The delay of the next Xbox has affected Microsoft’s plans for Call Of Duty according to an insider, as it considers making Zombies a standalone title.

While neither Microsoft or Sony has announced release dates for their next gen consoles, they were expected in 2027 or 2028, until the worldwide RAM shortage put a spanner in the works.

Just recently, a report claimed Sony is considering pushing back the PlayStation 6’s launch to 2029 or later. It’s unclear if Microsoft will follow suit, but with Xbox Series X/S sales falling off a cliff, it has more reason to launch the next Xbox sooner rather than later.

Now, an insider has claimed that the next Xbox console *has* been impacted by delays, as it was originally going to come out later this year alongside Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.

This comes from Call Of Duty insider TheGhostOfHope, who has leaked many accurate details about Call Of Duty games in the past. In a post on X, they claim the ‘delay on the next Xbox has ‘hurt’ a lot of COD’s marketing plans’ as Microsoft wanted ‘Modern Warfare 4 to be a launch title and draw a lot of hype to compete with people’s attention alongside GTA 6′.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, while not yet announced, is expected to be this year’s instalment. It’s rumoured to be set in Korea, and prior reports (also from TheGhostOfHope) claimed it was being developed for the next gen Xbox for 2026.

The reported delay of the next Xbox, however, has Microsoft considering other possibilities, according to the insider. ‘Because of this delay, the idea of two Call Of Duty games launching with the next Xbox has been floated,’ they wrote. ‘A traditional Call Of Duty multiplayer and a standalone Zombies title, presumably developed by Treyarch.

‘Likely similar to that of Infinite Warfare and Modern Warfare Remastered where both released together.’

Additionally, they add: ‘Microsoft want Activision to be more agile and less attached to annualised releases in the future. The consensus is that a more quick and coherent product/development pipeline would have allowed them to cash in on the extraction shooter hype sooner with a DMZ update for example.’

In a follow-up post, TheGhostOfHope clarifies that Activision isn’t going to stop releasing Call Of Duty titles annually, but that ‘stuff like Zombies/DMZ could become paid standalone’ titles which get ‘multi-year support to stay in people’s minds’.

The idea of separating Zombies into a standalone package does make sense considering how content-packed Call Of Duty games are, but we’re not convinced many people will fork out cash to solely play Zombies – unless Microsoft goes the free-to-play approach like Warzone.

The other big question is whether this will impact the value proposition of mainline Call Of Duty titles if these modes are stripped out. A big selling point for Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7, and most previous games, is its breadth of modes despite the lack of evolution – so without that, people might expect more from the campaign and multiplayer portions.

If Microsoft is trying to synchronise the launch of its next gen console with Call Of Duty, it raises the question of what could be exclusive to Xbox, if anything, to attract players over from camp PlayStation.

Microsoft has said Call Of Duty games will remain on Sony’s console following its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, but it’s possible that a standalone Zombies offering, or something else, could be exclusive to the next Xbox.

Whether any of this is true remains to be seen, but it’s likely whatever plans were in place have not only been changed by the memory shortages but also the sudden change in leadership at Xbox.

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Multiple Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry games are in development, as Ubisoft’s CEO addresses the cancellation of Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time.

Ubisoft has been in trouble for some time now, after a string of flops, but the company made some drastic moves recently to turn its fortunes around.

Following a bailout from Tencent, Ubisoft announced a massive restructuring which will break the company into five ‘creative houses’, including the already launched subsidiary Vantage Studios. This studio owns all of Ubisoft’s biggest IP, namely Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six.

The news of this restructure was bundled with layoffs and a string of cancellations, including the troubled Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time remake. It was unclear what other projects had been cancelled, but four were unannounced titles (including three new IPs), and a mobile game.

Following all this upheaval, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has now clarified what projects are still in development at the company.

In an interview with Variety, Guillemot was asked if there’ll be new game announcements from Vantage Studios soon, where he touched upon Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry.

‘Under the Assassin’s Creed brand, several titles are in development, spanning both single-player and multiplayer experiences, with the ambition to further grow a community that exceeeded 30 million players last year,’ he replied.

One of these projects is likely to be the Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag remake, which has practically been confirmed already. We also already know about several other projects in the series, including the witch-themed Hexe, along with a multiplayer spin-off codenamed AC League (but that was reportedly cancelled earlier this month).

Guillemot went on to confirm Ubisoft has ‘two very promising projects in development’ in regards to Far Cry. One of these will likely be the inevitable Far Cry 7, but the other is more of a mystery. There have been rumours about a multiplayer-focused entry called Project Maverick, which was previously described as an extraction-based shooter.

Beyond these two franchises, Guillemot teased how it is ‘looking forward to talking more about Rayman soon’, following the recent remaster, but also touched upon the cancellation of the Prince Of Persia remake – stating it is still an ‘active’ franchise.

‘While such decisions are never easy, they allow us to concentrate our talent on the highest-potential projects and ensure that every release meets the quality our players expect,’ he said in regards to its cancellation.

‘Prince Of Persia remains a beloved and active brand and continues to play an important role in our Creative Houses portfolio and long-term strategy.’

Elsewhere, Ubisoft confirmed it had ‘several new IPs in progress’ but didn’t share any details about them.

The big question is when these projects will be announced, with the next obvious place being Summer Game Fest in June. However, after all its financial woes, there’s perhaps a greater urgency than ever to get some of these titles out the door.

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If you’re looking to rival ‘hot uncle’ Leon, Capcom has released a bundle for Resident Evil Requiem which bizarrely comes with a pull-up bar.

Resident Evil Requiem is only a week away and if you’re planning on occupying the sofa for the weekend to play through it, Capcom has your back for some guilt-free indulgence.

While most special editions come with lame in-game cosmetics or a SteelBook, Capcom has partnered with e-commerce company Yume Group for a ‘Terrifying Nightmare Set’, that’s exclusive to Japan. Along with a copy of Resident Evil Requiem, the set throws in a… err, pull-up bar.

