Besides creating many iconic cult movies like Halloween, The Thing, and Escape From New York, you may also be aware that filmmaker John Carpenter is an ardent fan of video games. Has he then finally decided to make one? Well, yes and no. Toxic Commando may bear his name in the title, but the real credit goes to developer and publisher Saber Interactive. Still, after playing this apocalyptic co-op first-person shooter for the first time at Gamescom 2025, I see how it bears his influence. This isn't just a cynical marketing stunt to put his name on the box.

"We wanted to kind of tap into those '80s horror and over-the-top action films like Big Trouble in Little China, so we reached out to Carpenter, who was like, 'Yeah, this is great,'" said Saber's chief creative officer, Tim Willits. "He's played the game with us, he's helped with some concepts, he's been good about saying, 'Focus on these types of things when you tell this type of story.'"

It may be more accurate to describe Carpenter as having more of a consulting role rather than being deeply involved in development. But his role is also more hands-on at least in some areas: The director famously composed some of the themes for his own influential movies, and has written music that will be incorporated into the game.

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Game director-writer Hideo Kojima has commented on the future of the Death Stranding franchise, saying he has no plans to make Death Stranding 3 at the moment, though he does have an idea for it.

"I am not planning to do [Death Stranding 3] at the moment," he told an audience in Riyadh recently through a translator. "Because the ending of Death Stranding 2 was my finale of 1 and 2. But I already wrote the concept of DS3." He added, "I hope that someone will create it for me."

Kojima's comments in his lengthy interview were first spotted by Genki.

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Turok knows a thing or two about rebirth. The original character debuted in a 1950s comic book but came to wider attention after Valiant Comics revived him as Turok: Dinosaur Hunter in the early '90s. It was this comic that became the basis for the game series that began on the N64, which was arguably the most influential console-based shooter of the time after GoldenEye. Following 17 years of dormancy after the mixed reception of its 2008 self-titled reboot (while it wasn't actually a commercial flop, a sequel was nonetheless canned), Saber Interactive has stepped up to the plate to make the cycle begin anew with Turok: Origins.

I was admittedly skeptical when it was first announced at last year's Game Awards, as it seemed to be a third-person co-op shooter. The good news from my first hands-on at Gamescom 2025 is that the game can be played in both first- and third-person, and while this preview session was about getting a feel for the co-op PvE gameplay for up to three players, members of Saber Interactive's Madrid-based team assured us that it will also be possible to play the game solo without AI allies, so as to stay true to the original single-player experience of the series.

But most importantly, Turok: Origins gets back to the fundamental core of what you want from a Turok game: killing dinosaurs with big guns.

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It might be easier to score tickets to a Sabrina Carpenter concert than it is to obtain Switch 2 development kits. Almost 12 weeks after the console's launch, developers--big and small--are reportedly still struggling to get them.

Digital Foundry discussed the Switch 2 dev kit situation on its weekly podcast (via Insider Gaming). "Nintendo seems to be almost discouraging Switch 2 development to some degree, where I've spoken with plenty of developers where they were either told that their game, they should just ship it on Switch 1 and rely on backwards compatibility," said John Linneman, a senior staff writer for Digital Foundry. "There’s a lot of developers that are unable to get Switch 2 dev kits. We talked to a lot of devs at Gamescom this year and so many of them said the same things." GameSpot has reached out to Nintendo for comment.

This has been an ongoing story surrounding Switch 2 from before launch and even as recently as last month. In April, a report surfaced stating that small developers were struggling to get their hands on dev kits for the hybrid system. But it's not just indie teams, as a July report pointed to some AAA studios having a hard time acquiring them, too. This could be why there haven't been a slew of major third-party releases, or announcements, for the system lately.

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Nearly 25 years from its initial release on the Nintendo Gamecube, Super Smash Bros. Melee continues to be one of the most popular games in the platform fighting franchise, particularly in the modding community. One modder, Mooshies, decided to add one of gaming's newest icons to the battle: Jimbo from Balatro.

The jolly jester's Smash Bros. Melee variant is a reskin of Mr. Game and Watch, with all of the movements and attacks of Mr. G+W intact. However, Mooshies's mod replaces all of the original character's weapons and sound effects with cards, images, and sounds from the 2024 smash hit roguelike.

Mooshies released a brief gameplay trailer showing Jimbo in action, along with the wild and wacky way he uses the recognizable jokers and card packs from Balatro in matches against Falco, Marth, and more. This was originally released as a paid mod, but Melee players interested in trying Jimbo out can find the mod on Mooshies's Patreon page.

