Epic Games has announced that it's going to make it easier than ever to hang out and talk with friends across different platforms by launching Epic Parties. This voice chat service will work across Fortnite (on all supported platforms), the Epic Games Store launcher (PC, iOS, and Android), and the Epic Games app (iOS and Android).

For example, you can start a voice party from your phone or PC launcher, ring up a friend who is busy playing Fortnite on their PlayStation, and even transfer that call from your phone to your PC when you get back to your desk. This means that you can sit in on a voice call through the Epic PC Launcher while playing completely different games from your Epic library. Other benefits include a seamless approach to grouping friends together, as Epic says that if you're in a voice party with friends and everyone decides to open Fortnite, then the game will automatically drop you all into the same lobby together.

This new feature is competing directly with Discord, which has been the go-to third-party app for users for several years. Epic's built-in alternative aims to let users bring their social list, voice channels, and digital avatar with them across multiple platforms and from game to game, whether you are on iOS, Android, PC, or console. Epic has also hinted that these voice and avatar systems will be integrated directly into Unreal Engine 6, and the tools will be offered to other developers in time. For now, it's currently rolling out to Fortnite, and Epic Parties will be available in Rocket League next year.

According to Epic's year-in-review stats, over $1 billion was spent in the store in 2025, and it reached an all-time record of 78 million monthly active users on PC. Earlier this year, Epic spoke more about its plans to further improve its digital storefront. "Our goal is to keep building a storefront and launcher that players want to engage with and use to grow their game library, but we need to be able to connect players with the game they want to play at the time they want to play it," Kyle Billings, director of strategy and business operations at the Epic Games Store, said to GameSpot.

During today's State of Play broadcast, Sony announced that two limited-edition Grand Theft Auto 6-themed DualSense controllers will be released.

They'll come in black or white and feature distinctive Leonida-themed graphics and coloring. Both have pastel pink icons on the buttons, with a blue-purple shift that sparkles along the bottom of the controller.

You can get the controller in black or white.

On the rear of the controllers, the Grand Theft Auto logo is embossed, while the grips maintain the standard PlayStation icon texture.

Elsewhere, the GTA 6 logo is etched on to the touchpad, and palm-tree-like shapes are embossed on the controller grips.

Both controls launch alongside GTA 6 on its release date, November 19. Surely there's no better way to experience the biggest gaming release of the decade so far? They'll set you back $85 each.

At least you'll no longer have to mash the X button on your new controller, as it's been confirmed that there's a new mechanic for sprinting in GTA 6. In other GTA 6 news, you won't have to tend to Jason and Lucia's romantic relationship if you don't want to.

Rockstar Games has confirmed new details about how fishing and hunting work in GTA 6, and it's probably not what you would expect.

Speaking to YouTuber TGG, Rockstar North's Rob Nelson confirmed that fishing in GTA 6 is limited to catch and release--players cannot keep any fish. Why? "It didn't fit this game," Nelson said, adding that fishing in GTA 6 is mainly for fun. Players can also complete fishing-related challenges and amass collectibles.

Jason fishing in GTA 6.

In Rockstar's last game, 2018's Red Dead Redemption II, players could catch a great assortment of fish and then cook and eat them. That made sense given the time period of the game, that being 1899. GTA 6 is set in modern times, and main characters Jason and Lucia, like you and me, have access to numerous food options at any given time. Eating food in GTA 6 will make you gain weight, and players can use the excess calories to bulk up at the gym.

As for hunting in GTA 6, Nelson said the game's hunting system is one of many ways in the game that players can make money. The hunting system is unlocked through a friend that knows Jason, but TGG theorized that this person has not been shown yet in any GTA 6 footage so far.

In addition to catching fish and killing animals, players will be able to "inspect" the creatures, borrowing a system from Red Dead Redemption 2. GTA 6 also has dogs that you can pet, scold (you monster), and inspect.

GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. At the State of Play event on September 3, Sony and Rockstar announced a GTA 6-themed DualSense controller.

