Nothing enhances a crime spree better than a few needle-drop tracks, and in Grand Theft Auto 6, you'll have plenty of music stations to listen to while touring Leonida. Developer Rockstar Games has revealed six of the radio stations and the disc jockeys attached to them, and in a series first, has also confirmed that a series of on-demand podcasts will be available to listen to in the game. You won't even need to be in a car to enjoy some tunes--or some unsolicited opinions--as GTA 6 protagonists Jason and Lucia can connect radio stations and podcasts through their smartphones.

Like previous games in the series, the selection of stations covers a wide range of musical genres, and Rockstar has recruited some star power to voice two of the DJs on Cocoteo FM: Bad Bunny and Lana del Ray. On Back Country Radio station, Del Ray's husband Jeremy Dufrene lends his voice to the character of Mud Dog Mike.

• Cocoteo FM: Modern Latin music, hosted by El Martillo and La Gata
• Back Country Radio: Renegade country music, with DJs MW and Delta Dawne hosting the show. Roving reporter Mud Dog Mike also features with regular updates
• AfroBank FM: The best in African music from DJs Burna and Palmsy, you can tune in for 20th-century classics and undiscovered gems
• The Chamber 106.6: For some heavy metal, this station has a mix of classic and modern tracks curated by DJ Kerry and DJ Tom
• Flash FM: Or if you want some easy listening, Robyn and Alex from Flash FM will dish up a selection of pop hits on Flash FM
• Dirty South Classics: Rounding out the list is a selection of regional rap and hip-hop classics, delivered to your ears by DJs Trick and Trina

Rockstar had previously teased that GTA 6 would feature the "next evolution of in-game radio, and more," offering players a dynamic experience while playing the game. Spotify was also working with the developer to promote GTA 6, and the upcoming GTA 6 album features 34 songs written specially for the game, including new music from Keith Richards and Travis Scott. We don't know what the specifics are of the podcasts yet, but Rockstar has said more details are coming soon.

In related news, serial leaker Cyberleek has resurfaced with a 25-minute video of new gameplay footage, cutscenes, and a tastefully obscured clip of Jason Duval in the shower.

GTA 6: 268 Screenshots To Ease The Wait View Images

Xbox has formalized its plans to extend its video games to places like film and TV via a new division called XP. As part of this, the company is also branching out further into the world of theme parks, though that may not be very surprising or exciting.

Xbox CTO Scott Van Vliet said in a post that "theme parks" will be part of the new XP division. This followed a post from Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball who said the upcoming Minecraft theme park initiative represents "the first of many theme park placements to come."

https://twitter.com/scottvanvliet/status/2108184088905748856

Microsoft has been working on theme park plans for a long time already, having announced plans for a Minecraft theme park back in 2024. Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that the park will open in the UK next year with themed food.

Xbox is following Nintendo's playbook here, as the Japanese gaming giant brought its franchises, including Mario and Donkey Kong, to Universal Studios theme parks in the US and Japan already.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0RtbNi8g3A

People should not hold out hope for a dedicated Xbox theme park, though. Ball's wording specifically was that there will be additional "theme park placements" for Xbox in the future. This suggests Xbox franchises could show up in existing parks, as opposed to Microsoft breaking ground on its own dedicated theme park for Xbox. This is how it works with Nintendo, too, as the Super Nintendo World attractions exist within the wider Universal Studios parks.

The Minecraft theme park, too, will exist within Chessington World of Adventures in the UK when it opens next year.

The new XP division at Xbox will include four sub-divisions focused on bringing Xbox franchises to areas like film and TV, consumer products, live events, and brand partnerships. Xbox, of course, already did all of this, but now it's formalized under the XP banner.  Kayleen Walters, formerly the president of Minecraft and a former Lucasfilm executive, is running XP.

Circana has posted its August 2026 monthly report, and unsurprisingly, NBA 2K27 is once again the best-selling game for the month. That's hardly a shocker, as it was the best-selling August game in 2024 and 2025, ending a long winning streak previously held by EA's Madden NFL series of football games. While it didn't clinch the top spot, Madden NFL 27 came in second and fourth place, as the game's Kickoff Bundle version also appeared on the charts.

Overall, it was a solid month for new games. Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls debuted in third place, Star Wars Zero Company landed in fifth place, and Big Walk took eighth place. In total, five of the top 10 best-selling games in August were new, with Halo: Campaign Evolved, the Switch 2 port of Elden Ring, Mario Kart World, and Splatoon Raiders rounding out the list. Here's a closer look at August's top 10 best-selling games in the US:

Top 10 Best-Selling Games In The US Ranked on Physical & Full Game Digital Dollar Sales RankGame TitlePrevious Rank1NBA 2K27New2Madden NFL 27New3Marvel Tokon: Fighting SoulsNew4Madden NFL 27: Kickoff BundleNew5Star Wars Zero CompanyNew6Halo: Campaign Evolved67Elden Ring418Big WalkNew9Mario Kart World1910Splatoon Raiders7

So how does this affect the list of best-selling games in the US so far in 2026? NBA 2K27 has made it onto those charts, but the current record-holder, Resident Evil Requiem, isn't budging yet. NBA 2K27 has instead usurped the third-place position held by Crimson Desert, while other games like 007 First Light and MLB The Show 26 have held onto their respective rankings.

