Late last month, Santa Ragione, the developer behind the indie horror game Horses, revealed that its title had been banned by Steam in 2023 while the game was still in development. The game had been set to release on Epic Games Store this week, but now Epic has banned Horses as well.

Santa Ragione shared a lengthy statement on its site, as well as reproduced messages from Epic that broke the news about the cancellation a day before launch. The dispatch from Epic cites violations of its inappropriate content policy and hateful or abusive content policies. Epic also stated that Horses got an Adults Only rating, and those games are excluded from the store.

In response, Santa Ragione mentioned that Epic approved the game for release just over three weeks ago, and that the actual rating for the game was M for Mature under the ESRB and PEGI 18 in international territories. The studio went on to explain again that Horses is not a sexually charged adult game.

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Samus Aran might not be known as a chatty character, but a voice actor helps flesh out the heroine with grunts and mumbles. Jennifer Hale, probably best known as Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect trilogy, previously provided the voice for Samus in the first three Metroid Prime games. But for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Erin Yvette voices the protagonist and Krystle Martin provides the motion capture, per Nintendo Life.

This isn't the first time Yvette has worked with Nintendo. Her previous experience with the company includes voicing Neilnail in Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition and Great Fairy Cotera in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Meanwhile, IGN asked Hale about reprising her Metroid Prime role recently, and the actress seemingly implied she wasn't involved this time. "I don't know," Hale said. "I have no recollection of recording it or signing a contract, so it could be no." Hale has been on the flip side of this before, too, with Bayonetta 3.

She isn't the first voice actor replaced by Nintendo in recent years. In June, longtime Princess Peach and Toad voice actor Samantha Kelly revealed she was no longer playing those parts after not being involved with Mario Kart World. In 2023, Super Mario Bros. Wonder introduced a new voice for Mario and Luigi--Kevin Afghani. This came after Charles Martinet stepped back from voicing the iconic character following a 25-year stint.

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Recently, CD Projekt published a social media post about Cyberpunk 2077 that some took to be a teaser for some kind of announcement on December 10, the game's fifth anniversary.

This was not a teaser for anything, CD Projekt's Marcin Momot has now clarified. The developer publishes these kinds of posts every 30 days to celebrate birthdays for Cyberpunk characters, and for December, the 10th was mentioned as well to celebrate the game's fifth anniversary.

"It's not a teaser. Hope this clears things up!" he wrote.

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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been one of 2025's standout hits, and now it's been confirmed that the game broke records for Xbox Game Pass.

Microsoft announced that Expedition 33 has become the "biggest new third-party game launch on Xbox Game Pass of 2025" based on number of unique users in the first 30 days. It's not clear what title Expedition 33 took down to become No. 1 for third-party games on Game Pass.

Expedition 33 was developed by Sandfall Interactive, and it was the team's first game. Creative director Guilllaume Broche said, "This year has been so far beyond what any of us could have imagined, and it's down to how passionate and supportive our fans have been to make that a reality."

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According to one analyst, Call of Duty as a franchise is "underperforming" in 2025 due to a variety of factors. Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics said in an interview that some of the factors that he believes are contributing to Call of Duty's decline include "community burnout, questionable creative and business decisions by Activision/Microsoft, and strong competition."

In terms of the competition, Elliott called out Battlefield 6 and Arc Raiders, along with Fortnite, which recently had a popular Simpsons season and launched its positively received Chapter 7.

"Xbox dropped the ball on the wrong year, as this year saw some of the most exciting shooter releases in years," Elliott told Eurogamer. "Attention is scarce."

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It may come as no surprise that Valve has invested in emulation tech for Arm-based hardware, having just announced its first device running an Arm chip. But beyond its own hardware, Valve's support of open-source emulation projects may have laid the groundwork for playing your favorite PC games on Arm devices like mobiles and tablets--no ports necessary.

