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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

https://youtu.be/mhMVMTWDAWU

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

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

https://youtu.be/J6i0BBtaokU

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

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

See at Mondo Store

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

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

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

See at Mondo Store

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

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

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

Next year could be a grim one for Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, as console sales are expected to dramatically decline in 2027 by almost 20%. Thanks to component shortages, video game consoles like the Switch 2, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S have only gotten more expensive over time--a complete reversal of how systems used to get cheaper the longer they were on the market.

According to a report from S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan (via GamesIndustry.Biz), the math is simple: more expensive machines, fewer consumers able to buy them. The firm is predicting that console shipments will fall to about 27.1 million units by 2027, but it could recover to 37.4 million units by 2030 if the component crisis begins to stabilize by 2028. This would allow Sony and Microsoft to release their next-gen consoles--the PS6 and Project Helix, respectively--and S&P Global Market Intelligence analyst Neil Barbour projected that the consoles will sell for between $600 and $800 each.

"For now, the market faces a compounding problem: hardware that is either too old or too expensive for the median consumer, a software slate that is thin outside a handful of tentpole releases, and a macro environment that keeps any meaningful price relief off the table," Barbour said to GamesIndustry.Biz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FatSqS3VYY

For the Switch 2, S&P has forecast that it'll sell 17.1 million units in 2026, while Nintendo's own expectations have sales pegged at 16.5 million units sold in the console's second fiscal year. That would make for a decline of 16.9% compared to its launch year, but it's not just the looming $50 price hike in September contributing to this. S&P believes that the lack of a killer game for 2026 is hindering Switch 2 sales, although the launch of Pokemon Winds and Waves in 2027 could see a spike in sales. Nintendo is also rumored to be exploring an OLED version of the Switch 2, but the potential price for it is said to be a topic of concern at the company.

As for the PS5, recent price hikes haven't helped the console improve its recent sales, either. S&P's forecast is a 15.2% decrease year-on-year, with Sony likely shipping 13.2 million units in 2026--a big drop compared to how Sony shipped 17.1 million PS5s in 2025.

Xbox could be hardest hit, as the outlook doesn't look positive for the Microsoft gaming division. S&P says that Microsoft shipped 3.2 million Xbox Series X|S consoles last year--a figure that Microsoft has never publicly revealed, as it's notoriously cagey with sales numbers--and that was the lowest annual total to date. S&P predicts 2.5 million Xbox Series X|S units will be sold in 2026, followed by "a rapid wind-down toward zero" as it prepares for a next-gen console launch.

With Project Helix expected to be expensive due to its ability to support both console and PC marketplaces, S&P has forecast launch-year sales of 2 million units, reaching roughly 7.3 million units by 2030.

Barbour added that the sales outcome could look different, and that S&P is "splitting the difference" between a traditional Xbox console successor and a living-room PC that has been given an Xbox certification. That 2028 launch year for next-gen consoles is looking more solid--although anything can change in these turbulent times--as court documents and statements have the expected starting period of the next generation of consoles penciled in for 2028.

The Witcher 3 director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz has commented on the state of next-generation consoles, saying his studio Rebel Wolves wouldn't be too upset if the PlayStation 6 and next-gen Xbox get delayed due to the ongoing memory and component crises.

"To be honest, it's even better for us," Tomaszkiewicz told Eurogamer about how he would feel if next-gen consoles get delayed. He's currently working on the vampire game The Blood of Dawnwalker, which releases in September across console and PC.

He went on to say a new platform comes with new challenges that developers need to spend time working on and learning. "You need to know what are your borders, what you can do, what you cannot do. And also it's an additional build you need to create that you need to take care of later," he explained.

The Blood of Dawnwalker releases in September.

Currently, Rebel Wolves has four different builds of its current game, The Blood of Dawnwalker--Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and two for PC due to regional restrictions. If The Blood of Dawnwalker is a success and Rebel Wolves wants to bring it to whatever new systems are coming, the amount of work required would be multiplied, Tomaszkiewicz said.

"It sounds easy but you need to know that there is a group of testers who need to test every platform separately--not only this particular change but whether the whole game has no blockers, if you can finish it from the beginning to the end, and so on and so on. It's a huge effort, to be honest," he said.

As for the benefits of coming to a new, more powerful platform, Tomaszkiewicz said improvements would be "mostly visuals" thanks to having more RAM and a better processor.

To be sure, Sony has not officially announced the next PlayStation console, but the company has spoken at a high level about its plans. Microsoft has been speaking openly about Project Helix for some time. Recently, Xbox's chief strategy officer Matthew Ball said Microsoft is committed to releasing Project Helix, but the company is going to "rethink everything" about it.

It remains to be seen what that means. Due in part to the AI-fueled demand for memory and components, hardware prices on game consoles have gone up in recent years. Sony and Microsoft already raised prices on the PlayStation and Xbox consoles, while Nintendo is hiking the price of the Switch 2 in September.

Some are theorizing that, should current trends continue, the price of new consoles in the future could be $1,000 or more, and that's a real bummer. With the prices of new consoles expected to be the highest ever, that may help explain why Sony is killing of discs in 2028. If companies like Sony and Microsoft are going to sell fewer consoles in the future, as data suggests, then shifting to an all-digital world helps improve margins to mitigate the impact of fewer hardware sales.

The creator of Assassin's Creed has a new game on the horizon, a supernatural blend of dark fantasy and witchcraft by the name of 1666: Amsterdam. Having been in development for 16 years--development on it originally began in 2011 at THQ before it went bust--the game got a re-reveal during Summer Game Fest 2026. One area where the game is aiming to stand apart from the pack is with its art direction, and in a new dev diary, developer Panache Digital Games provided a behind-the-scenes look at the artistic vision powering the mystery and witchcraft of this title.

Set across three time periods--the late 17th century, 1999, and the modern day--creative director Patrice Désilets and the Panache team drew inspiration from the Dutch Golden Age of art to shape the look and feel of the game. The process included translating paintings into interactive environments, replicating the distinct aesthetics of those painters to create the game world. Art nerds will immediately recognize the influence of painters like Johannes Vermeer and Adriaen van Ostade in the game's setting, and as Désilets explained, this approach allowed the team to recreate Amsterdam both accurately and expressively due to how artists of the time captured everyday life on canvas.

https://youtu.be/6GPWe3EU1uc

"I really love art in general, not just from the 17th century. There's something in those artists, that era, that place, that is very powerful. It was among the first--not the very first--but still, who painted ordinary people from the street," Désilets said, likening the paintings to photographs of the era.

While the first part of the game draws from the great masters of the time, the second part, set in 1999, uses the Giallo era of slasher movies from the 1960s for inspiration, something which is the complete opposite of 17th-century Dutch art with dark contrasts and primary colors. Finally, the modern-day sections are set in a library, and artistic director Nicolas Cantin described the look of these scenes as sober and cinematic.

1666: Amsterdam isn't the first game to look to the past to create a unique art direction, as last year's smash-hit Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 featured an art direction born from French Belle Époque art. At the same time, 1666: Amsterdam did catch some flak following the release of its playable prologue on Steam, as players noticed that generative AI had been used for in-game art and assets. In a statement, Panache Digital promised that these would be removed and replaced with work produced by real human artists in the game's full release. 1666: Amsterdam will launch in early access later on Steam and the Epic Games Store.