Nexus Mods owner Victor "Foledinho" Folmann has outlined plans to make AI disclosures mandatory for PC mods uploaded to the site. While content built with AI tools won't be banned--despite it being a contentious subject in the modding community--Folmann did reveal that Nexus Mods will ultimately require modders to clearly communicate when AI has been used.

"We already have tags for AI-generated and AI-assisted mods, but we recognize that there’s a lot more we can do to make that information more accessible and clear for you all," Folmann wrote. "As of today, we're making AI disclosure mandatory when uploading a new mod, meaning mod authors will need to declare whether AI has been used in their work. All existing mods will have one of two popups: a persistent one when editing a mod in the upload form, and a dismissible one on the 'My Mods' page."

At the same time, Nexus Mods users will be able to filter out AI-produced mods entirely from their search results, similar to what Itch.io does as part of its efforts to combat AI spam uploads. As for why Nexus Mods will allow AI content to remain on the site, Folmann added that an outright ban would likely lead modders to simply not declare their use of AI tools in their mod-creation-efforts. By allowing and moderating it, the site can motivate users to be more transparent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB0C8z2j6nA

"An outright ban will not eliminate AI from the modding process but will prevent people from mentioning its use. We'd prefer the opposite; it should be out in the open, clearly labelled, and regulated according to the rules that we can implement on our platform," Folmann wrote. "Mod authors should have a chance to decide about the further use of their work, and you should be able to decide for yourselves how much AI-based content you want to see, whether more, less, or no content at all."

Nexus Mods' official stance is that it will not use mods to train AI, nor will it sell or license them out, Folmann added. The site will continue to fine-tune its approach to AI-assisted mods while also punishing anyone caught breaking its new disclosure rules.

AI has been a hot-button issue lately for PC gamers, with the recent Steam Next Fest highlighting a growing problem of slop flooding the platform.

Game developers have also reported that the mandatory QA check every game must pass before launch is taking even longer now, with studios blaming a deluge of AI-generated games for slowing down the process. This week, Steam announced new game submission rules to get things back on track, including requiring developers to ensure their game can run through the Steam Client for at least five minutes before they hit the submit key.

Bethesda just recently lifted the lid on the next Elder Scrolls game, revealing its title to be "Sentinel" and telling fans it will be "some time" before more is shared.

But just when could Sentinel be released? According to reporter Jason Schreier, the game isn't expected to launch for another two+ years.

"TESVI: Sentinel is more than two years away," he wrote on Reddit.

The Elder Scrolls 6 was announced more than eight years ago, and until this week, Bethesda hadn't said much at all in an official capacity about the game. The latest information wasn't much to go on, either, as Bethesda only confirmed the game's title and published a title card video featuring a scroll emerging from the sand. The video also hinted that Hammerfell being the game's location.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJCcHs78iBw

Game director Todd Howard has questioned whether it was the right call to announce The Elder Scrolls 6 so early. “I have asked myself that a lot,” he said. “I don’t know. I probably would’ve announced it more casually.”

He later said announcing The Elder Scrolls 6 in the way that Bethesda did was “not my preference,” but it happened anyway.

He went on to joke: “Just pretend we didn’t announce it. It doesn’t exist. No one has heard a word.”

One of the reasons that The Elder Scrolls 6 might have been announced so early was for the purposes of recruiting staff to work on it. This is a common practice in gaming.

It remains to be seen if Sentinel will be exclusive on console to Xbox or if Microsoft will also bring it to PlayStation 5. We also don't know if the game is in the works for Xbox Series X|S, or the planned next console, Project Helix, or both.

In addition to Sentinel, Bethesda is working on Fallout 5, along with remasters of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. This is all happening amid a "reset" of the Xbox business that has The Elder Scrolls 6 developers fearing for their jobs.

A Gears of War movie is in development at Netflix, but is it ever going to happen? That remains to be seen, but director David Leitch of John Wick fame recently said the movie will "hopefully" come to fruition "soon."

Speaking to ScreenRant, Leitch said, "I think everybody's excited about the potential of this as a film universe."

He added: "I wish I could tell you more, because there's some much cool stuff going on."

Netflix recently underwent a big shift in management, with film chief Dan Lin exiting the company alongside longtime chief content officer Bela Bajaria. Former Former Disney and Fox executive Peter Rice is now the new chief content officer. He was only just recently installed in the post, so it remains to be seen what changes Rice could make. There is, however, precedent for new management making big changes, as Netflix's BioShock movie was scaled back under the leadership of Lin.

The latest script for the Gears of War movie as of 2025 was written by Jon Spaihts, who previously wrote Prometheus, Doctor Strange, and Passengers, along with Dune 1 and 2.

A decades-long wait

Gears of War fans have been waiting decades for their promised Gears of War movie. All the way back in 2007, a year after the first Gears of War game came out, New Line Cinema purchased the rights to make a movie based on the game. Nothing ever came of that. Then in 2016, the Gears of War movie rights changed hands and went to Universal. Nothing came of that, either.

In 2022, Netflix announced a deal with Microsoft to make not only a Gears of War movie, but also an animated TV series (which we don’t know anything about). It’s been four years since then and the project remains in development, but things tend to fall apart in Hollywood, so there are no guarantees it’ll actually happen.

Netflix is also working on an Assassin’s Creed TV show, and that one is actually going to happen, as it is now filming. Additionally, Netflix is behind the BioShock movie from The Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence, and it’s set to begin production in 2027.

Who could be in the Gears of War movie?

Wrestler-turned-actor Dave Bautista has lobbied for years to play Marcus, and he does bear a strong resemblance to the character, but no casting announcements for the Gears of War movie have been made. He's already involved in a big video game project, as he's starring as Kratos in Prime Video's God of War show. Meanwhile, Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski has previously been adamant that Chris Pratt shouldn’t play any role in the film.

What about the Gears of War games?

The latest entry in the game series was this year's Gears of War: E-Day, a highly regarded action game that reportedly has not sold very well. No new games in the series have been announced, but developer The Coalition has said it won't take another seven years to make a follow-up.

Zooming further out, Xbox is undergoing a major "reset" that has included mass layoffs, game cancellations, and studio closures/divestitures. Developers at The Coalition said they fear for their jobs.

One of the minds behind the legendary music of Halo fell short in his mission to pivot to politics. Marty O'Donnell, formerly a composer and audio director for Bungie, lost his bid to join the U.S. House of Representatives by a wide margin.

With 86% of votes counted, AP News called the race in Nevada's 3rd congressional district for incumbent Representative Susie Lee, a Democrat. O'Donnell ran as a Republican and had the endorsement of President Donald Trump. The current count has O'Donnell with 38.6% of the vote, trailing Lee's 59.1%. Nevada's 3rd district includes much of Clark County and part of Las Vegas.

Lee, who has held her seat since 2019, has been a target of Republicans in previous election cycles. As it became clear early Wednesday morning that Lee was favored to win re-election, her social media account posted the famous "Halo theme song performed by 80 guys in 1 bathroom" video to mock O'Donnell. O'Donnell responded by saying in a post: "Susie has a lot of class. And it’s all low."

https://twitter.com/MartyTheElder/status/2117901086279541197?a=Tdcz1QfGJvr7Nxw7kxo&s=20

O'Donnell heavily leaned on his video game industry background, hosting a campaign event that doubled as a celebration of early Halo games. At the event, O'Donnell declared that "gamers are not woke" and insisted that games, movies, and comics were "co-opted by left-wing politics."

As Lee's social media video hints at, this wasn't O'Donnell's first attempt at entering national politics. O'Donnell ran for the same congressional seat in 2024, placing fourth in the Republican primary. He won the Republican nomination in 2026 with the backing of Trump.

O'Donnell began his career in video game music composition as a freelancer, producing the music for Bungie's Myth and Myth 2. He joined Bungie as a full-time employee starting with 2001's Oni and went on to compose music for all of Bungie's Halo titles and the first Destiny game. O'Donnell was fired from Bungie in 2014; the composer claimed that he was terminated "without cause" and pursued legal action against the company afterward. According to his campaign website, O'Donnell is now retired from the game industry.

As PlayStation prepares to embrace an all-digital future starting in 2028, Nintendo is seen as one of the last bastions of physical games with its Switch cartridges. A new challenge has emerged: one of Nintendo's major ROM chip manufacturers, Macronix, is preparing to exit the market and shift its focus to the more lucrative flash and memory chip market.

In its latest earnings call (via MST Financial analyst David Gibson), Macronix revealed it plans to drop ROM manufacturing entirely. The company says ROM chips account for only 5% of its business, down from 26% a year ago. While Macronix isn't the only company that manufactures ROM chips for Nintendo, it is a major supplier overall, and losing it could put further pressure on the company and other game publishers to ship more games on Game-Key Cards, or increase prices for cartridges that do have full games installed.

ROM chips--which stand for Read-Only Memory--are specialized storage chips that data is permanently written to. The great thing about them is that they let games load quickly, since a console can read the game code straight off the chip without first installing data to an internal storage drive. Nintendo's proprietary game cards rely on specialized, high-speed ROM tech tailored specifically for Nintendo hardware.

https://twitter.com/gibbogame/status/2117805196130582970

Because of that design, they have high manufacturing costs and only a handful of silicon suppliers--including MegaChips and ROHM--manufacture them for Nintendo. This, in turn, affects publishers' profit margins, which is why Game-Key Cards on Switch 2 are a popular alternative. In comparison, they act as digital authentication keys that require a game to be downloaded directly to the Switch 2 flash storage.

We have reached out to Nintendo, and will update this post if we hear back from them.

The rise of AI companies has also had an impact on virtually every aspect of consoles, and memory is no exception, as prices have risen dramatically over the last two years. Several tech companies have also shifted from selling products to consumers to selling exclusively to AI companies, which have an incredible appetite for memory and storage. That pivot has proven lucrative, as all the RAM for 2027 looks to be sold out already.

