For the first time in two years, the annual Call of Duty release, Modern Warfare 4, will not come to Xbox Game Pass at launch. To help hammer that point home, Activision is rolling out a new ad campaign reminding people they need to buy the game outright to play it at launch.

The ad (see below) informs people they can preorder the game to "lock in" early access to the campaign. Right below that is a line that states, "Not on Xbox Game Pass this year."

MW4 is not coming to Game Pass at launch.

2024's Black Ops 6 was the first entry in the series to launch directly into Xbox Game Pass, with Black Ops 7 following the same playbook in 2025. However, Microsoft announced earlier this year that new Call of Duty titles would no longer debut in Game Pass, an announcement it made in conjunction with a price cut for the subscription service.

New Call of Duty games, starting with MW4, are expected to come to Game Pass "during the following holiday season," so anyone wanting to play the latest Call of Duty in the subscription service will have to wait about a year.

Microsoft did not say why it made this major change, but it could have to do with lost sales. It was reported that Black Ops 6 coming to Game Pass in 2024 amounted to Microsoft missing out on hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. New Call of Duty games being included with Game Pass no doubt drove sign-ups, too. In any event, Microsoft opted to change course, and now people have to buy new Call of Duty games outright at launch.

Modern Warfare 4 launches on October 23 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. It's also coming to Switch 2 at launch, and that's notable because the Call of Duty franchise has skipped Nintendo platforms since 2013. A Modern Warfare 4 multiplayer beta is coming before launch.

The upcoming Resident Evil movie from Weapons and Barbarian director Zach Cregger follows the story of an "idiot" in a narrative that the filmmaker says is akin to The Lord of the Rings.

Speaking to Empire, Cregger said Austin Abrams' character, a medical courier named Bryan, is an "everyman" who gets mixed up in a deadly, horrific adventure.

“The concept here is that we’re following an idiot,” Cregger said. “Not that he’s stupid, but he’s not your typical game character, with no combat skills whatsoever and completely inept at survival. Bryan is very much an everyman who happens to be burdened with this kind of sacred mission that’s going to take him into the heart of everything. It’s kind of like Frodo going into Mordor.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJPu1spHqfk

The entire movie feels like "one gigantic sequence," Cregger went on to say, adding that things begin to "pop off" five minutes into the movie--and it only ramps up from there.

“It feels like one gigantic sequence,” he says. “Things pop off about five minutes in and it basically stays like that until the end. What I love about the games is that you move from set-piece to set-piece. Every location has a unique challenge. So again, I’m borrowing from the games directly in that rhythm, where you’re just running through a gauntlet.”

The Resident Evil movie does not follow the events of any of the games, or feature its characters, and some have balked at that. But Cregger has said time and again that he's a huge fan of the games and is aiming to capture the tone of the games while instilling his own vision.

“It’s really a Zach Cregger movie that just happens to be a Resident Evil movie," he said.

It was reported that Cregger had carte blanche to do whatever he wanted with the Resident Evil movie to reinvent the film series. Paul W.S. Anderson directed the six previous major Resident Evil movies that together made more than $1 billion at the box office.

The Resident Evil movie releases on September 18. It's not the only video game movie still to come this year, as the Street Fighter movie arrives on October 16.

Dbrand, a consumer electronics accessories company that has stumbled into its fair share of controversy over the years, finds itself in that position once again. The Canadian company has announced that its $100 Companion Cube-style wrap for the Steam Machine has been canceled, and anyone who already preordered one will get a refund.

This is happening because Dbrand never asked Valve for permission in the first place. "We made the Companion Cube without a license from Valve," the company said.

Dbrand also shared some behind-the-scenes details about how it got into this situation in the first place. On the day the Steam Machine was announced on November 12, 2025, the company published a concept render and a sign-up page for the Companion Cube. More than 15,000 people signed up for notifications, and Dbrand "built the idea into something real." But at the same time, it did so "without ever asking Valve if we could."

"We’re going to regret that decision for a very long time," it said.

Dbrand said it spent more than 1,000 hours working on engineering and industrial design to create the Companion Cube, creating 44 sets of injection modeling tools for each of the cube's sub-components.