There has been some slight movement between the top-selling games, but things remain largely the same for now. We expect that to change once the data for all games released during the bumper September and October months is analyzed, and of course, GTA 6 is expected to be a sales juggernaut when it arrives in November.

Top 10 Best-Selling Games In The US Ranked on Physical & Full Game Digital Dollar Sales   YTD RankGame TitlePrevious Rank1Resident Evil Requiem12007 First Light23NBA 2K27New4MLB The Show 2645Crimson Desert36Call of Duty: Black Ops 257Forza Horizon 668Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream69Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight810Pokemon Pokopia9 Top 10 Best-Selling Games Of 2026 So Far In The US View Images

Video game console sales in the US hit their worst August in 13 years, as Circana's Mat Piscatella revealed that hardware sales fell 15% from a year ago to 559,000 units. This is the lowest August total since 2013 (423,000 units), with PlayStation sales down 11% year-over-year, Xbox unit sales down 31% year-over-year (the lowest August total since 2020), and Nintendo unit sales down 15% compared with August 2025.

The silver lining (for the companies making these machines) is that higher hardware prices have pushed the average price from $476 in 2025 to $541 in 2026, meaning consumers are paying more for fewer machines on the market. Several factors are at play: current console prices are at historical highs, not lows, driven by global component pressure and mid-gen hardware upgrades like the $900 PS5 Pro, which pushes average prices up. 

Basically, consumers are buying fewer units because the entry barrier is much higher than in past console cycles. After six years, market saturation has also likely set in for the Xbox Series X|S and PS5, and hardware price increases implemented earlier in 2026 triggered a massive buying wave to get ahead of the price hikes. That led to frontloaded demand and drained potential summer console purchases, but for Sony, dollar sales actually grew 17% year-on-year due to higher-tier hardware models, even as unit volume dropped 11%.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKa0c-lIRB0

Historically, August 2013 can also be seen as the twilight phase of the PS3 and Xbox 360 era. It's a tale as old as time, as 13 years ago, gamers were saving their cash and preparing to invest in a PS4 or an Xbox One ahead of their November 2013 launch. We're not seeing that with this console generation, as no successor machines have been officially unveiled and hardware sales have slowed despite the mid-generation push.

When it came to games, NBA 2K27 was unsurprisingly the best-selling game of August, and it's the third-best-selling game of 2026 so far. Madden NFL 27 was the second-best-selling game of August, and thanks to a Switch 2 port, Elden Ring finished August as the seventh-best-selling game that month (and up from 41 in July). Piscatella noted that 2026 year-to-date spending on new physical software has also increased by 5% when compared to a year ago, up to $738 million. Spending on Switch 2 Game-Key Card physical releases has also risen 631%, which has offset a 3% drop in spending across all other new physical media types.

Traditional discs and full-data cartridges continue their steady multi-year decline as more players switch directly to digital storefronts, but because Game-Key Cards were a smaller segment of the physical market in 2025, major publishers' sudden adoption in 2026 drove that massive percentage jump. That added enough dollar volume to pull total physical software spending into positive territory (+5% overall to $738M), further obscuring the ongoing drop in traditional disc/cartridge media.

Total content spending also fell 10% year-over-year to $3.8 billion, bringing year-to-date content spending down 2% to $32.2 billion. Mobile saw the biggest drop, with spending down 18% year-over-year, while console spending fell 7% year-over-year. But PC gaming? It was an anomaly: spending on that platform grew 13% year-over-year, and subscription purchases also rose 3%.

Xbox has officially unveiled a new division dedicated to movies and TV, called XP. The new branch of Xbox will be headed by Lucasfilm veteran Kayleen Walters, who had previously served as president of Minecraft studio Mojang and an executive producer on A Minecraft Movie.

"At Mojang, her record speaks for itself," Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball wrote in a press statement. "Under her tenure, Minecraft grew from an already-record setting 350 million units sold to over 425 million, its merchandising business became one of the top 20 globally. A Minecraft Movie had the biggest opening weekend ever for a video game adaptation and finished #1 at the domestic box office, and Mojang secured the first of many theme park placements to come."

According to Xbox, XP will focus on four key areas:

• Xbox Pictures
• Xbox Products
• Xbox Places
• Xbox Partnerships

Xbox Pictures, unsurprisingly, will handle film and television projects, as well as other forms of "linear storytelling" using Xbox IP. Xbox Products will create products that are "authentic to the fandom," and Xbox Places will organize live events, immersive experiences, attractions, and broadcasts. Finally, Xbox Partnerships will work with creators, brands, and communities to develop new experiences, sponsorships, and brand partnerships.

Xbox XP

This isn't the first time that Xbox has made a push into multimedia; back in 2012, Xbox Entertainment Studios was unveiled with the ambitious aim of producing TV shows that would air directly on Xbox consoles. All of the big Xbox IP were part of these plans, but two years later, Xbox Entertainment Studios was shut down. Recently, Xbox has leaned more into being more than just a video game company, as Halo eventually made its way to TV screens, merchandise continues to be a major part of its business, and we've even seen it collaborate with IKEA.

One big grab for the studio could be Hideo Kojima, as after Sony cancelled plans to fund his stealth-action game Physint, Xbox quickly swooped in to rescue the project. Kojima's current projects--including OD--are envisioned as more than just games. The Xbox deal is for more than just games, as it covers potential TV shows and movies.

