While the new Xbox leadership team under CEO Asha Sharma has been on a charm offensive lately--while also promising a "reset" for the division that suggests layoffs are on the way--Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella got down to brass tacks recently. During a panel at the New York Times Hard Fork event, Nadella spoke about how Xbox will have to find a way to become more profitable as it enters a new era.

"No one can accuse Microsoft of not having invested for the last 25 years," Nadella said. "And now we have to turn this into a sustainable business that delivers what is fundamentally one of the best sources of entertainment. The challenge we have is that we've not been monetizing that entertainment. In fact, if anything, we've been subsidizing that entertainment. There's more monetization of Xbox games happening on YouTube than at Microsoft.

"And so that doesn't mean we go do things that are unnatural. We want us to do what is really our job, which is to build great games, build great hardware, but we've got to do it in an economically sustainable way. I think Asha is really, 100 days in, and she put out a post saying in the next 100 days, she's going to take a fresh look and make sure we deliver on what our fans expect of us both on the hardware side or on the publishing side."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqEZyHkXgh0&t=276s

With gaming consoles and hardware experiencing a major spike in prices due to various global factors and hardware shortages, partly driven by the rampant investment in AI technologies, Nadella also remarked how Microsoft will have to find a way to "deliver the games in which it is economically relevant" to customers, although the Microsoft CEO didn't have a solution for the dilemma.

Recently, Sharma confirmed that Xbox's accountability margins only amount to a 3% profit, which isn't exactly great considering how Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in acquiring studios and publishers over the last couple of years. The return on investment is not looking good, especially when games are becoming more expensive and are sold to a much smaller playerbase when compared to the PS5 and Nintendo Switch, while recent Game Pass price hikes saw millions of people cancel their memberships.

So what are Microsoft's options to extract more profit from Xbox? One report claims that Xbox could be spun off into a separate company or a "wholly owned subsidiary" that would no longer operate as a Microsoft division. Microsoft is also said to be planning to increase investment in its biggest Xbox franchises--like Halo, The Elder Scrolls, and Fallout--and speed up development on new titles.

The Best Xbox Game Pass Games In 2026 View Images

In an announcement that is sure to unsettle players but please investors, Electronic Arts has announced a new program to bring in-game ads to its games in ways that EA claims won't "disrupt" the player experience.

EA Advertising, as it's called, is a new platform that EA says advertisers can use to reach EA's network of 120 million monthly players. That's indeed a massive scale, and some people in the video game industry have been surprised that this kind of program hasn't happened sooner given how much money there is to potentially be made. Recently, Xbox's chief strategy officer Matthew Ball talked about advertising in gaming, while a former BioWare boss said product placement could help improve the viability and sustainability of gaming. Not everyone agrees, of course, as there has been significant player pushback to the idea of in-game ads, and one top executive, Strauss Zelnick of Take-Two, has said in-game ads for full-price games are not fair to the consumer.

For EA Advertising, it's coming at a time when EA is trying to sell itself to an investor consortium led by Saudi Arabia for $55 billion. This is a leveraged buyout--the biggest LBO in history--and it comes with significant debt. Given that, people are expecting major cuts at EA and new revenue streams, like EA Advertising, to help service the debt.

An example of an ad already in EA's FC series.

EA, of course, has tried in-game advertising before (as have other companies). When pause-screen ads came to EA Sports UFC 4, players revolted, and EA cut the program swiftly. Years earlier, EA announced in-game ads for Battlefield 2142, Need for Speed Carbon, Madden 08, Skate, and others--EA has been on a mission to bring more in-game ads to games for decades.

EA Advertising is the company's latest attempt at the market, but it's also not exactly new, as plenty of EA games already feature in-game ads. EA Advertising is the new banner under which this program will operate and potentially expand.

EA said brands will be able to "integrate directly into gameplay through dynamic, real-time placements, from stadium signage to custom in-game content, designed to enhance, not disrupt, the player experience."

EA went on: "In these interactive gameplay environments, brands become part of the game itself, reflecting how players engage with advertising in real-world contexts. Brands can activate across live environments, tailoring placements to meet campaign objectives, and update campaigns with ongoing optimization informed by aggregated engagement insights."

EA is selling multiple types of ads as part of EA Advertising. This includes brands creating "custom integrations designed for specific games and audiences" through things like in-game challenges, "interactive moments," and vanity items. For EA's sports games, EA said it will sell native ad units for things like digital ad boards, scoreboards, and brand broadcast overlays, not unlike the kind of advertising people see when they watch a sports game on TV.