Based on the comical adverts, it’s done in tongue-in-cheek fashion, as Yume Group’s president Shigehiro Ishida and co-host Yuri Hoshina are cheerfully superimposed into several terrifying sequences from the game. They even offer an alternative use for the bars, as a rail to hang up clothes.

It’s unclear what a pull-up bar has to do with Resident Evil Requiem, but protagonist Grace Ashcroft is seen suspended upside down in the game’s reveal trailer – which is referenced in the advert.

While it appears to be quite random, the Terrifying Nightmare set managed to sell out in less than five hours – so clearly the novelty has worked its magic. The bundle was priced at 19,800 yen, which is around £95. Hey, we’d take it over a damn Mr. Raccoon charm.

Resident Evil Requiem is set to launch on February 27, but some people have managed to get copies early from retailers. In response, Capcom has said it will be removing any footage posted online before release, and warned others from watching any shared clips.

In a post on the Japanese Resident Evil account on X, Capcom wrote (via machine translation): ‘We have identified numerous gameplay videos of Resident Evil Requiem that appear to have been obtained through unauthorised means.

‘For the sake of customers who are looking forward to this title, we ask that you refrain from publishing or posting gameplay videos on video streaming services or social media before the game’s release date.

‘Posting gameplay footage before the game’s release not only infringes on copyright but also upsets other players. We are taking firm action, including removal and warnings, as these videos are discovered. We also ask everyone viewing this post to please refrain from watching or sharing any such videos if you come across them.’

Based on what we’ve played, Resident Evil Requiem is shaping up to be one of the best entries in years. The game is set to launch on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

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Bluepoint Games’ closure is another disastrous repercussion from Sony’s acquisition spree, which has led to multiple studio shutdowns, layoffs, and cancelled games.

This console generation has been defined by unfulfilled expectations, both in how few games actually capitalise on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S hardware, and the output from Sony and Microsoft’s studios.

But the groundwork for this failure was laid the prior generation, when Microsoft started a wave of acquisitions in order to bolster its limited first party slate. In 2018, it bought Compulsion Games, Ninja Theory, Obsidian, InXile Entertainment, Playground Games, and several others, which was followed by Double Fine, ZeniMax Media (including Bethesda), and eventually Activision Blizzard.

This rush of acquisitions, which was also mirrored by Embracer Group, sparked a rush for ownership at Sony. Since 2018, Sony has acquired Insomniac Games, Housemarque, Bungie, Firesprite, and others, many of which were set to serve in the company’s hunt for a live service hit.

As we now know, this chase has been disastrous. The Sony-published Helldivers 2 has been a hit, but developer Arrowhead is independent. When it comes to internally developed games Concord was shut down after two weeks, Fairgame$ and Marathon have suffered heavy delays, and others – such as a Twisted Metal live service game and The Last Of Us Online – have been canned entirely.

Bluepoint Games, who were working on a God Of War live service project before that was cancelled last year, has become the latest casualty from this acquisition-to-Sony mismanagement pipeline. It’s the third recently-acquired studio to be closed by the company over the past two years, following Neon Koi and Concord’s Firewalk Studios.

However, as the list below highlights, it’s emblematic of how Sony has mishandled a lot of its recent acquisitions. There are exceptions, most notably Insomniac Games, but several studios are still yet to launch a game (Firesprite, Valkyrie Entertainment, Haven Studios), while others, like Bungie, have been transformed by widespread layoffs.

Beyond its recent acquisitions, Sony has shut down several other studios over this console generation, including London Studio, the VR-focused Manchester Studio, Japan Studio, and PixelOpus, the team behind Concrete Genie and Entwined.

Additionally, many of its other studios – like Naughty Dog, Bend Studio, and Media Molecule – haven’t released a new game (i.e. not a remake or remaster) in the past five years. Naughty Dog is working on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, but that doesn’t even have a release year yet.

The impact of this devastating pursuit for studio acquistions, and a live service hit, probably won’t slow down anytime soon either. Guerrilla Games is working on a Horizon multiplayer title, while the long-delayed Fairgame$ is still in development at Haven Studios – despite widespread gamer apathy.

Microsoft has been just as brutal when it comes to shutdowns and layoffs, and it hasn’t even got the excuse of chasing live service games. Over the past few years, Xbox has closed an abundance of studios, including The Initiative, Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks (before it was reconsituted by Krafton), Alpha Dog, Roundhouse Games.

It’s also cancelled multiple major projects, including Rare’s Everwild, ZeniMax’s Blackbird, Perfect Dark, Contraband, and more.

Beyond Sony and Microsoft, we’ve seen Embracer Group swallow up and shut down studios in rapid succession. Square Enix Montréal, Volition, Pieces Interactive, and Free Radical Design are just some of the studios we’ve lost in the last few years.

All of this combined has contributed to what feels like a stunted console generation, where corporate greed and failures of leadership have done irreparable damage to the games industry as a whole.

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Nintendo has announced remakes of Pokémon Red and Blue will be released on Switch next week, to coincide with a new Pokémon Presents.

After rumours suggested Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen were set be one of the surprises for Pokémon Day on February 27, Nintendo has now confirmed that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

As announced on Friday morning, the Game Boy Advance remakes of 1996’s Pokémon Red and Blue will launch on Nintendo Switch 1 and 2 on Friday, February 27, shortly after the Pokémon Presents showcase which airs on the same day at 2pm GMT.

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen are download exclusive titles on Switch, so they won’t be part of the Game Boy Advance line-up on Nintendo Switch Online and will instead be sold separately at £16.99 each – a fairly reasonable price considering Nintendo.

While it’s unclear why they are being sold outside of Nintendo Switch Online (aside from, you know, money), it might be related to Nintendo Switch Online’s rewind feature, which would play havoc with the trading mechanics and ruin the tension around shiny hunting.

Additionally, both these titles will support the Pokémon Home cloud service in the future, which would be tricky to implement through a Switch Online app.

