Xbox boss Phil Spencer got pretty candid at the Paley International Council Summit in California, saying that protecting creativity is important to the gaming giant but that it hasn't been the best at doing that as of late.

During the moderated discussion with Double Fine head Tim Schafer (via PC Gamer), Spencer expressed how valuable it is for not just game companies but the media industry writ large to shield the creative teams that pour their hearts and souls into the work they produce.

"The creativity of the teams is, in my mind, the most important thing and the thing that we need to protect and foster," Spencer said.

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Battlefield Studios has published a list of changes and improvements for the Battlefield 6 battle royale game, and it's not even out yet or even fully announced.

In a post detailing changes coming for Battlefield 6 Season 1 on October 28, Battlefield Studios said it is implementing a series of updates for the untitled battle royale mode ahead of its rumored shadowdrop with Season 1.

Battlefield Studios made the battle royale game available to testers in the Battlefield Labs program, and now the studio is addressing feedback. The updates include an adjustment to time-to-kill values at close range, along with armor changes (everyone can hold two armor plates now), bug fixes and lighting improvements, and vehicle-balance changes. Here is a rundown, as written by the developer:

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While Hades 2 fans finally can take their journey through the Underworld on the go on the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, the battle continues on PC with the release of the first Post-Launch Patch 1 Preview for the game. Supergiant Games said it is grateful for all the community feedback since the v1 Launch, and those reports have directly inspired a host of new enhancements, most notably to the narrative's True Ending. This preview is now available to brave players who want to jump in early, offering a significant update to Boons, foes, and getting to the heart of Melinoe's quest.

In Hades 2, players step into the role of Melinoe, the sister of the first game's protagonist, Zagreus, on a quest to defeat the titan Chronos, who has overthrown her family's domain. Melinoe's journey is guided by her mentor, Hecate, and supported by a cast of new and returning gods. While the game maintains the same fast-paced action of its predecessor, it introduces a key mechanical shift: Melinoe is less reliant on dashing and more on a new sprint ability, which can be upgraded with boons and even used offensively to encourage a fresh approach to combat. You can check out GameSpot's review here, where we gave it a perfect 10/10 score.

The most significant changes in this preview focus on the game's late-stage narrative, with major enhancements to the True Ending. This includes new events both leading up to and following the ending, increasing the number of Underworld clears required, and revising key True Ending scenes. To help players revisit these moments, a new Cauldron Incantation has been added that lets you return to an earlier point in the story. Beyond the story, players will see a general balance pass to various Boons, Aspects, and Daedalus Hammer Upgrades, along with a Crossroads Renewal that reduces the Kudos cost of many decorative items, refunding any excess Kudos you've already spent.

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Nintendo and Macy's have announced that there will be a Mario helium balloon flying high above the streets of New York City this Thanksgiving for the 99th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Nintendo released a 3D model of what the balloon will look like, and yep, that's Mario. The real thing will be 51 feet long, 37 feet wide, and nearly 44 feet tall. He's wearing his iconic blue overalls and well-known red cap. His body is positioned in such a way to be a callback to Super Mario Galaxy.

Nintendo is doing this in 2025 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original Super Mario Bros. game, which launched in Japan back in 1985.

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Actress Jennifer Hale has voiced myriad characters over the years, but her most iconic role is probably that of Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect trilogy. While Mass Effect 5 is currently in development, and BioWare has yet to contact Hale to reprise her role, the Canadian talent said she's ready to return to the series whenever.

In an October 24 interview, IGN asked Hale if she'd need to play FemShep again or if she's open to giving life to other characters whenever the next Mass Effect game drops. Her answer? It was super short and super sweet.

"Anyone," she said. "I love that universe. I'm ready. Anytime."

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Strauss Zelnick, the chairman and CEO of Take-Two, has once again shared his thoughts on AI in the video game space, and he believes the technology is "great" but people are overstating what it can do.

PC Gamer reported that Zelnick said at the Paley International Council Summit this week that, "AI is a great thing" for "every industry," including video games. But it's not a magic wand.

"Will it recreate or create genius? No. Will it create hits? No. It's a bunch of data with a bunch of compute with a language model attached," he said.

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The rumors about a Simpsons-themed season of Fortnite began earlier this year, but it's been picking up steam in the last few weeks. Now, some apparent leaks have revealed which Simpsons characters will be in the battle pass, and what fans can expect from the map of Springfield.

