Diamond Dynasty is widely considered one of the most extensive and rewarding card-collecting modes in any sports game. Fans of MLB The Show 25 really enjoy the mode with the current game, and it’s engaging enough that people have stuck with it year-round. However, after such a long cycle with the game, fans have various criticisms about the mode and how it can improve for MLB The Show 26. 

The power creep issue is one of the main critiques, but there are other potential problems that you only learn by playing the game for a long period. With MLB The Show 26 just around the corner, here are some key improvements we want to see with Diamond Dynasty.

Overhaul Team Affinity

Team Affinity was created to encourage themed squad-building with boosts related to specific MLB teams. But in The Show 25, there are quite a few aggravating points with this system.

One of the biggest problems with Team Affinity is the pre-locked lineups that are set a month before real-time roster changes. This makes the players feel trapped, as they are forced to grind on cards that become outdated almost instantly. The chapters are extremely long, and even dedicated grinders complain about how replacing outdated cards with powerful ones resets their progress, sometimes completely. 

If the franchise wants player satisfaction, it should focus on resetting affinities every month and adding wildcard slots for upgrades. Also, to prevent the grind from becoming boring, the game could introduce boosts that scale with performance or affinity-specific events. 

Cut The Offline Grind And Supercharge Online Rewards

The game’s structure puts players who have limited time on their hands at a constant disadvantage. Despite its fascinating elements, it suffers from inconsistent rewards and unlucky pulls that do not validate the investment. 

In order to stay in the competition, you have to complete lengthy Conquest maps and Mini Seasons. This often requires you to play 50+ games just for one usable diamond card. 

The online play has comparatively slow progression, and offline modes often feel insufficient in terms of scaling. This balance of power between players who don’t spend money and those who buy stubs is quite strange. To prioritize skill above all else, player progression needs to tie itself to online wins rather than total games played. 

Stability And Balance Improvements

There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to overall gameplay and network stability. Major community complaints consist of frequent disconnects, mid-game freezes, and “DD not loading” errors. Every game can have unexpected glitches; that’s fair. But the real problem with MLB The Show 25 was that hotfixes arrived weeks later from when the issue occurred. This is extremely problematic for a game that is built around quick matches and events. 

Another crucial topic is overpowered 99-rated cards being released too early, which makes later progression make no sense. If you feel the game is too easy for you and want to play on greater difficulties, there are other problems. Perfect inputs often result in weak contact, while somehow, late swings produce home runs. 

MLB The Show 26 needs quick patches, a focus on prioritizing servers, and better overall netcode. To control the meta, early-game cards need a lower overall rating to balance the power curve. 

Every gamer that we know uses Discord to some degree. Whether it’s coordinating offensive plays in Madden, trash-talking in NBA 2K26, or just hanging out with your online friends, the platform is the go-to hub for many gaming communities. However, recent reports from Bloomberg suggest significant changes are on the horizon. Discord has confidentially filed for an Initial Public Offering (IPO), a move that could take the company public and reshape its operations.

What Does Going Public Mean For Discord?

For the average gamer who might not follow business news, let’s look at this simply. An IPO is essentially a private company deciding to sell shares of itself to the public for the first time. It’s opening up ownership to the public, and of course, big investors. However, a public company has to report its financial results every quarter, answer to shareholders, and prioritize growth and profitability. It’s like the exact opposite of EA going private.

This allows investors to cash out, and the company raises more money. But why make this move now? Well, Discord has raised boatloads of cash, over $500 million in one round back in 2022 alone, and it was valued at $15 billion in 2021. That number is likely much higher now. Despite that, it hasn’t turned a consistent profit in the last few years. Going public gives it the capital to expand, and with investors wanting returns, an IPO is the next logical step other than selling the whole company.

Eurogamer spoke to George Osborn, creator of the Video Games Industry Memo, and here’s what he had to say about it:

“I think the most obvious impact is that the company is going to have to find ways to monetize more aggressively. The question will be how can it achieve that without aggravating its user base too much. Discord is completely reliant on those hundreds of thousands of users, and it’s going to have to strike a different balance than other social networks and media platforms that have gone public before.”