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen on Switch will support local wireless multiplayer for battles and trading, but they won’t have online play. As confirmed on an FAQ page, it will support GameChat functionality on Nintendo Switch 2 but otherwise, ‘there are no major difference in how the games perform’ between the two systems.

Based on this Q&A, it seems like these two titles aren’t a sign that more classic Pokémon titles are planned for Switch – or that any other classic games beyond Pokémon will be released separately outside of Nintendo Switch Online.

‘We remain focused on offering classic games through Nintendo Switch Online and Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack,’ a response reads in regards to the Virtual Console’s potential return.

In response to why Nintendo is handling these games differently, it added: ‘In celebration of 30 years of Pokémon, we thought it would be fun to return to the ultimate versions of the original Pokémon adventures in the Kanto region with these special releases.’ Nintendo also confirmed these games will not receive a physical edition on Switch.

Before this announcement, there was no way to play classic Pokémon titles from the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, or Nintendo DS on Switch. In the past, Nintendo made the games available on the 3DS Virtual Console, also as separate digital downloads.

Beyond the announcement of these ports, Nintendo has released music from Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen on the Nintendo Music App – so you can get into the spirit early.

More announcements are expected on Pokémon Day next Friday. Rumours suggest we could see the announcement of the next generation of Pokémon titles.

We might also see more from Pokémon Champions, Pokopia, and a potential release date for re-releases Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale Of Darkness on Nintendo Switch Online.

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Epic Games’ classic shooter Unreal Tournament 2004 has been resurrected by fans, with a new patch to make it run on modern PCs.

Although Epic Games’ most successful title in the modern gaming landscape is Fortnite, before that they were better known for Gears Of War and, before that, the Unreal series of games.

There were originally two flavours of Unreal games, one a primarily single-player first person shooter and the other a series of arena-based multiplayer titles called Unreal Tournament, with the ubiquitous Unreal Engine powering them both.

Unreal appeared in 1998, with Unreal Tournament a year later. Unreal only got one sequel but Tournament proved more popular and eventually hit the big time with the widely popular Unreal Tournament 2004.

There hasn’t been a legitimate way to play Unreal Tournament 2004 since Epic shut all the servers down in January 2023, and delisted the title from stores. However, thanks to fans, the shooter is now back and available to download and play for free.

The plans to revive Unreal Tournament 2004 were announced last year, as part of the OldUnreal community project to revive and update Epic’s early shooters. The community already got Epic’s approval to bring back Unreal Gold and 1999’s Unreal Tournament, and it’s now done the same with the 2004 game.

As for how you can claim the download, there are a couple of steps. The original disc image for Unreal Tournament 2004 is hosted on the Internet Archive, and while OldUnreal isn’t allowed to host the game outright, you can download it using an installer from the archive, hosted on OldUnreal’s website here.

After you’ve downloaded the game, you need to download a community patch via GitHub for Unreal Tournament 2004, which enables it to run on modern operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and Mac.

In the release notes for the patch, OldUnreal project manager Stijn-volckaert wrote: ‘Please note that this is the first public patch for Unreal Tournament 2004 in over 20 years. ‘We have implemented numerous fixes and improvements, written a new SDL backend for Linux and macOS, and even a new renderer.

‘We have also migrated the entire codebase to modern build systems. Some new bugs may have slipped in!’

As a classic of the shooter genre, and for champions of game preservation, it’s good news all round. It’s also a bittersweet reminder of how Epic Games ditched development of the Unreal Tournament series in order to double down on Fortnite.

Although you’d have to say, from their point of view, that was unquestionably the right choice.

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An advert for Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7 has been banned in the UK, after it received nine complaints which believed it trivialised sexual violence.

Call Of Duty is no stranger to controversy, with many of the games purposefully courting it – most notably the No Russian mission from 2009’s Modern Warfare 2. But the series’ adverts are only rarely a point of contention.

In 2012, an advert for Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was banned from being shown during the day, due to scenes of ‘violence and destruction’ but now an advert for Black Ops 7 has been banned entirely in the UK, for ‘trivialising sexual violence’.

The advert in question, which is still available on YouTube (and was also shown on ITV and Channel 5’s on demand services), depicts fake officer ‘replacers’ at airport security, who have been drafted in because the real ones are off playing the game.

In the advert, a male replacer tells a male civilian he has been ‘randomly selected to be manhandled’. He then tells him to strip off, as the other female officer equips a glove and remarks, ‘time for the puppet show’. The final scene sees the man bite down on a handheld security scanner, as the male replacer says, ‘bite down on this, she’s going in dry.’

The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received nine complaints over the advert, who claimed it ‘trivialised sexual violence’ and was ‘irresponsible and offensive’. Another two complaints believed the advert ‘encouraged or condoned drug use’.

In response, Call Of Duty publisher Activision claimed the advert for the 18-rated game was ‘targeted at adult audiences only’ who have a ‘higher tolerance for irreverent or exaggerated humour’. As noted by the ASA, the publisher also said the humour, including the ‘bite down’ line, referred to discomfort rather than sex.

Additionally, Activision said the advert had been reviewed by advertising regulatory body Clearcast and approved with an ‘ex-kids’ timing restriction. They also claim the advert was not broadcast during or around children’s programming or content likely to appeal to anyone under the age of 16.

Despite these arguments, the ASA has banned the advert ‘in its current form’. In its ruling, it said Activision Blizzard were told ‘to ensure that their ads were socially responsible and did not cause serious offence, for example by trivialising sexual violence’.

The ASA ruled that because the advert ‘alluded to non-consensual penetration’ and ‘framed it as an entertaining scenario’, it ‘trivialised sexual violence and was therefore irresponsible and offensive’. However, the ASA found the advert was ‘unlikely to be understood’ as encouraging or condoning drug use, so this complaint was not upheld.

