A new, fan-made map for Valve's free shooter Counter-Strike 2 has a unique spin on the game's popular Hostage Rescue mode, having players instead rescue dogs in danger.

The "Shelter" map (via Dexerto) takes place in a fictionalized suburban animal shelter, as players race to stop "Phoenix Biotechnical" from kidnapping animals for medical trials.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtd0HLui7W4

As you can see in the walkthrough video below, Shelter is a large, impressively detailed map, featuring all manner of indoor and outdoor spaces. The attention to detail is notable, as you can see in the video that there are even "kennel cards" for the dogs in the facility that are only visible when scoping in. These are complete with descriptions like, "Very energetic and loves to run around."

It's also grim and sad to see the areas of the shelter with medical equipment where the kidnapped animals are tested on. In terms of gameplay, a video shows that players rescue the dogs and carry them on their shoulders to safety. If the mode is similar to regular Hostage Rescue, one team will try to rescue the dogs and the other team will try to stop them. I wouldn't want to play that side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tqmCaemBNA

Counter-Strike 2 has more than 1 million people playing it concurrently right now, making it Steam's most popular game by far.

The new Shelter map comes not long after a story about dogs being rescued from a medical research facility garnered international headlines. More than 1,500 beagles were released from the Ridglan Farms facility in Wisconsin this year and have been put up for adoption, with many heartwarming stories of pups landing in good homes.

After more than two years in early access, Palworld has launched in 1.0, and there's some good news for anyone looking to dive into it. Usually, early access games charge a smaller fee to entice users, increasing the sticker price once the full release goes live. Palworld developer Pocketpair is bucking that trend, and it says that the game's price will remain at $30 following its full launch on PC and console.

"After much thought, we have decided not to raise the price of Palworld following the 1.0 release and will keep it at $29.99," the developer wrote. "We are incredibly proud of how far Palworld has come. Thanks to the amazing support of our players, it has become a success beyond our wildest dreams. As a small way of saying thank you, we'll be keeping the price at $29.99. Thank you for your continued support."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4iJOJi87_4

A lot has changed in Palworld since it first hit the scene in 2024, as the creature-collecting and survival-crafting game has received numerous gameplay updates and new content. Some of these changes were legally required, as Palworld found itself in the crosshairs of Nintendo shortly after launch. The company sued Pocketpair for copyright and patent infringement of the Pokemon franchise, and Pocketpair was forced to appease Nintendo by compromising on certain gameplay mechanics, like gliding.

Meanwhile, Nintendo has also been taken to task for attempting to copyright the gameplay mechanic of "summoning characters and making them fight," an idea that numerous games utilized long before Pokemon arrived on the scene. In November 2025, the new head of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), John A. Squires, ordered a reexamination of Nintendo's patent. 

What's next for Pocketpair, now that Palworld is out in the wild? The studio plans to keep supporting the game with post-launch content, and it's also working on an official IRL card game alongside a cozy Palworld spin-off. Palworld also reached an impressive milestone before its 1.0 release, as Pocketpair reported that the game had reached 40 million players so far.

The Backyard Sports series' resurgence began a few years ago with a re-release of the classic 1997 game Backyard Baseball, but this month's launch of Backyard Baseball--an all-new entry--is a monumental step for a franchise that had been on ice for years. But getting there wasn't easy, requiring years of work (and the help of a private investigator) to even acquire the rights, let alone find a development partner who could revive such a legendary franchise.

Playground Productions CEO Lindsay Barnett was up to the challenge, ultimately pivoting from her job as an elementary-school teacher when it became clear she was capable of bringing Backyard Baseball to a new generation of baseball fans. And now, the time has come for those kids (and their parents, if we're being honest) to see just what Barnett and her team have been cooking up. 

Making the best of a bad situation

While the Backyard Sports franchise is a pop-culture staple for many Millennial sports fans, it was essentially dead prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Barnett was teaching second grade in Chicago at the time, and as her students shifted to remote-learning setups and she had a chance to ask them about what kinds of activities they were doing at home, it became clear that many were playing violent video games. She wanted to find something more age-appropriate for them to spend their time playing outside of class. 

Playground Productions CEO Lindsay Barnett

"I said, 'Well, what about sports games?"' Barnett told GameSpot. "And they said, 'Well, sports games are too hard for us to play. We can't play them. We can't master the controls.' And so I had suggested the Backyard Sports games [to them], and that's when I determined that they were nowhere to be found. And as any bored teacher would do during a pandemic in which they are stuck at home, I went and searched for the rights for the brand, and it was a very difficult search to find it. I wound up hiring a private investigator to track the rights down." 

It took more than two years, but Barnett was eventually able to acquire the rights to the Backyard Sports franchise, partnering with the Pittsburgh-based Mega Cat Studios to develop new games. Initially, the plan was to make a new game that was very similar to Backyard Baseball '97, but Mega Cat had another idea. 

"They said, 'Well, we could actually bring back Backyard Baseball '97.' And I said, 'No way. No you can't. We don't have any source code.' And they were like, 'No, we'll reverse-engineer and CD-ROM hack it and we can do it.'" 

That led to a number of re-releases of classic Backyard Sports games to test the waters, including the original Backyard Baseball '97 and its follow-up, Backyard Baseball 2001. Then it was time to make something a bit riskier: an entirely new game. The 2D style had been perfected, but Barnett wanted something that could merge that classic style and charm with a more modern look. 

