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Halo: Campaign Evolved is basically already here if you pay the early access tax, and while it does look incredible on high-end gaming PCs and current-generation consoles, it struggles hard on lower-end hardware, particularly handheld gaming PCs. I spent a little bit of time playing the remake on the Xbox Ally, and, well, the original Halo campaign looks a whole lot better in the Master Chief Collection. It shouldn't be too surprising that Campaign Evolved doesn't run super well on low-end handhelds like the Steam Deck. The game calls for a minimum of an Intel Core i7-10700K and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super, both of which are more powerful than the equivalents found in the base Xbox Ally and the Steam Deck. But, for some reason, the Steam page for the game says the game is Steam Deck Verified. In order to run the game on the Xbox Ally, I set the resolution to 1280x720 and set it to the Very Low preset, with FSR set to Low. With those settings, I'm getting a pretty playable 30 fps, with occasional dips down to the mid 20s. That's probably why the game skated by with a Steam Deck Verified label, I've seen games perform worse and still get that green checkmark. But while the game is playable at these settings, it's genuinely an eyesore. In order to keep the framerate up, visual fidelity is low, textures are entirely bland, and vegetation and other environmental objects are virtually nonexistent. Plus, the upscaling at this resolution makes the game look like a blurry, staticky mess on top of all of that loss of detail. And while there are some elements of the game that still look alright, namely walls and other objects having a bit more detail to them, Halo just looks better in the Master Chief Collection, even if it looks like an older game (which it is). Just looking at these screenshots from the second mission when you're fighting off a bunch of Covenant reinforcements, the Campaign Evolved screenshot has a virtually flat environment, with a blurry Elite being shot at. In the Master Chief Collection, the wall on the right doesn't look quite as good, but there's actually vegetation on the ground, and the enemy being shot at doesn't look like as much of a blurry mess. What makes this even more wild is the performance on offer. With these settings, the Master Chief Collection is getting a solid 65-70 fps most of the time on the Xbox Ally, compared to 25-30 fps in Campaign Evolved. And keep in mind that the Xbox Ally and the Steam Deck have extremely comparable performance. I love the original Halo – there was a good decade where the only reason I kept a console in my house was to play Halo games. So while I will absolutely be playing this new remake on a high-end PC or even a more powerful handheld like the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, if you want to play this original campaign on the Steam Deck, just download the Master Chief Collection instead. Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra View the full article

If you’ve ever wanted to try Xbox Cloud Gaming without paying for Game Pass, Microsoft is finally giving some players View the full article

Pearl Abyss releases a brand-new update for Crimson Desert, though unlike recent updates, this one is largely interested in fixing issues and stabilizing the game for players. Since its launch, Crimson Desert has seen a major evolution driven largely by player behavior in-game and feedback provided to the developers. The result has been massive for the game, both in keeping players happy while attracting others through positive word of mouth. View the full article

