Koei Tecmo announced during Sony's February State of Play a new game in the Warriors franchise--and it's releasing right away to boot. Warriors: Abyss is described as a roguelike take on the franchise, allowing you to develop your powers and call in iconic Warriors characters to defeat the hordes.

The gameplay trailer showed an isometric perspective to the action, but your warrior is still wiping out dozens of enemies at a time with massive attacks. This take on the franchise also has you descending into hell--a departure from the often historically-based stories of many Warriors games.

The announcement noted that the roguelike elements include randomly generated states and items to let you create your own build. Warriors: Abyss boasts more than 100 unique characters to play and recruit, so you can call upon their Unique Tactics. You can have up to seven heroes active in a battle, so altogether there are more than 16 billion combinations.

As part of Sony's State of Play event, Gearbox announced a release date for Borderlands 4: September 23. The game will launch that day on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Additionally, Sony has announced that Borderlands 4 will get its own dedicated State of Play event sometime this spring.

Take-Two, which owns Borderlands developer Gearbox, has said Borderlands 4 and Grand Theft Auto VI won't be released close together. What that means is open to interpretation, but it's safe to assume Take-Two wants to give both Borderlands 4 and GTA 6 some room to breathe.

GTA 6 is confirmed for release in Fall 2025. The first day of fall in the northern hemisphere is September 22. So if it's true that Borderlands 4 and GTA 6 won't be released close to each other, it can be assumed GTA 6 wouldn't be released until October at the soonest. This is just guesswork, though. Anything is possible, and Take-Two's own top boss has admitted GTA 6 could be delayed.

Lost Soul Aside looks like it's going to deliver some high-octane hacking and/or slashing when it launches this year on May 30, and the game got its time in the spotlight during the February PlayStation State of Play event.

The fast-paced trailer gave looks at the monsters invading the world, impressive traversal mechanics, and even giant Kaiju fights. The world is being invaded by monsters, which you will need to hack through, and--in some instances, as shown in the trailers--take down in intense one-on-one fights. Lost Soul Aside is blending sci-fi and fantasy, which the trailer shows off with a large variety of environments, from liminal dreamscapes to modern cities and even ancient ruins. The traversal shown uses some kind of nano bots to create platforms and wings.

Detailed in a PlayStation Blog post, the game will feature a large variety of weapons to use in its lightning-fast combat and will use the DualSense Haptic Triggers to add more feeling to every sword swing. The blog teases both close-range combat choices like swords, in addition to ranged bow options.

During the February 2025 Sony State of Play, WWE 2K25 gave off its first look at The Island, a new PvPvE social space that seems heavily inspired by The City in NBA 2K. A trailer hosted by WWE's Paul Heyman gave us an early look at the mode, letting players customize their character, take on others in challenges and limited-time events, and--of course--spend money on branded virtual cosmetics.

For more on WWE 2K25, don't miss its release date reveal as well as our recent hands-on impressions and interview with the devs.

This reveal was one of several at the February 2025 State of Play, so catch up with the full slate of reveals.

Sega revealed a new Shinobi game during Sony's February 2025 PlayStation State of Play event. It's officially called Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, and Sega and co-developer Lizardcube--the studio behind Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap and Streets of Rage 4--plan to launch it on August 29, 2025 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is Sega's first Shinobi game since 2011's Shinobi, a spin-off for the Nintendo 3DS, and Lizardcube billed it as a series revival that balances respect for the older games with new features.

"This title is definitely inspired by The Revenge of Shinobi and Shinobi III, which originally released on the Sega Genesis, and pays homage to the franchise in all sorts of ways," Ben Fiquet, Lizardcube's creative director, said in a PlayStation Blog post. You have the special powers, moves--even some of the enemies, stages and bosses capture the essence of past Shinobi games. The Bamboo Forest stage, for example, returns in this title, so players familiar with Shinobi will surely feel the nostalgia."

A new trailer for Sonic Racing CrossWorlds debuted during the February Sony State of Play. The fast-moving trailer showed off Sonic and his animal pals racing through a variety of recognizable Sonic locales, like Metal Harbor and Chao Park. And you may not have to wait long to feel the need for speed, as the trailer ended by announcing a closed network test coming on February 21.