"When I was thinking about what hadn't been done with this brand, there was no faithful representation of the 2D game that people like me loved when they were kids in the 3D world," Barnett said. "And so that became our mission from day one: How can we expand the Backyard universe, as we like to call it, into this 3D world?"

The solution, as you can see in the new Backyard Baseball game, was sort of a half-step between full-on 3D and the original games' visual style. The character models and environments are all in 3D, but they look extremely similar to the original 2D designs, and a number of 2D elements are still included. It's undeniably Backyard Baseball--instantly recognizable to a generation of sports fans who, like Barnett, grew up playing the originals. 

The secret weapon

It wasn't just the fans who loved those games, however: Current MLB players are right in that age range as well, and when it came time to promote the new game, Playground Productions had no shortage of interest. These pro players wanted Backyard Baseball at their ballparks, and that meant bringing the legendary Pablo Sanchez--The Secret Weapon--to do some public outreach. If you've watched an MLB game this year, there's a good chance you've seen him lurking in the crowd, perhaps hoping for a chance to pinch hit and send one over the fence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AszLikoI3RU

"When we brought the brand back, we had tons of requests from athletes and teams to bring Pablo to their various stadiums or to interact with Pablo in some capacity. The games originally in 1997 were created as an educational tool to teach kids the rules of baseball or the rules of any of the sports that they were playing. And now fast-forward, a generation of Millennials have learned to play the sports that they've [then] mastered in the real world from these games."

One thing Millennials didn't have to deal with back at the turn of the century was microtransactions, and neither will a new generation of Backyard Baseball players. Once again, it comes back to Barnett's time as a teacher. 

Put away your wallet

"I would see my students--for holidays and birthdays--asking for virtual currency and spending so much money to unlock parts of the game that they could be grinding on and not be able to beat without the microtransaction. I saw people accidentally spend a lot of money and that was a huge part that I'd see from my students. They'd accidentally click a button because they were seven years old and then their parents wouldn't be able to get the money back. And I kind of just was like, 'Let's go back to basics.' When we were kids, we [just] played the game and this new game has tons of unlockables. There are trophies to win, [and] there are achievements to uncover. There are cards that you can redeem by just playing the game. You get tokens and you can redeem them for cards and try to chase and find them, but there are no microtransactions, which just felt kind of yucky." 

The classic Backyard clubhouse

More than just not wanting to siphon extra money from children, though, Playground Productions wants to ensure that kids trying out Backyard Baseball have a positive experience so they might try playing some real-life baseball. Backyard Baseball may just be their gateway to a lifetime of hitting dingers and throwing some power-up-free fastballs. 

"We don't want any of these kids to have a bad experience because we have a bigger commitment to kids in general, which is, if they have a bad experience with a baseball game like ours, they might be completely [unwilling] to interact with the whole sport. And we want to get kids and families to be connected together in sports in general." 

Baseball is for everyone

That philosophy of inclusion and removing barriers to entry is at the heart of Backyard Baseball, and has been since the original 1997 game. It launched with 15 boys and 15 girls, with many different ethnic backgrounds represented and the excellent pitcher Kenny Kawaguchi famously using a wheelchair. All of those kids return for the 2026 game, and that was a very deliberate decision. 

"It becomes more and more important every [time] that I meet a new fan because they tell our team about the different characters that they resonate with and why. And for me, the really great girls resonated with me and inspired me to go outside and play different sports that perhaps I wouldn't have played. I played on a co-ed flag football team when I was in elementary school. I never would've done that had I not had this game," Barnett said. "We hear all the time [from] tons of people in the wheelchair sports community [that] Kenny Kawaguchi means so much. They've never seen a character who's actually a star player represented in a wheelchair. And it means the world to our team when people come up and say, 'Yeah, I always pick Kenny on my team because he's like me.' We just hear different stories every day.

"Even [play-by-play broadcaster] Sunny Day! Sunny Day is a Black sports reporter and has been for almost 30 years, and that's meant something to a lot of girls who have been looking up at her. I think the representation means a ton. And we just leaned into who those characters were from the beginning." 

Sunny Day and Vinnie The Gooch

Backyard Baseball is available now for PC and Mac on Steam, with console releases to follow. The decision to not attach a number or year to the game's title was intentional, as Playground Productions has big plans for expansions and more content in the future. 

"This is not Backyard Baseball 2026," Barnett stressed. "And I, again, from my teaching experience, felt like having a sports game that comes out [with] a new one every single year is not always the best for fans. They spend a lot of money to play a great game and they want to have long-term fun. And so what we've done is design[ed] Backyard Baseball to be a long-term game. And so we have expansion packs that might come out in the future. We have unlockables that might come out in the future, new modes, and all sorts of different things that people will be able to do within this game for a very long time." 

That approach is extended beyond Backyard Baseball, as well, with Playground already bouncing around ideas for how the franchise could re-emerge in other sports, much like it did back in the early 2000s. 

"It's going to be a very long road for the Backyard," Barnett added. "We're not going anywhere."

While fans await news about GTA 6, Rockstar continues to update GTA Online, and its next big update is coming very soon.

The Kortz Center Heist, the first major brand-new heist in the game since 2020's Cayo Perico, releases on July 14, Rockstar Games has announced. In this heist, players will meet up with Mr. Faber and Raf De Angelis to steal valuable art.

Players will be able to acquire an Art Studio for their home as part of the new update, and after doing so, a "gifted counterfeiter" will occupy the space and create forgeries that players will use to replace the ones they steal.

The Kortz Center Heist goes live on July 14.