If making video games the traditional way is like squeezing blood from a stone, then making Scarlet Deer Inn must've been like doing that using only your elbows. Developer Attu Games' newly released 2D adventure is a gorgeous mix of mediums that I have found no precedent for, and it's quickly enchanted players on Steam, where it sits at 87% positive user reviews days after launch. (Console versions are "set to follow as soon as possible," the devs say.) Scarlet Deer Inn is officially described as "an embroidered dark medieval folk tale," and the devs mean that literally. Frame by frame, its sprites were stitched in cloth and then digitally brought into the game. A lot of games have used this kind of embroidered or hand-woven art style. Yoshi's Wooly World and Kirby's Epic Yarn, both from Nintendo, come to mind. But in the entire history of video games, I don't know that anyone else has ever actually rendered every single frame of their sprites with physical embroidery that was then integrated into a game. I've seen plenty of real models, sculptures, weapons, and even chickens used in games. We just saw a man turn photos of his wife into a horrible boss fight. Cuphead, with its pencil-and-paper animation, feels like a distant cousin. But I haven't seen anything quite like this. [Hidden Content] This unorthodox, laborious approach to game art caused Scarlet Deer Inn to go viral online back in 2023, and now that the game is finally out, countless stitches later, the exact same thing has happened again. "The last 4 seconds of this video made my mind explode," says an incredulous Twitter user sharing the game's trailer. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN EVERY FRAME IS HAND SEWN/EMBROIDERED ARE YOU JOKING????" "This is hitherto unheard-of levels of creativity between mediums," adds another. "They have animation made from embroidering. Like, physically sewn thread and fabric. You're running around a character that was sewn into the game." "What do you ******** mean they embroidered all the sprites," echoes a Bluesky post. Back in 2023, I actually spoke to Eva Navratilova of Attu Games to ask, in so many words, why and how would you do this? "Because we thought it was cool," Navratilova said at the time. "We simply wanted to give it a shot because we really enjoy various crafts and handmade stuff. A few people are using embroidery to create some amazing animation, but no one has yet made a real game with it. It's also exciting and fun. Even though there is a ton of 'unnecessary' extra labor involved, it is amazing to work on something new and creative. "There is no connection between the embroidery and the story itself," she added. "We believe that it would change the feeling we want the game to have. We're trying to achieve the feel of the Studio Ghibli movies, not something like Paper Mario, Yoshi's Crafted World, or Kirby's Epic Yarn games." Navratilova estimated that achieving this art style takes around "three times as long" as traditional animation. Main character Elise has hundreds of embroidered frames for her movements, and side characters may have dozens. "The embroidery must first be prepared on a PC," she explained. "It means I take the finished frame-by-frame animation and basically redo it into vectors in embroidery software and decide a lot of different settings for threads, colors, stitch styles, angles, etc. The entire machine embroidery process is quite challenging." The results speak for themselves. There's an inimitable texture to the thready silhouettes of Scarlet Deer Inn, adding eye-catching depth and detail to a short and simple-looking game. Palworld studio Pocketpair is publishing a new indie game that mixes Factorio-style automation, town building, and more – and you can try it for free on Steam. [/url]View the full article

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation game director Naoki Hamaguchi has said that the open-world setting of the upcoming title was made to be easy for players to understand and navigate around. Hamaguchi's statement came up as development of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation continued apace. View the full article

After TennoCon's Warsongs trailer got me hyped, I've returned to Alca, and I'm pleased to say Soulframe finally feels like the RPG I wanted. Read the full story on PCGamesN: Soulframe is finally looking like the fantasy RPG I know it can be View the full article

In a sea of conservative, market-researched games, a group of game development and publishing staff pointed to games like French JRPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, co-op adventure Peak, and roguelike card game Balatro as modern demonstrations of the "courage" that games should carry. "We're moving fast and losing what made us good (creativity, craft & the future)," declared a 2026 DevGAMM Madeira Games Summit workgroup hosted by veteran indie dev and consultant Rami Ismail of Vlambeer fame, as [Hidden Content] points out. Filled with designers, producers, publishers, and other game-orbiting staff, the group, as Ismail put it in a LinkedIn post, examined the "fear" chilling the games industry. In this fearful climate, they looked to four creative pillars: "creating coherence, identifying weaknesses, selling the dream," and "connecting the dots." "Many of the more fearful reflexes of the industry aim to sand down the rough edges of creative work, creating homogenous and bland works that 'check all the boxes', but are nevertheless (or, consequently) insincere, uninspiring, and uninteresting," Ismail said. "Courage is a consistent factor of most hit titles; in funding, in publishing, in marketing, and in investment." He added: "The industry’s fear of risk is currently the largest risk it faces." The thrust, I gather, is to help and encourage more developers and companies to follow the example of games like Clair Obscur, Balatro, and Peak by un-learning the impulse to "make games for everyone" or "chase the algorithm," per GamesIndustry.biz's reporting. (Image credit: LocalThunk) However, there was also notable pushback among the group on the idea of auteur-led development that sees one creative figure dragging teams behind them like cans on string. Rather than a caution-to-the-wind embracement of creativity of all, the group seemed to push brave and sustainable decisions. "There are too many cowards using all the wrong metrics controlling too many critical levers, and until we figure out how to put people - taste, creativity, and craft - back at the top, we're going to be stuck in the same loop that literally millennia ago people already understood and warned for: that acting from fear begets what you fear," Ismail says on LinkedIn. This approach to making risk workable comes as many industry figures highlight overdone de-risking in games, particularly in the AAA space, often to the point of outright de-fanging projects in the name of safety or broader appeal. Just last month, former PlayStation chief Shawn Layden argued that "we've lost a lot of the variety in games" thanks to the "rising cost" to make them. When costs go up, investment risks go up, so large, publicly traded companies often sand off risky elements to improve a project's outlook or try to reach a larger audience. But elements seen as risky are often the secret sauce that makes games fun and memorable, and without it, they may be reduced to a state worse than dead: sauceless. And let's talk about those costs for a minute. Too often it's implied that these enormous budgets are unavoidable, that games must be this big and expensive (and treading a path strewn with discarded labor, but I digress) and this is just how much it costs to make them. I'm reminded of a quote from Strange Scaffold head Xalavier Nelson Jr, one of the dozens of developers who told GamesRadar+ why they don't want to use generative AI (as it happens, we also spoke to Ismail). Nelson Jr. rather pertinently said: "For all the people who say it will let us finally make our big games faster and cheaper as the costs go exponentially up, the unspoken decision that has occurred is that rather than ask whether the size of the game is feasible, and whether it provides the thing that is most meaningful for a player, they have decided that the sheer scope is the god of their development process and it must be fulfilled at all costs." Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, as a more mid-sized AA type of game, has been an especially relevant talking point on budgets. Reports from last year indicated its sub-$10 million budget clocked in around 3% of the likes of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 from Sony-owned studio Insomniac Games. Former PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida says $200 million AAA budgets mean publishers greenlight fewer games: "Something that has to be done." [/url]View the full article

