Season 4 Reloaded is now live in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone, and the update is themed around cartoon content and a Beavis and Butt-Head collaboration. Data miners have now discovered a potential American Dad crossover in the new game files, meaning more cartoon skins could be on the way.

Data miners have leaked Call of Duty bundles for both Stan and Roger from Seth MacFarlane's American Dad animated sitcom. These leaks also suggest a price of 2,800 CoD Points ($25) for each bundle, which is typical for the pricing on most bundles for Call of Duty's big IP crossovers.

Here's the American Dad Stan Smith Skin in game.
(via @realityuk_) pic.twitter.com/jgihDmsZz7

— CharlieIntel (@charlieINTEL) July 2, 2025

It's uncertain when this American Dad collaboration might arrive. If this content is indeed still planned for Call of Duty, it's possible it might arrive with Season 4 Reloaded to continue the cartoon theme, or this could be planned for a later crossover event in Season 5.

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Xbox's Perfect Dark reboot, first announced in 2022, has been canceled. Its developer, The Initiative, is also shutting down, Microsoft has confirmed.

First reported by Windows Central and corroborated by Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, the cancellation of Perfect Dark and closing of The Initiative come as part of Microsoft's latest round of layoffs, which are affecting an estimated 4% of the company's workforce. That translates to around 9,000 people losing their jobs, many of them across Microsoft's various gaming studios.

The Initiative was formed in 2018 and based in Santa Monica. Billed as a "AAAA" studio, it was led by former Crystal Dynamics studio head Darrel Gallagher and made up of developers from Respawn, BioWare, Naughty Dog, and more. In 2021, The Initiative announced it would partner with Crystal Dynamics, developer of the most recent Tomb Raider games, to assist on the Perfect Dark reboot.

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Mecha Break has officially launched, and like several other live-service games, there's a new event to take part in. The first one is Christian's Challenge, and this will run until July 27.

Christian's Challenge

Taking part is simple, as all you have to do is accumulate more Mission Tokens than the character Christian every week. The deadline for this is 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET for each Sunday that the event is active, and Mission Tokens and rewards are tallied weekly. To see if you're making any progress, you can check Christian's haul through the event interface. If you manage to come out on top, you'll get the following goodies:

• Head accessory: Disguise Glasses
• Insignia: Christian (also usable on outfits)
• Leg accessory pistol
• Christian pattern

Rally Order

The other event to take part in is Rally Order. In this mode, you'll select a theme--Rainfall, Sinslayer, Tempest, Skyred, Monarch, or Overlord--to form a tactical unit. You'll need to use invitation codes to invite other players to squad up with you, and doing so will earn your team Mission Tokens. One thing to note here is that you'll be unable to switch themes or join other units once you've formed a tactical unit, but if you're the sole member, you can disband the team. This will free you up to either select a new theme or accept invitations to join another unit.

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The breadth and depth of Microsoft's latest layoffs continue to come into focus, as a report now claims that Call of Duty developer Raven Software and Forza Motorsport studio Turn 10 have been affected. This is in addition to the layoffs at Sea of Thieves developer Rare, Candy Crush studio King, and The Elder Scrolls Online developer ZeniMax Online Studios.

According to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, "many" of the Xbox-owned game developers are facing layoffs due to Microsoft's broader push to cut 4% of its workforce globally. The cuts to Turn 10 are reportedly very significant, with "nearly 50%" of staff affected, Schreier said.

Raven Software is the main co-developer on Activision's upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 alongside Treyarch. Raven also works on Call of Duty: Warzone. Turn 10 Studios, meanwhile, is known for its work on the Forza Motorsport series, the latest entry of which came out in 2023 for PC and Xbox Series X|S.

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In addition to Rare's Everwild, it appears another canceled game at Xbox from the latest round of restructuring is a long-in-development MMORPG from ZeniMax Online Studios.

According to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, Microsoft has canceled "Blackbird," the codename for the project from makers of The Elder Scrolls Online. Schreier said the game had been in development since 2018. No other details about the project were revealed.

"As one illustration of just how sloppy and chaotic today's mass Xbox layoff has been, some employees at Zenimax Online Studios are now watching their Slack accounts abruptly get locked out. No message from HR, no word on whether they still have a job, just an ominous Slack deactivation," Schreier added.