The Kortz Center Heist can be played solo or with a team of up to three others. As usual with GTA Online's heists, they're more fun with a team. The multi-stage heist will see players first scoping it out to learn how to get in undetected, then gearing up, and ultimately stealing the art. Players are encouraged to leave no witnesses and wipe out any CCTV footage.

This isn't a one-and-done heist, either, as there will be three new paintings to steal each week. Rockstar said there is "tons of variability" for how to approach the missions, enabling more replayability.

Additionally, the Kortz Center Heist update will add new vehicles to GTA Online and upgrade options from Hao's Special Works. GTA+ subscribers, meanwhile, can get the new Grotti Veleno GT car for free starting on July 14.

As for GTA 6, the game releases on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Fans are convinced there might be some news about the game in August.

A teenage boy sustained injuries after lightning struck his home as he was playing video games, hitting him with an electrical shock.

The 13-year-old boy, Vladyslav Skuridin, told ABC News via a statement from his mother that he "felt a shock go through my whole body and I saw a super bright white light." He said he "quickly jolted back" and felt "super dizzy and confused."

He was playing a game on his computer at the time.

"Also, I kind of just started screaming because there was a super loud boom that made my ears hurt and pop," he said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r2F6k7BPS0

This happened on July 7 in the Houston, Texas suburb of Cypress. The event caused a small fire in the house's attic and injured the boy. He was evaluated on site by medical professionals but did not go to the hospital.

In response to the incident, local authorities said people should avoid using corded electronics and stay away from electrical wiring and plumbing during thunderstorms.

The Elder Scrolls 6 is one of the biggest upcoming games in the works at the Xbox-owned Bethesda Game Studios. But after Microsoft's sweeping layoffs, which also impacted BGS, developers there have expressed concerns about the impact on The Elder Scrolls 6 and the possibility of a delay.

A source at BGS told IGN that the developers have been "very excited and hyped" for The Elder Scrolls 6, and that the big Xbox "reset" has "had a crushing effect on morale" at the studio.

"We were already running a tight ship and are worried about this delaying the game (though a final release date was not yet chosen as far as we know)," the developer said.

The Elder Scrolls 6 was announced in 2018, so it's been in the works for a long time. A recent report from Bloomberg said The Elder Scrolls 6 was still a couple years away from releasing, but it remains to be seen if the cuts may impact timelines. Bethesda boss Todd Howard previously said the game may have been announced too soon.

The report cited another Bethesda developer who said "there is a fear" at the studio that the developers will be "replaced by cheaper, contracted labor" or that Bethesda will hire new developers to replace the laid-off ones who will then need to get up to speed with Bethesda's proprietary tools.

This, in turn, could lead to "more delays," the developer said, with workers then needing to "crunch to make up on time."

Bethesda cutting staff will lead to a "substantial and cascading effect" on The Elder Scrolls 6 and general morale, a developer said. "It's been a mix of every discipline: programmers, artists, and designers," said another source. "One person who's been at the company since Morrowind was cut."

In addition to The Elder Scrolls 6, Howard has discussed how the team is planning to make Fallout 5 later. At the same time, it was recently reported that Xbox's Obsidian studio is making a new Fallout game, with Fallout: New Vegas director Josh Sawyer leading the team.

Bethesda higher-up Jill Braff told staff in an email that the company needs to "change course" and focus on projects with the highest likelihood of making money. Before that, another report said Microsoft was making structural changes to help speed up the development of The Elder Scrolls (and Fallout) games.

The Xbox layoffs impacted 1,600 people this week, with another 1,600 people set to lose their jobs in the next year. Beyond the cuts at Xbox, Microsoft is slashing jobs throughout the entire company, with 4,800 roles impacted (about 2.1% of the company's total workforce). In addition to layoffs, Microsoft is divesting of five studios and cancelling projects, like Avowed 2.

Doom: The Dark Ages just received the Revelations expansion earlier this week, the latest work from prominent developer id Software. But what the studio was reportedly working on next sounds fascinating, according to GamesBeat. The team was reportedly playing around with a new Perfect Dark game, a co-op or multiplayer-centric version of Doom, and a John Wick-esque experience named Fury.

However, the chances these projects ever get fully fleshed out seem low after mass layoffs hit id Software earlier this week as part of the Xbox reset plan put in place by Xbox CEO Asha Sharma. In fact, VGC reports that apparently 136 people were fired. GamesBeat added that more than half of id Software got hit by the job cuts, with a former employee saying that "it's a bloodbath."

In addition, former id Software principal VFX artist Derek Best posted on LinkedIn that Microsoft is just "relegating them to support studio size" after the layoffs. Best had worked at id Software for 12 years before being let go earlier this week.

The Perfect Dark project became a possibility for id Software after The Initiative was closed down and that studio's game for the FPS franchise was canned. This appears to be a new take separate from The Initiative's, with concept art already made. Meanwhile, Doom: The Dark Ages director Hugo Martin was behind the proposal for Fury. The game was reportedly not greenlit officially from Microsoft, but incorporated "elements of sci-fi, noir, and Louisiana and Chicago gangsters." 

On top of these projects, the id Software layoffs could hint at the end of the historic id Tech engine. Other studios hit hard by the job cuts from Xbox leadership include Obsidian Entertainment and ZeniMax Online Studios.

Grand Theft Auto 6 preorders have finally arrived. New screenshots were also recently released. The game's November 19 release date is locked in. But Rockstar Games is still staying relatively quiet about the specifics of GTA 6, like what new kinds of gameplay experiences it provides.

