Call of Duty Season 5 arrives to Black Ops 6 next month, and Activision has confirmed the season will launch with the final map for Zombies. Treyarch has since released a series of teaser clips, showing what players can expect for this major story conclusion. This includes the map's Pack-a-Punch location and possible new enemy type with the "Mechaklaus."

Following the events of Season 3's Shattered Veil, the setting of the final map takes place in Janus Towers. Three short teaser clips have been released so far, and they all feature the perspective of Janus Tower security cameras with the grainy look of a '90s-style found footage film.

The first Zombies teaser shows Janus Towers in chaos with fires inside the building and a glimpse of the undead. The second teaser seemingly reveals that one of the towers was being used to manufacture robots. It also gives a first look at the map's Pack-a-Pack machine, which is located by a large circular device that could be some sort of teleporter. Janus Towers is a set of three large towers in Liberty Falls, so the teleporter could be a way for players to navigate the separate locations.

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Frostpunk 2 is coming to consoles on September 18, will receive two different physical editions, and will be joining the console version of Xbox Game Pass on day one, developer 11 bit studios has announced.

The game is already on PC Game Pass, but will be added to the console version on release day. As for the physical editions, they will come in two different versions. One, the Icebreaker Edition, includes the game, a digital novella, digital artbook, and a pop-up diorama of the game's New London. A pricier Whiteout Edition includes all of the goodies from the Icebreaker version but also includes access to three of Frostpunk 2's upcoming DLC releases as well as more physical goodies in the form of a keychain, New London postcards, stickers, and a faction patch.

In a press release, 11 bit studios production coordinator Igor Skibinski said the goal with the console version of the post-apocalyptic strategy game was to make its controls seamless. After the console version's release, an update will come to the PC version that will enable the console version's UI when using a controller.

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Writer and director Alex Garland could team up with Cailee Spaeny once again on the Elden Ring movie. The Alien: Romulus star is reportedly in talks to join the film adaption's cast, though the specific role is unknown.

Jeff Sneider (via Eurogamer) reported the possible casting for the Elden Ring film. Previously, Garland and Spaeny have worked together on the TV series Devs as well as last year's movie Civil War. Spaeny is probably best known for starring in Alien: Romulus as Rain; arguably, her breakout role came in Pacific Rim: Uprising in 2018.

In May, the Elden Ring movie was officially announced, with Garland helming and scripting the adaptation. The director previously performed both duties on Ex Machina, Annihilation, and the aforementioned Civil War. Garland also has a history in the video game industry, co-writing Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and assisting with the narrative for 2013's DmC. The filmmaker is also clearly familiar with Elden Ring, stating he was on his seventh playthrough last month.

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A two-player mode is making its debut in Elden Ring Nightreign next week, allowing duos to run together without seeking a third player.

From Software has announced that a duos mode will be added to Elden Ring Nightreign on July 30 alongside update 1.02, which is aimed at providing a variety of other quality-of-life improvements. Full patch notes haven't been revealed yet.

The highly requested feature will be a game-changer for some folks looking to tackle the challenges in Limveld. When Elden Ring Nightreign first launched, players were forced to enter matches solo or in a group of three, the latter of which forced duo partners to team up with a random third player or seek out an additional person to join up.

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Crytek was founded in 1999 by three Turkish-German brothers, Cevat, Avni, and Faruk Yerli. The brothers have come together to bring a limited-series documentary about everything Crytek, with the first part already online. For the first time, fans will be able to see previously unseen footage, explore early concept art, and delve deeper into the stories that made the studio what it was.

The documentary starts with the story of the brothers getting a black box PC from their father, which they said was for "studying," but they knew what they wanted to do with their lives. They also knew what they didn't want.

"We cannot be a typical German game company, because German game companies, usually used to, back then, make strategy games, RPG games very complicated to play," said Avni. "So our idea was to offer an experience, which is open-world sandbox experiences, semi-sandbox experiences, where you can also see the environment, walk around, experience everything. And that was completely new."

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Earlier this week, VShojo, the VTuber talent agency that claims to put "talent first," came under fire as its biggest talent, Ironmouse, alleged that the company had failed to pay her a "significant sum" of money, as well as failing to donate more than $515,000 that she had raised for the Immune Deficiency Foundation. Now, after a mass exodus of its talent that saw VShojo without a single remaining VTuber on its books, the CEO has admitted to spending those funds to try to keep the company afloat.