Things Are Going To Change For Gamers

Osborn further raises a great point that Discord’s value does not correlate to what people are paying for. Discord Nitro is a decent cash cow, but it doesn’t exactly translate to incredible year-on-year growth, the type that investors expect. He suspects that Discord might feature more advertising, Discord-exclusive cosmetics for specific games, or maybe even more games (Discord already has quite a few built into the app). 

Again, Discord is something that almost every gamer uses, and that’s quite the compelling target demographic for shareholders and advertisers. On a positive note, user safety might improve as those types of issues become more serious when concerning public companies. Discord isn’t exactly a safe haven for children, and I don’t think I need to elaborate on that too much. At the end of the day, time will tell what this means for Discord, but there will likely be massive changes in the coming year. 

The magic of Kirby Air Riders has always been its deceptive simplicity. With just a single button to control acceleration and flight, the game invites everyone to jump in and experience its unique brand of chaotic racing. The key to success involves good driving skills, sure, but it leans more toward your selection of rider-machine combos.

Every playable character, from Kirby to Taranza, has inherent strengths in areas such as attack, defense, and weight. The difference between a casual cruise and a dominant victory often hinges on pairing the right pilot with the perfect ride. We’re going to dive into the art of the rider-machine combo setup, analyzing the stats and interesting properties that create the most effective pairings and how they give you a slight edge in races.

Noir Dedede And Rex Wheelie

Noir Dedede is a heavyweight rider with naturally high defense and a powerful Jet Hammer special attack. His unique ability, the Shadow Ride, is what makes him special. It grants a powerful temporary speed boost upon taking damage or successfully attacking, which cancels out the speed loss that comes with him being a heavyweight rider.

It’s the best combination for the City Trial, as it provides high top speed and boosts for racing challenges. This combo creates an unstoppable force designed for maximum impact. The machine’s brute force is enhanced by Dedede’s natural weight, and his special move really helps with the machine’s only weakness: poor acceleration and handling.

As mentioned above, it’s good for the City Trial as it excels at the Destruction Derby and Single Race stadiums, where the weight can be used to your advantage to ram and destroy opponents. If you’re looking to equip this combo, then you can unlock Noir Dedede through the Checklist. As for the Rex Wheelie machine, you can unlock that by defeating 100 or more enemies by exhaling stars, or just purchase it in the Miles shop.

Kirby And Warp Star

Kirby is the all-rounder with perfectly balanced stats and no clear weaknesses. His greatest strength, however, is his ability to use Copy Abilities based on the enemy he inhales. This provides unmatched adaptability to any course or any situation. This combo is great for beginners and serves as a good base for players freshly entering the game, trying to find their perfect rider-machine combo setup.

Just like Kirby, the Warp Star is the most balanced machine, too. It has no major flaws or strengths. Pairing these two together creates the neutral setup that most players look to achieve. The combo is user-friendly, highly adaptable, and viable in every scenario, which allows players to focus purely on skill and Copy Ability usage.

Kirby + Warp Star serves as the best combo in Air Ride and Top Ride since it’s the ultimate beginner setup, so it’s capable of winning on any course. The machine also lets you benefit maximally from collected stat boosts. 

Rocky And Bull Tank

Rocky is a small but incredibly sturdy heavyweight rider, and his key strength is in his Defense and Weight. As such, he’s extremely resistant to slipping, shaking, or being knocked out. His unique attack, Meteor Rocky, gives him an invincible crushing attack. This makes him a viable character both on defense and offense. 

The Bull Tank, like its rider, is also a heavyweight machine with very high defense, HP, and offense stats. The unique ability of this machine is its capability to boost charge without instantly draining the gauge, which allows for quick, consecutive boosts. This combo is the ultimate defensive combo as it’s aggressive. Rocky’s stability ensures that you never lose control, and the machine’s bulk allows you to block and ram through obstacles and rivals with ease.

This combo fits well in City Trial, Field, and Big Battle. Rocky and Bull Tank dominate Destruction Derby and are excellent for surviving intense combat in the final minutes. That’s not it, though, as it’s also strong in Drag Races because of its high speed. You can unlock Rocky through the Checklist, and Bull Tank can be unlocked either via the Checklist or from the Miles Shop.

Meta Knight And Winged Star

Meta Knight is a highly defensive rider whose special ability, Night Wing, allows him to slice rivals with his sword and gain temporary speed while gliding. This rider is one of the few who actively benefit from being airborne. This ability also gives him the name of the Glide Specialist. 