Final Fantasy VII Revelation finally has a release date: April 8, 2027. Square Enix confirmed the news today during the PlayStation State of Play livestream, along with nearly 10 minutes of new footage.

The release date was confirmed via a trailer highlights all eight playable characters in the main party: Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Red XIII, Yuffie, Cait Sith, Vincent, and Cid. We also see gameplay of the team in action, including team-up abilities like Vincent's Galian Beast form rushing a group of enemies with Red XIII, and Tifa and Yuffie attacking from above with a dive kick/spinning shuriken combo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YHP48v7vyg

From there, FF7 director Naoki Hamaguchi introduced an extended look at raw gameplay, which focused on traveling the massive world map. Invoking the original game's PlayStation 1 roots, the Highwind flies over the world of Gaia, and players can pilot it wherever they wish. Once they reach a location of interest, they can choose a party from any of the eight playable characters, and then parachute down to the surface instantly.

The demo then dives into a side quest in Gongaga featuring Sotetsu, a character featured in a FF7 Rebirth side quest. Yuffie, knowing Sotetsu from that side quest, has a special interaction with him, implying that some missions may play out differently depending on the characters brought to complete them.

Along with the news of Final Fantasy VII Revelation's April 8 release date, the Steam page for the game dropped a few hints on what is coming after launch, with listings for story expansions featuring two key characters.

As part of the September 3 State of Play event, Sony announced more games for the PlayStation Plus catalog.

Devolver's customizable looter-shooter Mycopunk is launching directly into the PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra tiers in October 2026, the company said.

https://twitter.com/devolverdigital/status/2095505751632453905

Additionally, more PlayStation "classics" are coming over the next few months for Premium subscribers, including Mega Man X Command Mission, Dino Crisis 2, and the 2002 original Ratchet & Clank.

While PlayStation Plus members have to wait a bit longer for these games, the latest PlayStation Plus games are out now. These include Sniper Elite: Resistance, MLB The Show 26, Chained Echoes, and Wobbly Life.

For more, be sure to check out GameSpot's rundown of all the big announcements from State of Play.

Today, during the PlayStation State of Play livestream, Sucker Punch offered a look at Ghost of Yotei's upcoming roguelike mode, Most Wanted. The mode will feature four playable characters, and Yotei's Atsu, Oyuki, and Nagato will be joined by a familar face from the past: The Ghost of Tsushima, Jin Sakai, will officially return.

Most Wanted, which the trailer calls a "combat survival mode," lets players choose one of the four samurai, each with their own weapons and abilities, to take them on a hunt for one of the Yotei Six. Each of the Six, if defeated, will offer a reward of coins that can then be spent to upgrade the samurai for future runs.

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

A new post on the official PlayStation Blog further explores the new mode, saying that the core of the mode lies in its Perks system. "As you progress through a run, you’ll frequently select between new perks including weapon mastery, gear loadouts, summons, parries, survivability, and more," the blog says. "These are the cornerstone of crafting the perfect build and lead to some of the most exciting surprises as you find the challenge or unexpected value that comes from mixing and matching perks.

This new mode marks the first time Jin Sakai returns as a playable characters since his starring role in 2020's Ghost of Tsushima. The PS Blog post says that the development team made sure to "take his Ghost of Tsushima model and keep it faithful while also applying upgrades for Ghost of Yōtei," as he can use all four of his fighting stances from Ghost of Tsushima, as well as sticky bombs, the Dance of Wrath, and his Ghost stance.

Ghost of Yotei's Echoes of Sekigahara expansion, as well as the Most Wanted roguelike mode, launch October 1. Players who own the base game can purchase a Complete Edition upgrade with the extra content, while new players can purchase Ghost of Yotei: Complete Edition with all content in one package.

During the September 3 State of Play, Sony debuted a new clip from the upcoming Resident Evil movie, and it was both dark and hilarious. That should be no surprise, as comedy and horror are naturally intertwined, and the movie is written and directed by sketch comedy veteran Zach Cregger.

