For a limited time, NordVPN is offering up to 76% off on two-year subscription plans. As a bonus, select plans also include an up to $50 Amazon gift card if you keep your subscription for at least 31 days. The deal only applies to NordVPN's 2-year plans, which require you to pay in full at sign-up, and the discount and Amazon gift card amount change depending on which plan you buy. Here's a look at the options:

NordVPN 2-Plan Deals See deal at NordVPN

• Basic -- $81.36 for the first 24 months (normally $278.16 per 24 months)
• Plus -- $105.36 for the first 24 months (normally $359.76 per 24 months) - Also includes $20 Amazon gift card
• Complete -- $129.36 for the first 24 months (normally $439 per 24 months) - Also includes $40 Amazon gift card
• Prime -- $177.36 for the first 24 months (normally $743.76 per 24 months) - Also includes $50 Amazon gift card

While all four 2-year NordVPN plans are discounted, only the Plus, Complete, and Prime plans include Amazon gift cards. Each plan includes differing features, which we've outlined below.

Note that the discounted price only applies to the first 24-month purchase. After the promotional period, all subscriptions roll over to the full standard price unless you cancel ahead of time. NordVPN also offers a full 30-day money-back guarantee, so if you change your mind within the first month of service, you can cancel for a full refund. However, the Amazon gift card bonus is only delivered if you keep your 2-year Plus, Complete, or Prime plan for 31 days.

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Skate fans, it's almost time to go back to San Vansterdam. EA and developer Full Circle have announced that the next Skate playtest is coming in early July, and it's arriving with a big visual upgrade.

As related in a new edition of The Grind, Skate's new update 0.27.0 will coincide with the next playtest on July 2. Invites will be sent out in waves for players who are signed up as Skate Insiders before June 27. After that date, registration will be closed. The new update has dramatically improved lighting, shadows, and visuals for the city of San Vansterdam, as well as more environments, animations, sound effects, graffiti, traffic, and pedestrians.

A side-by-side look at Skate's previous build and the newly upgraded visuals in the new update.

Full Circle has increased the maximum number of players per server to 150, and adjusted the in-game map to show the locations of other players. New missions and challenges are available in the new playtest, as is the Market Mile neighborhood, and progression has been overhauled.

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Alan Wake developer Remedy's new multiplayer shooter, FBC: Firebreak, launched today across console and PC. The release didn't go exactly to plan, however, as Remedy has identified what sounds like a pretty significant matchmaking issue causing headaches for some players.

In a social media post, Remedy said it's aware of an issue causing "most players" to fail to match together, with the result being people getting into matches alone. Firebreak is meant to be played with other people.

"We are working on a hotfix for this issue, which we expect to hit Steam later today [June 17], with other platforms following as soon as possible," Remedy said. It's important to note that this hotfix will already significantly help cross-platform matchmaking across the entire player base."

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Prior to the official launch of Borderlands 4 preorders, most of the questions were about how much the game was going to cost. But perhaps the questions players should have been asking were about the game's system requirements. Gearbox has disclosed the PC specs for Borderlands 4, and they're pretty eye-popping. But the requirements may not be as strict as they initially appear.

The specs were shared earlier today on Borderlands 4's Steam page, and the stats are reproduced below.

Recommend:

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Fortnite is launching a fourth battle royale mode with its June 18 update--Blitz Royale, a smaller scale version of BR with 32 players and rounds intended to last five minutes or less. While Epic Games is pushing Blitz Royale as being geared toward mobile players, the mode is playable on every platform Fortnite works on. Blitz Royale is available in solos and four-players squads, and is zero build only.

Blitz Royale will be Fortnite's quickest battle royale mode yet.

So how does it work? Well, it's a no-builds version of battle royale on a much smaller map than the main Fortnite island. But this isn't a tiny version of regular Fortnite Battle Royale. All players will start each match with a boon and/or weapon--everybody in a given round will get the same item--and as they survive and eliminate enemy players, they'll increase their Blitz Level, which immediately grants more weapons and gear at each level.

The new mode is bringing some free cosmetics with it, including a new skin, the Blitz Knight. To unlock the Blitz Knight, you'll need to either gain 15 levels once Blitz Royale goes live, or place in the top ten in 20 different Blitz rounds. There's also, of course, a unique victory umbrella glider, the Blitz Brella, that you can earn by winning three Blitz matches.

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The more players dive into Diablo 4's new Reliquary battle pass system, the more issues emerge, as recently highlighted by members of the Diablo community on Reddit.