This ‘Airport Security’ advert is one of several live action promo clips created for Black Ops 7, with others showing ‘replacers’ in the roles of astronauts and baristas. The adverts star comedian Nikki Glaser, Terry Crews, and Jake Paul, amongst others.

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Business execs think the memory shortage could impact electronics companies into 2030 and beyond, as Sony and Microsoft prepare to launch next gen consoles.

We’ve recently heard about how the worldwide memory shortage could delay Sony’s launch for the PlayStation 6 and Microsoft’s next Xbox, but its detrimental impact on the games industry could be felt for more than just a year or two.

Ever since late last year, the price of DRAM (dynamic random access memory) has increased due to companies like OpenAI and Google swallowing up resources to build AI data centres. This has left other tech companies to fight over the remaining supply of chips, made by the likes of Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix.

These shortages have already affected companies like Valve, through potential price increases to its upcoming Steam Machine hardware and low supplies of the Steam Deck, but there’s concern this crisis could lead to the end of some tech companies entirely.

In an interview on YouTube earlier this week, Pua Khein-Seng, the CEO of Taiwanese electronics company Phison, claimed the memory shortage will lead to a ‘massive die-off’ in consumer electronics companies, with some potentially going bankrupt as early as this year.

While we can’t verify Khein-Seng’s exact comments in the interview (the YouTube video is in Chinese, with no English subtitles available), his answers have been summarised by X user 駿HaYaO and translated by PC Gamer.

駿HaYaO wrote: ‘From the end of this year to 2026, many system vendors will go bankrupt or exit product lines due to a lack of memory. Mobile phone production will be reduced by 200-250 million units, and PC and TV production will be significantly reduced.’

Khein-Seng further claims that memory manufacturers are ‘demanding three years’ worth of pre-payment’, which is apparently unprecedented in the electronics industry. It’s said these memory manufacturers ‘internally estimate the shortage will last until 2030, or even for another 10 years’.

According to this summary, Khein-Seng doesn’t name any specific companies at risk, but he does state ‘large numbers of low-margin brands will exit’ in the second half 2026, and ‘low-end products will disappear’.

While neither Sony or Microsoft could be described as a ‘low-margin brand’, it’s possible these shortages could impact both of them in a significant way.

In fact, in its financial results from earlier this month, Sony chief financial officer, Lin Tao, explained how the company plans to offset rising memory costs by focusing on ‘monetising the installed base’, and growing software and network services revenue.

Tao doesn’t spell out any specific plans but, based on the verbiage, it certainly sounds like price hikes for PlayStation Plus subscriptions are in contention, along with releasing more games, and any other ways of rinsing cash from existing PlayStation 5 owners.

We’ll have to wait and see if this memory shortage will have significant consequences for the games industry in the long term, but for now, the early signs are very worrying.

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Copies of Resident Evil Requiem have appeared in the wild over a week before launch, so you’re going to have to start dodging spoilers.

As is tradition with almost every highly-anticipated game, copies of Resident Evil Requiem have made their way into people’s hands before launch.

Capcom’s successor to Resident Evil Village, which stars new protagonist Grace Ashcrof, alongside returning ‘hot uncle’ Leon S. Kennedy, is set to launch on February 27, 2026. However, photos, which have since been taken down, have emerged showing physical copies in the wild.

Additionally, gameplay videos have been shared online (we won’t post them here), which have been clipped from a Twitch stream of the game. While it appears evidence of the stream has been swiftly removed, it’s clear some copies have leaked early to the public.

Resident Evil leaker Dusk Golem, who outed Leon’s presence in Resident Evil Requiem months ago, claims they can ‘personally verify there is at least one person out there who bought Resident Evil Requiem from a store selling early’, but doesn’t specify who.

In another post on X, they added: ‘I will say this is likely you’re last chance to go on blackout for Resident Evil Requiem leaks. Nothing major has leaked yet, I believe some of what’s floating around is fake… some[one] was streaming the game, but already taken down and not much spoilers came of it.

‘But what’s out there will only increase. Game is 100% in the wild right now, so really if you wanna dip from spoilers, now’s the time to do so.’

If you’re looking to dodge spoilers, we’d advise muting all words related to ‘Resident Evil’ or ‘Requiem’ on social media platforms. Alternatively, fly yourself to an island and take a digital detox for the next nine days. Your boss will understand.

It’s unclear why these leaks consistently occur, with every publisher, since it would seemingly be a simple thing to prevent anyone from playing the game online before the launch date (sometimes when we review a title we have to have our online account whitelisted for that very reason).

It’s not certain whether that’s something only a console manufacturer can do – i.e. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo – but they never bother for their own titles, let alone anyone else’s.

Based on what we’ve played at previews, Resident Evil Requiem is shaping up to be a strong entry in the series. Along with PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, the game is also set to launch day one on the Nintendo Switch 2.

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The developer behind Highguard has explained why the game’s website is offline, as a report reveals it had financial backing from Tencent.

After a tumultuous run-up to release, and despite some strong launch numbers, Highguard’s future prospects have soured significantly in the weeks since it debuted.

The free-to-play shooter’s dwindling post-launch numbers led developer Wildlight Entertainment to lay off the majority of its staff last week, leaving only a ‘core group of developers’ to continue to support the title. While the game isn’t shutting down, with a full year of DLC planned, its future isn’t looking bright.

If there was already a negative stink around Highguard, it only became more pungent when the game’s official website mysteriously went offline earlier this week – sparking further fears of a potential shutdown.

At the time of writing, the website has been down for over 17 hours. A placeholder error message reads: ‘This site is currently unavailable’, with an email address linked below it for players who require ‘assistance’.

While it naturally rang alarm bells, a developer in Highguard’s Discord has since claimed the website is down because it ‘needs to be transferred and simplified’, but they’re ‘not sure on the timeframe’ because it’s a ‘low priority’ at the studio.

‘Low priority at the moment (reputational damage already done),’ a message from the developer reads (via Rebs Gaming). ‘Now we just need to focus on delivering updates and content to improve.’

