Two union representatives for Ubisoft have voiced their belief that CEO Yves Guillemot should resign. This comes after a wave of layoffs, project cancellations, and studio restructuring that hit the company best known for Assassin's Creed and Far Cry.

In January, Ubisoft announced plans to split the company into several "Creative Houses" dedicated to specific franchises. Internally, it also canceled several projects like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake, laid off developers, closed studios, and implemented a return-to-office mandate. This has angered many Ubisoft developers, who are planning to strike later this month.

In a recent interview with Game Developer, Ubisoft union representatives Marc Rutschlé and Chakib Mataoui placed most of the blame on the CEO and indicated they'd like a leadership change at Ubisoft. "I think Guillemot should move away at this point. I think the level of hate people have for him [means] he should move on. Then, we could build some sort of trust again," Rutschlé explained.

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Geoff Keighley has announced the first details about 2026's edition of The Game Awards. The host and organizer of the annual event has revealed that this year's show will take place on Thursday, December 10, and once again, it'll be broadcast from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

Keighley said more details will be announced later this year.

The timing is the normal spot for The Game Awards, as the event historically has been held in early December on a Thursday evening.

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Apex Legends Season 28 is also the start of the battle royale's Year 7, and the Respawn team is keeping to tradition by implementing a substantial gameplay change for the game's birthday. Season 28, titled Breach, introduces breakable windows and skylights to Apex Legends called Hardlight Meshes. These surfaces can be breached by squads trying to find additional ways into a building, or reinforced by players bunkering inside who are trying to hold a point-of-interest. These new mechanics sound like some you might find in Rainbow Six Siege (or Highguard, the recently released raid shooter from former Apex Legends developers).

This isn't a small change, either. Hardlight Meshes will be added to all of the maps rotating into the battle royale playlists this season (World's Edge, Broken Moon, and E-District). Save for Olympus, these three maps have the most urban environments of all of Apex Legends' maps. That means there are plenty of buildings that have been remade by the sole conceit that they now have multiple breach points, making them significantly harder to defend.

"As with all new additions to Apex, community feedback will certainly drive the conversation and inform our future updates and tuning," senior game designer Connor Monahan told me. "Playtesting internally, the places where we feel Hardlight [has] the most [impact] fall into two big categories. The first category is buildings previously very difficult to assault that now have narrow weaknesses you can exploit to break in. Examples that come to mind are some Lunar buildings--the tube-shaped structures--on [Broken] Moon, four-story buildings and Powerbank on E-District, and Lava Siphon on World's Edge. There are now new choke points and entries that make pressuring teams bunkered inside much more viable."

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For the last two decades, the vast majority of World War 2 games have been first-person shooters. ProbablyMonsters' upcoming title, Nekome: Nazi Hunter, is going to buck that trend with its single-player third-person experience. In the first teaser for the game, the main character demonstrates his abilities by fatally stabbing a Nazi soldier.

The lead character's name is Vano Nastasu, and he's not a soldier. He's a Romani who was persecuted by the Nazis and was subsequently unable to prevent his family from being murdered. However, Nastasu survived and now the hunted has become a hunter himself. His story of revenge will play out behind enemy lines across Europe during the war.

According to ProbablyMonsters, this game was inspired by grindhouse cinema. Players will be able stalk their prey, scout out enemy routes, and make their assassinations personal and precise. Nastasu has been given "grounded finishing moves," which will come "together in a symphony of violence where every encounter carries lasting consequences."

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Obsidian Entertainment was one of Microsoft's busiest studios in 2025, releasing three games in the short 12 months of the year. While two of its role-playing games, Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 were favorably received, only one of them fits into the studio's future.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Obsidian is not currently working on a third entry in The Outer Worlds franchise, and is instead exploring ideas that expand on the setting introduced to players in Avowed. Avowed itself lives within the Pillars of Eternity universe, of which there are multiple Obsidian-developed games, so it might not be surprising that this is where the studio is choosing to continue focusing efforts.

The interview delves into how the single studio managed to put out three games in a single year, with studio design director Josh Sawyer chalking it up to unexpected project timelines, scope pivots, and poor planning. "Spacing those releases helps the company manage its resources and not burn everybody out," Sawyer says. "It's not good to release three games in the same year. It's the result of things going wrong."

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Given how much has happened since, it might come as a surprise that Highguard has been out for just one week. Since then, the game has received a few patches, and an entirely new game mode that is now going to stick around.