You can look at Death Stranding for an example of how OD and Physint could be expanded. Live-action and anime Death Stranding movies are in the works, as well as an anime series called Death Stranding: Isolations, which will stream exclusively on Disney+ in 2027.

Several projects based on Xbox IP are already in development, including a sequel to A Minecraft Movie, a third season of the Fallout TV series, and a Call of Duty movie. At BlizzCon 2026, Blizzard announced a Diablo animated series is coming to Netflix, and a Minecraft theme park is set to open in 2027.

Ball added that Xbox is now aiming to be the "number-one entertainment company in the world," which likely ties into Xbox boss Asha Sharma's ambitious goals to entertain 1 billion people every day. At the same time, things have been grim behind the scenes at Xbox, as mass layoffs have seen thousands of people made redundant at the gaming division, with more to come. Microsoft has also divested itself of several studios, including Double Fine and Ninja Theory.

As the GTA 6 release date creeps ever closer, the now-notorious leaker Cyberleek doesn't seem to be finished showing off unreleased content just yet.

Having been relatively quiet since August's wave of shorter GTA 6 leaks, Cyberleek has released a 25-minute video of new gameplay footage and cutscenes just weeks before the game's release.

A new post on the Cyberleek subreddit has sent Grand Theft Auto 6 fans scrambling after one user claimed to have spotted a new leak and shared an image of what appears to be a newly uploaded file. The original poster said they couldn't download the file themselves.

Cyberleek had been largely silent for weeks after releasing a series of GTA 6 gameplay clips throughout August, but reports earlier this week suggested the leaker could be preparing another release after a mysterious poll appeared on the website with a deadline of October 8. Activity associated with the project's cryptocurrency wallet was also reportedly resumed. At the time, it wasn't clear whether the original person behind the Cyberleek operation was behind the activity or not.

According to comments in the Reddit post, users are attempting to download the apparently 25-minute long video. One commenter claimed the footage includes "new gameplay footage and cutscenes," while another alleged that protagonist Jason can be seen running around completely naked. If true, this wouldn't be entirely surprising since it was confirmed earlier this week that you can see him nude in the shower, Jason and Lucia can explore the more intimate side of their relationship, and there's even a nudist colony.

The ZIP is reportedly titled "Extended Leek," which is an obvious riff on Rockstar's official GTA 6: An Extended Look. That trailer is roughly 26 minutes long and originally aired as a timed exclusive on Netflix.

Cyberleek's original batch of leaks was enough to cause a headache for Rockstar. Showing everything from basketball and vehicle theft to Vice City locations and various NPC interactions, the leaks eventually prompted a response from the developer.

With GTA 6 now mere weeks away, there's not much longer to wait to get your hands on the real thing. Until then, Rockstar's official footage remains the safest way to get a look at the game without wandering into spoiler territory.

The Remothered games are true cult classics in the way that players find them either insufferable or inspired. As a lover of developer Stormind Games' antique perversions, but also a hater of its convoluted storytelling, I regretfully exist somewhere in between. But I know I won't be able to resist the new Remothered: Red Nun's Legacy when it launches later this month, since the horror game legends who helped make the Italian gothic game are way too good. Red Nun’s Legacy will feature legendary Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka, and its Red Nun enemy is voiced by Resident Evil alumna Maggie Robertson.

Remothered: Red Nun's Legacy latest trailer, which premiered today during the latest Horror Game Awards showcase, revels in the weathered stone buildings and marble fountain angels of the game's Sicilian setting. Stormind Games' developers are based in Sicily themselves, so recreating the decaying decadence of the island for Red Nun's Legacy was like trying to catch a dream right upon waking: You may never remember every detail, but you know the smells and feelings perfectly, because you lived through them. 

https://youtu.be/R-1jZKgAfYQ

A statement to press explains, "The Sicily that Stormind Games recreated in Remothered: Red Nun's Legacy is the Sicily the team has always lived, seen, breathed. This trailer is a visual journey through the real places, textures, colors, and cultural details that shaped the world of Red Nun's Legacy, stemming directly from the memories of those who developed it."

It looks as gorgeous and imposing as a ballet school built by Dario Argento. But so did the original 2018 Remothered game Tormented Fathers and its 2020 sequel Broken Porcelain, and I don't love them as much as I wanted to. 

I'm getting invested because the darkened glamor of Red Nun's Legacy is enhanced by Yamaoka, whose industrial grooves are just as irrefutable as Mt. Etna's mouth leaking lava in the game's far distance. Plus, actor Maggie Robertson, whose take on the bad vampire mother Lady Dimitrescu made fans delirious for a nibble on the neck, will no doubt inspire the same frenzy with her Red Nun stalker.

With these artists' help, I think Remothered: Red Nun's Legacy could become a true classic--no "cult" necessary. It's out on consoles and PC on October 27, and it's coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on December 3.

The Outlast Trials, Red Barrels' co-op horror game set in its wider Outlast universe, just broke its concurrent-player record, eclipsing 120,000 players. The previous high came when the game launched in Steam Early Access in 2023 and the player count climbed to 36,000. 

Today's new record means the indie horror game reset the bar with a total more than four times higher than its previous best.