It’s unclear why the website needs to be transferred or simplified, or why it would be switched off entirely if they’re not actively working on it, so it’s not exactly a reassuring response. GameCentral has reached out to Wildlight for further clarification.

Shortly after the website went offline, a report on Stephen Totilo’s Game File raised questions around Highguard’s financial support. According to the newsletter, Chinese technology conglomerate Tencent, specifically its TiMi Studio Group, was an undisclosed financial backer for Wildlight.

Tencent has investments in a range of gaming companies, including Ubisoft, Riot Games, Bloober Team, and many others, so it’s involvement perhaps isn’t surprising.

However, it’s unclear why it wasn’t made public beforehand, especially as Wildlight made a point to advertise itself as being entirely free of big publisher involvement and interference.

This financial backing might be the reason why Highguard is still active despite its low player count, but it remains to be seen if the studio can turn its fortunes around in the months to come.

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A Fallout TV show countdown has sparked new game speculation, but don’t expect a shadow drop of the rumoured Fallout 3 remaster.

One of the worst kept secrets in gaming is a remaster of Fallout 3, which was first outed three years ago in leaked Microsoft documents.

Last year’s launch of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, which was also leaked in the same documents, has only reaffirmed its existence. While we have no idea of when the remaster will be officially announced, some are pinning their hopes on a mysterious countdown which has popped up on a Fallout TV show promotional site.

The website, created by Amazon, sports the same classic green-tinted look as the game’s menus, and features several widgets you can interact with to explore locations or solve cryptic puzzles on terminals.

In the top right-hand corner though, there is a locked widget with a countdown to February 4, 2026. This is when the finale of Fallout season two is set to drop, leading some people to (optimistically) believe it could be tied to some sort of new game announcement.

Reliable insider NateTheHate responded to some of the speculation on X, reaffirming thatthe Fallout 3 remaster does exist, but that he is ‘not certain of a reveal window for it’.

According to Windows Central’s Jez Corden, the countdown isn’t for a new Fallout game or remaster. However, he also states a new version of Fallout 3 ‘in the vein of Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered’ is on the way, ‘as well as Fallout: New Vegas on top’.

Corden further claims developer Obsidian, the creators of Fallout: New Vegas, has four projects in the works, ‘some big some small’. However, it’s unclear if any of them are Fallout related (the only one we do know about is Grounded 2, which debuted in early access last year).

This isn’t the first time Corden has talked about a Fallout: New Vegas remaster. He claimed it was on the way in November last year, but if a Fallout 3 remaster is coming too, it’s unclear if Fallout: New Vegas will be bundled with it at the same time, or arrive at a later date.

Corden uses the terms remaster and remake interchangeably, but nothing so far, from him or any other sources, suggests anything beyond the scope of Oblivion Remastered.

A remaster, or remake, of Fallout: New Vegas, widely regarded as one of the best games in the series, has been discussed at Obsidian for years. We’ll have to wait and see if it will come to fruition, but considering the success of Amazon’s Fallout show, it seems more likely than ever.

But if the timer’s not for a game, what could the Amazon countdown relate to? The Fallout show has already been renewed for a third season, but considering the website is filled with 3D tours of specific locales, we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s something related to an as-yet unseen location in the show.

We’re set to learn more about Microsoft’s slate for this year at it’s next planned Developer Direct, which is expected to air in late January.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer previously stated that Forza Horizon 6, Fable, and Gears Of War: E-Day are all set to come out in 2026, to mark Xbox’s 25th anniversary, but so far nobody at Microsoft or Bethesda has said anything substantial about Fallout remasters.

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Arc Raiders was the biggest seller on Steam over Christmas but you’re never going to guess what was number two.

The Christmas break is the perfect time to pick up a bargain in the sales, whether it’s the PlayStation Store, Nintendo eShop, or Steam.

These discounts can lead to a sharp spike in sales and, for Steam especially, it was a very lucrative month. According to Alinea Analytics, Steam had its highest-grossing December ever in 2025, with the storefront generating $1.6 billion (£1.18 billion) in gross revenue.

This figure is 22.7% higher than December 2024, and is even above the pandemic highs of December 2020, where revenue soared to $1.4 billion (£1 billion).

As for what games sold the most during that period, Arc Raiders ruled the roost in terms of copies sold. Between December 21 and January 4, during the Steam Winter sale, the extraction shooter sold 1.2 million copies.

Arc Raiders’ popularity has stayed strong since it launched in October last year, but these sales were boosted by a 20% discount. According to Alinea Analytics, the shooter has now surpassed 12 million copies sold across all platforms since launch, with 7 million copies sold on Steam alone.

The second biggest-seller on Steam, between December 21 and January 4, was much less predictable tough: 2018’s Detroit: Become Human, which sold 993,000 copies during this period. Developed by Quantic Dream, it’s a choice-based sci-fi adventure with all the narrative subtlety of a wrecking ball.

Detroit: Become Human was a massive 90% off during the Steam Winter Sale, bringing it down to $4 (£3.40) in the US. The concurrent player count surged to record highs as well, due to this discount, with over 25,000 people playing the title on Steam on January 4, 2026 (via SteamDB).

Aside from the very cheap price, it’s unclear why so many people gravitated towards Detroit: Become Human over any other title in the sale. It does have an ‘overwhelming positive’ rating on Steam, although how it managed that feat we’re not sure.

The other top titles during this period on Steam were the co-op climber PEAK, open world survival title Icarus, and Battlefield 6. The latter, which was 30% off, sold 706,000 copies.

Quantic Dream hasn’t released a game since Detroit: Become Human, but it is working on several titles. Star Wars Eclipse is believed to be another adventure game, at least somewhat in the style of the dev’s previous titles, but Spellcasters Chronicles is a free-to-play shooter which had a closed beta last month.

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A new mystery has been discovered in Red Dead Redemption 2, that’s been in the game ever since it launched, and it might have connections to GTA 5.

