Games Done Quick is best known for its feel-good moments like a dog hitting a walk-off home run in a baseball video game while raising money for charity. However, this year's Summer Games Done Quick charity stream ran into controversy after GDQ announced a sponsored stream with SNK only to cancel it shortly thereafter due to players angered over the latter's ties to Saudi Arabia.

On Sunday, July 12, SGDQ announced it was partnering with SNK to stream a sponsored speedrun of Metal Slug in support of the franchise's 30th anniversary.

https://twitter.com/GamesDoneQuick/status/2076394968633975242

Under three hours later, GDQ reversed course and announced the cancellation of the stream citing "concerns from our community regarding this partnership, specifically the company’s majority ownership by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, and the human rights concerns tied to the Saudi government."

In subsequent posts, GDQ apologized to the streaming host and speed runners and pledged that it wouldn't accept any future sponsorships from SNK. The organization also reiterated its support for human rights and inclusivity before promising to "review and strengthen our process for evaluating future sponsors and partners, including closer examination of companies' ownership, to make sure they're aligned with our values."

Saudi Arabia already has a deep footprint in the gaming realm, including the developer of Pokemon Go. However, the biggest Saudi deal is the still in-progress $55 billion buyout for control of EA, one of the biggest video game publishers in the world. Video game unions have come out against the EA sale, and Saudi Arabia's involvement has also drawn the scrutiny of the U.S. Senate over potential "foreign influence." Regardless, the EA buyout is likely to receive approval even though players continue to protest against it.

EA Sports has announced that it has removed the CFB 27 microtransaction system that people hated from the get-go. In a statement, EA said, "We will remove all paid progression options from Road to Glory and Online dynasty."

For anyone just catching up, CFB 27 launched with a microtransaction system that allowed players to pay real money to instantly improve their coach or athlete in the Online Dynasty and Road to Glory modes. Alternatively, players could grind for this, but the effort would be substantial.

CFB 27 has done away with its most controversial MTX options.

It's also notable because Online Dynasty and Road to Glory were two modes that were largely untouched by microtransactions until this year. People mobilized a boycott of the pay-to-level options, and the #CFBPlayDontPay hashtag trended on social media. People on Reddit also said they would skip the game because this new in-game-purchase scheme has rubbed them the wrong way. 

EA said an "unfortunate side effect" of the removal of paid progression in the two modes is that some people will be left with a College Point balance and this balance cannot be applied to Road to Glory or Online Dynasty because of the removal of the paid progression systems. Unspent College Points can be spent in Ultimate Team or other elements of the game, however.

EA communicated the change to players on the evening of July 10, with the removal of the paid progression system being implemented on the morning of July 11. EA encouraged people to spend the points while they could, but there was not much time to do so.

"Your feedback on Road to Glory and Dynasty is that we've missed the mark with the introduction of paid progression options. This was added independent of deeper mode progression with the aim to give players more choice, but what you've said is that they're not adding the value we intended," EA said.

Also in the statement, EA said it will attempt to provide "greater transparency and communication" with the live-service plans for next year's game, CFB 28.

"We love this game. We love this community. We love college football," EA said.

While the paid progression microtransactions are now gone from CFB 27, the game still has microtransactions for the popular Ultimate Team mode. EA sells points in bundles that range from $5 to $150.

EA has offered paid progression systems before, as multiple Battlefield games have offered plays "Shortcut" bundles that instantly unlock all weapons, gadgets, and vehicle upgrades without having to grind to unlock them.

EA is in the process of selling itself to a group of investors led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. The $55 billion deal is structured as a leverage buyout (LBO), and it's the largest LBO in history for any market category. The deal comes with billions in debt, and many believe EA will make massive cuts to service the debt.

The first two Call of Duty: Black Ops games have launched on PS5 and PS4, but they're not exactly the remasters that fans were expecting. Both games feature a high price considering their age--$40 each--while their respective DLC packs are being sold as optional extras, an odd move considering how most remasters include that content to sweeten the deal. To make things worse, it looks like the technical presentation isn't much to write home about either, as the PlayStation ports feature barely any noticeable improvements at all.