This combo works well as the Winged Star is the game’s top Gliding machine. It can glide across vast distances at high speeds, having one of the longest glide distances available, so if you’re someone who prefers being airborne, this combo could be the one for you. This is a specialized pairing since Meta Knight’s sword offers offensive capability to the frail machine. His natural gliding proficiency fully exploits the Winged Stars’ full potential.

Meta Knight and Winged Star have an unrivaled dominance in the stadium mode, especially in the Air Glider Stadium. It does well on courses with many ramps and hazards, too, as it can completely bypass ground obstacles and traffic. Meta Knight has been available since the start of the game, and so is the Winged Star.

Knuckle Joe And Battle Chariot

Knuckle Joe is a fierce fighter who has a special ability called Knuckle Rush. This allows him to speed up while throwing a flurry of punches. He excels at mid-range combat and can charge his boost to unleash a powerful Rising Break attack, allowing him to be an attack-heavy rider.

His machine fits well with him, being a durable, heavyweight vehicle known for its reliable agility in sharp corners despite its size and weight. It has high defense and is classified as an offensive machine. The connection of the two is self-explanatory here: the machine provides the durability and smooth handling, while Knuckle Joe’s speed and attack power are utilized in traffic. These two work well in aggressive pursuit and melee combat in congested areas.

This combo is great in City Trial, exceptional for actively seeking out and destroying rivals to steal Copy Abilities or stat boosts. They also dominate stadiums like Kirby Melee and Destruction Derby with Knuckle Joe’s special move. This combo can be equipped by unlocking Knuckle Joe through the Checklist and by unlocking Battle Chariot by completing a lap within a set time on Airtopia Ruins, or simply purchased with Miles.

Sony and San Diego Studio are officially expanding the MLB The Show franchise to mobile devices with the launch of MLB The Show Mobile. However, The Show Mobile website lists that the game is currently under a limited regional release. Right now, only people in the Philippines can download and play it. We’re unsure how long this soft launch will last, and the website also states that they don’t have a timeline for expanding availability to more regions.

We also know that this is a standalone title that is exclusive to iOS and Android, meaning there won’t be cross-play with console versions. For iOS, the website recommends an iPhone 11/iPhone SE 2nd Gen or above (iOS 26 is required), and the Android requirements list a MediaTek Dimensity 9200 as the minimum processor, while recommending 8GB of RAM and the Android 12 operating system.

What To Expect From MLB The Show Mobile

While they’re not calling it as such, the studio’s own website indicates that this phase is effectively a public beta. According to the official website, most player progress and content will be wiped before the global release, including unopened packs and earned player items. Purchased Stubs are the only exception, and any bought-but-unopened packs will be converted into a special currency for a “Loyalty Shop” once the full game arrives.

The studio also describes the game as a “new standalone experience built from the ground up”, indicating that this is not a scaled-down port of the console editions. Hopefully, it’s a better showing than the WWE 2K25 Netflix Edition. The game will feature touch-friendly batting, pitching, and fielding mechanics, along with a full roster of MLB teams, stadiums, and modern and historic players.

Generally, mobile ports of such sports games often focus on bite-sized gameplay: quick PvP matches, daily challenges, and event modes. The developers confirm that this is the case with MLB The Show Mobile.

Since its inception in 2006, the MLB The Show IP has been a console staple for PlayStation consoles. Eventually, it also expanded to Xbox and Nintendo platforms, but this is the franchise’s first foray into mobile platforms. This is the first true attempt to translate the simulation-style DNA into a phone-friendly form.

Core gameplay similarities, like familiar batting timings, realistic stadiums, and licensed rosters, remain. However, it will be quite difficult to match the depth of its console counterpart. When the full global release eventually arrives, we might see the game positioned closer to FC Mobile or NBA 2K Mobile —fast-paced and driven by card-collecting systems.

To those who have been disappointed with the lack of content in Mario Kart World so far, Nintendo has just announced a major update that might bring you back. Update 1.4.0 fixes issues with time spent on intermission tracks, adds custom item rules, and makes minor changes to multiple courses in the game.

In modes like VS Race, Balloon Battle, or Coin Runners, you can disable certain items from the race entirely now. You can also use these custom item rules whenever you’re setting up an online playroom. The biggest change, however, is the fact that you now get an extra lap for each course, leading to the Koopa Troopa Beach. This means you’ll actually spend more time racing rather than just coasting in the intermission tracks.

