Monster Hunter Wilds launches with cross-play support, a first for Capcom's long-running action game series. The steps you take to join with random strangers or team up with friends are rather different, though, as Wilds makes you jump through several hoops to add friends to your in-game list. Full cross-play might be a big step forward for Monster Hunter, but if you're holding out for cross-progression as well, you'll have to keep waiting.

We've broken down how Monster Hunter Wilds' cross-play works below, including what you need to do to play with friends.

How cross-play support works in Monster Hunter Wilds

Monster Hunter Wilds supports cross-play between PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5, and since it has cross-play turned on automatically, you don't have to do anything special to get started. There are separate processes for playing in groups of random players or joining with friends, though. When you join or post a quest, Monster Hunter Wilds puts you in a lobby with up to 100 other players. You can join any posted quest or wait for others to join yours.

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Metal Gear Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater has a confirmed release date of August 28, and if you're looking to grab a preorder, you can save 25% on Steam keys at Fanatical, a GameSpot sister site. The standard edition of the Metal Gear Solid 3 remake is available to preorder on PC for $52.49, down from $70. Alternatively, you can get the Digital Deluxe Edition with 48-hour early access for only $60 instead of $80.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater Save 25% on PC Preorder (Steam Key)

Preorders will also get you a white tuxedo uniform, and while that's not the best cosmetic for guerrilla warfare, it is a sharp suit to wear. As mentioned above, this is a remake of the PS2 game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, which is arguably the best game in the franchise. It's a Cold War-era prequel that explains how Big Boss earned his title and reputation as a legendary soldier, and it includes numerous enhancements.

Preorder Standard for $52.49 (was $70) Preorder Deluxe for $60 (was $80)

While the story and setting are the same as the PS2 original, Snake Eater now sports an Unreal Engine 5 makeover and nearly every animation in the game has been completely overhauled. Konami says it only modernized gameplay elements where it made sense to do so, and you can choose to play it with the original control scheme or a modernized version instead.

This approach extends to an over-the-shoulder third-person viewpoint in New Style and a top-down viewpoint in Legacy Style that Metal Gear Solid purists will appreciate. Another neat quality-of-life upgrade is a quick-select menu to make changing your camouflage simpler.

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Hasbro recently revealed a wild collaboration with Transformers and Monster Hunter, combining characters from the two iconic series into a single action figure. The Transformers x Monster Hunter Rathalos Silver Series Figure is now up for preorder ahead of its release later this year. It’s unclear exactly when it will ship (some retailers list it as a November release, while others have it as December), but landing a preorder today is wise since it's likely this unique figure will sell out quickly.

Transformers x Monster Hunter Synergenex Series Silver Rathalos Prime$55 | Releases November/December 2025Transformers x Monster Hunter Silver Rathalos Prime

The full name of this action figure is a mouthful, but no doubt it’s a cool product that’ll look good in any game room or display case. Standing around 5.3 inches tall, the figure is a functional transformer. It can be configured to look like either a silver version of Optimus Prime or a silver version of Rathalos from Monster Hunter.

As you’d expect, the figure features several points of articulation, allowing you to easily manipulate it from one form to the next. When configured as Rathalos, you can pose its head, mouth, neck, wings, and legs. You’ll also find some accessories, including a silver Collaboration Matrix and silver Charge Blade--the latter of which can swap from sword mode to axe mode.

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Everyone in the gaming world is waiting for GTA 6 with bated breath, and there's one question that many are wondering about: Just what exactly is going to happen to the game we currently know as GTA Online when GTA 6 releases? While we still don't have the answer, in a recent interview, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick hinted that the current GTA Online could continue after GTA 6 releases as a "legacy title."

Speaking to IGN, Zelnick said that the publisher has a history of "support[ing] our properties when the consumers are involved with those titles." He cites the 2012 example of NBA 2K Online in China, noting that the original game is still online and on the market, even after the release of NBA 2K Online 2 in 2017. "...We've shown a willingness to support legacy titles when a community wants to be engaged with them."

Zelnick was quick to clarify that he was speaking "theoretically," and that an announcement will be made in the future. However, this appears to be an important indication as to what Take-Two's future plans might be. GTA Online is a huge moneymaker for Rockstar and Take-Two in general, but it's been widely speculated by many that GTA 6 will bring a new version of GTA Online along with it. It's unclear how exactly this hypothetical new GTA Online would interface with the old GTA Online, particularly when you consider the amount of resources that some players have put into the game. Fans still don't have the clarification they seek, but this might mean they can rest a bit easier.

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Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is scheduled to release on August 29, and PC preorders are currently seeing a nice discount at Fanatical. Head over to the online retailer to find the Steam version of the game on sale for $23.69 (was $30). If you want some digital goodies, the Deluxe Edition is also on sale for $31.59 (was $40). Regardless of which version you preorder, you’ll get the Original Arcade Outfit and Fortune Hunter Amulet as a bonus. You'll also get a 5% off voucher for your next purchase at Fanatical.

