The announcement that Hollow Knight: Silksong would release on September 4 was such a surprise that even the most tuned-in Hollow Knight fans were in shock at the news. And now, just days before Silksong releases, Hollow Knight is seeing a renaissance with gamers, passing its Steam concurrents records over and over again, hitting a new peak of 56,192 players on August 29, according to SteamDB.

For years, Hollow Knight's biggest day was in May of 2022 when the game had over 20,000 concurrent players. Since the announcement of Silksong's impending release date, though, each consecutive day has seen that concurrent peak rising, having hit 21,000 on August 22, just a day after the announcement, and hit 56,192 today. For a seven-year-old indie game, this is pretty big.

Of course, it's important to note that SteamDB is not the be-all-end-all of game stats. Steam is a dominant platform for sure, but Hollow Knight is available on all last and current-generation consoles, including Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox, with Switch being a particularly popular platform for the game. Even so, it's indicative that the legend of Hollow Knight continues to grow.

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According to EA, the Battlefield 6 play test is the biggest beta in Battlefield's history in terms of players. Research firm Oppenheimer estimated that the beta reached more than 20 million people. However, a "substantial number" of those fans may have been playing Battlefield 6 with the minimum recommended specs.

Battlefield 6 technical director Christian Buhl made that assertion during an interview with Eurogamer. Buhl also noted that EA and DICE planned from the beginning to ensure that players using lower-end hardware would still receive a comparable experience to those on high-end machines.

"Min spec is certainly one of our most important specs ... it's super important from both a commercial and business perspective," said Buhl. "We want as many people as possible playing the game ... We did a lot of analysis, we did tests on the game on a wide range of hardware above and below our minimum and recommended specs. We figured out what we can hit, what we need to hit from a business perspective, and that was to capture a wide audience on PC. It's been super critical."

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In celebrating the legacy of Battlefield, EA recently released a new battle pass for Battlefield 2042. Called “Road to Battlefield 6”, it features unlockable skins and cosmetic items that represent different games in the series. What’s most notable about the pass--beyond the fact that’s completely free--is that it also includes 20 item unlocks for the upcoming Battlefield 6.

Like most battle passes, the unlockable items are grouped into levels or tiers. In Tier 8, for instance, players will be able to unlock a Battlefield 1 era player card background, card icon, weapon package and more. There are even a few vehicle and soldier skins up for grabs at the later levels; fans looking to unlock the Aurora Vehicle Skin from Battlefield Bad Company 2, for instance, can do so after hitting Tier 30.

Below are all 20 cosmetic items for Battlefield 6:

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RAN x Crypto is a next-generation private server experience built for RAN Online fans - reimagined for the Web3 age. It fuses nostalgic gameplay with modern blockchain features like NFT character ownership, automated top-ups, and real-time player rewards. RXC is more than a game - it’s a SocialFi ecosystem that empowers players to truly own their progress, participate in governance, and earn while playing.

Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Controllers - Neon Purple/Orange

$39 (was $80) | MSRP is $90

See at Walmart

If you're lucky, you can snag a pair of Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Controllers for only $39 at Walmart. This absolutely wild deal isn't available in all regions across the US. If you're eligible for the deal, you can click that magical "Add to cart" button and complete your purchase like normal.

We would not be surprised if Walmart updates the price soon. Unless the retailer is trying to clear this particular Joy-Con model from its inventory, the massive price cut may have been a mistake.

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Valkyrie Profile is celebrating its 25-year anniversary today, August 29, 2025. Below, we look back at why the RPG went overlooked at the time, and what makes it still stand out as special today.

It's not hard to see why Valkyrie Profile wound up overlooked in its initial North American release. Japanese publisher Enix had only recently revived its US branch, likely due to both the surge of popularity of JRPGs in the post-Final Fantasy 7 era and the success Sony had licensing and releasing Star Ocean: The Second Story globally. But it was going to be an uphill struggle to get a new PS1 RPG any traction, even one made by Star Ocean 2 developer Tri-Ace. The Dreamcast was already out, the US launch of the PS2 was less than two months away, and Squaresoft had dropped Chrono Cross, a follow-up to the beloved Chrono Trigger, a couple of weeks earlier.