"The entire product was redesigned from scratch more than once, just to get the way it cradles the console exactly right. We literally rented out a university campus to film the launch video," Dbrand said. "This had turned into a passion project for the entire organization."

"Unfortunately, being proud of the thing we made did not give us the right to make it," it added.

RIP

Dbrand started taking people's money for the Companion Cube on June 22. The Companion Cube was extremely popular for Dbrand, becoming the second-fastest selling product in its 15-year history, trailing only the Switch 2 Killswitch.

"Shortly after, Valve’s legal team reached out. They stated that the Companion Cube is Valve intellectual property, for which Dbrand does not have a license. They requested we take down the product and launch film immediately. This was entirely within their rights, and they were direct, fair, and respectful throughout," the company said. "We took everything down and made an appeal. We asked Valve whether there was any way to keep the project alive: properly licensed, with their blessing, on their terms. They said no. Given our backwards approach of building first and asking permission later, it was a fair answer."

The company added: "We made something a lot of people were excited about, then incinerated our shot at bringing it to market. It’s a hard lesson to learn publicly. It goes without saying, but we’ll say it regardless: Valve didn’t do anything wrong here. They built a game franchise a lot of people love and they alone get to decide how it’s used."

Dbrand sent some Companion Cube units out to influencer types, and those will likely become highly valuable collector's items.

What this situation seems to show is that there is clearly major demand for a Companion Cube-style wrap, but it remains to be seen if Valve would ever work with a company on an licensed unit or make one itself. The Steam Machine has a built-in customization option in that its front plate is attached by magnets so you can swap alternate ones in.

Dbrand previously courted controversy for making fun of someone's name in comments deemed to be racist, offering them $10,000 as recompense. Sony, meanwhile, sent Dbrand a cease-and-desist order over PS5 skins. Additionally, Dbrand's Killswitch Switch 2 case was roasted by some for having design flaws.

For those who were lucky enough to be granted access, Steam Machine preorders are open now for the device that starts at $1,050. Early impressions of the Steam Machine say the system does not make complete financial sense.

A leak from nearly a year ago allegedly revealing Blizzard's huge plans for the Warcraft franchise is looking more legitimate after a recent datamine seems to have corroborated a key aspect of it.

In August 2025, Reddit user 5thyatch (as highlighted by Warcraft-content creator Bellular) posted an image of a document that reportedly showed a timeline of Warcraft-related releases up through 2030, including the release windows for the next several World of Warcraft expansions as well as two unannounced games and even two television shows. It also highlighted the release of something called "Camelot" related to WoW Classic for the end of this year.

Though 5thyatch's account and posts have since been deleted, eagle-eyed Warcraft fans on Reddit have now resurfaced the leak using the Wayback Machine in the wake of a recent datamine that looks to add credence to it being the real deal. Wowhead recently found evidence of Heroic and Epic editions of something called World of Warcraft Camelot on Blizzard's internal servers.

Camelot, then, looks to be real, with many fans theorizing it's the long-rumored Classic+ version of WoW Classic that will see Blizzard adding new content to the original, "Vanilla" version of the old-school MMORPG without progressing to the game's numerous expansions. Blizzard has previously teased a major announcement related to Classic for BlizzCon 2026, and the Camelot release window shown in the leak seems to indicate it could be coming shortly after its rumored BlizzCon reveal. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7eBwRRW5ZI

If Camelot is real, then the rest of the leaked document also starts to be more believable, despite how far-fetched some of it may seem at first glance. The leak accurately predicted the release window for WoW's Midnight expansion before it was known, and lists the game's next expansion, The Last Titan, to be coming towards the end of 2027.

WoW expansions, however, are just the tip of the iceberg. The leak also shows a new RTS game titled Warcraft Chronicles is slated for a late 2028 release. It would be the first new Warcraft RTS since Warcraft 3's Frozen Throne expansion in 2003. In addition, an untitled Arthas ARPG is scheduled for late 2029. It's unclear if ARPG in this case means a top-down, Diablo-style game or a character-action RPG starring the Lich King himself, but either scenario would be a major departure for the franchise. 

