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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The Monday letters page continues to celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Legend Of Zelda, as one reader wonders if Far Cry has fans.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Turn and face the strain
Just seen the news about Phil Spencer leaving Xbox and I don’t know what to say really. He should’ve left at least five years ago, as far as I’m concerned, but the person coming in sounds much worse. If it was some boring accountant type I wouldn’t worry so much, but someone whose last big thing was AI? And they’re at Microsoft? It’s going to be slop around the clock.

The best case scenario is that she admits she doesn’t know anything about games, just business, and gets in a bunch of new people to handle the details. But the fact that she promoted Matt Booty sounds like the worst possible first move, as I’d say he was even worse than Spencer.

We’ll see what happens – it’s not like any of us can influence any of this – but this is long overdue and I really don’t know if the Xbox brand can be saved now.
Gaston

Welcome competition
Somehow I doubt Sony is going to be quaking in its boots right now, at the news of Xbox’s new boss. Sounds like Microsoft decided that they’d gone with a gamer as the boss before so now let’s go with the exact opposite. I can kind of see the logic but at the same time… that’s not going to work out is it?

How’s someone that knows nothing about gaming going to make sensible decisions about Halo or funding some new game or whatever? I don’t know, maybe it is better they know nothing, since they could hardly have done worse than Spencer in recent years, but it doesn’t seem a good starting point.

I’ll admit I haven’t played an Xbox game since the Xbox 360 so I don’t really have any skin in this game but I don’t think anyone would argue that PlayStation 5 couldn’t do with some more serious competition, to wake them up too.
Focus

Touring circuit
So Phil Spencer has finally left Xbox and, of course, the news comes out in the most skeevy way possible, at the weekend when most people will miss it and the guy is leaving on Monday? That doesn’t sound like a respected veteran finally hanging up his spurs. That sounds like someone getting frogmarched out the building by security, the second the boss reads him his rights.

Normally I’d say we’ll never find out what actually happened but maybe we will with Microsoft, since most everything else usually leaks out from them. My guess is that the head of Microsoft had had enough and Spencer had too.

The guy must be a multi-millionaire by now. If I was him I’d leave it all behind me too and buy a brewery somewhere. Can’t wait for him to start doing the interview rounds in a few years, where everyone has to treat him like some business genius and not the guy that killed Xbox.
Wotan

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No rush
I played Red Dead Redemption 2 this weekend. It’s a game I go back to every so often but not because I love it more than the rest of my games. Not because I’ve beaten it and love the story and gameplay. It’s due to the fact I’ve been playing it since 2018 and still haven’t got round to finishing it. I did manage to complete a new mission and have reached 36% on the story.

I just think this game is like a mood. It’s so chilled out when not in gunfights. The hunting and fishing keeps me occupied. I don’t feel pushed to finish it. There is no urgency. Red Dead Redemption 2 might be the game I’ve owned the longest and not finished. I’ve beaten Minecraft and not Red Redemption 2?

Anyone else have a long-term project like this?
Bobwallett

GC: If it took you this long to get a third of a way through it then you should finish it sometime around 2042.

Far Cry fan club
Far Cry 6 feels like such a long time ago now, I was bit surprised to find out it wasn’t much more than four years. I think that was when Ubisoft lost their way, when that flopped they seemed to give up on everything except Assassin’s Creed… and live service games, of course.

I don’t know what they’re going to do for the next game, to try and make it special, but I don’t think being away for a while is going to be a big enough draw. Games like Far Cry are popular but they’re not the sort of thing people are fans of, I wouldn’t have thought. I mean, we’re not talking Zelda or Resident Evil here.

Or maybe I’m wrong and there’s a big following for Far Cry 6 and… whatever it was about and whoever the characters were. (It was set in Cuba, wasn’t it?)
Cuit

GC: It was a fictional country inspired by Cuba.

Seeing red
I bought the cardboard Virtual Boy ‘headset’ and I’ve been playing the games over the weekend and all I can say is… why is it all red?

That sounds a bad idea before you even try it and when you do it’s just as bad as you think. Like you said in your review, it’s like it’s been raining blood or everything is set on Mars or something.