Valve's upcoming Steam Frame headset is the company's first Arm-based device, making use of the open-source FEX emulator to run Windows-native games. As it turns out, Valve has had more of a hand in FEX's development than it initially appeared. In an interview with The Verge, Valve engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais revealed that Valve actually initiated the FEX project, and has been largely responsible for its development.

"We were talking with a few developers that we knew were the right fit for an undertaking like that, a long-term thing that needed a very specific set of experts," Griffais explained. "We worked hard on trying to convince these guys to start the project, and have been funding them ever since."

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In September, Electronic Arts revealed that there's a $55 billion deal in place to bring the company private under Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, the private equity firm Silver Lake, and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. Now, a new report indicates that the PIF may be given near complete control of the company, because Saudi Arabia is putting up most of the money to complete the deal.

According to The Wall Street Journal, EA's potential buyers have disclosed that PIF would be given 93.4% of EA in a document filed with Brazil's antitrust regulator. Silver Lake would only own 5.5% of the company, while Affinity would have a much smaller share: 1.1%. PIF is also a major investor in both Silver Lake and Affinity, which would leave it with more power over EA.

WSJ notes that sovereign-wealth funds like the PIF normally make much smaller investments in buyouts like this one, while private-equity firms would take the lead as the primary owners and investors. Saudi Arabia has already invested in several video game companies, including Nintendo and Take-Two Interactive. In this year alone, Saudi Arabian-owned mobile developer Scopely purchased Niantic's video game division, the company behind Pokemon Go and other mobile titles.

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Last summer, Sony filed a lawsuit against Tencent over Light of Motiram, a game that the former alleges is a "slavish clone" of the Horizon franchise. Now, the two sides have apparently struck a temporary deal ahead of an important court hearing that may determine whether the case goes forward.

As reported by The Game Post, a new filing in court acknowledges that Sony and Tencent have been "engaged in discussions in order to resolve the current dispute." Most notably, Tencent asked for more time to respond to the motion for an injunction, and Sony agreed in exchange for certain concessions. The terms call for Tencent to pause all public promotion or testing for Light of Motiram while also agreeing not to argue in court that Sony delayed its request for emergency relief by granting the extension.

The filing also notes an agreement between the two sides that Tencent won't ask for expedited discovery in connection with the preliminary injunction against Light of Motiram. It also calls for Tencent to hold the game to its Q4 2027 release window rather than moving it up. Finally, the court document revealed another area where Tencent and Sony see eye-to-eye. The two sides jointly requested that a hearing for Tencent's motion to dismiss and a second hearing held for Sony's injunction request be held on the same day: January 29, 2026.

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Nintendo has rolled out another new update for Mario Kart World. This patch brings the Switch 2 racing game up to version 1.4.0 and includes a swath of quality-of-life improvements and other adjustments.

Among the numerous tweaks, Nintendo has added a "Custom Items" rule to the game, allowing you to adjust which items appear during a round. The Custom Items rule can be applied to VS Race, Balloon Battle, and Coin Runners modes.

In addition, Nintendo has tweaked some of the course layouts leading to and from Koopa Troopa Beach. The company has also changed it so that every race heading toward Koopa Troopa Beach will now require you to complete two laps after reaching the course.

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As we approach the end of the year, most of us in the northern hemisphere are dealing with long night and cold weather--and hopefully a days of well-earned vacation during the holidays. If you're looking for something to fill your time with, you'll want to check out Fanatical's latest Bundlefestive 2025 event for some big savings on PC games from Monday, December 1, through Friday, December 5. The week-long promotion sees new PC game bundles launching each day, many of which include a dozen or more games for less than the cost of a full-price game. So far, Fanatical has launched two new bundles: the eclectic Killer Bundle Winter 2025 Edition on December 1, followed by the Steam Deck-friendly Build Your Own Play on the Go Bundlefestive Edition today, December 2. You can check out the full details on both bundles below.

