Sony is set to reveal the next batch of games coming to the Game Catalog for PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium in August, but we already know of one of them: Helldivers 2.

Developer Arrowhead announced that its hit action game about bringing Managed Democracy to other worlds will be available through the Game Catalog starting August 12. An influx of fresh recruits is perfect timing, as the Helldivers 2 community is being challenged to collectively eliminate 500 million enemies by August 18 to unlock four Helldiver PlayStation avatars. Today also marks the release of a new expansion within the co-op shooter, Devoid of Liberty.

This new content will see players venture into the haunted abyss of the Void to destroy Illuminate spires and gateways, exterminate new threats, and gain new ranks along the way.

As usual, the new titles will be added to the Game Catalog every few days throughout the month.

PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium Games for August 2026 Helldivers 2

• Helldivers 2 (PS5)
• More to be announced soon

PlayStation Plus Premium PS Classics

• To be announced soon

As a reminder, nine games will exit PlayStation Plus on August 18. Time is running out, so if you haven't checked out Dead Island 2, Harold Halibut, or Unicorn Overlord yet, you only have a few more days left to do so. You can also grab three games right now through any tier of PlayStation Plus--Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, For the King 2, and CrossCode.

Sony has announced a new State of Play broadcast for next week, and this time, the spotlight is on Phantom Blade Zero. Kicking off on August 17 at 7 PM PT / 10 PM ET, Sony says that viewers can expect a deep dive into the game ahead of its release on October 29. To set the stage, a new preorder trailer for the game was shown off, revealing action movie legend Donnie Yen and the role he played behind the scenes of the game.

While Yen provided the likeness and motion capture for the character Mó Yuan, the father of Phantom Blade Zero's protagonist, he has also served as a creative consultant on the game since 2023, according to developer S-Game. If you're unfamiliar with him, Yen has cemented his status as an icon of cinema with his hard-hitting action movies and slick choreography in projects like Kill Zone, Iron Monkey, Blade 2, and the Ip Man series.

https://youtu.be/aOU7KOPGVYU

S-Game added that the State of Play livestream will introduce new characters from the game, as well as a closer look at the buildcrafting that players can utilize to fine-tune their approach to combat. If you're planning to watch, you'll probably want to switch the comments off, as virtually every Sony platform has been besieged by angry comments demanding that the company reverse its decision to end game disc production in 2028. While the backlash to the move has been mostly negative, Sony is still committed to an all-digital future for game releases on PlayStation hardware.

Originally scheduled to launch on September 9, Phantom Blade Zero was delayed to October instead--most likely a safer move, given the sheer number of high-profile games out next month. Inspired by Chinese Wuxia action movies, the game features fast-paced combat and an imaginative dark fantasy aesthetic.

The Elder Scrolls 6 is one of Microsoft's biggest upcoming games, but it remains largely a mystery, despite being announced more than eight years ago. Today, August 11, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma provided an update on it, saying she witnessed a "live playthrough" of the game. She also teased the game's subtitle, or at least that's what it seems like.

"The scale and grandeur are incredible. The story is even greater," she said.

Those are buzzwords that do not mean much of anything. More intriguingly, Sharma included asterisks in her post that suggest she's referring to the game's subtitle. Her post used eight characters, and people are theorizing as to what it could be, if that is indeed what she is teasing in the first place.

The Elder Scrolls 6 is indeed likely to have a subtitle, as all previous games in the main series also did. These include The Elder Scrolls: Arena, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

https://twitter.com/asha_shar/status/2087258678000779664

In July, Bethesda provided an update on The Elder Scrolls 6, saying it understands "it's been a very long wait for the sequel."

"The next chapter is on the way. We’re where we planned to be, loving how it looks, and playing it every day," the studio explained.

This statement came after the mass layoffs and upheaval at Xbox related to the "reset" of the business. The layoffs hit Bethesda as well, and staff at the studio said they fear further delays for The Elder Scrolls 6 and have expressed concerns about the "crushing effect on morale" related to the layoffs.

The Elder Scrolls 6 is one of multiple new games in the works at Bethesda and its supporting teams. Some of the others include remasters of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, while Obsidian is working on some other new Fallout game. Fallout 5 is also in the works.

The head of No Man's Sky developer Hello Games, Sean Murray, has said it would be a bad idea for his mental health to think about how much money the studio could have made by charging for the game's various expansions or by selling microtransactions.

"I'm sure somebody could take me aside, take me into a room and show me some PowerPoint and show me that we could have made more money if we had done in-app purchase or, you know, if we had done DLC or something like that," Murray told GamesRadar. "'And maybe that would be true. I never want to see that PowerPoint."

