Grand Theft Auto VI no doubt had a big production budget, but just how much did the game cost to make? Neither developer Rockstar nor parent company Take-Two has disclosed a number, but Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick has now commented on the matter, saying "it was expensive."

He said this in an interview with Business Insider, which also quoted unnamed industry analysts who said GTA 6's budget could be as much as $1.5 billion.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Zelnick said his company has the "most amazing creative teams" and that Take-Two management insists that its creatives "pursue their passions," even if it's expensive.

Build A Rocket Boy, the developer of MindsEye, has reportedly let go a large number of employees its latest round of layoffs. Although the exact number is currently unknown, it's "roughly 170 members," according to Kotaku.

Many of the now- or soon-to-be former employees have shared the news on LinkedIn and Discord. If the 170 estimate proves to be accurate, that would leave Build A Rocket Boy with approximately 80 staff members left out of the 250 that were in place prior to the layoffs.

Former Rockstar Games executive Leslie Benzies founded Build A Rocket Boy in 2016, and his previous experience with the Grand Theft Auto franchise gave MindsEye a lot of hype heading into its release last year. However, MindsEye was one of the worst-reviewed games of 2025 and its poor reception led to layoffs shortly thereafter. Bizarrely, Build A Rocket Boy co-CEO Mark Gerhard shared his belief that a concerted effort to trash the game and corporate espionage were responsible for the game's shortcomings.

Like many modern tech companies, Microsoft is gambling a lot on consumers embracing an AI-powered future. Recent moves have seen Microsoft's AI, dubbed Copilot, integrated into numerous products like Windows 11--to not entirely enthusiastic reception. With AI fatigue among consumers seeming to set in and Xbox's gaming division making some large-scale changes, an executive decision has been made: Copilot for consoles and mobile is officially dead.

Microsoft's recently promoted Xbox division CEO Asha Sharma officially dropped the news today in a post on X.

Xbox needs to move faster, deepen our connection with the community, and address friction for both players and developers.
Today, we promoted leaders who helped build Xbox, while also bringing in new voices to help push us forward. This balance is important as we get the business…

The quick, ignoble death of console Copilot falls in line with all of the recent moves we've seen the Xbox division of Microsoft making--trimming the fat while refocusing on high-quality games. We don't really know what plans existed for console Copilot beyond the already-extant Gaming Copilot app, but whatever they were, they've now been abandoned--and it's possible that Gaming Copilot will follow suit.

Rebellion, the team behind Sniper Elite and last year's hidden gem, Atomfall, has no expectations "to ever use gen AI on the screen," according to CEO Jason Kingsley in a conversation with GameSpot. "This isn't what we think we should be doing." Still, the CEO added that he feels having an online conversation on the topic has become "very difficult."

"The online discourse, I think, should be more nuanced. I think we should be able to have a better, more meaningful conversation, and discuss ideas. Because some people are totally against any form of AI at all. Other people are totally for every kind of AI possible. And I think the reality has to be somewhere in the middle."

Kingsley said that the idea of "using [gen AI] as part of the tools chain and the process, helping speed up iteration, it may have its practical uses [...] For example, back in the day, one of our big, successful levels in Sniper Elite was a viaduct with a big gun on the top of it. You could take a screenshot of that, and maybe a designer says, 'What would this look like in the snow? Would this play differently in the snow? Would it play differently at night?' We didn't do that, but you could. The designer could put it through a gen AI and say, 'Turn this from an Italian landscape to a snowy landscape, and let me have a look at it. And that means they can explore ideas cheaply and quickly to see whether it's worth exploring with human beings more."

When you're a self-funded, self-publishing studio like Rebellion, the team behind the Sniper Elite series and last year's breakout new IP, Atomfall, you have to find a few ways to stand out from the pack. Steam has ballooned in size in recent years. In 2012, Steam would see about 30 new games per month, or an average of one per day. In March of this year, 2,472 new games hit Steam, or an average of more than 80 new games every day. Between tiny indie teams of as few as one person and mega AAA studios, there are studios like Rebellion trying to survive in the middle, and by many accounts, it's getting harder. But Rebellion has some battle-tested ways to push out of the crowd.