To date, all that's been revealed are screenshots, story descriptions, and cinematic trailers. Fans are eagerly awaiting the arrival of any new information about the game, or a third trailer, and while it remains to be seen when that could happen, fans are now circling a new date on their calendars: August 7. That is the day that Rockstar owner Take-Two will release its next quarterly sales report.

Intriguingly, Take-Two is changing things up in terms of how it shares this update. Take-Two's quarterly reports, and the Q&A sessions that follow, are historically held after the market closes at 4 PM ET. But this new report on August 7 will be released before the market opens, with a conference call following at 8 AM ET. The market will then open that day at 9:30 AM ET.

People are speculating as to what this could mean, but Take-Two has not offered any official explanation for the change-up. Many companies report earnings before the bell and many report after. The notable bit here is that Take-Two normally reports after the market closes, not before it opens.

GTA 6 is coming this November.

In any event, there is precedent for Rockstar announcing new GTA 6 info around the time of Take-Two's earnings reports, so the excitement is not unfounded.

Take-Two has also said it will begin the marketing campaign for GTA 6 this summer, so people are waiting for that as well.

GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The game will not be available on a disc, and that just makes sense.

The first big release of July 2026 has set sail, and so far, it looks like Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is hitting a critical high note that the series hasn't seen since Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag. The remake of the 2013 game currently has a metascore of 84, a number that previous games have not reached for a very long time.

In comparison, the original Black Flag has a metascore of 88, and the highest review score aggregate between that game and its remake was Assassin's Creed Odyssey at 83. One thing that is worth pointing out is that Assassin's Creed Black Flag's metascore was gathered from 36 reviews on GameSpot's sister site Metacritic, while Black Flag Resynced's data stems from 83 critic reviews.

https://youtu.be/niSS6zePbYs

2013'S Black Flag may be a critical high point for the franchise, but it's not the highest-rated game across the mainline series. That honor belongs to Assassin's Creed 2, which has a metascore of 90, while Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood clocks in at 89. Here's a closer look at how Assassin's Creed games have scored over the years:

• Assassin's Creed -- 81 
• Assassin's Creed 2 -- 90
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood -- 89
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations -- 80
• Assassin's Creed 3 -- 84
• Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag -- 88
• Assassin's Creed Rogue -- 72
• Assassin's Creed Unity -- 72
• Assassin's Creed Syndicate -- 76
• Assassin's Creed Origins -- 81
• Assassin's Creed Odyssey -- 83
• Assassin's Creed Valhalla -- 80
• Assassin's Creed Mirage -- 76
• Assassin's Creed Shadows -- 81
• Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced -- 84

While most of the reviews have been positive, our own one wasn't as jazzed with the changes made to what some consider to be the peak of Assassin's Creed games. "You will see why the original game was the de facto pirate video game for years. But you will also find a remake that doesn't manage to take the crown from the very game that it's remaking," Jordan Ramée wrote in GameSpot's Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced review.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced - Standard Edition (PS5, Xbox Series X)

$60

See at Amazon View at other stores See at Best Buy See at Target See at GameStop Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Digital Deluxe Edition (PS5, Xbox Series X, PC)

$70

See at Ubisoft Store Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Collector's Edition (PS5, Xbox Series X, PC)

$200

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Persona saw a big presence at Anime Expo last weekend, featuring a dedicated booth, panels, and merchandise to promote the series' 30th anniversary, as well as the upcoming Persona 4 Revival and Persona 6. The staff behind P4R was also giving press interviews, and one comment by General Producer Kazuhisa Wada has been drawing attention.

Speaking to Anime Corner, Wada discussed some changes would be made to parts of the game, particularly with regard to one specific character.

"We haven't changed anything core about the characters," says Wada. "But we've just sort of brushed up the kind of corners, to make sure it all fits and really is appropriate for the characters and for the age that we live in now."

"We haven't really changed anything about the story of the characters' thoughts or how they act," he continues. "We've just ... changed the way we express some of this a little bit, mostly with Yosuke really. He's a little bit insensitive in terms of how he treats outsiders sometimes. We wanted to lighten that up and make it a little more fitting for the world that we live in now." He goes on to confirm that other hot-topic social links for characters like Kanji and Naoto will not be altered "at base."

Yosuke has been criticized for being somewhat abrasive, with some of his comments and actions coming off to players as homophobic. While some players see his attitude and words as rather typical of a teenager struggling with themselves, others have found him to be repellent. It's understandable why the team might want to reign Yosuke in a little.

This wouldn't be the first time a Persona re-release toned down some more controversial material: for example, Persona 3 Reload altered a scene that was largely seen as transphobic from the original game. What makes this a bit more interesting is that fans have found unused character dialogue and voiceover on the original PlayStation 2 disc of Persona 4 hinting at the main character being able to forge a close--perhaps romantic--relationship with Yosuke. Whether or not this angle could be explored in the remake is still up in the air--Wada does confirm that some new content will be present in the game--but one thing's for sure: If Atlus does take this step, thousands of fan-fiction writers the world over will be ecstatic.

In response to Sony announcing that it will stop producing physical game discs for PlayStation starting in 2028, a lot of people have had a lot of things to say. One of those voices is Circana analyst Mat Piscatella, who offered a refreshing, if not brutal, reminder that your loyalty and love of PlayStation--or any other game console or franchise--means nothing to the corporate overlords controlling them. It's all about money, and it always has been.