Introduced as part of Diablo 4 Season 8, the Reliquary system wasn't exactly well-received to begin with. It replaced the ARPG's straightforward battle pass system with a more confusing one that broke rewards into multiple different categories. Players have complained about fewer rewards and less premium currency offered as part of the overhauled system, even if Reliquaries do technically give players more control and agency over which rewards to target.

As highlighted by Loika on the Diablo 4 subreddit and broken down by Wowhead, the issues with the Reliquary system actually go deeper. While players can earn "favor" tokens for free while playing to unlock some rewards, the game also prominently presents the option to buy those same rewards with Diablo 4's premium currency.

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When most people say their game is retro, they mean a particular era of game ranging from the NES to the PlayStation. That timespan encompasses the heyday of pixel-art gameplay and the burgeoning 3D revolution. It's not common for games to look even further back for their inspirations, to the earliest days of home console gaming. But that's exactly what Adventure of Samsara does, and it makes for a curious blend of motifs and mechanics.

Adventure of Samsara itself has a relatively long history. The game was pitched as a Kickstarter project in 2016, under the name Tower of Samsara. It had set a modest (and very precise, numerically) goal of $48,561, but failed to achieve a third of that number. That may have been the end of the story, as just another indie game that never got off the ground. But Brazilian studio Ilex Games continued to pitch it until landing at Atari, where it morphed into a sci-fi offshoot of the classic Atari 2600 game Adventure. Adventure of Samsara is a marriage of the two, an Atari spokesperson told me--the game is as Ilex originally envisioned it, but it has weaved in story elements from Adventure to make it part of that universe.

That blend of inspirations means that it carries visual similarities to an Atari 2600 game. The pixel art is large and blocky and visual elements carry a flat layer of color that looks reminiscent of those early video games, while also looking much more advanced and modern than anything the original Atari could have produced. This is a retro pixel-art throwback, but the look is striking by being modeled after and modernizing such an early version of pixel art.

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It's been over a year since Hades II launched into early access, but today marks the game's third and last major content release before developer Supergiant Games diverts all attention to the rougelite's 1.0 launch.

The latest patch, called the Unseen Update, brings with it a host of changes and improvements, including balancing tweaks and combat improvements as has been synonymous with Supergiant's development process with its community. The update also includes some big content additions, including new aspects for all of its weapons, new optional dialogue and objectives for side characters, more powerful enemies in certain regions, and one special new song from the game's most popular band. The full patch notes can be found here.

Perhaps the biggest news was an update to the game's development roadmap, which indicates that the Unseen Update is the last major content update before the game's official launch. Supergiant Games states that its next objective is completing the game's true ending, adding achievements for all platforms, and doing a final pass on all of the game's elements to polish it as best as possible for launch. Despite the announcement, the post stresses that there is still no firm release date for Hades II, with word on that coming at a later date.

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All of a sudden, and all at once, the entire industry seems to have come to a realization: Ninjas are cool. There have been a smattering of recent games featuring ninjas who are also turtles, but this seems to be the year that old-school human ninjas are back, baby. We already received the combo shinobi-samurai fantasy in Assassin's Creed Shadows. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black was announced alongside an upcoming Ninja Gaiden 4. The retro-styled Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is coming from The Game Kitchen. And finally, Sega is bringing back one of its classic franchises with Shinobi: Art of Vengeance. It's a veritable buffet of ninja action this year, but having played an extended Shinobi demo, I recommend saving some room for it.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance comes from Lizardcube, developer of gorgeous hand-drawn 2D games Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap and Streets of Rage 4. Those games have a distinct visual style, separate from the 3D games or even the pixel art of Ragebound. Instead they look ripped from the pages of a comic book, with sharp inky lines and fluid animation. Shinobi is no different, and seeing it applied to the fast and versatile skills of Shinobi is a real treat.

That artwork feels additive to the flow of the game, which is quick and improvisational. Everything from the platforming to the combat feels tightly tuned to make you feel in control at all times--a capable ninja master who is more than a match for any single foe. The challenge comes from managing the space, presenting several enemy types at once and daring you to prioritize them. You need to close the gap between yourself and the ranged archers before taking on the melee swordsmen. Just when you've gotten a handle on that, suddenly there are mystics who heal your opponents, so they become a new priority target. This all takes place on a 2D plane but it carries the Streets of Rage DNA by presenting you with enemies to juggle. Reaching a boss feels appropriately dramatic, as you get a quick cinematic glance of the titular Shinobi from the back, facing off against the monstrous threat.

