After Saudi Arabia RTS purchased Evolution Championship Series (Evo) this week, fans took to the internet to blast the decision, and some have called the event dead.
Earlier in the week, Qiddiya City, Saudi Arabia’s RTS, announced its decision to purchase 100% of the Evolution Championship Series (Evo), the world’s most renowned fighting game competition, which was raised from the ground up as a grassroots, fan-organized tournament. As NODWIN Gaming exits co-ownership (PlayStation left as a co-owner in August 2025), it will continue to work with Evolution, focusing on marketing. Meanwhile, key leadership will remain in position to attempt to ensure consistency with the tournament’s legacy
At the time of purchase, CSO of the Qiddiya Investment Company, Muhannad AlDawood, said, “This is about investing in the future of play, and safeguarding what makes Evo special,” in the official announcement. The event started more than 20 years ago as a small, community-focused 40-person Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Street Fighter Alpha 2 tournament and has grown into a global sensation, with fans regarding it as the premier FGC (Fighting Game Community) event.
The now-Saudi-owned RTS was founded in 2021 and purchased by the Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC) in September 2025. The Qiddiya Investment Company is under the same umbrella as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), and it has been busy this year. The PIF acquired a huge stake in Electronic Arts in 2025 and holds significant stakes in CAPCOM, Nexon, and Nintendo. Community Events like Evo were just the next step.
It has been nearly a week, and fans are still scathing about the decision. On forums like Reddit, fans have been quick to declare the event “dead” already. One fighting fan advises others to go to their local game shops for the fighting game community, saying, “I was already on my way out of Evo because I don’t like how corporate the scene has become. I don’t even want fighting games to be a scene anymore, just play and watch the games you like, give feedback that you care about, and growth will come organically.” With many fans echoing the sentiment, agreeing they don’t like how corporate and over-produced the event has become.
Other fans have even suggested ‘making their own community,’ rather than support what ‘Evo has become.’ Other fans have said they’ll still support CEO 2026 (another fighting game community-led tournament) and other events like Combo Breaker, which are both run by former Evo organizers. Many fans have already started to grieve the tournament, with one saying, “This is just the final nail in an already well-sealed coffin. Glad I got to go before the ticket became $200.” It’s worth noting that Evo tickets have been circling that price point since Sony and RTS outright purchased the event as co-owners in 2021.
While many fans are jaded regarding the purchase, it remains to be seen how ‘corporate’ things become. More information (and how to attend) can be found on the official tournament website.
I have watched professional wrestling since I was four years old. My first autograph came from Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Ted DiBiase interrupted the signing to tell Duggan he was going down later that night. I have lived through countless eras and grew up watching wrestlers whose children now thrive in the industry. After four decades as a fan, I had a first-hand experience unlike any before, stepping inside WWE headquarters to attend the WWE 2K26 Creator Fest.
At 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 19, I boarded a bus alongside more than 100 fellow creators and members of the press, with two buses making the trip from Manhattan to Stamford, where WWE’s headquarters is located. A large championship belt display and the prominent WWE logo stand out among the otherwise sterile office buildings that surround the facility. I felt a giddiness rooted in childhood and adolescence as I stepped into the building.
We entered the building via a red carpet set up for the day’s events. The atrium is massive, featuring an impressive mural of the larger-than-life Andre the Giant that stands more than four storeys tall. An LED wall, similar to one of WWE’s stage entrances, flashed images of the WWE 2K26 cover, while walkways on every floor were lined with gaming stations for attendees to try the game.
“After four decades as a fan, I had a first-hand experience unlike any before, stepping inside WWE headquarters to attend the WWE 2K26 Creator Fest.”
As organizers reviewed the rules for the day, “The Oracle,” Paul Heyman, made a surprise appearance to trash-talk the rules themselves. It was an early sign of the energy and spectacle to come. We took our seats and launched our copies of the game, capture cards ready, eager to experience the new features WWE 2K26 promised to deliver.
I began with standard matches to acclimate myself to any gameplay changes from the previous instalment. The differences were subtle but intuitive. Chain wrestling largely functioned the same, and the mechanics for kicking out of pins and reversing manoeuvres remained responsive. There are now more options available before a match begins. Players can trigger additional entrance effects, choose face or heel reactions while walking to the ring and decide whether to start the match with a handshake, a cheap shot or a classic stare-down.
I began with an Extreme Rules match to give myself more freedom to explore without the risk of an early loss. I also wanted to try one of the new weapons: thumbtacks. Scattering them across the ring and slamming an opponent onto them produces a visceral reaction. Each individual tack remains visible in the wrestler’s skin, with light reflecting off the metal. The detail makes the moment feel as impactful as it does in a live event.
I cycled through a wide range of WWE 2K26 wrestlers while browsing the expansive roster. I did not want to spend too much time deciding who to select, though I made sure to try a few favourites, including Cody Rhodes, CM Punk and Kane, to see their entrances. Choosing a classic Kane character model for the return of the Inferno Match struck a nostalgic chord. The updated Inferno Match mechanics, which involve building the flames and forcing an opponent into them, were particularly enjoyable.
The Three Stages of Hell match also returns in WWE 2K26 and provided one of the standout moments of Creator Fest. A 2K26 tournament took place during the event, though I opted not to participate. The final was a Three Stages of Hell match, structured as a best-of-three series with each fall contested under a different stipulation. The competitors were so evenly matched that the bout ran long enough to make the return bus schedule feel uncertain.