There are some quality-of-life improvements, such as clearer music track names and source titles, along with a music volume setting.

Mario Kart World Version 1.4.0 — Patch Notes

Here are the full patch notes that detail every update, fix, and course layout tweak made to Mario Kart World with version 1.4.0:

General

• Added “Custom Items” to the item rules.
  • This is a feature that lets you set which items appear.
  • This is supported in “VS Race”, “Balloon Battle”, “Coin Runners”, and “Room” in “Online Play” or “Wireless Play”.
• Made it so that music track name and source title of the track that is playing will be displayed on the Pause Menu.
• Added “Music Volume” to “Settings/Controller”.
• Made it so players who gathered in a “Room” of “Online Play” can participate in “Race”, “Knockout Tour”, and “Battle”.
  • Up to 4 players can participate in “Race”, “Knockout Tour”, and “Battle”.
• Made it so you can join in with friends who are playing “Knockout Tour” from “Friends” in “2p”, “Online Play” as well.
• Added “Restart” and “Next Race” in the Pause Menu for “VS Race” in “Single Player”.
• Made it so you can select “Photo Mode” from the Pause Menu in “Race against Ghost” in “Time Trials”.
• Changed the course layout of below courses for “VS Race”, or “Race” in “Online Play” or “Wireless Play”.
  • Race that heads from “Koopa Troopa Beach” to “DK Spaceport”.
  • Race that heads from “Koopa Troopa Beach” to “Crown City”.
  • Race that heads from “Koopa Troopa Beach” to “Peach Stadium”.
  • Race that heads from “Whistlestop Summit” to “Koopa Troopa Beach”.
  • Race that heads from “Desert Hills” to “Koopa Troopa Beach”.
  • Race that heads from “DK Spaceport” to “Koopa Troopa Beach”.
  • Race that heads from “Crown City” to “Koopa Troopa Beach”.
  • Race that heads from “Peach Stadium” to “Koopa Troopa Beach”.
• You will now dash when riding on Manta Ramp’s back.
• Made it so the player will not hit Dragoneel when transformed into Bullet Bill.
• Made it so the player cannot use a second Boo while already using a Boo, when holding two Boos.
• When Dash Food is taken by someone, shortened the time until that Dash Food reappears.
• When a coin placed on water is taken by someone, shortened the time until that coin reappears.