Over the weekend, Highguard developer Wildlight introduced a 5v5 game mode to sit alongside its standard 3v3 queues, stating that it would be a limited-time mode. Given the response by players, the new game mode has now become permanent, letting you enjoy the game's mix of looting and raiding with hopefully more player interactions in the large, open map. Wildlight announced the news on X, stating that the player split between its two modes was relatively even across the weekend.

The addition of two more players on each team has been a favorable change to some players, with the game even emerging from its negative review status on Steam up to "Mixed" over the weekend. The effect might be short lived, however, as the increased player counts over the weekend has since subsided, with numbers now hovering below last week's worst days.

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Nintendo has revealed that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has sold another 2.39 million copies globally from April through December 2025, showcasing incredible staying power for the nearly nine-year-old Switch game. What's even more impressive is this number comes during a timeframe that saw the launch of Switch 2 exclusive Mario Kart World in June.

The newest sales figure comes from Nintendo's financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2026, which runs from April 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was the third best-selling original Switch game during that timespan. Meanwhile, newcomers Pokemon Legends: Z-A and Super Mario Galaxy 2 took the top two spots, with 8.41 million and 2.42 million copies sold worldwide, respectively. As for Pokemon Legends: Z-A, the Switch 2 Edition added another 3.89 million copies sold (yes, that includes hardware bundles), meaning together with the Switch version, the action-RPG sits at 12.3 million copies sold.

Overall, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has sold 70.59 million units since arriving on Switch in April 2017. That makes it the best-selling Switch game of all time. Technically, the racing game first launched on Wii U in May 2014 and has sold 8.46 million copies separately on that Nintendo platform. As for Mario Kart World, the Switch 2 exclusive is the top-selling game on Nintendo's new console with 14.03 million units sold.

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Mario's sports spin-offs during the Switch era have been mostly decent, but also, largely unsurprising. There have been few frills and largely anemic single-player modes, and the occasional experiment like Mario Golf Super Rush have been divisive. Mario Tennis Fever is the first in the sport spin-off genre on Switch 2, and a chance to set a new course for the company. After a hands-on with it at a recent Nintendo event, I can't say whether it has course-corrected on the single-player, but the multiplayer is so chockablock with options and game-changing effects that I'm intrigued.

In fact, the main hook of the new game--the titular Fever rackets--have such wild impacts on the court that at times Fever felt more like a party game than a sports title. Our couch competitive experience was frequently interrupted by raucous trash talk and surprised screams as new effects totally changed the match mid-volley.

But first, the basics. A short tutorial explained the mechanics of Mario Tennis Fever, which are largely unchanged from previous tennis titles. You serve and volley just as you'd expect, and you hit the button early or double-tap for charged and powered-up effects, respectively. Mario and the gang look especially great here, thanks to the enhanced power of the Switch 2 and relatively limited scope of what's on screen.

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So far, Nintendo's Switch 2 upgrade packs have been all over the map. There are the smaller ones with just a few quality-of-life features like Animal Crossing, serious upgrades like the Legend of Zelda games, and larger-scale expansions like Kirby's Star-Crossed World expansion. Super Mario Bros. Wonder's Switch 2 upgrade, Meetup at Bellabel Park, is priced like a larger expansion, but that doesn't quite capture the nature of what it is. Instead, based on a hands-on experience with Nintendo, it transforms the game into something else entirely, borrowing liberally from the Mario Party series.

Though Mario Wonder allowed you to go through its stages in multiplayer, Bellabel Park is centered around bespoke multiplayer minigames, using the Mario Wonder platforming as its mechanical underpinnings. So unlike an actual Mario Party game, in which the randomized minigames might challenge you to do new and unfamiliar things at a regular clip, these feel more like platforming challenges with a little bit of party game spirit.

Since they're built around traditional Mario platforming, the challenges aren't entirely competitive. We first played a cooperative level that had one player using the Switch 2 mouse functionality to draw Donut Blocks, Mario Maker style, to guide the other three players through a stage that was one big pit hazard. That by itself would be not much more than a neat toy-like experiment, but the stage was also littered with occasional hazards and puzzle challenges, like a special coin nested inside a set of breakable boxes. The Donut Block player would need to draw a path for a spike ball to roll its way into the boxes so that the other players could access the coin; and naturally, we were all shouting out tips of where and how to draw the path, adding to the chaotic fun of the whole experience.