Even so, I did enjoy trying out all these weird games I’d never heard of before and would certainly never have played any other way. I can’t say I particularly liked any of them, but Wario Land was okay, even though it was a bit slow. It was fun to see the ‘other platforms in the background’ gimmick though, which Nintendo has used in a bunch of games since.

I look forward to playing the other games, especially the cancelled F-Zero one, in the future and even if they’re terrible, I like that it feels that you’re getting this glimpse into a secret world.

Star Fox 2 was good like that too. You could absolutely see why they canned it, but it was interesting getting to play it all the same.
Austin

GC: Red LEDs are cheaper than other colours is the simplest answer.

Marketing decision
I’ve just seen the banned ad for Call Of Duty and I can’t believe anyone would of thought that was a good idea.

I’d like to know if Activision or Xbox gave the greenlight and said, ‘Yes, that’s a good ad, let’s show it.’ I never thought either of them would of made an ad like that and I’m not surprised it got banned.’
David

GC: It would’ve been someone at Activision.

Lucky accident
That was a great Reader’s Feature at the weekend about Zelda’s 40th anniversary, kudos to Rhion for writing it.

My journey with the Zelda franchise is a little odd. I was about 14 years old and ordered The Legend Of Zelda 2: The Adventure Of Link from my mum’s catalogue, on the promise I would pay her back £2 a week from my paper round money until it was paid off.

After all, number 2 is always going to be better than number 1 right? At least that’s what my 14-year-old brain was telling me.

The game arrived.

I got home from school only to find that the catalogue had sent me a substitute game. The original Legend Of Zelda.

I was a little bit gutted and went on my paper round mulling over whether to send it back and wait another two weeks or not at all?

I got home and, as kids do, I had no capacity to wait for another game so I fired it up in my trusty old NES and the rest was history.

On the future of the Zelda games… I’m not completely enamoured by the open world template of Breath Of The Wild and Tears Of A Kingdom, yeah I said it.

I prefer the much more linear titles but if they do go open world again and it’s probably a dead certainty due to the money it brings in.

I would like to see them leave from the skies and head for the sea.

Sailing vast open oceans while learning to plunge new depths and discover new islands. Yes, I know very The Wind Waker-ish but it’s not really been done in a 3D Zelda title since then and that’s been a good 25 years now.

If they used the original Zelda as inspiration for Breath Of The Wild then there is no reason not to use another title as a platform to push off.
freeway 77

Inbox also-rans
In response to Biter and Mario Kart Arcade, where is he playing it for only £1? The arcades near me in Merry Hill and Birmingham are charging 3 quid a turn!
LeeDappa

So are we really expecting the next mainline Pokémon games to be announced this week? I guess that gets that out of the way, but it seems an awful lot of Pokémon games are already on Switch 2 and we still don’t have a Mario or Zelda. Priorities!
Ned

GC: It does seem quite possible.

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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

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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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If you're looking to show of your progress in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, then you'll want to know all about Weapon Prestige.

In BO7, when you Prestige a weapon you reset your level back down to zero, but in exchange, you'll earn some nice skins that you can show off in-game.

So, if that sounds good to you, then here's a quick overview of how to Prestige weapons in CoD BO7.

CoD BO7 weapon prestige: How to prestige weapons explained

Weapon Prestige works differently to regular the regular Prestige system, in that there are only three Prestige levels to go through. These are:

• Weapon Prestige 1
• Weapon Prestige 2
• Weapon Prestige Master

To Prestige your weapon, you need to reach Level 50 with that weapon. You can then choose to Prestige, resetting your weapon's level and builds, locking all Attachments apart from Optic Attachments.

Once you reach Level 50 in Weapon Prestige 2, you will unlock Weapon Prestige Master.

This will allow you to level your weapon all the way to Level 250, at which point you'll unlock the special Universal Camo.

Depending on the weapon, you may also receive a special Attachment and will permanently unlock all Attachments for that weapon.