It was my freshman year of college, the weekend just before my birthday, and I wanted a new RPG to keep me occupied between classes. I had two choices: Valkyrie Profile or Chrono Cross. After having a delightful experience with Star Ocean 2 the summer before, my gut was telling me that Valkyrie Profile was the one I should pick.

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Borderlands 4 is just days away from launching, and to kick off the next era of the looter-shooter, developer Gearbox has released a new live-action trailer urging people to "quit" Earth and head to Kairos. Sure, Kairos is a planet ruled by an all-powerful dictator who enforces his whims on the population with invasive behavior-altering technology that has a high likelihood of killing you if it's removed, but compared to everything else happening right now--*frantically waves arms*--that's not a dealbreaker.

The gap between Borderlands 4 being officially announced and its arrival on PC and console has been relatively short. Gearbox first showed off the game--after hinting at it for months--during the 2024 edition of Gamescom Opening Night Live, teasing a new world for Vault Hunters to explore and even more loot to grab as they fight against the sinister forces in control of Kairos.

The last few months have seen Gearbox reveal a substantial number of details about the game, including detailed looks at the four Vault Hunters players will have the option of playing as. There's the science-powered Harlowe, walking Tediore weapons advert Rafa, not-so-gentle giant Amon, and the Siren Vex for this new adventure.

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HoYoverse will soon enough be adding yet another genre to its growing list of gacha games, this time in the form of a new game called Honkai: Nexus Anima. This one might interest Pokemon fans as it is a creator collector, though it looks like it'll differ from the Nintendo series in a few key ways. And, if it takes your fancy, you can even sign up to take part in its first Nexus Bond Test.

First up are some of the big differences. For starters, the combat system is completely different. Where Pokemon sees you pitting your pocket monsters generally 1v1, each of them with four moves to choose, Honkai: Nexus Anima's main combat system looks closer to an auto battler like Auto Chess or Teamfight Tactics.

You also seemingly get to play as Anima--this game's titular equivalent to Pokemon--in varying ways. That includes a racing minigame, a minigame where you shoot at beach balls, and another where you … destroy an office building! There appears to be a range of customization options for your player character, but you can also seemingly play as different characters too. And like in more recent Pokemon games, you can ride different Anima to get around the game's world.

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Konami has released the first update for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater on all platforms. The patch notes mainly detail fixes for crashing issues that occur in specific situations for the stealth game, though there is a silly bug addressed that sees Snake floating in midair.

Metal Gear Solid Delta players could previously see Snake hovering above the ground sometimes by "transitioning from a roll into a crawl." Overall, the update for the game brings it up to version 1.1.2. The patch actually rolled out yesterday, August 28, on Steam, while it's going live today on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Earlier this week, The Boss voice actress Lori Alan marked the launch of Metal Gear Solid Delta by dressing up as the character she first helped bring to life in 2004's PS2 classic. The new game utilizes the original's voice recordings (except in a few spots), something that Snake voice actor David Hayter wished he could have changed. Meanwhile, the developers behind Metal Gear Solid Delta hope series creator Hideo Kojima sees how "respectful" it is.

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Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star Crossed World occupies a strange space in the spate of Switch 2 upgrades. Its upgrades to the original game are relatively modest, offering small performance improvements to a game that already ran well in the first place. But its new content is among the most expansive, consisting of a new mini-campaign that threads itself through original stages and culminates in even tougher challenges than in the main game. It doesn't revitalize the experience in the same way that the Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom upgrades do on Switch 2. Instead, it adds even more of what made the original so great.

When you start up your existing save in Star-Crossed World, you'll be greeted by a new island centered on an ominous dark heart, the Fallen Star Volcano. Helpless Starry creatures have been scattered throughout the world, and at the same time, star crystals have fallen that transformed stages and enemies, so being the helpful demigod that he is, Kirby volunteers to rescue the Starries.