For its part, Nintendo says it doesn't plan to abandon physical games yet, as it prefers to offer consumers an "agnostic" platform to play games on.

The video game research company Sensor Tower has updated its GTA 6 sales tracker to reveal the latest, albeit unofficial, sales data for the open-world crime game. According to Sensor Tower, GTA 6 has now sold 7.71 million total units via pre-purchases, which works out to about $751 million in gross revenue.

The report said PS5 sales are dominating the mix, with GTA 6 selling 5.74 million units on PS5 so far, compared to 1.97 million on Xbox Series X|S. That means of the 7.71 million GTA 6 sales so far, 74% are on PS5 and 26% on Xbox Series X|S.

In total, GTA 6 sales for PS5 have so far reached $559 million in revenue, compared to $192 million for Xbox Series X|S. Sony and Microsoft keep about 30% of revenue due to their platform fees, so GTA 6 being a huge success directly benefits both of those companies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmKu9Uow-os

The huge gap in sales between platforms is not surprising because the PS5 is dominating Xbox Series X|S in terms of console sales. In fact, GTA 6 is breaking records on Xbox, Microsoft has said, and the sales numbers for GTA 6 on Xbox line up with Xbox's share of the console market.

Sensor Tower is projecting as many as 25 million total pre-purchases for GTA 6 by launch, and if the 74/26 split holds, that would be about 18.5 million units on PS5 and 6.5 million on Xbox Series X|S.

Sony holds the marketing rights for GTA 6 on PS5, but that doesn't mean that Microsoft is doing nothing to try to promote the game. Just recently, Microsoft announced a GTA 6-inspired custom Xbox console that sits inside an alligator.

Circana has released new data that shows that GTA 6 holds 29% purchase intent among US console and PC gamers. That means nearly 1 in 3 console and PC gamers in the US plan to buy GTA 6–this is the highest purchase intent that Circana has ever measured for any game.

GTA 6 may indeed be a gigantic hit commercially, and one that helps lift the entire industry with increased sales of hardware and accessories. But anyone looking to buy a new console to play GTA 6 is set for major sticker shock, as consoles today are more expensive than ever. Not only that, but GTA 6 is not going to save the industry’s many serious and deep-rooted issues, experts believe.

GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The game's file size is about 212GB, and thankfully, preloading begins more than a week before launch. The game unlocks on November 19 at midnight local time, and that means US players will be among the last in the world to get in.

People in New Zealand, meanwhile, will be the first in the world to play GTA 6. If you're thinking about booking a flight to the land of Hobbits, here are some tips for packing your PS5 safely.

Reviews are in for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, and they're pretty good so far. On GameSpot's sister site Metacritic, Ocarina of Time has a review aggregate score of 96 from 81 reviews, making it the highest-reviewed game of the year so far--and with only a few months to go, it might stay in the top spot.

A few more reviews will likely filter in over the next few days from other sites Metacritic tracks, but don't expect the needle to shift much in either direction, or at all. According to Metacritic, twin-stick shooter Sektori is second for best-reviewed game of the year (93 based on 10 reviews), followed by the Switch 2 Deluxe Edition of the Resident Evil 2 remake (also 93, based on 16 reviews).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xMM7L2XoMc

But could Grand Theft Auto 6 dethrone Link from the number one spot? Historically, mainline entries of GTA games have reviewed very well, and looking back at previous entries, they've all earned review aggregate scores that are often on par or even higher than Legend of Zelda games. Here's a quick breakdown of how GTA has done over the years:

• Grand Theft Auto -- No metascore
• Grand Theft Auto 2 -- 70
• Grand Theft Auto 3 -- 97
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas -- 95
• Grand Theft Auto 4 -- 98
• Grand Theft Auto 5 -- 97

The pattern here is that the games developed from GTA 3 onwards earned the highest metascores, and if the tradition holds, then GTA 6 should also be in the 90s when reviews land and the scores are tallied up. That's depending on if the game is actually good, but considering Rockstar's track record, GTA 6 should be a polished experience, even if the new immersive gameplay mechanics create some sense of friction for players who are used to going on crime sprees in GTA games while not worrying too much about the consequences of their in-game actions.

For now, the Ocarina of Time remake will likely remain the best-reviewed game of 2026, a feat that Nintendo and Rockstar have achieved multiple times. The Switch 2 edition of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was the best-reviewed game of 2025, and 2017's Breath of the Wild also took the top spot. Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2 was 2018's best-reviewed game, as was GTA 4 in 2008 and GTA 5 in 2013. Who will emerge victorious this year? You'll have to wait until November 19 to find out when GTA 6 launches.

Time is running out for Arkane Lyon to find a buyer, but Ubisoft could acquire the Marvel's Blade developer, according to a new report. Arkane was one of several studios that Xbox divested itself of earlier this year, and while most of those developers have since gone on to become indie studios again--except for Ninja Theory, which is expected to be closed after deals fell through--Arkane has found itself in a tough spot as it navigates life after Microsoft.

Bloomberg reported that Ubisoft was in talks with Microsoft to acquire Arkane Lyon and help it finish work on Marvel's Blade. The report added that Microsoft is also exploring selling Arkane Lyon back to its management, but if plans fall through before a deal can be struck by December, it looks likely the studio will ultimately be shut down. Bloomberg claims Ubisoft is one of three companies that have submitted bids for Arkane Lyon, but it has not yet revealed the identities of the other two bidders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB9ye56mSfk

Arkane Lyon moving to Ubisoft does make sense on paper, as both the developer and the Assassin's Creed publisher are based in France. At the same time, Ubisoft has embarked on a major restructuring process throughout 2026, setting up new Creative Houses to spearhead development on its biggest franchises and downsizing operations across the globe. Recently, Ubisoft laid off 72 people from its Skull & Bones developer, Ubisoft Singapore, and Trials studio RedLynx might be shut down next.

Marvel's Blade was announced at The Game Awards in December 2023, and since then, Arkane has gone radio silent about the game's status. Reports say it's close to completion and could launch in Q4 2027 if Arkane Lyon can keep working on it under a new publisher.

Valve currently has a review backlog on Steam, as the mandatory QA check every game must pass before launch on the platform has reportedly seen wait times balloon from a few days to over two weeks. The problem appears to be a massive number of builds, thought to be AI slop, that fail basic technical checks and are sent back for re-reviews, gumming up the works. To make headway and reduce back-and-forth friction, Valve has announced it's tightening the rules on what developers must verify before submitting builds.

According to Valve, developers must ensure their games can run through Steam for at least five minutes, since the platform often receives builds that have never launched through Steam. Developers must also explicitly state whether their game requires common components like DirectX, Visual C++, or .NET so Steam knows to install them automatically, and, if advertised, prove that cloud saves work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB0C8z2j6nA

On top of that, Steam will run automated checks to flag broken or incomplete achievements, and it will enforce stricter image categories. This is to ensure that players aren't misled by non-gameplay images posing as screenshots. Finally, dynamic reminders will pop up in the submission portal to nudge developers to deliver the content they originally promised.

Is this a response to a flood of AI slop content on Steam lately? Valve didn't directly refer to that content, but as the recent Next Fest proved, mass-produced asset flips and AI-generated shovelware were everywhere. Content like that could be choking Steam's manual review queue, and indie game platform Itch.io addressed it this week with new guidelines for submitting games.

Requiring developers to prove they've actually booted up their game and tested basic features through Steam could bring the review process back to manageable times, but it's not a silver bullet for the bad actors out there.

Developers can voluntarily disclose that AI assisted in some form in building a game, and according to Game Discovery Tool, more than 50% of the games released on Steam last month included that disclosure.

The issue has been highlighted by several studios and developers recently, including Food Devils game director Alfred Camon, who revealed that the Steam Early Access launch date for the game had been postponed after waiting over three weeks without build approval, and Wheel Make It publisher 2 Left Thumbs detailed how they missed their launch window by two weeks because of minor build rejections that sent them back to the end of an increasingly congested queue.

The developer behind Lacey's Flash Games also posted an official release update revealing a multi-day delay due to Steam's build verification pipeline.

ArenaNet may be hard at work on a new entry in the Guild Wars series, but it apparently won't stop it from releasing brand-new content for the 21-year-old original. Guild Wars Afterlife has just been announced, and it's a full paid expansion for Guild Wars arriving next January.

Excitingly for old-school Guild Wars fans, Afterlife seems to bring back some content from the long-cancelled Utopia campaign, including the mystical, Mesoamerican-inspired setting of Xotecha. The new expansion will take players away from the continent of Tyria and into the Mists to explore the lost land of the dead.

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

The expansion's mechanics seem to be purpose-built for replayability. Xotecha's new dungeon is an ever-changing expanse called the Unformed, where no two runs will be the same. This dynamic design even extends to your character build, with a custom skill-drafting mechanic allowing you to change up your abilities on the fly.

While the skill-drafting mechanic seems unique to Xotecha, playing through Afterlife lets players unlock rewards they can take back with them out of the Mists.

Afterlife will be the second true expansion for the original Guild Wars, after 2007's Eye of the North. Players looking to get into the new expansion will need Guild Wars Reforged, the 2025 re-release of the original game.

Alongside Reforged, ArenaNet continues to support 2012's Guild Wars 2, while the brand-new Guild Wars 3 is also in the works. When the new game was announced, ArenaNet said it was committed to "actively developing all three games at the same time," and the Afterlife announcement shows the studio isn't taking that promise lightly.

Guild Wars Afterlife will launch on PC, Steam, the App Store, and Google Play on January 13, 2027. The expansion will retail for $30 at full price, but ArenaNet is offering a discounted pre-order price of $24.

Given that Sony holds the marketing rights for Grand Theft Auto 6, Microsoft has had to get creative to promote the open-world crime game for Xbox--and the company's latest effort in that department goes big.