Halo Studios seems to have teased a Halo 2 remake in a secret ending cutscene for Halo: Campaign Evolved. Microsoft's Halo 1 remake is finally out in the wild for those who gained early access by purchasing its Premium or Collector's Editions. Just one day removed from its early launch, that means many have already blown through the game multiple times, and some have even discovered a tease for a Halo 2 remake. Those who manage to beat Halo: Campaign Evolved on Legendary difficulty will be greeted with a new secret cutscene featuring none other than Sergeant Johnson (via ComicBook). Beginning by showing him watching a clip from the original secret ending, Johnson ditches the Elite to kick up his feat on the beach. Just after catching an explosion on the ring, he makes his exit, but not before dropping that tease: "See you in the sequel." As if that wasn't already enough, another post-credits tease offers even more evidence to suggest a Halo 2 remake is in the cards. In the scene, players can see 343 Guilty Spark flying toward a planet, likely to meet up with Arbiter and launch into the events of the original sequel game. YouTube channel GamersPrey uploaded the full ending sequence here. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Halo Studios and Xbox continue with a follow-up – or maybe even two – now that a re-imagining for the original is here. However, the pair have yet to announce a proper Halo 2 remake, so the future of the series in general mostly remains a mystery, for now. Last week, YouTuber Rebs Gaming and Windows Central reported that the developer had most recently canceled a Halo multiplayer game. The project was said to be being worked on by Certain Affinity under the codename "Ekur." That leaves Halo: Campaign Evolved as the only game to carry single-player fans of the franchise until more is shared in the future. Halo 2 launched for the original Xbox in 2004 and received the remaster treatment with the Master Chief Collection in 2014. Halo: Campaign Evolved, meanwhile, will deliver its remake of the first game when it launches July 28, 2026. Until then, and until Halo Studios is willing to share more about its potential future remake plans, you can check out IGN's 7/10 review of the new game. "Halo: Campaign Evolved speaks to the series' timelessness and adds a decent set of new missions," we said, "but it's mostly a lean retread that's more of a test run for its future with Unreal Engine." Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe). View the full article

The Baten Kaitos remaster developers worked on Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition to handle the 4K 60fps support. View the full article

The open-world RPG genre has been dominated by massive adventures that let players step into dangerous fantasy worlds, create their own stories, and decide how they want to survive. From The Elder Scrolls giving players endless freedom to Elden Ring rewarding curiosity and exploration, there has always been an audience looking for games that make the journey itself the biggest part of the experience. Now, a new indie RPG on Steam is looking to capture that same feeling with a scaled-down version of games like The Elder Scrolls and Elden Ring. View the full article