Fanatical Bundle Festive 2025

• December 1: Killer Bundle (Winter 2025)
• December 2: Build Your Own Play on the Go Bundle (BundleFestive 2025)
• December 3: TBA
• December 4: TBA
• December 5: TBA

There are still a few more days left of Fanatical's Bundlefestive 2025 event, so be sure to check back daily to see the latest offers. Note that while Bundlefestive 2025 ends on December 5, these bundle deals will stick around for a while longer--but not forever. Like other Fanatical bundles, all games purchased in these Bundlefestive deals are delivered as official PC game keys. Most are redeemed via Steam, though other stores like Epic Games Store may also be required. Each game's DRM is listed on Fanatical's store page.

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Guillermo del Toro: Cabinet of Curiosities (Hardcover)

$45 (was $60) | Limited-time deal

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Whether he's crafting beloved dark fantasy movies like Pan's Labyrinth or directing sci-fi masterpieces like Pacific Rim, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro's work is immediately recognizable for its vivid visual direction. No other films look quite like del Toro's, and if you've ever wanted to take a peek inside his process, then you'll want to grab the reissue of Guillermo del Toro: Cabinet of Curiosities - My Notebooks, Collections, and Other Obsessions. This new edition of the book launched back in October, but is now discounted to $45 (was $60) for a limited time at Amazon. This could make for the perfect holiday gift for the del Toro fan in your life--just make sure you snag a copy while Amazon's discount is still available.

Guillermo del Toro: Cabinet of Curiosities (Hardcover) $45 (was $60) | Limited-time deal

Cabinet of Curiosities is a collection of Guillermo del Toro's illustrated diaries, production notes, and more. The offer a look into the development of his visual sensibilities, as well as closer looks at themes common to his work. The book also includes a lengthy interview with del Toro by New York Times best-selling author and filmmaker Marc Scott Zicree, discussing del Toro's personal inspirations.

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While this deal is for the new 2025 edition of Cabinet of Curiosities, the original 2013 edition is also still available at Amazon for $64. While the books are essentially identical in content, the older book might be a little worse for wear after spending 12 years in an Amazon warehouse. We'd only recommend grabbing this version if the 2025 edition sells out, but it's worth keeping in mind.

Del Toro's latest project is Frankenstein, a Netflix film adaptation of the classic Mary Shelley story about Victor Frankenstein and his monstrous creation. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Oscar Isaac as the infamous doctor and Jacob Elordi as his resurrected creation. While the movie is available to stream on Netflix, you can also dive into the creation of the film with Frankenstein: Written and Directed by Guillermo del Toro, available for $75. There's also Frankenstein: The Complete Screenplay, which includes the film's script alongside concept art and set photography. It's on sale for $21 (was $30) at Amazon.

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Elden Ring: Nightreign's The Forsaken Hollows expansion launches on December 4, and fans should prepare themselves for a challenge--but nothing too extreme. Elden Ring and Nightreign are known for being challenging endeavors, and that will continue with The Forsaken Hollows.

Game director Junya Ishizaki told GameSpot that From Software didn't want the expansion to be "so hard that new players can't get into it." However, people should not expect to breeze through it.

"[The Forsaken Hollows is] definitely a little bit harder, but it's not ridiculous or anything like that, but that's still within what we would consider to be a fair challenge," the developer said.

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Devolver Digital wants to talk about balls. For starters, Ball X Pit just reached a new sales milestone, selling 1 million copies. But that's not all: Developer Kenny Sun is working on brand-new balls for the action-roguelite game, with three free updates on the way next year.

The first new content planned for Ball X Pit is set to release in January with the Regal Update. The Shadow Update is scheduled to follow in April, with the Naturalist Update on the way in July. Devolver Digital says that each free major patch will include new balls, evolutions, and characters. A new trailer for the game--seen below--teases the upcoming updates.

In late October, Ball X Pit had sold 400,000 copies, meaning the game has more than doubled its sales over the past six weeks. The sales numbers come from copies sold on Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Ball X Pit is also available on Xbox Game Pass, but the subscription service doesn't count toward traditional sales numbers.