In a statement posted to the VShojo X account on July 24, CEO Justin Ignacio has admitted that he has "mismanaged the company into the situation you're all witnessing." Ignacio goes on to confirm that VShojo has been facing financial difficulties in recent months, and that despite raising "around $11 million" to pursue a "talent-first" approach, the company eventually ran out of money. Ignacio says that "some of the money was raised in connection with talent activity," and claims that he later learned that it was intended for a charitable initiative. He continues, "We were working hard to raise additional investment capital to cover our costs, and I firmly believed, based on the information available to us, that we would be able to do so and cover all our expenses. We were unsuccessful in our fundraising efforts."

pic.twitter.com/fnbGvAtm50

— VShojo (@VShojo) July 24, 2025

However, users on X have pointed out several instances where Ignacio acknowledged Ironmouse's charity streams at the time, and allege that he did not "later learn" this fact at all, but was aware for the duration of VShojo's struggles. As a response to the situation, Twitch has removed the "GunRun" global emote that was dedicated to Ignacio.

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MindsEye launched to overwhelmingly negative reception earlier this year, putting many developers at the studio Build A Rocket Boy at risk of redundancy, but that hasn't stopped the team from trying to salvage its game.

The developer has now shared an update on the troubled launch of MindsEye and committed to a roadmap of sorts for the game, including news on a crossover with the Hitman series, which is developed by the title's publisher, IO Interactive.

The post begins as follows:

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Have you been waiting to hear any news of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond recently? Well, you might be in luck because the upcoming game has recently been given an age rating, suggesting that it may be getting a release date pretty soon.

As spotted by VGC, a listing for Metroid Prime 4 has gone up on South Korea's classification board where it is currently rated for "ages 12 and up" due to mild violence. The content of the listing itself doesn't reveal much else about the content of the game, but the filing does suggest that Metroid Prime 4 is indeed closing in on the finish line and could still stand to release later this year, where it's being pegged as a holiday release at the moment.

Additionally, VGC reports that the listing comes around the same time that it's been hearing of an imminent Nintendo Direct, where it is believed that a formal release date will finally be provided.

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Just a day after release, publisher 505 Games has released a new update for Wuchang: Fallen Feathers that addresses several performance issues, fixes some bugs, and grants missing preorder bonuses. Alongside the fixes, all players will receive the game's original soundtrack DLC as a form of apology.

The patch notes detail the addition of a manual toggle for low latency mode, which is now no longer enabled by default, as well as VRAM optimization for lower-end GPUs. 505 Games says it has also fixed an issue where the game may crash immediately after the company logo during startup. It has also resolved a stuttering issue during finisher animations.

Players that preordered both the Standard and the Deluxe edition of the game will receive the correct content rewards after the patch update. If you're struggling to find the rewards, the publisher says you should log in again and claim them at the donation box located in Reverent Temple.

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This week, The Fantastic Four: First Steps brings Marvel's first family of superheroes back to the big screen after a decade away. While the FF doesn't currently have a video game of their own, they are prominently featured in Marvel Rivals. And in the video below, the entire cast takes turns playing their respective characters in the game.

YouTube host Loserfruit put this gathering together when the cast was in Australia to promote First Steps. It seems safe to say that none of the FF cast are avid gamers, and Pedro Pascal noted that he never went past the original Nintendo console. But they all took their turns, starting with Ebon Moss-Bachrach playing the Thing, followed by Pascal as Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Invisible Woman, and Joseph Quinn as the Human Torch.

The cast had very amusing reactions to some of the alternate FF costumes, including the wedding attire for the team. They were also stunned by Invisible Woman's Malice skin, which Kirby jokingly suggested would be in the First Steps sequel. But if the cast thought that was shocking, someone should film their reactions when they see the actual Malice costume from the '80s.

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Ubisoft has revealed an updated roadmap for Assassin's Creed Shadows, which includes a September 16 release date for the Claws of Awaji expansion. This new expansion will be free to anyone who preordered the game, and it can also be purchased separately if you missed the preorder window.

Claws of Awaji looks like it'll add a significant amount of content, as in addition to a new weapon class for Naoe to master, there'll also be more abilities to learn, gear to acquire, and enemies to encounter. Overall, Ubisoft estimates that the expansion will add another 10 hours of content to Assassin's Creed Shadows.

Other updates on the way include New Game Plus mode, which will be available starting July 29. Selecting this mode will reset your story and objective board progression, but you'll get to keep all of the skills, gear, and knowledge ranks you've earned, as well as your Hideout progression. You won't have to sit through tutorials on your playthrough, as you can fast-forward to the end of the prologue chapters.

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Developer Techland has announced that Dying Light: The Beast has been delayed by several weeks, as it'll now launch on September 19 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. The company says that it'll use the next month to polish the finer details of the game ahead of its new launch date, as it wants to focus on areas like the user interface, gameplay balance, and player animations.