Murray and the team decided against this, though, because the studio wanted players to have access to all of the post-release content together.

"What I know is that I really, really enjoy--and I think the team really gets a kick out of--working on an update and knowing that what I'm working on, everyone is going to experience this," he explained. "Every player that we have is going to experience this. And I think we really enjoy the journey, and the journey is only possible because every update compounds."

He went on to say that a feature like the Xeno Arena, a turn-based creature-battle mode, would not work "if you're fragmenting your audience."

"It's a big part of our motivation, what gets us out of bed in the morning," Murray said. "So it doesn't matter if it's not the most commercially efficient thing that we can do. I think what matters is that it makes us still excited about working on it 10 years out."

No Man's Sky recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, and Murray separately said players have only discovered 1% of the game's world, even now.

Hello Games is now working on a new game called Light No Fire, an ambitious-looking game with dragons; it has no release date yet.

EA and Battlefield Studios have released a new trailer for Battlefield 6 that shows off the upcoming fan-favorite map Wake Island, which arrives on August 18 alongside a Top Gun-themed crossover event.

Wake Island, which first appeared in Battlefield 1942, is inspired by the real-life Wake Atoll in the Pacific ocean where a World War II battle took place, and it's among the most beloved Battlefield maps ever.

The newest version of the map for Battlefield 6 looks pretty incredible, at least based on the newly released gameplay footage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4tHPByfAZk

EA said Wake Island was "rebuilt" for Battlefield 6, and that includes a stronger focus on naval warfare, along with updates to the land- and air-based combat.

The new update for Battlefield 6 coming on August 18 also adds the F/A-81F Super Spectre and F-74A Seacat two-seat jets, bringing back a feature not seen since Battlefield 2 some 21 years ago.

Three characters from Top Gun are coming to Battlefield 6 in the update, and they are voiced by their original actors. These include Lt. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller), Lt. Robert “Bob” Floyd (Lewis Pullman), and Adm. Solomon “Warlock” Bates (Charles Parnell). The game will also get Top Gun-inspired cosmetics.

Battlefield 6 was also in the news recently after the game's successful launch helped EA CEO get a higher bonus. EA also laid off a number of developers who helped make Battlefield 6 a major success, and now the franchise is owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund by way of its buyout of EA.

Halo Campaign Evolved is a celebration of the franchise, but not many people are attending that party. New estimates peg sales at 1.2 million copies sold across PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5 so far, around $67 million in revenue, which isn't the best start for this remake of the original Halo campaign. Also available via Xbox Game Pass, the game is estimated to have 2.1 million players through the subscription service.

According to Alinea Analytics' head of market analysis, Rhys Elliott, there are several reasons for this. Sales are split almost down the middle between Xbox Series X|S and PS5 at 42% and 41%, respectively, while Steam accounts for 17% of sales. This is up from its launch-week sales, but not by much. So what's the reason behind the lukewarm sales of the classic first-person shooter, which has gotten a new coat of paint and some fine-tuning under the gameplay hood?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LimYD3Ycwo

As Elliott noted, Halo: Campaign Evolved's biggest competition on PC might be another Halo--specifically, Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The Halo game compilation offers better value for money and includes Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, a 2015 remake that's pretty solid in its own right. Throw in options for multiplayer and more Halo games to the mix, and the $40 price tag makes it a much more tempting offer compared to the $50 required for Halo: Campaign Evolved, which is more barebones in comparison. Shinier graphics, extra co-op missions, and the ability to sprint in that game just aren't enough, it seems.

"The price is too high for a port like this one, and the Halo brand--candidly--has lost a lot of cache, Elliot wrote. "A lot of Steam users already own Master Chief Collection--8.5 million copies sold on Steam, as per our estimates--which offers more content for less.

On PS5, Halo: Campaign Evolved is estimated to have sold 544,000 copies so far, neck and neck with Xbox despite the Sony platform having a larger userbase than its Microsoft rival. Elliot explained that while plenty of PS5 owners jumped in thanks to the nostalgia factor of Halo, sales were driven by an "older, nostalgia-driven crowd" that encompasses players who are roughly 32-40 years old. Many of these people were likely former Xbox 360 owners who had since moved to PlayStation hardware, but the game didn't make a big dent with a "fresh" PlayStation audience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woUnTCVv9JU

Shooters, remakes, and legacy-leaning titles still sell well on the platform, as the audience overlap skews heavily toward the late PS2, Xbox 360, and early PS4 eras, Elliot explained. While Halo: Campaign Evolved didn't achieve the same velocity as several other Xbox ports did on PlayStation, bringing the Master Chief Collection with its multiplayer suite to that platform would have "certainly" done better, Elliot wrote. "At the very least, if the rumored Halo 2 remake ships with online multiplayer, it’ll sell a great deal more, assuming it comes to PlayStation at all."