In the clip, we see Austin Abrams' character, the medical courier Bryan, running down a street in Raccoon City as zombies throw themselves off rooftops trying to catch him. They explode on impact, with blood flying everywhere.

Bryan screams as he runs down the street amidst the carnage, uttering some hilarious noises and guttural screams. Check out the new footage below.

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

Cregger wanted to film this sequence practically instead of using CGI. The production team created 150-pound “body-sized blood bags” that were dropped from cranes to create the effect. One of the blood bags came close to striking Abrams, and Cregger said, “It would’ve killed him.”

Bryan, according to Cregger, is an "idiot" who finds himself in a horrifying situation and is just trying to survive.

The entire movie feels like “one gigantic sequence,” Cregger said, adding that things begin to “pop off” five minutes into the movie–and it only ramps up from there.

“It feels like one gigantic sequence,” he says. “Things pop off about five minutes in and it basically stays like that until the end. What I love about the games is that you move from set-piece to set-piece. Every location has a unique challenge. So again, I’m borrowing from the games directly in that rhythm, where you’re just running through a gauntlet.”

The Resident Evil movie releases on September 18, and it's expected to have the biggest opening ever for a Resident Evil movie.

Guild Wars 3 developer ArenaNet wants to try "wild, crazy ideas" in a genre that, according to its studio head, has "stagnated" in recent years.

During a hands-off demo where early Guild Wars 3 gameplay was shown to members of the press, I asked ArenaNet studio head Colin Johanson about the state of the MMO genre in 2026 and what problems Guild Wars 3 is looking to solve.

He had plenty to say on the subject. Many MMO players are still playing the same games they were 10-20 years ago, Johanson said, citing decade-old (or older) examples like World of Warcraft, The Elder Scrolls Online, Final Fantasy 14, and, of course, ArenaNet's own Guild Wars 2. In that same time, "minute-to-minute gameplay in MMOs has stagnated," even as other genres have modernized and become more approachable, he said.

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

That's "really good timing" for ArenaNet and Guild Wars 3, Johanson said, and one that presents a big opportunity for a new game to break in and shake up the scene.

"There's been very little new in the last decade, and a lot of those [newer] games either don't exist anymore or were canceled in development before they made their way out," Johanson said. "We see MMO fans constantly clamoring for and asking for something new and saying this genre desperately needs something new to move it forward right now."

Johanson certainly has a point. The biggest new MMOs of the last few years have been games like 2021's New World or Korean MMOs like Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty, all originally tied to Amazon's game publishing arm. If nothing else, their launches showed how hungry MMO players are for a big new game in the space, with each title attracting hundreds of thousands of concurrent players in their first weeks, or in the case of Lost Ark, over 1.3 million.

Flash forward to now, and Amazon is pulling out of the MMO business entirely and shutting New World down. Other prospective MMOs fans were eager to learn more about have also languished. Riot's planned League of Legends MMO went back to the drawing board in 2024 after years of development, even as the former executive producer of that project's next new MMO also got canceled. ESO is being scaled back amidst layoffs, with a sci-fi MMO codenamed Project Blackbird from the same studio getting canceled before ever being officially announced. Another promising MMO that raised $3 million onKickstarter, Ashes of Creation, imploded earlier this year following the resignation of its game director and an ongoing legal battle.

It's a grim state of affairs for MMO fans, but Johanson said there is an opportunity to make a MMO that looks to solve the genre's approachability problem and overcome the perception they are "second jobs" many players don't have time for. For him, that means making a game where meaningful progress can be made in shorter play sessions, you can play with a controller, and prep time is massively cut down.

"For many gamers today, where we have so many different games to pick from and our time is more challenged than ever in how much time we have to play any individual game, if you don't have a couple of hours available, you're just not going to play an MMO and you're going to play other genres that are more approachable and can be played in quicker sessions," Johanson said.