Fixed Issues

• Fixed an issue where the dash time was not correct after a Charge Jump.
• Fixed an issue where the player would slip through a wall when being stomped on from above by a vehicle driving on the road.
• Fixed an issue where a player would be squashed when touching a Thwomp that had landed.
• Fixed an issue where a Bullet Bill would not be displayed after using it.
• Fixed an issue where a character would be blurry even when making “Focus” “Character” when taking a photo in “Photo Mode” on the Pause Menu.
• Fixed an issue where the screen would look distorted if entering a pipe at the same time as joining a Free Roam in “Online Play”.
• Fixed an issue where player could not get in a UFO when multiple players tried to get in a UFO at the same time in Free Roam in “Online Play”.
• Fixed an issue where a friend’s information would not be updated when looking at the list of friends in “Friends” in “Online Play”.
• Fixed an issue where there would be a communication error when looking at a group ID in “View Room Info” when participating in a group in “Friends” in “Online Play”.
• Fixed an issue where a player’s place would go down if retiring during “Knockout Tour” in “Online Play”.
• Fixed an issue where a player that is seen when spectating looks like they are going off the course over and over during “Knockout Tour” in “Online Play” or “Wireless Play”.
• Fixed an issue where the player’s own character or vehicle would change when starting “Online Play” or “Wireless Play” again after quitting a game after “Knockout Tour” in “Online Play” or “Wireless Play”.
• Fixed an issue where a player would get stuck on a wall when using a Bullet Bill while falling off the course in “Sky-High Sundae”.
• Fixed an issue where a Bullet Bill would go outside the course when using it on the final curve in “Boo Cinema”.
• Fixed an issue where the player would slip through a bulldozer in “Toad’s Factory”.
• Fixed an issue where the player would get stuck on a spotlight in the race that heads from “Toad’s Factory” to “Bowser’s Castle” when transformed into Bullet Bill.
• Fixed an issue where if the player used a Bullet Bill or Spiny Shell in the first curve of “Desert Hills”, it would get stuck on a rock.
• Fixed an issue where the player would get stuck on a tree when using a Bullet Bill on “DK Pass”.
• Fixed an issue where, when the player was small because of Lightning, they would slip through the wall on the final curve of “DK Pass.
• Fixed an issue where the player would get stuck on a billboard when transforming into Bullet Bill in the race that heads from “Crown City” to “Desert Hills”.
• Fixed an issue where the player would slip through the ring of stone when using a Bullet Bill or Mega Mushroom while falling in “Great ? Block Ruins” right before the final curve.
• Fixed an issue where the player would get stuck on the ground on the meadows near “Big Donut”.
• Fixed an issue where the player would slip through the wall if rewinding after wall riding in the special room you can go to from a pipe in “Shy Guy Bazaar”.
• Fixed an issue where the player would still fall into the lava even though they have “Smart Steering” ON in “Dry Bones Burnout”.
• Fixed an issue where the player would go off the course when using a Bullet Bill while rail riding in “Wario Stadium”.
• Fixed an issue where the player would not be able to glide if getting on a glide panel while gliding in the race that heads from “Wario Stadium” to “Airship Fortress”.
• Fixed an issue where the player would get stuck on the ground while heading from “Wario Stadium” to “Airship Fortress”.
• Fixed an issue where the vehicle would float up from the rail when the player did a rail ride after a wall ride in a bike-type vehicle in “Wario Stadium”.
• Fixed an issue where the player would go off the course when using a Bullet Bill on the shortcut while heading from “Dandelion Depths” to “Cheep Cheep Falls” in the “Ice Rally” of “Knockout Tour”.
• Fixed an issue where the player would go off the course while gliding, while heading from “Dandelion Depths” to “Cheep Cheep Falls” in the “Moon Rally” of “Knockout Tour”.
• Fixed an issue where a green shell would get stuck on the ground while heading from “Airship Fortress” to “Dry Bones Burnout” in the “Heart Rally” of “Knockout Tour”.
• Fixed an issue where the player would go off the course when they transformed into Bullet Bill on top of a building in “Crown City” in the below races:
  • Race that heads from “DK Spaceport” to “Crown City”.
  • Race that heads from “Koopa Troopa Beach” to “Crown City”.
  • Race that heads from “Faraway Oasis” to “Crown City”.
• Several other issues have been addressed to improve the gameplay experience.

These days, the gaming industry prioritizes expanding audiences over retaining core elements that make a game good or unique. For developers, this means lowering the barrier to entry and making the niche universally palatable. Sports Interactive’s Football Manager 26 is the latest example of this philosophy. 

On paper, the idea of streamlining and simplifying complex systems sounds like a good idea. But if you’re going to do it in a way that makes long-time players more confused, you’re kinda losing the plot. Don’t get us wrong, FM26 is still highly complex, but it makes some decisions that leave you scratching your head. 

Many other games have also been pulled in two opposing directions, trying to appeal to newcomers without fully committing to their original audience. 

What’s Wrong With Football Manager?

The Football Manager series is known for its uncompromising depth, making it not just a sports game but a digital obsession. You might not master every system, but you’ll at least have the chance to understand how everything works. Unfortunately, things have never been more confusing for this franchise. 

At launch, FM26 quickly garnered negative reviews on Steam. Our own FM26 Review praised the match engine, the tactical evolution, and the graphical improvements. We were also quick to point out the negatives: the clunky UI, plethora of bugs and glitches, and a couple of missing features from previous games. 

They introduced an oversimplified tactical system using OOP role logic, visualized pressing shapes, and added further cinematic analysis. For newcomers, these changes might be easier to understand, but for veterans, tactics are now harder to control with depth. 

On top of that, there’s no arguing that the game changes things a lot. The new tactical roles are fresh and modern, but some of them lack behaviours that used to be clearly visible through attributes and instructions. Staff management, which was one of the clearer systems, has also been overhauled. A lot of the attributes feel like they are wrapped in vague presentations and graphical abstractions. 