Say Hello to the X-Bite, a playable Xbox Series X console that was designed to look like it was swallowed whole by one of Florida's millions of alligators. Microsoft only made one of these ornate consoles, and you have to win a contest to get it.

Microsoft's blog post doesn't mention GTA 6 or Rockstar Games, but Xbox marketing boss Josh Munsee said the system has "pure Miami vibes," and that's a pretty obvious reference to GTA 6 given the game takes place in a stand-in, Vice City, for the popular Florida city. The blog post says the winner of the console can play "some of the biggest games of the year" using it, and that's no doubt another nod to GTA 6.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJptn7J1xeI&t=1s

"This November, Xbox is heading to Florida--home to incredible wildlife, unforgettable places, and every now and then, stories you have to see to believe," Microsoft said in its announcement of the X-Bite.

The X-Bite is about five feet long, and the console itself sits inside the alligator, with the Nexus/Guide button illuminated through the gator's skin. The lucky winner will also get a custom Xbox controller with simulated bite marks on it.

The custom console was designed by creature animatronic specialist John Nolan Studio, which did work for The Witcher and Jurassic World Dominion.

Microsoft's fine print states that the gator console is a "custom fabrication" and wasn't made from a real alligator. "No actual alligators were used or harmed in the making of this console," Microsoft said. The estimated value of the console is $800, Microsoft said.

The X-Bite.

You can enter for a chance to win the X-Bite by following Xbox on X, Instagram, or TikTok, reposting the sweepstakes post, and then add #XbiteSweepstakes to your repost. You'll also need to have a public account.

The sweepstakes runs now through November 10. The winner, who will be chosen by a random draw, will have 48 hours to respond if they're selected. "Miss the window, and this gator makes a clean getaway," Microsoft said in yet another reference to GTA 6.

GTA 6 is getting special treatment for its PS5 edition, and this has so far included a limited-edition DualSense controller inspired by the game and trailers for GTA 6 that end by telling people the game "plays best" on PS5. The game's recent launch trailer does not include the Xbox logo, either.

GTA 6 is of course not exclusive to Xbox, and there is no evidence that it "plays best" on PS5.

According to Sensor Tower, GTA 6 has sold about 2 million copies so far on Xbox Series X|S, compared to 5.75 million on PS5. Xbox is not worried the PS5 version massively pacing ahead of Xbox, in part because the 74%/26% split in favor of PS5 over Xbox reflects Xbox's current share of the console market. GTA 6 is breaking records already for Xbox, the company has said.

Microsoft takes a 30% cut of games sold on the Xbox platform, so that could end up being a huge number when the game launches, even if it's far behind PS5. At about 2 million copies sold on Xbox so far, according to Sensor Tower, that's $192 million in gross revenue; Xbox's cut would be about $57.6 million. Sensor Tower has said the majority of GTA 6 preorders should come in the final week before release, and could reach 25 million.

If the split stays about where it is now, that would be about 6.5 million units on Xbox by launch, generating more than $170 million in platform fees paid to Xbox. Of course, these are just ballpark estimates, but it's a sure thing that GTA 6 is going to be a big deal for Xbox. Microsoft already alluded to this, as the company forecast major growth for Xbox content and services in the current quarter, and while management didn't attribute this to any particular title, the gargantuan release of GTA 6 is no doubt factored in.

GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

World of Warcraft: Forever just received a massive batch of class-balance updates ahead of launch that have boosted power across the board, but one group of players isn't happy with the changes: Shamans.

Developer Blizzard recently released Forever's launch patch notes based on feedback and data accumulated during the beta, resulting in a power spike for all classes and major reworks for classes like Paladin and Rogue. Shamans, too, received some significant changes, most notably the removal of a key Elemental specialization ability, Lava Burst, along with any interactions other abilities had with it.

It's that change, and other changes to specialization-specific abilities like Restoration's Riptide and Enhancement's Maelstrom Weapon, that have resulted in the WoW Classic Shaman Discord going into lockdown in protest. The entire server, which has around 80,000 members, has been made read-only, with a message declaring the reason for why it took what it described as such a "drastic measure."

"Community feedback gets completely ignored and class fantasies are getting destroyed," the server declared. "With this we intend to give them [Blizzard] a sign and show them that the community is not [happy] with how they approached our beloved class. Give us back our class and spec identities and fantasies."

https://www.reddit.com/r/classicwow/comments/1xmovqz/classic_shaman_discord_server_just_went_full_ret/

While the protest is in regards to class changes in Forever specifically, the server is also home to Shaman discussions as they relate to other "classic" versions of the game as well, including WoW Classic and Mists of Pandaria Classic. As of writing, all of those channels are also locked and set to read-only. 

In a follow-up post, the server went into more detail about its complaints in regards to how Blizzard has approached Forever's Shaman design. It stated its complaints aren't about "damage output." It also made clear the server will re-open "regardless of the outcome," but that it felt like its feedback through "legitimate" channels were being ignored. 

The server then proceeded to list what it viewed as wrong with various ability changes for each Shaman specialization. It additionally called attention to what it called the "hybrid spell power issue," where spell power and intellect gear seems to be better for not only Elemental but also Enhancement, muddying the identity between the two specializations. 

https://youtu.be/Cb8r05IXiyI?si=BU3xZyfqeSL1qEb3

Blizzard has previously said it doesn't want "hybrid" classes that can deal damage and heal, like Shamans, to deal more damage than dedicated DPS classes. Players in the WoW community refer to this idea as the "hybrid tax," something those running the Shaman Discord said they are fine with if it means Shaman class design is improved.

"Truthfully, hybrid tax us all you want if the result is a cohesive class with strong class fantasy elements that are actually represented in our playstyles," it said. 

This isn't the first time a WoW class Discord shut down in protest of how class changes. As pointed out by Wowhead, back in August 2025, the modern WoW Paladin Discord was partially closed in protest of the Retribution specialization's raid performance. In that case, only Retribution-specific channels were locked, and the entire protest lasted less than 24 hours. Blizzard did announce Retribution Paladin buffs shortly after, though it's unclear if those changes came at least in part due to the server protest or not.

How long the WoW Classic Shaman Discord remains in lockdown remains to be seen, but Forever launches November 4. Blizzard recently said it doesn't expect to make any more major class changes for at least another month.

World of Warcraft: Forever is gearing up for launch with some major class balance changes, but don't expect any more for at least a month.

As detailed in Forever's launch patch notes, Blizzard is making some dramatic class changes, including major reworks to Rogue and Paladin talents, in time for release that will result in a big spike in player power. Blizzard said it has used all the data from the game's month-long beta to "get everything tuned to a reasonable place."

However, don't expect additional changes in the near future. Blizzard said it won't be making significant balance changes until sometime next month.

"With the exception of bugs and serious outliers, we don't plan on making big tuning changes between now and the opening of the raids next month," Blizzard wrote in its patch notes. "Once we have sufficient data from players leveling past 30 and engaging in a wide range of content, we expect that we will do a large tuning pass based on our data."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2Wg46fwmb0&t

Forever's three launch raids will open December 9, meaning there will be a little over a month without class changes. But launch and its subsequent months will just be the beginning, Blizzard said.

"This is all merely a starting point for the classes in Forever, which will continue over the course of the months and years ahead just as they did following the original launch in 2004," Blizzard said. 

Blizzard is in it for the long haul with Forever, telling GameSpot in an interview it hopes the game will continue to receive updates for the next 10-20 years (or potentially forever). It recently announced its plans to release major Forever content updates every four months, as well as teased how its controller support will eventually lead to players being able to play the MMORPG on "whatever you want." 

WoW: Forever launches November 4, but you can make your character now. In other Forever news, Blizzards revealed it will be making major improvements to the game's divisive layering system, how it's avoiding the problem of "dead" servers, and announced big changes to racial abilities alongside its newly announced class changes.

Rockstar Games has confirmed more details about Grand Theft Auto 6's impending release on November 19, including more information about physical goodies. While the game itself won't be available on a disc, Rockstar is offering a printable physical GTA 6 cover art poster and a map of the game's setting, Leonida.

The poster and Leonida map will be available for free as digital downloads on GTA 6's official website on November 19. A double-sized physical version of the poster will be available "shortly after launch" from the Rockstar Store for 99 cents. Alternatively, it's free with any purchase from the Rockstar Store.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmKu9Uow-os

Back in the day, Rockstar used to include fold-out posters in the box for GTA games featuring the game's cover art and map. But GTA 6 is a digital-only game. Players can buy a physical GTA 6 box at retail stores, but it won't include a disc, only a code for a digital download. Rockstar hasn't said if it will include anything extra in the box.

Some retailers are apparently trying to sweeten the deal to encourage people to buy from them. It was recently reported that Walmart orders of GTA 6 will include some kind of "surprise." When the Switch 2 released, some Walmart orders for the console included "game-ready" snacks like soda and chips.

In other news, Rockstar just recently announced when GTA 6 preloading begins and when the game unlocks--players in the US will be among the last people in the world to get in.

World of Warcraft: Forever is changing in some major ways for launch, with Blizzard revealing classes across the board will deal more damage as it pursues design solutions that better fit in with Forever's combat.

In a lengthy developer note attached to Forever's launch patch notes, Blizzard outlined its philosophy for its latest version of WoW. It said during the game's nearly month-long beta that it was trying to keep player power in check. That meant every time it gave a class new tools and abilities, it had to tone down others to compensate. Blizzard now thinks that was the wrong approach.

"Those reductions left some iconic abilities feeling lackluster, and closed the door to other potentially exciting design options," Blizzard said. "So over the last two weeks, we've raised damage on classes across the game, and have increased the health of higher-level creatures to compensate."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2Wg46fwmb0

In addition to classes simply doing more damage, classes themselves are changing in major ways. Elemental Shamans, for example, have had Lava Burst, a key part of their class during the beta, removed entirely. It's an example of what Blizzard said was the developer hastily "turning to Burning Crusade or Wrath-era solutions" rather than creating new ideas for how classes should play in Forever compared to previous versions of WoW.