He said it also means designing a MMO where it's okay to have a "healthy relationship" with the game, one where players can take breaks between expansions and not feel like they've been completely left behind. Being more approachable is about more than just attracting a wider audience, he said. It's also about making it more approachable for MMO fans who have busy real-life schedules and more game options than ever before.

"You can set this game down and go play a bunch of other games and come back when the next expansion comes out and that's okay," Johanson said. "That's a totally healthy relationship to have with a game, and we don't need to demand that you be in this game 24/7 to stay relevant and to stay up with everybody else."

Johanson's comments line up with a blog post he penned shortly after Guild Wars 3 was announced. In it, he said the goal is to make a game that respects players' time and investment and can be enjoyed by those who only have a few hours a week to play. In that same blog, Johanson said Guild Wars 3 won't have a subscription fee, nor what he described as "hidden" subscriptions like battle passes.

Guild Wars 3 doesn't currently have a release date but will release for PC and PlayStation 5. A beta is slated to begin Fall 2027.

Sony's next State of Play broadcast is almost here, and with the next few months being packed with new game releases, we're expecting a beefy session of game trailers and announcements in today's broadcast. We already know that Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will be closing out the first half of the show, and it will be followed immediately by a new episode of State of Play Japan hosted by Yuki Kaji.

Beyond that, Sony has teased updates and announcements from PlayStation Studios and third-party partners. If you're interested in watching, you can catch the livestream at 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET via this link or the embedded video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHaGFvazVA8

As always, we'll be covering the event and everything shown off as it happens. In case you can't make it, you can check back here for everything shown off from both State of Play broadcasts, so don't forget to hit your F5 key for regular updates. As mentioned above, the next couple of months have plenty of big games on the way, with the likes of Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, Marvel's Wolverine, and Control Resonant being the mere tip of the iceberg.

Beyond those 2026 releases, there's also God of War Laufey in February 2027 and Naughty Dog's first new game of the PS5 generation, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Could we see more of those games today? There's only one way to find out.

Frontier Developments, the UK-based game studio known for a great many creative management sims like Planet Coaster, Zoo Tycoon, and Jurassic World Evolution, has announced a deal with Disney--and it's gotten people excited about the possibilities.

In a news release, Frontier said the game is based on "Disney's iconic portfolio of IP" and will be "fully funded" by Frontier itself. Frontier will also publish it.

Frontier CEO Jo Cooke said in a statement, “We are delighted to announce this collaboration with Disney, which further reinforces our clearly defined strategy of developing and nurturing world-class creative management simulation game franchises."

Cooke added: "Our mission with this game is to connect a passionate creative community of players with one of the world's most iconic and beloved brands, and I can’t wait to see what our talented teams will create with this amazing opportunity.” 

Frontier's announcement was very light on specifics, so there is no word yet on what this game actually is. Despite that, people are buzzing with excitement over the possibilities of what Frontier could create with the Disney IP.

After all, Frontier makes some of the most-celebrated management sims out there, and Disney operates some of the biggest and best theme parks in the world. People are naturally theorizing that the new game could allow people to create their own digital Disneyland or Walt Disney World.

Disney's new CEO, Josh D'Amaro, is a big believer in video games as a new method to reach more people and has pledged to do more in gaming.

There have been Disney theme park games before. All the way back in 1990, Capcom released the NES game Adventures in the Magic Kingdom. This game allowed players to visit a virtual park based on Disney's real parks and collect keys to enter the Cinderella Castle.

There was also 2011's Kinect Disneyland Adventures, which was also made by Frontier, allowing players to explore a virtual Disneyland. Then there was 2016's city-builder Disney Magic Kingdoms for mobile, which had players seeking to restore a theme park based on Disneyland after Maleficent casts an evil spell on it. Additionally, there was 2009's Toy Story Mania, a game based on the Disney theme park ride Toy Story Midway Mania.

Disney's video game business is booming, as the company now has nine franchises that have generated more than $1 billion at retail. Gaming will be a "key part of Disney's storytelling strategy in the present and the future," the company has said.