The Dumpster Match closely resembles a Casket Match in structure but references a specific period in WWE history during the Attitude Era, when Cactus Jack and Terry Funk, competing as Chainsaw Charlie, faced The New Age Outlaws. The inclusion of the “I Quit” match, in which the referee checks on a competitor while players use button combinations to avoid conceding, also recalled the brutal encounter between Mankind and The Rock.
“With limited time and frequent trips up and down the stairs to catch another superstar’s entrance or grab a quick bite, I managed to sample each of the available game modes.”
It was during a test run of the “I Quit” match that the unpredictability of the event revealed itself. The LED wall shifted, and the entrance music for Trish Stratus hit as she made her way out. Numerous wrestlers were in attendance, including Oba Femi, Joe Hendry, Iyo Sky, Penta, Jacob Fatu, Paul Heyman, Undisputed Champion Drew McIntyre and World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk, who also serves as the cover athlete for WWE 2K26. Many others were present to promote and discuss the game.
In addition to the performers, WWE SmackDown commentator Wade Barrett, one of the voices featured in WWE 2K26, attended the event. I also caught a glimpse of longtime WWE executive Bruce Prichard, whom I first knew as “Brother Love.” Wherever you looked, today’s top stars were either conducting interviews or playing the game alongside creators, which made it hard not to feel a little envious of those stationed on the main floor.
With limited time and frequent trips up and down the stairs to catch another superstar’s entrance or grab a quick bite, I managed to sample each of the available game modes. A deep dive into any single mode was not realistic given the schedule, so I opted for breadth over depth.
WWE 2K26’s 2K Showcase: Punked focuses on the career of CM Punk, guiding players through key moments with specific in-match objectives. Progressing through the mode highlights different eras of Punk’s presentation, from his earliest appearances to the version audiences see weekly on streaming platforms.
The Island is the mode furthest removed from traditional WWE presentation. In this setting, your created wrestler — built using a robust creation suite too expansive to detail here — enters “The Island,” joins one of three factions and competes for dominance in a semi-post-apocalyptic environment.
MyRise, the story mode in WWE 2K26, centres on a comeback narrative. Players step into the role of a wrestler returning after a long injury layoff. Each decision shifts your character between fan favourite and rule breaker, allowing for multiple story paths and varied experiences on subsequent playthroughs.
My preferred modes are those that put players fully in control, and MyGM delivers exactly that. Draft wrestlers, book matches — including intergender bouts and contests featuring up to eight competitors — and assign talent to promotional segments. There is added strategy involved, as an injured wrestler will be unable to appear for a scheduled promo. The objective is to build the most successful WWE brand within the company.
The day concluded with what I previously would have described as a 14-year-old version of myself’s dream scenario. We were given a behind-the-scenes tour of WWE headquarters, where bronze statues of legendary performers line the halls. Displays featuring full costumes and props from The Undertaker’s career were highlights, and although photography was not permitted, it took considerable restraint not to reach for my phone.
Meeting rooms were decorated with vintage ring skirts from classic pay-per-view events. One hallway displayed nearly every championship belt in the company’s history. We also toured a large production studio capable of shooting content in a fully virtual environment, including the cold open delivered by Triple H during the 2026 Royal Rumble. A full-sized ring served as an unconventional meeting space, positioned beneath a towering mural of wrestlers created for the Netflix launch.
Setting aside the excitement Creator Fest generated for creators and journalists — no easy task — my enthusiasm for WWE 2K26 stands on its own merits. I spoke with Creative Director Lynell Jinks of Visual Concepts and noted that, despite the warm reception to last year’s instalment, the team could have opted for only minor updates and still satisfied much of the audience. Instead, they chose to expand and refine the experience. This year, it appears the winners are the players.
The Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC) has officially released its listings for the top-selling games in Canada in 2025.
The full list of 20 games included in the rankings is surprisingly diverse, with many genres included. In fact, four of the top six best sellers are made—at least in part—right here in Canada. Even though other games like the legendary Grand Theft Auto V and the recently released Borderlands 4made it onto the list, Canada still holds the top two ranking spots. So let’s get into some Canadian highlights listed in the rankings.
Sitting at number one in the whole country is Battlefield 6, which some people probably did not know was made partly in Canada. Partly meaning that Battlefield 6 was a four studio conjunction of production with Motive Studio out of Montreal, tagging into the design team to work on story elements, along with development in general. Along with Motive, there was also DICE out of Stockholm, Criterion Games located in Guildford, UK, and Ripple Effect Studio from Los Angeles. All of these Studios worked together to develop the newest game in the franchise’s long history under the “Battlefield Studios” banner.
Moving one rank down to number two is NHL 26, which was developed exclusively by EA Vancouver. EA Vancouver is also responsible for numerous other hit games included under the EA Sports branding. FIFA, NBA Live, NCAA March Madness, and the exquisite SSX were all made by EA Vancouver, and they even helped Konami develop ports of the original Castlevania for the Commodore 64 and MS-DOS operating systems.
Without further ado, here is the full list of every top-selling game in Canada for 2025 according to ESAC.