"Our aim in class design is not perfect numerical equality, but rather for every class to feel valuable to groups they join, with powerful, unforgettable moments brought on by mastering them," Blizzard said. "In Forever this is accomplished by doubling down on the strengths and differences that make each class unique, rather than overly unifying them."

Alongside Shaman, a number of other classes have received significant changes going into launch, particularly Paladin and Rogue, with much of their talent trees almost completely reworked. Every class has received some balance changes.

Though the patch notes are largely dedicated to class changes, there are some other adjustments coming for launch as well. There are a number of tweaks to the game's controller support and bug fixes for various quests. Blizzard stated it additionally increased enemy respawn rates in the world for launch, particularly in lower-level zones. Its goal isn't to completely remove contention for spawns but to make it so players aren't hitting hard bottlenecks.

"Once the initial launch surge of low-level characters has settled down, we will adjust the lower-level zones down to more typical rates," Blizzard said. 

You can find the full WoW: Forever launch patch notes below. WoW: Forever launches November 4. Ahead of launch, read up on the best WoW: Forever addons to install so you're ready on day one. In other news, Blizzard revealed its plans for how often players should expect Forever updates, as well how it's looking to avoid dead servers in the future.

WoW: Forever November 2 Launch Patch Notes

Bug Fixes

• Throw will now correctly use the 0.5 second windup timer (was incorrectly using the throwing weapon’s attack speed).
• Legacy Reward - Replica Ironforge Air Rifle can now correctly be used on allies that also have one equipped.
  • Duration of the quitter debuff reduced to 40 seconds (was 5 minutes).
  • Duration of the stun reduced to 2.5 seconds (was 3 seconds).
• All Races now have the correct amount of base stats. For example, Tauren Warriors now start with the correct +5 strength relative to Human Warriors (was incorrectly +2). This fix was also applied to High Order and Windshaper Skyborne base stats.
• Roots that occur from Procs now correctly have Diminishing Returns. Includes Frostbite, Entrapment, Improved Wing Clip, Counterattack, and Improved Hamstring.

