you love."

Reactions online to the announcement have been swift and angry, with longtime customers going back to the Right Stuf days particularly upset. Besides culling their product offerings and limiting the store to higher-paid subscription tiers, many have pointed out that Crunchyroll has dropped the ball on supporting popular series that Right Stuf initially licensed and distributed after the purchase, leaving physical releases of Gundam and Macross shows in the lurch and mishandling an ongoing Kickstarter to release the classic Dirty Pair anime on Blu-ray. Other fans had noticed that Crunchyroll was already severely cutting down on stocking releases from boutique licensors recently.

The transition leaves many anime fans without their go-to disc shop, and calls into question whether or not Crunchyroll-licensed shows will even see a physical release in the future. Taken with Sony's sudden decision to kill off PlayStation discs by early 2028, it's hard for many fans not to see this as another act of hostility towards the physical medium they love.

Yet another game is closing up shop. The developers of Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem have confirmed that the mobile game is shutting down, and soon.

The game is developed by juggernaut Scopely (Monopoly Go, Pokemon Go). The studio said in a blog post that it made the decision to cease operations for the game and close it down on October 15. The developers also said they arrived at this decision "after a great deal of thought."

World of Mayhem will completely close on October 15, 2026, after which it will not be playable at all. Players can continue to spend any in-game currency until August 16, and the game will be delisted for digital stores on August 23. The game's social channels will be disabled on August 16.

World of Mayhem is coming to an end.

"This isn’t an easy goodbye. For years, this community has built alliances that turned into real friendships, fought through wars together, and enjoyed plenty of laughs along the way," the developers said. "We’ve watched Toonsters grow from strangers into teammates, and from teammates into true friends. We don’t take that lightly, and it’s with real sadness that we say goodbye to this wonderful community."

Between now and when the game shuts down on October 15, the developers are planning to celebrate the game and the community with the following (as written by Scopely):

• Farewell Giveaways: Starting today, July 15th, we’re rolling out a calendar of daily giveaways, including toons, WB Charms, and other resources, as our way of saying thank you for every moment you’ve given this game.
• Free Toon Pieces: Alongside our regular weekly events, you’ll be able to claim free Toon Pieces for newly released Toons from the Store, a small thank-you for the unwavering support you’ve shown this community from day one.

Launched in 2018, World of Mayhem has players collecting famous Looney Tunes characters like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck as they assemble a team and then go to battle against other people.

The impending shutdown of World of Mayhem comes at the same time that Warner Bros. Discovery is being acquired by Paramount. Attempts are being made to block the purchase, but experts believe the deal will go through.

Overwatch's Stadium mode, which transformed Blizzard's hero shooter into something more akin to a third-person MOBA, won't be receiving new heroes or maps moving forward.

Game director Aaron Keller announced the news in a blog post discussing the game's various formats, along the way revealing Stadium in both its ranked and unranked versions are Overwatch's least played modes by far. Only 3% of Overwatch's daily players dip into either version of Stadium, according to Keller. By comparison, 54% of daily players participate in unranked 5v5 role queue.

"Stadium, meanwhile, has settled into a dedicated, smaller audience," Keller said. "With this in mind, while we'll continue supporting Stadium with seasonal balance updates, rank resets, and rewards, we're not planning on expanding Stadium with new heroes or maps."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9tUpO0BTQY

Instead, Keller said the team will take lessons learned from Stadium and apply it to "future plans," though he did not elaborate on what those might be.

Stadium released in April of 2025, a few months after Overwatch's main hero shooter competitor, the third-person Marvel Rivals, seemed to be popping off. In addition to its third-person perspective, Stadium introduced a full on MOBA-esque item store, invoking Valve's still-not-technically released hero shooter/MOBA-hybrid Deadlock.

Not all of Overwatch's roster is playable in Stadium. Since each character needs to be able to be built in multiple ways, with a whole slew of unique items that radically alter their gameplay, Blizzard was slowly adding heroes from the main game's roster to the mode. As it stands, only 33 of Overwatch's 52 (and counting) heroes are playable in Stadium, and it seems it will be staying that way.

While Stadium is in essence winding down, Blizzard will still be experimenting with different modes and formats. In the blog post, Keller broke down two upcoming 6v6 experimental queues. One of the new queues will look to solve the game's tank problem, its current matchmaking-speed bottleneck, by allowing one damage player the ability to "flex" during a match and swap to a second tank if need be.

Overwatch's latest hero is the cyberpunk demon Shion, added as part of Season 3 in June. Following Overwatch's rebrand earlier this year (when it added five new heroes at once and dropped the "2" from its name), Blizzard committed to one new hero per season for the remainder of the year, for a total of 10 new heroes in 2026.

World of Warcraft's latest storyline is one of its most lore-heavy quests to date, and the revelations included within have left players scratching their heads trying to make sense of what all it means for Azeroth's ancient history.

Spoilers for patch WoW 12.07 below!