The leak additionally makes a point to highlight what appear to be tie-in shows related to both the untitled Arthas game and Warcraft Chronicles. When this leak first appeared last year, the idea of Blizzard working on multiple television shows (one animated and one live-action, according to the leak), seemed outlandish. But it would be around six months after the leak surfaced that Blizzard began to signal it had more planned for the Warcraft franchise than just WoW. Blizzard vice president and executive producer Holly Longdale said in February the Warcraft IP is "underutilized" and that Blizzard has "a bigger vision" for Warcraft  "than simply being an MMORPG." That same month, Blizzard president Johanna Faries in an interview said "exciting conversations" were happening regarding Hollywood adaptations of Blizzard IP. 

It's worth noting that even if this leak is geniune, there's no telling when this alleged internal Blizzard document is actually from. It might not represent Blizzard's current plans any longer. The new Warcraft RTS or Arthas spin-off could have been canceled in the last few years, as Blizzard leadership has somewhat infamously said it historically cancels 50% of its projects before they see the light of day. 

Given that Blizzard's parent company Xbox is rumored to be undergoing major layoffs soon, it's unclear how Blizzard's various unannounced projects may fare. Xbox president Asha Sharma in a public memo has signaled a desire for Xbox to focus more heavily on its "industry-defining franchises" that she says have in the past not been "adequately funded" to "compete and win." It's unclear if Xbox considers Warcraft one of those key franchises.

Ahead of its launch in August, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls' final team of multiversal brawlers was revealed at Evo 2026. Dubbed the Samurai Outriders, this team includes Blade, Loki, Ghost Rider, and everyone's favorite chatterbox antihero, Deadpool. As you'd expect, Deadpool is pure chaos, but he's also a walking tribute to fighting games from across multiple series. As part of his character, Deadpool has somehow obtained a game strategy guide from beyond the fourth wall, allowing him to use attacks from other games in combat.

While the reveal trailer only shared some of Deadpool's gameplay, the references ranged from anime poses to an incredibly obscure PlayStation Easter egg.

First up, yes, Deadpool is indeed doing the infamous Naruto run:

Guilty Gear Strive players will likely recognize this Jack-O pose:

Did the Hulk break Deadpool's $500 sunglasses? Because that sure looks like Johnny Cage's signature attack from Mortal Kombat:

Speaking of Mortal Kombat, get over here and look at this move from the Scorpion playbook:

Toasty!

What's the point in having an advanced healing factor if you don't use it to poke fun at Tekken with a Yoshimitsu-inspired Hara-Kiri attack? This could also be a reference to Deadpool & Wolverine, as the first meeting between the fan-favorite Marvel characters wasn't exactly cordial.

What will Dr. Doom say when he sees Deadpool use one of his aerial stomp-attacks from the Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 days?

And then there's this move, which resembles Vegeta's Consecutive Energy Blast barrage from Dragon Ball FighterZ. Deadpool even drops an infamous Moon Knight quip about resorting to random bulls**t attacks. One of the random objects thrown out is the original PlayStation mascot--and PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale final boss--Mr. Polygon Man:

We're also treated to Deadpool riffing on Guilty Gear some more with a burning Sol Badguy uppercut:

May's forward-charge Mr. Dolphin attack:

And Lady Deadpool uses Jam's Ryuujin Kick during Deadpool's ultimate, which also looks like it was inspired by a Persona team attack:

She also strikes a Sailor Moon pose afterward, and yes, it's adorable:

And finally, that is Nolan North voicing Deadpool once again. The veteran actor has provided his voice in several Marvel games, including the 2014 Deadpool game, Marvel's Midnight Suns, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3.

Sony has also confirmed that a Marvel Tokon open beta will start on July 24, and Blade will be playable in it. The fighting game launches on August 6 for PC and PS5, and if you're looking to start building your dream team, you can check out our list of every Marvel Tokon character in the launch roster.

Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls Roster – Every Character Revealed (So Far) View Images

CD Projekt, the parent company of Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher studio CD Projekt Red, has a new name that it hopes will unify its businesses. Unfortunately, that name is CD Projekt Red, which is perplexing because CD Projekt Red already exists. So now, there are two CD Projekt Reds.