Just when you thought there would be a post-Gamescom break for video game livestreams, Sony dropped notice that the State of Play broadcast was returning with two back-to-back broadcasts. As usual, this will be a new look at upcoming PlayStation 5 games, but beyond that, Sony has revealed only a handful of details. If you're planning to watch, here's everything you need to know about when and where you can tune in.

How to watch State of Play https://youtu.be/JHaGFvazVA8

As usual, State of Play will be streamed live on Sony’s YouTube and Twitch channels.

• YouTube
• Twitch

State of Play start time

State of Play kicks off on September 3, at the following times:

• 6 AM PT
• 9 AM ET
• 3 PM CEST
• 10 PM JST

What to expect

The first State of Play broadcast will offer updates and announcements from PlayStation Studios and third-party partners. The livestream will close out with an extended look at Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, and immediately after, it'll be followed by a new episode of State of Play Japan. Hosted by Yuki Kaji, State of Play Japan will be focused entirely on upcoming games from game studios in Japan and Asia, so expect trailers and gameplay aplenty.

September alone is packed with new releases, including the PS5-exclusive Marvel's Wolverine alongside Control Resonant, NBA 2K27, The Blood of Dawnwalker, and Onimusha: Way of the Sword, so new trailers for those games wouldn't be unlikely. Looking ahead to October, there are even more high-profile releases like Hellraiser: Revival, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, and Final Fantasy Resonance, just to name a few. And in November?

There's that other game you might have heard of, Grand Theft Auto 6. If State of Play is going to be a reminder that there are far too many games still to come this year and not enough hours in the day to play them, it should still be a good show overall.

What could make it even better is a closer look at other upcoming PS5 exclusives like Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet and God of War Laufey, which could be the final first-party PS5 games to have a physical edition.

CD Projekt Red has released its latest earnings report for the first half of 2026, and in short, it was a banger of a period for the company, and things are only expected to improve with many big-name releases on the horizon.

For the January-July period, CD Projekt Red generated 435 million PLN ($116.4 million USD) in revenue, which was up 23% year-over-year. Additionally, the company posted a net profit of 249 million PLN ($66.6 million USD), which was up 37% year-over-year. Total net profitability for the company was a very impressive 57%.

Management said in its report that these strong results were driven in part by "strong sales" of The Witcher and Cyberpunk games. Additionally, CD Projekt said it benefitted nicely from licensing revenue, a category that is becoming more and more important to the company.

The company specifically called out licensing deals that Cyberpunk 2077 had with games like Wuthering Waves and Apex Legends this year. Additionally, the company pointed out how well Cyberpunk TCG did on Kickstarter.

It would appear that CD Projekt's revenues are only set to grow further in the time ahead. That's because the studio has a lot of big games and content on tap, including The Witcher 3 Remastered this year, The Witcher 3's Songs of the Past expansion in 2027, and then The Witcher 4 in 2028.

Prison Architect 2--a very highly anticipated sequel--was originally scheduled to launch way back in 2024. The game was delayed to September of that year before later being delayed indefinitely, but after more than two years of waiting, we finally have a sign that it could be approaching a new release date: another beta test.

Following a beta back in April--which was the first official update from Paradox on the game since it was delayed in 2024--Prison Architect 2 will hold another closed beta for September.

The sign-up sheet, which is now closed, asks a few different questions of potential testers. The most important is if they are willing to sign an NDA, so don't expect news to come out of the closed beta.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF6Celg50vM

The actual playtest will run from September 9-15, but it's unclear if the closed beta will be followed by an open beta later down the line.

Back in August of 2024, Paradox said "we need more time to improve both the game's performance and its content," offering refunds to those who preorders and not committing to a new release date. The game hasn't been available to purchase since then, which could lead to people thinking it was canceled. Above, you can see a video of what the game looked like back then.

