After a few weeks of major showcases, this week brought with it some big industry changes. What will the future hold for Xbox with Phil Spencer departing and a new CEO coming in who has little to no experience of the gaming market? It’s been a downward trend for Xbox through this generation as a platform, and we’ll have to see if Microsoft is intent to accelerate this for their broader gaming approach, or if they’ll turn things around.

In the News This Week

• Phil Spencer retires from Xbox with CoreAI exec Asha Sharma taking over as Microsoft Gaming CEO
• Sony to close Bluepoint Games
• Bungie delay Shadow and Order, Destiny 2’s next big update, until June
• Pokémon Fire Red & Leaf Green are coming to the Switch next week!
• Battlefield 6 Season 2 is live, but DICE can’t make more than two maps a season
• Avowed Anniversary Update has arrived alongside the PS5 release
• Call of Duty advert banned due to ‘implied painful penetration of a man’
• Skyrim Switch 2 Update 1.2 brings proper performance fixes and a 60fps mode
• Christopher Judge (Kratos) briefly talks about God of War remakes and his next game

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Games in Review & Featured Articles

Another pretty heavy reviews week is behind us, but there was little that managed to stand out, unfortunately.

• Crisol: Theater of Idols – PS5, XSX|S, PC – 9/10
• Styx: Blades of Greed – PS5, XSX|S, PC – 7/10
• Aerial Knight’s Dropshot – PS5, XSX|S, PC – 6/10
• Don’t Stop Girlypop! – PC – 6/10
• The Prisoning: Fletcher’s Quest – NSW, PC – 6/10
• Gear.Club Unlimited 3 – NSW2 – 5/10
• The 9th Charnel – PC – 5/10

We also had some scored hardware reviews for the Corsair Vanguard Pro 96 keyboard and the enhanced Gamesir G7 Pro Wuchang Edition gamepad, before I delved back into the highs, lows and weirdness of 90s VR with the Virtual Boy for Nintendo Switch.

For upcoming games, I had the chance to checkout Milestone’s anime racer revival, Screamer, as well as the latest tycoon sim, Transport Fever 3, and Dom opined that Battle Vision Network will be the culmination of Capybara’s puzzle game craft, and called Arkheron the battle royale lovechild of Diablo and Hades. Intriguing!

We also had an interview with the developers of Abide, to talk about its new style of horror experience

Rounding out the week, What We Played featured Sons of Sparta, Planet of Lana 2 & Overwatch.

Trailer Park

Slay the Spire 2 is dropping into Early Access in March

Battle Robo-Betty in the latest Mouse PI for Hire trailer

Surprise! Xenoblade Chronicles X just got a Switch 2 upgrade with up to 4K 60fps performance

Your Achievements

Checking in with your gaming, Andrewww has got a few more runs into Blue Prince, but is yet to have it really “click”.

That’s all for the round up this week. Enjoy the weekend and we’ll carry on carrying on on Monday.

I’ve had a great week of gaming this week. I’ve just really enjoyed myself, and a lot of that seems to come down to my returning addiction to Overwatch. The community has blossomed with the introduction of the five new characters, and everything feels somehow fresh and new, while also being reassuringly locked down. I know I enjoyed my time with Highguard, but, with limited competitive gaming time, it’s got to be Overwatch for me. I, perhaps, shouldn’t still be playing it at 1AM, but, what are you going to do? Sleep?

Jason has been playing Skyrim, which he’s playing with mods for the first time. He says, “I’m enjoying the mix of nostalgia and cool new spells a lot. I’ve also been playing more Lort, which is an excellent roguelike which might have broken the balance with the latest character, but I’m not complaining.”

Aran finished The Man Who Erased His Name, which he says, “Was a great Yakuza spin-off. I enjoyed playing as Kiryu and wandering around Osaka playing through a standard over the top Yakuza storyline. The ending was great and very emotional.

Gamoc has been played Styx for review. He also started NG+ in Spidey 2 since it’s on PS+, while also starting Phantom Doctrine, “Because it was £1-odd on Switch.”

Jim has been glued to Red Dead Redemption all week, again. He said, “For the past several hours, I’ve been roaming Mexico, crossing off side quests and challenges before heading back up north. I remember finding this middle act fairly boring during my initial playthrough many years ago though now I have a much greater appreciation for it and clever shift in tone/setting. I’m unsure whether I’ll go for the platinum trophy though I intend to at least finish the main story and Undead Nightmares.”

Laura has been trying out Planet of Lana 2 for review this week – she says, “So far I’ve “squee-ed” (I’m pretty sure that’s a word) at least nine times at how adorable Mui is and “flargh-ed” (yep, that’s a word too) several times at how perfectly tricky the puzzles are! I’ve also been enjoying all the new updated content and improvements to Absolum with Ade – it’s now even better than before!”

Ade confirmed, “Oh yes! Let me tell you, the Absolum devs have clearly been working hard post-launch and have now fixed all of the roguelike related issues I brought up in my review. As a result, Absolum is now more than likely the best side-scrolling beat ’em up I’ve ever played!”