The specifics change from weapon to weapon, but here's a brief overview of what you'll earn from each Weapon Prestige in BO7:

• Weapon Prestige 1
  • Prestige 1 Camo
  • Prestige Attachment
  • Permanent Unlock Token
• Weapon Prestige 2
  • Prestige 2 Camo
  • Prestige Weapon Charm
  • Permanent Unlock Token
• Prestige Mastery
  • Prestige Master Camo 1 (Level 100)
  • Prestige Master Camo 2 (Level 150)
  • Prestige Master Camo 3 (Level 200)
  • Prestige Max Camo (Level 250)
  • Weapon Prestige Max Icon (Level 250)
  • All Attachments unlocked

Should you Weapon Prestige in CoD BO7?

Whether you should Weapon Prestige in BO7 entirely depends on what you want from the game.

If you want to grind for Camos, especially if you tend to stick to particular weapons, then it may be worth Prestiging your weapons to try and get the Camos you like.

On the other hand, if you don't particularly care about Camos, don't want to lose your Attachments or just can't really be bothered to take on the grind to get those Camos, then it probably isn't worth it to Prestige your weapons.

It should be noted that the XP you earn across all modes, whether that's the campaign, multiplayer, Zombies or Warzone, will contribute to your Weapon Level, so if you find yourself getting plenty of XP anyway, then our answer is "why not?"

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Call of Duty's player count on Steam has reached a record low of 56,443 concurrent players post-Black Ops 7 launch, indicating poor performance amid competition from Battlefield 6.

The top five games played on the PlayStation in 2025 by US players were exactly the same as in 2024, according to Circana's Player Engagement Tracker.

Read more

Call of Duty is one of the biggest names in gaming, but it generally avoided Nintendo's latest flagship platforms over the years. While it continues to drop even on the likes of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, it still isn't on the Switch, but that could be about to change.

CoD was originally promised to launch on the Switch before its acquisition by Microsoft, with the plan to come to fruition once the acquisition process had been completed. That took a little longer than anticipated, with regulators weighingthe market implications of such a massive buyout, but it did happen eventually.

Now, a couple of years later, there is still no CoD on the Switch, but new datamining has confirmed that progress is being made as Nintendo has appeared as a platform in CoD HQ's files.

https://twitter.com/realityuk/status/2010381277011284375

New lines of code have appeared in the files called "PlatformFamily.Nintendo," listed several times. It implies that CoD HQ is being primed for new platforms, which is most likely going to be the Switch 2, where many other AAA publishers have started porting their games.

With these engine-level changes now showing up, it's likely that we'll be seeing CoD on Nintendo's platform in the coming months, or maybe see the first multi-platform CoD drop in late 2026 that'll include the Switch 2 together with the franchise's traditional platforms.

Jez Corden of Microsoft Central previously also said that CoD on Nintendo was imminent, even before these new lines of code had been discovered, while Activision itself made a deal with the company back in 2023 (per Engadget) that solidified the prospects of seeing CoD on Switch.

How this will look is anyone's guess, but I wager it'll be the same old CoD as it is every year, with few improvements and fewer innovations, chock full of microtransactions, weird collaborations, pop culture references, and everything else we've become accustomed to.

Hell, we might even see Mario and Luigi carrying laser weapons while slide-cancelling across Nuketown to the tune of Nicki Minaj's songs. Grim.

The post CoD on Switch 2 is right around the corner, but don’t expect Mario killstreaks appeared first on Destructoid.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

The world feels a little quieter today, and the screens we retreat to feel a little colder. On Sunday, December 21, 2025, the heartbeat of the modern shooter stopped. Vince Zampella—the man who spent three decades teaching us that a game could be more than just pixels, that it could be a visceral, heart-pounding extension of our own reflexes—passed away at the age of 55. As reported by Game Informer, this isn’t just the loss of a corporate executive; it feels like losing the captain of the ship. Zampella was the architect of our digital camaraderie, the man who understood that a “game” only works when it respects the player’s time, skill, and passion.

The Midnight Silence on Angeles Crest

The tragedy that claimed his life is a jarring contrast to the high-octane worlds he built. According to primary reports from NBC4 Los Angeles and the California Highway Patrol, the incident occurred at approximately 12:45 p.m. in the rugged beauty of the San Gabriel Mountains. Zampella was driving a Ferrari 296 GTB on the Angeles Crest Highway when the vehicle veered off the road at mile post 62.70. The car struck a concrete barrier and was consumed by fire almost instantly.