The co-creator of Halo and designer of Master Chief, Marcus Lehto, also shared his opinion on the remake recently, saying that he has a few issues with it but is generally happy with how it came out. Following the final update for Halo: Infinite in November 2025, Halo Studios has now begun work on new Halo projects.

Out of nowhere, the Embracer-owned Aspyr Media announced and released a new edition of The Lord of the Rings: War in the North today across PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC.

The game was originally released in 2011 for PS3, Xbox 360, Switch 2, and PC, but now it's available on the latest generation of consoles for $20 (or $18 through August 25) as part of a "Legacy" edition. The new version features online or local split-screen co-op and "optimized" solo play, though further specifics about the updates and upgrades were not detailed.

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

War in the North was originally developed by Snowblind Studios, which closed in 2012. The game takes place in Middle-earth, but doesn't adapt the books or movies. It does, however, feature characters and story details from J.R.R. Tolkien's books and Peter Jackson's movie series, following EA's own games that only had the rights to elements of Jackson's movies specifically.

The game has three different playable characters: the ranger Eradan, the elf Andriel, and the dwarf Farin. Players can swap between each during battle. The characters have their own unique skills and abilities, and players can upgrade them over time with new weapons and powers. The game also incorporates the franchise's iconic eagles, with players able to call in Beleram to fight.

Some of the characters players will meet in the game include Aragon, Gandalf, and Elrond, while the game also takes players to famous Middle-earth locations like Rivendell, Lorien, The Lonely Mountain, and Mirkwood.

The Lord of the Rings might be set for a revival for video games, as Embacer--which now owns the rights to the series--has teased a renaissance for The Lord of the Rings games in the future. Kingdom Come developer Warhorse is making a new The Lord of the Rings RPG, while Crystal Dynamics is said to be developing one as well. Both studios are owned by Embracer.

Nintendo might be preparing for a 40th celebration of The Legend of Zelda series, with Switch 2 possibly getting its first special-edition system based on the beloved franchise. A new leak on social media shows a Triforce decked-out Switch 2 dock, with what appears to be black and green Joy-Con 2 controllers decorated with flourishes of gold. 

The Centro LEAKS account on X posted two purported pictures of the Zelda-themed Switch 2 and Switch 2 Pro Controllers. Nintendo hasn't released any official statements about a new system or controller--let alone anything about a Zelda 40th-anniversary event. However, it's been common in the past for the company to bring out special Zelda consoles for new games in the franchise, such as the Tears of the Kingdom OLED Switch and Hyrule Edition Switch Lite that launched alongside Echoes of Wisdom. 

https://twitter.com/CentroLeaks/status/2087196417433485448

In June, Nintendo did unveil a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time that's set to come out later this year. That said, the leaked images above don't seem to tie into that upcoming game specifically. Instead, the supposed special-edition system and controller seem more similar to the gold Hyrule Edition Switch Lite. 

Switch 2 is still outpacing original Switch hardware sales, with over 23 million sold so far. That means Switch 2 has already passed lifetime sales of Wii U and Nintendo GameCube. A couple of months ago, Switch 2 celebrated its first birthday. 

Meanwhile, Sony has officially announced a special-edition PS5 Marvel's Wolverine system, along with other products. 

Best Zelda Games, Ranked – Where Does Echoes of Wisdom Fall? View Images

Supermassive Games has announced job cuts for "up to 75" people--marking the third straight year of significant layoffs at the studio. This latest round of reductions comes almost three months after the release of Directive 8020, the newest entry in The Dark Pictures horror anthology.

In a statement on X, Supermassive noted the firings were "a necessary step to help ensure the sustainability of the company." That's not the first time the Until Dawn developer has cited "sustainability" after layoffs, either. In 2024, there were reportedly 90 employees let go, with up to 150 positions at risk. Supermassive pointed to "continued sustainability of the company" in regard to those cuts. Then, in 2025, there were around 36 people laid off at Supermassive.

Nordisk Games acquired Supermassive in 2022 and also owns Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios as well as Metroid Dread developer MercurySteam. In the past year, Avalanche has closed down its Liverpool location, and MercurySteam has enacted a round of job cuts, too, according to GameDeveloper. 

Supermassive is probably best known for 2015's Until Dawn, though it wasn't behind the Until Dawn remake. In fact, Sony revealed Until Dawn 2 back in June, developed by Firesprite. Meanwhile, Supermassive took over development duties for Little Nightmares 3, after Tarsier made the first two games in that series.  