"You can love your preferred video game ecosystem, franchise, or whatever all you want. You can think your years of customer loyalty should/will be reciprocated. But these businesses don't love you back. Same with your job, fwiw. You're a number on a spreadsheet," he said.

Piscatella also pointed out that, with forecasts for the PS6 and Project Helix to cost $1,000 or more (if they are ever released), console manufacturers like Sony and Xbox will "prioritize profitability" where they can. The thinking is that, if Sony can't convince as many people to buy a very expensive console, it can make up some of the difference by cutting out discs to improve margins.

As reporter Jason Schreier breaks down in a great video, a company like Sony would take home about $45.50 from the sale of $70 game sold at retail on a disc. With digital games, Sony keeps the full $70. It's not hard to see why Sony is shifting to an all-digital future.

Third-party games will go all-digital on PlayStation in 2028 as well, and this will help those publishers make more money (by way of improved margins), and Sony will make lots more money as well through collecting its platform fees.

"Digital is just too lucrative"

Dr. Serkan Toto of Kantan Games said Sony is not going to reverse its decision on killing off physical game discs because the money to be made in an all-digital world is too lucrative to ignore.

"I sympathize with physical media fans, but Sony will not reverse this decision," Toto told IGN. "They of course knew what the online reaction would look like, and they now wait for this storm to pass."

"Sony has over 120 million active PlayStation users," he added. "Around 50 million people subscribe to PlayStation Plus. As a thought experiment, let's say 500,000 cancel in protest, that would be just 1% of that business gone--of course not enough to Sony to start rethinking. Digital is just too lucrative."

The numbers

According to IGN's accounting, a first-party PlayStation game sold on a disc at retail would see Sony keeping about 65% of the sale price, with about 30% going to the retailer; the other 5% is for the manufacturing costs.

A third-party game sold on a disc at retail--say, a Call of Duty game from Activision--would provide Sony a licensing fee of about 15%.

For a digital game, a first-party game sold via the PlayStation Store would net Sony all of the revenue. For third-party games, Sony would collect its 30% cut as the platform owner. That works out to about $21 for a $70 game. When all games go digital in 2028, Sony stands to make significantly more money, as you can see.

What's next

For what it's worth, while Sony has confirmed plans to kill discs, Microsoft has not yet announced plans, but many are theorizing the next Xbox will be all-digital as well. After all, the numbers show that the share of digital game sales only continues to grow at Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and third-party publishers.

Sony still sells many millions of physical PlayStation game discs annually, and there are many people who want to see physical media live on. There are also real game preservation concerns in an all-digital world. More than 225,000 people have signed an online petition calling on Sony to reinstate physical games.

The obvious enthusiasm for physical media is unlikely to change the calculus for Sony for the main reason Piscatella and Toto laid out: money.

Obsidian Entertainment--the developer behind Grounded, The Outer Worlds, and Avowed--will reportedly shift strategies to work on a new Fallout game. That means that a planned Avowed sequel and other unannounced projects will get shelved in the process, according to Bloomberg. 

It's unclear whether this new Fallout game from Obsidian will be Fallout 5 or a spin-off similar to New Vegas. Fallout 5 was reportedly "greenlit" a year ago, though there were no details about the lead developer. In 2023, Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart did express interest in the studio making another Fallout game. 

Best Fallout Games, Ranked View Images

Bloomberg adds that studio design director Josh Sawyer is set to lead this new Fallout project at Obsidian. Sawyer previously served as the director of Pentiment as well as Fallout: New Vegas. The report noted that Sawyer was in charge of another RPG at Obsidian with similarities to Fallout before being reassigned. Bethesda oversees the Fallout franchise and will be involved on this project.

Obsidian was just hit hard by Xbox layoffs this week, with up to  25% of the studio's workforce fired by Microsoft. This was part of an Xbox reset plan put in effect by Xbox boss Asha Sharma, which will lead to 3,200 jobs overall cut over this next year. Sharma also stated that no announced Xbox games were getting axed, but obviously, unannounced titles are being canned. 

In general, Xbox looks set on investing in its biggest franchises, such as Fallout. There have been rumblings about a Fallout 3 remake in the works, though nothing official has been announced. Meanwhile, the Fallout TV series on Prime Video just received 10 Emmy nominations for the show's second season. 

Best Games Like Fallout 4 To Dwell In For 2026 View Images

As Sony plans to kill all PlayStation disc production in January 2028, a Canadian retailer has done what everyone was probably thinking of doing: urging the company to change its mind with a petition that's garnered over 220,000 signatures.

PNP Games is an independent retailer based in Canada that started in 2005 by selling games on eBay. Since then, it opened three locations around Canada, becoming a budding business that supplies its customers with everything from home goods like art and drinkware to gaming products such as controllers and consoles. Think GameStop but make it Canadian.

On July 1, just as Sony announced its plans to end disc production of all new PlayStation games in 2028, PNP Games started a petition called Don't Kill the Disc. The mission statement is simple: "Sign to tell Sony to keep disc-based games alive beyond 2028, so the next generation can own the games they play, not just rent them," per the Change.org petition page. "If we do not speak up now, the disc disappears, and the choice goes with it."

Since starting the petition, over 220,000 people have signed the appeal, essentially telling Sony that physical media is important to not just gamers but entertainment enthusiasts as a whole. In a July 6 IGN interview, PNP Games CEO Jade Pearce spoke about how vital physical media is for businesses and consumers.

