During most recent State of Play, Konami revealed that the Castlevania is ending its long slumber with a new game, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse. This new 2D action platformer is being developed by Motion Twin and Evil Empire--the studios behind roguelite titles Dead Cells and The Rogue Prince of Persia. Despite the studios' history, Konami has let fans know that Belmont's Curse isn't going to be a roguelite game as well.

"Castlevania Belmont's Curse is a 2D action-exploration game where players can freely explore vast, elaborately crafted maps," Konami's Tommy Williams told The Verge. "It is not a roguelike or roguelite game."

Konami hasn't disclosed many details about Belmont's Curse yet. Aside from confirming that the playable character is Trevor Belmont's successor, the only thing we know about him is that he's using the holy whip to take out the undead and various monsters standing in his way. The game is set in Paris in the year 1499, as the city comes under siege by darkness. The currently unnamed Belmont descendant will have multiple weapons at his disposal, including a sword.

In one of Esoteric Ebb's chambers lies a chest. Above it, a sign: "Not a mimic." Snell, your goblin companion, deduces the most obvious outcome: The sign is the work of some prankster who's hoping to get one over on whichever unsuspecting rube decides to saunter into this secreted away room, ignore the sign, and loot the chest. Mimics are often "chest-shaped" like this--the game's joke, not mine--and seeing as how they are a trick as old as fantasy itself, it doesn't take a genius to piece together how such an encounter might end.

Esoteric Ebb is a lot like the mimic in this scene. It looks and sounds like things it takes the shape of--some more obvious than others--but delights in playing with expectations one might have of it. Just when you think you might have it figured out, it contentedly throws another wrench in your understanding of its tone and aspirations. It's a fun ride. It does not veer wildly off course in the process, but it is a stylistic and colorful detour that is nonetheless a riot worth your time.

In Esoteric Ebb, you are the Cleric, a bumbling idiot and magical savant sent by the magistrate to investigate the absolute hornet's nest that is an explosion of a tea shop in Norvik. The timing couldn't be any worse, since Norvik's constituency is voting on a referendum. Should it stick by the Urth-worshipping Nationalists who've governed and shepherded the city through its founding decades, consequently hardening the attitudes and beliefs that have called its rule into question at this very moment? Should it instead ally itself with the deep-pocketed Freestriders who are clearly strong-arming their way to a victory? Or should the city consider other policies, like the dwarven-born egalitarian platform of Azgalism?

The opening scene of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze illustrates one of the things that's so fun about the movie. After the first TMNT film in 1990, parents reportedly pushed back against the heroes' use of weapons like katana, sais, and nunchuks. As a result, when the sequel rolled around in 1991, the titular turtles spent the whole movie not using their signature gear.

It's a restraint that's pretty dumb in hindsight, undercutting a major element of what makes the turtles cool, but it did lead the movie to find some creative solutions. In the opening fight when the turtles break up a robbery in a mall, they use anything they can find that's not a conventional weapon to beat on the giant group of thieves. That includes toys, such as yo-yos. At one point, Michelangelo grabs some sausage links and uses them as nunchuks--"Combat cold cuts!"

Jumping into the day-long preview of the new TMNT set in Magic: The Gathering Arena, one of the things I liked most about the new cards is how they capture the vibe of that scene. There are a lot of inspirations for the turtles, ranging from the movies to the comics to the video games, and the cards can be dark and lethal. But they can also be goofy in a way that feels quintessentially turtles, not just in their concepts and art, but in the way they interact.

Season 2 Reloaded arrives in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and Warzone next week, and Activision has revealed all the details for this midseason update. Season 2 Reloaded is packed with more guns to unlock, additional multiplayer maps, a new Zombies map, and Warzone's Black Ops battle royale.

• Call of Duty Season 2 Reloaded start times
• Events and new weapons

The Season 2 Reloaded update arrives to Black Ops 7 and Warzone on March 11. This update will go live at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM BST across all platforms. It's worth noting that Warzone's Black Ops Royale mode will be released separately from the Season 2 Reloaded update. This battle royale experience goes live on Thursday, March 12 at 9 PM PT / Friday, March 13 at 12 AM ET.

There will be new seasonal events with reward tracks that offer cosmetic items as well as the two final weapons for the season.