Thanks to the delay of Tomb Raider remake Throne of Atlantis into early 2027, it was looking like the year would be bringing two big Tomb Raider games to enjoy. Unfortunately, that will not be the case, as Tomb Raider: Catalyst, the brand-new entry set in India, has been pushed back to 2028. View the full article

Bad news for anyone looking forward to playing the new Tomb Raider game Catalyst next year: It's not going to be out until the year after that... Read more.View the full article

I love my Steam Deck. I use it daily, enjoying everything from bite-sized indies and retro gems (thanks, EmuDeck!) to AAA games on its easy-to-use interface. The Steam Deck has been my primary gaming device since it launched, so when Valve announced the Steam Machine – a similar but more powerful device that plays games on a big TV screen – I was ready to pull a Futurama meme and wave cash in Gabe's face. But like pretty much everyone, including Valve, I was disappointed by the Steam Machine’s high price once Valve revealed it. Thanks to RAMageddon, Steam Machines start at over $1,000. I have bills to pay and mouths to feed, so I can’t justify dropping that much cash on a new way to play games I can already play just fine on the Deck. Thankfully, it turns out I didn’t have to. I bought the JSAUX Docking Station for Steam Deck, currently on ***** at Amazon for $26.99, and I’ve been enjoying all those same games on the big screen without having to take out a second mortgage on the house. The name JSAUX might look one of those no-name “brands” that litter Amazon’s search results, but it’s actually a respected maker of electronic accessories. The dock works like a charm. It’s a tiny thing, much smaller than a Switch or Switch 2 dock. It’s basically a little plastic base that’s just big enough to support your Steam Deck (or ROG Ally or Legion Go – it works with most handheld gaming PCs). It has a little cable to plug into the power port on your Deck to charge it. And it has various ports on the back: HDMI, USB-C, and two USB-A. That’s it. It’s a simple thing. But when you connect it to power and your TV, it makes your TV the display for your Steam Deck. Just like with a Steam Machine, you can play the majority of your Steam games on your TV. Now, it's not a perfect solution. The Steam Deck isn’t as powerful as a Steam Machine, so you’ll have to play most games in 1080p, and they might look a little fuzzy on a 4K display. And you’ll need an external controller since you’ll be on your couch and your Deck is docked. You don't need the pricy, sold-out Steam Controller; I use this 8BitDo one, but you can use an Xbox, PS5, or Switch controller as well. Spending a few bucks on a dock and a maybe an extra controller is a heck of a lot cheaper than cleaning out your savings account for a Steam Machine, and the results aren’t that different. Now I can play the majority of my Steam library on my TV, and that's pretty great. Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN's board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky. View the full article

Many of the greatest RPGs of all time have been around for decades, but the 2020s still haven't been slacking. Since the decade kicked off, we've seen plenty of great new entries in the genre, some of which deserve to enter the ranks of the best RPGs ever made. View the full article

Blizzard surprised World of Warcraft fans and revealed that the viral sensation Jimothy the raccoon would be added to the game as a companion **** in a future content update. The news came as World of Warcraft prepared to launch Patch 12.1, dubbed Curse of Ula'tek. View the full article