According to Digital Foundry, Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 have been updated to run at 1080p on PS5 and PS4, and that's it. No option for a 4K resolution on PS5 or the opportunity to push the framerate to 120Hz, no improved shadows or lighting, and no quality-of-life updates like you'd find in modern Call of Duty games at all. In comparison, the original Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 games get the resolution bump for free on Xbox Series X|S through the console's backwards compatibility program, while PC gamers have been creating custom mods for years now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUdEf79y7jw

As mentioned above, each remaster is being sold for $40, and their map packs cost $30 each. That's $70 per game, but it is worth mentioning that Activision is offering a discount to PlayStation Plus subscribers, dropping the price to $20 per game and $10 per map pack. Still, paying $60 per complete edition of a game is expensive, especially when they aren't that much of an improvement compared to the original titles.

"For a native PS5 title and a somewhat high-profile port, this is a deeply odd state of affairs. Even the game's obvious visual blemishes are preserved: shadow quality was necessarily poor back in the day, but why preserve that problem in the present day when so much more graphics horsepower is available?" Digital Foundry wrote.

Meanwhile, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 was recently revealed and will be out later this year. Unlike the 2024 and 2025 games, Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7, Modern Warfare 4 will not be available on Game Pass at launch, and Activision is busy reminding players in ads for the game. Modern Warfare 4 will launch for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch 2 on October 23.

The Outer Worlds 2 game director and 20-year Obsidian Entertainment veteran Brandon Adler has reacted to Microsoft's recent mass layoffs at Xbox and other notable changes, which included the reported cancellation of Avowed 2.

Adler, who is the current game director on an unannounced project at Obsidian, said it was an "extremely difficult week at Obsidian" after the layoffs were announced on July 6. "Not only have I had to say goodbye to some amazing game developers, but I've had to say goodbye to some of my best friends. I truly feel for every one of them. Know that if you are looking to hire one of these former Obsidian devs, you are hiring some of the best people around--both professionally and personally," he said.

Something that made recent days more challenging, Adler said, was how "a bunch of cold take artists" commented on "what Obsidian is what it isn't," he said.

Specifically, Adler said he takes issue with people commenting on how Obsidian "isn't who they used to be" or that the company's DNA has changed.

"Most of the time they are not just wrong, but spreading an enormous amount of misinformation," he said. "In most circumstances, the people in lead or director roles are the same people that worked on games like The Outer Worlds, Pillars of Eternity, and New Vegas. Like, literally the same people. The through line from KotOR2 to our current games is pretty clear."

Obsidian is "of course not" the same as it was 20 years ago, Adler admitted, and that's because in life, "nothing stays the same." However, Adler maintains that "the DNA at Obsidian is the same was it always was."

The same studio DNA that led to popular and well-received games like Knights of the Old Republic, Fallout: New Vegas, Neverwinter Nights 2, and South Park: The Stick of Truth remains intact, he said.

"I'm extremely proud of our history and I am also excited for who we have become," he said. "Just remember, when you are seeing people spouting off about Obsidian, running their mouths about who we are now vs. what we were then, you are listening to someone crow about something with zero insight into how a game is made and who contributed to our previous games."

Adler started at Obsidian in January 2006 after spending four years in the United States Air Force where he served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom as a senior airman. His first gig at Obsidian was a QA tester for Neverwinter Nights 2. He then became an associate producer on Alpha Protocol and later on New Vegas and The Stick of Truth.

He left Obsidian in March 2012 to join MEDL Mobile, where he worked on mobile games and apps. He returned to Obsidian in June 2013 to become lead producer on Pillars of Eternity. He was the gameplay design director on Avowed and then became game director on The Outer Worlds 2 with Leonard Boyarsky.

The layoffs at Obsidian reportedly went deep, with 25% of staff losing their jobs. A planned Avowed sequel was said to have been canceled, with Obsidian shifting focus instead to a new Fallout game from New Vegas director Josh Sawyer.

The annual TennoCon event was held on the weekend, and once again, developer Digital Extremes had plenty of announcements regarding its two games, Warframe and Soulframe. The highlight was an extended look at Warframe's Tau expansion, followed by a closer look at Soulframe's new narrative questline and player-requested content like mounts. In case you missed it, you can catch up on all the reveals from TennoCon 2026 below.

Warframe: Tau https://youtu.be/bRxDf7gu97g

The headliner for Tennocon this year was the new look at Warframe: Tau, the next major Narrative Chapter in the game. Players will get to explore a new Star Chart, the Tau System, and uncover the mystery of the Sentient ring city of Fornax. Amidst a constant downpour of black rain and infighting between criminal factions, a ruthless crime boss known as The Hunra reigns supreme and will need to be removed from the picture. The new expansion launches later this year.