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Ysbryd Games has officially announced the delay of Demonschool's release, shifting its launch date from September 3 to November 19. The decision, described as one made with "anguished consideration," comes in response to an unexpectedly competitive release window, headlined by the announcement of Hollow Knight: Silksong's September 4 debut--and it's not the first game delayed because of the surprise release.

This surprise timing left the indie publisher little choice but to reconsider. "Crueler still," noted the press release, written by founder Brian Kwek, "that we should find out with such short notice that Hollow Knight: Silksong will launch just one day after our planned release for Demonschool."

The publisher emphasized the difficult nature of launching a title in 2025 due to the early fall season being increasingly crowded, with other major titles such as the Final Fantasy Tactics remaster, Pokemon Legends: Z-A, and Ghost of Yotei launching within weeks of each other. For those unfamiliar, Demonschool is a new-style tactics RPG with some clear Persona influence sprinkled in.

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In 2024, Sony shut down its live-service shooter Concord after only two weeks, as it became one the publisher's most prominent failures. According to Sony Interactive Entertainment chief executive of studio business Hermen Hulst, the biggest lesson from Concord was that more oversight is needed during the development process.

"We have since put in place much more rigorous and more frequent testing in very many different ways," Hulst told Financial Times. "The advantage of every failure ... is that people now understand how necessary that [oversight] is."

Hulst went on to explain that he wants Sony's PlayStation studios to make big swings when conceiving future franchises. However, he would also like to catch the failures before they launch.

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When it was announced back at E3 2021, Replaced received a lot of buzz. With striking cyberpunk-inspired visuals and theatrical combat, Replaced aimed to bring more action-oriented mechanics to the burgeoning genre of cinematic platformers. Now, over four years after its initial reveal, Replaced has a release window--and it's coming to Xbox Game Pass on day one.

In a new trailer, developer Sad Cat Studios announced that the game is finally slated for release in Spring 2026. Over the course of the video, the developer shows off some of the progress that's been made over the years, including how Sad Cat has improved environments, animations, and other details. Check it out (via IGN) in the embed below.

In a post on Steam, game director Yura Zhdanovich acknowledged the long wait and shared that the game will be wrapping up production soon. While he still did not give a specific release date, it's a lot closer than we've gotten to this point. In addition, at the end of the video, Sad Cat states that the final game trailer will be coming later this year--which is possibly when we'll get more details.

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Borderlands 4 makes Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford "a little nervous" because some parts of the game are "more challenging" than players might be expecting. Speaking to Insider Gaming, Pitchford said there are many Borderlands players who aren't looking for much challenge out of their experience, and parts of the game might test them like the franchise has not before.

"We have lots of players that actually aren't interested in deep, hard challenges; lots of people that love just exploring the Borderlands or spending time with the characters," Pitchford said. "I'm a little nervous because there are points of Borderlands 4 that are more challenging."

The executive went on to say that if any players are struggling, they can "just grind somewhere" and level up their character to become more powerful to help them get past where they are stuck.

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With Borderlands 4, developer Gearbox is aiming to dial back the comedy and give players a more grounded storyline, which can lead to chuckle-worthy moments that feel organic, not forced.

Speaking to IGN, Gearbox narrative director Sam Winkler, lead writer Taylor Clark, and managing director of narrative properties Lin Joyce spoke about how the Borderlands 3 expansions helped lay the groundwork for the story of Borderlands 4.

"I've been on the game for a couple of years, and it was definitely something from the moment that I came on-board, when I was talking to Sam, the grounded tone was a priority," Clark said. "Grounding the humor in the world, he made it very clear that if I tried to put a meme in the game, he would come to my house with a baseball bat [laughs]. So, it was definitely in the brief from the beginning to make the tone fit the world."

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Gamescom 2025's Opening Night Live show brought a bunch of new announcements and gameplay footage, from Black Ops 7 to Bubsy 4D. It appears that people were really into what host Geoff Keighley put together: This year's show had a big spike in viewership over last year's.

According to a press release, Gamescom ONL accumulated over 72 million views, up 80% from last year. The Gamescom convention itself, which takes place in Cologne, Germany, also saw a healthy uptick in attendees, with roughly 7% more than 2024's event. The conference brought in 357,000 visitors this year, temporarily increasing the population of Cologne by over a third.

Gamescom set new records this year.
ONL viewership was up 80 percent year-over-year to over 72 million views.
More than 357,000 people attended gamescom 2025, up from 335,000 in 2024. pic.twitter.com/Cs7nl8IJzd

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) August 24, 2025

These increases indicate that gaming audiences are eager to learn about the upcoming slate of games. While it's difficult to tease out exactly what drove new people to watch the stream, Keighley's pre-show teases of announcements related to Hollow Knight: Silksong, Resident Evil Requiem, and the next season of the Fallout TV show all may have contributed. The recent launch of the Switch 2 and uncertainty around Microsoft's future projects may have also added to the allure of this event.