Even the user interface reflects this problem. FM26 tries to look cleaner and more modern, but in doing so, it hides information behind vague visual elements, layered menus, and role-based abstractions. Staff attributes, training effectiveness, and player suitability are now hidden behind extra clicks and interpretation. It looks simplified, but it actually makes core systems harder to understand. Instead of improving accessibility, the UI takes away clarity, which is the one thing Football Manager could never afford to lose.

Why This Philosophy Fails

I don’t know if this can be called greed, but new sports games are in pursuit of the largest possible market, resulting in a failed execution. The main challenge is to maintain a balance between trying to make a game that retains the loyalty of old fans and is also a fun experience for beginners. It’s a line that’s hard to balance, and even veteran game designers struggle with it. 

The Forza Horizon series sets up to be a textbook example of this. Forza Horizon 5 is quite a popular game, and its popularity mainly stems from letting you do whatever you want. You can follow the objectives, or just drive around and do nothing. That is not how the series started. Earlier games balanced free driving with strong identity, curated progression, festival atmosphere, and a semblance of structure. Forza Horizon 5 is freedom above all those aspects.

In an attempt to appear more modern and more accessible, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 fell into a similar trap. It abandoned the tight, responsive levels for poorly thought-out ones, and introduced shallow online mechanics that didn’t serve either audience. It wasn’t nostalgic or catering to fans, and it didn’t feel welcoming to newcomers either. 

Learning from Wii Sports

Though difficult, it is not impossible to make a game that appeals to everyone, and Wii Sports proves just that. Instead of amplifying the sport or adding unnecessary features, it simplified the controls for each sport. Instead of teaching players football physics or tennis mechanics, it lets them experience those concepts naturally.

What made Wii Sports a “game for everyone” was that it had a low barrier to entry, but a high ceiling for mastery. Anyone could understand it within minutes, but timing, spin, accuracy, and positioning in most games still required practice. It’s a game that respects your time, without demanding prior knowledge. 

The key difference is that Wii Sports didn’t try to be both a complex sports simulator and a mass-market product. It is fully committed to its identity. It was designed to be approachable from the ground up. Nintendo never tried to stretch an existing, complex formula to fit a wider audience; they came up with an entirely new one. 

Pick A Side

Football Manager and many other sports games should understand that they just need to stick to their own niche. There is no need to be the second Wii Sports; rather, be proud of what you truly represent. 

They can either commit to meticulous simulation that will create a loyal fan following or commit to a mass appealing arcade experience that grants immediate sales. Simplifying things doesn’t mean you need to strip away core mechanics or reduce the familiarity that defines your game. It means explaining them better. We didn’t really need a massive UI overhaul that hides things in a pretty way; we needed a cleaner way to understand systems we already had.

The overreliance of modern games on a constant online connection has always been a point of contention. This problem persists with a majority of AAA games from big publishers, but today, we’re talking specifically about Madden 26. A recent Reddit thread gained traction after a user shared a meme complaining about the offline Superstar mode’s dependency on an internet connection:

Can someone tell me why the hell this is a thing?
byu/HeckingAugustus inMadden

Some Madden 26 players have a misconception that the Superstar is an offline mode, which it isn’t. However, the argument that it should be an offline mode is valid. Superstar is marketed as a personal career mode, where you develop your athlete, make positional choices, negotiate contracts, and chase awards. There’s no real need for real-time online syncing here. 

We Miss You, Offline Gaming

This Reddit post didn’t catch our eyes because it reveals a bug or an issue, but because it shows a design philosophy that has quietly become the norm in modern sports games. Getting kicked from solo matches that you should be able to play offline isn’t unusual in games like EA FC 26 or Madden. These games demand a constant connection even in single-player modes, because they’re tied to online progression systems, store accessibility, and unlock tracking.

Sports games are more about engagement these days than ever before. With an internet connection, you are constantly connected to the store, daily objectives, seasonal unlocks, login streaks, and potential microtransactions. None of these features directly affects gameplay, but they do affect how long you stay in the ecosystem.

Circling back to Madden, there are two offline modes: Exhibition and Franchise. In Exhibition, you pick two teams and simply play the game. There’s no progression, no server handshake, no interruptions. Franchise, on the other hand, is an offline mode with caveats. For those who care about updated rosters or frequent roster tuning, you’ll be pushed into the “online” version of Franchise, which syncs to EA’s servers. There’s no distinction in the game for this mode, but if you lose connection at the wrong time, you are at risk of losing progress or getting kicked to the main menu.

