Ahead of its release next month, Bungie is looking to do some server stress-testing for Marathon, and anyone who joins in will get some digital goodies for their efforts. The studio--which is owned by Sony--has also revealed rewards for Xbox gamers, which are unique for testers on the Microsoft platform. For the open beta test, Xbox Series X|S owners will receive two stylish weapon charms that can be equipped in the full game, if they decide to purchase it.

While these charms don't offer any gameplay bonuses, they do look quite fashionable. The Emerald Clutch Weapon Charm and Emerald Catch Weapon Charm add some emerald flair to your weapons, and while it hasn't been confirmed, they look very Minecraft-inspired in their design. Bungie hasn't revealed the rewards for Marathon players on PC yet, but they'll likely also be a set of weapon charms. Here's a closer look at them:

In comparison, PS Plus subscribers who play the Marathon beta will receive weapon charms based on Sony games like Ghost of Yotei, Death Stranding 2, and Helldivers 2. If you're interested in taking part, the Marathon Open Beta kicks off on February 26 and runs through March 2, ending just days before the full game launches on March 5. With its release date drawing closer, Bungie and Sony have begun to reveal more details on Marathon, including the soul music composed for the game and Bungie's plans to combat cheaters.

The first public test for Horizon Hunters Gathering, the upcoming Horizon multiplayer game, is taking place this weekend--but you'll have to get lucky to get in.

As announced previously, this is a closed test, so you will need to first join the PlayStation Beta Program and then cross your fingers and hope you get an invite. The test runs February 27-March 1 on PS5 and PC via Steam.

The test features the playable characters Sun, Rem, and Axle, along with two modes: Machine Incursion and Cauldron Descent. Machine Incursion is a wave-based mode, while Cauldron Descent is described as a "multi-stage dungeon featuring ever-changing challenges."

Late last year, Fuse Games debuted the first look at its debut title, Star Wars: Galactic Racer. The Fuse team includes veterans who have worked on Need for Speed, Burnout, and Star Wars Battlefront. That experience has taught them that the new Star Wars racer had to be more than just a spiritual successor to Star Wars Episode I: Racer.

"Every time we've made a game, we've tried to innovate," Fuse Games founder and CEO Matt Webster told The Game Business. "If you sort of zoom out a bit, it's a genre that's crying out for some fresh new ideas, and to steal from some other genres as well."

One of the ways that Galactic Racer will differ from the previous Star Wars racing games is that the races are only part of the experience. Galactic Racer will also allow players to spend time outside of their vehicles and find the stories taking place around them.

CD Projekt Red has been gathering additional game industry talent for its forthcoming RPG titles, with the studio recently gaining a developer from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 creator Sandfall Interactive.

Lucie Hennet is a cinematics animator who worked at Sandfall from May 2023 to December 2024, according to her LinkedIn profile (per GamesRadar). Hennet's page reveals that she is now based in Poland and joined CD Projekt Red this month. CD Projekt is developing The Witcher 4 in its original location in Warsaw, Poland, while the studio's North American teams are making the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077.

Hennet states in her ArtStation page (via VGC) that her work on Expedition 33 included "cleaning up and refining body and facial motion capture" for Unreal Engine 5. Similar to Expedition 33, The Witcher 4 is being built in Unreal Engine 5, with CD Projekt taking a "console-first" approach and leaving behind its in-house REDengine.

It's almost time to head back to Raccoon City. Resident Evil Requiem--the ninth mainline entry in the long-running Resident Evil series--launches this week, and if you're planning to play at the earliest possible second, here's when the game unlocks.

Capcom hasn't formally published a global unlock chart, but the Sony listing on the PlayStation Store points to a midnight ET launch on February 27.

That means the game should unlock at:

When Overwatch was first pitched more than a decade ago, a number of Blizzard employees told me, it was not pitched solely as a team-based hero shooter--it was pitched as a universe. Over the years, Blizzard has exemplified this idea by expanding the game's story through comics, animated shorts, and more, ultimately creating the vibrant, superhero-inspired world we know it to be today. Now, a decade after the game's initial release, we're finally seeing that universe expand in an even larger way with something the team has been chasing after for some time: Overwatch's first spin-off game.