Geronimo, from Dark Matter Studios, arrived on Steam in Early Access with a seemingly ambitious goal: bringing authentic squad-based tactical combat to VR. After spending time with VR's latest shooter, it is clear that Geronimo is an Early Access title; but, despite the occasional bout of jank, it succeeds in getting the most important parts absolutely right. Beneath those rough edges lies a tactical shooter built on genuinely excellent core mechanics that already make every successful room breach feel satisfying. Gearing Up Every mission begins with preparation, with players assembling a tactical loadout before deploying. Loadouts have plenty of options for customization, with cosmetics, adjustable equipment placement and specialist gear ranging from night vision goggles to breaching equipment allowing players to express themselves tactically – and otherwise. Missions take place in a variety of environments, from buildings to tunnels and even onboard a giant tanker ship. Many of the maps feature multiple objectives so whether you're clearing hostile forces or rescuing hostages, the changes in mission types add welcome replay value. At the heart of almost every encounter is the process of breaching and clearing rooms. Choosing how to make your entrance becomes just as important as what happens afterwards. You can kick open a door, blast it from its hinges or rely on specialist tools such as battering rams, breaching shotguns and sledgehammers. Every option carries risk. Make too much noise and enemies will open fire before you've even crossed the threshold. Life’s A Breach The strongest element of Geronimo is undoubtedly its gunplay. Weapons carry convincing weight and an excellent physics system ensures collisions with the environment feel believable and fair. Geronimo forces proper positioning before entering confined spaces and encourages thoughtful weapon selection based on the mission at hand. That authenticity extends throughout the experience. This isn't an arcade shooter where you can just soak up incoming rounds. One or two well-placed shots are enough to end your mission. During my time with the game I couldn't find any revive mechanic, meaning that once you're down, you're out, leaving you to spectate your teammates for the remainder of the operation. Geronimo can be played solo or in co-op with up to five other players. While the fun factor is clearly higher with a group, I often found solo missions to be more tense. Without teammates covering angles or correcting my (many) mistakes, every decision carried additional weight and every doorway presented another opportunity for heroics - or disaster. For all that the gunplay represents Geronimo at its best, the game still has plenty of ways to remind you it's still a work in progress. Doors are currently the biggest offender. I regularly blew doors from their hinges only to have them visually remain in place despite no longer behaving as solid objects. Elsewhere, battering rams became stuck in doorways and sledgehammers occasionally floated away into mid-air. Enemy AI is similarly inconsistent. At their best, enemies intelligently reposition, retreat under pressure and even flank from unexpected angles. At other times I'd clear a room only to discover another enemy standing immediately behind me who simply chose not to react. The foundations are clearly there, but a little more consistency would dramatically elevate the experience. The same applies to onboarding. While the training area introduces the basics, it is far from a complete tutorial. Players familiar with tactical VR shooters will likely find their feet quickly, but newcomers may struggle with systems the game simply expects them to understand. Thankfully, several experienced players were more than happy to explain the basics during multiplayer sessions, softening what could otherwise have been a disorienting introduction. Alpha Squad While single-player provides plenty of tension, multiplayer is unquestionably where Geronimo shines. Few VR shooters rely on communication quite as heavily as this. Geronimo actively punishes poor communication and in most of my online matches, friendly fire proved considerably more dangerous than enemy fire. Forgetting to call out "Frag out!" is a quick way to see a teammate innocently round a corner just in time to walk face-first into the blast. Likewise, unexpectedly standing up after crouching could easily earn you a stray round to the back of the head from the teammate providing covering fire. Far from being frustrating, these moments reinforce exactly what Geronimo is trying to achieve. Success depends on trust, communication and discipline. When a squad works together properly, clearing rooms becomes incredibly rewarding in a way few VR shooters currently manage. Pretty Violence Visually, Geronimo already presents itself well. Lighting and shadow work are particularly effective, helping establish the slow, methodical atmosphere while ensuring environments remain readable during tense engagements. Performance, however, still needs attention. Despite running on a capable PC, I encountered regular stuttering and ultimately reduced the settings to Medium to maintain smooth frame rates. Given the game's Early Access status, this feels like exactly the sort of optimization that can be expected over time, but it's something players should be aware of today. Have A Blast Geronimo is still rough around the edges, but it's also great fun. Sure, the onboarding could be stronger, the AI behavior needs greater consistency and technical polish remains a clear priority. Yet none of those issues undermine what Dark Matter Studios has already achieved. The difficult part - creating tense, believable and satisfying tactical combat - is already here. If you're happy embracing a little Early Access jank, Geronimo already offers more than enough compelling gameplay to justify jumping in today, particularly if you enjoy co-op tactical shooters and don't mind learning alongside other players. Those wanting a fully polished experience may be better served keeping an eye on development. Based on the foundations already in place, Geronimo feels far less like an unfinished game and more like an excellent tactical shooter that's just finding its final polish. View the full article