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Long before the Switch changed everything, I found myself more drawn to handheld gaming than the home console. I remember feeling more passionate about my Game Boy Advance library than the PlayStation 2. So it didn't come as much surprise to me when the Switch, and then the Steam Deck, captured so much of my attention and gaming time. The Steam Deck has since become my primary gaming device, due to its level of adaptability and wealth of cheap games on Steam. But even as a devoted Steam Deck acolyte, the ROG Xbox Ally X made an impression on me. There's a lot to be seen about the quasi-Xbox handheld, but it may even make a convert out of me.

I was able to try the ROG Xbox Ally X briefly at the Xbox showcase adjacent to Summer Game Fest. The presentation was mostly hands-off, with a brief period in which we were allowed to play Gears of War: Reloaded on it. So my impressions are a mixture of practical experience and big promises, but so far I like what I've both seen and heard.

For starters, the actual ergonomics of the device feel very nice by default. I've equipped both my Steam Deck and my Switch 1 with third-party grips, increasing their bulk in exchange for a better feeling of holding it. The ROG Xbox Ally X cuts out the middleman and just includes the more substantial handles from the start, making it a little larger and weightier than competing devices, but no more than I've already been doing for myself with add-ons. As someone who primarily plays handheld systems at home or while traveling, I usually have a place to rest my arms while I play, so the increased weight won't be a problem.

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Bungie's live-service shooter Marathon is not coming out on time. The developer has confirmed that Marathon will miss its September 23 release date and has been delayed to an unspecified point in the future.

"Through every comment and real-time conversation on social media and Discord, your voice has been strong and clear. We've taken this to heart, and we know we need more time to craft Marathon into the game that truly reflects your passion. After much discussion within our Dev team, we've made the decision to delay the September 23rd release," Bungie said in a blog post.

Bungie added that the Marathon alpha test gave the studio a chance to "calibrate and focus the game on what will make it uniquely compelling."

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Battlefield 2042 was released back in 2021, but it's still getting new DLC, and the newest batch of add-on content is a crossover with another popular EA franchise: Mass Effect.

The Galactic and the Scoped & Dropped bundles are now available to purchase in Battlefield 2042. They include new cosmetics that make your character look like a soldier from the Mass Effect series. These items came to Battlefield 2042 as part of the 8.9.0 update that arrived today, June 17.

The Galactic bundle costs 1750 BFC and the Scoped & Dropped bundle is priced at 2,000 BFC. Alternatively, players can buy them together in the Citadel bundle for 3,000 BFC, which represents a savings compared to buying them individually. BFC can be purchased with real money or earned by progressing through Battlefield 2042's battle pass.

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Dark Horse Direct and Naughty Dog present another addition to their budding The Last of Us collectibles and statues. This statue features Ellie and Joel as they were when they ventured into the University of Eastern Colorado near the end of the original game.

This colossal statue is available for preorder and will ship sometime in Q2 2026.

"Ellie rides atop Callus, wearing her signature striped hoodie and backpack complete with her iconic pins. Callus is brought to life with stunning details from the worn saddle to the reins, to even the branded 'J' on their leg from Jackson County," the official synopsis reads. "Joel walks alongside them, grounded in his rugged gear, rifle gripped in hand and pistol secure in his holster."

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One of the Switch 2's features is a much-improved kickstand, providing a more sturdy and durable way of propping the screen up in comparison with the original Switch. Some Switch 2 owners have realized that this kickstand can essentially be used as a mounting arm, leading to the creation of ways to attach the consoles to increasingly ridiculous places.

Some of these mounting methods are genuinely cool and useful, such as clamping the kickstand in between a tray table and a seatback in an airplane seat, as shown by r/NintendoSwitch2 user Lokeze. While many people will have no problems using the Switch 2 on a tray table, having the screen higher up and further away might be slightly more comfortable.

As Nintendo Soup reported, though, there are also some people coming up with downright dangerous places to mount the console. One player figured out how to attach it to a car steering wheel--leading to a "setup" that, if driving, is almost certainly illegal throughout the United States and is definitely not something to try. I can imagine that it might be useful if you find yourself sitting in the driver's seat while parked for a long period of time, such as waiting in an airport cell phone lot... But be 100% certain that the car is not moving if you decide to check this out.

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The arcade staple Golden Tee is heading to consoles and Steam for the first time in a new collection coming this July. Players can enjoy Golden Tee 3D Golf, Golden Tee 97, Golden Tee 98, Golden Tee 99, Golden Tee 2K, and Golden Tee Classic exactly as you remember them from your days tossing quarters away, trying to get the perfect shot.