"The key, I think, is controlling budgets and controlling ambition and having a very focused idea," CEO Jason Kingsley told me. "So a lot of our games are named in a way that would allow people to guess what they're all about. Sniper Elite is about being an elite sniper. Zombie Army is--guess what--about an army of zombies, you know?" This sort of simplicity, Kingsley believes, helps consumers quickly make up their minds as to whether a game is for them or not.

"And, you know, even Alien Deathstorm, which we've announced recently, it's about a deathstorm with aliens," he continued. "I know it sounds a bit stupid, but when we don't have the marketing money of people, brilliant people like Ubisoft or Electronic Arts, or whoever it might be, we have to have all those things that will allow people to guess what we are."

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is installing a new group of leaders around her, and most of them, like Sharma, come from an AI background. In a memo to staff announcing the changes, Sharma said the Xbox teams needs to "evolve how we work and how we are organized."

CNBC, which saw the memo, said Sharma added, "Right now, it is too hard to ship impact quickly. We spend too much time inward instead of with the community, and we lack the depth we need in some of the fundamentals."

To that end, Sharma announced that the Xbox team is "bringing in new leaders with consumer and technical expertise we do not yet have."

In addition to the upcoming Halo: Combat Evolved remake called Campaign Evolved, Microsoft is "definitely" working on remakes of Halo 2 and Halo 3 and they are in "active development," according to a reputable leaker.

Rebs Gaming reported this recently, adding that these games are moving ahead "regardless of how well Campaign Evolved does." The reported remakes of Halo 2 and Halo 3 are in "early development," the report said, as relayed by Eurogamer.

These games, if real, would join a third unannounced Halo game that is said to be a Fortnite-like live-service multiplayer game.

The Star Wars holiday May the 4th was this week, and to mark the occasion, Circana analyst Mat Piscatella shared a list of the top 10 best-selling Star Wars games in the United States, dating back to 1995.

The best-selling Star Wars game of all time in the US--ranked by dollar sales and excluding DLC revenue--was the 2015 Star Wars: Battlefront reboot from EA and Battlefield developer DICE. Its 2017 sequel ranked No. 3 all time. Respawn's Star Wars Jedi series ranked highly as well, with Fallen Order landing at No. 2 all time and Survivor ranking No. 4. Lego Star Wars games performed exceptionally well as well, taking up four of the top 10 spots on the list. Check out the full top 10 list below.

EA's Star Wars: Battlefront games combined to sell more than 33 million copies as of 2019, and the number no doubt grew since then. Given the immense success of the two games, people wondered why DICE never made a third. In 2021, it was reported that EA rejected a pitch for Battlefront 3 in part because under the terms of EA's current licensing deal with Disney, a potential third Battlefront game would need to sell 20% more copies to generate the same amount of revenue.

After years of searching, the hunt for Diablo 4's secret cow level is at its end, and the reward is what is without a doubt the most ridiculous item in Diablo history.

Despite developer Blizzard insisting it didn't exist (itself a cow level tradition), the hunt for Diablo 4's cow level began as soon as the game first launched in 2023. In the past three years, players have been acquiring mysterious items thought to be associated with the cow level, with steps that required killing 666 cows, hidden timers, and riddles that took players all across Diablo 4's world. But all the items discovered at the end of these breadcrumb trails had no real immediate use, leading to dead ends.

That changed with the release of Diablo 4's new Lord of Hatred expansion and its addition of the Horadric Cube. By combining items like the stamina potion and rusted bardiche (both references to Diablo 2's cow level), as well as a new item, the Hand of Neyrelle, players have been able to access a new island off the coast of Skovos. Inside a cellar on the abandoned island is ring of cows that look to be preparing for a magic ritual.