Classes

• Developer’s notes: Over the course of Beta, we came to the realization that trying to hold ourselves roughly to Classic power budgets for each class meant that every new element we added needed to come at the expense of something else. Those reductions left some iconic abilities feeling lackluster, and closed the door to other potentially exciting design options. So over the last two weeks, we’ve raised damage on classes across the game, and have increased the health of higher level creatures to compensate. This additional “headroom” has allowed us to tune things to a place that we hope feels better overall. Beyond that, some of this round of changes reflects areas where we were likely hasty in turning to Burning Crusade- or Wrath-era solutions rather than carving out new ones that better fit into the Forever combat model. Our aim in class design is not perfect numerical equality, but rather for every class to feel valuable to the groups they join, with powerful, unforgettable moments brought on by mastering them. In Forever this is accomplished by doubling down on the strengths and differences that make each class unique, rather than overly unifying them.
• Developers’ notes: We’ve used the data and feedback gathered during Beta testing to get everything tuned to a reasonable place. However, the only true test of that tuning is the game itself. With the exception of bugs and serious outliers, we don’t plan on making big tuning changes between now and the opening of the raids next month. Once we have sufficient data from players leveling past 30 and engaging in a wide range of content, we expect that we will do a large tuning pass based on our data. And this is all merely a starting point for the classes in Forever, which will continue to evolve over the course of the months and years ahead just as they did following the original launch in 2004.
• Various talents no longer have a penalty to their chance to trigger when casting spells of a low rank.
  • This penalty does still apply to Blizzard. Blizzard continues to have a reduced chance to trigger Arcane Concentration, Frostbite, and Fingers of Frost when casting a rank learned more than 12 levels lower than the caster’s current level.
• Learning new spells will no longer cause them to be automatically added to your action bars.
• Training costs on have been adjusted for all classes.
  • Most abilities learned at the same level have the same cost to train, with the exception of Priest race-specific abilities.
  • Total cost to train class abilities from 1-60 is now between 206 and 207 gold for all classes.
  • Warlocks costs are reduced by the expected costs of buying Grimoires for their pets.
• Druid
  • Lacerate is now a Feral talent and not learned by all Druids.
  • Ferocious Bite has a new Rank 1 at level 24. All the existing ranks were re-labeled one rank higher.
  • Bear Form and Dire Bear Form: Threat bonus increased from 50% to 115%. This is to compensate for Blessing of Salvation being removed.
  • Poised: New passive ability learned at level 32. “When you are not in combat and have your maximum Energy, you will gain Poised. Poised reduces the Energy cost of your next Energy ability by 10.”
  • Shred: Weapon damage percent increased to 200% from 155%.
  • Claw: Weapon damage percent increased to 140% from 110%.
  • Ravage: Weapon damage percent increased from 350% to 435%.
  • Rip: Base points and attack power scaling increased by about 25%.
  • Rake: Base points and attack power scaling increased by about 25%.
  • Ferocious Bite: Base points and attack power scaling increased by about 25%.
  • Pounce: Base points and attack power scaling increased by about 25%.
  • Starfire: Base damage points increased by about 40%.
  • Balance
    • Genesis: Now increases periodic damage and healing by 2/4/6/8/10%, up from 1/2/3/4/5%.
    • Moonkin Form: The critical strike bonus from this talent is again an increase to all types of critical strikes and is again exclusive with Leader of the Pack.
  • Feral
    • Heart of the Wild: The talent has moved to the Restoration tree, swapping with Furor.
    • Lacerate: This is now a 1-point talent on row 4, replacing Primal Bite. Lacerate has two new ranks added to accomodate being learned earlier.
    • Predatory Discipline: This is a new 1-point talent on row 4 in column 3, replacing Shifting Power. “Your Ferocious Bite ability no longer converts extra Energy into damage but still deals extra damage based on your excess Energy.” It has no pre-requisite talents.
    • Predatory Strikes: Moved to column 1 (was column 3).
    • Leader of the Pack: The critical strike bonus from this talent is again an increase to all types of critical strikes and is again exclusive with Moonkin Aura.
    • Natural Instinct: Moved to column 4 (was column 1).
    • Rend and Tear: Moved to column 1 (was column 3). Damage bonus increased to 3/6/9/12/15% (was 2/4/6/8/10%).
    • Berserk talent removed.
    • Primal Bite: Replaces Berserk as a 1-point talent on row 7, column 2, with Leader of the Pack as a pre-requisite. Number of ranks reduced to 3.
    • Shifting Power: Now a 1-point talent on row 7, with Predatory Discipline as a pre-requisite. Like row 4, we now have two different 31-point talents for Feral – one focused on Bear gameplay and one focused on Cat gameplay.
  • Restoration
    • Furor: This talent has moved to the Feral tree, swapping with Heart of the Wild.
    • Naturalist: Now increases all damage by 2/4/6/8/10%, up from 1/2/3/4/5%. Now also reduces the cast time of Wild Growth by 0.1/0.2/0.3/0.4/0.5 seconds.
    • Reflection: This talent has moved to row 2 from row 3, swapping with Subtlety.
    • Subtlety: This talent has moved to row 3 from row 2, swapping with Reflection.
    • Gift of the Earthmother: This talent has been removed.
    • Bloom: New 1-point talent in 3rd row, replacing Gift of the Earthmother. “When your Rejuvenation or Regrowth spell expires due to its duration, the target is instantly healed for an amount equal to 100% of your Spirit. If either spell expires due to being dispelled, the target is healed for 50% of your Spirit instead.”
    • Swiftmend: Now requires the Rejuvenation or Regrowth effect on the target to be one placed by the casting Druid.
    • Wild Growth: Now has a base casting time of 3 seconds.
• Hunter
  • Hunter’s Mark can no longer be applied to a target multiple times by using different ranks of the spell.
  • Fixed an issue where Rank 4 Hunter’s Mark was providing less Ranged Attack Power than Rank 3.
  • Fixed an issue with the wording of the Explosive Trap debuff.
  • All types of Hunter traps now have the same shared 30 second cooldown, instead of separate cooldowns for Fire-based and Frost-based traps.
  • Aimed Shot: Bonus damage on all ranks increased by ~110%.
  • Arcane Shot: Base damage on all ranks increased by ~30% and Attack Power coefficient raised from 0.1 to 0.15.
  • Serpent Sting: Attack Power coefficient per tick increased to 5% from 3%. Base damage on all ranks increased ~20%.
  • Aspect of the Hawk: Ranged Attack Power bonus increased on all ranks. New values: 20, 35, 50, 70, 90, 110 for ranks 1-6.
  • Hunter pets should no longer lose their innate Attack Speed passives when untraining them.
  • Beast Mastery
    • Pathfinding: This talent moved from 2nd row to 3rd row.
  • Marksmanship
    • Barrage: Damage increase raised to 5/10/15% from 3/7/10%.
    • Sniper Shot: Bonus damage on all ranks increased by 100%.
    • Trueshot Aura: Ranged Attack Power bonus increased on all ranks. New values: 20, 35, 50, 75, 100.
  • Survival
    • Lacerating Strikes: This effect will always overwrite an existing one from the same Hunter, even if the new effect is weaker damage per second.
    • Lightning Reflexes: Agility bonus increased to 3/6/9/12/15% from 2/4/6/8/10%.
• Mage
  • Imbue Iceknife’s visual has been changed to better convey that it is a Root and not a Stun.
  • Frost Blast: This spell has been removed.
  • Arcane
    • Missile Barrage is now correctly consumed at the start of the Mage’s Arcane Missiles channel (was consumed at the end).
    • Missile Barrage has been moved to the 2nd row from the 1st row.
    • Arcane Resilience has been moved to the 1st row from the 2nd row. It now allows up to 3 talent points to be spent for a maximum armor increase of 75% of Intellect.
    • Clearcasting is no longer consumed on Arcane Missiles if Missile Barrage is active at the same time.
    • Fixed an issue where Arcane Missles did not proc Clearcasting.
    • Arcane Focus: This talent has been removed, as it is now combined into the talent Precision in the Frost tree.
    • Arcane Blast: Mana cost increase per stack reduced to 100% from 175%. Percent of Intellect as Spell Damage reduced from 15% to 12% per stack. Duration increased to 18 seconds.
  • Fire
    • Fixed an issue where Ignite was not applying to Flamestrike damage past the initial instance.
    • Incineration: This talent now allows spending up to 5 talent points for 10% critical chance on affected spells, up from 3 talent points for 6%.
    • Improved Fireball: Renamed Accelerant. Now also reduces the cast time of Arcane Wrath by up to 0.5 seconds.
    • Critical Mass: This talent has been reverted to a maximum of 3 talent points, instead of 5, for a total of 6% critical strike chance increase, down from 10%.
    • Improved Fire Blast moved to 3rd row from 1st row.
  • Frost
    • The Piercing ice talent has been removed.
    • Ice Barrier now increases your Frost Damage dealt by 15% for 1minute when activated and grants an additional 5% Frost Damage while the barrier holds.
      • Developers’ notes: Removing Piercing Ice gives the player a few more talents to play around with early on in the tree, and empowering Ice Barrier gives the Mage a reason to go all the way down the tree for PvE.
    • Frost Warding increases the amount of damage your Ice Barrier and Frost Wards can absorb.
    • Frost Warding no longer has a chance to Reflect spells but instead has a chance to fully negate the damage of the spell without depleting the Frost Ward.
    • Elemental Precision has been renamed Precision and is back to being a 3-point talent, granting 2/4/6% chance to hit with all spells (was 1/2/3/4/5%).
    • Ice Lance now has an 8 second cooldown shared with Fire Blast. Bonsu damage to Frozen targets increased back to 300%.
    • Winter’s Chill: Bonus to Cone of Cold damage increased to 20% per stack.
• Paladin
  • Righteous Fury is now available to train at level 10 (was 16). This mirrors the level that other Tanks gain access to their tanking stance.
  • Salvation, Mass Salvation, and Revoke have been removed.
  • Righteous Fury now grants a 33% increase to all threat generated, and an additional 90% threat from Holy damage.
  • Blessing of Light has been removed.
  • Righteous Fury is now properly made free by the Legacy Talent, The Quick and the Dead.
  • Judgement of Fury’s duration reduced to 3 seconds (Was 4 seconds).
  • Holy
    • Spiritual Focus moved to Row 1 (Was Row 2). Changed to a 5-point talent (Was a 2-point talent). Max rank unchanged.
    • Improved Seals changed to a 5-point talent (Was a 3-point talent). Max rank unchanged.
    • Reverence moved to Row 2 (Was Row 3). Changed to a 2-point talent (Was a 3-point talent). Max rank unchanged.
    • Unyielding Faith moved to Retribution.
    • Purifying Power moved to Row 2 (Was Row 3).
    • Voice of Truth removed.
    • Divine Favor moved to Row 3 (Was Row 4).
    • Illumination moved to Row 3 (Was Row 4).
    • Holy Conduit moved
    • Divine Precision moved to Row 4 (Was Row 5). Changed to a 2-point talent granting 4/8% chance to hit with Holy spells (Was 6/12/18% chance to hit with Holy spells). Additionally, Divine Precision now also reduces the duration of Silence effects on you by 10/20%.
    • New Talent Oath of Light in Row 4. 40-yard range, 8% of Base Mana cost. No cooldown. Swear an Oath to protect target ally for 5 min, increasing the healing of your Holy Light, Flash of Light, and Holy Shock spells. Only one Oath of Light may be sworn by the Paladin at any one time. The amount of bonus healing increases with the player’s level.
    • New Talent Boundless Light in Row 5. Passive - Increases the critical strike chance of your Holy Shock spell by 15/30% when cast on allies not affected by your Oath of Light.
    • Holy Power changed to Increases the critical strike healing bonus of your Holy Spells by 10/20/30/40/50% (Was Increases the critical strike chance of your Holy Shock and Holy Strike spells by 3/6/9/12/15%, and all other spells by 1/2/3/4/5%).
    • Light’s Vigil is now only usable on friendly targets and has had its offensive capabilities removed. The tooltip has been reworded to reflect this.
  • Protection
    • Reckoning will now correctly perform its number of attacks based on stacks, and Reckoning will no longer gain stacks while sitting.
    • Divine Intellect moved to Row 1 of Protection (was Row 1 of Holy).
    • Sacred Duty moved to Row 2 (Was Row 3).
    • Sacred Duty no longer grants % increase to Stamina. In addition to its cooldown reduction on Divine Shield, Divine Protection, and Templar’s Bulwark by 30sec/1min, it now also reduces the duration of your Forbearance effect by 5/10 seconds.
    • Improved Seal of Fury removed.
    • Templar’s Bulwark moved to Row 3 (Was Row 5).
    • Templar’s Bulwark is now a Magic effect and dispellable.
    • Improved Righteous Fury’s damage reduction changed to 3/6/9% (was 2/4/6%).
    • Shield Specialization changed to a 2-point talent granting 15/30% increased shield block value, and a 50/100% chance to grant 4% of your Maximum Mana. (Unchanged at max rank).
    • Toughness moved to Row 3 (Was Row 1).
    • Anticipation moved to Row 4 (Was Row 2).
    • Swift Judgement changed to instantly unleash your active Seal. Does not share a cooldown with Judgement (Was resets the cooldown of your Judgement ability).
    • One-Handed Weapon Specialization removed.