Donkey Kong Bananza, Nintendo
Grand Theft Auto V, Take 2 Interactive
Red Dead Redemption II, Take 2 Interactive
Civilization VII, Take 2 Interactive
Elden Ring: Nightreign, Bandai Namco
Forza Horizon 5, Microsoft
Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Nintendo
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Microsoft (Canadian)
Minecraft, Multiple Manufacturers
Split Fiction, Electronic Arts
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, Plaion
Ghost of Yotei, Sony
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Remastered, Microsoft
Battlefield 6’s Season 2 thunders onto PC today, a three-month festival of Battlefoolery that begins with a new map, Contaminated, new modes for the Redsec battle royale component, a dinky yet deadly helicopter, and some new guns and gadgets. The EA shooter’s Steam playerbase has slumped following its chart-topping release last year, but don’t worry, ye Battlefaithful, because Season 2 has officially recaptured my interest by filling my lungs with psychoactive vapours.
In new limited-time mode VL-7 Strike, available in regular multiplayer and Redsec, you must wear a gas mask and replenish its filters to avoid falling victim to clouds of funky fumes. Idiot! Why would you want to avoid falling victim to clouds of funky fumes. It’s got to be more intriguing than flipping the objective yet again.
Star Wars: Galactic Racer, Fuse Games' take on offroad speeder rushes in a galaxy far, far, away, sounds more and more up my alley every time I hear about it. That's no different in a freshly published interview with Fuse founder Matt Webster and creative director Kieran Crimmins, which sees the pair chat about boost mechanics which sound a lot like the environmental temperature-sensitive system from PS3 racer Motorstorm: Pacific Rift.
The pair also made some interesting points when asked why they went for a more traditional track racer rather than an open world one with this game, and whether the latter's reached a point where it's a bit of a stale concept.
This week’s Massively Overthinking is inspired by a tweet I saw from SMITE, of all games, where the Hi-Rez devs asked players to propose one god to delete from the game. Obviously, this is not a serious proposition, but in the aggregate, the answers can kinda show a trend in what people are tired of, […]
Mark Frost's The Greatest Game Ever Played tells the story of golf's most legendary amateur, Francis Ouimet, whose victory in the 1913 U.S. Open stands as one of the most notorious upsets in the sport's history.
Legendary as it might be, that game was probably boring, that book is probably boring, and the Disney movie based on it is also probably boring. Let me be clear: I do not care about anything unless there's lasers in it.
Thankfully, Super Battle Golf just arrived to save the sport from its own mundanity with lasers and rockets aplenty. Its unique approach to golf, where players race across the fairway to sink the ball as fast as possible while sabotaging their buds in multiplayer, is turning heads: developer Brimstone announced in a Steam community blog post that it sold 100,000 copies in just 48 hours.
The post reads, "WOW. OK. THANK YOU!!! That is just so absolutely amazing and I am filled with so much joy. Reviews are sitting at 97% Overwhelmingly Positive, and we've been reading every review, forum post, message board taking in all your amazing messages and feedback!"
It's certainly an impressive turnaround given that, as the post states, the game was thrown together in just "4.5 months." I'm not quite sure if it counts as friendslop given that it's competitive rather than cooperative—maybe partyslop or tourneyslop is more accurate—but its combination of inexpensive thrills and inebriation-friendly multiplayer make me think it's striking the same chord with people.
Super Battle Golf seems to be just another example of how videogame golf, like minigolf, improves upon the venerable, ecologically deleterious, and often exclusive sport by breaking down the barrier to entry and distorting its rules as if through a funhouse mirror. If you'd like to hit the links yourself, the game is available on Steam.
There's something in the water in PC gaming right now. Specifically, ships. Lots of ships. Earlier this month, Facepunch Studios weighed anchor on Rust's massive naval update, adding player-made boats and a vast offshore region for survivors to explore. Now, Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition is getting in on the seafaring action, with its latest update careening Microsoft's refurbished vessel to scrape the barnacles off the hull of its naval mechanics.
The elegantly named update 169123 is a typically hefty patch from developer Forgotten Empires, addressing a wide range of bugs and balance issues. But the most significant change is the addition of the Hulk-line, a new main ship type designed to counter fire ships.
There are three tiers of ship in this line, namely Hulk, War Hulk, and Carrack. All three are fast, durable vessels equipped with grappling hooks for close-range combat. Their high speed and armour means they can effectively withstand the heat belched out from fire ships, though they are vulnerable to long range attacks from ships like galleys.
These aren't the only ships added by the update either. Also new to the game is the Catapult Galleon, which replaces the cannon galleon for several civilisations. It functions in the same way, but has a shorter firing range and higher durability.
These additions arrive alongside an overhaul to naval systems that bring "significant changes across the board". This makes balance changes to all of the RTS' ships, such as reducing damage dealt by demolition ships, and adjusting fire ships so they only deal melee damage instead of both melee and piercing damage.
Even fishing vessels have been tweaked, making them more fragile and slower to gather fish, but adding the ability to gather gold from whales, a new aquatic resource. I'm guessing Forgotten Empires glosses over exactly how you extract gold from a whale, unless those aquatic mammals are just really into free-to-play games.
More broadly, the update adds cross platform voice chat, plus accessibility options like text-to-speech and speech-to-chat. There's a big flag update that adds regional garrison flags and waypoint/gather point flags that are specific to each civ, though I doubt this will stop players disingenuously asking "do you have a flag?"