According to this leak, the battle pass includes Homer Simpson and his wife, Marge Simpson. Ned Flanders appears to confirm a previous rumor, but there's no sign of Bart, Lisa, or even Moe. Instead, Peely Remix and Fishsticks Remix round out the battle pass. A Kang and Kodos UFO glider has been found, but it was also left out of the battle pass.

SIMPSONS BATTLE PASS LINEUP
- Homer Simpson
- Marge Simpson
- Peely Remix
- Fishsticks Remix
- Ned Flanders
(via @blortzen & @FNBRintel) pic.twitter.com/5KyOYOWGAc

— Shiina (@ShiinaBR) October 23, 2025

The map of Springfield has also unofficially dropped, and it appears to be a collection of landmarks from the Simpsons' hometown themed over a traditional Fortnite island rather than a complete map of the city.

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It's probably not a Pikachu shock to report that Pokemon is still popular. Case in point: After a week, Pokemon Legends: Z-A has already sold 5.8 million copies. The Pokemon Company revealed the launch figures in a press release, adding that roughly half of sales came from the Switch 2 Edition.

The Pokemon Legends: Z-A sales numbers also include digital copies. As such, the Switch 2 bundle with the RPG is a boost, though Switch overall hardware sales clearly dwarf the new Switch 2 (153 million compared to 6 million).

This is the second Pokemon Legends game. In early 2022, Pokemon Legends Arceus sold 6.5 million copies in its first week, outpacing Pokemon Legends: Z-A so far. At the time, that was the best debut ever for a Pokemon game. However, later in 2022, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet sold 10 million copies in just three days, shattering the record. All of these games have helped push the Pokemon franchise to almost half a billion copies sold.

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Bethesda's Todd Howard has teased that "even more" Fallout is coming, with many taking that to be a suggestion about more games in the series. This would be no surprise, given that Bethesda first revealed it was making Fallout 5 years ago.

During the Fallout Day broadcast, Howard said the team is aware that fans want to see more Fallout. He responded, "Just know, we are working on even more. We're looking forward to the day when we can share that with everybody."

Not long ago, a report said Fallout 5 was now "fully greenlit" following its initial reveal in 2022. The game is not anywhere near release, though, as the next big game from Bethesda Game Studios is The Elder Scrolls VI, with Fallout 5 coming after.

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The convergence of AI and game creation is a topic that won't be going away any time soon, especially when large companies like EA reportedly wants its devs to consider artificial intelligence to be "thought partners" when crafting titles. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer was recently asked about Xbox's AI usage, and he indicated that it's primarily being utilized for operational purposes for now.

"Our applications of AI today are mostly actually on the security and protection of our networks," said Spencer during his appearance at the Paley International Council Summit (via IGN). "It's now at a scale where you can't really moderate the safety of those with just people alone. The volume is too high. So we have AI that we use to make sure that the conversation and topics that are happening, and for protected child accounts and other things and who gets to talk to those accounts to those people, is locked down by parents or guardians who are setting those controls. That's our primary use of AI inside of our organization today, which maybe isn't the most glamorous use of AI, but it's something that I fundamentally believe in."

As a company, Microsoft is going all in on AI and voice controls with a recently unveiled campaign to fully integrate that technology into Windows 11 machines. In the video game industry, prominent developers Hideo Kojima and Glen Schofield believe that AI tools should be embraced in game creation. A recent survey also found that over 50% of Japanese game publishers utilize AI in some way.

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14-inch MacBook Pro M5 laptops

Starting at $1,584

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Apple's new 14-inch MacBook Pro M5 laptops are now available. While these new MacBook Pros share the same form factor with as the previous M4 models, this new version features upgraded hardware, including Apple's new M5 processor. Apple says the M5 processor delivers up to 1.6x faster graphics performance than last year's M4 MacBook Pro, thanks to neural accelerators embedded in each GPU core. The new laptops also feature larger, faster SSD storage, a high-resolution Liquid Retina XDR display, and up to 24 hours of battery life. While the MacBook Pro M5 is available at Apple's online store and multiple other retailers, Amazon is offering a $20 discount on select models.