    • New Talent Stoicism added to Row 5. Reduces the duration of Stun and Charm effects on you by 10/20%.
    • Holy Shield moved to Row 5 (Was Row 7).
    • Iron Creed changed to a 3-point talent (Was a 5-point talent) and increases the threat generated by Holy Strike by 10/20/30%, and grants 2/4/6% damage reduction for 6 seconds (was 5/10/15/20/25% increased threat, and 2/4/6/8/10% damage reduction).
    • New Talent Shieldsworn added to Row 7. Reduces the cooldown of your Holy Strike ability by 4 seconds. Additionally, Holy Strike now strikes with your shield, triggering all talents that activate when you block without consuming their charges or triggering their cooldowns, and allowing you to Block spells for 6 seconds.
  • Retribution
    • Holy Conduit moved to the 3rd Row of the Holy Tree (was 2nd Row of Retribution).
    • Sanctified Judgement has been moved to Row 2 (was Row 3).
    • Conviction moved to Row 2 (Was Row 3).
    • Conviction changed to grant 2/4/6% critical strike chance to all spells and attacks (Was 1/2/3/4/5% to just melee attacks).
    • Vindication no longer grants an increase to Attack Power (was 1/2/3% increased Attack Power.
    • Unyielding Faith moved to Row 3 of Retribution (was Row 2 of Holy).
    • Two-Handed Weapon Specialization moved to Row 4 (was Row 5).
    • Two-Handed Weapon Specialization changed to increase both Holy and Physical damage by 2/4/6% (Was just Physical damage).
    • Two-Handed Weapon Specialization changed to also reduce the Threat generated by the Paladin by 7/14/20% while wearing a two-handed melee weapon.
    • Instrument of Law Removed.
    • Champion of the Light changed to increasing the Paladin’s spell damage by 12/24/36/48/60% of their Intellect and also reduces the cast time of Hammer of Wrath by 0.2/0.4/0.6/0.8/1.0 seconds.
    • Vengeance changed to stacking up to 5 times (Was stacking up to 3 times).
    • Vengeance now requires Seal of Command (was requiring Sanctified Judgement).
    • New Talent added to Row 5, Turn Evil - Reduces the cast time of your Turn Undead spell by 0.5/1.0 sec, its cooldown by 5/10 sec, and allows it to affect Demons.
    • Twist of Light removed.
    • Unsealed Wrath is the new 31st talent. Your melee attacks store a copy of your active Seal for 15 sec, stacking up to 3 times. Landing an attack with a different Seal consumes all stacks, giving the stored Seal its normal chance to activate once per stack.
    • Unsealed Wrath now requires Repentance.
• Priest
  • Power Word: Shield can now correctly be replaced by a Power Word: Shield of equal or greater rank.
  • Shadow Word: Death now causes 30% of maximum Health damage to the Priest if it fails to kill the target, up from 10%. Shadow Word: Death will no longer damage the Priest when the spell misses.
  • Fixed an issue causing Undead Priest’s Dark Sacrifice to still break crowd control effects.
  • Holy
    • Binding Heal removed.
    • New talent in Binding Heal’s slot: Holy Binding. When the Priest heals a target other than themselves with Flash Heal, 50% of the healing done by the Flash Heal is also done to the Priest. This healing generates no threat.
  • Shadow
    • Devouring Contagion no longer spreads Devouring Plague if it is spreading from a critter.
    • Vampiric Embrace Healing can no longer roll a critical effect.
    • Fixed an issue where Cure Disease and Abolish Disease would take the Priest out of Shadowform.
• Rogue
  • Casting Slice and Dice no longer causes the target to stand up if sitting.
  • Poised: New passive ability learned at level 18. “When you are not in combat and have your maximum Energy, you will gain Poised. Poised reduces the Energy cost of your next Energy ability by 10.”
  • New Spell Added: Shank. Learned at level 24. 5 Energy cost. 10 second cooldown. Melee range. Instantly strike with your off-hand weapon, dealing 50% weapon damage and generating 15 Energy. Shank cannot Miss. Rank 2 learned at level 44 and generates 25 Energy.
  • Deadly Poison Attack Power coefficient increased to 0.009 (Was 0.0045)
  • Instant Poison Attack Power coefficient increased to 0.01 (Was 0.005)
  • Assassination
    • The Ruthlessness talent activating no longer causes the target to stand up if sitting.
    • Improved Expose Armor moved to Row 2 (Was Row 3).
    • Murder has been removed.
    • Lethality changed to a 2-point talent granting 10/20% increased Critical Strike damage to the abilities listed (Was a 5-point talent granting 4/8/12/16/20%).
    • Vigor moved to Row 3 (Was Row 5).
    • New Talent: Blood Splatter. Passive. 1 point talent in Row 3. Increases the duration of your Rupture ability by 6 seconds and your Garrote ability by 9 seconds.
    • Relentless Strikes moved to Row 5 (was Row 3).
    • Relentless Strikes change to a 5-point talent granting a 4/8/12/16/20% chance per Combo Point to restore 25 Energy (was 1 point granting 20% per combo point).
    • Venom moved to Row 5 (was Row 7).
    • Venom is now a Passive that causes your Shank ability to increase your Poison damage by 30% and your chance to apply Poisons by 20% for 6 seconds.
    • Seal Fate changed to a 3-point talent granting your critical strikes from abilities that add Combo Points a 33/66/100% chance to add an additional Combo Point.
    • Mutilate moved to Row 7 (was Row 9).
    • Mutilates damage increased to 90% of weapon damage plus an additional amount that was also increased (was 75% weapon damage and a lower amount).
  • Combat
    • Improved Eviscerate has been renamed Coup de Grace, Increasing the damage done by your Eviscerate ability by 7/13/20%, and the damage and storage rate of your Death Mark ability by 7/13/20%.
    • Improved Sinister Strike renamed to Efficient Strikes and now reduces the Energy costs of Sinister Strike and Hemorrhage by 3/5 (was just Sinister Strike discounted).
    • Improved Sprint moved to Row 2 (was Row 3).
    • New Talent: Composure. Passive. 2-point talent in Row 3. Increases the Energy cost reduction of your Poised ability by 5/10.
    • Flawless Execution energy cost reduction increased to 15 (was 10).
    • Weapon Expertise moved to Row 4 (was Row 6).
    • Aggression moved to Row 4 (was Row 6).
    • Aggression changed to increasing the damage of Sinister Strike and Eviscerate by 5/10/15% (was Sinister Strike, Eviscerate, and Backstab by 2/4/6%).
    • Dual Wield Specialization moved to Row 5 (was Row 4).
    • Dual Wield Specialization changed to a 2-point talent granting 25/50% increased off-hand weapon damage (was 5 a points granting 5/10/15/20/25% off-hand weapon damage).
    • New Talent: Flash of Steel. Passive. 5-point talent in Row 6. Increases the energy generated by your Shank ability by 3/6/9/12/15 and reduces its cooldown by 0.4/0.8/1.2/1.6/2.0 seconds.
  • Subtlety
    • Fixed an issue where Hemorrhage and Ghostly Strike were dealing much more damage than intended when using a Dagger.
    • Setup moved to Row 1 (was Row 2).
    • Setup changed to a 15/30/45% chance to add a Combo Point to your target after Dodging their attack or fully resisting one of their spells (was 33/66/100% chance).
    • Opportunity changed to a 5-point talent granting 4/8/12/16/20% increased damage to Backstab, Garrote, Ambush, and Mutilate (was 2 points granting 5/10%).
    • Dirty Deeds moved to Row 2 (was Row 5).
    • Camouflage moved to Row 2 (was Row 1).
    • Camouflage changed to a 3-point talent granting 5/10/15% increased movement speed in stealth and reduces stealth’s cooldown by 2/4/6 seconds (was 5 points granting 3/6/9/12/15% and 2/3/4/5/6).
    • Premeditation moved to Row 3 (was Row 4).
    • Serrated Blades moved to Row 3 (was Row 4).
    • Elusiveness moved to Row 4 (was Row 2).
    • Ghostly Strike moved to Row 4 (was Row 3).
    • Ghostly Strike now also causes your next Ambush or Garrote cast within 7 seconds to not require Stealth.
    • Improved Distract removed.
    • New Talent: Quick Getaway. Passive. 2-point talent in Row 4. Increases the maximum number of targets you may have Sapped by 1/1 and increases your movement speed by 15/30% for 3 seconds after sapping a target.
    • Heightened Senses moved to Row 5 (was Row 4).
    • Hemorrhage changed to increase the damage of the caster’s Rupture and Garrote abilities by 15% (was only increasing Rupture by 15%).
    • Quietus has been removed.
    • Cutthroat has been removed.
    • New Talent: Boot Knife. Passive. 5-point talent in Row 6. Gives your Shank ability a 20/40/60/80/100% chance to add 2 Combo Points to the target.
    • Thousand Cuts has been removed.
    • New Talent: Death Mark. Active. 1 point talent in Row 7. 25 Energy cost. 20-yard range. 10 second cooldown. Curse. Finishing move that marks the target, storing a portion of the damage dealt by your attacks per Combo Point. Garrote and Rupture damage is stored at twice the rate. After 6 sec, the stored damage is dealt up to a maximum increased by Attack Power and Critical Strike chance.
• Shaman
  • Windfury Weapon now causes the Shaman to animate an additional weapon swing attack.
  • Windfury Totem now causes the player to animate an additional weapon swing attack.
  • Totemic Projection renamed Totemic Call. It now teleports the Shaman’s totems to the Shaman’s own location, and its cooldown is reduced to 30 seconds.
  • Lightning Bolt: Base damage of all ranks increased, with larger percentage increases on the higher ranks. Max rank was increased by 80%. Each rank’s new base damage is roughly 78% of the base damage as the Classic Era version (but cast time is lower than Classic Era).
  • Chain Lightning cast time increased to 2.5 seconds. Primary target base damage increased to approximately 145% of comparable rank Lightning Bolt base damage. Mana cost increased to approximately 225% of comparable rank Lightning Bolt Mana cost.
  • Shocks: All shock base damage reverted to match Classic Era values (higher than previous Forever Beta values).
  • Elemental
    • Lightning Overload: Talent now grants a 10/20/30% chance to trigger a duplicate spell, up from 3/7/10% chance.
    • Lava Burst: Removed. Replaced with Call of Thunder, which increases critical strike chance of Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning by 5%. All references to Lava Burst removed.
    • Elemental Mastery renamed Lightning Mastery. Icon changed.
    • Elemental Reach no longer reduces the cooldown of Totemic Projection.
  • Enhancement
    • Improved Ghost Wolf moved from 2nd row to 4th row.
    • Maelstrom Weapon: Chance to trigger doubled.
    • Stormstrike: Now deals 150% normalized weapon damage, up from 100%. Cooldown reduced to 6 seconds from 8 seconds.
    • Mental Dexterity: Now increases the Shaman’s Attack Power by 50/100/150% of Intellect, up from 33/67/100%.
    • Flurry: Now increases attack speed by 6/12/18/24/30%, up from 5/10/15/20/25%.
  • Restoration
    • Riptide: Mana cost reduced by about 40%. Cooldown increased to 12 seconds from 6 seconds. Riptide no longer deals any initial healing, just healing over time.
• Warlock
  • Spellstones now correctly only increase Shadow damage (was increasing Shadow and Fire damage).
  • Pets now gain 2 Health per point of Master’s Stamina (was 7.5 Health per point of Master’s Stamina).
  • Bane of Agony now correctly dynamically updates its damage.
  • Drain Soul: This chance for this spell to grant a Soul Shard on dealing damage (not a kill) has been reduced significantly.
  • Affliction
    • Amplify Curse now correctly affects Curse of Exhaustion and Bane of Agony.
    • Improved Drains: Now increases Drain Mana’s amount of Mana drained but no longer increases Wrack damage.
    • Wrack: Spell damage coefficient doubled, to match the expected coefficient per cast time of 0.286 per second. Base damage per second now increases with each level by 2.5. Base damage per second at level 60 effectively increased from 36 to 86.
  • Destruction
    • Shadow and Flame: The damage bonuses from this talent now increase Fire or Shadow damage by 4/8/12/16/20%, up from 2/4/6/8/10%.
• Warrior
  • Fixed an issue with the tooltip of Victory Rush incorrectly displaying the amount of damage it would deal.
  • Defensive Stance: Threat bonus increased from 30% to 80%.
  • The cooldown of Slam has been reduced to 15 seconds (was 18 seconds).
  • Arms
    • Improved Tactical Mastery changed to a 3-point talent granting the ability to retain 5/10/15 additional Rage when changing stances (was a 5-point talent granting 3/6/9/12/15 Rage retention).
    • Two-Handed Weapon Specialization changed to grant 2/4/6% increased damage when using a two-handed melee weapon (was 1/2/3% increased damage).
    • Bloodthrill changed to a 2-point talent granting your Main Hand melee attacks against enemies afflicted by your Rend a 10/20% chance to allow an activation of Overpower (was a 5-point talent granting a 4/8/12/16/20% chance).
    • Improved Slam’s reduction to Slam’s cooldown changed to 2.5/5 seconds (was 3.0/3.0).
  • Fury
    • The Blood Craze and Gore Drinker talents no longer generate threat when restoring Health to the Warrior.
    • Blood Craze will no longer activate when sitting.
    • Booming voice now also reduces the Rage cost of Piercing Howl by 5/10/15/20/25%.
    • Enrage moved to Row 3 (was Row 4).
    • New Talent: Reckless Swings. Row 4. 1 Point. 15 second cooldown. Costs 25% of base health. Your next 4 melee attacks generate 5 additional Rage. Lasts 8 seconds.
    • Gore Drinker moved to Row 5 (was Row 6) and is connected to Blood Craze now instead of Enrage.
    • Death Wish is no longer required for Flurry.
    • Flurry changed to a 3-point granting 10/20/30% increased attack speed for 3 swings after a critical strike (was 5 points granting 5/10/15/20/25% increased attack speed).
    • New Talent: Improved Whirlwind. Row 6. 2 Point. Passive. Reduces the cooldown of your Whirlwind ability by 1/2 seconds and increases the damage it deals to the closest enemy by 15/30%.
    • Bloodthirst now has Death Wish as a required talent.
  • Protection
    • Defiance: Threat bonus increased to 7/13/20% from 5/10/15%.