Zampella died at the scene, and a passenger—a soul whose identity remains shielded by the privacy of a grieving family—succumbed to their injuries later at the hospital. The Straits Times notes that while investigations are ongoing, the gaming community is less focused on the mechanics of the accident and more on the massive, hollow space his absence leaves behind. It is a cruel irony that a man who mastered the art of “controlled chaos” on our screens lost his life to the unpredictable reality of a mountain road.

The General Who Redefined the Frontline

Vince didn’t just make games; he set the tempo for an entire industry. His career began with a refusal to accept the status quo. At 2015, Inc., he gave us the storming of Omaha Beach in Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, a moment so cinematic it felt like the screen was sweating. But he was just getting started. When he co-founded Infinity Ward, he didn’t just create Call of Duty; he created a language. The “hitmarker,” the snap-to-aim, the prestige system—these weren’t just features; they were the new DNA of interactive entertainment. As The Game Business highlights in their career retrospective, Zampella took the chaos of war and turned it into a finely tuned instrument. If you’ve ever felt the rush of a “Level Up” guitar riff, you were experiencing the mind of Vince Zampella.

The Resurrection of the Shooter

Perhaps the most inspiring chapter of his life was his “second act.” After a messy, public split from Activision in 2010 that would have broken a lesser creator, Vince didn’t retreat. He built Respawn Entertainment from the ashes. He gave us Titanfall, reminding us that we could touch the sky, and Apex Legends, a masterclass in surprise and precision. Even when he stepped into the Star Wars universe with the Jedi series, he treated it with the reverence of a fan and the skill of a master.

Most recently, he had become the “fixer” for Battlefield, leading the franchise back to its former glory. Just ten days before his passing, Zampella appeared at The Game Awards 2025, where Battlefield 6 took home the trophy for Best Audio Design—a final, poignant reminder of his obsession with quality. We didn’t know it was a farewell.

A Legacy Measured in Muscle Memory

To describe Vince’s impact through a clinical table of dates feels insufficient for a man who lived with such intensity. His 55 years were a relentless pursuit of the “perfect feel.” Born in 1970, he spent over thirty years evolving from a developer to the visionary leader of Respawn and the savior of Battlefield. He wasn’t chasing trends; he was the one the trends were trying to catch. His work earned him countless Game of the Year honors, but his real trophy is the muscle memory of millions of players worldwide.

The industry tributes have been a tidal wave of grief. Electronic Arts (EA) confirmed the news to PEOPLE, calling it an “unimaginable loss,” while long-time friend Geoff Keighley spoke of a man who gave developers the “freedom and confidence to be great.” But for the players—the ones who feel the weight of his absence every time they fire up a console—the tribute is simpler. We play on. We defend the points he designed, we master the movement he perfected, and we remember that the light on the gaming horizon is a little dimmer today.

Rest in peace, Vince. You didn’t just change the game; you became the standard.

The post The Light on the Horizon Goes Dark: A Tribute to Vince Zampella (1970–2025) appeared first on Game Reviews, News, Videos & More for Every Gamer – PC, PlayStation, Xbox in 2026.

It's finally here – Fallout has landed in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and there's plenty to unlock.

The whole event is styled after the Fallout TV show, since season 2 is currently ongoing.

Whether you're after the Power Armor Maximus or The Ghoul Operators, or one of the nifty new weapon skins, this is one event you don't want to miss out on.

So, if you're looking for help on how to unlock all the skins, weapons and more from the CoD BO7 Fallout event, here's what you need to know.

CoD BO7 Fallout event: How to get all skins, weapons and TV show content

CoD BO7 Season 1 Reloaded brings a bunch of new Fallout content which can be unlocked in free and premium event passes.

Everything in the free pass can be unlocked for, you guessed it, free! The premium pass, however, will cost you 1,100 CoD Points, or £8.39 / $9.99.