What's more, EA said it is offering advertisers "advanced targeting" for their ads by way of a new proprietary ad server and SDK. Finally, EA said it's launching an EA Sports Partner Program within EA Advertising for a "select group of official partners" to team up for live events like the Madden Bowl, the annual Madden ratings reveals, and "social play experiences."

Some of the first partners for EA Advertising are Visa, Lowe's Red Bull, Xfinity, Peacock, and Mountain Dew, which are already running ads in EA's catalog of sports games.

Experts tend to agree that the AAA video game business is unhealthy and unsustainable, due in part to rising development costs and prices for new releases generally staying the same. Ball and others have said advertising could be a way to help companies make more money to avoid raising prices. However, there is no reason to believe companies like EA and others would not launching in-game ads while also raising prices to $80 or more, along with a further acceleration of things like DLC, battle passes, and microtransactions.

Dead by Daylight is officially 10 years old, and as well as announcing a ton of upcoming content, Behaviour Interactive is offering a massive 10 million free Bloodpoints for every player to redeem.

The huge giveaway was announced just before the developer's 10-year anniversary stream, surprising players who had predicted that the studio would not be overly generous with anniversary freebies.

https://twitter.com/DeadbyDaylight/status/2066174177900462318

Bloodpoints are one of DBD's various in-game currencies, used to level up characters through the Bloodweb. With the number of Survivors and Killers that have been added since the game first launched--and even more coming soon--the hefty injection of Bloodpoints will be a welcome gift. Players have calculated that the freebie should be enough to add around six Prestige Levels in a character's Bloodweb.

Behaviour has revealed a massive amount of incoming content in its 10th anniversary stream, including new licensed characters, new original characters, visual reworks, a new map, and plenty more. The studio is investing in the 10 year old game for the long haul, warning players not to hold out for a sequel.

Players have until July 16 to redeem their free Bloodpoints using the code DBD10BIRTHDAY. Dead By Daylight is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.

Dead by Daylight turns 10 years old today, June 14. The asymmetrical horror multiplayer game has been leading the pack since its debut, helping popularize the genre that has grown into a (haunted) cottage industry over the course of that decade. What began as a 4v1 game of horror-movie homages has grown into a horror museum of sorts, playing host to dozens of licensed collaborations with iconic horror staples like A Nightmare on Elm Street, Ringu, and The Walking Dead, as well as many striking original characters. 

Ahead of DBD's anniversary celebration, I caught up with some members of the Behaviour Interactive team to discuss all they've revealed today, which includes things like a new liminal-space map, overhauls to both gameplay and visuals, and a zombie mode. But one thing not in the works, the team told me, is Dead by Daylight 2. 

"We think the answer is 'no,'" executive producer Jose Ramos told me. "Of course, you never say never about anything, but we are confident that the answer is no. [We're] making sure that we're expanding our efforts in order to reinvest in the game where it deserves to have strong investment being done. [We want to] make sure that we have a team that has time to think about DBD, and which doesn't have to run, run, run, because running a live-service game is tough, right? The content cadence, etc.

"So we are making sure that those teams have time to breathe, have time to think, that they can take the time to design properly, and build the technical foundations that are going to offer them more tools and more possibilities. If we were ever to create a DBD 2, it will play differently, for sure. It will be different, it will feel different, and that's not something that we really want--for our players to just lose that feeling of home."

Instead of a sequel, Behaviour Interactive feels it can just keep growing DBD itself, so players never have to start over.

Building on a game now a decade old does come with limitations, but creative director Dave Richard says the team doesn't take DBD's success for granted, and in lieu of a sequel, the team would sooner look to add new game modes to DBD as well as new games within the DBD universe that aren't a sequel. 

"Oh, there's a challenge that comes with it, but we're grateful to have it. It's so precious, so it's not something that's holding us to the ground; it's helping us reach these new places. I would imagine a Dead by Daylight universe game that's not DBD 2, but that is something completely different that can live within this universe rather than doing a sequel," Richard continued. "And then in the Dead by Daylight ecosystem that exists right now, the core game can scale and become multiple other scenarios and multiple other ways to play inside that universe without us having to ever request the players buy DBD again, start from scratch, reinvest their time. We want to respect that, and [DBD's foundation] doesn't stop us from doing anything really."

Behaviour revealed a lot more about its trailblazing horror multiplayer game during a 10th-anniversary stream. You can see everything announced for Dead by Daylight here, as well as learn why DBD has gotten more violent over the years.

Dead by Daylight is now 10 years old and has been played by 70 million players worldwide, making it one of the older and most successful live-service games--and horror games--ever made. It's changed a lot over those years, but one change you may have noticed is in its depictions of violence. 