New challenges require a new Warframe

As you'd expect, taking down a deadly network of smugglers and enforcers is no small feat, and players can equip a new Chimera Warframe, called Brysko. A sentient Warframe that looks like it came straight out of a hard-boiled detective mystery--and voiced by Critical Role's Matthew Mercer--Brysko's arsenal includes brass knuckle attacks, explosive playing cards, and an Exalted revolver magnum known as the Corecracker.

Warframe gets its first card minigame, Portau.

When you're not blasting gangsters, you can kick back with a round of Portau. Billed as a "sentient" card game, Portau blends the rules of poker with its own suite of Blooms, Cores, Moons, and Suns.

New enemies rise up

Alongside the new Environment of Fornax that features high-end casinos, grimy shipping docks, and dilapidated slums, players can also take on the Fornax Drowners. Similar to the Sentients encountered within the Origin System, they've evolved into a deadlier form, and they'll put your Warframes to the test.

Warframe is teaming up with Fortnite

From one free-to-play game to another, Fortnite players can now purchase the Excalibur outfit, an in-game cosmetic. If you've purchased certain eligible items, you'll also get the cosmetic skin as a freebie.

Updates aplenty in Warframe

Ahead of the launch of Tau, Warframe players can look forward to several updates. Iceblade of Narin adds a new story quest, location, an ice-elemental Warframe, and a customizable Orokin vessel for their journey to the Tau galaxy. The major update will also rework several Warframes and make them more powerful than ever thanks to a range of Deluxe and Prime variants, gameplay is also being overhauled, and there'll be new Nightwave missions to jump into. 

Soulframe recruits some Expedition 33 talent for its narrative. https://youtu.be/WiGRu3SQ-ZY

While the fantasy-themed world of Soulframe is still in its alpha stage of development, Digital Extremes did show off more of the game and the features that'll make it feel both distinct and complementary to Warframe. Set in a world of high fantasy, the new trailer showed off the creeping blight threatening the world of Soulframe, and Digital Extremes also teased the new Warsongs missions. This questline is out later this year, and it'll provide plenty of exposition and plot beats that set up the main campaign of Soulframe. The new arc also features the talents of actors Ben Starr as the new antagonist, Tempest Bayor, and Jennifer English as the player ally, Empress of Eidvel. If both of those names sound familiar, that's because the actors previously starred in Expedition 33.

Beyond Soulframe fleshing out its narrative even further, Digital Extremes will also continue to fine-tune the game with quality-of-life updates. Mounts are also coming to the game, alongside "Vegan Fishing" for some outdoor fun.

TennoCon 2027 already has a date

Next year's TennoCon event will be held roughly a year from now, July 16-17, 2027.

My Chemical Romance, the essential emo band of your teen years, played three headline shows at London's Wembley Stadium over the weekend, but one of them took a pause for vocalist Gerard Way to discuss Baldur's Gate 3.

Way noticed a fan's sign that read, "Have you ever played Baldur's Gate 3?" to which he responded, "No, I only ever played Baldur's Gate 1." He went on to add that he did play the Icewind Dale expansion, "But I just ran out of time."

https://www.tiktok.com/@katanaluciana/video/7661439271026396438?_r=1&_t=ZN-97yGCGsxQoA

Now, developer Larian Studios has responded to Way's revelation that he's not played the hit RPG. After initially posting on X, "What do you mean you haven't played the critically-acclaimed Dungeons and Dragons RPG, Baldur's Gate 3?" the studio went on to add, "There's a Baldur's Gate 3 code with your name on it if you fancy trying it."

https://twitter.com/larianstudios/status/2076633525164355679?s=20

So far, Gerard Way hasn't acknowledged the response from Larian, but given that it's one of the few games that received a rare 10/10 score in GameSpot's review, we'd wager that he should probably find the time to get acquainted with Astarion and co.

In the kart-racing genre, Mario Kart's reigns supreme. But the social media team behind Garfield Kart: Furious Racing and Garfield Kart 2: All You Can Drift didn't miss a chance to dunk on Nintendo's decision to sunset Mario Kart Tour this fall.