A story prologue introduced in patch 12.07 meant to lead into the game's major 12.1 content patch sees the haranir, the vaguely troll and elvish-looking playable allied race introduced in Midnight, invite the leaders of all the various troll and elf factions to their home to inform them about an important revelation--they are all related! According to a vision presented by haranir leader Elder Hagar, trolls and elves are directly descended from the haranir, thus making them all one big happy family who should get along.

Needless to say, the elves and trolls, who have a long bloody history in opposition to one another, don't exactly see things that way. Many of the faction leaders have a hard time accepting the haranir's lore dump. One of the Amani leaders, Zul'jan, storms away, looking to disprove the haranir's claims and in the process stumbles upon an ancient evil he will seek to use to restore the Amani trolls to power in patch 12.1.

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

The "news" that trolls and elves are related doesn't exactly feel like news at all to many in the WoW community. In-game hints and theories about the elves having descended from trolls go back nearly two decades, to WoW's earliest days. These subtle hints were later confirmed in things like (as Wowhead points out) the official World of Warcraft: The Magazine and the World of Warcraft: Chronicle books, the latter of which serves as a comprehensive history of Blizzard's Warcraft setting. According to those sources, it was a splinter group of underground dwelling trolls called the dark trolls who would eventually evolve into the night elves players know today.

The fact that the trolls and elves are blindsided by the news that they are ancient relatives is a little odd, since it doesn't exactly seem like an in-universe secret. While some characters, like Zul'jan, may not be up-to-date on their studies, highly-educated characters who have lived for hundreds of years like First Arcanist Thalyssra, Vereesa Windrunner, Lor'themar, and Queen Talanji (who notes that Zandalar is home to the oldest library in Azeroth) also seemed shocked and confused by the very concept of being related to one another.

What is really throwing players for a loop is how exactly the haranir fit into all this. When the haranir were first revealed, many players assumed based on their appearance that they were a "missing link" of sorts between troll and night elf evolution. Elder Hagar's vision, however, goes against that assumption, clearly stating and showing the haranir existing first before splintering off into two groups--one that lived underground and one that lived on the surface. These two groups then, over time, are shown to have evolved to become night elves and trolls respectively. She goes as far to call elves, trolls, and haranir "one people."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc9flwgEZMU

This does make sense, but also seems to contradict previously established lore of elves descending from trolls. Instead, both races appear to have evolved from two different groups of haranir. It also doesn't address the question of the dark trolls. Are the haranir actually dark trolls by a different name? Did the haranir evolve from dark trolls, or are dark trolls a step in between the evolution of haranir into night elves?

WoW content creators like Nobbel and Taliesin & Evitel have attempted to unravel the genealogy mystery, but so far Blizzard isn't giving curious fans a definitive answer as to where the haranir or previously established lore of the dark trolls fit in.

Senior WoW quest designer Kieth Riley did, however, offer some additional context via X about Elder Hagar's vision. He stated the vision is from the haranir's point-of-view and one they believe to be true, but that it doesn't necessarily represent Blizzard's official stance on the matter.

"It is NOT 'Blizzard's presentation on the absolute truth of haranir/elf/troll genealogy' (though I'm sure some of you would enjoy a BlizzCon panel titled as such)," Riley said. 

https://twitter.com/Boogily_Woogily/status/2076007096341192929?s=20

Riley said while the visions "don't lie," they also may be missing some information or be inaccurate. 

"There's no incontrovertible proof either way so it's up to debate," Riley said.

For now, the actual truth of troll, elf, and haranir ancestry will remain up for debate until Blizzard clarifies for all the lorehounds out there. WoW: Midnight's next patch, 12.1, may offen more clues but doesn't not have a release date just yet. It's expected to arrive in mid-August and will introduce a new troll-focused zone and raid to the MMORPG.

Gaming industry veteran Glen Schofield has announced that he is retiring from day-to-day game development, and he spoke to GamesBeat about his career, where a number of notable topics came up. Among other things, he talked about the canceled third-person Call of Duty game set in Vietnam, discussed Call of Duty's game budgets, and revealed the unlikely story of how Dead Space came to be.

On the subject of the Vietnam game, Schofield said he was working on this third-person game at Activision for about six months. He said management was "very hesitant" about the game, in part because "Vietnam was still an open wound in some people's minds."

"We were going through tunnels. We were doing some scary stuff," he said.

Another developer who worked on the game described it as “almost like an Uncharted-meets-Call of Duty idea.” Before this, former Sledgehammer boss Michael Condrey said the game, codenamed Fog of War, was aiming to be an Apocalypse Now-style Call of Duty game.

“In your head you instantly can imagine an Uncharted style of game, but done in the lore of Call of Duty,” he said in 2014. “You can see that. We built a prototype and it was cool. It was a true, gritty, Apocalypse Now take on Vietnam in an interactive way. We had a 15-minute demo, and there were some great moments.”

Call of Duty fans didn’t get Fog of War, but 2020’s Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War from developer Treyarch featured flashback missions set in the year 1968 during the Vietnam War.