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Nintendo doesn't have very many high-profile missteps, which makes it all the more notorious when one of its flagship products falters. The Wii U is the most recent example, but before that the all-timer was the Virtual Boy--a mid-'90s experiment in early 3D effects that never caught on. Nintendo fans have identified many possible causes for this--the unwieldy design, the all-red graphics, the middling library--but whatever the cause, it's been a sore spot in Nintendo history. Now the company is bringing it back with emulation and two accessory options (one or the other is required) on the Switch 2. It works well, but will likely serve more as a museum piece for fans of Nintendo history than a strong part of the gaming library.

During a Nintendo event, we were able to try the Virtual Boy emulation, with a Switch 2 console fitted into the pricey Virtual Boy accessory. (The cardboard model was on display behind glass, but we weren't able to try it.) The $100 option looks just like my memory of a Virtual Boy in a Toys R Us kiosk, complete with its tripod stand and foam face shield. The only major differences are that this one has a Switch 2 noticeably lodged into it, and there is no attached controller since you'll just use paired Joy-Cons or Pro Controller. It was notable, more as an interesting curiosity than anything else, that about half of the Switch console was actually sticking out of the bottom of the Virtual Boy accessory. The actual Virtual Boy display was only utilizing roughly the top half of the screen.

Then there's the experience of actually putting hands (and eyes) on it. The foam face shield was actually very comfortable and did a great job blocking out the ambient light of the room. Hunching over to get my eyes in the correct position was less comfortable, but I learned afterwards that I would have been allowed to adjust the table height on request, so that may just be user error on my part. Still, it does raise the specter of one key weakness of the Virtual Boy: You have to find a position to play and stay planted there, rather than naturally shift around as people tend to do when relaxing with a video game. The field-of-view was slightly odd, also, as I had to lift my head up above the face shield slightly and look down "into" the display to see the part of the UI that explained the suspend menu shortcut. And of course, the red-and-black display does still feel fairly harsh, and emerging from the darkened cocoon of the Virtual Boy display is disorienting.

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The Nintendo Switch was a massive success, but it was built primarily on the strength of first-party and less-demanding third-party games. We all knew you didn't turn to the Switch for the visual splendor offered on its competitors. The Switch 2 has brought things slightly more towards parity, and we've seen a few third-party standouts like Cyberpunk 2077 and Star Wars Outlaws that push the hardware. Those will soon be joined by two high-profile Capcom games, Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata, which were both visually impressive at a recent Nintendo hands-on event.

Both demos on display were familiar ones. For Resident Evil, it was the opening moments as Grace begins exploring the hospital that we've seen demonstrated in other presentations, and for Pragmata it was the same demo that's available on Steam now. But that also allows a direct comparison, and to my surprise, it was pretty favorable in both cases.

Resident Evil Requiem looked great, maintaining the high-fidelity distressed look that lends itself to the creepy atmosphere. Things in the hospital look worn and used, sometimes decaying, which helps set a mood, and the Switch 2 pulled off that look very well. In handheld mode, the smaller screen may have looked even better than on a big screen, since the more compact pixel density could hide some of the less-detailed parts. Plus, with the ability to play on a handheld you could play it in bed, hiding under the covers.

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The original Nintendo Switch has surpassed the DS in sales, officially reaching a milestone as Nintendo's best-selling video game system of all time. With 155.37 million units sold as of the last week of December 2025, the Switch only trails Sony's PlayStation 2 for the all-time record.

This achievement was long expected, with the Switch shown to be inching toward the DS's numbers in Nintendo's last quarterly earnings report. Nintendo DS, which was released in 2004 and has long since been discontinued, sold 154.02 million units in its lifetime.

For the Switch to dethrone the PS2, it'll have to overtake its astounding figure of over 160 million consoles sold--if Nintendo can somehow squeeze out more than 5 million sales.

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Ubisoft has released The Division: Definitive Edition, although that may come as a surprise as the company never officially announced it.

After being spotted in the wild in Japan, some theorized that the Definitive Edition might be a remaster of sorts for the 2016 game for its 10th anniversary. However, the Definitive Edition is actually a new $50 version of the game that includes the game's previously released expansions, Underground, Survival, and Last Stand, along with weapon skins and gear sets.

The Definitive Edition store page does not mention any graphical upgrades, but people playing on Xbox Series X|S or PS5 may see improvements due to upscaling on those systems. The store pages also do not list off any new features or improvements. The game was originally released for Xbox One, PS4, and PC in 2016. The Division's new Definitive Edition does not appear to be available on Steam.