Red Barrels credited a few big factors for the record. For one, The Outlast Trials is enjoying a huge discount in the Steam Autumn Sale, on sale for $4--though that sale ends tomorrow (Thursday, October 8), if you're interested.

The studio also revealed that roughly half of the players contributing to that total are from China, as the game is seeing a surge in popularity there. Naturally, the Halloween season helps too, even though it's not one of the new horror games coming out this month.

Red Barrels sent the news out on its social media.

The Outlast Trials made its version 1.0 debut in the spring of 2024. Though it's playable solo, it's intended to be experienced as a co-op game for up to four people. Seasonal content and events have come to the game regularly since then, adding new villains, abilities, maps, and more. 

Up next for the game is its annual Geister event for Halloween, followed by Season 8 in December, which will add another new major villain, or "Prime Asset," as well as a new map and more events.

The Outlast Trials is a favorite on GameSpot, featured in our best horror multiplayer games list and our best horror games (overall) list. In my Outlast Trials review, I said it's "capable of being as terrifying as previous Outlast games, and though you’ll trade away some scares when playing with a bigger group, they’re likely to be replaced by nervous laughs as you and your allies narrowly evade monsters in the dark."

Zach Cregger has another hit on his hands with Resident Evil, and it's set to become his biggest movie ever by revenue at the box office.

According to Deadline, Resident Evil is expected to surpass his current biggest movie, Weapons ($270 million worldwide), by the end of this week or sooner. It currently stands at $247.6 million worldwide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNd1gb19A-c

What's propelling Resident Evil higher was its release in China this week--it debuted there on October 5, and it's expected to make $35 million in China for its first week. If this comes to fruition, Resident Evil should pass $280 million globally this week.

The previous Resident Evil movies from director Paul W.S. Anderson also performed phenomenally in China. The last one, 2016's The Final Chapter, made $159.5 million in China alone, making up more than 51% of the movie's worldwide gross of $312.2 million. It's the highest-grossing Resident Evil movie ever. Cregger's Resident Evil still has work to do to catch up.

Cregger's earlier movie, 2022's Barbarian, made $46 million worldwide. Long before that, Cregger made Miss March, and it earned $4.6 million worldwide.

In terms of all video game movies, Resident Evil ranks No. 17, but if it does indeed reach $280 million, it will pass 2018's Tomb Raider ($274.6 million worldwide).

Resident Evil is doing great commercially and scored solid reviews from critics, so people might expect a sequel. That could happen, but Cregger has said he's finished with franchise movies, even though he does have ideas for more stories.

Cregger's next movie is The Flood, a deep-space sci-fi movie starring Jennifer Lawrence. It has nothing to do with Halo, despite bearing a name with ties to Halo.

What likely would have been the big new enemy faction of the Halo universe, the Endless, have been fully revealed, though it's unclear what role, if any, they will play going forward.

As announced last month by Xbox's Matt Booty, Halo is under new management, with the responsibility of the next game in the series going to a completely new team under Activision. Halo Studios, formerly 343 Industries, will remain as a small team to oversee already-released titles like the recent Halo: Campaign Evolved. However, the majority of the studio, 268 people, have been laid off.

In the wake of the news, the latest (and now last) issue of the lore-focused Canon Fodder blog written by Halo Studios community writer Alex Wakeford has now become a parting gift from the studio to the community. In it, Wakeford reveals a glimpse at what the future of Halo might have looked like under Halo Studios' continued stewardship.

A full look at the alien race known as the Endless.

There are plenty of reveals within, including a look at Zeta Halo environments that may have at one time been planned for Halo Infinite DLC. But the biggest reveal is saved for last: an image that is the community's first full look at the Endless. This new enemy faction was teased in Halo Infinite via the Harbinger, a member of an advanced race that was imprisoned by the Forerunners on Zeta Halo due to their ability to survive the firing of the Halo rings.

In the blog the Endless are referred to as the Xalanyn, children of Abaddon. Wakeford doesn't elaborate further, but states that he hopes the image will "spark your imagination and let your canon curiosities run wild with endless questions."

Each member of the Endless looks wildly different. Some appear vaguely humanoid, while others look more like some type of sea creature. Every Endless member appears alongside a smaller creature that is reminiscent of their Endless counterpart. The Harbinger appears in the image alongside a Skimmer, a new enemy type encountered in Halo Infinite. 

The image seems to point towards the Endless being almost a replacement of sorts for Halo's traditional Covenant faction, with each Endless supplying a smaller enemy type the Master Chief would have to battle against. Interestingly, an Engineer, an alien race used by the Covenant and seen in previous entries in the franchise, appears alongside a similar looking Endless in the image. This looks to imply the Engineers themselves were created or in some way linked to the Endless.

Unfortunately, this may be Halo fans' first, and last, look at the Endless. According to Halo insider Rebs Gaming, nobody at Halo Studios is currently involved in Activision's new Halo. Activision may completely disregard Halo Studios' work in favor of a clean slate, though Rebs does state Activision's game, while not a direct sequel to Halo Infinite, also won't "retcon any previously established canon." 

Halo's move to Activision comes as Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has put a renewed emphasis on big franchises as part of her "Xbox reset" strategy that has seen widespread layoffs, game cancellations, and studio divestitures.