Scopely’s multiplayer party game Stumble Guys has launched a charity campaign called Play for Change in partnership with SpecialEffect, a ***-based charity that helps people with physical disabilities play video games through adapted controllers and assistive technology. Running from July 23 to July 30, the campaign centers on Axel, Stumble Guys’ first playable skin depicting a character who uses a wheelchair. All proceeds from Axel skin purchases made during the campaign window will be donated to SpecialEffect, according to a press release. The initiative coincides with Disability Pride Month, observed each July to recognize the identities and contributions of people with disabilities. Axel’s creation traces back to a player named Fayçal, who asked the Stumble Guys team earlier this year about disability representation in the game. That question led the studio to develop Axel as the game’s first wheelchair-using character. Scopely detailed Fayçal’s story in a blog post published earlier this year. “What started with one player’s voice can now become something even ******* — with the support of our entire community,” the Stumble Guys team said in the announcement. SpecialEffect was founded in 2007 by Mick Donegan, a former teacher who specialized in assistive technology and continues to lead the charity today. Based in Oxfordshire, England, the organization works with developers to build specialized game control devices and improve game accessibility more broadly, using inputs from any part of the body capable of movement, including small toe movements or a player’s gaze. Since its founding, the charity has expanded to include a free eye-controlled interface for Minecraft and a suite of browser-based games designed for players who can only control input through eye movement, letting people with severe physical disabilities compete against others around the world in games like chess and checkers. Donegan received an MBE in 2022 for his contributions to assistive technology, and the organization was honored with a BAFTA in 2024. Stumble Guys is a physics-based party knockout game in which players navigate obstacle courses and elimination-style challenges. Since launching, the game has built a large global player base and features more than 1,000 cosmetic skins that let players customize their in-game appearance — a system Scopely says helps players see more of themselves reflected on screen. Players interested in supporting the campaign can purchase the Axel Skin through the in-game Stumble Guys Shop during the July 23–30 window. Scopely framed the campaign as an extension of the studio’s broader approach to community-driven development, saying the Stumble Guys team has consistently looked to player feedback to help shape the game’s direction. Through Play for Change, the studio said it hopes to both honor Fayçal’s influence on the game and support SpecialEffect’s mission of expanding access to gaming for people with physical disabilities. The post Stumble Guys launches Disability Pride Month campaign with SpecialEffect appeared first on GamesBeat. View the full article