Overwatch Rush is Blizzard's new top-down, mobile hero shooter set in the Overwatch universe, and while it's still fairly early in development, the hour-and-a-half I spent with the game was a lot of fun. According to the studio, Rush aims to finally broaden Overwatch's reach to finally include mobile players, though it should be noted that it is not a port or extension of the core Overwatch experience and will have no interaction with the core game. That said, Rush's roster--which includes Mercy, Tracer, Reaper, Soldier 76, Kiriko, Lucio, Reinhardt, and Pharah, to start--is pulled entirely from the main game and doesn't necessarily reimagine them, making the experience feel fairly familiar. And despite Overwatch's core team, Team 4, not working on the upcoming game, it retains a sense of familiarity in other ways too, with notably similar UI, the same in-game announcer, and the inclusion of Control-Point mode.

During my hands-on preview with Overwatch Rush, I had the opportunity to test out these eight heroes, the mobile reimagining of Control-Point mode, and the game's two additional modes as well: Nano Grab and Free-For-All. Perhaps unsurprisingly, as they were designed specifically for Rush, Nano Grab and Free-For-All are the modes that I found most exciting. In Nano Grab, you and three other teammates are tasked with picking up small glowing objects called Nanos, then depositing them into a bank that changes its location periodically. The first team to bank 100 Nanos wins, though it should be noted that you can't successfully bank Nanos if anyone from the other team is on the bank. This makes for a fast-paced, strategic mode, in which you must decide how to divvy up your team of four to be the most effective; do you band together, forming an unstoppable force but severely limiting your Nano-seeking capabilities, or send a few highly-mobile scouts out (like Lucio and Tracer) to grab Nanos while your beefier party members ensure the banking area stays clear?

Mouse: P.I. For Hire is not going to release on time. Developers Fumi Games and PlaySide Studios have announced that the game is being delayed from March to April 16, 2026.

The developer said, "We want to ensure we are taking the extra time and care needed to make Mouse: P.I. For Hire an experience to remember."

"From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your incredible support," the team added.

If you enjoy exploring Spaceport in Arc Raiders, we have a quest for you. And if you've already worked through most of the game's initial questline, you've certainly been to the Rocket Assembly before. In the Worth Your Salt quest, you'll be headed there once again--but this time you'll be in search of the Battery Prototype.

Unlike some quests, you won't need to extract with anything in your possession to complete the Worth Your Salt quest. With that in mind, you can come well-equipped or with a simple free loadout, depending on your preferences. If you have aggressive lobbies, we'd recommend the latter to avoid any unnecessary loss of resources if you get in an unexpected firefight.

When you're ready to tackle Worth Your Salt, follow the steps below.

With the Decima Engine powering it, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach was one of the best-looking games of 2025 on PS5 consoles. PC gamers will get to see that visual splendour for themselves soon, as the game launches for that platform in March, and you can see if your PC is capable of smoothly rendering all of those post-apocalyptic frames thanks to the release of the official PC specs.

Nixxes is once again handling the PC port, and the studio says it's aiming for the game to run on a wide variety of systems and hardware configurations. The good news is that you won't have to worry too much about RAM, as 16GB of memory will be enough to run the game at its highest settings. Gamers have been hit hard lately with increasing prices for RAM modules, as rapid investment in AI has seen prices for memory skyrocket, and there's no sign that this trend will reverse anytime soon.

For anyone who uses handheld gaming PCs, Nixxes says it has also added a "Portable" preset designed specially for those devices. The PC version of Death Stranding 2 will also support upscaling technologies like Nvidia DLSS 4, AMD FSR 4, and Intel XESS 2, as well as the "Progressive Image Compositor" developed by Guerrilla for its Decima engine. PICO is the same upscaling technology that's used for Death Stranding 2 on PS5, can be used with all supported graphics cards, and it can be combined with the various options for frame generation offered in the game.

A massive sale is happening over at Sony's official PlayStation Direct online store, offering steep discounts on a slew of PS5 games, accessories, and other PlayStation gear. If you're yet to pick up the system, you'll even find a PS5 Fortnite Flowering Chaos Bundle for $399--which features a bunch of digital cosmetics and saves you $100 compared to buying the standalone console. We've rounded up a few more of our favorite discounts below. The sale is live through March 9, so be sure to swing by and check out all the great offers.

PlayStation Direct's sale is the perfect opportunity to add games to your PS5 library. The highly reviewed Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is just $30 (was $70), Death Stranding 2 is $50 (was $70), and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is $30 (was $70). You'll also find both The Last of Us Part I and The Last of Us Part II Remastered for $30 apiece, both of which earned impressive reviews when they launched years ago. Tons of other iconic games are seeing a discount until March 9--check out PlayStation Direct's full games section for more.