Schofield also discussed something people in the industry normally avoid talking about: budgets. He said his horror game with Krafton, The Callisto Protocol, was made on a budget of around $150 million. The three Call of Duty games he worked on--Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011), Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014), and Call of Duty: WWII (2017)--cost more than $200 million. "Sometimes much more," he said.

For Dead Space, Schofield said EA was pushing him to make another James Bond game, "And I said no." He said he enjoyed working on 007: From Russia With Love, but it was a "pain in the neck," and he wasn't happy with the review scores.

So he gave his bosses his two-week notice after getting another offer from a different company. Then Paul Lee, the former president of EA, came to Schofield to ask him, "What's it going to take?" Schofield said Lee assumed Schofield wanted more money or stock options, but Schofield instead said he only wanted to make "my own game." That's when he pitched the idea that would become Dead Space, but Lee told him, "We don't make [sci-fi horror] at EA."

Schofield eventually convinced Lee to let him make Dead Space with a hand-picked team and with the understanding that his team would be left alone creatively. "The rest is, I guess, history," Schofield said.

Also in the interview, Schofield pushed back against people calling him the "co-creator" of Dead Space. "There’s this one string that says I was the co-creator of Dead Space. I am not. I’m the creator. It’s because somebody went in and adjusted the Wikipedia page. That kinda sucks," he said.

Finally, regarding his retirement, Schofield said it was the "hardest decision of my life" to call it quits because working in the business is a "dream job."

“It’s been a dream career. The people have been mostly kind to me. They let my games into their homes. The fans are everything. We’re nothing without the fans," he said.

Of the multitude of unusual characters that are playable in FIFA Heroes, there are some new additions that are absolutely my favorites. Dreamworks Animation's Shrek enters the fray as part of the new season pass, and I cannot stop giggling.

There's something pretty wonderful about watching the giant green ogre play a cross in to Messi, who passes it to Puss in Boots to finish. Sadly, the Shrek characters, consisting of Shrek, Fiona, Puss in Boots, Gingy, Pinocchio, and Lord Farquaad will only be playable until August 10.

It comes shortly after the release of FIFA Heroes on June 24, and coincides with the 25th anniversary of the first Shrek film. The franchise is still going, as Shrek 5 is set for release in June 2027.

I'm just disappointed I can't play as Donkey. Twice the legs must mean some sort of advantage, right?

Sony has revealed the latest games coming to the Game Catalog for PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers in July. Like last month, the release schedule for these games has now changed for US, UK, and Japanese subscribers, with an initial batch starting July 21 and the rest arriving in later waves. Here's a closer look at everything on the way:

PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium Games for July 2026

• Rise of the Ronin (PS5) -- July 15
• Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (PS5) -- July 21
• Firefighting Simulator: Ignite (PS5) -- July 21
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind (PS5, PS4) -- July 21
• Dying Light (PS4) -- July 21
• Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector (PS5) -- July 28
• Snow Bros. Wonderland (PS5) -- July 28

PlayStation Plus Premium PS Classics

• Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (PS5, PS4) -- July 28
• Indigo Prophecy (PS5, PS4) -- July 28

Available right now, Rise of the Ronin is another fun souls-like from Team Ninja. It's not as punishing as the other games that the studio has produced in this genre--like Nioh--and players will get to shape the future of Japan in this open-world adventure.

Kicking things off on July 21 is Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. A tie-in to the recent Avatar sequel movies, Ubisoft's trip to Pandora does a great job at capturing the alien world in all its natural glory, and as a human-raised Na'vi, players have all the skills they need to reclaim the planet from the destructive RDA.

Firefighting Simulator: Ignite hits the Game Catalog on July 21 as well, and it puts you in the fireproof boots of a firefighter. The game supports co-op for up to four players, and it features some impressive graphics thanks to the use of Unreal Engine 5. If you feel like a trip to Angel Grove, you can join the teenagers--with attitude!--in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind on July 28. A retro-inspired 2D brawler, the game features the classic roster of Power Rangers as they face off against their nemeses Rita Repulsa and her older form, Robo Rita. That same day, you can also grab the very first Dying Light game from Techland. Still spooky--especially at night--players will have to use crafting skills and parkour to survive in a city overrun with zombies.

Starting July 28, you can grab Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector and Snow Bros. Wonderland. Citizen Sleeper 2 evolves the TTRPG-inspired gameplay of the first game, giving players challenging contracts to pursue and difficult choices to make as they navigate through a hostile galaxy. Snow Bros. Wonderland picks up where the very first Snow Bros. game left off 30 years ago, and it shifts the 2D action to a gorgeous 3D isometric plane.

Speaking of retro treats, PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers can grab two new games from the PS Classics vault. The first of these is Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy, a 2004 action-adventure game where you get to unleash telekinesis, mind control, and pyrokinesis powers in deadly combat scenarios and challenging puzzle sections. Fans of the developer Quantic Dream can check out the studio's very first interactive drama, Indigo Prophecy. A paranormal thriller set in New York City, players will experience a story about supernatural murders and strange motives from multiple viewpoints.