"Physical games support an entire industry that an all-digital future quietly erases: retailers, distributors, manufacturers, warehousing and logistics, the pre-owned and trade-in market, and the collector and preservation community," Pearce said. "That is thousands of jobs and countless small businesses. Ending physical media removes consumer choice, weakens local economies, and hands a few platform holders total control over how, and whether, you can access the games you buy."

This sentiment is echoed in the petition's messaging as well. PNP Games noted that the death of physical media is "about jobs" as much as it is about the disc being "a real game" that you own, share, resell, trade, collect, gift, and pass down to your kids. An all-digital future puts the very idea of ownership in a precarious spot, which is what PNP Games hopes to change Sony's mind on with the Don't Kill the Disc petition.

"We are not against digital," Pearce wrote on the petition's page. "We are against digital being the only option. A large and passionate community still wants a real, physical game they own outright, and Sony is about to take that choice away."

GameSpot has reached out to PNP Games for comment and will update this story when we hear back.

You can imagine what the comments have been on the petition. Many of the signatories said Sony's decision weighs heavily on whether they'll buy PlayStation products going forward. Others took to calling the company consumer-unfriendly, stating they feel like Sony is taking advantage of the goodwill it built over the years. And quite a few mentioned that, if we're being hurtled toward an all-digital future, they might as well buy a PC. The internet--and the signers of the petition--have a lot to say about what Sony's doing.

Xbox's big reset continues, as the company has targeted RPG icon Obsidian Entertainment, laying off about a quarter of its staff and cancelling a sequel to the underrated 2025 action-RPG Avowed.

According to a July 8 Bloomberg report, Obsidian Entertainment has cancelled "multiple projects" so that the California-based developer can focus on a bigger franchise: Fallout. As part of the cuts, Avowed was a casualty, along with 52 workers, per a July 8 Game File report.

As Bloomberg noted, progress on the Avowed sequel was "going well" and "on track" to be announced in the next year. Obsidian Entertainment had even hoped to build upon the original game by developing the sequel more quickly using the already-created world and technology. Unfortunately, the project didn't fit into Xbox CEO Asha Sharma's overall strategy for Xbox, according to Bloomberg's sources.

That said, it appears there is actually a small chance the project could be un-canceled. According to Bloomberg, some of the remaining staff will continue working on the Avowed sequel with the hope that Xbox may see a reason for the project's existence in the future. But that's up in the air, despite reporting in February 2026 stating that Obsidian Entertainment would focus on more games in Avowed's universe, which it shares with Pillars of Eternity. (Pillars of Eternity is also in a state of limbo, with the last game, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, launching in 2018 and receiving little to no news since its release.)

It's bummer news for fans of Avowed. Although the game didn't meet the sales expectations set forth by Microsoft, the high-fantasy RPG still reviewed relatively well following its February 2025 launch. GameSpot gave it a 6/10 in our Avowed review, but it has a "mostly positive" rating on Steam and an 80 Metacritic score.

I personally just finished Avowed after sinking more than 70 hours into the game, and I thoroughly enjoyed its mix of gunplay and melee combat. The narrative, while simple and predictable, was still enticing, and exploration was rewarding even if the world felt devoid of combat encounters after you've completed everything. It really is a solid amalgam of everything Obsidian Entertainment does well in a new setting.

A sequel could've been something awesome. The narrative ends on a cliffhanger, so there's more than enough meat on the bone to dig into the game's storytelling. On top of that, the world itself is rich with characters and conflicts worth exploring. And the powers! I never enjoy magic in games, but the spellcasting in Avowed felt great. I mained a big sword and two pistols, but on the occasions that I whipped out my spellbook, I felt like a badass wizard of the Living Lands.

Unfortunately, with this latest news, it appears that any hopes of an Avowed 2 have been dashed. The game's former director, Carrie Patel (who left in May 2025 to join the Netflix-owned studio Night Dive), wants to see more Avowed, but Microsoft just isn't interested anymore.

Regardless of if you play the action-packed dating-sim or not, you've probably heard a bit about the intense controversy surrounding Love and Deepspace recently. And no, it somehow has nothing to do with its spicy content or gacha-style gameplay. Instead, it revolves around the introduction--and quick cancellation--of Valko, the game's sixth love interest.

There's been a new development in the ongoing drama, and it doesn't look good for all the fans who have been petitioning for developer Papergames to bring Valko back. Per Kotaku, Papergames has announced it is pulling Love and Deepspace's booth from BilliBilli World 2026, one of Asia's largest anime and gaming conventions. This somewhat makes sense considering how profoundly his absence was felt at last week's Anime Expo, in which an entire booth that was originally reserved for a Valko cosplayer was left vacant. However, the exact phrasing, written below by cross-referencing numerous translations, is concerning:

"Recently, the game Love and Deepspace has attracted widespread attention from all sectors of society, causing significant distress to all players and creating a negative impact. We are deeply remorseful. We have no excuses, and must profoundly reflect, confront our own issues, and take responsibility. We solemnly offer our sincerest apologies to everyone!

"We sincerely accept all criticism and corrections regarding the problems exposed this time, and will not shirk our responsibilities," Papergames continued. "We will conduct comprehensive personnel training, self-examination, and rectification, using reverence for history, protection of national sentiment, and inheritance of Chinese culture as our benchmark."

While this reference to protecting "national sentiment" and using Chinese culture as a "benchmark" seem innocuous--respectful, even--the story continues.