007 First Light is already out, but it's still accumulating wishlists on Steam, and now that it's passed 7 million wishlists, a very good boy has been added to the game.

With 7 million wishlists, IO Interactive has added Jack the bulldog to the game via its TacSim lobby for everyone. Jack, as a statue model, made his James Bond debut in the 2012 movie Skyfall, sitting on M's desk. The statue survived when the office exploded, though its face got cracked and Union Jack flag was charred. Jack went on to appear in Spectre and No Time To Die. Now, he's alive, and he's in First Light.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zdKJszWAfwc

IO says Jack should be a "warm, loyal presence" for players between missions, and yes, you can pet the dog.

"Gruff on the outside but endlessly good-natured, Jack has quickly become something of a fixture around MI6, with Bond himself growing rather fond of him between assignments," IO said.

Jack the Bulldog.

In other news, First Light's free Extended Operations DLC is out now, introducing New Game+, a new 00 difficulty mode, and a Photo Mode. The update also adds more TacSim content, including a new mission set in Vietnam.

007 First Light is currently 30% off right now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, bringing it down to $49. A Switch 2 version is coming in March 2027.

A First Light sequel sounds like a matter of when, not if, but it remains to be confirmed.

This is all happening just after October 5, which is James Bond Day. This commemorates the anniversary of the first movie Dr. No's release on October 5, 1962. Coinciding with this, all the James Bond movies were just added to Prime Video.

C

Star Wars Zero Company released in late August to great reviews, but its launch was bittersweet, as a large chunk of developer Bit Reactor's staff was furloughed, unsure if they would be returning to work. For at least a portion of them, however, that uncertainty is over, as they're back at the studio.

Speaking to Game File, Bit Reactor CEO Greg Foertsch said the studio had "started the process of returning more of our team back to work" but stopped short of giving specific percentages or figures. Game File's sources said the headcount following this return is more than half of what is was pre-furlough, but it's unclear when or if more staff will return in the future. A lawsuit involving Foertsch and co-founder Alison Kelly is currently ongoing, as well.

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

Games in genres as niche as turn-based tactics can sometimes struggle to make a major impact, but Star Wars Zero Company is about as good as these games get. Alongside a surprisingly approachable prequel-era story, the game mixes classic XCOM-style combat with some unique Star Wars twists, like force-pulling enemies out of cover so they can be obliterated by your blasters.

In our Star Wars Zero Company review, Steve Watts called it "the next great evolution of the genre." For a different twist on Star Wars once you're finished with Zero Company, you can now grab the excellent Star Wars Galactic Racer, as well.

Paradox Interactive has announced Cities: Skylines - Expanded Edition, a Nintendo Switch 2 port of Colossal Order's hit 2015 city-builder. While it's great to see Cities: Skylines make its way to a new platform, this announcement also serves as a reminder that we have no idea when the long-awaited console ports of Cities: Skylines 2 will come out.

Cities: Skylines - Expanded Edition was developed by Tantalus Media, the team behind The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword's Switch port. It'll cost $49, include 10 expansions, expand the buildable area to 25 tiles, support keyboard and mouse, and add a map editor, plus better precision placement and environmental controls. Players can choose between a 30fps mode that focuses on visual quality or a performance mode targeting 60fps.

The Switch 2 port launches on October 28 and will be available at a 70% discount to those who already own the Switch 1 version. Holiday Getaways, Mansions & Manors, and Blueprint Beasts Radio content creator packs will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One versions of the game on the same day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2HnKgl-HV0

While the original Cities: Skylines continues to be updated and ported to new platforms, Cities: Skylines 2 and its prospective console ports have had a much rockier journey. That sequel was supposed to be released the same day on PC and console in October 2023, but the console ports were pushed back to Spring 2024 ahead of release. When the PC version of Cities: Skylines 2 launched, it was riddled with bugs and other issues, and developer Colossal Order spent months fixing them.

In Spring 2024, the console ports of Cities: Skylines 2 were delayed again, this time to October 2024. Unfortunately, the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S ports were delayed again, and the developers admitted, "We have not yet met the stability and performance targets we set for the console release." Over two years later, the port is still not out.

In November 2025, Iceflake Studios took over development of Cities: Skylines 2 from Colossal Order, teasing that it will do "continuous work on the Editor and console editions." We have not heard anything about console ports of Cities: Skylines 2 since then.

As Tanatlus Media developed Cities: Skylines - Expanded Edition for Switch 2, not Iceflake Studios, it's unlikely the releases are connected in any significant way. Still, the status of the Cities: Skylines 2 console ports remains a mystery, further complicated by this Switch 2 port announcement and the reveal of Lego Skylines for PC and console.

World of Warcraft: Forever players have made their feelings about the game's visual style crystal clear: They love it when things look old.

It's a recurring theme in the Forever beta, where players have continually pushed back against updated high-definition character models and character portraits. While Forever is in many ways a new version of Blizzard's MMORPG, it's built with the spirit and foundation of WoW Classic in mind, even as it includes updated visuals and quality-of-life updates taken straight from modern WoW. One of those new features is an option to use modern WoW's updated playable character and non-enemy NPC models.