Don't forget, all PS Plus members can claim three free games -- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, For the King 2, and CrossCode.

Like any live-service game that has been around for a while, PUBG: Battlegrounds has faced the challenge of attracting new players to a world that has grown and evolved over several years. To combat this, publisher Krafton Inc. has released a new update for the game that introduces a revamped onboarding experience, improved team communication, and new modes to the longrunning battle royale.

Krafton says that the new Basic Training mode is designed to get players up to speed quickly and is comprised of 17 chapters. These cover the basics from movement to looting, and include more advanced lessons focused on combat and Blue Zone survival. An NPC partner will accompany players at all times to offer them guidance as they hone their practical skills.

Update 42.2 also adds improved team communication with a redesigned Message Radial System, which is designed to make messages easier and more intuitive to use. Players can now also drop markers in the field, while new Map, Mission, and Match Log tabs should help make the processing of in-game information more seamless. Arcade mode has gotten several quality-of-life tweaks, and on console, players can choose new graphics modes to suit their visual preferences.

Resolution Priority sharpens the game, while Frame Rate Priority does what it says on the box by focusing on frame rates. Finally, Taego and Rondo have received map-specific optimizations, and other content drops include the new Contender Glasya, the Fashion Exhibit Lobby, a new Progressive Weapon Skin for the SLR, and the introduction of the new Survivor Pass, Just Married.

PUBG has gone through several changes over the years, and recently, it introduced a Payday mode in the game that brought developer Starbreeze's popular heist-themed IP to its servers. Having been around for almost a decade, PUBG: Battlegrounds is one of the titans of the live-service genre and still attracts over 700,000 players a day on Steam alone. That success has proven elusive for several other games, as PUBG franchise director Taeseok Jang recently reflected on how games like Highguard and Concord had a run of mere weeks after launch.

17 Best Battle Royale Games To Play In 2025 View Images

GameStop has announced a partnership with Uber Eats to allow people to order things like games and collectibles through the delivery app.

Inside the Uber Eats app, you can navigate to the "Retail" or "Electronics" hubs and search for GameStop to see what you can buy. Local inventories will vary, but my Uber Eats app shows things like Ubisoft's newly launched Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, a variety of collectibles, consoles like the Switch 2, PS5, or Xbox Series X|S, as well as Red Bull cans.

Like with Uber Eats food orders, you can select ASAP or your own specific delivery time, and from there, you can see your driver in real time. My app shows a $6 delivery fee.

GameStop is just the latest retailer to join Uber Eats' lineup of retailers. Others include Best Buy, Home Depot, PetSmart, Target, and many more.

In other news, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen continues to push for his ambitious buyout of eBay for $56 billion. eBay has said it does not plan to sell, but Cohen is still trying, and he has said he might pursue a hostile takeover. Cohen has also discussed how video games could play a major role in his plans for eBay, should he succeed in taking over the platform.

GameStop was also in the news recently after Sony announced plans to kill off physical game discs in 2028. Many theorized that this would be bad news for GameStop because it sells physical games. However, GameStop's stock price did not fall after Sony announced those plans--in fact, the stock price rose. Why? One reason could be that software is the smallest part of GameStop's business today, which is now more focused on collectibles.

The upcoming Far Cry anthology TV series from FX has added another big name to its cast. Joining Rob Mac and Lizzy Caplan is Steve Buscemi, the prolific, veteran, Emmy-winning actor known for many roles over the decades.

Buscemi is known for his roles in the movies Reservoir Dogs, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and Big Fish. In the world of TV, Buscemi played memorable roles in The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, and Miracle Workers.

The Far Cry games bounce around between settings and characters with each new installment, and the TV show will follow that format as well with its anthology setup. Each new season of the show will take place in a "new setting following a new cast of characters."

https://twitter.com/FarCrygame/status/2077122212100776070

Noah Hawley (Alien: Earth and the Fargo TV series) and Rob Mac (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) are the executive producers for the Far Cry TV show.

The show does not yet have a release date, but whenever it's ready, it will be available on FX and Hulu, along with Disney+ internationally.

Hawley ruffled some feathers recently when he said the traditional gameplay structure of a video game–gameplay and skippable cutscenes–does not make for a compelling TV show story.

Hawley said his aim with the Far Cry show is to “have a dialog” with the franchise but not adapt any specific game or story from the series.

“Games are built in a way that doesn’t make for the best drama,” he said.

As for the Far Cry game series, Ubisoft is reportedly working on Far Cry 7 right now. The game is in development under the supervision of the Tencent-backed Vantage Studios, which also controls the creative decisions for the Assassin's Creed and Rainbow Six franchises.

After being previously announced as a new arrival for Xbox Game Pass this month, Microsoft has mysteriously pulled Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 from the July lineup. Microsoft hasn't provided an explanation for why it's doing this, with many left wondering as to the cause behind this.