Finally, there's a rework to the Inca civilisation, which adds a new unit called champi warriors, removes access to eagle warriors, and also removes several buildings like lumber camps, mining camps, and mills.
These changes tie into the launch of the Definitive Edition's latest DLC, The Last Chieftains, which bulks out the game's roster for medieval South America. It introduces three new factions, the Mapuche, the Muisca, and the Tupi, each of which comes with its own campaign. Each faction also has unique units like the Mapuche's bolas rider and the Muisca's guecha warrior, a specialist javelineer who heals other guecha warriors when they die.
Skate's free-to-play resurrection hasn't had a smooth ride in early access. While it attracted millions of players at launch, it slumped to an early "Mixed" rating on Steam, and the following months of trudging through microtransaction muck and technical troubles haven't done much to improve player sentiment.
This week, EA seems determined to test how much more room to fall its player reception still has, revealing plans for Skate's Season 3 content rollout that includes a new map area that requires payment for unrestricted access—something that, before launch, Skate's developers explicitly said they wouldn't pursue.
(Image credit: EA)
In a Season 3 preview blog post, EA revealed a reworked Isle of Grom: an upgraded version of Skate's tutorial zone "expanded with a ton of new spots to skate and explore," like "hillbombs, massive gaps, cool transitions, and some Skate 2 and 3-inspired spillway action."
Sounds nice! Until you scroll down a little bit further to see the details for who can access the Isle of Grom and when.
Initially, the Isle of Grom will only be available from March 10 to April 14 for players who've purchased the Skate Pass, which costs 1,000 San Van Bucks (which costs roughly $10). Then, the Isle of Grom will have an "open access" period from April 14 to May 5, in which "all players can skate Isle of Grom during a special multi-week event."
Finally, after May 5, the Isle of Grom will once again require Skate Pass Premium—but players will also have the option to rent access to the new area with in-game currency by paying 500 earnable Rip Chips (we have strayed perilously beyond the light of divinity) for a 24-hour Isle of Grom Water Taxi day pass.
(Image credit: EA)
Even if I think we can all understand the logic of asking players to pay for a new region in a free-to-play game, it becomes a lot less palatable when access to it is presented with a conditional, three-stage flowchart while the game is already submerged inches-deep in microtransaction slurry. But what makes Skate's rollout of a new map area locked behind a paywall feel particularly foul is the fact that, in a July 2022 video published before launch, Skate's developers said there would be "no map areas locked behind a paywall" as a "hard ground rule."
On X, the official Skate account has been attempting to implement damage control by responding to players who are understandably frustrated by the game doing the thing it specifically said it wouldn't.
"Launching in Early Access meant we were going to work on the game in public while players played," the Skate account replied with near-palpable exhaustion to a frustrated player. "We want to build this game to last, and it means we will need to make changes as we go sometimes. It also allows us to make improvements like updating our characters, lighting, adding tricks and other things we've changed since September. This change was made to ensure this game sticks around for the long haul."
Elsewhere, the Skate account said that "sometimes plans have to change. That's part of the deal when you're building in public. We're here, we're listening, and we're going to keep shaping Skate together."
Nothing reassures me about the future of skateboarding like pacifying corporate pseudo-acknowledgment. If you want to join in shaping Skate together, EA has published an updated development roadmap for Season 3 and beyond. You can get tattoos soon. So, you know. Pretty cool.
Developer: LucasArts Publisher: LucasArts Release: 10/00 Genre: Action With the release of the Phantom Menace in theaters it presented an opportunity for a slew of new Star Wars games in a whole new setting. The dozens of novels...
Over the past few weeks, I've finally been playing Wild Hearts. Built by Koei Tecmo's Omega Force (the team behind the Warriors series) and published by EA, it showed a lot of promise as a contender to the might of Monster Hunter. Its launch in February 2023, however, was plagued with performance woes eclipsing even the early problems faced by Monster Hunter Wilds. Three years on, I'm giving it a proper chance, and while I would recommend it to hunting enthusiasts, the whole experience has only made me more sad about the way it was seemingly left adrift.
Apex Legends' early days were a simpler time. There was a smaller roster of characters, fewer weapons, and it didn't seem like people had 'solved' the meta in quite the same way they have now. The Wingman took heavy ammo and Skull Town was the hottest drop - like I say, life was simple. However, it all changed in Season 4, when Respawn announced the next legend, Forge, and promptly killed him off. It was a move that fans didn't see coming, and an ambitious piece of storytelling that hasn't been seen before or replicated since by any major live-service game.
Recently, Nintendo provided a listing of the top 15 European eShop downloads for January 2026. We have data for both Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch here. Despite various competition, Minecraft was on top for both platforms. It was able to beat out some new titles, including Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade and Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2...
The latest Nintendo Switch 2 eShop charts for the week of February 22, 2026 are now available. Mario Tennis Fever had some tough competition, but has managed to hold on to the top spot – though that may not last much longer. For one thing, Capcom is bringing out a few Resident Evil games shortly – including Resident Evil Requiem...
NBA 2K26 is an AAA game, but if you buy PS5 sports games, you cannot do better than this one, and you cannot leave it any year behind - I always upgrade. It is full of gameplay moments that are Instagram-worthy.
1. The First Possession Where Footwork Actually Mattered
The first time NBA 2K26 felt different wasn’t a poster dunk or a green release. It was a half-court possession where I couldn’t just turbo past my defender.