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Nintendo has published its financial results for the nine months ended December 31, 2025, and, amid some impressive figures for its new Switch 2 hardware, it has confirmed that the original Switch is its best-selling console of all time. While it hasn't dethroned the PS2 as the best-selling console of all time--160 million units sold--the Switch has reached a lifetime sales milestone of 155.37 million units.

This new figure has shifted the Nintendo DS to third place on the list of best-selling consoles, with the handheld having moved 154.02 million units during its lifetime. Nintendo predicts it will sell another 750,000 Switch consoles in the current fiscal year, which ends on April 1.

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Last year, Bethesda released The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered to great acclaim, leading some players to call for The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind to receive the same kind of update. Now, Larian Studios publishing chief and Baldur's Gate 3 veteran Michael Douse is throwing his support behind a modern update of Morrowind.

In a post on X, Douse wrote, "OK, call me optimistic, but there is a very technically qualified developer out there that would happily remake Morrowind with a modern combat system and it would sell like f***ing hot cakes." In a subsequent post, Douse added, "Mission to find Bethesda's Bloober [Team]: go."

Ok call me optimistic but there is a very technically qualified developer out there that would happily remake Morrowind with a modern combat system and it would sell like fucking hot cakes https://t.co/pDO1HDYGVX

— Very AFK (@Cromwelp) February 1, 2026

Douse was responding to previous comments left by Bethesda veteran Bruce Nesmith, who recently cast doubt that a Morrowind update is actually what people want.

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When I received a press release about a product that claimed to "power long gaming sessions, binge-watch marathons, and busy days" I was immediately intrigued--that's quite literally all I do. It was ironic that I had one of the Fallout season 2 episodes on my third monitor while working, since that email invited me to try Yfood's collaboration with the Prime Video series.

Yfood is a brand that's been around for a while now, mostly based in Europe. Following the success of the first Fallout series, the food brand decided to launch the first-ever food collaboration.

There's a range of six drinks, each replacing the classic Yfood branding with a character from the Fallout series. There are six flavors with limited edition bottles:

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Lunar New Year is an annual seasonal event in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. This is a worldwide holiday observed in-game, and it always coincides with the start of the real-world Chinese New Year each year. In this guide, we'll discuss all the festivities and items you can unlock during Lunar New Year.

The date for the event varies each year. For 2026, the Chinese New Year begins on February 17, so the Lunar New Year event for Animal Crossing: New Horizons should arrive on the same date.

At the start of the event, Isabelle will make an announcement and wish everyone good fortune and happiness. This Lunar New Year event gives you unique dialogue with villagers, so make sure to speak with everyone on the island for a festive touch. You can also purchase special holiday items from Nook Shopping.

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Ys X: Proud Nordics Deluxe Edition

$70 | Releases February 20

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February has several JRPGs to look forward to, including the new, updated edition of the latest Ys game, Ys X: Proud Nordics. If you're planning to get the game for Switch 2 or PS5 when it releases on February 20, the $70 Deluxe Edition offers several tempting preorder incentives. This physical edition of Ys X: Proud Nordics comes with a mini art book and a mini-poster featuring elegant artwork of the protagonists Adol and the Karja, flanked by their comrades in the background.

Ys X: Proud Nordics Deluxe Edition $70 | Releases February 20

The physical Ys X: Proud Nordics Deluxe Edition includes the game, a mini-artbook, and a fold-out poster featuring the main cast.

Preorders for the Switch 2 and PS5 physical versions are priced at $70 each at Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, and GameStop. Note that the Switch 2 version of Ys X: Proud Nordics is a Game Key-Card release, meaning no game data is stored on the card. Instead, they serve as authentication keys for the downloaded game, so you'll need enough space to download the game to your Switch 2. The game's file size has not been confirmed. However, like other physical games, Game key-Cards can be used in multiple Switch 2s--you just have to download the game data before playing.

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Ys X: Proud Nordics is an action RPG that focuses on the adventurer Adol and the proud Norman Karja as they find themselves bound together by the shackles of Mana. With the looming threat of the undying horde known as the Griegr drawing close, the duo works together to gather a trusty crew of friends and allies to help save the day. Proud Nordics is an enhanced version of Ys X, offering improved performance, rebalanced gameplay, and quality-of-life updates compared to the original game, which launched on PS4, PS5, Switch, and PC in 2024. There's also a brand-new story centering around Öland Island, and the devious time-trial dungeon Muspelheim. On top of all that, the game includes new Mana Actions, Mana Ride racing, and all DLC content from the original game.