Player versus Player

• In the Darkspear Islands battleground, dropping the flag no longer places the “Recently Dropped Flag” debuff on the player who dropped it.

Races

• Dwarf
  • Earth Fury (2% increased critical strike damage and healing) removed.
  • Added: Artisan’s Precision - Increases hit chance with spells and attacks by 1%.
• Human
  • Ruthless now increases critical chance by 1% (was 2%).
  • Human Spirit now increases Spirit by 10% (was 5%).
• Orc
  • Savage removed (1% increased critical strike chance).
  • Command re-added, increasing Warlock and Hunter pet damage by 5%.
  • Blood Fury’s cooldown reduced to 2 minutes (was 3 minutes).
• Skyborne
  • Wind-Blessed Haste bonus reduced to 2% (was 3%).
  • Read Leyline now increases Mana and Health regeneration by 50% (was 100%), with a 15-second duration. This ability cannot be used while Innervate is active, and will be replaced by Innervate as a more powerful effect.
  • Using Read Leyline at a Ley Line now also grants “Attuned” for 1 hour. While Attuned, the benefit of Read Leyline is increased to 100% regeneration increase. Attuned persists through death, and is removed upon entering a raid.
  • Skysight is now a 15% increased movement speed (was 10%), with a 15-second duration.
  • Using Skysight at an elemental convergence now also grants “Charged” for 1 hour. While Charged, the benefit of Skysight is a 30% movement speed increase. Charged persists through death, and is removed upon entering a raid.
• Tauren
  • Plainsrunning now grants 2% movement speed per stack (was 1%), for a total max increase of 60% (was 30%).
  • Plainsrunning no longer increases mounted movement speed.
  • Endurance no longer provides any modifiers beyond 5% increased Health (no hit chance or critical damage modifiers).
• Troll
  • Berserking duration increased to 15 seconds (was 10 seconds).
• Undead
  • Cannibalize can once again be used while immune to Physical damage.
  • Fixed an issue where Touch of the Grave was not activating frequently enough.
  • Fixed an issue where Touch of the Grave was leaving a beam visual behind.
  • Touch of the Grave internal cooldown reduced to 15 seconds (was 25 seconds).

Gamepad Support

• Gamepad Support has entered a complete functional state.
  • In World of Warcraft: Forever, all major gameplay and core user interface experiences can be played with a controller, including movement, spells, interactions, UI navigation, etc.
  • Gamepad settings can be customized through Edit Mode and the Options menu.
• Action Bars
  • AoE items bound to the Gamepad Action Bar can now be used and placed at a targeted location.
    • Press the Action Bar button again to confirm placement, consistent with ground-targeted AoE spells.
  • Fixed an issue where changing the current keyboard and mouse Action Bar page would cause Gamepad Action Bar buttons to be offset.
  • Fixed an issue where Gamepad Action Bar settings were not immediately reflected while in Edit Mode.
• Add-ons
  • Improved Gamepad UI compatibility with user-created add-ons to reduce the likelihood of add-on conflicts causing interface issues.
• Bags and Inventory
  • Fixed an issue where Gamepad focus could move away from the inventory after confirming or canceling the destruction of an item.
  • Fixed an issue where horizontal Gamepad navigation could behave incorrectly when moving between bag columns of different heights.
  • Fixed an issue where navigating the inventory with a Gamepad during a trade could cause a Lua error.
  • Fixed an issue where opening individual bags with the keyboard and mouse UI could cause a Lua error after switching from the Gamepad UI.
  • Improved bag management when using a Gamepad.
  • Improved the Gamepad Bag UI.
    • Added updated visuals and clearer bag states.
    • Added remaining bag space and ammo count indicators.
    • Improved bag prompts and interactions.
    • Improved Keyring navigation and highlighting.
    • Improved the inventory search layout.
• Character Select & Ruleset Selection
  • Added Gamepad support for navigating and interacting with ruleset selection screens.
  • Fixed an issue where newly created characters were not automatically selected when returning to the Character Select screen while using a Gamepad.
• Cinematics
  • Added Gamepad support for skipping or exiting cinematics.
• Combat and Targeting
  • Added Gamepad support for targeting a previously assigned Focus Target.
    • LB + RB + Face Down can be used to select your Focus Target.
    • The target context menu displays Clear Focus when your current target is also your Focus Target.
  • Friendly corpses can now be targeted with a Gamepad.
    • Friendly Analog Targeting can target friendly corpses.
    • Friendly Tab Targeting can target friendly corpses.
  • Improved Gamepad targeting for critters.
    • Hostile Analog Targeting can target critters.
    • Soft Targeting can target critters.
  • Improved Gamepad targeting of enemy players.
    • Enemy players can no longer be selected by Friendly Analog Targeting.
    • Enemy players can be selected by Hostile Analog Targeting regardless of PvP flag status.
  • Units behind the player can now be selected with Analog Targeting when they remain visible on screen.
  • Feign Death units that remain attackable can now be targeted if and only if the Gamepad reticle is positioned over them.
  • Fixed an issue where certain attackable enemies could incorrectly display an Interact icon when using a Gamepad.
  • Fixed an issue where looting or closing the loot window could leave a corpse incorrectly locked as the player’s target.
• Flight Paths
  • Added Gamepad support for ending a flight path early using the Back/Cancel action.
    • Players will dismount at the next available flight point.
• Navigation and Focus
  • Fixed an issue where Gamepad focus could be lost from the Options panel after closing a graphics settings confirmation dialog.
  • Updated popup behavior so non-user-initiated popups no longer automatically steal Gamepad focus.
    • These popups can be explicitly focused using the View/Select action or equivalent controller input.
  • Updated Gamepad navigation prompts to use LT and RT button indicators when navigating between supported UI panels.
• Pets
  • Added Gamepad support for the Pet Move command.
    • Pet placement can be confirmed using the Interact button or by activating the ability again.
• Professions
  • Fixed an issue where Gamepad users could not use the Train action at Profession Trainers when a skill upgrade was the only available option.
  • Fixed an issue where the Gamepad prompt for removing a Profession did not indicate that the button needed to be held.
• Quests
  • Fixed an issue where viewing quest details in a different map region with a Gamepad could cause a Lua error.
• Swing Timers
  • Fixed an issue where the Off-Hand Swing Timer could fail to appear after logging in on dual-wielding characters.
• Tooltips and UI
  • Added Gamepad support for adjusting opacity in the Color Picker.
  • Fixed an issue where Gamepad LB and RB prompts could incorrectly appear in the Equipment Manager while using the keyboard and mouse UI.
  • Updated Gamepad tooltips to remain visible rather than allowing them to be toggled on or off with the controller.

Items

• Bags
  • Bags will no longer automatically equip into available bag slots and must now be manually equipped by the player.

Quests and World

• Adjusted respawn rates for many different areas in the world.
  • Developers’ notes: Our goal with these adjustments is to properly support large player volumes at launch, so that players aren’t hitting hard bottlenecks and can continue to enjoy the game. Some contention for spawns is expected and part of the experience - it is not our goal to remove that. These adjusted rates are generally on the faster side in lower-level zones - with starting zones being the fastest - and gradually fall to slower rates as you level up, consistent with when players naturally spread out across the many zones available in WoW Forever. Once the initial launch surge of low-level characters has settled down, we will adjust the lower-level zones down to more typical rates.
• Adjusted experience values on various quests.
• Adjusted pre-requisites and level settings on some quests to improve flow across the world.
• Added mouseover tooltips for objectives on various quests.
• Added missing point-of-interest markers and adjusted incorrect ones on various quests.
• Fixed incorrect zone sorts in the quest log on various quests.
• Fixed various quests where destroying the associated item would not abandon the quest, and vice versa.
• Fixed an issue where some satyr were classified as humanoids instead of demons. They are now 100% more scared of Paladins.
• Alterac Mountains
  • Fixed an issue where Dalaran Summoners were really amazingly good at summoning and would summon until their little hearts couldn’t summon anymore. And then they’d summon some more anyway.
• Barrens
  • You can now speak to Rethgar Deathgate to begin the event for “Counterattack!” if it is not currently active.
  • The Alliance Outrunners now spawn in random locations.
• Darkshore
  • The quest “Holy Diver” now gives an XP reward.
• Mulgore
  • Gloomrise Hatchlings now give lower XP, commensurate with their lower health values.
• Orgrimmar
  • Fixed an issue during “Hidden Enemies” where the Lieutenant’s Insignia would remain in inventory after quest completion.
• Ruins of Lordaeron
  • Ruins of Lordaeron dungeon quests now consistently require a minimum of level 15 to start (was a mix of 15 and 16), and some pre-requisites have been adjusted.
• Teldrassil
  • The Cleft - There are now slightly fewer spiders in this area for the quest “Twisted Hatred”.
• Wetlands
  • Fixed an issue where Carnage reset near the end of the fight for the quest “Carnage”.
  • Fixed an issue during “Destruction in Deadmines” where Alba Fairmoon would become unavailable to turn-in the quest.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Xbox this year, Microsoft has launched a "25 Years of Xbox" digital game bundle. It includes 25 games for $570.

That works out to about $23/game, but it's more nuanced than that, as some of the games are bundles themselves. For example, one of the games in the bundle, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, includes Halo 1, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, and Halo 4. There are Gears of War and Age of Empire bundles, too.

Some of the games in the bundle are for both Xbox and PC, and some are just for Xbox or just for PC. Additionally, many of the games in the pricy bundle are currently on Xbox Game Pass.