There are a total of 20 rewards to unlock, with 10 in each pass. Here's the full list of rewards in the Fallout event:

Free Pass

• Dweller (Operator Skin)
• Enjoy Your Stay (Loading Screen) – Level 01
• 1 Hour (Double Weapon XP Token) – Level 02
• Power Pose (Emblem) – Level 03
• 1 Hour (Double Level XP Token) – Level 04
• Wanderer (Operator Skin) – Level 05
• Smooches (Sticker) – Level 06
• Vault Boy (Weapon Charm) – Level 07
• Vault-Tec (New Weapon Camo) – Level 08
• Sturmwolf 45 (New Base Weapon) – Level 09

Premium Pass

• Power Armor Maximus (New Operator)
• Torch Blade (Melee Weapon Blueprint) – Level 01
• Minigun Teardown (Finishing Move) – Level 02
• Brotherhood's Armament (Weapon Blueprint) – Level 03
• Maximus (Operator Skin) – Level 04
• Brotherhood Launch (Calling Card) – Level 05
• Bobble-Head Bobble (Emote) – Level 06
• Power Armor Helm (Weapon Charm) – Level 07
• Wasteland Buck (Weapon Blueprint) – Level 08
• The Ghoul (New Operator) – Level 09

There will be a Lucy MacLean Operator coming to the game later down the line, but she will be part of a shop bundle instead.

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We're already well into the first season of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and Season 1 Reloaded is about to arrive.

It's the latest in a slew of huge content updates for BO7, introducing all sorts of new maps, weapons and more to the game.

So, if you're excited for another refresh, here's when CoD BO7 Season 1 Reloaded starts, and what you can look forward to.

When does CoD BO7 Season 1 Reloaded release? Confirmed date and UK start time

CoD BO7 Season 1 Reloaded releases on Thursday 8th January 2026 at 5pm GMT.

If you're elsewhere in the world, and are wondering what time the Season 1 Reloaded will launch for you, here's the start time in your time zone:

• US West Coast (PST) – 9am
• US Mountain (MST) – 10am
• US Central (CST) – 11am
• US East Coast (EST) – 12pm
• Central Europe (CET) – 6pm
• South Africa (SAST) – 7pm
• Singapore (SGT) – 1am, 9th January
• Japan (JST) – 2am, 9th January
• Australia East Coast (AEST) – 4am, 9th January
• New Zealand (NZST) – 6am, 9th January

What to expect from CoD BO7 Season 1 Reloaded

Naturally, as with any major content update, there's a huge amount to look forward to in Season 1 Reloaded.

The biggest addition is that we'll be getting three new Multiplayer maps, including one brand-new map and two returning ones:

• Yakei (6v6 / 2v2)
• Meltdown (6v6)
• Fringe (6v6)

Zombies will also be getting some updates, with the Zarya Cosmodrome from Ashes of the Damned becoming its own Survival map, and the Astra Malorum map receiving a Directed mode.

In the Campaign, we'll be getting two new world events, though the only one we know about is the Wraith Wing, focused on a Guild aircraft with cloning capabilities.

On the weaponry front, we only know about two new weapons joining the game thus far:

• Hawker HX (Sniper Rifle, FKA Ballista Sniper)
• Sturmwolf 45 (SMG, FKA UMP45)

Last but not least, we're also getting a collaboration with Fallout to celebrate the TV show's ongoing season 2.

There isn't much to go on yet, but a short teaser appears to hint that Lucy, Maximus and The Ghoul will all feature.

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The Thursday letters page wonders if Arc Raiders can continue to outsell Battlefield 6, as one reader wonders what the Final Fantasy 7 trilogy collector’s edition will be like.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Summer dreamin’
I am also resigned to Nintendo’s next big announcements being underwhelming. I’m not sure we’ll even get much this year, since they’ve actually revealed quite a bit already, even if nobody’s that excited about Mario Tennis and that weird Yoshi game they wouldn’t explain.

Add Splatoon and Fire Emblem to that and I don’t think you can really hope for a major annoucement until the summer. Of course, you can’t guarantee anything with Nintendo, but with the Switch 2 selling well and plenty of games on their cards they’re really in no rush.

Still, as a fan, I can’t help but try to imagine what they’ll announce next. I do think it could be a new Zelda. It’s three years now since Tears Of The Kingdom, and they announced that a long time before it came out. Add in the 40th anniversary and I think there’s actually a reasonable chance of a teaser trailer this year. Just to keep the pot boiling, so to speak.