On X, the official account for Garfield Kart declared its superiority to Mario Kart because it "will not randomly kill your game license."

https://twitter.com/GarfieldKartX/status/2074947859644809275

While the Garfield Kart games are far behind Mario Kart in terms of popularity, the title characters do share a connection on the big screen. Guardians of the Galaxy's Chris Pratt is the voice of Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie and its sequel, while also portraying Garfield in the most recent animated film. That's about as close as these two franchises will come to a crossover short of another Smash Bros. sequel that may seek lasagna-craving felines for its roster.

Mario Kart Tour will be shut down on September 29, seven years after Nintendo began its push into mobile. Most of Nintendo's other mobile games from that era have also shut down, with a few exceptions including Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, and Pikmin Bloom.

On consoles, Mario Kart World is currently the best-selling game on Switch 2, and it dropped a new update earlier this month. Two additional Knockout Tour routes were included in that update, with at least six more routes slated to be added in future updates.

Since news broke of Microsoft's recent round of mass layoffs--which affected 1,600 people immediately and will reach double that number over the next year--a number of reports have claimed that mass approvals of foreign-worker visas were behind the decision. Now, Microsoft communications lead Frank X. Shaw has refuted what he calls "bad information."

In a Twitter post, Shaw said that while there are Microsoft workers using H-1B visas, they are "not specific to Xbox and represent a small percentage of Microsoft's overall workforce. And the majority of the roles impacted were not American roles."

https://twitter.com/fxshaw/status/2075637298046374135

"Recent workforce changes were made to restructure the Xbox business because it is not healthy. They were not made to replace employees with foreign workers," Shaw said.

Shaw's comments come after multiple conservative news outlets pointed out that Microsoft was approved for more than 2,200 H-1B visas this year. Fox News was told by Microsoft prior to publishing its story that H-1B employees were also among those affected by the layoffs.

The recent Xbox layoffs are among the biggest we've ever seen in the gaming industry. Alongside losing roughly 20% of the Xbox workforce, Microsoft also made the decision to separate from five studios. Two of these--Double Fine and Compulsion Games--will return to operating as independent studios. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs, meanwhile, are being sold to a currently unknown buyer, and Microsoft is currently reviewing options with Arkane for its sale or separation.

The studios that remain operational were still heavily impacted by the layoffs, however. Among the worst-hit, at least that we know of, was id Software, which lost roughly half its headcount just as it launched the latest Doom: The Dark Ages expansion.

Zeverland, the upcoming open-world zombie sim for PC, plays a lot like DayZ, but the team at Quantum Quirks has announced a major shift in the game's design following a closed alpha test. According to the studio, players wanted the PvPvE game to be an entirely cooperative PvE experience instead, so much so that the team is meeting the community's requests and turning Zeverland into exactly that. "You talked. We listened," the studio said on the Zeverland Steam page.

"We've decided to shift Zeverland from a pure [massive multiplayer online game] into a [buy-to-play], survival-crafting, co-op PvE game [...] After hearing from our community, we've confirmed: Zeverland is doubling down on cooperative PvE. Survive together. Build together. Explore together--not harm each other."

While such a change will fundamentally reshape the game's gameplay, Quantum Quirks isn't changing what most people call out when they first see Zeverland in action. The game's chibi-like art style is very eye-catching for a zombie survival sim, and it's not going anywhere. I've not seen a zombie game that looks like this before, though when I participated in the playtest recently, I came around to it quickly. While much of the game feels reminiscent of the games it's borrowing from, its standout aesthetic is a nice touch.

More than that, what I enjoyed most about my time with Zeverland is how much more forgiving it felt. As much as I love it, I've never quite gotten good at DayZ. I've never joined a particular server and really built on my progression for many hours at a time. I've always jumped into one that's open, messed about for some time, and probably eventually died from blood loss, starvation, or a player who wanted to loot my pockets. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hJ2YPMt38E

My early impression of Zeverland is that it'll be a bit less grueling for newcomers. In addition to the game switching to PvE, my hands-on time revealed that bicycles are abundant for easier, faster travel, and even cars often worked right away--so long as they had gas.

Beyond that, it has many of the key qualities I look for in games like it. The world is huge and desolate. Combat is nerve-racking, demanding I carefully avoid even just some scratches from the undead. Looting is exciting and instructive; I was constantly finding new crafting recipes and items that suggested there is a lot to learn, just in an environment that is not immediately, unrelentingly hostile the way I'm used to.