The trailer showed more detail for the karts belonging to Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Shadow, and more. It also spent some time showing Sonic stunting while riding around on his kart and on a jet-board. It made a point to show the racers passing through rings that acted as portals, giving significance to the "CrossWorlds" name. It seems as if a typical race might actually cross through several iconic Sonic locations, as well as others like an aircraft carrier.

Sonic Racing CrossWorlds is coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch this year.

For over a year, Nintendo and Amazon have been joint partners in a lawsuit targeting sellers on Amazon's site who illegally sold fake Amiibos and pirated Nintendo cartridges. Now, the two companies are asking the court to render a summary judgment against the counterfeiters to the tune of a $7 million penalty.

Via Polygon, Nintendo and Amazon arrived at the $7 million figure after calculating that the group of sellers moved at least $2,343,386 of fake Nintendo merchandise or games. Essentially, Nintendo and Amazon are arguing that both companies were harmed by the actions of these sellers, and thus a penalty of three times the amount they made is a justified response.

Nintendo and Amazon are aware of the sellers' real identities, but none of the group responded to the lawsuit or showed up in court to defend themselves. That's why the two companies' request for summary judgment may have a good chance of going through. The lawsuit also argues that the penalty will deter others from attempting to commit the same crimes.

The next big video game movie, A Minecraft Movie, releases on April 4. To promote it, Warner Bros. has put together a new trailer that will air during the upcoming NBA All-Star Weekend (February 14-16). The new trailer shows off more of the movie's visual presentation, which blends live-action shots of Jack Black and Jason Momoa with CG-rendered depictions of Creepers and Villagers from the Minecraft universe.

How does it all come together? Check out the trailer and decide for yourself. If anything, the presentation style definitely catches your eye. There are a number of standout scenes, including when a Creeper explodes.

In addition to Black and Momoa, the movie stars Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks, Sebastian Hansen, and Jennifer Coolidge. Minecraft the game doesn't have much of a story, but the film obviously does.

Niantic has announced a multi-year partnership between Pokemon Go and the MLB that will include special Pokemon Go events at select baseball parks across North America. The first phase of Pokemon Go's MLB partnership begins on opening day of the 2025 baseball season--March 27, 2025.

"We’re delighted to partner with MLB to help make playing Pokemon Go even more fun and engaging at ballparks across the country," Sarah Gilarsky, Niantic's head of business development for Pokemon Go, said in a statement. "This unique integration of digital Pokemon Go gameplay and the physical experience of enjoying a game together at an MLB ballpark is a wonderful way for friends and families to connect and share their passions for Pokemon and baseball.”

Niantic said that starting on opening day, MLB-themed PokeStops will appear at each ballpark, along with special gym locations and official Pokemon Go routes connecting important locations in the park venue. Several MLB clubs will host Pokemon Go nights during the season as well--events that feature special timed research tasks, in-game cosmetics, and tradeable ballpark backgrounds for Pikachu. Niantic said Pikachu will turn up at scheduled points during the evening's game.

Anthony Mackie steps into the role of Captain America in the new movie Captain America: Brave New World. He's strong, brave, and smart--but he doesn't know everything.

In a video with his Brave New World co-star Danny Ramirez, the interviewer asks Mackie to name the show that Ramirez is joining for its upcoming second season. The answer is HBO's The Last of Us, in which Ramirez will play Manny. But Mackie had a hard time remembering the exact name of the show. In the hilarious clip, Mackie lists off some definitely-not-correct names.

As you can see in the clip, Mackie definitely knows it's The Last of Us, but the name is stuck on the tip of his tongue and he just can't find it--we've all been there. Some of the names he offers up are pretty great, including, "The Two of Us," "This is Us," "This and Them," "There's Them," "This is Them," "The Us," "The One of Us," "The Them," and "The Theys." A producer gives Mackie the answer and you can tell he knew it the whole time; he just struggled to find it in that moment.

Diablo 4's second expansion won't be released until 2026, Blizzard has confirmed. This comes directly from Diablo franchise general manager Rod Fergusson, who revealed the news at a DICE panel discussing building Diablo 4 as a live-service game.

Posted by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier on Bluesky, not much more information was shared, like a potential launch window in 2026. However, Blizzard had previously confirmed that Diablo 4 would be getting annual expansions, but it seems that will not be the case in 2025. Fergusson said in 2023 after the launch of Diablo 4 that two expansions were already in the works for Diablo 4.