Apple has revealed the MacBook Neo, a cheaper new laptop launching at a time when PC hardware has been getting more expensive.

The Neo follows the general design of Apple's popular MacBook laptops, featuring a 13-inch liquid Retina display, Magic Keyboard, multi-touch trackpad, 16 hours of battery life, Tahoe macOS, and a built-in 1080p camera. It's powered by Apple's A18 Pro chip, which Apple says offers faster web browsing and on-device AI processing than Intel Core Ultra 5 laptops.

Most impressively, the standard retail price for the 256GB model is $600, with students being able to pick it up for $500. The low price point feels particularly impressive, considering how technology has gotten more expensive over the past year. Due to the United States' recent tariffs and a RAM and chip shortage caused by the current AI boom, tech prices have been going up.

New data is suggesting that Americans just aren't spending as much money on physical video games as they used to, with Circana stating that the rate fell 11% from 2024 to 2025.

Industry analyst Mat Piscatella shared the figure in a Bluesky post (via Kotaku) on March 2. Piscatella confirmed that when looking at the data between 2024 and 2025, last year saw an 11% decline in spending on physical video games in the US. Although that sounds like a terrible number, it's less drastic than 2024's figure, which was -28%. The decline, according to Piscatella, slowed because we're "nearing the bottom" (presumably of this console generation), and the Nintendo Switch 2's launch last year helped "stabilize" the numbers a bit.

Piscatella also noted that 2025 saw Americans spend $1.5 billion on physical video games, which is an all-time low since this data began being tracked in 1995. While the peak was in 2008 at $11.6 billion, Piscatella clarified that this figure has declined every year since. The most pronounced drop, however, was still 2024's -28%.

Last weekend, Bungie held an open beta for its long-awaited live-service extraction shooter, Marathon. Known as the Marathon Server Slam, the beta test armed Bungie with valuable player data containing useful info that can be used to improve the game, but some of it is downright hilarious. Case in point: During the open beta, Marathon players extracted 384,866 drinkable cheeseburgers, as revealed by a recent X post in which Bungie shared various stats from the Server Slam.

Known as the NuCaloric Drinkable Cheeseburger, this unappetizing fictional food can't actually be consumed in-game. Instead, it's meant to be extracted by players during matches and later sold as a valuable for 1,100 Credits (which can then be used to buy gear like weapons and oxygen canisters).

Marathon features a number of other gag-inducing processed space-foods for players to extract during matches, including Premium Tick Milk, which is exactly what it sounds like. But so far, the Drinkable Cheeseburger seems to be holding onto its title as the most-extracted food item in the game, likely due in part to its comical design--this extremely cursed fast-food item is described in-game as, "Drinkable, shareable, shelf-stable!" It comes in a plastic tub similar to one you might find full of cream cheese or yogurt at your local grocery store. The container has two straws sticking out of its lid, with one labeled, "Mouth," and the other labeled, "Friend mouth," implying the liquified burger is meant to be shared with a buddy.

Dippin' Dots is blasting off into Mario Day with a limited-time Galaxy Pop mystery flavor and exclusive movie-themed collectibles celebrating all things Mario and the upcoming release of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Starting today, the new flavor of the brand’s signature beaded ice cream is available nationwide.

On MAR10 Day, more than 120 participating franchise and shopping-center locations will hand out free souvenir collectible cups and limited-edition spoons featuring three themed designs inspired by the new movie. The Galaxy Pop flavor will be available through April 30 at malls and movie theaters, with collectible spoons sticking around through April as well.

"We wanted this to feel playful and a little unexpected," said Kimmra Hingher, Dippin' Dots vice president of marketing, in a statement. "The mystery behind Galaxy Pop, along with the collectibles, gives fans something new to discover, whether they're stopping by a Dippin' Dots location for Mario Day or heading to theaters for the new The Super Mario Galaxy Movie."

Ubisoft has published a "brand update" for the Assassin's Creed series, covering the latest developments on the multiple upcoming games and the live-action TV show for Netflix. Included in the breakdown was an image for Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Resynced, and it's basically confirmation that a remaster/remake of Black Flag is happening, as has been rumored.