Supermassive’s Best Movie-Style Horror Games Ranked View Images

Take-Two, which owns Rockstar and Grand Theft Auto, is not interested in selling. The company's top boss, Strauss Zelnick, appeared on CNBC recently where he was asked if Take-Two's partnership with Netflix for the next GTA 6 trailer might be the first step toward a buyout. It is not, he said, adding that Take-Two is not interested in selling to anyone at the moment.

Zelnick pointed out that Take-Two has already "made a bunch of deals" with Netflix for distributing some of its games via Netflix Games. While some GTA games have been pulled from the Netflix Games library, subscribers can still play Red Dead Redemption via Netflix. Zelnick said Netflix, as a company, is all about increasing subscribers and making more money by releasing entertaining titles, and this could include more output in games. "So, it stands to reason that they would make their way into the business of games," Zelnick said.

GTA 6 is launching this November.

Asked if Netflix might move things along faster by making a big purchase of a gaming company, Zelnick said that's a question for Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters. Zelnick said Netflix, historically, has not done many "big acquisitions," instead preferring to grow organically.

Netflix famously announced a buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery, but it fell apart after Paramount swooped in with more cash and better terms. In terms of gaming buyouts, Netflix has done this with acquisitions of companies like Night School Studio, Next Games, Boss Fight, and Spry Fox, to name a few.

Netflix's efforts in the gaming space have not been totally smooth, of course, as previous management invested in AAA games and hired big names, before the company changed course and shifted focus to smaller-scale games.

As for Take-Two possibly selling itself, Zelnick said that's unlikely right now.

"I think we're very proud of the way we've built this company independently and we're now the largest pure-play that's public in the space worldwide," he said. "We expect to have over $8 billion in revenue this year. We generate profits year in, year out. I don't mean to imply that's easy or even predictable. We have to get up every morning and do it. But I think if anyone deserves to be an independent company, we do."

Take-Two currently trades at more than $250/share with a market cap north of $47 billion. The company remains public after some of its peers went private, with Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard and Saudi Arabia's PIF recently closing its deal for Electronic Arts.

Take-Two is poised for a big year, with GTA 6 launching in November on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Rockstar will finally show more of the game on August 27 via Netflix.

Job Simulator has long been one of the best reasons to own a VR headset, and it might be bringing the glory days of working behind a counter--or cubicle hell--to a flat screen near you. Homeworld: Vast Reaches developer FarBridge has announced Job Simulator: Human Relations, which will see up to four players work together to complete tasks during their virtual eight-hour shift, like competing for resources or surviving natural disasters to appease their robot overlords. While you won't be playing as squishy humans in this co-op chaos game, you will be piloting several robots attempting to navigate the human workplace.

The project is seeking crowdfunding to help make it a reality, as FarBridge has launched a Kickstarter campaign for it. If the studio successfully raises $150,000, the funds will be used to support the game's development. Backers can expect invites to private playtests, exclusive development, and VIP Discord access as they contribute to the game. An "employment package" starts at $10, and higher tiers will include a Steam copy of the completed game, in-game recognition, and an opportunity to design a JobBot face or corporate motivational poster. If stretch goals are met, the game will expand with additional disasters, customization options, jobs, and more.

https://youtu.be/xu--JYZ6RIY?si=lDzCaaJ5htxPBkQL

"Job Simulator has always been good at finding the joke in the everyday nonsense of work," FarBridge CEO and founder Patrick Curry said in a press statement. "With Job Simulator: Human Relations, we started wondering what that would look like if you had to deal with all of it alongside your friends. That idea opened up a lot of possibilities, and we don’t want to figure them all out behind closed doors. Kickstarter gives us a way to keep building the game with players involved from the beginning."

Owlchemy Labs CEOwl--no, really, that's their title--Andrew Eiche added that with Job Simulator turning 10 this year, the studio wanted to grow the cult-classic. FarBridge was a natural fit, given that they had already worked alongside Owlchemy on several projects and gelled with the developer's vibe. "They get our sense of humor, they understand how we build playful systems, and we trust them to bring that spirit to a new kind of experience for fans new and old," Eiche said.

If you haven't played it yet, Job Simulator is set in 2050 and casts you as a living exhibit in the Museum of Human Employment. Aiming to recreate human working conditions, robots have gleaned information from social media posts, corporate training videos, and toxic productivity gurus, resulting in an inaccurate nine-to-five environment. Your role in all this? Do your job and hit production goals while avoiding the chaos erupting around you, all so that you can earn some sweet promotions and gameplay perks.