When the second expansion launches, Diablo 4 will be the first Diablo game to receive more than one expansion. Diablo 3 had a major expansion with Reaper of Souls and a smaller DLC adding the Necromancer class. It is possible that Blizzard keeps the annual releases plan intact by releasing a smaller DLC in 2025, like a new class without a new region. For now, it looks like Diablo 4 fans will have a longer wait than expected for the next major expansion, with only seasonal updates expected in 2025.

Overwatch 2's first new hero of 2025 will be Freya, an explosive crossbow-wielding bounty hunter who can dash and fly around the battlefield.

Blizzard revealed Freya as part of its Overwatch 2 Spotlight livestream, diving into more details about the damage-role hero. Freya is a former search-and-rescue operative but now works as a bounty hunter. Her basic crossbow attack will rapidly shoot bolts at enemies. However, her alternate fire sees her taking aim to deliver a high-speed explosive bolt for big damage.

Movement and positioning seems to be a big part of Freya's toolkit, with Blizzard stating she is a "challenging and rewarding" character that will take "precision and a steady aim to master." She has both a quick dash ability (that reloads her crossbow in the process) and a move called Updraft that will launch her into the sky. Her Bola Shot ability pulls enemies together, setting them up for a damaging combo from teammates or a well-placed explosive crossbow shot.

One of the original Overwatch's most best-known features, loot boxes, are coming to Overwatch 2 as part of Season 15 on February 18--though you won't be able to buy them directly as was originally the case.

Instead, loot boxes will return as part of Overwatch 2's seasonal free and premium battle passes, as well as rewards for weekly and event challenges. Blizzard is looking to bring more transparency to the system as well, giving players more information in regards to item-drop chances and rarity guarantees.

An item of Rare or better quality has a chance to drop from every loot box. After opening five loot boxes, players will be guaranteed an Epic-quality item, and after 20 loot boxes, a guaranteed Legendary. Legendary loot boxes, one of which can be earned via the free battle pass (and two through the premium battle pass), have a 100% chance to reward a Legendary item.

Microsoft's next big game, the RPG Avowed from developer Obsidian, launches on February 18. But the Premium Edition unlocks a full five days earlier, beginning February 13.

Obsidian has now posted the official unlock times for Avowed's early-access period, which begins at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET on February 13. This works out to 6 PM in London and 7 PM in Paris. For people on the other side of the world, Avowed arrives at 3 AM in Tokyo, 5 AM in Sydney, and 7 AM in Auckland on Friday, February 14. You can see all the unlock times below.

Thursday, February 13

Blizzard has big plans for Overwatch 2 in 2025, and one of them is a new mode that is unlike anything the game has seen before. Called Stadium, the mode is a competitive, round-based, third-person game mode where players upgrade their chosen hero over the course of a match using currency.

Revealed as part of Blizzard's recent Overwatch 2 Spotlight livestream, Stadium is intended to join Quick Play and Competitive as a new, third pillar of Overwatch 2 when it arrives as part of Season 16 later this year. The mode will only be playable as a ranked game mode with role queue, and matches will play out in a "best of seven" format. Overwatch's normal Control, Push, and Clash game modes will be featured in Stadium, and players will still be using Overwatch's colorful cast of heroes. That, however, is where the Overwatch 2 players may be accustomed to ends and in many ways a whole new game emerges.

Stadium will be the first game mode in Overwatch 2 to support a third-person camera, something recent hero shooter Marvel Rivals has used to great success. Players will, however, have the option to still play in first-person should they choose. The mode will feature a pre-round "buy" phase, where players can spend currency earned each round to purchase ability upgrades and stat-boosting items, MOBA-style. Items can do everything from granting players simple stat boosts like more health and faster movement speed all the way to granting attacks life-stealing or reducing the duration of negative effects.

Overwatch 2 is set for a big shake-up with the launch of Season 15 on February 18, with Blizzard introducing a new Perk system that will see players augmenting their heroes' existing abilities in powerful, and potentially game-changing, ways.