Star Wars Day has come and gone, but many of its best deals are still lingering around like they're Obi-Wan's force ghost--and that's especially true for Star Wars video games. Several titles across PS5, Switch, Xbox, and PC continue to be discounted beyond May The Fourth. So if you happened to miss out on the festivities yesterday, you can still cash in on some price cuts throughout the rest of the week. From Star Wars Outlaws to Knights of the Old Republic, here are the best Star Wars gaming deals available right now. Note that some of these might sell out before the end of the week (many are slated to end on May 7), so be sure to check out anything that catches your eye. You can also head over to our Star Wars Merch Roundup, which has a few lingering deals on watches, shirts, action figures, and more.

• Amazon
• Best Buy
• Walmart
• Target
• GameStop
• Fanatical
• GOG
• Humble

Some of the best deals across all platforms are available on PC. For example, you can pick up the Star Wars Triple Bundle for just $22.53 (was $122), pulling together Squadrons, Fallen Order Deluxe Edition, and Battlefront 2 with an 82% discount. You'll also find the iconic Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for $2.49 (was $10), and the RPG has held up remarkably well over the years--if it's not yet in your collection, this is a great time to fix that.

Other notable deals include Star Wars Outlaws for $17.49 (was $70), Dark Forces Remaster for $15 (was $30), and the original Battlefront II for $2.49. These games are on sale across a variety of storefronts, though many sales are slated to end in the coming days. It looks like Steam and Fanatical have some of the longest-lasting discounts, though many price cuts will vanish before the end of the week.

Hitman developer IO Interactive has discussed a number of hot-button issues, including the impact of GTA 6's delay, the status of the game's delayed Switch 2 version, and what's going on with its mysterious fantasy game.

IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak covered these topics in an interview with The Game Business. Regarding the impact of GTA 6's delay from May 2026 to November 2026, Abrak said he would be lying if he said he didn't care about GTA 6 shifting further away from 007 First Light's release on May 27. First Light was originally set to launch in March, which was just a couple months before GTA 6 was supposed to release in May. Then Rockstar delayed GTA 6, and this provided "a bit more breathing room" for First Light.

"GTA is a huge behemoth in our industry," he said. "We never wish anyone ill. They have their good reasons for pushing it. I am certain it’s going be amazing."

EA has just announced a new free base game update for The Sims 4 that massively overhauls the way infants and toddlers work in-game and introduces a new type of clothing item: the Base Layer, which can be layered under other types of clothing items like tops and pants. The update also includes a multitude of new bug fixes and quality-of-life updates based on player feedback from the EA Forums and other social channels--including a fix for the issue causing photographs of Sims to display an all-black image rather than the actual photograph.

"Over the next few months, the team’s focus is on making that content even better by delivering improvements to the gameplay that matters most to Simmers," EA said in a press release announcing the update. "The goal is to make the game players already know and love feel smoother, more intuitive, and more consistent, based directly on feedback shared across EA Forums, The Sims Discord, and other community channels."

The update goes live next Tuesday, May 12, and will introduce the aforementioned Base Layer clothing items, which include camisoles, bras, binders, and other underclothes. There are a total of 14 base layer items (eight for adults, four for children, and two for toddlers) with over 380 color swatches and variants.

Alan Wake and Control developer Remedy has vowed to keep FBC: Firebreak online, despite the company planning to release no further updates to the game.

As part of Remedy's latest earnings briefing, the company said, "FBC: Firebreak will remain live and playable." The studio said the infrastructure costs related to this will not be "significant."

On Steam, FBC has seven people in the game right now. The game is also available on console through Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus, in addition to being available to buy outright. The game may not have been the success that Remedy hoped for, but fans who are playing it will be able to keep doing so, and that's good news for them.

May 4 may have come and gone, but Star Wars celebrations are just getting started. With The Mandalorian & Grogu coming out in theaters May 22, fans have plenty to look forward to--and there's no shortage of limited edition collections and sales to check out while you wait. BaubleBar's 20% off Big Summer Kickoff sale is one of them, and it includes the full Star Wars line, featuring earrings, necklaces, rings, bracelets, pins, bag and phone charms, and storage pouches. If you've been meaning to pick up some of these items for your collection, it's a great time to buy.