This is coming not long after Ubisoft installed new leadership for the Assassin's Creed franchise at Vantage Studios, and after we learned that Ubisoft veteran Clint Hocking had left Ubisoft and is no longer the top boss on one of the most anticipated upcoming Assassin's Creed games, Hexe.

Ubisoft's Jean Guesdon, the head of content for Assassin's Creed, delivered the updates today. Here's all the key info you need to know about each game and project in the works.

A Crimson Desert rep has responded to players on X and Reddit after being accused of hiding console footage of the game.

Will Powers is the PR and marketing director at Pearl Abyss, Crimson Desert's developer and publisher. While the company has shared quite a bit about the upcoming action-adventure game, most of the footage has been of the PC version. After X user J's Gaming World responded to a post by GermanStrands saying that Pearl Abyss was "hiding all console footage," Powers argued Pearl Abyss wasn't trying to hide it.

"We're not hiding anything, and I'm sick of having to repeat myself," Power said on X. "I've repeated 100s of times that we'll reveal things ahead of launch to give people adequate time to still preorder the game for themselves. We're saying this openly... Let us cook? Please and thank you. /rant."

Bungie's big new shooter Marathon launches on March 5, and the developer has now warned fans that there may be server queues upon release if demand is high enough.

In a FAQ, Bungie said, "Launch days are busy," and as such, players may encounter "brief queues." Bungie also said it may push new updates live for maintenance, and if that's the case, the developer will release those details on the its Server Status pages on X and BlueSky.

When a big game launches, it's also pretty normal for there to be issues, and Bungie said players can visit the Help pages and forums on Bungie.net to find solutions to known issues. Additionally, players can join the official Marathon Discord and follow the MarathonDevTeam account for the latest information.

The big new Resident Evil game, Requiem, features a terrifyingly realistic spider boss that's sending shivers down everyone's spine. Arachnophobes are definitely shaking in their boots, but so, too, is rapper Ice-T, who had some very simple words for a very ugly enemy.

Ice-T took to X on March 3 to share his thoughts on the boss. In a post late that evening, he said eight simple words: "Gamer Stuff: Resident Evil 9… F*** that Spider."

Those eight words were directed toward Requiem's eight-legged spider menace, the Titan Spinner. A relatively early boss encounter in the NF Building in East Raccoon City, this hairy arachnid is the size of a Hummer and is just as unstoppable. Running away? You almost certainly can't escape since it cornered you in a building. Pumping it with lead? It just shrieks, shrugs the bullets off, and keeps charging you anyway. Trying to hide? Well, you can't because it knows where you are, always. It's not unkillable--nothing is--but it requires patience and persistence to defeat. Get greedy, and you're dead.

While Leon's appearance in Resident Evil Requiem might have been one the worst-kept secrets, the revelation he was sporting what looks like a wedding ring caught fans off guard. You can see the ring on his finger in a couple of Resident Evil Requiem's cutscenes, but it's also displayed on some concept art for his character model.

Talking with PC Gamer, Leon Kennedy's voice actor Nick Apostolides revealed that he's ready for Leon to take a vacation and settle down properly. After all he deserves it.

"I would love to see him kind of settle down for once, maybe open an ice cream parlour. I think he deserves a little break, a little vacation, and maybe fight zombies once in a while." However, what he didn't admit to was whether Leon should be with Ada Wong, or Claire Redfield--much less confirm if Leon is in fact married to either of them.

The ever-popular Marvel Rivals is building up to Avengers: Doomsday throughout 2026, starting with a Loki-centered limited-time mode in April. At the Marvel Rivals Assemble in-person event, the development team unveiled the game's next roadmap, which is pretty much just an image of every MCU Avengers movie logo.

In April, June, August, and October, Marvel Rivals will feature "special events" and new modes tying in with the films The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, respectively. The April event is a 1v6 asymmetrical mode, where one player controls an Infinity Stone-powered Loki and fights six other heroes.

The Path to Doomsday begins!
New game modes and in-game events inspired by The Infinity Saga are coming to Marvel Rivals! Explore the full roadmap starting in April and continuing through to October to discover what's to come.
In December, we'll be fully igniting the… pic.twitter.com/dRH2Lknx5z

Naturally, the event will be full of references to the 2012 Avengers film, with Loki donning a skin based on his movie costume and utilizing mind-control and illusion abilities. The opposing heroes also have the opportunity to recreate scenes from the movie itself by summoning the Hulk.