According to the WoW content creator Savix, who tested an early version of Forever before it was publicly announced, developer Blizzard didn't originally plan to include the ability to swap between standard or high-def character models, instead only using HD models. The testers, many of them streamers and content creators from within the WoW Classic community, stressed how important it was to include an option for the game's original character models.

https://www.reddit.com/r/classicwow/comments/1wtzd7p/new_quillboar_boss_model_updated_for_classic_wow/

Blizzard thankfully listened, but every other instance of updated character models have been met with similar distaste from among the MMO's community. Whether it was intentional or by mistake, a quilboar boss was found to be using its modern WoW model and was met with backlash from players. It didn't take long for Blizzard to return the enemy back to how it looked in WoW Classic. 

It's a similar story with the game's character creation portraits. For much of the beta, the Forever character-creation screen used HD portraits taken from modern WoW, to the disappointment of the community. Earlier this week that finally changed, with the game now using WoW's original character-creation portraits.

Blizzard seems to have gotten the message. Currently, the game's new playable Skyborne elf race only has HD models. That, too, sounds like it will soon change. In a comment attached to a video exploring Skyborne lore and abilities, Blizzard said to "stay tuned regarding Skyborne models," seemingly implying standard-definition versions of the Skyborne are on the way. 

https://youtu.be/GmCSew3WWQo?si=xZPYzZH9IAniImz1

Even with these options, some players want more. Forever's user interface is a fascinating combination of old and new--cleaner and more streamlined similar to modern WoW, but inspired in many ways by WoW Classic. Currently, there's not a toggle option to swap between Forever's updated UI and WoW's original interface. For those who want the UI as it was 20 years ago, a player-made ClassicUI Forever add-on reverts many of Blizzard's changes to make everything from the game's action bars, spellbook, profession tab, character portraits, bags, and more look as they did in 2004. 

I expect this push and pull to continue. WoW content creators have debated the clash between old and new found in Forever's art style, with many calling on Blizzard to pick a lane. For what seems like the majority of the Forever community, the answer is loud and clear--the older looking the better. 

WoW: Forever's beta runs through October 21, with Forever's full launch coming November 4. A recent RMT controversy in the Forever beta saw Blizzard put its foot down when it comes to illegal gold buying. Meanwhile, Blizzard is asking players in a survey for their opinions on 11 potential new classes that could be added to Forever in the future. 

Gamers hoping for GTA 6 to amp up the realism when it comes to losing their wanted level in the sunny state of Leonida are in luck, with Rockstar confirming in a recent interview that Jason and Lucia can do far more than escape a glowing red zone on the map to shake off the law. 

Speaking to IGN ahead of the Netflix Extended Look back in August, head of development and co-studio head Rob Nelson walked the outlet through a 30-minute gameplay demo in which several new mechanics and locations were detailed.  

The demo begins in Jason and Lucia’s safehouse, one of many interactive personal spaces the player can call home in GTA 6. Here you can switch characters, partake in unique interactions, or even decorate the place to suit your style. However, Rockstar has stressed “this is not their own house, they’re staying in someone else’s house.”

From here, Nelson takes Lucia on a stroll through downtown where an evolved version of Red Dead Redemption 2’s NPC interaction system is used to mess with random citizens, which can range from dangerous gangbangers to normal people jogging in the local park. 

But now these interactions possess significantly more depth and go far beyond saying hello, being rude, or holding someone at gunpoint. Rockstar describes several examples such as eavesdropping on a conversation for too long and being called out, or following an NPC as he goes about his regular routine only for it to blow up into a moment that feels earned and can be tackled in a multitude of ways.

This is where the evolved wanted level system comes into play, although Rockstar has made it clear that you will still have an opportunity to cause untold chaos and murder hundreds of cops if you’re that way inclined, but doing so will come with significantly more variables since Rockstar doesn’t want GTA 6 to make you “all-powerful” like GTA 5 often did. 

After an interaction ends with an NPC pulling a gun on Lucia and a group of people she has just interacted with, dispatch is called and a one-star wanted level star shows up on screen. If you manage to escape the area where the authorities are going to respond, you’ll be in the clear, but Nelson goes on to describe a number of ways this can be achieved. 

“As much as possible, we tried to design the game so that you have options,” Nelson said. “Things can escalate quite quickly if you want them to, or people who don’t want to escalate can try to avoid it. It's not always possible! To me, that supports the narrative. This is a story about a couple on the run. We have tried to make the systems and the design support our narrative when and wherever possible. Meaning, if you hit and run, commit a crime and run, get into trouble and move on before the cops get there, and you don’t start shooting people, don't start escalating – which you absolutely can do if you want to – but if you don’t, you’re generally going to be fine.”

Nelson expands upon this system further after Lucia experiences another NPC interaction that puts the fuzz on her tail. Even if you haven’t killed someone, a stolen vehicle or beaten and bruised pedestrian is still going to raise both eyebrows and your wanted level. You can run away the old fashioned way, or decide to get a haircut, change your outfit, or even split up if Jason and Lucia happen to be travelling together. 

“Again, if I take off here, I should be fine. We’re really trying to encourage this hit-and-run style of gameplay.” Nelson explains. “So, the police are looking for me. We have this heat system, and they know what I look like and what I’m wearing. Here’s a pair of glasses–I'll put on this and this baseball hat. But they still know what I'm wearing, so I would need to go to a clothing store or call my personal vehicle, which has changes of outfits in the trunk.”