It's not a zombie game for kids; don't get me wrong. You might think the aesthetic and the game's more welcoming early hours mean it's going for a younger audience, but I don't think it is. It's still checking many of the same gameplay boxes that a game like Project Zomboid or State of Decay also target. It's just that it feels like the on-ramp to learning how to play Zeverland won't be nearly as treacherous as some of its inspirations have proven to be. 

I never get tired of playing the best zombie games. I'd likely have sunk some hours into Zeverland even with its previous PvPvE focus to see if it belongs in that conversation, but I definitely prefer the game's North Star now being PvE, and I'm looking forward to diving back into the game when its renewed focus is ready to see for myself.

The Rolling Stones, one of the most legendary rock bands of all time, are coming to Roblox. The band is launching an "immersive" new game inside Roblox today, July 10, but it's only going to be around for a short time.

The Stones are coming to Roblox's The Block virtual venue starting today and ending on July 17. The in-game event will feature "classic hits" and new songs from the band's Foreign Tongues album, which released on July 10.

As for the game, players are called on to work together to "save rock history" by defeating a mysterious force known as The Man, who went back in time to destroy rock and roll. "Stop The Man and bring back The Rolling Stones for the biggest music event ever," reads a line from the game's description.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiKjPE0xBY4

In the game, players will "progress through decades representing the band's eras" as they seek out and destroy "crystals" while famous Stones song play.

Finding and shattering the crystals "powers up a massive tongue-and-lips that releases a surge of rock and roll energy to disrupt each decade and unlock the next--culminating in a globally shared interactive performance that evolves based on community participation."

The Stones are just the latest rock band or musical artist to appear in Roblox, following Lil Nas X and Twenty One Pilots.

It's been tough times for Roblox Corp. of late, as the company's share price is down 30% this year. The dropoff is due in part to ongoing concerns about child safety, prompting lawsuits and other negative press. In response, Roblox rolled out new protections and other significant changes.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced launched on July 9, and the swashbuckling pirate adventure game got off to a great start. Vantage Studios, the new company in charge of the Assassin's Creed brand, announced today that Resynced sold more than 2 million copies in its first 24 hours. It hasn't been a total success story, however, and the negativity surrounding the game pertains to the usual culprit: microtransactions.

Beyond the strong sales and player numbers, Resynced is scoring well with critics, sitting at an impressive 84 on GameSpot sister site Metacritic. It's the most celebrated Assassin's Creed game since 2013 based on Metacritic scores.

The game also reached 99,451 concurrent players on Steam in the first day, setting a record for an Assassin's Creed game on Steam.

Resynced is off to a good start.

It hasn't been completely smooth sailing for Resynced, however, as players have taken issue with how there is $85's worth of microtransactions for the $60 game.

In a post on Steam, Ubisoft said it's aware of the feedback and "reading all of it." The studio said the add-on content that people can buy is "entirely optional." None of the extra content is a "requirement to enjoy or complete the game."

Eight out of the nine microtransaction items for Resynced are $10 cosmetic packs, including one that gives you a bright blue monkey with glowing eyes. There is also a $5 "Map Pack" that does not include any new maps, but instead gives players a special spyglass they can use to reveal collectibles that players would otherwise need to seek out and find on their own.

Ubisoft's games, including the Assassin's Creed series, are known for extensive microtransaction offerings. Numerous other publishers utilize microtransactions as well, and another recent high-profile example is CFB 27, which is pissing everyone off with its microtransactions.

GameSpot's Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced review scored the game a 7/10. Reviewer Jordan Ramee said the game "goes beyond the scope of a traditional remaster and adjusts the content of Black Flag to make improvements to the experience." At the same time, Ramee said the remake "creates problems the original Black Flag didn't have."

Ubisoft has been undergoing a cost-cutting program in recent times, and this also impacted dozens of developers who worked on Resynced, according to Insider Gaming.

For more, check out the story below:

• Black Flag Resynced Hides Its Connection To Assassin’s Creed Shadows, And That’s A Shame

  

After years of development and multiple delays, Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 6 is finally launching on November 19, and you can now actually preorder the game. The $80 game arrives on November 19, but you can actually preload it a week earlier, which is nice for the countless people who no doubt want to begin playing the second they can.

Here's everything you need to know about GTA 6 preloading.

GTA 6 preload schedule

GTA 6 players who preorder a digital copy of GTA 6 can begin preloading on November 12. This is to "ensure they are able to play at launch," Rockstar said.

GTA 6 is not going to be released on a disc, but Rockstar is still selling physical copies of the game at retailers with a code in the box.