Nintendo has revealed that three new classic games will be added to Switch Online + Expansion Pack on March 10--also known as Mario Day. The most surprising addition might be Mario Vs. Donkey Kong on Game Boy Advance, considering the puzzle-platformer received a Switch remake a couple of years ago.

The other two titles starring everyone's favorite mustached plumber are Virtual Boy games: Mario Clash and Mario's Tennis. The former is a remake of sorts of the original arcade Mario Bros., not to be confused with Super Mario Bros. The latter is actually the first-ever entry in the Mario Tennis franchise and arguably one of the best games released on Virtual Boy. The sports series just saw Mario Tennis Fever come out as a Switch 2 exclusive last month.

Sony is reportedly stopping its plans to release PS5 games on PC, ending an experiment that started a few years ago. The company will still consider multiplatform releases for online games like Marathon, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, and Horizon: Hunter's Gathering, while single-player games like Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and the upcoming Kena: Scars of Kosmora are still coming to PC. However, apart from those titles, no other PS5 single-player games are reportedly planned for a PC release.

According to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, last year's plans for a Ghost of Yotei PC port were recently scrapped and the upcoming action game Saros will also remain exclusive to PS5. Sources intimate with Sony's strategy did mention that plans could change in the future.

Schreier added that several recent PlayStation games have not sold well on PC--partly due to Sony having an inconsistent release schedule for its games--and the company is looking to pivot back toward console exclusives. Schreier noted that Sony hasn't been launching its AAA titles day-and-date with PC, and as a result of that unpredictable cadence, it won't suffer many consequences if it pulls back on its PC releases.

Prolific Call of Duty leaker TheGhostOfHope says he's received a legal demand from Activision to stop leaking Call of Duty content. Even stranger, Activision has publicly responded.

"Activision has legally demanded that I stop leaking and disseminating confidential information related to Call of Duty/Activision and I am complying with their demands," the former leaker (who goes by Hope online) shared on X. "Still gonna stick around and chat about Official Call of Duty info and anything not related to leaks/confidential information. Cheers for these past few years."

Hope had spent the last few days posting leaks regarding upcoming content for Black Ops 7 and Call of Duty: Warzone, including event rewards, changes to the games' content launch schedules, and information about Black Ops Royale, a new "Blackout-inspired mode" playable on Warzone's Avalon map starting March 13.

Tencent's stakes in various American video companies could be at risk, as US President Donald Trump's administration is debating whether the Chinese company's investment poses a security risk.

According to The Financial Times and Reuters, "several people familiar with the internal deliberations" are assessing Tencent's investments ahead of Trump's upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping next month. The FT's sources added that Tencent has been negotiating with the US administration's Committee on Foreign Investment for years now, but the acquisition of Clash of Clans studio Supercell--which has a huge US userbase--reignited fears surrounding the company.

Tencent is well-known for having invested in many video game companies across the world, including a 28% stake in Fortnite-maker Epic Games. It also owns Riot Games (League of Legends and Valorant) and has stakes in other notable video game companies like From Software, Krafton, Larian Studios, and Ubisoft.

Developer Iron Galaxy has denied reports that it is working on a remaster of Fallout: New Vegas, though it's widely expected such a game is indeed in the works.

In a social media post, the studio said, "Nope!" There is nothing to see here" in regards to the claim that Iron Galaxy was possibly working on a new Fallout project. The rumor stemmed from a February 26 post from Iron Galaxy (below) that showed Fallout: New Vegas' "Please Stand By" loading screen.

The developer said in its new statement that this was "just a behind-the-scenes look at our company meeting" during which Iron Galaxy was planning to discuss upcoming projects internally.

The war between the United States and Iran appears to have had an unexpected spillover into the world of gaming. Iranian drone strikes have hit web servers in the Middle East, which has coincided with some issues with Fortnite.

Epic Games acknowledged the issue on social media and added that "players may be experiencing increased latency. We're rerouting to nearby local servers in the region to try and improve this, and will keep you updated on any further developments."

According to the Associated Press, the Iranian drones took down two Amazon Web Services data centers in the United Arab Emirates, while a third facility in Bahrain was also damaged by a drone landing.