The idea of being able to lose the law by dashing into an interconnected network of alleys or blending in amidst NPCs in a random storefront sounds thrilling, especially dynamic systems designed to keep you on their toes are constantly interacting with one another.

Outfits can become compromised, while cops will be quick to recognise what vehicle you’re travelling in or where you were last seen. But Nelson notes that “so long as you don’t draw too much attention to yourself, you should be fine.” Easier said than done in an open world as ripe with possibility as this one. 

GTA 6 releases on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, and according to reports it is already close to 6 million pre-orders more than a month before launch. 

It's the start of a new month, and like clockwork, the next batch of Xbox Game Pass titles has been announced for the subscription service. Gears of War: E-Day leads the new arrivals this month, and it'll be joined by a few more big games: Battlefield 6 and Valor Mortis.

Here's a closer look at everything you can grab in the first half of the month through Xbox Game Pass:

The headline act is the aforementioned Gears of War: E-Day, a pretty great Xbox exclusive if you're looking for something gleefully loud, dumb, and violent. Minecraft Dungeons 2 has also just launched, and while it does have a few flaws, it's a lot more ambitious than its predecessor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teClq4qYyzQ

Other notable games in this first wave include the day-one release of Echo Weaver, an adventure game where time is your greatest resource, and Forever Ago, another brand-new release focused on redemption as you set off on a single-player road trip adventure.

Arriving on October 13, Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can check out large-scale warfare with Battlefield 6, while Valor Mortis is a first-person soulslike set during the Napoleonic Wars era. If you feel like something that's less brutal, Deep Dish Dungeon is a survival exploration game with hand-crafted dungeons and metroidvania elements.

Rounding out the first wave of games on October 15, are several more day-one titles that cover a wide range of genres. You can shoot the Heeler family--with a camera, you sicko--in the day-one release of Bluey's Happy Snaps, and Chained Beasts is a co-op gladiator roguelike. You'll fight side by side with your comrade in arms and chains.

Finally, you can build a city on the back of a Space Whale and learn to coexist with it as you explore the cosmos in the day-one release of Beyond These Stars.

Several games are also leaving Game Pass on October 15, so you have only a few more days to try titles like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Evil West.

Xbox Game Pass October Wave 1 Games Now available

• Gears of War: E-Day (Cloud, console, and PC)
• Minecraft Dungeons 2 (Cloud, console, and PC)

October 8

• Echo Weaver (Cloud, console, and PC)
• Forever Ago (Cloud, console, and PC)
• Neon Abyss 2 (Cloud, console, and PC)

October 13

• Battlefield 6 (Cloud, console, and PC)
• Deep Dish Dungeon (Cloud, console, and PC)
• Valor Mortis (Cloud, console, and PC)

October 15

• Bluey's Happy Snaps (Cloud, console, and PC)
• Chained Beasts (Cloud, console, and PC)

October 16

• Beyond These Stars (PC)

New information has come to light about GTA 6, and specifically the partnership of its main characters, Jason and Lucia. In GTA 6, they are both partners in crime and lovers, and physical intimacy will be part of the experience, it seems.

Rockstar North's Rob Nelson said in an interview with IGN that physical intimacy is a "huge part" of a relationship, and that applies to GTA 6. Exactly how this may operate in GTA 6, however, remains a mystery. "It has to be done right," Nelson said.

"Like anything that we do, we have to iterate and try things and iterate on it until we figure out what feels right," he explained.

Lucia and Jason in GTA 6.

GTA 6's ESRB rating says the game will have nudity and strong sexual content, and IGN reported that when switching characters, it can switch to Jason's POV while he is naked and in the shower. An international rating for GTA 6 specifically mentions how the game will have "sex scenes."

The GTA series has had its fair share of sex-related controversy. One of gaming’s biggest controversies ever, the Hot Coffee surrounding GTA: San Andreas saw Rockstar owner Take-Two paying out money to settle suits related to a mod in GTA: San Andreas’ PC edition that unlocked an interactive sex minigame.

As of yet, there is no indication that any sex scenes in GTA 6 would be interactive.

Also in the interview, Nelson discussed Jason and Lucia's relationship generally, saying players will be able to "role-play" their relationship, and "it's amazing."

GTA 6's story is narratively structured around Jason and Lucia, and the two of them working together. They don't have to be a couple, though, and instead can be simply "partners in crime" who are not romantically involved.

"I don’t want to say too much more about this because I don’t want to spoil anything. It really adds a compelling element to things, and it’s one of the reasons we wanted to approach this sort of story, because it's completely different for us," he said. "Could we bring some sort of emotional resonance to GTA for people if they wanted to engage with it? Could we also provide mechanisms for people to just opt out of it if they're not into it? If they feel like, ‘I don't want a relationship in this?’ That's what we're going to find out. It's not something that we want to foist upon players."

Lucia and Jason can get into all sorts of trouble in GTA 6.

Nelson went on to say GTA 6 will not give players "a particular gameplay benefit" if they have Jason and Lucia become lovers, however. But they will always have the benefit of "working together and having each other's back," he said.

"Whether they're romantically close or not doesn't change that. They will still work together. It's really about what you want for them, their story, and how it plays out. Whether you've nurtured the relationship or not will definitely have a bearing on how their story plays out," Nelson explained.