I also notice that that online game they were playtesting a few years ago still hasn’t been announced. I don’t think it’s ever been clear what it is, but a new IP would be a nice thing to hear about right now.
Onibee

Three-way fight
Interesting to see how well Arc Raiders is still doing and that it’s ahead of Battlefield 6, even if that’s also done well. It does seem to me that the hype for Battlefield has cooled pretty quickly though. Redsec didn’t seem to catch on at all and it’s definitely Arc Raiders that was the biggest shooter of last year, with Battelfield second and Call Of Duty a distant third.

I’ll be interested to see how this evolves over the course of the year. Will Arc Raiders be a flash in the pan? Is the race close enough that Battlefield 6 could overtake it? What will happen to this year’s Call Of Duty? Even if it’s good, will there be too much damage to the name that it’s still a flop?

I gotta admit, when it comes to Call Of Duty I am a bit of a hater, so I’d be very happy to see it knocked down a peg or three.
Josh

Radioactive bugs
For me the problem with a Fallout remaster, whether it’s 3 or New Vegas, is that Oblivion is still in an absolute state, with no sign of it being properly fixed, and I’d bet large sums of money that any future game will be as well. Bethesda are just incapable of making a game that’s not a janky mess. Which is really annoying when otherwise they’re really good.

Nothing’s going to stop them from releasing Fallout remasters, not with the Amazon show being so popular, but please just wait for it to be finished first. The amount of time we’ve been waiting for New Vegas in particular, it’s just ridiculous to put it out and it’s a buggy mess that needs six months of updates to work properly.
Focus

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Deluxe celebration
I wonder what Square Enix will do once all three Final Fantasy 7 remake games are out? Obviously, they’ll try and bundle them up into one purchase but how much would they charge for it? Surely not £180 or anything close to it, and yet if it was much cheaper it’s going to really upset anyone that bought the originals at full price.

A part of me can’t help but hope they go whole hog though, with a collector’s edition that includes new content and characters and comes in some kind of crazy box with a statue and merch.

And before you peg me for a money wasting loony, I would say that I’d never usually buy that sort of thing. But I love Final Fantasy 7 and the first two remakes have been fantastic, so I’d really like to celebrate the end of it all in style. Somehow, I feel that Square Enix will be happy to take my money.
Coyotemac

Expensive year
40% of the world’s DRAM (RAM) output being bought Is frightening. Apparently, that will double the price of what remains and that’s how much will it cost now, as less is available; as the year goes on the price can only increase.

I can’t see, on a practical level, how the next gen consoles are not delayed but because the problem is that it’s needed for AI, the need for RAM will only increase. Just crazy times.
TWO MACKS

Technical limitations
I think the worst game I ever bought was Donkey Kong on Atari 2600. It was about £30, which was a lot back then! I saved up and sent my cheque/postal order to a mail order company, then had to endure the two week wait until it arrived. I was bitterly disappointed.

It only had two of the screens, the arcade version had four. Graphics and gameplay were pretty awful too. I should have read a review first but had to have it, as it might have taken magazines up to two months to review it! I listened to a podcast recently, where they interviewed the programmer. Turns out he had a 4K cartridge to fit it all into, which is a tiny amount of memory!

If the software company had given him 8K, he could have fit all four levels in, but more memory meant less profit for them. Also, he had to make it in about two months so they could get the game on the shelves ready for Christmas. I now understand how it turned out like it did.
Tim Keeling
PS: I’ve played Mario Kart World for 270 hours so far! That’s mainly on online Battle Mode, which is crazy addictive!

Eternal regret
RE: Badgerman. The worst game I ever bought was Eternal Darkness for the GameCube.

Despite the good reviews I really disliked it due to the instant high difficulty, confusing storyline, and frustrating gameplay. There is nothing worse than developers making your character limp and shuffle around when you are low on health, as you just become an even easier target for enemies!