Since news of Valko's removal surfaced, a battle perceived as being between Chinese Love and Deepspace fans--who overwhelming do not want Valko in the game--and Western audiences, who do, has ensued. Across social media, Chinese fans have shared posts that seem to indicate there are primarily three reasons Valko should not be in the game: 1) He's taking away attention that desperately needs to be spent on the game's main story and already-existing love interests, 2) His appearance goes against Chinese beauty standards, and 3) Valko's promotion slogans, which included "What's wrong with letting a wolf into the house?" could be perceived as condoning trespassing and sexual assault.

Shortly after Papergames announcement it would not be attending BilliBilli World 2026, the Chinese government made its own post latching on to the third of these points.

"Recently, an online game targeting female players has sparked widespread controversy. The game features a storyline where the male protagonist breaks into a woman's home late at night, accompanied by offensive promotional slogans such as, "What's wrong with letting a wolf into the house?", packaging the illegal act of trespassing as a romantic encounter. This kind of entertainment-driven, traffic-driven creative work disregards public order and morality, crosses legal boundaries, and may ultimately endanger public safety," a representative from the Ministry of Public Security News and Media wrote.

The post went on to say that, "If a game packages such behavior as 'fun interaction,' it may be suspected of promoting and glorifying illegal and criminal methods, which is not only a disregard for the authority of the law but also a blatant transgression against the spirit of the rule of law." The writer then cited a 2018 case in which a 15-year-old "addicted to a violent video game" murdered his 23-year-old female neighbor as evidence that "online game content that crosses ethical boundaries can seriously negatively impact the healthy development of teenagers."

"As of now, all relevant characters and storylines in the game have been taken offline for rectification, a move that addresses public concerns," the post continues. "However, taking it offline is not the end; deeper reflection is needed. This incident serves as another warning to the industry: Any content production that deliberately blurs the lines of illegality, glorifies dangerous behavior, or undermines public safety will ultimately be subject to legal sanctions and public resistance."

In short, things are not looking too good for Papergames, which seems to have found itself in a lose-lose-lose situation that is quickly intensifying. With the Chinese government weighing in on the issue--and considering the amount of power it has over the country's media--it seems increasingly unlikely that Papergames will tempt legal action and that Valko will ever resurface.

In fact, this raised awareness could lead to more scrutiny towards Love and Deepspace in general, as the game frequently showcases behavior and scenarios that could be perceived as problematic, to borrow one of the internet's favorite words. The game's fifth love interest, Caleb, locks up and interrogates the player's character at one point, while Sylus fulfils all the dark romance tropes we love as the violent head of a criminal organization. It's possible all this attention could have major ramifications for the beloved game, and although the petition to bring back Valko is nearing a 250,000 signatures, I wouldn't count on that being enough at this point.

The nominees for the next Emmy Awards have been announced, and Amazon's Fallout TV show scored 10. Season 1, for comparison, picked up 16 nominations in 2024, ultimately winning two.

For Season 2, Fallout's Emmy nominations included nods for Production Design, Costumes, Hairstyling, and Stunt Performance, but no acting nominations. Many think Walton Goggins was snubbed after he turned in another incredible performance as The Ghoul in Fallout Season 2.

Here are the 10 Emmy nominations for Fallout Season 2:

• Outstanding Production Design For A Narrative Period Or Fantasy Program—"The Wrangler"
• Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes—"The Strip"
• Outstanding Period Or Fantasy/Sci-Fi Hairstyling—"The Strip"
• Outstanding Period Or Fantasy/Sci-Fi Makeup (Non-Prosthetic)—"The Strip"
• Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup—"The Demon In The Snow"
• Outstanding Sound Editing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (One Hour)—"The Strip"
• Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (One Hour)—"The Strip"
• Outstanding Stunt Coordination For Drama Programming
• Outstanding Stunt Performance—"The Profligate"
• Outstanding Emerging Media Program—"The World Of Fallout"

Fallout Season 3 is now in the works, with Goggins recently sharing a photo of himself getting back into character as production begins.

In the world of Fallout video games, it was recently reported that Obsidian is making a new Fallout game in collaboration with Bethesda Game Studios. There is no word on what this game is, however, or if it's separate from Fallout 5. Obsidian was one of multiple Xbox-owned studios that were hit particularly hard by the latest round of layoffs at Xbox, affecting about 1 in 4 developers there.

Microsoft recently announced mass layoffs affecting 4,800 people, including 3,200 at Xbox, and now US Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) has ripped the technology giant for cutting staff at a time when it's making massive profits.

Posting on social media, Sanders pointed out how Microsoft made more than $100 billion in profit in 2025, with CEO Satya Nadella getting paid $96 million. He also called out how US President Donald Trump's new tax plan would save Microsoft $12.5 billion.

"Please don’t tell me corporate tax breaks create jobs. It never trickles down," he said, calling out the Xbox layoffs and the Xbox console price hikes. The latest Xbox console price hike brings the Series X up to a whopping $800.

https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/2074202502996582817

For the fiscal year that Sanders is referring to, Microsoft made $101.8 billion in profit (up 16%) on revenue of $281.7 billion (up 15%). Microsoft overall may have done well financially during the year, but Xbox was in a rougher spot, if commentary from Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is to be believed.

She has said the Xbox business is "not healthy" and that a variety of bets made by previous leaders Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond did not pay off. That's left Sharma in a position where Xbox's operating margins are 3-10x lower than what she said were "comparable platform and publishing businesses."

Sharma said Xbox was operating as a business with 3% margins, which means for every $100 made, the company spends $97 and keeps $3. A business operating at that margin level could be fine, but Microsoft's other business units have 40%+ profit margins.