"It has always been our goal to make Dying Light: The Beast the best Dying Light game we’ve ever released," Techland said in a press statement. "To honor this promise, we’ve made the decision to move the release date to September 19, 2025 to allow for extra polishing work. We understand that this may be disappointing, but our experience has shown how important the first impression is. With just four additional weeks, we can address final details that make all the difference between good and great."

Originally scheduled to launch on August 22, Dying Light: The Beast is a new standalone adventure that sees the return of Kyle Crane, the protagonist from the first game in the series. Hellbent on revenge after a decade of captivity and horrific genetic experimentation performed on him by a sinister figure known as the Baron, Crane eventually manages to break free from his prison.

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While last month's Unseen Update was meant to be Hades 2's final patch before the 1.0 launch, it turns out Supergiant had one more up its sleeve. The latest patch is full of balance tweaks, improvements, and fixes--including a handful that have come from players' feedback. Here's what's changing.

For the most part, players are getting a boost in power with the new patch, with many of the game's weapons, boons, and other abilities seeing buffs to damage, range, or other properties. Some abilities are being made easier to use, while a number of enemies are also becoming less punishing.

Some of the game's boons are getting minor nerfs for balance reasons, while others are being fully replaced--the Poseidon x Hephaestus boon Seismic Hammer, Hera x Poseidon's Golden Rule, and Demeter X Hephaestus's Room Temperature have all been cut and replaced with brand-new boons.

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While cost of living pressures are having an impact on the global entertainment industry, a new report suggest that things are only looking up for video games--which are already bringing in more money than the music and movie industry combined.

A report from analysts at the PwC network has predicted that video games will be a major source of growth for the broader entertainment and media industry in the next few years, with the firm calling gaming "an industry bright spot" in times of economic uncertainty.

The PwC report suggests that the games industry, which saw total revenues of $224 billion in 2024, could grow to nearly $300 billion by 2029. While other forms of digital entertainment are suffering, streaming media especially seeing reduced consumer spending amidst an overcrowded market, video games have proved more resistant to economic pressures.

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Halloween is close than you think, making now a great time to prep for spooky season by picking up this new compilation featuring two horror stories by Stephen Graham Jones. Graham Jones is a big name in the world of horror novels, winning numerous writing awards like the Ray Bradbury Award and the Bram Stoker Award. If you're seeking an introduction to his work, the new Saga Doubles two-novel compilation featuring The Killer on the Road and The Babysitter Lives is a solid place to start. Not only does it include two of Graham's stories in one, but you can also grab the book at a slight discount for $18.59 at Amazon (normally $20).

Saga Doubles: Killer on the Road & The Babysitter Lives $18.59 (was $20)

Combining two novels into one, the 480-page paperback double pack features full versions of Graham's books Killer on the Road and The Babysitter Lives. If you're unfamiliar with these book, The Baby Sitter Lives is a haunted house tale while Killer on the Road is a thriller that follows a high-school student targeted by a serial killer. Along with both books, this Saga Doubles edition sports unique dual-sided binding with new cover art for both books.

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On the fence? A short sample of the book is available on Amazon, giving you a chance to read through a few pages before making a purchase. Graham Jones' unique writing style is bound to appeal to most readers--but be sure to give the digital sample a look if you're not quite sure you want to add it to your shelf.

This double-pack is part of a new series of compilations from Saga Press, which pull together two books into a single package. There are several other compilations joining the Saga Doubles line soon, including Saga Doubles: Red Star Hustle + Apprehension that includes crime stories from award-winning authors Sam J. Miller and Mary Robinette Kowal. It releases for $20 on October 21. Saga Doubles: Dreadful Dark: Tales of Nighttime Horror/Merciless Sun: Tales of Daylight Horror bundles two anthologies--one featuring horror stories that take place in the day, the other at night. It arrives a bit earlier on September 2 for $20.

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Epic Games apparently removed passive XP gains from Fortnite's main Battle Royale and Zero Build modes on Thursday afternoon, in the midst of its Summer Road Trip event that will award a free Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 car body for gaining XP to complete a series of daily quests. Playing Battle Royale had awarded 550 XP per minute, or a little less than half a level per hour, just for existing in the game mode--but that's no longer the case.

While this certainly is a bit of a nerf, it's actually not typical for Battle Royale and Zero Build to give passive XP. In fact, passive XP was only just added to those modes at the beginning of the current season--before then, we lived without it. The change had made leveling the battle pass this season meaningfully faster.

Assuming the change will stick for a while, there are two fairly obvious potential reasons for the change. The Summer Road Trip event is one of them, since its quests simply require gaining XP to complete. You only need to gain eight total levels across these quests, so the lack of passive XP in BR probably won't slow anyone down very much. Another possibility is that we're approaching the end of Chapter 6 Season 4, and this change will make it a little tougher for folks who are just now getting started on the battle pass to catch up before the season ends on August 7.