I was running a slashing guard build in MyCareer, used to bullying weaker AI with speed boosts and a well-timed snatchback. In 2K26, defenders slide less and plant more. When I tried my usual crossover into a blow-by, the on-ball defender cut off the angle, forced me into a gather animation, and suddenly I was picking up my dribble near the elbow with nowhere to go.
It forced me to slow down.
The new foot planting and momentum system makes size and weight feel more tangible. Bigger wings don’t recover as quickly. Smaller guards feel twitchier but can get bumped off their line if you mistime your drive. It’s subtle, but over a full game it adds up. You can’t spam left-right cheese and expect the same bailout animations.
That first possession ended in a reset to the top of the key and a kick-out assist. Not flashy. But it felt earned.
2. A Fourth-Quarter Run That Swung on Fatigue
Fatigue systems have been in 2K forever, but in 2K26 they’re more visible in how players move, not just in a shrinking stamina bar.
I was playing a tight MyNBA game, tied heading into the fourth. I’d ridden my starting five hard in the third to claw back from a deficit. By the eight-minute mark of the fourth, I noticed something: my star wing’s first step wasn’t exploding the same way. His defensive closeouts were a half-beat late. Shots that had been automatic from the corners started rimming out.
It wasn’t RNG. It was wear.
Meanwhile, the CPU subbed in a fresh bench unit and started pushing pace. Transition buckets piled up. I had to call a timeout, adjust my rotation, and actually trust my second unit for a few minutes instead of squeezing every second out of my 92 overall.
That swing felt organic. Not scripted. Not cheesy.
2K26 finally makes rotation management matter beyond just avoiding injuries. If you’re playing on higher difficulties and ignoring stamina, you’ll feel it in the final stretch. And when you sub smart, stagger minutes, and see your starters close strong, it’s satisfying in a way older entries didn’t quite capture.
3. A Green Window That Wasn’t Guaranteed
Shooting always defines the meta in 2K. And in 2K26, the green window feels tighter—especially off movement.
I had a moment in Rec where I came off a high screen, created what looked like clean separation, and pulled up from the hash. Timing felt perfect. Release animation was smooth. I expected that familiar splash.
Clank.
The shot feedback showed slight movement penalty and light contest influence, even though visually it looked open. That forced me to reassess how I was hunting threes. You can still shoot lights out, but you need to be more deliberate about your feet being set and your stamina bar being healthy.
Standstill catch-and-shoot attempts feel more reliable. Off-dribble fades and deep pull-ups are riskier unless your build is specialized for it. That shift changes how offenses flow in both MyCareer and online modes. Ball movement matters more because pure iso into stepback three isn’t as forgiving.
When I finally hit a deep green in crunch time after working the ball around and forcing a defensive scramble, it felt earned. Less arcade, more simulation.
Not everyone will love that. But it’s a noticeable change.
4. A Defensive Stop That Didn’t Rely on a Steal Animation
Defense in 2K often devolves into fishing for steal animations. You spam reach, hope for a bump steal, and live with the foul calls.
In 2K26, one of my favorite moments was a stop that had nothing to do with a highlight.
I was guarding a shot-creating forward who’d been cooking all game. Instead of gambling, I focused on cutting off his preferred drive side and shading him toward help. The improved body-up interactions made it harder for him to phase through me. He tried to spin baseline, got forced into a pickup, and had to throw a bailout pass late in the clock.
Shot clock violation.
No flashy block. No intercepted pass. Just positional defense.
It felt like the game finally respected staying in front of your man as a skill. Lateral movement ratings, strength, and timing on contests all matter more now. If you’re disciplined, you’re rewarded. If you mash steal and miss, you’re out of position and cooked.
That balance makes multiplayer less chaotic and more strategic—at least when you’re running with teammates who actually rotate.
Conclusion
NBA 2K26 shines in small but meaningful gameplay shifts and gets even better now than before: footwork and momentum that punish reckless dribble spam, fatigue that visibly impacts fourth-quarter performance, a tighter green window that rewards set shots over wild pull-ups, and defensive systems that value positioning over steal fishing.
It’s not a total overhaul. The core 2K formula is intact. But the edges are sharper, and the simulation lean is stronger this year. If you’re the kind of player who enjoys managing rotations, building specialized archetypes, and winning possessions through discipline rather than animation hunting, 2K26 has moments that genuinely feel a step forward. And if you just want highlight plays every trip down, you can still get them—you’ll just have to work a little harder to earn them.
This is a transcript excerpt covering the score awarded to Cairn on the So Videogames Podcast, Episode 473. For further coverage and a second take on the game, please see Ryan Nalley’s official GameCritics review.
Brad: [Following the review with Game Bakers creative director Emeric Thoa] So we’ve talked about it quite a bit. There’s a lot of this game that I don’t want to spoil, especially. But again, just to recap, Cairn is the third person mountain climbing game which has more to it than just mountain climbing. it took me all together about 15 hours. I fell about 200 times. and I did roll credits before the game launched, so I had the pre-release experience.