As detailed by Blizzard during its Overwatch 2 Spotlight livestream, Perks will come in both Major and Minor versions. Over the course of a match, players will earn XP and eventually be able to select between two Major and two Minor Perk options to augment their playstyle. Minor Perks will come fairly early in a match and will boost specific abilities, but not change how they fundamentally function, Blizzard said.

Major Perks, however, are another story. Blizzard said these Perks are about adding new abilities or shifting a hero's core gameplay loop, and described obtaining it as "a big moment" that can "totally change how you approach an engagement." It gave an example of a Major Perk for Reaper giving him a secondary fire option that can deal good damage at mid range, or the return of Hanzo's Scatter Arrows as a Major Perk option for that hero. Perks are per hero, so swapping to a different one in the middle of a match will require players to earn the Perks again, even if they had already earned Perks on a previous hero. However, swapping back to a hero that had their Perks unlocked already won't require players to earn them again.

Assassin's Creed Shadows is the latest installment in Ubisoft's long-running franchise, and it's going to take full advantage of the capabilities of PCs and modern consoles. In a newly released video, Ubisoft has offered a glimpse of what Shadows has to offer on PC and new-gen systems, including uncapped framerates and some truly breathtaking visuals of the game's recreation of feudal Japan.

Shadows' PC edition will feature an in-game benchmark that can determine the capabilities of the computer it's running on. Low-end and medium-end PC users won't be left out, as the game can be run in either low or high mode. But the more powerful computers will be able to handle ultra mode, which has stunning graphics.

Among the other features, Shadows includes ray-traced global illumination and reflections, dynamic seasons, and ultra-wide resolution support. However, some of the most fun may come out of the game's destructible environment. The sheer power of the samurai Yasuke can devastate everything around him, and even the ninja known as Naoe can leave a path of destruction in her wake.

Elden Ring Nightreign has an official release date of May 30, and fans looking to splurge on the co-op game can check out a very cool piece of merchandise being released alongside the standard and deluxe versions. While there is a $200 collector's edition that comes with extra DLC, art books, and a statue, there's also the $190 Wylder Helmet replica that you can preorder through the Bandai Store.

This is described as a 1:1 scale replica of the hero's helmet, and it comes with everything you need to turn it into an attention-grabbing display piece in your home. Will it protect you from the Elden Lords, should they ever pierce the membrane separating our dimensions? Probably not, so you'll want to consider using it only for cosplay purposes. Bandai says only 9,999 of these will be made, and they'll be available starting May 30.

One thing to also note here is that you're not getting a copy of Elden Ring Nightreign with this replica, but it is a nice addition to your collection if you picked up any of the previously released Malenia and Messmer Elden Ring helmets that Bandai Namco sold for a limited time.

An unannounced Digimon game was leaked ahead of February's PlayStation State of Play but, other than a title, not much was known. The game, Digimon Story: Time Stranger, was officially revealed during the presentation with a new trailer.

The latest entry in the RPG Digimon Story series that dates back to the first game on Nintendo DS in 2006, Time Stranger sees you travel through multiple worlds and times, collecting and training the digital monster companions you encounter for turn-based battles.

As seen in the new trailer, Time Stranger is set to release in 2025. The trailer only lists PS5 as a platform (likely because the trailer debuted during State of Play) but since the Digimon Story series has regularly been released for both Nintendo and PlayStation systems in the past, we imagine this game is heading to Switch as well.

Game Freak, best known for developing the Pokemon franchise, is working on a new smartphone RPG named Pandoland. The title is slated to arrive in late April, with pre-registration available now on iOS and Android. Signing up can net you diamonds that can equate to 100 gacha pulls.

Pandoland is described as a casual-adventure RPG, seeing players search for treasures and explore dungeons. There are apparently over 500 characters and items to collect, and building a team of companions helps with exploration. The official trailer for the game--seen below--showcases a blocky art style as a group of characters set sail on the open seas aboard a ship. The boat passes by different islands and even a giant squid.

This isn't the only game cooking at Game Freak that has nothing to do with Pokemon. In 2023, the developer revealed Project Bloom, a new action-adventure game that's supposed to be "bold and tonally different" from the company's past catalog. Game Freak is partnering with Private Division on Project Bloom, which previously was part of Take-Two Interactive. However, Private Division was reportedly sold to an unknown buyer late last year, and it's unknown if this could affect the game.