The game's physical edition will be available to buy on November 12 "to support preloading," Rockstar said. So if you walk into a GameStop or Walmart on November 12 and see a copy of GTA 6 on the shelves to buy, you can do so, but the game itself won't unlock until November 19.

GTA 6 will arrive in November. The file size

GTA 6's file size has not been disclosed as of yet, but many are expecting it to be huge. GTA 5's file size varies by platform but can be more than 100 GB. Given that, we would expect GTA 6 to be at least 100 GB as well.

Launch times

GTA 6 launches on November 19, but when exactly? We don't know yet, as Rockstar has not yet shared that information. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest on GTA 6's launch times and more.

The future is looking increasingly digital for next-gen video game consoles, but one method that might ease the transition is a disc-to-digital service that allows users to bring their libraries with them. While there is speculation that this feature will launch around the time that Xbox debuts its next-gen console, Project Helix, a first taste of the future might be arriving sooner than expected.

Xbox Insiders received a message in lieu of an update this week, with Xbox's program lead Brad Rossetti teasing that something big was on the way. "Xbox Insiders on console, as you have seen we paused flighting this week as we prep for week next. Thanks for being patient! The wait is worth the wait, I promise," Rossetti wrote online.

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

This is widely rumored to be the first look at Xbox's disc-to-digital program, something that Windows Central editor Jez Corden--who has filed several reports on the feature--teased its debut with a "positron cometh" tweet. This is reportedly the codename for the rumored disc-to-digital feature, with other reports claiming that Xbox Play Anywhere will give users the option to switch from physical to digital.

While Xbox has yet to confirm if Project Helix will be an all-digital games console, its rival Sony has confirmed that it will stop manufacturing PlayStation discs in 2028, something analysts believe will lead to a discless PS6. The backlash was swift and negative for Sony, with the company going radio silent on its social media channels for several days while people rallied against the company.

Even with the negative publicity, Sony's reasons for ditching physical media make complete financial sense. Digital sales vastly overshadow physical sales, and Sony recorded its highest-ever quarterly digital game sales period just before it made the announcement.

Other companies like EA, Capcom, and Nintendo have also experienced a surge in digital sales, which means those publishers and studios have less overhead to deal with, like covering the costs of pressing game discs or paying retailer fees. And as one analyst has said, player loyalty means nothing to these companies.

The weekend is here, and if you're looking for something new to play on Xbox but don't want to spend any money, you're in luck. The Free Play Days promotion is back this weekend, with three games offered up for the low, low price of $0, or at least nothing beyond the price of a Game Pass membership.

MLB The Show 26, which is the newest entry in the professional baseball series, is free this weekend. The survival game The Alters is free as well, along with the FPS Stuffed, in which you play as a teddy bear and fight off the nightmares of a young girl. All of these games are free now through July 12, and you need a membership to Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, or Essential.

If you want to buy the games after the free weekend, MLB The Show 26 is marked down to $35, while The Alters is discounted to $17.50. Stuffed, however, is not on sale and sells for its normal $12.50 price.

A spooky scene from Stuffed.

Beyond these free games, Gears of War: Reloaded was just added to Game Pass Premium tier (joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass) on July 9, while the arcade-style corridor shooter Tamashika came to Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, and PC Game Pass on that day as well. For more, check out all of the new additions to Game Pass for July so far.

Xbox is facing challenging times of late, as the company recently laid off 1,600 people, divested from five studios, and cancelled games. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said the changes were necessary because Xbox is not a healthy business currently. Sharma was recently appointed to a Federal Reserve task force focused on productivity and jobs.

Bandai Namco dropped the first gameplay reveal for Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 this week, showcasing one of the game's missions and new key combat features. While the core beat-'em-up gameplay has been retained from the previous games, it's the approach to transformations in Xenoverse 3 that has Dragon Ball fans talking, as many believe this signature component has been nerfed for the threequel.

One of the big changes in Xenoverse 3 revolves around how and when players can use their high-powered skills, like beam attacks and area-of-effect ki explosions. Previous Xenoverse games required players to charge up their Ki meter, but Xenoverse 3 has swapped to a cooldown meter for abilities. Ki now functions as a stamina gauge that recharges over time, and transformations aren't available at the start of a mission. Instead, players have to build up power and charge their "Awakening" transformation, allowing them to change into a Super Saiyan or use the Kaioken boost in battle.

https://youtu.be/HE82-Zr6ky0

This shift in transformations also has the Dragon Ball Xenoverse subreddit convinced that transformations are also on a timer, but that doesn't appear to be the case. If you look closely at the icon, the artwork changes from a Super Saiyan design to what appears to be a Super Saiyan 3-inspired illustration with a timer counting down. This suggests that players will need to transform in stages, instead of skipping Super Saiyan forms in battle. We have reached out to Bandai Namco for clarification and will update this post once we hear back.