Rockstar is known for creating highly detailed open worlds, and teasing fans with Easter eggs, but a new discovery in Red Dead Redemption 2 has sent players into a tizzy.

It’s been over seven years since Red Dead Redemption 2 came out, in 2018, and the western epic has continued to be popular ever since – mostly thanks to Red Dead Online mode and the breadth of its open world landscape.

While you’d think the game had long ago given up all its secrets, a newly discovered mystery involving spider webs and telegraph poles has sparked a feverish hunt within the game’s community.

This all began with a Reddit post from FL4VA-01 last month, who highlighted a spider web pattern on a telephone pole on the edge of Saint Denis. Weirdly, the pattern only appears at 3am in-game time and disappears at 4am.

Since then, and as encapsulated in a video by YouTuber Strange Man, players have discovered the same web on several other telegraph poles across the map. All these poles have a spider symbol on them and when placed over the game’s map, the end of each of the symbol’s legs correlates with where each webbed telegraph pole appears.

When you head to the centre of where this symbol sits on the map, players found another web on a tree with an ‘N’ written on it. This led players to head north where they found another pole which, when shot, has instructions to head five poles west.

After heading west, players found another pole with a ‘NW’ symbol and a guitar icon, which many took as a hint to head towards a guitar in Fort Wallace. However, players are now stuck trying to find the next clue – with some believing it relates to two bird symbols etched into a roof tile.

It’s thoroughly bonkers stuff, yet the evidence is pretty convincing. Players have verified this has been in the game from the start too, so it’s not something that’s been added recently, but whether it leads to anything of significance remains to be seen.

If you’re not convinced, there are actually spider webs in GTA 5 which similarly only appear at specific hours at two different locations, but they don’t appear to be connected to anything – or at least they haven’t sparked any treasure hunt comparable to this one in Red Dead Redemption 2.

For now, we’ll have to see if players can solve this mystery before the arrival of GTA 6, which is set to launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19, 2026.

Red Dead Redemption 3 would presumably be their next game after that but if these clues have been in the game from the start they can’t be a hint about that.

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The controversial final battle in Stranger Things is littered with gaming references, according to the show’s creators, with Baldur’s Gate 3 a major inspiration.

As a show built around 1980s nostalgia, Stranger Things and video games have been intertwined ever since the series began in 2016.

Many episodes, across all five seasons, have featured nods to classic games from the era, with the second season memorably featuring arcade cabinets for Dig Dug and Dragon’s Lair. This continues in the fifth and final season, where Derek is seen playing Ghosts ‘N Goblins on the NES, and Steve Harrington’s skills on Duck Hunt are used as a punchline.

But now, the show’s creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, have explained how the final battle with Vecna and the Mind Flayer was inspired by the much more recent Baldur’s Gate 3.

Speaking to Variety about the staging of the climactic fight in the two hour final episode, Matt Duffer said: ‘We were thinking about [Dungeons & Dragons] and I was playing Baldur’s Gate 3 at the time, and we felt it was very important that the only way for them to defeat it was for the entire party to work together.

‘Everyone had fully realised – either through self-acceptance or they’ve resolved all their various issues – moving into that final battle, they’re absolutely primed. They’re the ultimate team, and it’s the party working all together to defeat this thing.

‘And they each have their own individual skills, right? And that’s where I go back to Dungeons & Dragons, and something like Baldur’s Gate. Because that’s how you take down these monsters that seem otherwise unstoppable. Lots of video game references were applied to that final battle.’

As Baldur’s Gate 3 is an adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons, which is a key inspiration for Stranger Things, it’s unsurprising to hear Larian’s role-player had some influence on the show – even if a party coming together to defeat the big bad isn’t exactly unique to that game.

While it’s unclear what other game references are in the final battle, the overall setup is very reminiscent of a final boss fight. In the battle (spoilers ahead), a large group of the core cast go up against the Mind Flayer and Vecna in the Abyss (a term borrowed from Dungeons & Dragons).

All the characters get a moment to shine, and at one point Mike, Lucas, Robin, and Jonathan climb a cliff to bombard the spider-like beast – with the staging very reminscent of a classic video game boss fight.

The Baldur’s Gate 3 nod has since caught the attention of Larian CEO Swen Vincke, who shared an article with Matt Duffer’s comments on X, adding: ‘That’s pretty cool.’

As revealed last month, Larian’s next game after Baldur’s Gate 3 is Divinity. While there’s no confirmed release date, it’s the seventh game in the series, following 2017’s acclaimed Divinity: Original Sin 2.

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Microsoft has revealed what the biggest third party game on Xbox Game Pass is this year, and the answer might not come as a surprise.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate’s perception as the best deal in gaming has been damaged this year thanks to price hikes, but it’s still home to many great games.

If you’re subscribed to the highest tier on Xbox or PC, you can access many titles as they come out at launch, with the likes of Halo: Campaign Evolved and Forza Horizon 6 both due to hit the service when they arrive in 2026.

Beyond games published by Xbox themselves, some third party titles are also available on day one, with this year seeing the likes of Blue Prince, The Alters, and Rematch all hitting the service at launch.

However, none of these have take the crown for the biggest third party launch on Xbox Game Pass in 2025. That accolade, perhaps unsurprisingly, goes to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

As announced in an Xbox Wire post, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 took the title of the ‘biggest new third party game launch’ on the service this year, which is based on the number of unique users within its first 30 days.

Annoyingly though, there aren’t any exact numbers or a description of what this specific phrasing encapsulates.

We’re assuming it doesn’t include any titles from Activision or Bethesda, considering they’re now owned by Microsoft, which does eliminate a lot of competition, such as The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, Doom: The Dark Ages, and Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7.

Either way, for an IP which was unheard of prior to this year, it’s still an impressive accolade – especially when titles like Hollow Knight: Silksong, with years of anticipation behind it, also came out in 2025.