Microsoft's stock price is down 19% so far this year and more than 22% over the past year. In fact, June 2026 was the worst month for Microsoft's stock price since December 2000.

Some of the bets that Xbox made that did not pay off as Microsoft envisioned included Xbox Game Pass, releasing games on rival systems, and buying up studios, Sharma said. For Game Pass, a recent report said some Xbox employees worried that the plan to launch new games into the service was not actually a smart move, but management proceeded anyway.

In addition to mass layoffs, Xbox is divesting of five studios. Double Fine and Compulsion are regaining their independence, while Ninja Theory and Undead Labs are being sold. Arkane Lyon is in the "consultation" process to determine its fate and the fate of the studio's upcoming game, Marvel's Blade.

Image credit: Bernie Sanders YouTube

Thomas Was Alone and Amberspire developer Bithell Games has announced its next project, a non-linear horror game in which the vampire King of England tasks you with assassinating his enemies. Set in an alternate timeline during the late '90s--so you're probably safe from hearing Hanson's MMMBop on repeat--Vampirium 1997 is billed as an immersive sim boiled to its essence by game director Mike Bithell.

"Dracula is King of England. At his command, master your dark gifts to assassinate his enemies and secure his vampiric empire. Infiltrate locked-down locations, adapt and survive in living environments, and uncover your own unique methods of executing missions," the synopsis for the game reads.

Gameplay will see players carefully plan their way through each level, observing their surroundings, talking their way out of danger, and upgrading their vampiric powers along the way. Every action has a consequence, and with each environment designed to be a dynamic arena for you to consider which tactics you want to use--from covert bluffing to overt decapitations--you'll have to carefully consider each move you make.

It's an area of expertise that Bithell Games excels in, as the studio has released several cerebral and challenging games over the years--including an official John Wick game that was sadly delisted in 2025.

https://youtu.be/li_NCnbNiAQ

Vampirium 1997 will be launching in early access for PC, but there's no exact release date for it yet. To set the mood, players can explore the dark fantasy world of the game through a novella that was recently released and runs for eight chapters. Titled "The Last Portrait," the story follows the artist Hart after they're commissioned to create a portrait of England's monstrous monarch.

Earlier this year Paralives released in early access, and so far, things are looking good for the life-sim. The game has proven to be popular since its May launch; the cozy vibes have been praised, and the promise of free post-launch DLC and updates for the lifespan of Paralives continues to be a big selling point. In an industry focused on extracting the maximum amount of cash possible out of every player, it has become the norm--just look at how GTA 6 is locking in-game shops away from players who purchase the standard edition--Paralives' commitment to investing in its players feels refreshing.

"That plan is something that we had announced before the game was released, and our sales in the first week--the first day--confirmed that that was going to be viable," Paralive's communication manager Gab Boyer-Antoni said to GameSpot. "We're a very small team of 15. We don't plan on increasing that much, just a few senior positions, and we don't have any investors. We don't have to pay back anybody. The development so far has been fully paid for by our Patreons. And we're good. We can last years like this and make sure that we offer free updates and free DLCs to players and keep on working on the game."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdM39bSS-JY&pp=ygURcGFyYWxpdmVzIHRyYWlsZXI%3D

Another game that has become notable for its free content drops is No Man's Sky, as it has upgraded its universe of explorable planets and systems with substantial expansions. These often come out of nowhere and with very little hype, and most importantly, they've all been free. Developer Hello Games has released over 30 of these expansions at no extra cost to their players since 2016, and they're largely credited with helping the game find its redemption arc and attract new players, 10 years after launch.

Paralives has already seen several pieces of free DLC added to the Gilmore Girls-inspired life-sim since launch--including an adorable collaboration with Unpacking--and its first major content update is expected to arrive this fall. Players have also been instrumental in creating new content for the game through mods, and if you're looking to grab a few, you can check out our guide on the best Paralives mods to download.

Fans of life-simulator games have been eating well lately, as the dominance of The Sims 4 has been challenged by new kids on the block like InZoi and Paralives. While both of these titles are considered to be serious challengers in a cozy genre of living your best life, the team behind Paralives doesn't see itself as a "Sims-killer," preferring instead to view the game as another option in the genre. After all, competition in this field will ultimately benefit players by offering them more choice.

"I think having more than one life-sim game makes for such a better experience for players," Paralive's communication manager Gab Boyer-Antoni told GameSpot. "It helps games get better and improve, and we want to offer a great experience for players. So that aspect of competition is great to have. There shouldn't be just one amazing [life-sim]. Also, I feel like a life-sim game is three games in one and caters to so many types of players.

"Some people just want to build their cozy little bedroom, apartment, or house, and they don't care about the live mode. Some people are really into the stories, the challenges, and [creating] generations of Sims, Paras, or Zoi. There are so many types of players, and I think we need a lot of games to help cater to different needs. It's a lot to expect one game to [do everything]. In most other genres of video games, you have a lot of [titles]. If you think of shooters, there are so many huge games that have huge fan bases--it's really rare to have just one that somehow caters to everybody. I think it makes for a stronger ecosystem of games that they don't."

It's still early days for Paralives, but the game appears to be hitting its stride mere months after launch. Its creators are already confident that it can deliver years of free content to its players thanks to strong launch sales, and it's looking to carve out its own space in this genre as its early access journey continues.

Meanwhile, The Sims 4 is looking to turn things around after several turbulent months, starting with an overhaul of the Maker Marketplace that angered the game's community.