The current theory is that the removal could be related to rights issues, as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 was first released almost six years ago and features a jukebox full of 2000s-era music, with a few '90s classics sprinkled in for good measure. The game also features numerous real-world skateboarding brands, all of which required a licensing deal to be included in the game.

It's worth noting that Microsoft owns the game and the Tony Hawk Pro Skater IP, as it acquired the game's publisher, Activision, back in 2023--a purchase that has contributed to several layoffs at Xbox, including last week's devastating round of "reset" retrenchments.

Meanwhile, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 is still available to play through Game Pass, as it was added to the subscription service when it launched last year. A replacement for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 has not yet been announced, and for now, the announcement image has been edited to only show off the other nine games that were previously announced.

Winds of Arcana, Tamashika, Ascend to Zero, and PBA Pro Bowling 2026 have already been added to the Game Pass library, and the rest of the month includes Quarantine Zone: The Last Check, Mavrix by Matt Jones, FixForce, The Planet Crafter, and Fogpiercer. Gears of War: Reloaded also arrived earlier this month, for the lower tier of Game Pass.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 first launched in September 2020, and it earned rave reviews for updating the classic Pro Skater games for modern platforms.

"Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 deftly recreates the original games' levels while implementing smart additions to the trick system and creating engaging challenges," Mat Paget wrote in GameSpot's review.

Beloved actor Sam Neill sadly passed away on Monday, July 13, leaving many fans shocked about his untimely passing. Neill had recently made a full recovery from cancer, and the actor leaves behind a body of work that stretches across multiple movies and TV series. To many, Neill is best-known for his role as Dr. Alan Grant in 1993's Jurassic Park, and to celebrate his legacy, multiple players in Path of Titans embarked on a dinosaur migration to pay tribute to him.

The turnout saw players transform into several signature dinosaurs from the Jurassic Park film series, including herbivores like the Triceratops and Brachiosaurus to carnivores like the infamous Spinosaurus from Jurassic Park 3. What makes the tribute extra-impressive is that isle servers in Path of Titans typically don't allow for so many mixed species to co-exist on them, and pulling off a migration of this magnitude required a lot of communication and coordination from players.

https://www.tiktok.com/@skylarjameson13_tigersky/video/7662203527338429726

Beyond Jurassic Park, Neill appeared in many other films and TV projects throughout his career. Throughout the '80s and '90s, Neill featured in big films like The Hunt for Red October and Event Horizon, and in 1998, he starred in the Merlin mini-series as the titular wizard, with the show being critically acclaimed for its unique blend of special effects and storytelling.

Neill would return to Isla Nublar--sorry, Isla Sorna--for Jurassic Park 3 in 2001, and in later years, he'd pop up in 2022's Jurassic Park: Dominion and the first two Jurassic World Evolution video games. In animation, Neill also made a memorable appearance as the cat burglar Molloy in The Simpsons episode "Homer the Vigilante".

https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:t2e24433sb4folqbudqiiite/post/3mqjgnvzh3c27 https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:g3buk6ypvrp3sbvmdfn6xek6/post/3mqiyqaa2vs2a

Outside of acting, Neill was known for his warmth and humanity. Since his passing, anecdotes about his kindness have been shared online, ranging from a story about how he requested the Australian flag on his uniform in Event Horizon be altered to show the Aboriginal flag instead of the Union Flag, as he imagined that's how it would look by the year 2047, the setting of the movie.

https://twitter.com/TwoPaddocks/status/1301085930531549184

Other accounts spoke of how he sought to inject a layer of humanity into his Jurassic Park character, while his exploits of running a farm and vineyard in his homeland of New Zealand made him popular on social media.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAaKfOsju7s

In the wake of the news that Sony will end PlayStation disc production by 2028, a lot of folks are expressing their disgust at the idea of a digital-only game library. But players aren't the only ones sharing their frustration--today, GOG.com joined the conversation with a short tutorial showing players how to physically preserve their digital games.

https://twitter.com/GOGcom/status/2077037131751432515

"Download the offline installer of any of your games on GOG, save it to a disc, and it's yours forever," the digital gaming storefront shared in an X post. "You don't need a storefront's permission to play what you bought."

Of course, this doesn't perfectly solve the problem. Not every game is available on PC, not every game is available for purchase on GOG (like Ubisoft's game catalogue, for example), and some games--though they may be technically preservable on a disc--won't necessarily be playable.

"Unless it's an always-online game and they shut down the servers," one X user replied to GOG's post. "You own it, you have it, but you can't play it."

But that was already the case long before Sony began manifesting its vision of a discless future. Always-online games have always been beholden to the whims of whatever entity pays their server costs. The issue GOG is hoping to address here is the disappearance of online storefronts. When they go offline--as the PlayStation Store on PS3 and Vita will next summer--any digital games that players have purchased but don't have installed on the console will become inaccessible for them to download. (Although Microsoft, at least, seems to be toying with a disc-to-digital plan that would allow players to retain access to the games they've bought.)