Golden Tee Arcade Classics features six Golden Tee games, but also Shuffleshot and World Class Bowling--just in case you need a break from golf. Check out the announcement video below.

When you pre-order, your game will ship with exclusive Golden Tee mini arcade marquees available only during the preorder window.

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Microsoft has announced a "strategic, multiyear" partnership with AMD to power its next-generation devices, including the next Xbox home console.

Xbox president Sarah Bond made the announcement today. She said Microsoft and AMD will work together to "co-engineer silicon across a portfolio of devices, including our next-generation Xbox consoles. In your living room and in your hands."

Working with AMD, Bond said Microsoft will be able to allow for a "deeper level of visual quality" with "immersive gameplay" and "enhanced" with the power of AI.

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After everyone spent the last couple weeks believing the headlining artist for Fortnite Festival Season 9 would be Deadmau5, the reality ended up being something completely different: Bruno Mars will be the actual new Festival Icon when Season 9 launches on Wednesday.

Bruno Mars is an interesting choice because he's already in Fortnite. The Silk Sonic set, which included skins for both Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, was released way back in 2022. None of the eight previous Festival season headliners had been added to the game as skins prior to their respective seasons.

The new Fortnite Festival Season will come with a new Music Pass, which will be available for 1400 V-Bucks or via Fortnite Crew. The highlight is the Die With a Smile Bruno skin, which is based on the singer's look in the video for his and Lady Gaga's track Die With a Smile. That skin unlocks instantly when you purchase the pass, and you can gain XP across any Fortnite experience to progress the pass from there. Also included with the paid pass is a guitar, a drum kit, and jam tracks for Bruno-San's Theme Song, Silk Sonic's Leave the Door Open, ABC by tThe Jackson 5, and Mun Ra by Sabotage. There are free rewards as well for those who don't buy the pass, including instruments, auras, and four jam tracks.

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As part of Prime Gaming's early Prime Day 2025 promotion, members can get the Amazon Luna Wireless Controller for a steep discount right now. Normally $70, the Bluetooth controller for PC, Mac, iOS, and Android is discounted to only $40. If you're a Prime member who has never tried Luna+, you can get a one-month subscription along with the $40 controller at no extra cost.

Amazon Luna Wireless Controller for PC & Mobile $40 (was $70)

The Luna controller features all the normal buttons and triggers you'd expect, and it uses the offset thumbstick layout similar to what you'd find on Xbox and Switch Pro Controllers. However, since it's an Amazon device, it includes built-in Alexa support, including a mic you can use for voice commands like launching Luna games or controlling other connected devices. Along with PC, Mac, Android, and iOS, the controller works with Amazon Fire TVs, Fire tablets, and Chromebooks via Bluetooth wireless or wired USB connections.

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Amazon Prime Day 2025 (July 8-11)

Early deals are available now for Prime members.

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Remember the creepy children's puppet show from Control? FBC: Firebreak's launch trailer isn't nearly as creepy, but it's continuing the puppet show idea that Control started, at least.

Remedy's launch trailer for their first multiplayer game doesn't feature gameplay of any type. Instead, it leans into the narrative element of the entire Remedy universe.

We're less than a day into FBC: Firebreak's lifespan and the three-player cooperative shooter already has a mostly negative rating from players on Steam. Many reviews have less than an hour of playtime, meaning they either didn't spend much time in the game, they bounced off of the gameplay quickly, or some combination of both. Other reviews give positive feedback while calling other reviews disingenuous. In GameSpot's FBC: Firebreak preview, Mark Delaney called the FPS "a defiant, punk rock take on co-op shooters."

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We're rapidly approaching the launch of Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, and it's shaping up to be one of the year's most anticipated titles. However, Kojima Productions came close to axing the project, due to several difficult obstacles affecting both the studio and Hideo Kojima himself.

In an interview with Dexerto, Kojima described how the early days of development on Death Stranding 2 were fraught with overlapping personal and global crises. First, the studio was attempting to get work on the sequel off the ground right as the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak, forcing Kojima and his team to coordinate actors while working remotely and unable to meet face-to-face. "I had all the cast decided, but during the pandemic, I thought I couldn't pull it off," Kojima explained.

The challenges presented by the pandemic were magnified by Kojima's own battle with illness that made him question his future as a developer. He discussed how this combination of factors almost doomed the game altogether: "Staff were all remote... I became sick as well, I thought it was the end of the world. I've been creating games throughout my years, but Death Stranding 2 was the most difficult challenge yet."

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