Marvel's Wolverine launches next month, and to celebrate, Sony has revealed a new limited-edition PS5 console and controller design inspired by the game. Dubbed the Marvel’s Wolverine Battle Yellow Limited Edition Bundle and priced at $650, fans of the Marvel mutant can choose between a PS5 Digital Edition that comes with both a matching DualSense wireless controller and a download code for the game, or they can pick up the $75 console covers for their base model PS5 and the PS5 Pro. Sony says that these will be available through the PlayStation Direct store, as well as through select retailers starting September 15, the same day that Marvel's Wolverine launches.

https://youtu.be/9KDStKJtMZY

The design includes a striking yellow finish, as well as an illustration of Wolverine by Jock, the graphic artist who has worked on numerous comic books over the years and film projects like 2012's Dredd. His design includes exposed claw marks that reveal the PS5 console chassis, and the overall look is inspired by the "Battle Reborn" costume that Wolverine wears in the field. The $85 DualSense controller also ties into that aesthetic, and it will be available as a standalone purchase.

"I wanted to show Wolverine at his fiercest for Marvel’s Wolverine Limited Edition PS5 Console bundle and accessories. I still draw all my artwork traditionally, so the opportunity to marry cutting-edge hardware with the energy and looseness of hand-drawn ink is incredibly exciting. I’m stunned by how well the console and accessories captured the raw energy of the drawing, bringing Wolverine to life in a completely unique way."

If that design is a little too yellow for you, there's an alternate PS5 Pro console cover and DualSense controller that features the same illustration on a silver background, emulating the unbreakable adamantium that coats Wolverine's bones. It won't make your PS5 unbreakable since it's made out of plastic, so try to avoid stress-testing the cover.

Compared to the PS4 generation, Sony has released far fewer limited-edition PS5 consoles. Most of these designs have also been very underwhelming, with the Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Monster Hunter Wilds, and Ghost of Yotei editions being either very subtle with their designs or too flashy--with the sole exception being the classy PlayStation 30th anniversary PS5 consoles. In contrast, some of the limited-edition DualSense controllers featured incredible designs that perfectly balanced the unique identity of their video games with distinct designs. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Marathon, and Concord's DualSense controllers stood out from the pack, and it's a shame that those designs never made it to PS5 consoles.

Rockstar's GTA 6 is priced at $80 for the standard edition, but if you're a student who shops at Target and you meet certain eligibility requirements, you can potentially get the game for a nice discount.

Target Circle Students members can save 20% on the game's code-in-the-box version, bringing it down to $64 before taxes. Buying the game now via preordering also gets you perks like the Vintage Vice City Pack and a free month of GTA+. The deal was spotted by Wario64.

Target Circle is free. But to get the deal, you need to verify that you are actually a student, which involves submitting a school-issued document confirming enrollment.

Do that, and you should be eligible for the Target Circle Student offer on GTA 6 for either PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S.

GTA 6's $100 edition is not available in stores, so if you want that version, you have to pay full price for a digital copy.

Get GTA 6 at Target

GTA 6's $80 price point is fair for what's being offered, Take-Two has said. It's $10 more than the going rate for other AAA games, but one stock analyst believes Rockstar going with $80 may help encourage other developers to follow suit. It's also not the first high-profile $80 game, as Nintendo charges $80 for Mario Kart World.

For comparison, GTA 5’s base edition launched in 2013 at $60. That same amount of money in 2026 dollars would be more than $85 due to inflation.

GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. It's expected to be 2026's biggest hit and one of the most successful games ever.

Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick has acknowledged that the company could have charged more for Grand Theft Auto 6, but it declined to do so to ensure pricing felt fair. He also shared new insight into how GTA 6 preorders are going so far, saying they're skewing toward the $100 edition early on.

Speaking to CNBC, Zelnick said "most people" felt that Take-Two had a "great deal of pricing power" and could leverage the monumental demand for GTA 6 to charge a higher price to consumers. However, Zelnick said Take-Two decided against this based on its desire to deliver "way more value to the consumer than what we charged." He went on to say the company did not want the game's price point to be out of reach for people.

Prior to release, there were numerous headlines about how much GTA 6 might cost, with some saying it even deserved to be $100 based on what it's expected to offer. In the end, Take-Two and Rockstar settled on an $80 price for the standard edition and $100 for a premium version with many digital extras.

Some theorized that keeping the GTA 6 price point in the expected range was a deliberate decision to further drive adoption and funnel people into GTA Online, which makes a lot of money via microtransactions. To be sure, Rockstar has not yet said a peep about GTA 6's expected online mode, but it's a safe bet some kind of evolution of GTA Online for GTA 6 is coming.

For comparison, GTA 5's base edition launched in 2013 at $60. That same amount of money in 2026 dollars would be more than $85 due to inflation.