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Corpse Party: Tetralogy Pack

$50 | Releases October 28

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XSEED Games has announced that Corpse Party: Tetralogy Pack is coming to Switch consoles in the US on October 28. The Corpse Party: Tetralogy Pack collects the four visual novels in the Heavenly Host saga--which includes Corpse Party, Corpse Party: Book of Shadows, Corpse Party: Sweet Sachiko’s Hysteric Birthday Bash, and Corpse Party: Blood Drive. It also marks the first time Corpse Party: Book of Shadows and Sweet Sachiko’s Hysteric Birthday Bash will be playable on Switch. All four games in the collection are presented with their original Japanese voiceover and English subtitles and are enhanced with high-definition graphics and audio. Preorders are available now for $50 exclusively at Amazon. The Corpse Party series rarely gets physical releases, so we're expecting the collection to sell out quickly.

Corpse Party: Tetralogy Pack $50 | Releases October 28

The Corpse Party: Tetralogy Pack includes all four remastered visual novels in the collection on a physical Nintendo Switch card. Once again, the four games included are:

• Corpse Party (2021)
• Corpse Party: Book of Shadows (2011)
• Corpse Party: Sweet Sachiko's Hysteric Birthday Bash (2012)
• Corpse Party: Blood Drive (2014)

Like other Switch releases, the physical edition will also be playable on Nintendo Switch. Physical copies for this collection are available exclusively at Amazon. Digital preorders are also available.

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For those unfamiliar, Corpse Party is a series of supernatural horror visual novels with branching outcomes, multiple endings, and plenty of scares and gruesome murders. The first game, Corpse Party, tells the story of a friendship ritual gone horrifically awry after it transports high school student Ayumi Shinozaki and her friends to an alternate reality. Exploring the Heavenly Host Elementary institution, the group has to risk their sanity and safety to uncover the truth behind bone-chilling murders that occurred at the location, if they ever want to return home again. The version included in the collection is the 2021 version of the game that was released for PC, which itself is actually the third remake of Corpse Party originally released for the PS Vita in 2010.

The next game, Corpse Party: Book of Shadows, is an ambitious anthology series released in 2011 that served as a sequel, prequel, midquel, and an alternate universe tale, all in one package. It builds on the events of the first game, offering players new perspectives on several of the original game's most critical events.

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The free-to-play FPS Delta Force had a big weekend on Steam. The team-based tactical shooter jumped up the charts and exceeded 210,000 peak concurrent players on Sunday, August 24--that was the all-time peak. The game's player numbers are holding strong, too, remaining above 170,000 right now.

The game launched in December 2024 on Steam and reached more than 100,000 concurrent players at the time. Since then, the player numbers for Delta Force on Steam have grown, peaking this past Sunday.

The newest update for Delta Force on Steam arrived on August 21, adding new event modes and challenges. The developer also outlined more events through the end of September.

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Gears of War: Reloaded launches on August 26, marking the first time the popular shooter series is coming to Sony's PlayStation console. It's a big, notable launch, and if you're interested in playing the game as soon as possible, you may want to know the exact launch times, whether you're playing on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, or PC.

Thankfully, developer The Coalition has shared this data, and we've collected the key things to know below. Reloaded is a remaster of the 2006 original Gears of War, which was made by Epic Games and released exclusively on console for Xbox.

Gears of War: Reloaded global launch times

Gears of War: Reloaded releases at 8 AM PT on August 26, which works out to 11 AM ET. You can see more launch times below.

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One of the world's largest libraries will not consider Nintendo Switch 2 Game-Key Cards for preservation. Japan's National Diet Library, which contains over 9,600 video games in its archives, said that it won't recognize titles in the Game-Key Card format because the games' data are not located within the physical media itself.

Speaking to Famitsu (via Automaton), representatives from the National Diet Library said that since "a key card, on its own, does not qualify as content, it falls outside of [the library's] scope for collection and preservation."

Game-Key Cards solely act as authentication keys, allowing the user to download the full game onto their console when inserted. The card must remain in the system in order to play the game, despite the game being installed, but the card can be shared or resold. Several third-party publishers utilize the medium for their Switch 2 releases, including Capcom, which considers its Game-Key Card titles as digital sales.

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Hideo Kojima, the renowned game designer, writer, and director, recently celebrated his 62nd birthday alongside staff from Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) and Kojima Productions (KJP). Kojima stated he intends to continue developing new projects while maintaining his health and well-being, underscoring a passion that has defined his career for over three decades.