In a June 23 news post (via Eurogamer), CD Projekt's new name is CD Projekt Red Spółka Akcyjna, with the tacked-on bit at the end being a Polish term for joint-stock company. The company voted on this name to consolidate the operations of its broader businesses, which include OG CD Projekt Red and all of its subsidiaries.

In a statement on the news, CDPR said the intention was to create one main company that does everything CDPR has already been doing. That way, there's no confusion between CDPR the publisher and CDPR the developer ... except there's a lot of confusion between the two with this move.

"The studio's activities currently correspond to the Company's core operational activity, which consists of producing and publishing video games and managing the Company's brands, including through the creation and licensing of accompanying products," CDPR wrote. "In the opinion of the Management Board, the new company name will ensure consistency in the communication of the CD Projekt Red brand, which will, among other things, facilitate the identification of the company with its products on the global market and support recruitment processes."

It may become difficult to differentiate official news from CDPR the publisher and CDPR the developer now. So, when there's an announcement or a press release, it'll be tough to ascertain which is which and what it means for your favorite games like Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher.

Speaking of Cyberpunk 2077, CDPR is working on a sequel, though information about the project is scarce. Although the studio recently said its reputation hasn't fully healed following the game's disastrous launch, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 drops this fall--and a new trailer is out now.

On The Witcher front, there's been no substantive news about The Witcher 4. But to tide us all over, while "most" of the staff works on the upcoming sequel and new IP, The Witcher 3 is getting an expansion that may bridge the gap between the two games. More news about this DLC, titled Songs of the Past, will be revealed at Gamescom, which will be held in Cologne, Germany, from August 26 to August 30.

Paramount Pictures has released the first trailer for The Angry Birds Movie 3, and this is sure to remind people that, yes, the movie series is still going.

The third movie follows Red (Jason Sudeikis) as faces his "greatest challenge yet," which is being a dad ... and also saving the world. Releasing December 23, The Angry Birds Movie 3 features a big cast of celebrities in addition to Sudeikis, including Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Tim Robinson, Sam Richardson, Keke Palmer, Nikki Glaser, Lily James, and even Mr. Beast.

The trailer has a number of standout scenes, including a memorable sequence where the baby bird continuously pees through a colander, prompting Bomb (McBride) to remark, "It's like the Bellagio fountain!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9DB_aUMzME

The original Angry Birds Movie came out in 2016, with the sequel arriving in 2019, so this is a film franchise that's been running for a decade now. The original movie made $352 million worldwide, but the sequel made less than half ($148 million globally).

As for the Angry Birds game series, Sega acquired the Rovio franchise in 2023 for $776 million. It hasn't been such a successful acquisition for Sega, at least not yet. Sega CEO Haruki Satomi said, "We have unfortunately not achieved the level of results that had been expected prior to the acquisition," according to GI.biz.

Paramount is also behind the upcoming Call of Duty movie from Taylor Sheridan and Peter Berg and the next Sonic the Hedgehog movie. The company is about to take ownership of numerous more popular franchises by way of its $111 billion buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery.

The current generation of gaming has only gotten more expensive lately, and it looks like the next generation of PlayStation consoles will also be a pricy purchase. With concern growing about the yet-to-be-revealed PS6 possibly selling for $1,000 or more when it launches, Sony confirmed that it's not prepared to take a "significant" hit on absorbing some of the costs for its next-gen hardware.

When quizzed about hardware pricing and profitability for the "next-generation platform" during a Q&A session at Sony's Game & Network Services division, Sony executives said that they recognize that hardware is ultimately the most important part of a gaming experience, and they want consumers to recognize this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrvZEiWD7ZM

"As for pricing, it is not realistic for us to absorb all component cost increases, and we have already implemented some price increases outside Japan," Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Hideaki Nishino said. "At present, however, sales are proceeding as planned, and we do not believe this has led to a decline in customer demand. "As a principle, we do not intend to sell hardware at significant losses. At the same time, we are carefully monitoring the market and continuing to evaluate our approach. We believe it is important for us to make every effort to ensure that customers fully understand the value we provide in relation to pricing."