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Created by the same folks responsible for the fantastic Streets of Rage 4, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is shaping up to be a welcome revival for the 2D action game. Featuring bold hand-drawn graphics and taking deep inspiration from The Revenge of Shinobi and Shinobi 3, it’s a fresh blend of nostalgia and new mechanics. Art of Vengeance marks the first Shinobi game from Sega in over a decade.

This is the best discount we’ve seen since it was opened for preorder a few days ago, and since it comes with a nice preorder bonus and is offered as a Steam key, it’s the ideal way for PC players to snag the game. Note that Steam is also discounting the game right now, but it’s still more expensive than this deal at Fanatical.

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Epic has published its Epic Games Store Year In Review for 2024, revealing more details about the performance of its PC storefront and what it has planned for 2025. According to Epic, it saw 295 million users on PC in 2024, an overall increase of 25 million people year-over-year. And the free game giveaways aren't going anywhere.

The company says that it grew Epic cross-platform accounts to 898 million users during this time period--an increase of 94 million people--and this stat includes accounts created through partner platforms and the Epic Games Store on mobile, which recently launched on iOS in Europe and worldwide on Android devices. In terms of daily active users, there was a peak of 37.2 million people and monthly active users peaked at 74 million, slightly down from last year's record of 75 million MAU.

Top titles in 2024 by player spending and engagement

• Genshin Impact
• Rocket League
• Honkai Star Rail
• Grand Theft Auto 5
• Fortnite
• EA Sports FC 24
• Destiny 2: The Final Shape
• Alan Wake 2
• Fall Guys
• Wuthering Waves
• Cyberpunk 2077
• The Sims 4
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Satisfactory
• Warframe 1999
• Farming Simulator 22
• Dead by Daylight
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Dead Island 2

HoyoVerse games are incredibly popular on the Epic Games StoreGallery

In terms of games, Epic says 1,100 games were released on the Epic Games Store and spending--including Epic's games--achieved $1.09 billion in 2024, an increase of 15% when compared to 2023. Epic noted that player spending on third-party applications totaled $255 million last year, and while this is an 18% decrease year-on-year, it doesn't account for publishers generating revenue via their own payment solutions.

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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves may not have led to a cinematic D&D franchise, but the classic role-playing game is getting another chance to break out in live-action. Netflix is reportedly developing a new Dungeons & Dragons series called The Forgotten Realms, which will be produced by Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy.

According to Deadline, Drew Crevello will serve as the writer and showrunner of The Forgotten Realms, which will be produced by Levy's 21 Laps production company as well as Hasbro Entertainment. Forgotten Realms is one of the most popular campaign settings for D&D players, and even Honor Among Thieves was set among the Realms. However, the new D&D series will be unrelated to Honor Among Thieves or any previous attempt to adapt the franchise.

The report notes that this series "could launch a D&D universe" at Netflix, which would potentially span additional shows or even original movies. This news follows the recent announcement that D&D's parent company, Wizards of the Coast, is also developing Magic: The Gathering as a shared universe that spans films and TV shows. Netflix is working on a Magic: The Gathering animated series, but the streamer isn't presently attached to any live-action projects in that universe.

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Elden Ring Nightreign preorders just opened a few days ago, but the PC version is already discounted at Fanatical. Both the standard edition and Deluxe Edition are on sale--and since they’re offered as Steam keys, they’re currently the cheapest (and best) way for PC players to reserve the game. It’s unclear how long the deal will last, so check it out soon if you’re interested.

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Fanatical is offering the Elden Ring Nightreign standard edition for just $35.19 (was $40). If you’d like to pick up additional playable characters and bosses, along with a digital artbook and mini soundtrack, the is $48.39 (was $55). Regardless of which you choose, you’ll get a free Gesture as a preorder bonus. A 5% off voucher for your next purchase at Fanatical is also included.

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Shatterscarp is the third location you can visit in Avowed and as always, Sanza has a cartographer missing somewhere in the region. When you arrive in the main hub city of Thirdborn, a new Mapping the Living Lands quest will appear in your journal. If you read the journal entry, you'll see that Sanza's missing cartographer has disappeared near a lone spire by the sea.

While you can spend hours patrolling the coasts of Shatterscarp in Avowed, you can see exactly where the cartographer is located by reading the guide below.

Shatterscarp Cartographer location in Avowed

With Shatterscarp being directly on the ocean, there are plenty of places you can check for a "spire by the sea." The word spire is fairly vague, as it could be a physical building or something formed by nature.

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Avowed developer Obsidian Entertainment has a goal to be around for at least 100 years--it's already a 22-year-old institution--and its current leadership team believes it can meet this ambitious goal by taking a pragmatic approach to developing new video games.

Speaking at the DICE Summit this week (via PC Gamer), Obsidian Entertainment VP of operations Marcus Morgan and VP of development Justin Britch explained how delivering new titles consistently and focusing on realistic sales expectations are part of its strategy to be around for another 78 years. As Morgan and Britch explained, this is part of their overall vision for the studio, with key elements revolving around staying "lean and invested" as the years tick by.

What this means in practical terms is that Obsidian is aiming for "mild success" as Britch defined it, while also ensuring that it has a manageable number of employees. Additionally, Obsidian isn't aiming to deliver games that feature groundbreaking visuals or an obscene level of scale, as the studio spends a considerable amount of time examining just how many resources it'll need to commit to a project before it's officially greenlit. This in turn allows the studio to be profitable, but not "super-profitable" with every game release.