14-inch MacBook Pro M5 laptops Starting at $1,584

The 14-inch MacBook Pro M5 is available in three configurations with varying amounts of RAM and storage capacity. The base model features 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD, and pricing starts at $1,584 (was $1,599) at Amazon. There's also a 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD configuration that's launching for $1,799, but is discounted to $1,779 at Amazon. The third and most expensive option offers 24GB RAM and a 1TB SSD. The discount doesn't apply to this model, but you can still pick it up for $1,999. All three models also come in silver or black color options, but the discount doesn't apply to all colors. Check out the list below to see all the discounted MacBook Pro M5 laptops at Amazon

MacBook Pro M5 14-inch (Black)

• MacBook Pro (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) - $1,584 ($1,600)
• MacBook Pro (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) - $1,779 ($1,799)
• MacBook Pro (24GB RAM, TBB SSD) - $1,999

MacBook Pro M5 14-inch (Silver)

• MacBook Pro (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) - $1,599
• MacBook Pro (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) - $1,784 ($1,799)
• MacBook Pro (24GB RAM, 1TB SSD) - $1,999

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The new MacBook Pro M5 is a pricey piece of tech. Fortunately, several of Apple's other recent models are available at more affordable price points. For example, the 2025 MacBook Air M4 line is discounted at Amazon. While the specs and performance are a step down from the new Pro M5 models, they're still solid choices for students and general users. Like the MacBook Pro, multiple MacBook Air M4 model s are available. The base option comes with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD and is available in two sizes--you can grab the 13.6-inch model for $850 or the 15.3-inch version for $1,099. The largest and most powerful of the MacBook Air M4 model--which features a 15.3-inch screen, 24GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD--is available for $1,429 (was $1,599).

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An exploration through a cryptic and dangerous world where everything and nothing has a meaning. We all go to the Dark Place. FEATURES: * The Dark Place is a nightmarish playground of ideas inspired by reality. You found a way in, so there must be a way out... right? * Remember the rules. The Dark Place is home to a set of bizarre rules that you'll learn to remember if you want to stay alive. But be alert; the tells of danger may not appear how you expect them to. * An autosave system remembers where you are, your inventory, and all the changes you've made to the Dark Place in your current life. * This is a loosely text-based adventure; there is an emphasis on sound, and certain moments are even fully visualized. Use your imagination. The Dark Place finds us all.

The Outer Worlds 2 is the eagerly-awaited sequel to the award-winning first-person sci-fi RPG from Obsidian Entertainment (just look at the exciting number of dashes in this sentence!). Time to clear your calendar - get ready for an action-packed adventure with a new crew, new weapons, and new enemies in a new colony! So much newness! As a daring and most likely good-looking Earth Directorate agent, you must uncover the source of devastating rifts threatening to destroy all of humanity. Your investigation leads to Arcadia, home of skip drive technology, where the fate of the colony, and ultimately the entire galaxy, rests on your decisions - your strengths, your flaws, your crew, and the factions you choose to trust.

Experience the opening hours of a viral undead outbreak in the city of Cypress Ridge in September 1999. Choose from a wide cast of everyday citizens, each with their own unique abilities, traits and storylines as you work together with up to three friends online or via local splitscreen to escape the undead apocalypse. Choose your team members carefully, as different characters will be able to access different areas of the game. Your group will need to scrounge for supplies, fight off the undead, and traverse the city as you hope to find a means of escape. Death is only the beginning! As players fall, they are resurrected as zombies who have one goal: kill their former allies. Each scenario features branching paths and multiple endings, with your group's decisions directly influencing their ultimate fate.

Returning from a hunting trip to find your lands in ruin, you must rebuild your home while fending off hordes of monsters that attack your gates every night. Should your city fall and the forces of darkness sweep across the land, you will awaken to begin a new run where you carry forward the rewards of prior attempts – more heroes at your disposal, previously unexplored lands already uncovered, and every opportunity to push further as you uncover the mystery that has you trapped in a never-ending cycle of life and death.

There is a house on the shores of a Massachusetts town where rumors of unworldly events run amuck. Strange green lights can be seen flickering in closed stores, tentacles have been spotted from the pier, and some swear that their radios will play nothing but swing. What does the house have to do with all that? That's your job to find out as head of the paranormal taskforce. The police chief is tired of you using the new task force as an excuse to get out of doing real work, so he's sending you out, and you better not come back until you have something worthy of the force's reputation. In this point-and-click adventure, solve puzzles and find runes to open the mysterious basement door.