Outside of those two, most of Madden 26’s major modes — Superstar, Ultimate Team, Online Franchise, The Yard — require a persistent connection. Superstar is built around CPU games and personal progression, and it still behaves like an online service. The irony is that every sports game used to support proper offline modes, but they don’t seem to be the focus anymore.

A lot of people are expecting that the Steam Machine will bridge the gap between PC and consoles, and that’s certainly what Valve is hoping for. From what we’ve seen so far, it looks to be a really neat little PC, and Valve promises it can play games at up to 4K at 60 FPS. If you know anything about PC gaming, you know that’s no easy (or affordable) feat. 

There’s been a lot of debate around the Steam Machine’s pricing, but Valve has now addressed the matter directly. In the Friends Per Second podcast, Valve’s Lawrence Yang and Pierre-Loup Griffais were asked tough questions about Valve’s ambitions with the console/PC hybrid, and they said the following regarding pricing:

“I think that if you build a PC from parts, and get to the same level of performance, that’s the general price window we aim to be at.”

The Duo also stated that the Steam Machine’s price would be closer to the expectations people have from the PC market. No exact figure was given, but for context, you can build a similar gaming PC to the Steam Machine for around $800, in terms of performance. 

Will The Steam Machine Be Too Expensive For Most People?

As someone who is very in-tune with PC gaming hardware, I’m not surprised that the Steam Machine won’t be around $500. With the boom of AI, massive companies are buying up all the memory and storage they can get their hands on, inflating the price of DDR5 RAM kits and NVMe SSDs. Both of these components are highly important for modern gaming PCs, and with prices going higher, PCs are getting expensive once again. 

I think this so-called “GabeCube” will cost anywhere between $700-$800. That puts it right next to the PS5 Pro in terms of pricing, and I reckon most casual gamers will pick the Sony console. Heck, most would go with the standard PS5 that sits at $550. In the same Friends Per Second podcast (great podcast, by the way, I watch it regularly), Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais confirmed that the Steam Machine won’t be subsidized hardware. 

What that means is that Valve won’t be taking a loss on hardware and trying to recoup costs from game profits. So, it looks like the Steam Machine will still be a good entry point for new PC gamers, thanks to the streamlined SteamOS, but it won’t come cheap.

Based on the mostly negative Steam reviews, Football Manager 26 could not have had a more terrible start. It’s certainly a very polarizing game, one that has a highly rewarding match engine that is unfortunately let down by its clunky UI and terrible quality-of-life aspects. Those are just the core issues, but players are also frustrated with little things like the absence of touchline shouts. 

We covered this issue previously when the game was still in Beta, and fan reactions surrounding it have not changed. In the r/footballmanagergames subreddit, one very frustrated player said the following:

“Nearly every player is missing this, but guys in SI office didn’t. They don’t play their game, and that shows in most parts of the game.”

A Rough Start, To Say The Least

As someone who is passionate about games and tends to be forgiving towards more issues, I take no joy from berating a game. With that said, out of FM26’s nearly 3600 English reviews on Steam, only 26% of them are positive. That means the game is rated even lower than MindsEye on Steam, which, in my opinion, was the worst AAA game launch of 2025, right behind Sony’s Concord. 

We published a review of FM26 just today, and our very own Christian Smith actually praised the match engine, graphical improvements, and the overall tactical evolution. However, he also discussed how the UI and its cumbersome menus seem to fight against you. Not a good look for a game that is basically played inside menus. 

The removal of touchline shouts is just an addition to the massive pile of issues this game already has. On the Reddit post referenced earlier, one user pointed out how touchline shouts felt like they didn’t even accomplish anything in the first place. Another user then argued that the effectiveness isn’t what matters, it’s what touchline shouts add to the feel and immersion of the game. But user Rundas-Slash had the most grounded take on the matter:

“Or you know, crazy idea, they could have made them… Do something? Is it so hard to give a small mental boost of +/- 2 on some relevant stats depending on the player’s morale during the match?”

Let’s be real here, Football Manager games have always been dated. Graphics have never been the best, and because Sports Interactive seems to ignore polish, there are a myriad of issues with each release. This time around, it just so happens that there’s more bad than good for a lot of players.