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Fallout 76's Burning Springs update is live, bringing the game's largest map expansion yet. The patch notes for Burning Springs also highlight new Bounty features, more wildlife, and the introduction of The Ghoul character from Amazon Prime Video's Fallout TV series.

Although Fallout 76's main setting is the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Appalachia, players can now explore a brand-new bordering area with a setting in rural Ohio. Burning Springs is described as a region of southeastern Ohio affected by nuclear destruction and environmental poisoning from a chemical plant. This map expansion offers players a new questline that features a Super Mutant known as the Rust King.

Highway Town is a main point-of-interest for the new region, and it serves as a social hub for some of the game's new characters. A notable location to visit is the town's Last Resort saloon, which is where players can meet Walton Goggins' character, The Ghoul, from the TV series.

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Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault

$20 (was $30)

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Digital Sun's Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault launched in early access for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on November 19. The PC version of the highly anticipated Zelda-inspired roguelike is already seeing a nice discount over on Fanatical. You can pick it up for $20.09, saving you nearly $10 off the $30 launch price. This is the lowest price for the game so far, as Steam is offering the game for $24.89. Note that buying the game at Fanatical gets you an official Steam key.

Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault $20 (was $30)

Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault is the follow-up to the original Moonlighter, which launched in 2018, and offers the same mix of cozy shop sim and action-Roguelike gameplay its predecessor is known for. This time, however, you traverse its regions in a 3D isometric perspective, instead of the top-down 2D view of the first game. The new visual style and new gameplay mechanics also come with expanded accessibility options compared to the original.

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Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault may be on sale on Steam through Fanatical, but it launched on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S as well, where it's available day one if you're an Xbox GamePass subscriber.

The original Moonlighter came out in May 2018 to critical acclaim, and if you're a fan of 16-bit retro art styles, then this is the game for you. Fanatical also has the original on sale if you're curious about checking out the series' roots. It's currently down to $14.69 (was $20) for the PC version.

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Ken Levine's Judas has been in development for a very long time, and it will be his first major project since BioShock Infinite's Burial At Sea DLC in 2014. A few of the gameplay elements we've seen from Judas greatly resemble BioShock's interface. But according to Levine, his team doesn't think of it as a first-person shooter. Instead, he called it a "Judas simulator," since the main character's name is Judas.

"Judas ... understands machines in a way she can never understand people," wrote Levin in a developer's blog shared on PlayStation's official site. "That became her greatest strength… and greatest weakness. We put her in a science fiction world, a colony ship filled with robots--a futuristic setting that makes someone like her extremely powerful. But it's also a world where personal success hinges on how well you can conform to the rules, because dissent would lead to the failure of the mission. That makes her an outlaw, a pariah--a Judas. That tension at the heart of the character came to inform everything about the game, which we stopped thinking of as an FPS and started calling a 'Judas Simulator.' Everything comes back to that core idea of you interacting with the world as Judas."

Levine noted that Judas isn't overly fond of other people, but the game's narrative forces her to pick between three different leaders on the colony space ship called The Mayflower. Players' choices as Judas will determine which of the three will call her an ally, while the others condemn her as an enemy.

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Marvel Cosmic Invasion Deluxe Edition

$60 | Releases March 13, 2026

Preorder at Best Buy Preorder at GameStop

Marvel Cosmic Invasion Standard Edition

$40 | Releases March 13, 2026

Preorder at Best Buy Preorder at GameStop

Marvel Cosmic Invasion launches digitally on PC and console next month, but those holding out for a physical release will need to hold out a bit longer. The PS5, Xbox Series X, Switch 2, and Switch physical editions of the game launch on March 13, 2026, but the upshot is that fans can preorder the game now at Best Buy and GameStop. While there are no preorder bonuses announced, you can secure copies of the $40 Standard Edition (or $50 on Switch 2) and $60 Deluxe Edition (or $70 on Switch 2), with the latter including extra content like a steelbook case, a poster, art cards, and a sticker sheet. Walmart is also listing preorders, but all versions are currently sold out, so we recommend preordering at one of the other retailers soon in case it sells out there as well.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion Deluxe Edition $60 | Releases March 13, 2026