The game has gotten more graphic over time, the game's creative director Dave Richard explained to me. It's been a conscious decision by the team, and he explained how pop culture's increased interest in horror led to it.

"When we started Dead by Daylight, we wanted to be as accessible as possible. We've talked of other games like Outlast, for example, and you know, [Outlast developer Red Barrels] are our neighbors. We love them, but we wanted DBD to be scary, thrilling, but also accessible to more people, so that subjects that are too disgusting, or too violent, or, you know, too horror, would not be part of Dead by Daylight, so that we get as many people as possible. 

"But today we're revising this level, and we've been doing it through the years, raising the volume a little bit more every year. With the horror renewal and people getting into [ the genre more], it's like, they want more. They're not as sensitive to it than in previous years, and so I think it's part of our normal evolution that we get, more gory, more violent, and you can see that in the [kill animations called] moris, the moris is in the early days [versus] the moris today."

Richard said horror is "more interacted with and celebrated today than it was, you know, 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago. As a horror fan, I'm sure you share the feeling. It's just awesome to see, and it's really, really inspiring."

The violence "volume" being turned up suits DBD's future well, as Behaviour has recently revealed a great number of changes coming to the game, including a collab with the Terrifier franchise, which is well known for its especially unflinching violence. You can read about everything new coming to Dead by Daylight, and why there's likely never to be a Dead by Daylight 2.

Dead by Daylight turns 10 years old today, and for its anniversary, the team at Behaviour Interactive has announced a ton of things coming to the game, both in the short and long term. We've rounded up all of those announcements in one place in case you missed the stream, and you can find that stream below, too. Combined with those announcements are additional insights from my recent interview with the team ahead of the anniversary showcase. Here's everything DBD fans need to know about what's coming to the game.

New killers: Jason Voorhees, Art the Clown, and Frank Stone

This one was actually previously announced, but the studio showed off more about Jason, who comes to the game on June 16 as its latest crossover killer. Executive producer Jose Ramos told me in a pre-stream interview that the conversation about finally bringing Jason to DBD "accelerated in the past couple of years," after the license was in limbo due to a well-documented Hollywood legal feud.

Jason's kit includes an ability that lets him quickly phase from one area of the map to another, meant to mimic the slasher's way of almost magically appearing in front of his near-future victims.

Additionally, DBD is crossing over with Terrifier, the ultra-violent indie horror series starring Art the Clown. This collaboration will follow later this year, as the team told me it likes to do four chapters annually, with half of them being licensed crossovers. Look for Art's unforgettable face to pop up in DBD this November.

In 2027, Frank Stone, the killer at the heart of DBD lore and the focus of Supermassive's DBD spin-off game, The Casting of Frank Stone, will also come to the game.

Chorus of Sin, a "community-driven" chapter, is coming on August 25, too.

New survivor: Shane Wiigwaas

DBD is also adding its first indigenous character. That character, Shane, was molded into form thanks to a "very, very precious collab" with a representative of the Anishinaabe tribe who helped Behaviour forge who Shane is "for specifically this community," creative director Dave Richard told me.

Shane will come to the game as part of DBD's next chapter, The Life Road, on June 25.

New map: mall

A new map is coming soon in the form of a mall that appeals to two of the most requested aesthetics players have clamored for. Ramos explained to me how the mall came to be. 

"Every quarter, we run a survey and we open it to the community in game and on social media, and each time we have more than 100,000 respondents. [One] of our questions recently was about our map strategy, like, what are the themes that you would love to see eventually come into the game? And when we did that survey, number one was a mall, that's the one thing they wanted to see. Number two was Backrooms." The mall map is meant to appeal to both those who requested it specifically and those who wanted a liminal-space experience in DBD. Based on my Instagram algorithm, that's a perfectly reasonable fit. 

Though Ramos noted that the map is not a true Backrooms-like maze of shifting, yellow corridors, neither as a collab nor a specific homage, it is meant to capture the vibe of liminal horror much as Backrooms content does. Richard also noted that, though the map is coming soon, it following on the heels of the Backrooms movie is merely a coincidence. 

New collabs and cosmetics

In addition to the two new licensed killers coming to DBD, more cosmetics, including some other licensed crossovers, are on their way. This includes The Walking Dead outfits for the Rick Grimes survivor that will make him look like Glenn or Negan. 

Cheryl from Silent Hill will also get a new look that transforms her into Silent Hill f's Shimizu Hinako, and The Spirit will get a new alternate skin that turns her into a nurse from Silent Hill.