Speaking about the Game Pass record, the game’s creative director, Guillaume Broche, credited the subscription service for allowing the game to reach a broader audience. ‘The turn-based RPG genre has a lot of fans but sometimes it might put people who prefer more real-time action games off, but Game Pass lowered that barrier of entry,’ he said.

‘They could just try it and see how it feels. So a lot of curious players could start the game, explore Lumiere and the early game, and realise there’s a lot to enjoy here, even if they weren’t expecting it at first.’

This looks set to be the first of many accolades for Clair Obscur Expedition 33. The French role-player is nominated for a record 12 nominations at this year’s The Game Awards, including Game Of The Year, which is more than The Last Of Us Part 2 and Zelda: Breath Of The Wild received.

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You can play any game online for free this weekend on PS5 and PS4 thanks to a new Sony promotion, but the times are quite specific.

It’s been over two years since Sony last increased the price of certain PS Plus subscriptions, but it has warned another might be on the horizon in the near future.

If you’ve already been priced out of a subscription, which allows you to play games like Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7 and Arc Raiders online, you’re in luck this weekend.

Sony has announced a free online multiplayer weekend for PlayStation 4 and 5 players starting from Saturday, December 6, which will span 48 hours in total.

When does the free PS Plus online multiplayer weekend start and end?

As highlighted by Sony, the promotion kicks off at 12.01am local time on Saturday, December 6, and runs until 11.59pm on Sunday, December 7.

During that window, you can play any online games you already own for free, so if you’ve already got Battlefield 6, for example, you can squeeze a few rounds in without needing to pay for PS Plus.

It’s important to note this free weekend will not allow you to redeem games available at the PS Plus Essential tier this month, and only applies to the online multiplayer functionality.

Another note for those unaware, you don’t need a PS Plus subscription to play free-to-play games online, such as Fortnite or Apex Legends, so take advantage of this offer by diving into something else on your digital shelf.

The PS Plus Essential line-up this month is more stacked than usual, with five games instead of the usual three. These include the excellent Neon White, Lego Horizon Adventures, Killing Floor 3, The Outlast Trials, and Synduality Echo Of Ada.

If you’re subscribed to the PS Plus Essential tier, you’ll be able to claim all these games from now until January 6, 2026. If you add the games to your account during this time, you’ll always have access to them as long as you have an active subscription.

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A new clip from Resident Evil Requiem has emerged, showing the return of traditional zombies, but they’ll be back in a different form.

Resident Evil Requiem is less than three months away and while we’ve seen plenty of action, showing the new stalker enemy and new protagonist Grace Ashcroft, Capcom hasn’t revealed much else.

It’s unclear if Leon S. Kennedy will make a return, as rumours claim, or how the game will be structured overall. Director Koshi Nakanishi, however, has stated that, in terms of its balance between horror and action, the ninth mainline entry will be closer to Resident Evil 2 than Resident Evil 4.

It remains to be seen how that will play out exactly, but based on new footage, the influence of Resident Evil 2 remake is certainly clear in terms of the zombies.

The clip comes from a documentary titled Legendary Games Chronicle: Biohazard, which aired on the Japanese TV network NHK. While it predominantly focuses on the series at large, a small snippet features new gameplay from Resident Evil Requiem.

The 30-second clip shows Capcom developers playing a sequence where Grace is shooting a classic-looking zombie, before it lurches forward in an attack animation reminiscent of the 2019 remake.

This is the first time we’ve seen proper zombies in the sequel. Capcom did confirm zombies will feature in the game during a panel at the Tokyo Game Show, but they apparently won’t be as traditional as they first appear.

According to reports from the panel, zombies in Resident Evil Requiem can undergo mutations in the middle of a fight, making them faster and more aggressive. While it’s unclear how this will play out, it does sound similar to the spider-like plagas from the Resident Evil 4 remake.

Aside from the remakes, traditional zombies have been absent from mainline Resident Evil games since 2013’s Resident Evil 6. Resident Evil 7 featured Molded monsters, while the last entry, Resident Evil Village, featured werewolves, vampire-like giants, and mutated babies.

It’s unclear how prominent zombies will be in Resident Evil Requiem, but it will be set in Raccoon City 30 years after its destruction in Resident Evil 3 – so all signs suggest it will harken back to the original trilogy for its enemy designs.

Resident Evil Requiem will launch across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC on February 27, 2026. A remake of Resident Evil Zero is rumoured to be in development, but hasn’t been confirmed yet.

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A prominent Fortnite leaker has revealed details of a collaboration with South Park, including a comeback mechanic involving Kenny.

Fortnite has collaborated with practically every popular IP at this point, with The Simpsons, Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, and Stranger Things all getting the spotlight in some form over the past few months.

In terms of American animated shows, The Simpsons, Rick And Morty, King Of The Hill, and Family Guy have all featured in the battle royale in some capacity, but the one key omission for years has been South Park.

A South Park crossover in Fortnite has been rumoured since October this year, but a reliable leaker, HypeX, has now revealed the first details of what it will involve.

South Park x Fortnite is described as a ‘big collab’ by the leaker, which will feature at least one boss on the map, a Stick Of Truth mythic item, some kind of consumable, along with a rift anomaly titled ‘Everyone Kills Kenny’.

Rift anomalies are a new feature in the recently launched Fortnite Chapter 7, which modify the rules by granting powerful buffs or items to everyone in a match. According to fellow Fortnite leaker ShiinaBR on X, this Kenny anomaly will allow players to respawn after death – in reference to how he always comes back in the show.

While ‘multiple skins’ are promised in the South Park crossover, they will apparently be the much-derided mech skins. Like the recent Bart Simpson skin, or Mecha Morty from years prior, Fortnite has a habit of putting smaller characters, which don’t match the average proportions, into mech suits so there’s no strategic advantage.

It’s become the common way to get around the hit box issue, and while understandable, they always look a bit rubbish. If Stan, Cartman, Kyle, and Kenny all get mech suits though, hopefully there’ll be some normal skins of the adults in the show – such as Randy Marsh or Mr Garrison.