God, what do you even say about a game like this? It’s really hard to say. the mechanics, I think, are great. It really does approach mountain climbing in a way that I have not seen done in any other game of this kind. And strangely, there have been a few mountain climbing games recently. It’s been kind of a popular sub sub sub subgenre recently. but it’s not. I almost feel like it’s not even really about that. I mean, it is about that, but it’s not about that, because as I mentioned a little bit in that interview, it was really also kind of an adventure game, which was really, really surprising to me. And it also even more surprising was the time that we spend with Ava, the main character.
in that sense, it’s like those three things done at the same time and each of those builds on the other. I think every leg of that stool helps support the overall experience, and I think it would be lesser without any one of those pieces.
let’s talk about the mechanics for a second. I think the mechanics are really good. I think the individual control of each limb is unique, and it does feel good in general. Now, I definitely needed all of the assistance. I turned on the visual feedback and I turned on the time rewind. Visual feedback is when you get a “good” grip. A little white square appears around your hand or foot to let you know. Yeah, this is a pretty solid grip. without that feedback, I wouldn’t really know if my grip was good or not. I don’t think there’s enough feedback there. I’m a pretty, I don’t know, fact-oriented kind of guy. I want to play a game like this and I really want to know exactly how much stamina do I have? Exactly how much strength do I have exactly? You know, how much time do I have before my hand slips or whatever? And this game doesn’t doesn’t really do that. Like they don’t really play it that way, which I think is fine. That’s a legit way to go.
But you do fall a lot and the game is really difficult. And so I think the physicality of being on a mountain, and you know, quick side note, like I mentioned earlier, I have done some rock climbing. Not much, because I’m scared, but it’s tough. It’s really hard. It’s grueling. You know, you feel things on the mountain and there’s a lot of that feeling you just don’t get in a game. And so in my mind, the way to compensate for that is having enough information. And I don’t mind having it be optional. You know, maybe people want the purest experience so they can turn off all the meters and all the numbers and just look at the screen and look at Ava’s, the main character’s feedback. But for me, I want more. I want more stuff. So I felt like the stamina system was a little bit too opaque for me. I felt like the climbing mechanics were also a little bit too opaque. Without the visual feedback, I wouldn’t know the difference between a good handhold and a bad handhold. And sometimes that’s… I mean, that is the difference between falling and not falling. So I felt like I needed all the assistance the game could give me. And even with everything turned on, it was still an incredibly difficult experience.
it’s hard and slow to get anywhere. You’re fighting for every inch of the climb, and so that’s the thing that you have to contend with. It’s really tough. I think in, in some ways it’s kind of analogous to a game that came out recently, baby steps, in that nothing in the game is easy. You have to really, like master the physics. You have to really think about where you’re going. You can’t just jump around and do things. So it’s it does ask something of the player that I think is quite different than what we’re used to. So in that respect, I think it stands out. I don’t think it was entirely successful because I do think there were some times when I just felt like I was in a good position and my stamina wore out with, you know, with, with no warning or at least not if warning for me. And so I did fall a couple times. There’s definitely some sections that are tougher than others. As we covered in the interview, there’s different routes. You can take, certain parts you can, you know, that are optional. You can choose to do these or not. so and also there was a few times when it felt like things would just get really wonky all of a sudden. I would never want to play Iron Man mode in this game because I don’t think it’s reliable enough. It’s like reliable like 90% of the time, but then 10% of the time something goofy unexpected would happen and I’d be like, you know, fall or something, and I’d be really, you know, like, ah, man, I can’t believe that happened.
So that’s that’s the thing. I would like to see a little bit more specificity, a little bit more granularity, but I can see how that is in contrast to the vision that the game bakers were, were after. And I think them adding the accessibility options that they did really did make the difference for me. As I said in that interview, I don’t think I would have gotten through this game if it wasn’t for the time rewind and for the the grip indicator, I just don’t. I think it would have been too frustrating, and I’m not sure that it would have hung in there. So I’m glad that they did that and I wouldn’t mind a few other options just to make it a little bit more playable, I think a lot of people are going to bounce off of this game, but, you know, it was like Emeric said, this game isn’t for everyone. Not everybody is gonna enjoy this game. And I think that’s absolutely true. Even though I really do enjoy this game, I think it’s pretty monumental. It’s not something I would just recommend willy nilly. I would have to really know that person.
I would have to know what they liked, what they didn’t like, and I’d have to, you know, consider how good a friends we were. Friendship might be tested, if I recommend this one, but to the right kind of person, I think it’s going to be pretty amazing. So I think the climbing is really unique and I think it’s good. I’m not trying to slag it or anything. I think I have some quibbles with it, but I think overall it is quite compelling and feels very satisfying when you do something. And, you know, uh, Emeric mentioned that they, they plotted out routes, but then people would always try to do their own route. And that was true for me as well. Like, I mean, some places were pretty obvious they wanted you to go that way. But there was a few times when I’m like, well, I’ve got enough, uh, pitons, pitons, pitons, pythons — I’m not sure how to pronounce that — in my backpack. And I see a place and I don’t see another way to go. I’m just going to go for it. I mean, in one part of the game, I was, um, crossing a bridge and there was a big statue underneath the bridge, but it was like under an overhang. And I’m like, how the hell do I get down there? I don’t understand, And so I just tried screwing around a little bit. I would crawl over and try to, you know, climb down under the overhang. And at one point I’m like, fuck it. I just put in a piton or a python and rappelled down, and I kind of swung to get like into that area. And I made it and I was like, oh my God, I made it. I can’t believe I didn’t die. I don’t even know if that’s how you’re supposed to get down here, but like, it totally worked. And like, it was like a real thrill. So I think there’s definitely some mechanical thrills to be had for that, for sure.