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Earlier this summer, developer People Can Fly was hit by layoffs and the cancelation of two unannounced projects. Now, two reports have indicated that one of the canceled games was Outriders 2, the sequel to the 2021 action-shooter that People Can Fly developed for publisher Square Enix.

The Thumb Wars was the first outlet to report the story, which was subsequently corroborated by Insider Gaming. In June, People Can Fly explained that one of the canceled games--under the name Project Gemini--was suspended over issues with the game's publishers regarding its failure to give the developer assets it needed to continue. It also noted that the publisher failed to maintain a dialogue with People Can Fly that would allow the two sides to finish the project.

Insider Gaming identifies Project Gemini as Outriders 2, and Square Enix as the publisher in question. The outlet reports that Outriders 2 wasn't nearly as close to completion as The Thumb Wars' report suggested, but there were no firm answers about what went wrong between People Can Fly and Square Enix.

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The big headline you're going to hear EA talk about in the lead-up to Madden NFL 26 is how this year's game boasts "the biggest franchise update in over a decade." You'll likely hear some other outlets and content creators repeating this phrase, accepting it as true. You won't read that here, though. Madden's Franchise mode has been in a rough place for years now, and last year's game taught me not to trust what I hear, only what I see for myself.

During a hands-off presentation of Madden's next Franchise update at the EA Orlando campus, the team detailed all the things it's adding to my favorite mode. Franchise is something I pour hundreds of hours into year after year, but my interest in the mode is sustained thanks to the fantastic and friendly league I'm in. If I needed the mode itself to keep me invested as a solo player, I'd play it far less, if at all. Madden has been improving on the field year after year lately, but Franchise remains a broken, frustrating experience, and I'm not willing to take EA at its word that this year's update will be so beneficial.

Last year, one of the marquee new features coming to Madden 25 was the plethora of new storyline scenarios that could unfold in Franchise mode. Any given week, you might have a team meeting in which you need to gameplan for your opponent, a press conference with a feisty reporter pool, or a sideline chit-chat with a frustrated player. The idea was to infuse the game with true-to-life drama. It's a fun idea on paper, but it was implemented incredibly, sometimes hilariously poorly.

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We're less than a week away from Amazon Prime Day 2025. While some deals will be available to everyone during the four-day sales event (July 8-11), many of the best offers will be exclusive to Prime members. If you don't have a membership and are between the ages of 18 and 24, you can save big on your subscription. Amazon's new Prime Young Adult subscription drops the price by 50%, lowering the monthly cost to only $7.49 (most members pay $15). Annual subscriptions are also half the cost at $69 instead of $139.

Even better, new accounts who qualify for the Young Adults membership get their first six months at no cost, plus 5% cash back on orders--both of which are perks exclusive to this new tier.

Join Amazon Prime Young Adult

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Ready or Not has been a huge hit for Void Interactive over on Steam, getting good reviews from critics and consumers alike. However, players have turned against the developer, with the game getting pelted by negative reviews over the past week. The reason? Void removed some material from the game in order to get it certified for its console port.

"Throughout this console port process we've done our utmost to only make changes when they are flagged as absolutely required by our first party partners, and any changes aim to remain faithful to the original tonality of the game, so there is no reason to be alarmed," Void said in a statement. "Our age rating as it stands for console is ESRB M-rating, PEGI 18, and USK 18 to give an idea. Still, there are other game content requirements that console platforms have in order to exist on their systems, and a portion of these changes will be visible on the PC version."

Void went on to describe the changes of the level of gore, but insist for the most part, everything will still be in tact. For example, dismemberment still has a large presence in the game, but is a little more limited.

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Microsoft has announced yet another round of layoffs across its gaming division, and according to reports, Rare will be hit hard by changes at the company. Not only is the veteran developer expected to lose a chunk of its workforce, but its game Everwild has also reportedly been canceled.

According to VGC--and corroborated by Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier--Everwild has been placed on the chopping block following over a decade of work on it. The game was formally revealed all the way back in November 2019, but beyond a trailer for it in 2020, updates on it have been almost non-existent. Anonymous developers speaking to VGC say that Rare couldn't find the right direction for this project, even after it was rebooted.

In February, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said that Everwild was proceeding well and that Rare was making "progress" on the project. Microsoft hasn't confirmed many specifics on the layoffs yet, but we do know that just under 4% of its global workforce across the organization, including its Xbox division, will be let go. This works out to around 9,000 people, and it has been confirmed that Barcelona-based mobile game developer King is losing 10% of its staff.