You'll find a treasure trove of PS5 gear on sale this week, as PlayStation Direct is running a massive sale through March 9. Many of these deals are being price-matched by other retailers, giving you an easy way to snag items at their lowest price in months. And if you're a fan of Death Stranding 2, the Death Stranding 2: Collector's Edition is now just $130 (was $230), offering a digital copy of the game alongside collectibles like a 15-inch Magellan Man Statue, a 3-inch Dollman figurine, art cards, and a letter from Hideo Kojima. Folks still in the market for an actual PS5 console can also take advantage of a new bundle that discounts prices by $100.

Here's a look at the best PS5 deals for the week of February 25, 2026, including price cuts on games, accessories, and consoles.

The adorable platformer, Astro Bot, walked away with our Game of the Year Award in 2024--and now you can pick it up for just $33 (was $60). Offering a family-friendly adventure with plenty of nods to past PlayStation icons, it's highly recommended at this new low price. You'll also find the cooperative hijinks of Helldivers 2 for $30 (was $40), the tactical stealth action of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater for $30 (was $50), and the chaotic multiplayer of Battlefield 6 for $40 (was $70). And if you're excited for Saros, check out Returnal for $30 (was $70)--developed by Housemarque, it offers a similar bullet-hell experience with boss battles that'll test your reflexes. For even more game deals, check out the dedicated PS5 Games hub on PS Direct.

Heading to Stella Montis in Arc Raiders is always a risky endeavor due to potentially hostile raiders roaming the tight corridors within. This is especially true when visiting the lobby, which is exactly where you're headed if you're working on the Stable Housing quest. But you've got to do what you've got to do, so that's why we're here to help.

If you have particularly aggressive lobbies, you'll definitely want to come prepared with a decent loadout and a safe pocket for the Stable Housing quest, as you'll have to extract with some blueprints to complete the task. Once you're ready to get started, you can follow the steps below to get in and out quickly.

The first step of the Stable Housing quest sends you to the Security Bridge in Stella Montis. You'll need to go to the third floor of the lobby and head to the point on the map below, which is a small room containing a safe.

Asha Sharma was a name the gaming industry was unfamiliar with a week ago, but now, she's in charge of Xbox. This has led to questions about Sharma's background in AI and whether she uses AI on social media. In fact, even Xbox founder Seamus Blackley has concerns and advice for the new Xbox CEO. But there's one thing we do know: Sharma has a black belt in taekwando.

The Wall Street Journal interviewed Sharma in late 2023 about her "ridiculously busy week" as COO of Instacart at that time. Sharma conveys a workaholic personality, but she also "has a second-degree black belt in taekwondo," starting the martial art as a kid. In addition, Sharma said at the time she began boxing "after five years of dabbling." Needless to say, it's likely she can kick a lot of our butts.

When not working or exercising, Sharma shared that she enjoyed "playing board and card games and watching sports" with her family and friends. Though "most important, I identify as a partner and as a mom," she said.

The Zombies game mode in the Call of Duty series has become a phenomenon of its own since it first shambled into the franchise in 2008, practically begging for its own standalone game. After a report claimed that a separate Call of Duty Zombies title is in the works, Activision issued a rare public denial on social media.

Dexerto reported on a purported leak by X user TheGhostOfHope, who is described as a "Call of Duty Leaker/Insider" in their bio. The leaker claimed that a potential delay for the next-generation Xbox console would throw off marketing plans for the next Call of Duty game, ostensibly a fourth Modern Warfare title. According to the leak, this led to the idea of two Call of Duty titles launching with the new Xbox, one being a standalone Zombies game.

Replying to a Dexerto X post sharing the outlet's report, the official Call of Duty account bluntly stated: "The rumor factory working overtime. This ain't it."

Asha Sharma, the new Microsoft Gaming CEO, has commented again on her vision for the Xbox brand going forward. Posting on social media, Sharma also reacted to what people have had to say about her gamer cred.

Sharma recently shared her Gamertag online, and people had a lot of things to say about that. She clarified that the account was created somewhat recently so she could "learn and understand" the world of gaming. "I don't pretend to be the best gamer and even though I'm playing, that's still not my goal," she said.