talking about the other aspects of the game, I think the adventure section is a big surprise. I was really surprised at how much adventure elements there are in here, how much it does feel like a Tomb Raider game. It feels like you’re finding this disappeared civilization. You’re finding relics. You’re finding rooms, artifacts, ruins, uh, notes left behind. It’s pretty compelling stuff. And I’m not like, you know, I’m not a guy that reads every notebook entry. I don’t listen to the audio logs, but in this game, I did feel like they were spaced apart. They were all pretty significant. They all helped paint the picture. They weren’t like overly done. A lot of that too, was just environmental storytelling where you see a scene, you see what people left behind, or you find the people themselves. You find their dead bodies sometimes and you just see this stuff and it’s just really great. And I don’t want to spoil anything. But you were not alone on the mountain, which I think even saying that in itself is a little bit of a spoiler. So I’m not going to say anything else, but you’re not alone on the mountain, so when you have those interactions, they’re really surprising and they’re really compelling and they really lean into those, uh, those interactions very well. And I’m trying really hard not to spoil anything. I’m sorry. Um, but like that was a really compelling part also where I just felt like, wow, I feel like this game has so many more elements to it than I was expecting. Not like I was expecting it to be super shallow, but I was. I was here for like, mountain climbing, you know, I figured that was what it was going to be about. But there’s way more to it than that. And I think unraveling the culture that lived on this mountain and how it influences the rest of the area, how it integrates to the surrounding areas was really fascinating, really compelling, like just really, really masterfully done. There weren’t too much, there weren’t there weren’t too many instances. There weren’t not enough instances. I felt like it was just right.
And every time I needed a mental break, or every time I needed to get off a cliff face or something, there was something nearby or something to shoot for. And whenever I did those things, almost always I felt like they were worthwhile in some way or another. Maybe I got a reward. Maybe I learned something that was pretty interesting. Maybe I just got some more water and it just it just was really worthwhile. So I think the adventure part is really well done. I loved the adventure aspects of it. It just enriched the entire thing so much.
and then finally the last leg is, as we discussed, was the character development. It was super, super compelling. Ava, the main character, is just she just feels like a real person. She feels broken and she feels unbalanced, but she also feels fully formed and she feels complete and she feels like real in many ways that I just don’t find in other games. And you had to go on this journey. Like if you just watched the cutscenes, it wouldn’t really it wouldn’t hit the same, you know, kind of like the same thing with the ending. Like again. The ending. Fucking tremendous ending. So emotional. Literally crying like tears and just feeling. Feeling everything that happens at the end. The voice actor like an amazing job. The voice actor fucking leans into that shit so hard and it’s just, like, impossible not to feel the emotion that actor’s putting out.
And that in combination with the last 15 hours of gameplay, of climbing up the mountain, every inch that you fought for, every time you, you, you went for the hard decision, every time you tried to get somewhere and you made it. I mean, it just all came together. Everything the game bakers try to do here, I feel almost all of it just came off, like, flawlessly, which is really an achievement. it just really came together in a way that was just so memorable. I felt like. Like I was climbing that mountain. Like I was suffering right along with Ava. You know, I almost wanted to put some tape on my fingers because I’m like, man, I surely have blisters after all the climbing I just did.
This is really tough. it just was so, so amazing to go through this, this very carefully curated, very measured experience that just really hit me unlike anything else that I can think of in recent years. Like I just was so invested in the physical struggle of like, actually holding the controller and climbing up these incredibly difficult, you know, these steep inclines and also just thinking about who Ava was and how she grows and changes, who she meets, who she talks to, and then just spending time in this mountain, which was like, really a pretty amazing, pretty amazing environment.
Mount Kami is pretty fucking cool, just the way that it looks and the way that it it articulates with all its secrets and pockets and nooks and crannies and everything. So everything here has just been just really fabulous. I had a wonderful time. there’s just so much to say and do and feel and think. And I just it just really kind of blew me away. yeah. I mean, this is this is going to be on my Top ten list at the end of the year for sure. Like it’s a lock, it’s a lock. And I feel like, um, this is just a real achievement. It’s a real achievement.
I really want to do extend my my heartfelt congratulations to the team. I think they’ve really done something special here. And, again, Cairn isn’t going to be for everybody. I imagine that a lot of people will be put off by the difficulty or how grueling it can be — sometimes it just does not give you an inch — so I felt the tension and the triumph, and it felt like I, personally, was going through this journey in a way that just landed so hard. I just really enjoyed every aspect of it, every minute of it. And again, when you get to the end of that journey, what man, what a finish. And it just was a perfect encapsulation of everything that had been leading up to that moment physically with Ava, in terms of character, spiritually, everything about it, everything about it. Just fucking fucking fantastic. I love this game so much.
so I guess that’s it. I feel like I’m blathering. I feel like I need to heap more praise on it, but I don’t know what to say other than stuff I’ve already said. And I don’t want to spoil anything, so let me just end with a score. Final. So videogames official score ten out of ten, ten out of ten. I would give it an 11 if that made sense. But mathematically, the numbers don’t math, so I’m going to have to settle for a ten out of ten.