It's been well over a decade since the original Prison Architect released. In addition to PC, it's available on Xbox, PlayStation, and iOS. Prison Architect 2 is planned to launch for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S alongside PC.

With headlines dominated by stories of buyouts, layoffs, employee mistreatment, and crunch, it's easy to think that game development is a constant parade of misery and strife. But the vast majority of developers still make games out of genuine love for the medium--and feel deeply connected to their teammates. The surprise announcement of a Steam remake of NES cult classic Battle of Olympus showcases the joyful side of game development: a project born of an idea that blossomed into a real-life romance, decade-long careers, and gratitude for the fans who have kept the game in peoples' minds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6cLmT6_oNg

The Battle of Olympus is a side-scrolling action-RPG released in 1988 by Broderbund for the NES. The visuals and gameplay take a lot of cues from Zelda II, though with a Greek mythology-inspired story and setting and a pretty solid challenge level throughout. It's been described as "a hidden gem" of the NES library many times, often overshadowed by similar titles, but beloved by those who enjoyed it.

Notably, The Battle of Olympus was developed in Japan by a very small developer named Infinity. How small? Well, the game's credits list a whopping three different people--Yukio Horimoto, Reiko Oshida, and Kazuo Sawa. Yukio and Reiko were the two main collaborators, with Yukio handling programming, Reiko on art design, and the pair working together on the game's story. As it turns out, the project would lead the two to discover their connection to each other, and they would marry soon after--making it very fitting that The Battle of Olympus's Japanese subtitle is "The Legend of Love."

Infinity would grow and continue work as a contract developer, porting titles from series like Ultima and Doom to various platforms while also releasing original work like GameCube fan-favorite Ribbit King. However, it now appears that Yukio and Reiko are ready to retire, and they want to do so by re-releasing the game that both brought them together and put Infinity on the map. But, as the YouTube video announcement emphasizes, this wouldn't have happened without the decades of support from fans of The Battle of Olympus, who continue to support the game through videos, streaming, and discussion.

It's hard not to watch the announcement video with a smile on your face, with Reiko happily describing the game's development, what it means to them, and how much fan support has touched them over such a long time. In a sea of depressing news, sometimes we need a love story to remind us why games can be so great.

Resident Evil games over the years have slowly added more fantastical elements to their tale of bioweapons running amok, but for the new live-action movie, director Zach Cregger is dialing back those ideas to a more "grounded" level. Even so, he doesn't think he'd fare very well if he were dropped in that world.

"I feel like some of the Resident Evil games get a little magical," Cregger said during a Reddit Ask Me Anything session (via YouTuber Troy Hill Talks Movies).

"[Resident Evil] 8, we have a woman who can turn into a bird and fly around. And like, I love it. I've played it a bunch of times. I think it's an awesome game, but in terms of me making a movie out of it, it's like I've got to try and limit some of the wild aspects of Resident Evil. And so I chose to stick with the T-Virus, keep it as grounded as possible. So that means I'm not going to have a gigantic jacked dude in a trench coat, because I'm like, where'd the coat come from? How did he get the coat?"

https://youtu.be/mNd1gb19A-c

Cregger explained that while the Resident Evil games do explain how Mr. X gets his stylish coat, in the world he has constructed for the movie, there's no time for the infected bioweapons to consider zombie apocalypse fashion. "This movie, it's like the outbreak just happened," Cregger added. "I want to keep it chaotic, I want to keep it primal, and I want to just keep it as grounded as I can. The T-Virus causes all kinds of cool, fun mutations. That is enough, so I'm limiting it there."

As a co-founder of the comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U' Know, Cregger says that the muscles he developed for creating sketch comedy also helped him zero in on "absurd" opportunities and find the right timing for unexpected results in Resident Evil. As for his chances of surviving his own creation? Cregger doesn't think he'd last too long in his version of Resident Evil.

"There's no chance I would survive," Cregger bluntly stated. "I wouldn't have survived the cop car attack because I would have probably just dropped to my knees and just been like, just bite me, just f***ing do it. I can't handle that kind of energy. No, I would die so fast."