Instead, Sharma said she is focusing on making "Xbox the best place to play," with a promise of helping Xbox to "return to our roots." She added that she wants to "ship great things and become stronger for the future." She also pushed back yet again on the claim that AI is writing her posts. "Yes, I'm writing my own posts," she wrote.

Daniel Vavra, an industry veteran known for the Mafia and Kingdom Come franchises, has announced he is changing roles at his company, Warhorse Studios, and will now focus on helping to make a Kingdom Come film.

Following Czech media reports, Vavra himself confirmed that the news is true. He jokingly added that the "gaming world is finally saved from my controversies." That is likely a reference to Vavra's comments in the past about GamerGate and "historical accuracy" in video games with respect to depictions of diversity. More recently, Vavra spoke enthusiastically about generative AI, which led to further controversy.

Warhorse CEO Martin Frývaldský told CzechCrunch that Vavra "made three games that were a global success; he has been wanting to try something different for a long time."

Resident Evil Requiem's PC system requirements have been revealed ahead of the game's release on February 27. It's good news for anyone gaming on an older rig, as the survival horror's recommended specs are relatively low-end--meaning no expensive upgrades in an era of ballooning hardware prices.

In what seems to be an ongoing trend for AAA titles on PC, both Resident Evil Requiem's minimum and recommended specs should be pretty easy for most PC gamers to meet.

Looking at the graphics card, generally the most demanding part of a PC build, Requiem's minimum specs list the GeForce GTX 1660 or Radeon RX 5500 XT, both lower-end cards that launched over six years ago. The recommended specs list the GeForce RTX 2060 Super, another 2019 card, or the Radeon RX 6600. Even if your PC hasn't been upgraded in a while, buying an older graphics card to meet these specs won't require a huge investment.

The issue of AI in game development remains thorny, but Alistair McFarlane--the COO and company director of Rust developer Facepunch--doesn't see it as a detriment to in the industry. Instead, he embraces it as "another tool" that's "for the better, not the worse."

"[AI is] powerful, it's efficient, and at the end of the day, it's just another tool, one that helps people move faster and focus on the creative stuff," McFarlane told Sky News. "Sure, it's disruptive, no question about that. Every major shift in tech is. But used properly, AI doesn't replace creativity, it amplifies it. It removes busywork, speeds up iteration, and gives teams more space to experiment."

Last year, the 2025 CESA Video Game Industry Report shared the results of a survey that revealed over 50% of Japanese video game developers use AI in some way. Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto has said that the company won't rush into AI, while Sony's approach to AI emphasizes it as a support tool rather than an attempt to replace human creativity.

What better way to fight off that Valentine’s Day hangover than with a bunch of new games on Steam? Fanatical’s Platinum Collection Bundle for February includes 18 games to choose from--the more you add to your bundle, the deeper your discount gets. Add all 18, and you're picking up $376 of games for just $51. This month’s selection even includes 12 games that are making their Fanatical debut.

One of the titles included is a dark fantasy RPG, Pale Coins. Blending old-school combat with an atmospheric and moody setting, in Pale Coins, you’ll crawl dungeons, gather loot, craft gear, experiment with different builds, and die. A lot. The punishing but deliberate combat--a familiar vibe for anyone who’s spent more than a few hours in Dark Souls or Elden Ring--doesn’t hold your hand, and that’s one of its strengths. If you’re a glutton for punishment, this one’s well worth checking out.

It seems like more and more live-service games are dying or being put on life support within mere months of launch. The latest casualty is Amazon Game Studios and developer Glowmade's online multiplayer dungeon-crawler/party game King of Meat.

While King of Meat launched on October 7 of last year on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 in a massive marketing blitz--including prominent showcases by well-known streamers and YouTubers like Mr. Beast--the game found itself struggling to maintain a strong playerbase. Records on SteamDB show King of Meat struggling to hold a low double-digit player count over the past month. Today, an announcement was posted on the game's official website stating that the game's servers will be shut down on April 9, with refunds for purchases being given to all players.

"Despite the creativity and innovation Glowmade brought to King of Meat, the game has unfortunately not found the audience we hoped for," says the post. "As a result, we have made the difficult decision to conclude our investment in the game, and King of Meat's servers will close on April 9, 2026. Players will be able to access and play all existing content until then, so we encourage you to enjoy your remaining time in the game with your fellow Contenders." The statement further goes on to clarify that refunds for the game will be coming from players' "platform provider" (digital storefront of purchase).