As mentioned above, there are more JRPGs to look forward to throughout February. Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is out first on February 5, and this is a complete remake of the original game from 2000. The new version features a gorgeous art style reminiscent of sculpted figurines and big changes to the story and gameplay aimed at making the game less of a slog to play. Preordering any version of Dragon Quest VII Reimagined gets you a special costume for the main hero and three Seed of Proficiency items. These preorder bonuses are included with all physical and digital preorders, while preordering the Digital Deluxe Edition on any platform gets you 48-hour early access to the full game starting February 3.

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R-Type Dimensions III Standard Edition

$40 | Releases May 19

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R-Type Dimensions III Special Edition

$70 | Releases May 19

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R-Type Dimensions III: Collector's Edition

$200 | Releases May 19

Preorder at Strictly Limited Games

Arriving on May 19, R-Type Dimensions III is a massive remake of the classic shoot-em-up, R-Type III: The Third Lightning. Originally released in 1993, the game is receiving a modern makeover for PS5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC, with updated graphics, a new soundtrack, and several quality-of-life features. You can even bounce back and forth between the updated art style and the original at the press of a bunch, so whether you want to relive the glory days or enjoy the action from a new perspective, Preorders are now open at Amazon, and while you can preorder the standard edition anytime ahead of its May 19 launch, preordes for the premium Special Edition and Collector's Edition are only available from Strictly Limited Games through February 8.

R-Type Dimensions III Standard Edition $40 | Releases May 19

This is the most affordable version of R-Type Dimensions III, getting you the base game and nothing more. Physical preorders are currently only available at Amazon--though even here, not all of them are live. The PS5 listing is active, while the Switch and Switch 2 versions are listed as "currently unavailable." They'll likely be updated soon, and we're expecting the game to arrive at other retailers ahead of its launch.

Preorder at Amazon R-Type Dimensions III Special Edition $70 | Releases May 19

If you're a long-time fan of the series, the Special Edition might be more enticing. For an extra $30, you'll get the following:

• Base game
• Printed manual (full color)
• Art booklet featuring concept art, behind-the-scenes designs, info on ships, weapons, and enemies, and various developer commentary and insights
• Original soundtrack on CD

Preorder at Strictly Limited Games R-Type Dimensions III: Collector's Edition $200 | Releases May 19

It's pricey, but no doubt it packs in some cool collectibles. The Collector's Edition is only available to preorder up until February 9, so keep that deadline in mind if you're thinking about adding it to your home. Along with the base game, you'll get the following:

• Premium Collector's Edition box featuring metallic accents and embossing
• Base game
• Printed manual (full color)
• Dobkeratops vs. R-90 Ragnarok Figurine (15cm)
• Art book (120 pages)
• Two-disc soundtrack set
• Fold-out poster
• Sticker sheet
• Boss card set
• Individually numbered certificate of authenticity

Preorder at Strictly Limited Games R-Type Dimensions III Collector's Edition

Whether you're an R-Type newcomer or a fan of the classics from decades past, R-Type Dimensions III caters to both players with some useful quality-of-life updates and expanded features. For long-time fans, you can dive into Advanced Mode--with faster enemies and denser projectile patterns, it'll put your skills to the test. And as mentioned above, you can swap between retro 2D graphics and enhanced 3D graphics at the press of a button. Newcomers can explore new "introductory settings" to help them get up to speed with the game's fast pace. You can also play locally with a friend in two-player co-op, which should make it a bit easier to bring down the game's most challenging foes.

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Software giant Adobe sees many of its popular programs, such as Photoshop, InDesign, and Premiere used in the creation of games and other popular entertainment media. Their programs factor into many different development pipelines, and are so ubiquitous as to be almost unavoidable--which is why many developers were extremely dismayed to wake up to an email from Adobe announcing the program's discontinuation on March 1.

"We’re contacting you to let you know that Adobe will be discontinuing Adobe Animate on March 1, 2026. As an existing Animate user, you may continue to use Animate, but please note that technical support will no longer be available after March 1, 2027," states part of the email sent to users.

The email suggests alternative Adobe programs for certain functionality, and also notes that "access to your Animate files and project data will end on March 1, 2027."

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