This hasn't stopped Dragon Ball fans from complaining about the changes, with many still believing that transformations are limited-time power-ups. "I hope to see the whole community bashing this idea non-stop until they change it, because they won't do anything if they can pretend it's only a minority of people," one of the top-voted comments on the Xenoverse 3 reddit thread reads.

It's worth pointing out that the Xenoverse 3 gameplay doesn't have any footage of the player powering down after the timer reaches zero, but being knocked out by one of the major stage bosses doesn't seem to cancel the transformation. Previous Dragon Ball Xenoverse games allowed you to maintain your transformation for as long as you had Ki energy, and several items allowed you to minimize the drain on your reserves or charge up Ki quickly, making transformations last for the duration of a bout.

No skipping the Super Saiyan power-up line in Xenoverse 3.

Awakenings are one of several new tools available in the game, alongside Soul Assist and Soul Change. Soul Assist allows a player to call upon the powers of a legendary Dragon Ball warrior like Piccolo or Krillin and use their signature powers in battle, while Soul Change lets a player incarnate into that fighter and harness their strength firsthand. Fighters like Trunks and Vegeta don't just have character-specific powers; they also have quicker cooldown timers for these skills.

Each race has its own unique transformation, and so far, it looks like players can choose from the Saiyan, Human, and Majin races. Set over 300 years after the end of the main Dragon Ball sagas, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 launches in 2027 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

The 2026's Men's World Cup is heating up, and one of this weekend's most-anticipated matchups is between Harry Kane of England and Erling Haaland of Norway, who are of course best known for their gaming skins.

England captain Harry Kane has a Fortnite skin, while Norway striker and noted Xbox fan Erling Haaland has his own Clash of Clans skin. On June 11, the two gaming skins who are also know for their sporting prowess will play to decide who gets through the semifinals of the World Cup.

Erling Haaland in Clash of Clans.

Kane came to Fortnite as a skin five years ago, while Halaan's skin in Clash of Clans arrived about two years ago.

Harry Kane in Fortnite

EA Sports' World Cup simulation chose Spain to win, and they remain a popular choice to win the whole thing, only behind the overall betting favorite France. Spain plays Belgium today, June 10, and the winner will take on France on July 14. The World Cup wraps up on Sunday, July 19.

The United States central bank, the Federal Reserve, has announced new task forces to "advance the conduct of monetary policy," and its board has chosen Xbox CEO Asha Sharma to help guide one task force pertaining to AI, as part of a wider effort to help create jobs and keep prices stable.

The new Productivity and Jobs task force will look into the "economic impact of new general-purpose technologies," including AI, to help the Fed make better policy decisions. Sharma is joined on this task force by billionaire businessman and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, along with Stanford University economics professor Charles I. Jones--he is currently on leave from the university to become a scholar-in-residence at the AI company Anthropic.

Fed chairman Kevin Warsh said the new task forces are part of the group's "commitment to price stability and maximum employment."

Asha Sharma is the new Xbox CEO.

Sharma, for her part, recently oversaw huge Xbox price hikes and mass layoffs at Xbox that people reacted negatively to. These dramatic changes came against the backdrop of the entire consume electronics industry managing the ongoing memory and component shortages that have eaten into margins.

"We are in a hardware component crisis. When I joined as CEO in February, the price we paid for console storage components was over 2x as high as we paid last fall," Sharma said. "These costs have since doubled again. And as we plan for the 2027 holiday season, we expect another significant increase, taking us over 5x the prices we paid only two years earlier. Memory costs have followed a broadly similar trajectory. While the entire industry is facing a components crisis, we believe we have been impacted more greatly than many of our peers due to the choices we made over the last half decade. We are currently unable to make as many consoles as players want to buy, and we need a new business model and partnerships for hardware as we remain committed to Helix."

On the AI part, Sharma, 37, comes from an AI background at Microsoft. She has promised no "soulless AI slop" at Xbox under her leadership, and she has canceled some AI plans for Xbox already.