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There appears to be renewed enthusiasm for Monster Hunter Wilds on Steam after the recent release of Free Title Update 2. The action-adventure game saw a spike of 100,000 additional concurrent players on Valve's PC platform after the patch earlier this week.

On June 29, the peak concurrent player count for the day on Monster Hunter Wilds was 19,637 people, according to SteamDB. When the game's massive Free Title Update 2 landed June 30, the daily high hit 133,033 players, showing a reinvigorated playbase on PC--the game is also available on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Capcom addressed issues with PC performance as part of the patch, as well as promising further optimizations in the future.

The new update added Lagiacrus, Seregios, and underwater combat to Monster Hunter Wilds. Layered weapons were also introduced, and Capcom noted that the seasonal event called Festival of Accord: Flamefete will take place from July 23 to August 6. Before this, Free Title Update 1 arrived in early April for the game, when it was experiencing peak concurrent players on Steam of over 500,000 people.

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The July 2025 lineup of PC games for Humble Choice subscribers has been revealed, and this month, you can dive into some Zelda-like action with a cute crow, pilot giant mechs in all-out warfare, and do some lethal business.

Sign up for Humble Choice

If you're new to it, Humble Choice is a $15 monthly subscription service that offers a monthly batch of PC games that are yours to keep forever, even if you decide to cancel your membership. There are other perks to this membership as well, including exclusive discounts at the Humble Store and access to the Humble Vault--an additional rotating library of games that's only available to members.

Humble Choice July 2025 Games

• Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader
• Cat Quest 2
• Death's Door
• Daemon X Machina
• Wizard with a Gun
• Neo Cab
• Everafter Falls
• Blanc

July is a solid month for Humble Choice subscribers, with Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader being the standout title here. If you're looking for a game that can easily consume dozens of your hours with stylish CRPG gameplay and engrossing storylines, then this is the one to grab. Rogue Trader is all about gathering a motley crew to help you survive the grimdark galaxy of Warhammer 40K, and it features deep gameplay across its isometric turn-based tactical-combat scenarios.

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The Art of Doom: The Dark Ages

$55 | Releases November

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Dark Horse Books has a new video game art book on the way, and this time, the publisher is shining a light on Doom: The Dark Ages. The game recently launched for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, and this new full-color book will show you how the game's visual design came together. Priced at $55, the book will be available starting November 25, and it's now available for preorder.

The Art of Doom: The Dark Ages $55 | Releases November

Like other art books released by Dark Horse, The Art of Doom: The Dark Ages is a tour behind the scenes of the design and art process of the latest entry in Id Software's ultraviolent video game series. The 224-page book is packed with artwork from Id's art department and insight from the creative team. Inside, you'll find illustrations of the dark and sinister medieval war against Hell, a closer look at the Doom Slayer's ever-expanding arsenal, and a bestiary of the demons that he used those weapons on.

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If you're looking for a collector's edition of the book, there'll be one with a variant cover available exclusively through the Bethesda Store.

To flesh out your collection, you can also check out the rest of the video game art books available from Dark Horse currently. The company recently announced The Art of Marvel Rivals--this one launches on September 2--and it has covered numerous games over the years. Each hardcover book offers a closer look at how the visual language of each game was developed, and they make for fascinating reading or even stylish tomes to have on your coffee table.

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Buy now pay later (BNPL) services are becoming more and more popular, and now one BNPL provider has announced a deal with a gaming company to allow people to finance in-game purchases.

Affirm has partnered with gaming commerce company Xsolla to allow people to use Affirm to pay off in-game purchases of $50 or more on payment plans. Affirm offers interest-free biweekly payment plans, or longer-term monthly installments that incur interest.

This will work similarly to how it does already where Affirm is supported. For supported in-game content, players can choose Affirm at checkout, then Affirm will run a credit check, and then players can choose a payment plan that works for them. This is live now in the US and is coming to Canada and the UK soon.

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From Software has rolled out a new Elden Ring Nightreign update, which aims to address a number of bugs.

Version 1.01.4 is now available across all platforms and is, once again, a fairly small patch that primarily focuses on resolving a series of bugs that have been disrupting online sessions, instead of balance adjustments, unlike in the previous patch. There's also no word on the promised two-player co-op, which From Software admitted was overlooked in development, but there is a way to enable that with Elden Ring Nightreign mods.