GOG's do-it-yourself solution is a Band-Aid for a much bigger problem--one that might require lawmakers to intervene if players ever hope to truly own their digital games. But it's certainly better than nothing.

With MagicCon Amsterdam right around the corner, Wizards of the Coast has begun spoiler season for their next crossover set in Magic: The Gathering: Star Trek. While the legendary science-fiction franchise may seem like an odd fit for a trading card game that’s ultimately about wizards flinging spells at each other, space (aka the final frontier) is no stranger to the game. Just last year Magic went to space with the excellent Edge of Eternities set, and the gameplay design was so good it ended up being my favorite set of the year.

What’s odd about Star Trek spoiler season though is a particular card that’s being printed on its bonus sheet. As revealed earlier today, the set features a reprint of Sheoldred, The Apocalypse reskinned as Kahn from the 2013 film Star Trek Into Darkness. One of the main selling points of Magic’s Star Trek set is that Wizards of the Coast has obtained the rights to use the likeness of every actor they depict on the card, which means that Sheoldred--instead of being a female phyrexian nightmare being--is now just… Benedict Cumberbatch?

Outside of being a bit bummed that a reprint for a $80+ card is being sullied with art from a J.J. Abrams film, it got me thinking. There’s a lot of Benedict Cumberbatch in Magic: The Gathering this year for some reason. Not the actor himself, per se, but characters he’s depicted on screen. For example, the Marvel Super Heroes set just released a Doctor Strange card that has art very clearly influenced by his on screen depiction played by Cumberbatch.

Weird that it happened not once but twice, but what if I told you it’s actually happening three times? Following Star Trek, the next MTG crossover set is based on The Hobbit, and while a return to Middle-Earth is always welcome, it allows yet another character that Cumberbatch has portrayed to be depicted in Magic: The Gathering. The card this time is Smaug the Magnificent, and it actually features a chase printing that is the headliner card of the entire Hobbit set.

Theoretically, this means that if you build a Mardu (red, white, and black for non-players) deck, you can have every Benedict Cumberbatch card be playable in your gameplan if you so desire.

What other universes can Magic: The Gathering depict to add even more Benedict Cumberbatch? Is this secretly their way of testing the water for casting him in the announced Magic: The Gathering streaming adaptation? Who knows really. I just know that I’m tired.

EA has just given The Sims 4 players a look at the next item on its laundry list of upcoming bug-fixes and game improvements: making sure the game actually saves correctly. Assuming all goes to plan when the next free base game patch arrives on July 21, players will soon be able to enjoy The Sims 4 without constant fear that a sudden crash or corrupted save file will destroy their progress.

The upcoming patch approaches the saved-game struggle from multiple angles. The first is the implementation of an auto-save feature. That's right--over a decade after its 2014 launch, The Sims 4 is finally getting an auto-save function, and players can tweak how frequently the game auto-saves via the settings menu. Additionally, "save reminders" will now pop up from time to time to remind players to save their games. 

"Together, these features help reduce the risk of lost progress while giving you the flexibility to save the way you want," EA shared in a blog post announcing the patch.

Finally, the days of spending hours building an elaborate house--only to lose everything when the game crashes and you realize you haven't saved even once--appear to be coming to an end. But the real star of the show here is the game's new Memory Boost feature, which is a part of the free base game patch arriving on all platforms on July 21.

"Memory Boost improves how The Sims 4 manages memory while you play, helping deliver a smoother experience with reduced lag, improved frame rates and responsiveness, shorter loading times, and a lower risk of memory-related crashes," EA explained. 

EA noted that players are likely to notice Memory Boost improving their gameplay experience during longer play sessions, in larger households, on heavily decorated lots, and in older save files, and noted that while Memory Boost isn't exactly a save-fixing feature, it can "reduce some memory-related save issues." And in some play-tests, it did appear to fix issues with certain saves.

"During testing, some players experiencing issues such as missing lot data were able to recover affected content after enabling Memory Boost and loading their save," EA noted in a follow-up blog expanding on the feature. "While Memory Boost is not intended to be a dedicated save-repair tool and may not resolve every save-related issue, its improvements to memory management can help reduce the likelihood of certain problems occurring and support overall save stability."

The new patch is just the latest in a series of updates meant to address some of The Sims 4's long-standing issues. But EA is already planning the game's next major update, which is slated to arrive in September and will focus on improving Sims' autonomous behavior.

"The next major quality-of-life update, coming in September, is focused on improving general Sim autonomy--making Sims behave more intelligently, consistently, and responsively across everyday gameplay," EA shared. "It's another step in our ongoing commitment to making The Sims 4 feel smoother, more reliable, and more enjoyable every time you play."

For those who have obsessively played their favorite game for years at the cost of real-world productivity, here's your chance to turn all that time spent into something you can actually use: a $15,000-a-year scholarship.

The University of Silicon Valley (via Icy Veins) is looking to reward players who have spent hundreds of hours accomplishing the most demanding of in-game feats through its new Max Achievement Scholarship program. 