BaubleBar's Star Wars necklaces have a charm bracelet feel, which is a fun touch as you can customize the charm order to your liking. You can also strip charms off and wear any of them as single pendant necklaces. Whether you favor heroes or villains, this collection has something for every fan's tastes.

• Darth Vader Charm Necklace -- $46.40 ($58)
• Grogu Charm Necklace -- $30.40 ($38)
• Grogu Cluster Charm Necklace -- $38.40 ($48)
• Heroes Charm Necklace -- $38.40 ($48)
• Villains Charm Necklace -- $38.40 ($48)
• Yoda Charm Necklace -- $46.40 ($58)

BaubleBar has some great discounts running right now, but the best deal by far is on its Repeating Bracelets and specific styles of the Pisa Charm Bracelet. Both are on sale for just $10 in every style. That includes Darth Vader, Stormtrooper, Yoda, Grogu, and C-3PO. The 20% off deal doesn't apply for these items, but they're already so reasonably priced you may as well build yourself a stack. Find all the other Star Wars bracelets on sale listed below.

It's been kind of a long time since we had a proper new Batman action game–more than a decade, in fact, since 2015's Arkham Knight was the most recent one. But that's going to change on May 22, when Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight hits digital storefronts. I had the chance recently to get about two hours of hands-on time with the newest Lego Batman epic, and it feels as much like a new Arkham game as it does a new Lego Batman game.

It didn't take long for the parallels to become obvious. My session began with a battle against Carmine Falcone's thugs at the Iceberg Lounge, and I felt immediately at home with the familiar control scheme--square to attack, triangle to counter, X to evade or jump over an enemy's head. As you play, you'll unlock gadgets and additional moves that will make each brawl more dynamic and fun, though the battles certainly aren't as difficult as they were in the Arkham games--Lego games are not generally intended to be challenging in that way, after all.

The feeling of familiarity didn't fade once I got out into the open world of Gotham City, gliding around and using Batman's grappler to zip all over the place with ease, or drifting around corners in a Lego version of Robert Pattinson's Batmobile. But it's not the aesthetic similarities between Rocksteady's games and this new Lego Batman that matter, since it's not as though there are a lot of different ways for Gotham City to look. What really matters is that Legacy of the Dark Knight sports the same sort of smooth gameplay that the Arkham games had. If you played any of the Arkham games, Legacy of the Dark Knight will fit you like a glove.

We've had a lot of Batman stories over the past century or so, whether it be in comic books, theatrical serials, TV shows, movies, video games, or any other method people use to tell stories. It doesn't matter the form--Batman has been all over it. So when Jonathan Smith, head of production at TT Games, said that Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight will feature the "definitive Batman story," my ears definitely perked up a little bit.

Smith made that comment at the start of a press event in Los Angeles for the newest Lego Batman game, where those of us in attendance had the chance to play Legacy of the Dark Knight for about two hours. We sampled several main story missions, including one that came straight from the big screen--Robin's origin story from Batman & Robin--and also had some time to explore the open world of Gotham City. It seems as though this game will be enormous, because it's drawing on so many different things from the sprawling source material.

But this kind of thing isn't new for the folks at TT Games, which has been making Lego games for two decades, going all the way back to the original Lego Star Wars in 2005. Their most recent big game, for example, was Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which included nine movies' worth of plot. Even so, Batman has way more material than that to wade through, since the character's nine feature-length theatrical movies are just the tip of the iceberg--Batman's also got years of comics and piles of other notable adaptations to draw from.

The next playtest for the upcoming Horizon multiplayer game Horizon Hunters Gathering is coming up pretty soon, and the test is technically open to anyone, though you have to get lucky to actually get in.

The second closed playtest runs May 22-25, and just like the first test in February, this will be playable on PS5 and PC via Steam. You can sign up for the test on the PlayStation Beta Program website and then cross your fingers and hope you get chosen.

The second test features more content than the first one, including two new characters--Ensa and Shadow. Characters from the first test--Rem, Sun, and Axle--are in the second test as well. What's more, players can look forward to a "playable episode" in the second test. This is the narrative part of the multiplayer game where players will learn new story details as they fight the machines.