Bethesda has rumbled back to life. Nearly three years after Starfield and with The Elder Scrolls 6 nowhere in sight, the positive reception to the announcement of the Fallout 3 and New Vegas remasters is hardly surprising. With the help of Obsidian, between 2008 and 2011 Bethesda cemented itself as the rightful king of the open-world RPG, Fallout 3 and Skyrim bookending the kind of development run we'll probably never see again. A long-awaited return to the Capitol and Mojave Wastelands is welcome, but while these remasters aren't quite too little, too late, they serve as a reminder of just how neglected one of the biggest and best RPG series has become. This November will mark 11 years since Fallout 4, with Fallout 76's eighth anniversary falling just a couple of weeks before. And until last week, there was nothing to suggest another game was anywhere close to the horizon – based on Bethesda's previous release cadence, 2033 was a solid guess for a potential Fallout 5 release year. That's not far short of two full decades since the series' last traditional, single-player RPG launch – an unforgivable drought for a series that has over the past few years, been transformed into a mainstream, global franchise thanks to the critically-acclaimed Amazon Prime series. In the last week, admittedly, the Fallout slate has filled up significantly. First up will be next year's "prequel story to Fallout 3" heading to Fallout 76. The Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas remasters seem likely to follow relatively soon after, potentially positioned around Fallout season 3 and the Fallout Shelter show. Fallout 5 is officially in pre-production, but could easily follow as many as five years after Elder Scrolls 6, which still feels a long way off. Obsidian's new Fallout project seems likely to plug that inter-franchise gap – perhaps some time in 2029 or the early 2030s. Kick in the head It's that last project that's currently most mysterious, but also the clearest indication of what Fallout and Xbox actually need: help from the wider ecosystem. Xbox and Zenimax are full of studios that could have, over the six years since the acquisition, been running wild in the franchise playgrounds that are currently open only to Bethesda. Clearly, the kind of AAA, open-world RPG that Todd Howard wants to make takes many years to complete, but I see no reason why no other studio has been allowed to do more than sniff in the direction of the Fallout and TES brands. (Image credit: Bethesda) The possibilities are huge; a stealthy, Dark Brotherhood immersive sim made by Arkane Austin instead of shuttering it after Redfall; a Ghoul-led game using the State of Decay tech from Undead Labs, which just got sold off; an Age of Empires conversion from World's Edge, which has been diligently plugging away on DLC and remasters for that franchise. Xbox's affinity for beefy guys with guns across the Gears, Doom, and Halo series could have led to an amazing power armor shooter. There are certainly studios whose work doesn't mesh with Bethesda's oeuvre so neatly, but within the Xbox ecosystem, they're surprisingly few and far between. And all that is to say nothing of Obsidian, a studio that not only made one of the best Fallout games, but eventually took its fate into its own hands and made Avowed and The Outer Worlds as its own answers to The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. That none of those studios have been given a Bethesda license is a mistake, but it's a mistake compounded by the fact that Bethesda isn't equipped to handle them at the pace that should be required. Its two most important IPs have been left to languish for more than a decade. Starfield is a primary cause for that, but so is Bethesda's size. The studio has remained deliberately small by the standards of a major studio, and at about 450 staff isn't capable of being a two-game studio, especially since switching between three different franchises means it can't pull off the kind of juggling act that the similarly-sized Insomniac - which has launched a whole suite of Marvel games over the time since Fallout 76 – has been able to achieve. A hit of Jet (Image credit: Bethesda Game Studios) It's likely that the Fallout release cadence will pick up now. The remasters are the start of that process, and the Obsidian game and Fallout 76 expansion will help. But while Xbox's recent deluge of lay-offs have hit hard, the fact still stands that the publisher is sitting pretty on some of the industry's highest profile RPG brands and what remains of the studios that created them. With only the likes of CD Projekt Red as major competition, the question is whether new Xbox chief Asha Sharma will be able to do what predecessor Phil Spencer couldn't, even as the company haemorrhages staff. If CDPR is able to push out three major RPGs in quick succession, could the much larger Xbox be in a position to follow suit instead of squandering the opportunity? Or, is such a massive entity prone to slow manoeuvring, like trying to turn a Brotherhood of Steel zeppelin? But, whether or not that all comes to pass, it doesn't change the fact that as a gaming series Fallout has been left behind by its creators for far too long, and no number of remasters will help speed up the ongoing wait for its next major iteration, especially as the years tick on. The Elder Scrolls Online is struggling with "team bandwidth" after Xbox layoffs hit Bethesda and ZeniMax, leading devs to limit a store for in-game items. [/url]View the full article

***** president Shuji Utsumi has promised fans of the Persona series that the teaser trailer for Persona 6 is just the start of what he believes will be a "truly memorable year" to celebrate the series' 30th anniversary. While Persona 4 Revival will be another hype moment for fans, Utsumi hints that there are more reveals on the horizon. In an interview with Famitsu, that's been translated by GamesRadar+, Utsumi expresses how he's "very confident" that fans will be pleased with what ***** has planned for the series' 30th anniversary. A spin-off from Atlus' already popular Shin Megami Tensei series, Revelations: Persona added more of a narrative focus and emphasis on the character's relationships than its beast battling predecessor. Originally released for the original PlayStation in 1996, the series has evolved well beyond its isometric pixel art roots. If you've only played the series' newer titles you might not be aware that it didn't always feature a spicy UI and ranked high school relationships. As 2026 is the 30th anniversary of this game, it seemed natural that ***** would announce the next mainline entry in the series, the long-awaited Persona 6. "I think we were able to announce a truly memorable year for Persona's 30th anniversary," Utsumi says. "Hype for the series has been built by Persona 6's reveal. "And I think Persona 4 Revival will spark fan excitement again," Utsumi continues. "I'm sure everyone will feel the same way, and I'm very confident we'll give the Persona series the lively 30th anniversary celebration it deserves." Persona 4 Revival seemingly features more scenes with Marie, fuelling hopes she'll be integrated better than in Golden: "If they do that, the remake will have fulfilled its purpose." [/url]View the full article

