The Italian antitrust regulator, Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercat (AGCM), has launched an investigation into Activision Blizzard. It suspects that the company may have violated consumer protection laws.More details: https://gameworldobserver.com/2026/01/19/italy-to-investigate-diablo-immortal-and-call-of-duty-mobile-for-dark-patterns
Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little about the games we've been playing. This week, Victoria knows something her husband doesn't; Tom endures the perennial terror known as entertaining a child over half-term; Bertie realises he's missed something important again; and Will makes mech combat somehow sound rather fun.
This is much more like the Overwatch 2 I wanted when it launched. We're having a redo moment. Blizzard isn't calling this a relaunch but to me, it feels like it is. This is a reintroduction of a game that floundered back in 2023 at launch, but three years later, it's solid and it's stacked. Overwatch (the 2 was symbolically dropped from the title recently) knows what it wants to be now and this is the fullest and strongest this game has ever been. Arguably it's also the strongest the series (can we call it a series now?) has ever been, which is a provocative thing to say, I know. But I haven't been this excited about Overwatch since the original came out 10 years ago.
It is not exactly a secret that, in recent years, Destiny 2 hasn't been doing so hot. Frequenters of the pseudo-MMO have found certain expansions and updates to be disappointing, and for a live service game a few too many disappointments can be devastating. Now, in a new interview, the game's director Tyson Green has acknowledged how the game is struggling to bring in a new audience, and discussed the difficulties that come with that.
Guitar Hero’s controllers let anyone become a star in their own living room – and made the bands featured in the game household names again
It is 20 years since Guitar Hero was launched in North America, and with it, the tools for the everyday gamer to become a rock star. Not literally of course, but try telling that to someone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, published by RedOctane and inspired by Konami’s GuitarFreaks, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller with which to match coloured notes scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Each riff or sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of a genuine performance.
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© Photograph: RedOctane/Harmonix
© Photograph: RedOctane/Harmonix
© Photograph: RedOctane/Harmonix