The game was exchanged soon after, using GAME’s useful exchange or refund policy back in the day.
Adams6legend

Interestingly bad
It’s questionable whether it counts as the worst game I’ve ever bought, as it was hardly the main reason I bought the collection, but I recently played Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero on the Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection, and if anything N64 Magazine were being generous awarding it 9%.

Pretty much every decision was baffling. It’s a platform game where you press up to jump and left trigger to turn around. As you move forward your character is positioned about 80% of the way along the screen, so you can’t see what’s ahead.

Half the traps are unavoidable unless you’ve been hit by them already and memorised where they are, and there are points where the necessary way forward looks identical to one of several instant kill holes in the same area. Also, despite starring Sub-Zero, most of the bosses are completely immune to ice attacks.

At least the live action cut scenes were entertainingly camp. I also played Special Forces but that was just incredibly boring rather than even interestingly bad.
TGN Professor

GC: We’d say that counts, especially as it is genuinely one of the worst games ever.

Inbox also-rans
That Detroit: Become Human story is really weird. I get that the game’s cheap, but £3.40 isn’t nothing. Did people really not have anything better to spend their money on than that?
Joffers

I was ready to call that Red Dead Redemption 2 ‘mystery’ a stupid fan conspiracy but that is actually pretty wild. Strange it’s not been noticed before. I definitely didn’t know there was similar stuff in GTA 5 as well.
Gordo

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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: What’s the worst video game you ever bought?

MORE: Games Inbox: When is the first Nintendo Direct of 2026?

MORE: Games Inbox: What video games will you play over Christmas?

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The Wednesday letters page asks when the next PS5 State of Play will be, as one reader sticks up for Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Bad idea
I’m always fascinated to read about really bad games but the problem is that, unlike a bad movie, most people never really get to play them. You can play games you don’t like, sure, but you’ve really got to be skipping your homework to end up buying the video equivalent of The Room by accident.

I don’t think even GC or most reviewers play the absolute worst games, because what would be the point? It’d just be some hentai rubbish on the Switch eShop or a broken indie game on Steam. Never anything as interesting as MindsEye, which I’d have to pay real money to experience, before presumably finding out that the reviews are truthful.

I’ve been trying to think of the worst game I’ve actually paid any money for and I think it must be The Good Life, which I bought because I really liked Deadly Premonition. I was hoping it would at least be so bad it’s good, but it was just boring and broken. There was nothing entertaining about it at all, which I guess is probably true of MindsEye too… but that thought still fascinates me.
Badgerman

One to go
Never mind about the first Nintendo Direct of 2026, I’m waiting to see the first State of Play. We know that Xbox has something planned for the early year but it’s always more of a mystery with Sony.

Although at least we have something to look forward with them this year, in Saros and Wolverine. Considering who’s making them I’m pretty certain they’re going to turn out good, which is instantly a far better line-up for the year, than Sony has had for a long time.

It’s probably just a hiccup, and I doubt Saros will sell that well, but two or three quality first party games a year is all I ask. Announce one more before the spring and this year’s quota will already be I the bag!
Purple Ranger

Shadow drop
Why are so many people saying the Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time remake is going to come out on January 16? I’ve seen that date so many times now and everyone seems to think it’s real, but as far as I can work out Ubisoft has said nothing.

I’ll be absolutely shocked if it comes out that soon, considering we haven’t ever seen anything proper of this version of it. I’d be much less shocked if the remake never happened though. It’s been so long and I’m not sure there’s really that much demand for it.

But Ubisoft did finally get Skull And Bones out, so maybe they just like to see an idea through to its end. Here’s hoping (I think, I’m a bit worried what they’ll do to it).
Demmo

GC: There was a rumour of that date before The Game Awards in December, but nothing was announced. Some people still seem to believe it though, despite the fact that it would be commerical suicide to release it in nine days, without any prior marketing.

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Hallucinating madness
I feel like the world has gone mad at the moment, when it comes to AI. Am I really the only one that notices that it doesn’t work? Sure, it can spit you out a picture of something, with gibberish language and three-armed people, but so what? Who actually wants that? Especially as it’s so obvious it is AI.

Searching on Google is now much less reliable than it used to be and ChatGPT lies and hallucinates like a drunk politician. But because it’s making some fat cats rich (it doesn’t make money itself, it’s all about the investment) we suddenly have to use it for everything.