The Deluxe Edition of Marvel Cosmic Invasion includes the full game and a selection of physical collectibles. Here's a rundown of everything included:

• Marvel Cosmic Invasion base game
• Steelbook case
• 15 premium art cards
• Poster
• Two sticker sheets
• Deluxe Edition Box

Marvel Cosmic Invasion Deluxe Edition is available on PS5, Xbox Series X, Switch 2, and Switch. Note that the Switch 2 version costs $70, which is $10 more than on the other platforms, but it includes the full game on the cartridge, which is rare among third-party Switch 2 releases that opt for a Game Key-Card format instead.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion Deluxe Edition Preorders

• PS5 -- $60 | Also at GameStop
• Xbox Series X -- $60 | Also at GameStop
• Switch 2 -- $70 | Also at GameStop
• Switch -- $60 | Also at GameStop

Preorder at Best Buy Preorder at GameStop Marvel Cosmic Invasion Standard Edition $40 | Releases March 13, 2026

The Standard Edition of Marvel Cosmic Invasion does not include any extra content, but you get the base game on disc and cartridge. Like the Deluxe Edition, the Switch 2 version is $10 more ($50) than the Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X versions, but all game data is on the cart.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion Preorders

• PS5 -- $40 | Also at GameStop
• Xbox Series X -- $40 | Also at GameStop
• Switch 2 -- $50 | Also at GameStop
• Switch -- $40 | Also at GameStop

Preorder at Best Buy Preorder at GameStop

A beat-’em-up game from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge developer Tribute Games, Marvel Cosmic Invasion sees Earth’s Mightiest Mortals team up to take on Annihilus and his Annihilation Wave. Designed to look like an old-school SNES action game with its pixel-art graphics, the game features a roster of 15 heroes. The lineup includes popular characters like Captain America, Storm, and Spider-Man, alongside more obscure heroes like Beta Ray Bill and Quasar, all rendered in a style that evokes classic ’90s video games.

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Bungie's Marathon was reported to have used stolen art, but the matter has now apparently been resolved. The artist who originally brought the claims against Bungie has now announced that the issue "has been resolved with Bungie and Sony Interactive Entertainment to my satisfaction."

No further details were divulged regarding the nature of the matter and how this closure came to be. People are theorizing that the artist received a settlement payment, but that is not confirmed.

The Marathon art issue has been resolved with Bungie and Sony Interactive Entertainment to my satisfaction.

— N² (@4nt1r34l) December 2, 2025

After the art theft claims came to light earlier this year, Bungie responded to say it "immediately investigated" the concerns, and "confirmed that a former Bungie artist included these in a texture sheet that was ultimately used in-game."

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Obsidian has announced that the planned fall update for Avowed is not going to make it on time. The features planned for the update are still coming, but they are now going to be wrapped into a "larger update" instead in February 2026 to celebrate the game's first anniversary.

"This update will include everything originally planned for fall, plus additional features that will make it our biggest update yet. Stay tuned as we head into the new year for more details on what’s planned for the Living Lands," the developer said.

Avowed previously got spring and summer updates that added things like a no-spiders mode and custom map markers. The February 2026 update will include New Game Plus and Photo modes, along with a new weapon type, new character presets, more Godlike feature presets, and the ability to change your character's appearance, among other things.

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Rockstar Games launched the new version of Red Dead Redemption on modern consoles and mobile today, December 2, but the rollout did not go entirely smoothly on Xbox.

People who already own Red Dead Redemption for Xbox 360 digitally were expecting the new edition for Xbox Series X|S to automatically show up as a free download, but quickly noticed this didn't happen.

This is an issue that Rockstar is aware of and the studio is working with Microsoft to resolve it. "Thank you for your patience," Rockstar said.

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