Steve has been writing a heck of a lot this week, while also fitting in some of his own gaming too. He said, ” I managed to spend some quality time playing through Lost Records: Bloom and Rage in an effort to clear some space on my PS5 for a big download which I ended up installing on PC instead. That big download is my current play but I am not allowed to speak of it. I also made a start on Son of Sparta, which is  a perfectly solid search adventure game but hasn’t really got going yet. Aesthetically, it reminds me of a dialled-down Prince of Persia but doesn’t have the fluidity or innovation (especially the map screenshot feature) of Ubi’s most recent iteration. Whilst commuting, I enjoyed finishing Gumball in Trick or Treat Land, a modern GBC JRPG that I’ll have the review up for soon.”

Tef has swanned off to Munich to check out the latest updates to Rennsport, though he’s also spent a lot of this week squinting into the Nintendo Virtual Boy. Fancy!

What about you? What have you played?

The first full week of the year is in the books, and if this is means to carry on… well let’s just say that video games will continue to provide a good bit of escapism. So let’s continue escaping with a quick look at how this week in the games industry has gone.

In the News This Week

• Xbox Developer Direct announced, will feature Fable and Forza Horizon 6
• Ubisoft close a studio weeks after the workers vote to unionise
• Obsidian’s RPG Avowed is coming to PS5 for its first anniversary
• South Park has dropped into Fortnite with a new Quints 5-player playlist
• Starfinder: Afterlight closed beta taking place in February
• Deep Rock Galactic Season 6 is called Relics of Hoxxes, begins January 29th
• PUBG Blindspot enters Early Access on February 5th
• Psychological horror Heart of the Forest release date set for February 12th
• A surprise Dragon Quest VII Reimagined demo is out now

Most Wanted 2026

We’ve blazed a trail through our Most Wanted Games of 2026 lists. Here’s everything from #50 down to #6:

• Most Wanted 2026 – #50 to #46
• Most Wanted 2026 – #45 to #41
• Most Wanted 2026 – #40 to #36
• Most Wanted 2026 – #35 to #31
• Most Wanted 2026 – #30 to #26
• Most Wanted 2026 – #25 to #21
• Most Wanted 2026 – #20 to #16
• Most Wanted 2026 – #15 to #11
• Most Wanted 2026 – #10 to #6

Games in Review & Featured Articles

It’s still pretty lean right now for the start of the year, but alongside Most Wanted we did have a handful of features.

• Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road – PS5, XSX|S. NSW2, PS4, NSW, PC – 9/10
• Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader – NSW2 – 5/10

Dom also strapped a big rumbly Woojer Strap 4 to his chest. Again. He quite likes these things.

Beyond that, I previewed Code Vein 2, and its time-hopping soulslike adventure, and I had an early look at how The Elder Scrolls Online is changing with a new seasonal roadmap.

Rounding out the week, What We Played featured the Dragon Quest VII Reimagined demo, Warhammer 40K Darktide and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.

Trailer Park

Orks get the perfect cinematic trailer for Dawn of War 4

Nintendo serves up a Mario Tennis Fever gameplay deep dive and Baby Waluigi

Romeo Is a Dead Man’s new trailer gives us a bonkers taste of what Grasshopper Manufacture are cooking up

Sneakily watch this 9 minute gameplay video for Styx: Blades of Greed

That’s all for the round up this week. Enjoy the weekend, check in on Most Wanted, and we’ll carry on carrying on on Monday.

I’ve been ill. Wallowing in a horrible flu-ridden morass, and sleeping a hell of a lot. I have had some companions through this Lemsip-flavoured fog, though, and I’ve especially loved my time with Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road. This is a football game that doesn’t feel like a football game, and it’s just a cracking JRPG that happens to feature kicking a ball. Besides that, I’ve been playing the demo for Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, and that’s just lovely, while I’ve been balancing things out with Avatar: Frontier of Pandora’s bombastic newest expansion, From The Ashes.

Gamoc was first up this week, and he’s played Ghost of Yotei, Borderlands 4, and also delved into Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, though he worries, “I’m trapped beneath countless open-world games!”

Jim has been revisiting a couple of his favourites after wrapping up his playthrough Mafia: The Old Country (which was also a great game). He says, “For the first time in many months, I stepped back into the sandbox realm of Calradia for Mount & Blade 2’s War Sails expansion. As the name implies, this DLC is all about naval gameplay, having also introduced a Viking-influenced faction. I’m learning the ropes of how to run my own ship while making lucrative trade runs between cities, hoping to save enough to buy a big ‘ol warship.”

He continues, “I’ve also been playing Warhammer 40,000: Darktide after picking up the post-launch character DLCs. The nimble, punk-styled Hive Scum is fun to play as though I’ve decided to main the Arbites class, channelling my inner Judge Dredd as I dole out justice beneath the Undercity.”

Meanwhile, Aran has played a bit of Star Wars Outlaws, but most of his time has been split between Big Hops and MIO: Memories In Orbit for review.

