Spoilers for this week's episode of Fallout to follow.

Last week's episode of Fallout gave longtime fans and new viewers an update on the factions running around in the Mojave Wasteland. From Caesar’s Legion and the divide they had, to the NCR’s loosened grip on the area, to Maximus’ (Aaron Moten) big mistake, there was no shortage of shakeups. As a result, the episode felt as if it sidelined its leads in favor of world building. That’s not the case with this week’s entry, however, as we finally see Lucy (Ella Purnell) and Cooper (Walton Goggins) arrive in the long anticipated New Vegas. Let’s dive into what went on in the Mojave Wasteland this week.

The episode opens with one of the most exciting pre-war flashbacks to be depicted in the series, showing Cooper Howard on the Alaskan front during the liberation of Anchorage from occupying Chinese forces. Him and a squadmate are on a combat patrol sporting West-Tek’s T-45 Power Armor for the first time in combat and things aren’t going as expected. His squadmate’s armor keeps malfunctioning, locking his arm into place. Frustrated, Cooper opts to disobey orders from his commanding officer and sends the soldier back to base to continue his combat patrol alone. This plan backfires, as he’s soon ambushed by a platoon of Chinese soldiers who cause his armor to malfunction and send him straight to the floor. Just as all hope seems lost and they prepare to kill him for his armor, a terrifying roar is let out. Shortly after, a Deathclaw appears and massacres the platoon in gory fashion. The deathclaw examines Cooper and leaves him thinking he’s dead; meanwhile on the radio, his commanding officer lets him know that the liberation of Anchorage was successful.

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When Kejora realizes that her peaceful village has been reliving the same day over and over, she and her friends seek out to try and uncover the origin of the mysterious time loop cursing her village Kejora features hand-drawn art and animation, environmental platformer puzzles, and party-based inspired gameplay with 2 supporting characters with unique skills to help Kejora in her exploration and journey.

Splitgate developer 1047 Games has reacted to the online commentary regarding the recent re-launch of the shooter Splitgate: Arena Reloaded. The game arrived in mid-December 2025 and hasn't gotten close to the Steam numbers that Splitgate 2 or Splitgate 1 reached, prompting online commenters to wonder if the game will be able to stay online.

The developer said in a statement, "Steam charts don't measure fun," adding that Steam player numbers only show "one number, on one platform, at one given moment." Steam numbers do no show the "full picture or what it feels like to actually play, and they definitely don't capture the community that's actively helping shape what Arena Reloaded is becoming."

1047 Games re-launched Splitgate 2 under the name Splitgate: Arena Reloaded on December 17, and Steam numbers spiked to about 2,300 concurrents at launch. In the past 24 hours, the game reached a peak of 952 players on Steam.

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Balatro and Hollow Knight: Silksong "shouldn't exist," according to industry analyst Joost van Dreunen. He elaborated that, "They don't make rational sense financially, and yet somehow they are deeply loved." Their commercial viability is an undeniable fact. However, the scale of their success baffles industry conventional wisdom.

Van Drunen is professor at the NYU Stern School of Business and a strategic advisor for the community development agency ELO. In an interview with GameIndustry.biz, van Dreunen discussed how the shifting macroeconomics of video games is creating space for smaller projects to become massive successes. He compares the shift to the way television challenged the Hollywood business model. Free-to-play games like Candy Crush compete with, and even undermine, big-budget blockbusters like GTA or Call of Duty. Yet, there are an increasing number of games that skirt outside either model, such as Silksong.

The lower-tech production values of some indie games may also be a big asset. Van Dreunen said, "I'm a big fan of the idea that low tech is a much more interesting design factor than high tech. I think, demonstrably, whenever new technology comes out, what studios tend to do is just increase the final product. They make it more complex, and therefore they negate the productivity gains." Perhaps Balatro and Silksong can be impressive with smaller budgets and development teams because they leverage the productivity shifts bigger studios would use to expand their efforts.

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Season 1 Reloaded arrives in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and Warzone this week, and Activision has already revealed many details for this midseason update. Season 1 Reloaded includes more weapons to unlock, additional maps for multiplayer, and a crossover with the Fallout TV show.

Call of Duty Season 1 Reloaded start times

The Season 1 Reloaded update arrives to Black Ops 7 and Warzone on January 8. Call of Duty's updates usually go live at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM BST across all platforms.

Season 1 Reloaded's Fallout collab

Call of Duty has teased a crossover with Amazon Prime Video's Fallout TV show, which seemingly includes operator skins for Lucy, The Ghoul, and Maximus. Call of Duty's big IP collaborations are also usually paired with in-game events for players to participate in. However, it's uncertain if these Fallout skins will be included in an event pass or as shop bundles for purchase. Notably, both Fallout and Call of Duty are owned by Microsoft.

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