One thing worth noting from Nishino's comments is that sales are still within Sony's projections, even though PS5 consoles have only gotten more expensive with time. Despite that, May was a dismal month for PlayStation in the United States. Spending on PS5 consoles dropped 43% year-on-year, and overall unit sales fell dramatically by 58%, making May the lowest month for PlayStation sales in 26 years. It was also a bad month for Microsoft, as it suffered the worst May performance since the Xbox console first debuted in November 2001. 

The ongoing shortage of memory chips and rising costs have also reportedly thrown Sony's PS6 plans into disarray, with some experts believing that it will only launch toward the end of the decade. Earlier this year, Sony increased the price of the PS5, and the company also said that it has yet to determine pricing or a launch date for its next-gen console.

Meanwhile, things aren't looking too good at Microsoft either. The Xbox Series X|S consoles are also more expensive than ever, and Microsoft hasn't ruled out the possibility of another price hike in 2027.

The Best PS5 Games In 2026 View Images

Microsoft has responded to a report regarding GTA 6 preorders and the apparent gulf between Xbox and PlayStation numbers, saying this early, unofficial third-party information "doesn't represent preorder data."

"We’ve had record orders. People should wait for real data and not clicks on affiliate links," Microsoft said.

This came in response to a data from IGN that said its own internal information from affiliate links from its userbase found that GTA 6 preorders were outperforming Xbox by a rate of 8 to 1. This is not official preorder data from Rockstar or Take-Two, but rather early results from IGN's own userbase. As such, it doesn't represent the full picture of preorders--it was never meant to or billed as such. Still, the story took off, prompting Microsoft to issue a statement.

GTA 6 releases in November.

GTA 6 undoubtedly has a high number of preorders, and it makes sense that PS5 numbers would track ahead of Xbox given the higher install base of consoles and the Rockstar-PlayStation marketing deal for GTA 6. In any event, GTA 6 is expected to have the biggest launch of all time, so preorders setting an Xbox record--whatever record that might be--is no surprise, either.

For now, we'll just have to wait for Rockstar or Take-Two to announce preorder data, should they choose to. Preorders opened on June 25 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, and as a digital-exclusive game, stock is not going to sell out. Despite that, people are already trying to flip their preorders on eBay for big premiums.

GTA 6 is scheduled for a November 19 launch. It “features a single-player experience,” leading many to wonder what the game’s online plans will be.

GTA 6 is priced at $80 for its standard edition and $100 for the ultimate edition that locks away lots of exciting content behind that $20 extra paywall.

Even though Rockstar and Take-Two have already said GTA 6 is a digital-only game, some have held out hope for a disc-based version. A new report says GTA 6 will not have a disc-based version at launch or months after, as some have speculated.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "There are no plans for Grand Theft Auto VI discs to be printed--not at launch, and not months after."

This came after a fan posted a screenshot of a conversation they said they had with a Rockstar Support agent who informed them, "You will be able to acquire a physical copy during the following months."

GTA 6 won't be on a disc at launch or months after, apparently.

This email was indeed real, THR said, but it's being misinterpreted. The report said the "physical copy" wording was in reference to the physical copies of GTA 6 that will be sold at retailers with a code in the box, not a disc.

The line from the Rockstar Support agent about being able to get a physical copy "during the following months" was described as a "clunky" reference to months after preorders going live on June 25, not the game's November 19 release date.

Why is GTA 6 not releasing on a disc?

There are a number of reasons, experts have said, and many of them come down to Rockstar making more money. No discs also helps mitigate the possibility of the game leaking early. The codes that come in the physical copies do not unlock until November 19 (though preloading begins November 12).

A lot of people love physical media and want to own GTA 6 on a disc, but shipping as a digital-exclusive game won't have any impact on sales overall, experts say. Still, it's a major bummer for people looking to own the game on a disc, even if that disc is merely provides a license that can be revoked at any time.

GTA 6 is releasing with an $80 standard edition and a $100 ultimate edition, the latter of which locks away lots of cool content behind that extra paywall.