This car and outfits are preorder bonuses for GTA 6.

He said in the interview that GTA 6 preorders so far are "skewing more toward" the $100 edition. Zelnick said this makes sense because people who preorder games right away tend to be "the most avid" consumers who are less price-sensitive.

GTA 6 is a digital-only game, but there are reasons to preorder it. The game has multiple preorder bonuses for both editions of the game, including the Vintage Vice City Pack, which includes '80s-inspired content like a classic car, special outfits and hairstyles, an exclusive weapon pattern, and a free month of GTA+.

Also in the interview, Zelnick was asked if GTA 6 might get a price cut for the holidays. He said retailers are free to charge whatever they want, but he signaled that there will be no official price cut on GTA 6 for some time. "We preserved our pricing on GTA 5 for a very long time," he said, adding Rockstar is known to hold prices steady for longer than other games.

GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The game will be shown off in detail on August 27 via Netflix, and the event seems doomed.

Developer House House and publisher Panic announced today that their co-op multiplayer puzzle/exploration/goof-around game Big Walk has achieved huge sales success in just under a week. In a post on Bluesky, Panic announced that Big Walk has already passed over one million units in sales.

For small development teams and publishers, one million is a tremendous milestone--one that plenty of big commercial releases from major publishers often fail to reach. But we've seen a fair few massive indie hits in 2026 so far. Today the official X account of Ball X Pit posted that they've just crossed 2 million in sales while also teasing future content updates. Bizarre raising sim/RPG hybrid Mewgenics also crossed the million mark, reportedly earning back its development cost in a matter of mere hours.

https://twitter.com/BALLxPIT/status/2086869077469872285

Other indie darlings, such as ReStory and Mina the Hollower, have also trumpeted their sales figures--and while they hadn't hit the magic millions at the time of the posts, six-figure sales are certainly nothing to sneeze at for indie titles. And, of course, there are tremendous breakout hits like Meccha Chameleon, which has sold over 15 million copies--absolutely eclipsing the expectations of anyone, most of all its small development team in Japan.

These indie success stories are certainly feel-good moments in a sea of what seems like unrelenting bad industry news. However, it's easy to forget that indie development--and success--rarely comes easily. For every massive indie hit, there are hundreds of quality indie games yearning for success and recognition that go largely unnoticed, whose developers are praying for a hit so they can finally quit their day job. If there's a small game you love, be sure to spread the word--your voices are what can help turn a small passion project into a life-changing success.

Overwatch is making big changes to its battle pass as part of Season 4, with a new multi-track system that even gives players an option to swap out and replace a skin they don't want.

As explained in a new "Director's Take" blog post by Overwatch product director Chris McCabe, Blizzard said it recognizes that due to Overwatch's ever-expanding roster of 50+ heroes, not every battle pass will have rewards for the heroes a particular player is most excited about.

The solution Blizzard is introducing is to not only break the battle pass into smaller chunks so players can more quickly pursue the rewards that interest them the most, but also offer an option to change some of the rewards entirely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiIquLrEqC4

Starting in Season 4, players will be able to, once per premium battle pass purchase, "hack" a legendary skin at the end of a reward track and replace it with a "curated list of past Overwatch shop and loot box skins," McCabe said.

"So, if you're a Tank player who's not interested in the Damage and Support skins in your battle pass, you can use your Tier Hack to swap that Cassidy skin with one you'll appreciate more," McCabe said. "Perhaps a Legendary Reinhardt skin with more crayon and duct tape than chrome? Up to you."

The pool of skins that can be used to replace one from the battle pass will change every season, and will always include skins for heroes across all three of the game's roles. Season 4 will feature 12 legendary skins as part of the Tier Hack pool to choose from. 

This new Tier Hack system will go hand-in-hand with Overwatch's new "track"-based battle pass. Instead of one, linear, 80-tier list of rewards players need to unlock in order, the battle pass will be divided into six chunks. Players will need to complete a shorter introductory track for each season but can then choose to make progress towards any of the other five reward tracks. What track is active can be changed at any time. After all six tracks are complete, players will progress towards prestige titles and rewards as usual.

A look at Overwatch's new battle pass interface.

Blizzard's free-to-play hero shooter is hardly the first to employ this type of battle pass system. It's also been done in other live-service games like Call of Duty, Battlefield 6, and Blizzard's own Diablo 4, just to name a few, something Blizzard is more than aware of. McCabe said Blizzard isn't trying to reinvent the wheel, but give players more choice over what rewards to go for first. 

Despite the new track system and a UI/UX makeover, Blizzard made clear the number of rewards in the battle pass, and the amount of work required to make progress, isn't changing.