Ade “thinks” he finished Hades 2 this week. That’s not due to some Roguelike dementia, but rather the difficulty level, saying, “There’s a few challenges remaining but they are well beyond my abilities. All in all, what an incredible game!” He also played ‘real-life’ games, telling us, “My son and I had an epic battle of Warhammer 40k down our local games shop. His Tyranids versus my Battle Sisters, pretty much everyone died after an epic battle, with us drawing on victory points. It was great fun and we’re booked in again for a rematch next week!”

And finally for this week, Tef has been having fun with skirting board in his free time, so hasn’t really carried on from his holiday Switch 2 gaming. And the thing that he has played? He can’t tell you about it until Monday.

What about you? Have you played any New Year games?

It’s felt like a pretty subdued week, with the US focussing on its holiday, and Black Friday sales not being terribly interesting or exciting this time around, to my mind at least. Some good indie game sales, but when the price for a game is only coming down to £35+, it’s harder to get worked up about that. But did you manage to grab any bargains?

Outside of that, I guess we have to give in and accept that it’s Christmas. You could be strict and hold out until Monday, but I’ll be putting up a tree and decorations this weekend.

In the News This Week

Here’s our news from this week

• Dinosaur survival FPS Ferocious is launching on December 4th
• Splitgate 2 relaunches sometime next month, exiting beta for the second time
• Fallout 4 November patch detailed, console players need to take action for mods
• Sega announced discounted and free upgrades for Yakuza 0, Kiwami & Kiwami 2 on PS5, XSX|S & PC
• Battlefield 6 gets is having a free trial
• Dead By Daylight update brings back the Mindbreaker perk
• StarRupture will be getting a co-op playtest in December
• PIONER launches December 16th into Steam Early Access
• Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment free update adds new weapons & challenges this week
• PS Plus December 2025 Monthly Games features LEGO Horizon Adventures in a five game bonanza

Games in Review & Featured Articles

It was mainly all about the reviews this week, as we caught up on some of the biggest game launches from November, so let’s dive in:

• Cross Blitz – PC – 9/10
• GigaSword – PS5, XSX|S, PS4, XBO, NSW, PC – 9/10
• Xenopurge – PC – 8/10
• Lynked: Banner of the Spark – PS5, XSX|S, NSW2, NSW, PC – 8/10
• ARC Raiders – PS5, XSX|S, PC – 7/10
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 – PS5, XSX|S, PS4, XBO, PC – 6/10
• Sweet Surrender – PSVR 2, PC VR, Quest 1-3 – 6/10
• Terrifier: The ARTcade Game – PS5, XSX|S, NSW, PC – 4/10

Beyond that, Dom delivered reviews for the SIVGA Robin SV021 headphones and the Creative Aurvana Ace 3 earbuds – they’re getting a bit too creative with the English language, if you ask me – and I shared a preview of the Hive Scum character DLC for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.

Rounding out the week, What We Played featured Terrifier, Ghost of Yotei & Assetto Corsa Rally.

Trailer Park

Subnautica 2 Voices from Beyond first episode released

Core Keeper: Void & Voltage update and Switch 2 Edition are coming in January

Bandai Namco share a Prologue trailer for Code Vein 2

That’s the round up for this week’s round up. Enjoy the weekend, and we’ll catch you for more gaming shenanigans next week!

It feels like I’ve spent most of this week playing the game ‘avoiding the Christmas crowds’, but I did get to enjoy my own version of Thanksgiving where I just watched NFL for six hours, and didn’t have to think about turkey for another month. In terms of gaming, I’ve been playing a truckload of Octopath Traveler 0, as well as some more Tomb Raider Definitive Edition and Kirby Air Riders. Besides that, I’ve been checking out Assetto Corsa Rally, and messing with GeForce Now across a bunch of platforms to see how it performs.

First up this week, Gamoc has played Sweet Surrender for review, as well as Halls of Torment and Red Dead Redemption 2.

Bizarrely keen to try and take on the Marvel Rivals PlayStation Cup challenge next week, Ade has been practicing by polished off his review of the retro-styled scrolling beat ’em up Marvel Cosmic Invasion. The embargo for that is on Monday, so check out his review then!

Meanwhile, Jim has had a much quieter week. After flitting between a glut of new multiplayer games, he’s back to Ghost of Yotei as he focuses on finishing the main quest.

Aran has been playing Duskpunk for review, which is a mix of Citizen Sleeper meets the rough life in a town full of opportunities and misfortune. Sounds great to me!

Steve has been playing the natural pairing of Terrifier: the Artcade game and Spongebob Square pants: Titans of the Tide. This weird gaming concoction has had mixed results, with Steve telling us, “The first was unfortunately pretty rubbish but the second is a solid, albeit short, 3D platformer” He continued, “With those wrapped, I’ve moved onto an indie space horror that’s been years in the making and is wonderfully atmospheric.”

And finally, Tef has been curling himself up into a ball for an upcoming review, while also dabbling with some upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Darktide DLC, and dipping into some cheap Black Friday sale pick ups, like Loop Hero.

And what about you? Have you played anything this week? Why not tell us about it!