"The Max Achievement Scholarship recognizes students who have demonstrated extraordinary mastery, persistence, and systems thinking through the completion of rare and demanding achievements in digital gaming environments," the scholarship's website states. "This merit-based scholarship rewards the same qualities that drive academic excellence: disciplined practice, strategic problem-solving, and pursuit of mastery beyond minimum requirements."

To qualify for the scholarship, players need to have completed specific achievements in order to prove mastery in one or more of the 50+ games listed on the scholarship's website. There are two different scholarship tiers, Legendary and Mastery, which reward up to $5,000 or $2,500 respectively per school term.

The list spans a broad range of games and genres, ranging from MMORPGs like World of Warcraft to strategy games like Civilization 6. Multiple soulslikes are on the list, including Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and Sekiro, as are roguelikes such as Spelunky 2, Vampire Survivors, Hades, and Dead Cells. Minecraft is on the list, as is No Man's Sky, Valheim, and more.

But just because your favorite game is on the list doesn't mean the requirements will be easy. While many boil down to some variation of 100% completion, others require some real dedication, such as raising all skills to 99 in Old-School Runescape, earning every possible achievement across the entire Dark Souls trilogy, finishing an Ironman Legend run on XCOM 2, or completing all 115 advancements in Minecraft.

For those who are more generalist in their video game pursuits, there are a few qualifying challenges related to specific platforms. Those playing on PlayStation can qualify for the Legendary Tier by unlocking 10 or more Platinum trophies, of which at least three have to be "Ultra-rare" with less than 1% of players having earned the trophy. Xbox players can do the same by having more than 100,000 Gamerscore with 10 titles above a 90% achievement completion rate. Steam players need to earn 100% achievements in five different games that a global average of less than 5% of players have. While there is no Legendary Tier accomplishment for Nintendo Switch players, earning 100% map and shrine completion in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will qualify for the Mastery Tier. 

Each accomplishment on the list comes paired with an "educational rationale" that shows how earning that particular achievement translates to the real world. In the case of achieving 100% in Stardew Valley, the educational rationale is "long-term planning and relationship management," while earning an S-Rank on all Cuphead bosses on Expert difficulty proves "precision under pressure." 

If your game of choice isn't on the list, players can actually submit an in-game accomplishment with documentation of its rarity alongside an explanation of the mastery involved for review. The University of Silicon Valley will award 10-15 Max Achievement Scholarships in its inaugural year, with plans to expand it in the future based on applicant quality and program success. In addition to proof of their video game feats of strength, candidates will also need to submit a 500-750 word essay reflecting on what their digital pursuits taught them about learning, persistence, or problem-solving.

"The Max Achievement Scholarship honors students who have demonstrated exceptional persistence, systems thinking, and creative problem-solving--even in digital worlds," The University of Silicon Valley states. "These are the same cognitive skills that fuel innovation, entrepreneurship, and polymathic excellence. If you've earned it in-game, it can count toward your future."

The Fanatics Fest event takes place this weekend in New York City, and as announced previously, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's multiplayer will be playable at the event. In addition to that, Infinity Ward studio head Mark Grigsby and Activision marketing executive Tyler Bahl will sit down for a conversation about the game where more news or details could be revealed.

In addition to the developers, the panel will feature NBA superstar and Call of Duty skin Kevin Durant, along with the star of the horror hit Obsession, Inde Navarrette. The conversation will be hosted by media personality Katie Nolan.

Navarrette is a gamer who, like any reasonable person, watched Henry Cavill videos to help build her gaming PC. Obsession, meanwhile, was made on a reported $750,000 budget and has earned more than $426 million worldwide.

https://twitter.com/FanaticsFest/status/2077053928596713859

Fanatics Fest runs July 16-19 at the Javits Center in New York City. If you want to be among the first to play MW4, you can buy a ticket to the show, which start at $81.54 for a single-day ticket and scale up from there.

It's not the only way to play MW4 ahead of launch, though, as there will be a free open beta at some point ahead of launch. Preordering gets you in early.

Modern Warfare 4 launches on October 23 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Switch 2.

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski is arguably the greatest pitcher currently playing in Major League Baseball, with a fastball he's thrown as hard as 105.5 MPH and incredible command. When he's not striking out 15 people in a game, however, he likes collecting Pokemon (and baseball) cards, and his new glove lets him show off one of the most legendary Pokemon ever.

https://twitter.com/MLB/status/2076786975692992840

Created by the company 44 Pro, Misiorowski's glove was made specifically for the All-Star Game, and in addition to a window in the webbing to store a glove--in his case, a Charizard--it also features a mix of orange, red, and yellow on the outside so it resembles the fire-breathing Pokemon. In the past, 44 Pro made a similar glove for him that featured Gengar.