Resident Evil will be out September 18 in theaters, and the movie is projected to have a big opening weekend in North America. For more on the film, you can also read up on how several of the best Resident Evil games inspired the visuals of the upcoming movie.

Athanasia, the indie horror game that traps you in a mysterious facility full of dinosaurs, is launching in the ideal horror-game window: just before Halloween. GameSpot can exclusively reveal Athanasia's release date; it comes to PC on October 19 via Steam Early Access.

In Athanasia, players find themselves trapped in a South American research facility swarmed by dinosaurs that have somehow traveled through time to the present day in the game's story. Though the art style recalls something quite like Dino Crisis, Capcom's long-dormant dino horror series, the specifics of the gameplay are actually more surprising.

Influenced by System Shock, the first-person Athanasia also has immersive-sim leanings, as seen in the game's trailer below, where the player can creatively get themselves out of a jam by experimenting with their environment. Of course, if it's really an immersive sim, players will be able to flush the toilets. It's wait-and-see on that one.

That's not the only wrinkle, though. Athanasia also teases a different enemy type hidden from all of the game's trailers so far. It seems something worse than dinosaurs is lurking.

Athanasia launches on October 19 from Momentum Games, with the horror-focused Black Lantern Collective publishing.

Ahead of the release of Resident Evil later this month, director Zach Cregger sat down for an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit he answered questions about the movie. While trailers for Resident Evil have teased a few Easter eggs that players of the game will recognize, Cregger also spoke about another game-inspired influence on his horror movie: Resident Evil's third-person viewpoint.

"I feel like the biggest inspiration for this was the games, and I mean cinematically," Cregger said during the AMA (via YouTuber Troy Hill Talks Movies). 

"I'm not talking about the content of the movie. I'm talking about the visual language of the movie. I feel like people my age and younger, we grew up with our visual tastes informed just as much by video games as we did by movies. I know as a kid, I played video games probably just as much as I watched movies. There's something that is ingrained now about this third-person camera and this first-person thing where you really are learning the space as the character learns the space, and you feel much more immersed in their perspective because you are. And so, for me to make a movie about Resident Evil where I'm following a character on his foot journey, it's like, obviously, I'm going to employ the visual vocabulary that these games have employed so well."

https://youtu.be/SJPu1spHqfk

Cregger added that he choreographed scenes to emulate this gameplay approach, so as to "train the viewer" early on as to how they're going to experience the movie and the journey of Bryan, the medical courier played by Austin Abrams. Resident Evil 7 was also influential on the film for how it portrayed a normal person being put through the ringer, Cregger said, but Resident Evil 4 also played a large role in the "rhythm" of the film.

"[Resident Evil] 4 has the rhythm that I really like, where you're moving from set piece to set piece, location to location," Cregger explained. "Resident Evil 4 is just such a big game. You go through all these different worlds, from the village to the castle, and to the island. It just kind of keeps giving and giving. I like the idea of kind of borrowing the rhythm and the scale from RE4 and using some of the character elements from RE7."

Resident Evil hits theaters on September 18, and Cregger has teased a fast-paced movie full of "f**ked up and weird" imagery for fans to enjoy.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has been Nintendo's golden goose for several years, as it's the company's best-selling Switch game of all time and has received various updates over the years, becoming a feature-packed experience. Even with Mario Kart World aiming to usurp its position, Nintendo isn't done dropping new content into Mario Kart 8 yet, as the game just received a new eight-player split-screen mode out of nowhere on Switch 2. It's free to download, allows for up to eight players to share the screen locally, and it looks wild in action.