Given all of that, you may want to check your library and do some quick math before spending hundreds of dollars on this anniversary bundle.

2026 is the 25th anniversary of Xbox, and Microsoft wanted it to be a significant celebratory event for fans and employees alike, but the year has been terrible for the Xbox brand. After Microsoft named Asha Sharma the new Xbox CEO in February, she gutted Xbox as part of a "reset" that included mass layoffs, studio divestitures, and game cancellations. Sharma said these moves were necessary because Xbox was in such an unhealthy place in terms of its finances.

25 Years of Xbox Bundle:

Buy here at Xbox

• Halo 3: ODST
• Halo 4
• Halo 3
• Halo 2: Anniversary
• Halo: Combat Anniversary
• Halo: Reach
• Minecraft Dungeons for Windows + Launcher
• The Elder Scrolls Online: Standard Edition
• Gears Tactics
• Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition
• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
• Minecraft Dungeons Ultimate Edition for Windows
• Halo: The Master Chief Collection
• Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - The Complete History
• Age of Empires: Definitive Edition
• Age of Mythology: Retold Premium Edition
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition (PC)
• Fallout 76: Deathclaw Pet Deluxe Edition (PC)
• The Elder Scrolls Online: Deluxe Edition
• Gears Triple Bundle (containing Gears 5, Gears 5: Hivebusters, and Gears Tactics)
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition (PC) + Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition (PC) Bundle
• Doom Anthology (containing Doom: The Dark Ages, Doom Eternal, Doom, Doom 3, Doom 64, and Doom + Doom II)
• Age of Empires 25th Anniversary Collection (containing Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition, Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, Age of Empires Definitive Edition)

Indie game storefront Itch.io has announced it removed "a couple terabytes of AI slop" and has begun taking steps to combat the deluge of AI-created games appearing on the platform. "Just because you can upload 10 terabytes of poorly optimized AI-generated models doesn't mean you should upload 10 terabytes of poorly optimized AI-generated models," Itch wrote in a social media post.

The platform had already noted that the number of game pages being created per day had doubled from 3,000 to 6,000 over the last two months, with reports of users flooding the game uploads page with dozens of AI-created game spams. Going forward, Itch says that these sorts of bulk uploads will result in that spam being de-indexed, and filtering for generative AI disclosure will be added more sections of the site, including the search results page.

This doesn't mean Itch is outright banning AI-generated content, but it is taking a harder line against people who spam the site with it. In its official terms and conditions, Itch states that if the use of AI in a game is "clearly stated" and if "it adds substantial value" to the user experience, then that's okay. But if you're uploading something iterative, that'll be against the platform's rules.

https://twitter.com/itchio/status/2117477402469351462 https://twitter.com/itchio/status/2117465932511744390

Essentially, if you don't want to see AI-built games when you search Itch, the new filter will keep them out of your search results. This is a far stronger response than Valve's, as Steam's approach to AI slop has been very hands-off so far. While Valve has vaguely suggested it's considering how to address the influx of AI spam following the disastrous October edition of Next Fest, its response to developers fearful of AI-cloned projects has left much to be desired.

According to several developers, AI slop is a much bigger problem than Steam realizes.

Valve said that developers should focus on building a community and more unique features into their games to help stand out, which does nothing to address the issue of their projects being cloned the second they share progress online--although one of the big drivers behind cloned games, Anthropic's Claude, may have had its copycat abilities throttled recently.

Confirming a recent report, Bethesda has confirmed the subtitle of the next Elder Scrolls game as The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel. This was shared as part of a 40-year-anniversary video recapping many of Bethesda's highlights over the year.

Unfortunately, that's all that was shared about the game, though we did get a (very familiar-looking) title card showing the game's name in the classic Elder Scrolls font.

The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel

The one hint of what might await in the game was a quote that follows the screen above. It's attributed to Yazar, Moth Priest of High Queen Iradne of Hammerfell in 4E 206: "The scroll offered only a shimmer, a veil thinly lifted to my eyes. A future lost. A victory undone. Sands of time scattered by fate."

Two details stick out there: the reference to a scroll and Hammerfell. A recent report from The Verge stated that Elder Scrolls VI will be set in Hammerfell and focus on the history of the titular Elder Scrolls and discovering their secrets. You can see how this quote might hint at that being the case, though these details remain unconfirmed for now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvcfI8RPZYc

The Elder Scrolls VI was announced way back in 2018, at a time that Bethesda boss Todd Howard later admitted was not his preference. Virtually nothing has been shared about the game since that debut trailer, including any imagery, hence the reason we've all seen that mountain range countless times in the eight-plus years since.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that the majority of Bethesda Game Studios staff are at work on the game, with Howard saying, “We know we need to get it right and it’s been a long time." The last core entry in the series, Skyrim, released in 2011, meaning it will be more than a 15-year gap between new games.

No release date or platforms for The Elder Scrolls VI have been announced, although Bethesda's parent company, Xbox, has faced renewed pressure to turn its business around. In part, that will involve focusing on its biggest franchises, with Fallout 5 also in the works, though Bethesda devs are said to fear further layoffs.

Self-made millionaire Mark Tilbury has shared some advice for how buying GTA 6 can actually save you $5,000. Just don't take this too seriously.

Here's how he arrived at that number: If the game costs $100 (for the Ultimate Edition) and it takes 80 hours to complete, that works out to $1.25/hour of "fun." After adding on side missions and simply exploring GTA 6's map, investing in the game seems like an even better deal at just 50 cents of fun per hour.

If you play for four hours every evening, that's 50 nights of entertainment. Tilbury said people should compare this to a night out where they could easily spend $100 in a night.

"That's why buying GTA 6 actually saves you $5,000," Tilbury says.

https://twitter.com/marktilbury/status/2117255688917499923

Even if it's not a full $100, Tilbury is spot-on that going out to do most things today costs a pretty penny. So staying in to play GTA 6 may indeed "save" you some money you might have spent elsewhere. You may also play a lot of GTA 6 and continue to go out and spend money on other things.

His math also might be conservative, as people are no doubt going to play GTA 6 for far more than 50 days, especially when GTA Online 2.0 releases in 2027, as expected.

Clearly, though, Tilbury is being cheeky here and created the clip for virality and for people to send to their friends and partners to justify how much they are going to play GTA 6.

GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, and a PC edition is expected to be released in 2027.

Xbox funded and published 2025's South of Midnight, a highly acclaimed action-adventure game set in the American Deep South. The game's creative director, David Sears, said he believes South of Midnight is a "generational" game that he hopes people discover and play for a long time and one that he thought would help elevate the "prestige" of Xbox.

At the same time, Sears said he wasn't sure Microsoft's spending spree under the previous leaders Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond--which is how Sears' studio Compulsion got the funding to make South of Midnight--was going to work out long term.

"I literally told people, I was like, 'Yeah, wow, this could be terrible.' Because somebody is going to say, someday, 'The money tap ... we're closing those floodgates.' And that's going to have really traumatic results downstream," he told Ben Hanson on MinnMax.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=815z1trpMdQ

Microsoft spent billions and billions of dollars to buy studios and franchises to help get Xbox Game Pass off the ground. The bet did not work out, and now Spencer and Bond are out. The new Xbox CEO is Asha Sharma, and one of her first moves was to cut costs dramatically with layoffs, studio divestures--including Compulsion--and game cancellations. Sharma also talked about how Game Pass needs to evolve into something that's "more enticing to a broader range of customers.”

Asked directly if he had been in control of the Xbox funding at the time, would Sears have stopped writing checks for games like South of Midnight? "Yeah, probably," he answered (via Kotaku).

"I wanted to make it. No doubt. Obviously. Because we made it. Would I have turned off someone else’s money flow before South of Midnight? Yeah. Because I’m not completely selfless. It just seems like, in hindsight at least, it was unsustainable," Sears said.

A lot of people said Microsoft's spending on Xbox Game Pass was unsustainable and ultimately going to lead to pain and turmoil. Raphael Colantonio, the co-founder of Arkane, said Game Pass is unsustainable and "increasingly damaging" to the industry. Game Pass has been propped up by Microsoft's "infinite money," Colantonio said.

Raccoon Logic studio head Alex Hutchinson spoke out about Game Pass devaluing games earlier this year after his game Revenge of the Savage Planet was a day-one title on Xbox Game Pass. Conversely, Rebellion touted the launch of Atomfall on Game Pass as a huge success for the company.

With Microsoft's big bets not panning out in the way the company envisioned, the Xbox business struggled, and the ensuing Xbox "reset" has been painful for the people, teams, and fans of Xbox. Sears said hindsight is 20/20, but he always had a feeling that things just weren't right and that the bottom could fall out one day in terms of Xbox's spending spree.

"Of course it was going to have a 'shocking' outcome. It’s easy to dissect it now. But at the time ... I would talk to other directors and [they’d] be like, 'How is this happening? How did we get so lucky? Is this a golden era?' And I would always be like ... 'For now,'" he said. "And there’s always a night when Rome burns. I didn’t know exactly when it would be, but I was always worried about it."

Sears went on to say the Microsoft of today is "much more humane" than the company was in the '90s and 2000s, something he said is "remarkable and commendable."

Sears said it's a good thing that Microsoft is allowing studios it wants to let go of get spun out instead of shutting them down outright. Compulsion, for its part, was among the studios that got spun out, and is now operating independently and seeking new projects and funding sources.

South of Midnight originally launched for Xbox and PC in April 2025, later coming to PS5 and Switch 2 in March 2026. Now that Compulsion is independent, buying the game supports the studio directly, and not Xbox.

Throughout all of the downturns at Xbox, Microsoft continues to make gigantic sums of money, in part because Xbox represents just a tiny sliver of the company's overall business. For the latest quarter, Microsoft made $92.3 billion in revenue (up 19%) and a profit of $36.6 billion (up 32%). Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has praised Sharma for gutting the Xbox business so heavily.