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Pokemon Detective Pikachu Steelbook Edition (4K Blu-ray)

$28 (was $33)

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Amazon has the Detective Pikachu Limited Edition Steelbook on sale for only $28. Released in late April, this 4K Blu-ray edition had climbed to as high as $42.49 last month (and prior to launch). The current $28 price matches the all-time low for this adorable collectible version of charming live-action Pokemon film.

Detective Pikachu originally released on Blu-ray back in 2019. At the time, Best Buy had an exclusive edition with a steelbook case. That version is long gone--Best Buy doesn't even carry movies these days--and is regularly listed for ridiculous prices on eBay and other marketplaces. The new edition comes with a different steelbook case featuring Ryme City's best detective.

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Earlier this month, Skybound and QuarterUp announced that Rex Splode would be joining Mark Invincible, Atom Eve, and more on the playable roster for Invincible Vs.--the 3v3 tag-team fighting game coming next year. Today, during Robert Kirkman's panel at San Diego Comic-Con, the Invincible creator announced another new fighter for the game, and this one is a little more beastly.

Battle Beast--the fearsome warrior who travels the Invincible universe looking for a fighter to give him a glorious death--is the latest entrant into the Invincible Vs roster. The reveal trailer for the giant showed off some of his smashing moveset--including one attack where he smashed his club into Bulletproof so hard, it knocked off his head and limbs.

Battle Beast becomes the sixth confirmed fighter for Invincible Vs., joining the previously mentioned Invincible, Atom Eve, Bulletproof, and Rex Splode, as well as the Viltrumite Thula. Two other Viltrumites, Lucen and Omni-Man, did feature in the game's initial reveal trailer in June, but neither have been officially confirmed as playable characters.

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It seems horror fans are destined to mourn the loss of Kojima's Silent Hills project until the end of time--but that doesn't mean there aren't games out there picking up the torch left behind by its playable teaser, aptly named P.T. Indeed, developer Broken Bird Games has absorbed some of Kojima's vision to craft the eerie mind-bender Luto. In this atmospheric horror title, you'll spend your time as a character stuck in a loop within their home, trying desperately to figure out, well, why.

If you're interested in checking out this chilling mystery but want to know what kind of time investment you're in for before you do, we'll fill you in on how long it takes to beat Luto and how many chapters stand between you and the finale.

How long does it take to beat Luto?

How long it takes you to finish Luto will depend largely on your puzzle-solving abilities and how well you pay attention to your surroundings. Even with its occasionally obtuse puzzles, Luto is still a relatively brief horror experience that is focused on giving you a meaningful dose of the creeps without wearing its gimmicks too thin. With this in mind, you can expect it to take between 3-5 hours to finish the campaign. Of course, if you're using a guide to assist with puzzles in Luto, you can almost certainly wrap things up even quicker.

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The Last of Us: Part I and Part II Scripts (Hardcover)

$66.63 (was $70) | Releases December 16

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The Last of Us fans will soon be able to read the complete story in script format thanks to a new book from Dark Horse. Surprisingly, we aren't talking about the HBO adaptation here. The Last of Us: Part I and Part II Scripts is a hardbound omnibus containing the scripts for the Naughty Dog video games. Publication is slated for December 16, making it a well-timed gift idea for fans of The Last of Us.

The Last of Us: Part I and Part II Scripts is available to preorder for $66.63 (was $70) at Amazon. You won't be charged for your order until it ships, and Amazon will automatically apply any additional discounts it offers before launch to your preorder.

The Last of Us: Part I and Part II Scripts (Hardcover) $66.63 (was $70) | Releases December 16

The 616-page hardcover book contains the complete scripts for The Last of Us (2013), The Last of Us: Left Behind (2014), and The Last of Us Part II (2020).

The first game and the Left Behind DLC were written by Neil Druckmann, Naughty Dog's current creative lead and president. The sequel was co-written by Druckmann and Halley Gross. The duo, alongside Craig Mazin, most recently penned the scripts for the final two episodes of The Last of Us Season 2 for HBO.

This will probably be a fascinating book to pore over and have by your side during your next playthrough. But it might be of even greater interest to aspiring game writers. Scripts, like many areas of game development, aren't talked about by developers or publishers. Unless you work in the industry, chances are you've never had access to a script for a AAA game until now.

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The fact that this book exists at all is honestly pretty remarkable--unprecedented, even. We couldn't find a single other full video game script in book format. The closest published example we thought of was The Skyrim Library, a three-volume series compiling all of the written lore found in The Elder Scrolls V.

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