Over on Twitter, Kojima expressed deep gratitude and posted a heartfelt message to his fans for the outpouring of support over the years. He reaffirmed his lifelong commitment to creativity, emphasizing a balanced approach to work: "not to overwork" and to "take it easy."

Today, I turned 62 years old. I received many birthday messages, illustrations, etc. from all over the world. Thank you so much. I intend to continue creating things for as long as I live. My stance on "creation" is to “not overwork” and to "take it easy,” and I will continue to… pic.twitter.com/cyQ5pjQbR6

— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) August 24, 2025

Kojima began his journey in the game industry in the 1980s at Konami, where he quickly distinguished himself with innovative storytelling, giving games an almost cinematic approach. His breakthrough came with Metal Gear in 1987, one of the earliest stealth-based video games. This success led to the creation of the Metal Gear Solid series, which became one of the most critically acclaimed franchises in gaming history.

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Real-time-strategy games still have a dedicated audience, but these days, the focus seems to mostly be on the competitive side. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 developer King Art Games is bucking that trend, as the studio behind Iron Harvest wants to prioritize the single-player campaign over multiplayer, returning to the roots of what made Dawn of War--and several other popular RTS games--so popular in the first place.

"We are known for making narrative-driven games, and the campaign for Iron Harvest was very well received," game director Jan Theysen said to PC Gamer. "So for us, this was super clear: campaigns will be one of the big pillars for the game."

Dawn of War 4 will feature not one but four campaigns when it launches. The Space Marine, Orks, Necrons, and the Adeptus Mechanicus will headline their own series of missions, and each one of these groups bring unique units, buildings, and advantages to the battlefield.

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You spend years waiting for a new 2D action platformer starring ninjas to come along, and then two show up within a month of each other. Both Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound and Shinobi: Art of Vengeance revitalize their respective, long-dormant franchises by successfully harkening back to their roots. There are obvious similarities between the two games, but they're also wildly different. While Ragebound is deliberately old-school, Art of Vengeance feels more modern, paying homage to the past while dragging the absent series into the current gaming landscape.

From its luscious hand-drawn art style to its deep, combo-laden action, developer Lizardcube has accomplished with Shinobi what it previously achieved with Wonder Boy and Streets of Rage. The Parisian studio knows how to resurrect Sega's past hits with remarkable aplomb, and Art of Vengeance is no different.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance

Equipped with a katana in one hand and a sharpened batch of kunai in the other, Art of Vengeance reintroduces legendary protagonist Joe Musashi after an extended exile. As the game's title suggests, this is a story about Joe's quest for vengeance, as the opening moments see his village burned to the ground and his ninja clan turned to stone. ENE Corp, an evil paramilitary organisation led by the antagonistic Lord Ruse and his demonic minions, is behind the attack, setting in motion a straightforward tale that sees you hunt down Lord Ruse while disrupting his various operations.

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Season 10 of Fortnite Festival is starting on August 26, and that means a new headlining artist--Gorillaz--a new music pass with paid and free items, and the first major update for the Festival mode in a couple months. Say goodbye to outgoing headliner Bruno Mars, and say hello to 2D, Noodle, Russel, and Murdoc. This is the first time aside from Metallica last summer that the Festival headliner has been a group rather than an individual, and Epic is handling the Gorillaz a little bit differently than they did those elder statesmen of metal.

Gorillaz in the Fortnite item shopThis bundle of Gorillaz cosmetics will be in the Fortnite shop all season long.

When Metallica was the headlining artist, there were skins for each member in both the shop and in the music pass. With Gorillaz, the four fictional, cartoon members of the group are split between the pass and the item shop, and it's 2D and Noodle who will be on shop duty throughout Season 10. Naturally, all the Gorillaz skins are cel shaded.

Those two brought some stuff with them, of course, as they each have a back bling and musical instrument: a mic stand for 2D and a guitar for Noodle. The selection of shop stuff is rounded out by a camo wrap, a contrail, a jam track for the song Clint Eastwood, and both an emote and a jam track for the song Dare. Everything listed in this paragraph, except for the Clint Eastwood jam track, is included in one big ole bundle, but you'll also be able to buy everything individually if you only want one or two things.

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Until Dawn is celebrating its 10-year anniversary today, August 25, 2025. Below, we explore the fascinating legacy and origin of a classic horror game.

Video games are an incredible medium for horror stories. Some of the greatest games of all time are firmly planted in the horror genre. While games such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill showed audiences the importance of tension in gameplay, the advancement in gaming technology allowed for more cinematic experiences in gameplay design and storytelling.

In 2015, one of the best examples of horror storytelling in gaming was released and left a lasting legacy that can be felt to this very day. That game was Until Dawn.

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