Functionally, this means revisiting stages from the original Forgotten Land that have been given new crystalized variants. Those alternative stages coexist along the originals, so they can be selected separately. There are usually two crystal stages per world, making this new campaign about one-third the size of the original campaign. And while pieces of the stages will be recognizable, they mostly feel extremely different. You access new parts of stages by activating crystal touchpoints, which make new crystalline paths to follow.

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Long-term binge gaming and internet gaming disorder are still relatively new phenomena that aren't fully understood yet. However, a recently released study examined the effects of binge gaming on both boys and girls, and the results demonstrated that males have a greater chance of developing the addiction-like symptoms of IGD if they play games for five hours or longer at a time.

PLOS recently shared a 2022 Hong Kong-based study that was compiled using male and female schoolchildren. For the purposes of this report, smartphone gaming and PC gaming were both counted towards the length of a binge session.

The study was comprised of 2,000 students from primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong, with a median age of 12 years old. According to the findings, 38% of boys self-reported binge gaming, while only 24% of girls did the same. The results also suggested that male players who engaged in binge gaming were more likely than females to experience IGD, depression, stress, poor sleep quality and "lower educational self-efficacy."

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8BitDo Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller - Wuchang Edition

$50 (was $65)

Get deal at Amazon See all Ultimate 2 models

8BitDo's officially licensed Wuchang: Fallen Feathers controller is on sale for a limited time at Amazon. Normally $65, the 8BitDo Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller: Wuchang Edition is up for grabs for just $50. This is one of Amazon's deals with limited quantities; at the time of writing on August 29, over 10% of units had been claimed. This special-edition Ultimate 2 is typically more expensive than the standard color options, but this deal actually makes it the cheapest Ultimate 2 Controller you can buy right now.

8BitDo Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller - Wuchang Edition $50 (was $65)

The Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Edition of 8BitDo's flagship Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller looks pretty awesome. It's important to note that this version of the Ultimate 2 is a 2.4GHz wireless controller for PC and Mac. It also has Android support via Bluetooth. PS5 and Xbox Series X users will not be able to use this controller to play the game--unless you play it via remote play on your PC or Android device.

The Ultimate 2 launched earlier this year with an MSRP of $60, so this special-edition model only costs five bucks more than one of the standard variants.

We've tested the Ultimate 2 and the Ultimate 2 Bluetooth--which has Switch 2 and Switch support--and it's better than many controllers that cost two or three times its price.

The Ultimate 2 has TMR electromagnetic analog sticks--smoother and more reliable than Hall Effect sensors--two remappable back buttons, two extra remappable bumpers, trigger locks, and RGB lighting rings.

It also has 6-axis motion controls, rumble, and a turbo button. With 8BitDo's Ultimate Software V2, you can create three custom profiles to cycle through on the fly, adjust stick and trigger sensitivity, create dead zones, and more.

The Ultimate 2 comes with a matching charging dock. In this case, the character art continues from the controller to the dock, making it a pretty cool display piece.

This isn't the first official collaboration with a big new release. Last year, 8BitDo collaborated with Game Science on a Black Myth: Wukong Ultimate 2C Controller. The 2C is 8BitDo's budget PC controller, so this new collaboration is more exciting. That said, 8BitDo's Wukong-themed controller is still worth checking out, especially since you get the wireless model for only $23.79 (was $35) and the wired edition for $12 right now.

Key Features

• PC and Mac: 2.4GHz Wireless (USB-C dongle)
• Android: Bluetooth
• TMR electromagnetic analog sticks
• Hall Effect triggers with adjustable stop point
• 2 remappable back triggers
• 2 extra remappable shoulder buttons
• Tactile bumpers
• RGB lighting rings
• 1,000Hz polling rate for 2.4GHz and wired
• 6-axis motion controls
• Rumble
• Turbo button
• 1,000mAh battery
• Includes matching USB-C charging dock

Customize with 8BitDo Ultimate Software V2

• Remap inputs
• Set up three custom profiles
• Set up dead zones
• Adjust motion control sensitivity
• Adjust stick sensitivity
• Adjust trigger sensitivity
• Adjust rumble intensity
• Adjust lighting effects

Get deal at Amazon See all Ultimate 2 models

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