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Bandai Namco has announced Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Battle Destiny Remastered and it is set to launch on May 22 for PC and Nintendo Switch. The original game was released in 2012 for the PlayStation Vita, but had not been released outside Japan.

In this game, players will be able to tackle its story missions and relive moments from the Mobile Suit Gundam Seed and Seed Destiny anime. There are three factions to choose from: Earth Alliance Forces, ZAFT, and the Archangel.

This remaster will have enhanced visuals and revamped user-interface readability, as well as new quality-of-life features like lock-on mode and improved tuning. The announcement trailer goes over the basic premise of the game and it also seemingly reveals that while the text is in English, the voice dub will remain Japanese-only.

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Nightdive Studios finally gave us a long-awaited update on its remaster of System Shock 2. Previously known as System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition, this modernized remaster of the iconic and influential 1999 sci-fi shooter is now titled System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster, and we'll learn its release date next month.

Irrational Games and Looking Glass Studios' System Shock 2 is a sci-fi shooter in which players explore and try to survive on a starship that has been taken over by an evil AI called SHODAN. While it wasn't a commercial success at the time of its release, it was trailblazing for narrative storytelling in video games, setting design standards that would go on to influence games like BioShock. It's also the game that put Nightdive Studios on the map, as it acquired the rights to the series and re-released it on Steam in 2013.

Since then, Nightdive has made a name for itself by remastering PC-shooter classics like Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, Quake, Rise of the Triad, and Star Wars: Dark Forces with its game engine KEX. While Nightdive retained ownership of the System Shock IP and even developed a full-on remake of the first System Shock, a KEX Engine remaster of System Shock 2 has taken a while to come out. Nightdive Studios first teased that it was working on System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition in 2019, but updates on this project have been spotty over the years.

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From Software has issued an apology for the connection issues currently plaguing the Elden Ring Nightreign network test.

From Software's Japanese player-support account on Twitter said that the servers are currently congested, which is making it difficult for players to match with each other. The account suggested to continue trying and apologized for any inconvenience.

It seems like the PlayStation servers are being hit particularly hard. "Nightfarers, the Nightreign PlayStation servers are currently under maintenance," said the official Elden Ring Twitter account. "Work is ongoing to restore server functionality. Further updates will be provided. Thank you for your patience and understanding."

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Square Enix has announced that it is ending support for the iOS version of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered due to a change in the version's in-app purchase model.

Back on January 24, players reported that they couldn't access their paid additional content in the iOS version of the game. The issue impacted both the free and fully paid versions of the game on iOS.

When Square Enix investigated the issue, it figured out that changes to the in-app purchase model caused it. However, Square Enix concluded that it could not completely fix the bug while simultaneously implement the new changes. As a result, Square Enix has decided to completely cease service of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered on iOS.

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Earlier this year, Los Angeles and surrounding areas were ravaged by devastating wildfires. At the time, Pokemon Go developer Niantic assured fans that its Pokemon Go Unova Tour - Los Angeles event would go on as scheduled in February. Now, Niantic is stepping up to help aid Los Angeles' recovery efforts alongside The Pokemon Company for a joint donation of $1 million.

As announced on the official Pokemon site, Niantic will donate $500,000 to GlobalGiving's California Wildfire Relief Fund, while The Pokemon Company will distribute the remaining $500,000 to nonprofit organizations that are providing aid to the victims of the wildfire.

"Our thoughts are with those affected by the devastating wildfires in Southern California," said The Pokemon Company's Raquel Daniels in a statement. "We are grateful for the opportunity to support relief efforts in the greater Los Angeles area alongside our partners at Niantic and GlobalGiving."

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Taking place in the vibrant city of Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, Afterlove EP is a unique mix of dating sim, rhythm game and narrative adventure, where players will inhabit Rama, a young musician whose girlfriend Cinta has recently passed away. Whilst his close friends and bandmates are all determined to help him move on, Rama is languishing in his existence, dwelling on the promises he made to Cinta before they could be fulfilled. But there's one more thing keeping Rama from moving on, and that's Cinta herself, whose voice now lives inside his head. As he explores the city with Cinta in tow, Rama's choices and interactions will lead to a variety of possible story branches, and ultimately a number of different endings.

The year 1209. The Republic of Calvard regained its former peace after the threat of the mafia organization "Armata" was gone. Then one day, in a corner of the capital of Edith City, a bizarre incident occurs in which a CID (Central Intelligence Division) special forces is murdered. The Calvard Police and Bracer Guild started to investigate the case, while underground organizations smell new trouble and use the incident to take an action. Meanwhile, Spriggan Van Arkide also begins investigating after receiving a visit from an unexpected person. Who was the one who caused the murder? What is the purpose? And what will happen to Agnes in searching for his great-grandfather's last legacy, the "Eighth Genesis". The roar of the crimson-black beast and an encounter with a boy and girl looking for "something" will lead them to a Trail of inescapable cause and effect.