It’s unclear when the South Park collaboration will be released, but leaker SamLeakss has said it’ll arrive at some point this month as part of Chapter 7. A Lego Ninjago crossover is set to debut on December 11, alongside a Playboi Carti skin. A collaboration with Harry Potter is also slated to happen as part of Winterfest, according to leaks.

While South Park hasn’t yet appeared in Fortnite, the show has seen several video game adaptations over the years. The last one was South Park: Snow Day, but the most celebrated are 2014’s The Stick Of Truth and its sequel, The Fractured But Whole.

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Nintendo has released a new update for Mario Kart World, with custom item options and new course layouts for intermission tracks.

Mario Kart World may have launched in a flawed state, but Nintendo has gradually rolled out updates to address issues in the months since then.

These updates have improved the free roam mode, added online matchmaking to Knockout Tour, and reverted changes made to the frequency of traditional three lap races, among other minor fixes. However, there are still some irritations, like the overwhelmingly cluttered character select screen and the lack of a soundtrack jukebox.

Nintendo has now rolled out another update for Mario Kart World, and while those specific complaints haven’t been addressed, there are some surprising additions, which might be indicative of future updates to come.

The most unexpected change are altered layouts for certain intermission courses – specifically routes to and from Koopa Troopa Beach.

These include new obstacles across the water sections, with vines you can grind across and jumps, and some new turns (as disocvered by X user MaritheKity) to liven up the dull stretches of straight road.

Additionally, on any course heading toward Koopa Troopa Beach, you’ll now have to complete two laps of the circuit at the end instead of one – presumably because it is the shortest track in the game. These updates only apply to local Vs Race and Online Play.

While it’s unclear if Nintendo is planning to revamp other tracks in Mario Kart World, it’s an interesting way to tackle the problem some people have with the relatively straight, and uninteresting, intermission courses around the open world.

The update includes some other notable additions too. There’s now the ability to add custom item rules across Vs Race, battle modes, and private online matches, which will please any masochist who fancies blue shell-only races.

A side effect of custom items is it’s now easier to unlock certain characters tied to the Kamek item. To unlock characters like Spike or Chargin’ Chuck, you’d previously have to be transformed into the character through the Kamek item in races by your opponents, or, following an update, suck up these characters into the UFO in free roam.

Now, you can simply do a Vs Race with only the Kamek item activated. Some players have already shown how chaotic it can be in social media clips, but it’s certainly the quickest way to unlock all the minor side characters, like Peepa and and Pianta, in one messy swoop.

Other additions include a new music volume feature, the ability to see music track names in the pause menu, and when in a group online, you can now choose whether to play against anyone in the world or just players in your party with custom rules.

The full patch notes are here but while some of these features should have been in the game to begin with, it’s a welcome update and shows Nintendo is listening to some of the fan feedback.

The big question is when Nintendo will announce inevitable DLC for Mario Kart World, with the next Nintendo Direct likely not happening until early next year. The credits for Donkey Kong Bananza suggested two new characters are planned, but nothing has been officially announced.

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CD Projekt has reaffirmed plans to release three Witcher games within six years, as Cyberpunk 2077 hits a big sales milestone.

The Witcher 4 might be nominated for the Most Anticipated Game at this month’s The Game Awards, but don’t expect it to launch anytime soon.

CD Projekt previously said the sequel, the start of a new trilogy, will not be released before 2027. The studio’s co-CEO Michal Nowakowski has now reaffirmed this in a financial call, while committing to its plan to release all three Witcher games in the planned trilogy within a six year period.

While this might sound ambitious at a time when AAA games are taking longer to develop than ever, Nowakowski cites the studio’s progress using Unreal Engine 5 as a key reason why it should be possible.

‘In a way, yes, I do believe that further games should be delivered in a shorter period of time – as we had stated before, our plan still is to launch the whole trilogy within a six year period, so yes, that would mean we would plan to have a shorter development time between [The Witcher 4] and [The Witcher 5], between [The Witcher 5] and [The Witcher 6] and so on…,’ Nowakowski said.

So if The Witcher 4 does launch in 2027, that means The Witcher 5 and The Witcher 6 could arrive in 2030 and 2033, respectively. This is the best case scenario though, as there’s every chance The Witcher 4 doesn’t arrive until 2028 (or CD Projekt decides to abandon this plan entirely).

This seems an extraordinarily short amount of time to make a giant game like this, especial as CD Projekt made no mention of AI. Perhaps all three games will be set in the same open world, but even so it’s a completely different time frame to every other big name developer working at the moment.

‘As we have already stated, The Witcher 4 is in the full-scale production phase,’ Nowakowski added. ‘We’re not disclosing any details regarding the target release date, so there’s not a point in time I could refer to when answering such a question. The only thing we’re commenting is that we’re not launching in 2026…’

Along with The Witcher 4, a remake of the first Witcher game is in development at developer Fool’s Theory. CD Projekt refused to comment when asked about a potential release date for the remake, but it’s possible it could launch next year as a stop-gap.

While The Witcher 4 is in full production, CD Projekt is also in pre-production on the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077. In the earnings call, the developer confirmed the original game has sold over 35 million copies since it launched on December 10, 2020.

CD Projekt might have news in store for Cyberpunk 2077’s fifth anniversary too. In a post on the game’s official X account, it made a point to highlight the game’s upcoming anniversary on December 10, suggesting some kind of announcement will take place.

The post also shows several in-game character birthdays in December – Solomon Reed and So Mi Song – but considering the same account has done this for other characters in recent months, it’s likely those dates are not signficiant.

It’s unclear what could be announced to celebrate Cyberpunk 2077’s fifth birthday, but some fans are hoping for another sizeable update, like patch 2.3 in July.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners season two doesn’t have a release date yet either, so it could turn it into a showcase for other media in the Cyberpunk universe. Either way, we wouldn’t expect too much.

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