GTA 6 has a dedicated "relationship system" that is separate from a different gameplay system that tracks what sort of a criminal you are, Nelson said. Players can nurture the relationship between Jason and Lucia in the ways you would expect, including spending time together with things like kayaking and mini-golf. Or they can grow their relationship by robbing stores together.

"However players want to spend that time together, it will have a positive impact on the relationship," he said.

GTA 6's narrative setup has been likened to Bonnie and Clyde, the famous real-world criminal couple who met their end in a hail of gunfire. Many are wondering if both Jason and Lucia will make it out alive in GTA 6, or at the least, how their relationship may be tested. Another popular fan theory is that either Jason or Lucia is actually working with the Feds and will turn on the other at some point.

it won't be much longer until we find out, as GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Just a month after Microsoft said Forza Horizon 6 for PlayStation 5 remained on track to release in 2026, a new report says the game has in fact been delayed to 2027.

Reputable leaker billbil-kun said Forza Horizon 6 for PS5 is set for release on January 26, 2027. The report said there will be a physical disc edition at retail, and the game will also be sold digitally.

In September, Microsoft said in a blog post that the PS5 edition of the popular racing game was due for release in 2026, but plans have seemingly changed. Officially, however, Microsoft has yet to communicate any update to the game's PS5 release date.

Forza Horizon 6 was released in May this year for Xbox Series X|S and PC. The game, which is set in Japan, scored rave reviews, including an 8/10 from GameSpot, and PlayStation fans have had to wait for their turn to play.

The last game in the series, Forza Horizon 5, was a huge hit on PlayStation 5. In other Forza news, Microsoft recently announced that Forza developers Turn 10 and Playground are merging to become one unified studio to support and grow the brand going forward.

After a lengthy hiatus, Gears of War returned this week to Xbox Series X|S and PC with a new adventure set during the cataclysmic events of Emergence Day. For fans of the series, it has been a long wait, as the previous entry in the series, Gears 5, was released all the way back in 2019. Will there be another seven-year stretch between new Gears games? Gears of War: E-Day developer The Coalition doesn't think so, as the new game lays the groundwork for a quicker turnaround for new potential chapters in the IP.

Speaking to the BBC, Coalition studio head Mike Crump said that E-Day provides a "great foundation" for future games, and he claimed that "the next game will not take nearly as long" to make. "What I say to myself, what I say to the team, is we just we need to focus on the things that we can control. For us that's about shipping a great game that people are going to love and I feel like, as a team, we've done that," Crump added in response to questions about the safety of the studio and its institutional knowledge during a period of mass layoffs at Xbox. "We've got a great team here. And the leadership team in particular has worked together for upwards of 20 years. So there's definitely a continuity of knowledge and experience."

So far, The Coalition appears to have been spared the brunt of "Xbox reset" layoffs, but fears remain that the axe might swing their way now that Gears of War: E-Day has launched.

Recent changes at Xbox have seen several studios consolidated under Bethesda and Activision, and even Xbox's high-profile Halo series has not been spared. After being under the remit of Halo Studios for several years, a new team at Activision is now developing the next Halo game, rumored to be a new division within Call of Duty developer Sledgehammer Games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teClq4qYyzQ

The future of the Gears of War series likely rests with its commercial performance, but as an Xbox exclusive, there's only so much room for sales before you factor in its availability as a day-one Xbox Game Pass release and its launch during a crowded period on the gaming calendar. Crump sees things differently, believing the true measure of E-Day's success will be its ability to move the needle for Xbox and show what the gaming brand is capable of as it enters a new era, not just sales numbers.

"We measure things like, are we showcasing the platform? Are we pushing the hardware to its limits? Are we showcasing what the Xbox is capable of? Our goal basically is to be the best-looking game on the Xbox and really show the industry what's possible with our hardware," Crump said.

Stadia might be dead, but Google isn't giving up on gaming. The company has rolled out Playground, a platform built around AI that "lets you create, play, and share custom games." It's browser-based and labeled as an "experiment" to start. There's also Unity Spark support, which will offer more development options for people who catch the creator bug. 

Google's pitch claims that this new platform makes game creation more democratic by ending gatekeeping to development. The company states that Playground "lowers the barriers to creation, so bringing game ideas to life can now be as easy as describing it through a few prompts--no coding experience required." The platform also feels like the company's attempt at taking a piece of the Roblox pie--something that Xbox CEO Asha Sharma reportedly wants with Minecraft, too. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxvrvfyicp0

However, the initial rollout feels pretty underwhelming. The most hilarious part of the Playground experience, so far, is realizing how misleading the cover art for games is after actually playing them. For example, we checked out Volcano Run. The key image shows a sports car racing around a road crumbling; meanwhile, the actual gameplay is a rudimentary rectangular motorcycle (we think) driving in a Tron-like environment. 

One of the Unity Spark highlights is called Horror Story, and the game starts with players following a ghost into a haunted house. How that ghost shuffles into the residence is one of the funnier animations we've witnessed in a game recently. 

The most promising experience we checked out was Steampunk Match, a match-3 puzzle game. Players need to create combos to stop a boiler from exploding. This game felt much better than others that attempted to take a swing at the action-RPG genre, such as Catacombs. 

If you are looking to make your own game for Playground, that opportunity is apparently rolling out to people "soon." However, Google says people can upgrade their Google One plan to get started immediately.

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