Folks, I think Cairn is as perfect an experience as one could possibly hope to produce. It doesn’t mean the game is perfect or flawless, but it reached for something beyond what other games reach for and achieved more than others have achieved. It had a vision and a strength. It had a voice. It went places confidently, assuredly and correctly, and it got there in a way that very few could have pulled off. So it’s a ten out of ten — I just don’t think you can do better than this. This is going to be absolutely a high watermark for the year for me. And, that’s that’s the best I can do. That’s the best I can do. Top marks.
And y’all know I don’t give out tens very often. I think I hand them out on an average of like once every five years or so. So here’s here’s my one for this year. And I guess you’re not going to get another one for another four years. So congratulations to Cairn and congratulations to the game bakers.
SVG Score: 10 out of 10
Disclosures: This game is developed and published by The Game Bakers. It is currently available on PS5 and PC.This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately 15 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.
Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Strong Language, and Use of Drugs. While there is no direct violence in this game, the player character often falls from a great height in a ragdoll fashion. Arms and legs can twist in the process, leading the character’s body to become contorted. These falls are physics based and do not feel gratuitous, or violent in nature. Though there is no gore, the character’s fingers can suffer cuts and will bleed from climbing, requiring players to bandage them, and her feet will show spots of blood if her health is low. The player character will occasionally scream profanity when falling, including most four-letter words. At one point in the narrative, two characters consume an old bottle of alcohol resulting in a hallucination. Additionally, alcohol can be consumed during play, although I did not personally come across it during my playthough.
Colorblind Modes: There are nocolorblind modes available.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles can be resized with three available options – small, medium, and big. Additionally, an optional background is available. While most audio cues are accompanied by a visual component, one glaring omission is in Aava’s breathing. During play, I found myself relying on changes in her breathing to indicate when her stamina was low, and these elements are not subtitled, nor are they visually indicated. Though there are other visual indicators for Aava’s stamina, her breath was often the first sign that her energy was low, and I found it more difficult to assess her condition when playing without sound, and for that reason, this game is not fully accessible.
Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.
EA Play: Bring Glory Home in EA Sports College Football 26, Available February 19
Juliet Niczewicz, Senior Director, Corporate Communications, EA
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My favorite part of the Kingdom Hearts franchise has always been the incredible diversity of all of the characters that make it up. Gaming icons such as Cloud Strife and Auron from the Final Fantasy series battle alongside Disney’s Donald and Goofy… all while exploring levels based on films featuring cinematic icons like Jack Sparrow or Tron. But this incredible mix of complicated protagonists and larger-than-life cartoon characters works because they’re all serving the same story in different ways… saving the world takes a team who understands that the things that make each of them unique and different from each other is what gives this team its strength.
We’re all called to serve the same Lord, but we will each serve Him in different ways… and the uniqueness of our calling and purpose means it will look different for every one of us. The diverse ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus meant that one of them lived off of locusts and honey in the desert while the other ate and drank with those He was sent to save… each of them served the same kingdom in different ways based on the specific calling they were given by the Father. Rather than expect every member of this team to follow Christ in an identical manner, let’s embrace the way we’ve been gifted to serve Him… as a kingdom of unique hearts joined together as one.
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon.” The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” But wisdom is justified by her children. Matthew 11:18-19
For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. Romans 12:4-5a
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While Kingdom Hearts is a fairly linear gaming experience, it doesn’t mean that every item that our missions require or each character we are tasked with helping are easily discovered… many are only revealed when we are forced off of our preferred path and into an area that we never intended to explore. While these moments may seem like an undesired time-wasting detour at first, they are often the places where I discovered something that I didn’t even know I should be searching for. Whether it was a valuable item that changed the way I played the game or a path to helping someone I didn’t know was there, these unwanted diversions helped to push Sora to places he wouldn’t have reached any other way.
We will all face unwanted detours in life, but these inconvenient situations are often used by the Lord to advance His kingdom in ways that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. Many times, these are the paths that He uses to guide us to our destiny the same way Joseph found in his journey from prison to prince, and other times these diversions are actually a divine intersection to reach one singular soul for Christ like Paul and the repentant jailer. If we allow Him to open our eyes to the possibilities beyond our present discomfort, we will find that He truly does work out all things for good… according to His purposes, not ours.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Genesis 50:20
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Who remembers the first big decision we all had to make in Kingdom Hearts… making the choice between taking the sword, the shield, or the staff? At such an early stage of the game, I didn’t feel prepared to make a decision that could have long-lasting ramifications on how I played the game. But that wasn’t the last choice I had to make… along the way, I made decisions about how to level up my party, which items to equip, and the order I took on challenges. Some were the right call for me and my style of play, and others were choices I’d later regret. Either way, the game would reveal if these were wise or foolish choices… and I was the one who’d have to deal with the fallout. All of us play the same game, but how we get to our ending is a unique story… no two play-throughs are identical.
It’s easy to be critical of the way others play the game of life, and judging how our fellow servants follow Christ (even with the best of intentions) is far above our pay grade. How do we know what choices others felt forced to make before they fully understood that decision? And how do we know what they had to give up in exchange? We will all start in different places, serve the Lord in different ways, and follow different paths to His endgame, so let’s resist the urge to judge. That is the fatal first step into self-righteousness.
There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? James 4:12
But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way. Romans 14:10-13
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