Even more cosmetics will tie into things like Scooby-Doo survivor characters and Diablo clothing options, introducing those series into DBD for the first time, while The Huntress killer will get a new alternate style tied to Iron Maiden. Intriguingly, Ice Nine Kills, a band already represented in the upcoming Halloween game, will get its own cosmetics collection in DBD, too. 

New game modes

Though the team isn't rolling out anything quite yet, it mentioned that a zombie mode is one of several ways DBD may change over time. Since Behaviour has no plans for a Dead by Daylight sequel, it prefers to grow DBD into new experiences over time. Ramos expanded on the team's thinking in this realm.

"We feel like we have barely scratched the surface of what [DBD] can be in terms of experiences, and bringing gameplay innovation, bringing new modes, is actually one of the core things that we want to bring in the future." 

He mentioned a few specifically, like a 1v1 experience and a zombie mode, adding that these experiences are "just the beginning. We want to keep exploring game modes and options. We like the asymmetry, so usually speaking, we like to keep exploring that aspect, but there is so much we can do. So, of course, 4v1 is a staple, and we don't want to put it on the side, or whatever. It is the staple of what we do, and it is a core experience, but bringing in new modes, exploring new things, which potentially could be a good fit with new types of collaborations, as well, absolutely, 100% is something that is going to happen."

Ramos added that some of these things will take a while, but the team is sharing them sooner as part of a revised approach to transparency with the core DBD players, specifying that though things like the mall and several new characters will arrive before the end of the year, something like zombie mode is "probably years away."

Maybe most exciting of all is that DBD will be getting a new set of modding tools for the community to create custom content like their own maps and modes. These tools are meant to debut in 2027.

Revamped onboarding and visuals

In the absence of any sequel plans, the team knows it has to manage DBD to keep it appealing to players for many more years to come. To that end, DBD will be getting a visual overhaul, with new attention paid to character models, map details, and other aspects of the game's look.

This fresh coat of paint is targeting 2027 and will alter the minimum and recommended PC specs, though the team didn't have specific benchmarks to share just yet. 

Additionally, the team says it understands that new players can sometimes feel overwhelmed by all there is to learn about the game when they're trying to catch up with the entrenched community. Behaviour is actively exploring ways to improve onboarding for new players, with Richard noting that the task is "one hell of a challenge." He said the game needs to better communicate that it can be fun well before players reach a mastery level, as some high-level streamers may showcase, and the team is approaching this in a few ways.

"There's obviously the first-time user experience. The 'here's what the game is about, here's what you should expect.' You know, expect that it's about the chaos, as well, that it's ever-changing, that it's about the horror, and you know, not necessarily about winning by killing everybody or escaping all the time, so how to find the fun in the game. 

"And then through other steps in the future, through changes in the progression, to changes in how the perks are designed, and how we will transform the game, so that its density becomes more manageable."

Ramos added that one small step the team is taking as part of the bigger plan is to add something called the gameplay showcase, which will act as a way for players to see how killers' special abilities work in the menus before they jump into a game, removing the current issue of players needing to jump in cold and test them out in a live environment to understand how they work.

Dead by Daylight movie

The previously revealed DBD movie has officially landed its director, as the team announced Thordur Palsson will helm the project, with a script from Alexandre Aja and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. Palsson previously worked on horror movies such as The Damned, 

Johnson-McGoldrick and Aja also come from a horror background, with the former having penned The Conjuring 2 and the latter working on things like High Tension and the remake of The Hills Have Eyes.

For more on my deep dive with the DBD team, you can read why there may never be a Dead by Daylight sequel, and why DBD has gotten more violent over its 10 years.

Earlier this month, GameStop disclosed that it achieved the highest profit in the company's history during the first quarter of its latest fiscal year. Now, GameStop appears to be taking further steps to cut costs by reportedly making significant changes to its Pro Membership rewards program.

According to Kotaku, new GameStop Pro members will no longer be able to earn Pro Points starting on July 15. Current Pro members are only getting a temporary reprieve until August 15. On that date, members will stop accruing Pro Points.

Prior to these changes, GameStop Pro members could earn roughly 2% of their total purchases in points, which they could redeem for games or other merchandise at a later date.

On Reddit, some GameStop employees are calling out the decision to take away the Pro Points and suggesting that they should collectively stop trying to upsell Pro Membership to customers. Their apparent disdain for this decision probably won't deter GameStop from going ahead with these changes.

GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen has been in the news recently because of his intention to buy eBay even though his company lacks the resources or the full financial backing to purchase the online auction house. In response to Cohen's plans, eBay rejected his overture and described it as neither “credible nor attractive.” Cohen could still attempt a hostile takeover by appealing directly to eBay stockholders, but he has yet to do so.