The patch notes confirm that the issue where matchmaking would continuously fail after two players joined and left a team simultaneously has been fixed, meaning no more party resets. The weapon type should also now be displayed in each Armament Information menu, and background music should now play the Recluse Remembrance.

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It's 2025, the climate crisis is in full swing, global conflict is escalating rapidly, and polarizing political decisions are being made worldwide. Fear not though: All is not lost as developer Cygames Inc has released a magical girl racing game for Steam and mobile, and I can't stop playing it.

Umamusume: Pretty Derby features horse girls--that is girls with actual horse ears, not girls fond of equines--that you'll need to befriend, train, and race against one another. It's an absurd concept, but it just works.

Umamusume are horse girls that compete in races against each other.

There's something inherently satisfying about choosing your favorite Umamusume character, working alongside her to bring out her true racing potential, and then watching on in anticipation as she sprints around the race track to bring home the title.

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The tough times at Xbox are continuing, as Microsoft is cutting more Xbox staff and reportedly cancelling games. This comes at a time when Microsoft's stock price is soaring and profits are up.

Variety confirmed that Microsoft is cutting less than 4% of its global workforce in this latest move, including staff at Xbox. Microsoft had around 228,000 people by the latest count, so the cuts would be around 9,000 people. "We continue to implement organizational and workforce changes that are necessary to position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace," a Microsoft spokesperson said.

According to Bloomberg, Microsoft's Barcelona-based mobile game developer King is cutting 10% of its staff, which works out to around 200 people at the Candy Crush studio. Cuts at ZeniMax's European offices are coming, too.

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Zenless Zone Zero is HoYoerse's anime-styled gacha game that players are obsessing over. In a game like ZZZ, where you could spend lots of money, finding codes to redeem in exchange for free items is a great boon to your collection and can help keep you on a path free of microtransactions as you play through the game. In this guide, we'll walk you through how to redeem Zenless Zone Zero codes, and list all of the ZZZ codes currently available.

As the game continues into the future and new codes are added, we'll update this list, too, so bookmark this page and stay tuned for more Zenless Zone Zero free items. While you're at it, don't miss our guide on which free 5-Star ZZZ character to choose, which is a great way to set you up with a strong start to the game alongside all of these codes.

New ZZZ codes

All of the active ZZZ codes are:

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The Witcher 4 is still a long way from players getting their hands on it, but CD Projekt Red's team still wants fans to know that the lessons learned in the previous games will be reflected in the sequel. Narrative director Philipp Weber--who was previously the quest director for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt--recently said that The Witcher 4's quests will embrace the example set by its predecessor. Among other things, that means Ciri won't have to worry about meaningless fetch quests.

"We don't do fetch quests," Webber told GamesRadar, before expanding upon the reasons for that decision.

"A quest has to be something interesting," said Weber. "I have to feel, as a player, that if I played that quest, my time was well spent and not just spent. I was busy doing stuff, and didn't think about work or taxes. I experienced a story, or something else that was worth it. That basic rule is still there 100%."

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Lego Architecture Neuschwanstein Castle (3,455 pieces)

$280 | Releases August 1

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While many of Lego's most popular sets feature famous comic book and video game franchises, some of the most impressive are intricate replicas of real-life architectural triumphs from across history. One such wonder, the Neuschwanstein Castle, is getting a Lego replica on August 1, and you can preorder it now for $280.

Lego Architecture Neuschwanstein Castle (3,455 pieces) $280 | Releases August 1

The 3,455-piece Lego Architecture Neuschwanstein Castle is one of the largest sets from the Lego Architecture line. The set recreates a miniature version of an iconic Bavarian castle, notable for being one of the few European castles unscathed by World War II. The completed set stands 18 inches tall and 12 inches long, featuring attention-grabbing elements such as exterior spires, turrets, a courtyard, staircases, and gabled roofs, as well as surrounding trees that include options for summer or autumn foliage.

Preorder at Amazon Preorder at The Lego Store

Lego has several sets based on other real-world landmarks, such as the impressive Himeji Castle of Japan, Statue of Liberty in New York, Trevi Foundtain of Italy, and the Great Pyramid of Giza. If you're looking for the most intricate build, the Notre Dame Cathedral Lego set is the one to choose, as it's the largest released to date in the Lego Architecture series. This mammoth build has almost 4,400 pieces, and once completed, it's a stunning replica of the famed cathedral.

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