This Sony patent about having AI watch TikTok videos to ‘learn’ how to play game is madness. Ignoring the fact that it’s clearly not going to work, why doesn’t the developer just record a run themselves and use that. It’d take them what, a few hours at most? And they’d be doing it anyway for playtesting.

It’s exactly what Nintendo did for their system which, as you rightly point out, they got bored of very quickly, presumably because nobody used it. Because why buy a game just to have the console play it for you?
The Bishop

Each to their own
I see Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is next to bottom on Metacritic’s list of Switch 2 games.

Personally, I enjoyed the delve into the detailed workings of the Switch 2.

Yes, you do need the camera to fully explore but I had that anyway.

As a great lover of the incredible build instructions of Nintendo Labo I see Welcome Tour as a very well made insight to the Switch 2.

Nintendo Life’s review of Welcome Tour is similar to what mine would be.

Happy New Year to all.
Goldenlay

Direct excitement
Nintendo hasn’t had a Direct in February for the last two years, but I think that was just because the Switch 2 was coming. They had it pretty consistently before that, so I’m hopeful they’ll do one again this year.

The reader on Tuesday was right that Mario Kart World is a very sensible and suitable launch game, but I think most long term Nintendo fans would still say that it’s a bit of a disappointment and missing that classic Nintendo magic, even if it is still ‘good’.

My hope for the Direct is not anything specific, just that it not be the minimum effort we’ve seen so far. Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza felt like the only reveals at the Switch 2 unveil, even though they weren’t. Because who ever cared about Drag x Drive or Kirby Air Riders?

We need more games to get pumped about, to make the console seem like it’s worth it, but I’m afraid we’ll just get that new single-player Splatoon game and a few more unwanted spin-offs and special editions. I realise games take longer to make nowadays but I thought Nintendo were clever enough to work around that.

I’m beginning to worry that they’re not and that this is going to be a very underwhelming generation for them.
Koffey
PS: I just remembered that new Fire Emblem game. They’ll probably talk about that too, which doesn’t seem very exciting either.

Noisy neighbours
He didn’t knock my door down, but I did have the neighbour asking if I was ‘all right’ after getting a bit overexcited with Call Of Duty a few years ago.

I hadn’t really thought of how much noise I was making, since I had my headphones on, but apparently I was ‘cussing and cursing’ and they were worried some kind of fight was going on or that I was generally just a wrong ‘un. To be honest, they were probably right.
Tez

The big five
Well, you weren’t lying about the list of top games being a depressing one. I wasn’t sure what to expect but having the exact five games be the most popular, in almost exactly the same order, from one year to the next is very worrying. What’s worse is that I doubt that it was any different going back at least… five years? Maybe more?

Even worse than that, I doubt it’ll be any different for at least that length of time in the future. Video games aren’t like movies anymore. They’re not something you do where you’re always looking for something new you haven’t played before. Now they’re just these five games, and maybe a few others, that have existed for a decade or more and will go on for so long as anyone of us can imagine.

Other games sill exist alongside them, obviously, but I worry that for younger gamers that fact is going to be increasingly ignored and that for a more casual younger person there’s absolutely no reason to bother seeking out other games that aren’t just one of the ones in the list.

And then to add another problem on top, you’ve got the fact that if something new does come along, it’s still a very similar type of game. Arc Raiders is probably the biggest new title in a while but it’s still an online shooter (and I don’t think anywhere close to Call Of Duty or anything).

It’s a very worrying state of affairs that I cannot see changing for any reason in the future.
Cranston

Inbox also-rans
I never upset a neighbour while playing a game but more than once I’ve managed to startle my cat two foot into the air when failing to beat a boss in Elden Ring. She still loves me though.
Rendel

Since Konami is trying to bring back its old games, I wish they’d do a new Yie Ar Kung-Fu. No one else ever seems to have heard of it but I have very fond memories of that on the Commodore 64.
Focus

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: When is the first Nintendo Direct of 2026?

MORE: Games Inbox: What video games will you play over Christmas?

MORE: Games Inbox: Will 007 First Light be a good game?

Comments Add as preferred source