The Fed's new task forces will "operate independently," the Fed said. They will attempt to "follow the evidence, provide candid feedback, and produce rigorous findings."

The other task forces include ones dedicated to improving the Fed's communications, examining costs and benefits generally, bettering the quality and timeliness of key economic data points, and revisiting how the Fed tracks and reacts to inflation.

The Xbox "reset" that was announced this week included 1,600 Xbox layoffs, with 1,600 more to come. Microsoft also got rid of five studios and canceled games, including Avowed 2. This was all done because Sharma said the Xbox business was not healthy and was in need of major changes.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced isn't just the best-reviewed game in the series in 13 years; it's also off to a flying start with more than 100,000 players on Steam alone. That's one of the highest opening weeks for an Assassin's Creed game in several years, and the number doesn't include Black Flag Resynced's availability through other PC storefronts, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, either.

One thing to note is that not every Assassin's Creed game has been available through Steam at launch, but Black Flag Resynced's performance can still be compared to recent releases. Assassin's Creed Odyssey peaked at 62,049 players during its launch week, and Assassin's Creed Shadows reached 64,825 players when it first hit the scene last year. Assassin's Creed Valhalla is something of an anomaly, as it wasn't available at launch through Steam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niSS6zePbYs&t=2s

When Ubisoft did return to Steam after a gap of several years, it peaked at 15,679 players on launch day--two years after it first launched on PC and console--and it later surpassed that number in January 2026 with 19,181 players. For Black Flag Resynced, those are some impressive launch week numbers--even if they do pale in comparison to the similarly themed pirate game Windrose, which reached more than 220,000 peak concurrent users on Steam during its launch week in April.

While there's plenty to celebrate, several Black Flag Resynced developers at Ubisoft Barcelona are also facing layoffs following the game's launch. Part of the cuts that Ubisoft initiated in June, around 51 developers will be impacted, while Black Flag Resynced is expected to be a big seller for Ubisoft during a lean year of releases from the company.

Best Assassin’s Creed Games: Every Game, Ranked View Images

Following the disappointing sales of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, it's looking like BioWare's fantasy IP won't be making a comeback anytime soon. Former Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider believes that the series may be dead, and the game's poor commercial performance--according to EA's expectations--was likely the final nail in its coffin.

"Throughout the entire time I was there, we were always one breath away from the project being shelved," Gaider said to PC Gamer. "The thing that happened is that we kept releasing games, and it would sell much better than they thought it should, and it kept surprising them."

Gaider added that Mass Effect was treated as EA's favorite child, even if they didn't sell as well as early Dragon Age games did. The writer added that Mass Effect was seen as a "slick, modern RPG" that was easy to sell, whereas Dragon Age was perceived to be an "old-fashioned" story-focused RPG, and any success it experienced was deemed to be a "fluke" by EA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-j1zzzKWpo

But would Gaider ever consider returning to the franchise? Absolutely, he said, so long as he was handed the keys to the IP and it wasn't produced under EA. "I think that'd be an interesting thing to do. To go back to the basics of what made Dragon Age appeal to so many people in the first place. And go somewhere dark and dangerous, and do things that will make people upset. I think that's what I would want to do with it," Gaider concluded.

In the aftermath of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, EA laid off a lot of BioWare's staff, leaving behind a "core" team to work on the next Mass Effect game. Other related developments include EA announcing last year that it will go private, as part of a $55 billion leveraged buyout funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, and private equity company Silver Lake. Multiple analysts believe that EA might sell off some of its studios so that it can service its $20 billion debt, and BioWare could be a prime candidate.

The ports of Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010) and Black Ops 2 (2012) are available now. The ports, which were confirmed in June, are developed by Iron Galaxy in conjunction with Activision.

As announced previously, these are not remasters or remakes--if you enjoyed the games in their original states, that's what you're getting here.

The games cost $40, but PlayStation Plus members can get each for $20 through August 6. There is no bundle that puts them together.

Black Ops 1 and 2 are out now on PS4 and PS5.

The descriptions for each state that the games offer "a classic Call of Duty experience," and as such, cross-platform multiplayer is not supported. Beyond the base games, Activision is also selling each game's season pass for $30 (or $10 through August 6 for PlayStation Plus members). The season pass bundles include additional multiplayer maps and Zombies content.

The next brand-new Call of Duty game is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, which launches this October for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, and PC.