You might be thinking, "Couldn't a hard-hit ball destroy the Pokemon card if it's hit right back at the Miz?" Probably, but fortunately for that Charizard card, Misiorowski will not actually be pitching in tonight's All-Star Game. He chose to sit the game out because of where it lined up compared to his scheduled starts, and an arm-fatigue issue also forced him to skip his last start prior to the All-Star break.

What happened in that game without Miz on the mound? The Pittsburgh Pirates completed a sweep of the first-place Brewers, putting up 10 runs in one inning and seven runs before giving up even one out. Despite this (and scoring the most runs in baseball so far this year), there is not a single position player from the Pirates represented at the All-Star Game tonight.

With its launch around the corner, Beast of Reincarnation co-developer Fictions has dropped a new gameplay video outlining how players will hack and slash their way through a post-apocalyptic world. We already knew that the game borrows a few ideas from Sekiro for its moment-to-moment gameplay--including a parry mechanic that has one of the best "PING" deflection sounds we've heard in quite some time, and Fictions also detailed how it's blending real-time action with the tactical depth of turn-based strategy.

Beast of Reincarnation's bread-and-butter gameplay keeps players on their toes, as the Sekiro influence means that they'll need to parry attacks and strike back with hard-hitting skills as the protagonist, Emma. As detailed in our preview video, enemy attacks have fairly generous windows for you to counter them, and each successful parry will fill up the FP gauge at the bottom of the screen. Once you've filled it up, players can summon their wolf companion Koo to assist them--an action that greatly slows down time and gives you a chance to catch your breath.

https://youtu.be/mhMVMTWDAWU

One of Koo's attacks is the long-range Higanbana Seeds strike that can wear down enemies, and once their stun gauge is full, they're easy pickings for an instant-kill attack. Higanbana Roots can bind up to three enemies and prevent them from attacking you for a few seconds. When it comes to boss battles, players can coordinate Emma and Koo's moves to deal heavy damage, interrupt attacks, and inflict status effects on these towering foes.

Defeating bosses will also awaken new powers in Emma and Koo, while Skill Points earned in battle will allow players to unlock new techniques, expanding on the pair's arsenal during the course of their journey. Beast of Reincarnation launches on August 4 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, and it has also been co-developed by Pokemon studio Game Freak. The developer is also working on the next mainline entry in the pocket-monster-series, 2027's Pokemon Winds and Waves for the Switch 2.

https://youtu.be/J6i0BBtaokU

Mondo has revealed its next limited-edition Masters of the Universe figure, inspired by one of the most underrated series in the franchise. Long before he became known as Skeletor, Keldor was the most infamous--and good-looking--villain on Eternia. GameSpot can exclusively reveal Mondo's new 1/12-scale figure inspired by the 2002 Masters of the Universe animated series, and it'll be available to preorder soon. The collectibles company is also launching a 1/6-scale version of Skeletor's savage companion, Panthor, and this one features flocked faux fur as part of its design.

Kicking things off is the Keldor figure. The set also includes his iconic weapons, a detailed environmental base, a fabric cape, a vial of acid, swappable hands, and several alternate headsculpts. In addition to his standard head, you're also getting a smirking head, an angry head, and a gross-out head that reveals his disfigured face following a botched attempt to hurl his acid vile at King Randor. Don't worry, he got better! And by better, I mean that Hordak removed the rest of his face-flesh when he struck a Faustian bargain with the master of evil. Priced at $115, the Keldor figure will be available through the Mondo Store.

See at Mondo Store

"We absolutely can't wait for Masters of the Universe fans to see the incredible work the team did on this Keldor figure. The design, sculpt, and paint are just next-level and truly pushing what is possible in the 1/12 figure space," Mondo senior creative director Peter Santa-Maria said.

The other big reveal is Panthor, who is an absolute unit. Cringer's rival measures 12 inches in length and is 18 inches tall once all his armor has been equipped, and there's a saddle that fits Mondo's sixth-scale Skeletor perfectly. The major feature of this ferocious feline is its fur, which is entirely flocked and applied to the figure.

The big cat also comes with a big price tag, as it'll sell for $525. You can also grab it through the Mondo store or at San Diego Comic-Con this month.

See at Mondo Store

"Flocked Panthor truly is a beast," Santa-Maria added. "We have been working hard to get this release perfectly dialed in, and we are proud to say that it is worth the wait. A flocked 1/6 scale figure of this size is going to be a major focal point of any Masters of the Universe collection."

It feels like a second renaissance for MOTU right now, as between the upcoming 4K remaster of the 1987 movie and Blu-ray preorders opening up for the 2026 film, the classic animated series is also getting a new lease on life. The original Masters of the Universe animated series has been available on DVD for several years, but at long last, it's getting a Blu-ray upgrade. Priced at $45 and out on August 25, it'll be joined later this year by a new Blu-ray box set of the 2002 reboot series.

This updated version of He-Man was originally collected into a complete series on DVD in 2009, but it has been out of print for a long time. In case you missed it, you can pick up this surprisingly fun reimagining of Masters of the Universe for $48 when it launches in November.