Alongside the new mode that segments your TV like a slab of chocolate, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Version 4.0.0 also adds several more improvements that take advantage of the increased horsepower on Switch 2. In a nutshell, you're getting sharper graphics, CameraPlay support, and shorter load times in addition to smaller quality-of-life tweaks under the hood of the popular kart-racing game. Even player speed has been increased by a whopping coin--whatever that means.

https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/2094968553728274749

But the expanded local split-screen is the real star of the show here, as not only can you strain your eyes while playing on TV, but you can also make your local optometrist happy by watching all those races unfold in handheld mode on the Switch 2. Considering just how much of an intensive load it is to render eight sessions in real time, the new multiplayer mode is a technical marvel to watch.

This will likely keep Mario Kart 8 Deluxe at the top of the Nintendo food chain for a while yet. Mario Kart World has its charm, but as fans have pointed out, the anemic amount of content added since its launch last year has made it hard to root for. That drought might be coming to a temporary end, as with a rumored Nintendo Direct supposedly arriving later this month, players are expecting Mario Kart World to get some sort of an update. If you're looking to grab it, a new Switch 2 + Mario Kart World bundle ($550) launches in late September--albeit for $50 when compared to the original launch bundle.

Here Are The Switch 2’s Best-Selling Games So Far View Images

Earlier this summer, Fenris Creations (formerly CCP Games) released an update to its popular online spacefaring MMO called Cradle of War, which the community immediately abbreviated to "CoW." This shorthand apparently sparked a few ideas inside Fenris, and now an actual cow is livestreaming an Eve Online session from Iceland.

The cow, whose name is Valva and username is FC CapitalCowPilot, is manning a mining ship on a deep space mining operation. The team at Fenris Creations fitted its pen with "cow-proof" buttons, which when stepped on will perform certain in-game actions, while a voiceover host delivers cow facts to viewers of the livestream.

https://bsky.app/profile/lotrlore.bsky.social/post/3muk2ibt4zk25

As of this writing, over 200 players have joined CapitalCowPilot's mining expedition, with over 4000 viewers watching along on Twitch as the cow moves around its pen. Fenris Creations has announced some community goals which can be unlocked during the stream, including new skins for ships and new updates for the Cradle of War expansion.

The stream will run "for roughly 4 to 6 hours," as Fenris admits that it's "on the cow's time, she's not on ours." Valva has made quite an impression on the stream's chat, with some users demanding that the cow be left alone while on its mining mission.

The Cradle of War expansion's non-bovine additions include time-limited Military Campaigns, which let players complete tasks in order to advance their empire's goals, and a new area called Exordium specifically built to help onboard new players.

In what feels like a monkey's paw situation, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate unexpectedly received a new patch--but unlike recent updates for other major Nintendo games, this Smash update doesn't include any Switch 2-specific features.

The Ver. 13.0.5 patch for Ultimate fixes "behavior that occurs when invalid data is sent or received in online battles," according to the Nintendo Support website. It isn't clear from the patch notes (or note, rather) what "invalid data" refers to, but some users on Reddit speculated that the update targets mods.

Meanwhile, fellow Switch 1 game Mario Kart 8 Deluxe received a hefty 4.0.0 update with substantial features for Switch 2 users, including split-screen support for up to eight players, camera support, shorter loading times, and higher resolutions. Pikmin 3 Deluxe also got a similar Switch 2 update this week.

It's a disappointing time for Smash Bros. fans, with not a single hint of a new Smash game or a proper Switch 2 update for Ultimate, whether that comes in the form of a free patch or a Switch 2 Edition with new content.

There's a laundry list of features that players would love to see in a Switch 2 version of Smash Bros. Ultimate, including new characters, additional stages, increased resolution, and implementation of rollback netcode. The only Switch 2-related update that Ultimate received came in June 2025, fixing an issue where online matches with Mii Fighters would end immediately if one of the players was playing on a Switch 2.

Development for new content ended in 2021 after the addition of Sora from Kingdom Hearts capped off Ultimate's DLC. The latest title from Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai is Kirby Air Riders, which launched last November with no DLC planned. Perhaps Smash fans should bet on a new Smash game coming instead of an Ultimate update, though we can probably all agree that Sakurai deserves a break.

It’s Time For Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Switch 2 Upgrade View Images