"Instead, our goal is to give you more control over what rewards you unlock, and in what order," McCabe said.

Overwatch Season 4 launches August 11, and alongside its battle pass changes, will introduce a new MEKA Tank hero, D.Mon, to the roster. In other Overwatch news, Blizzard announced last season that the game's newest core game mode, Stadium, would not receive new content going forward. Despite that news, Overwatch seems to be riding high of late overall, with a recent report attributing the shooter's recent success as a key reason for why Blizzard is now Xbox's top studio.

The removal of Rush from Battlefield 6 isn't going over well within the game's community, as developer Battlefield Studios confirms it's exploring ways to bring it back.

Playlists for the mode, along with several others like King of the Hill and Team Deathmatch, were removed with no real warning or fanfare from Battlefield 6 following its minor patch 1.4.1.5 update on August 4. The modes were also removed from custom searches, relegating the modes to Battlefield 6's Portal custom games.

According to the official Battlefield Comms social media account several days after the fact, developer Battlefield Studios said this was to "improve matchmaking quality by focusing players into the playlists seeing the most activity, creating more consistent matches that fill, and getting our players into the action faster."

https://x.com/BattlefieldComm/status/2085773140324761604?s=20

Rush has been a Battlefield staple for years, even if its implementation and smaller player-count matches in Battlefield 6 left something to be desired. But its removal entirely from official playlists has not been a popular decision, with players on the game's forums and Reddit reacting to the mode's removal with disbelief. One Steam player with close to 500 hours even allegedly went as far to request (and receive) a Battlefield 6 refund on Steam.

"Battlefield Studios, you don't get to remove the game modes I play and still keep my money," ExplorEverythingOnce said.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Battlefield/comments/1vi90wa/steam_just_fully_rfunded_me_for_battlefield_6/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=post_embed&utm_term=1&utm_content=1

Battlefield Studios, for its part, stated it recognizes that some of the removed modes are "community favorites, regardless of how often they're played," and is looking at ways to bring them back into matchmaking. 

"We're closely monitoring the impact of these playlist changes and will continue making adjustments where they're needed," Battlefield Studios said.

Battlefield 6's naval-combat themed Season 4 is currently in full swing, with the return of Wake Island and a Top Gun crossover scheduled to arrive August 18.

Out of all of Xbox's studios (of which there are admittedly fewer now following mass layoffs and studio divestitures), Blizzard is reportedly the "top performing."

That's according to a new report from Windows Central based on emails sent by Blizzard president Johanna Faries to staff last week. In the emails, Faries celebrated the studio's performance ahead of BlizzCon in September, an event she hopes will "serve as a powerful springboard into a new era of momentum and excitement."

Faries went on to state Blizzard ended the 2026 fiscal year as the "top-performing studio in Xbox's studios division, and this past year has marked our third highest fiscal for top line revenue in Blizzard's history." Faries doesn't elaborate on what exactly "top performing" means, but Blizzard saw its first consecutive years of growth since fiscal year 2017. Faries attributed the growth to two games specifically.

"Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred and Overwatch drove exceptional performance in particular, with Overwatch delivering its strongest quarter since 2022," Faries said.

Both Diablo 4 and Overwatch have certainly had big years, as did World of Warcraft, which also released a new expansion earlier this year. Diablo 4's latest expansion was well-received, even if its latest season seemed to take two steps back. Even Diablo 2: Resurrected, a remaster of a 26-year-old game, received new content in the form of the Reign of the Warlock DLC. Overwatch, meanwhile, underwent a transformation of its own earlier this year, when it dropped the "2" from its name and introduced five new heroes at once.

News that Blizzard is Xbox's top-performing studio of the last year isn't exactly a shock, especially considering the poor performance of last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. But it's a little surprising Blizzard hasn't been Xbox's top performer ever since Microsoft's acquisition of the studio back in 2023.

Not many studios are capable of operating multiple popular live-service games at once, and Blizzard has three big ones. Though WoW wasn't cited as a reason for growth, it alone has millions of players paying a monthly subscription fee, and both Overwatch and Diablo seem more popular (and more monetized) than ever. While one of Blizzard's games individually might not be able to compete toe-to-toe with juggernauts like Call of Duty or Minecraft, it's clear Blizzard's entire output combined is a powerful source of engagement and revenue for Microsoft.

As for what's next for Blizzard, BlizzCon is right around the corner on September 12-13, where there will no doubt be plenty of reveals about the future of Warcraft, Overwatch, and Diablo. Persistent rumors also point towards a new StarCraft game being revealed. Faries said last year 2026 will be Blizzard's "biggest year yet" and that she wants Blizzard to be the "best gaming and entertainment company in the world." This year's BlizzCon will "reflect that ambition in a bigger way," she said.

Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls launched last week, and its first patch is taking aim at the many technical teething issues on PC. Poor optimization appears to be one of the major issues, as many users online have reported it being demanding on their systems despite having moderate PC requirements.

"We've been working on a number of fixes and improvements aimed at reducing performance issues, improving stability, and addressing some specific problems," Arc System Works wrote in an update. According to the patch notes, Arc has several fixes to help reduce overall CPU usage, improve frame rates, and address several bugs in the fighting game. Addressing the performance drops specifically, Arc noted that unnecessary checks could be the culprit, and one of the issues it identified was one where the game would unnecessarily check for available audio inputs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBw6b8VGPxk&pp=0gcJCckLAYcqIYzv

Once the new patch has been installed, make yourself a fresh cup of your beverage of choice, as it'll be recommended for you to go through the lengthy shader compilation process. Here's the full list of patch notes:

PC Fixes

• Reduced CPU Usage
• Multiple fixes have been implemented to reduce overall CPU usage, including:
• An issue where the CPU ran high throughout the start-up process.
• An issue where additional load on the system was being created due to periodic audio processing during matches.

Sudden Performance Drops

• We identified an issue where the game was regularly checking for available audio inputs.
• These unnecessary checks could cause sudden frame drops and performance drops. This has now been addressed.

Frame Rate Drops

• Fixed an issue where the frame rate would drop when certain resolutions were selected.

Bug Fixes

Battle Settings

• Fixed an issue where restarting the game with certain customization items or colors enabled would cause the settings to revert to default.

Online Lobby

• Fixed an issue where changing how attack buttons were displayed to action icons resulted in some buttons becoming unresponsive during the open lobby mini games.

PC

Warm Up Those Shaders

• With the game being updated to the latest version, the PC version will prompt you to warm up the shaders. Do so now for a smoother experience.

Auto Graphics Quality Setting

• Improved auto spec detection to select a graphics profile that better fits your system.

While Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls has a high review aggregate of 88 on GameSpot's sister site Metacritic, user scores on Steam have been much lower. Many people have complained about the launch weekend issues hampering play, ranging from temperamental online lobbies to the mandatory PlayStation Network profile required for the PlayStation-published game.

If you're still planning to jump into the Marvel brawler--where performance on PS5 appears to be much smoother--you can check out GameSpot's guides, like our Marvel Tokon character tier list and how long it takes to beat the single-player campaign,

Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls Roster – Every Character Revealed (So Far) View Images

GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen might be ready to pull the plug on his ambitious plan to purchase eBay for $56 billion, a new report claims. Cohen--who came up with the plan while seated on his porcelain throne--had been pursuing the deal ever since it was announced, but eBay rejected the offer, saying it was “neither credible nor attractive.”

According to Bloomberg, Cohen is now considering a different strategy that would revolve around a partnership between eBay and GameStop to sell more collectible items like trading cards. GameStop has roughly 1,600 physical stores across the US, and Cohen has also spoken about creating a marketplace for digital gaming items through eBay. While eBay specializes in selling physical items like art and trading cards, Cohen added that video game in-game items were "massive," and eBay would be the perfect platform to sell them.

This is just one of several options available to GameStop, according to people familiar with the matter, but it has declined to comment about its future plans. While GameStop hasn't succeeded yet in acquiring eBay, it does have a 9.8% stake in the ecommerce platform. The original offer made to eBay's shareholders was to purchase each share for $125--50% in cash and 50% in GameStop stock--but where GameStop would get the money to finance this remains a mystery.

https://youtu.be/PeNclyAl9N4?si=cKAyYAHy66y1fOKw

GameStop has a market cap of around $12 billion, while eBay is currently valued at almost $54 billion. Cohen said that he could secure $20 billion in debt financing from TD Bank, while GameStop had $9 billion in cash that could be used toward the acquisition. The rest of the cash would come from outside sources, with Middle East sovereign wealth funds reportedly being one of the sources. Cohen originally stood to receive a pay package worth approximately $35 billion if the deal went through, but he canceled this plan.

"It's ultimately either going to be genius or totally, totally foolish," Cohen said earlier this year. “There are a lot of diamonds in the rough … that have sleepy management teams. I didn’t fix GameStop to stop there.”

If he succeeded in purchasing eBay, Cohen said in previous comments that he'd follow his GameStop business playbook by cutting costs and expanding into live commerce further. This is something that eBay does offer through eBay Live, livestreams hosted on the site where sellers promote their products to potential consumers--similar to an old-school after-hours live infomercial.