Oblivion Remastered and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth have been found dead in a puddle of T-virus – the Resident Evil 4 remake from 2023 has sold 16.8 million copies across all platforms, and games industry researcher Alinea Analytics infers that makes it the best-selling remake of this console generation. "It’s also among the most successful single-player horror games in history," says market analysis lead Rhys Elliott in a Substack breakdown of the best-selling game remakes and remasters since 2020, "generating $560M in gross revenue for Capcom so far across the three platforms, split 53.1% PlayStation, 34.1% Steam, and 12.8% Xbox." Resident Evil 4 remake's competition comes nowhere close. In terms of total copies sold, Resident Evil 4 is followed by 2023 remaster Ark: Survival Ascended, which moved a total of 7 million copies. The Last of Us Part 1 remake sits behind it with 6.3 million sold, while Oblivion Remastered, the Dead Space remake, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth lag in the race with a total of 4.5, 4.3, and 4.2 million copies sold, respectively. (Image credit: Capcom) Bloober's Silent Hill 2 remake from 2024 is the worst best-seller according to Alinea, with a total of 3.2 million copies sold – though, as a huge fan, I'm at least placated by the suggestion that millions of people have now been exposed to buff Pyramid Head. Elliot suggests, out of all these still very popular titles, Resident Evil 4 might have been especially suited to the new, industry-wide hobby of swanky remakes because "it's revered enough to guarantee demand and old enough that the remake feels new." But the obvious flaw with this conclusion is that it applies to multiple titles in Alinea's collection of best-selling remakes. Silent Hill 2, for example, is even older than Resident Evil 4 and similarly revered, while Oblivion released around the same time as Resident Evil 4 and seemed to sell at a similar pace; contemporaneous reports estimate Resident Evil 4 sold 3 million copies within a year from launch, while Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said in 2025 that Oblivion Remastered outsold the original game's first 15 months on the market, which likely also existed in the realm of 3 million (2006 reports say Oblivion had already sold 1.7 copies by the end of its first week). So what's really so special about the Resident Evil 4 remake? Well, Capcom's sales – you can currently purchase the game on Steam for $9.99 instead of $39.99, whereas Silent Hill 2 is currently $27.99 on *****, and Oblivion is an unrepentant $49.99. Elliott says, "Steam's share of total Resident Evil 4 revenue has grown from 28.0% in launch week to 34.1% today. There’s that Capcom catalogue flywheel again – a game earning a ******* slice of its lifetime revenue years after release, at the low end of the price curve (in markets consoles barely reach)." Then, there's the irresistible charms of a formative game like Resident Evil 4. It has something for every player – revolutionary third-person shooting, a girl named Ashley, and parasites that look like someone sneezed on the floor. I, personally, couldn't imagine wanting anything more. Only 7 PlayStation games have sold over 100,000 physical copies in the US this year, says analyst, as commenters demand discs without buying them. [/url]View the full article

Once you give players an ability, you really can't control how they use it. People can do whatever they like with a photo mode, as the devs behind Assassin's Creed ****** Flag Resynced have discovered due to the amount of feet pics they've seen. "There's just nothing like having one million or two million players playing a game at once that you can't replicate. The feet pics were very surprising," Richard Knight, game director on Assassin's Creed ****** Flag Resynced, tells JorRaptor. "That's kind of what photo mode is there for – to take really interesting, sometimes unusual, photos." I'm not surprised – internet loves doing things for the bit, and bizarre, slightly lewd photographs emerging from a new Assassin's Creed game is the exact kind of tomfoolery that goes over very well. [Hidden Content] But I'm far too innocent for such things, because my most in-depth experience with photo mode was in Insomniac's Spider-Man games. I loved swinging around and making fake comic book covers. I've made dozens of them across the three installments. Obviously, that's the wrong line of thinking. Pictures of Spider-Man are out, pictures of feet are in, apparently. "I never would have expected that one," Knight adds. I have to imagine someone on the team thought it was a possibility, but what are you going to do? Restrict people's creativity? You've got to just let people do what they do, that's the real adventure of life. At 3.5 million sales, Assassin's Creed ****** Flag Resynced beat Ubisoft's full-year expectations in 2 weeks with "historical" PC performance. [/url]View the full article

The upcoming Final Fantasy Resonance is set to see the return of Final Fantasy 16's protagonist Clive Rosfield as part of the game's roster of classic Final Fantasy characters. Despite debuting more recently than some of Final Fantasy Resonance's guest characters, Clive has become one of the most popular protagonists in the series thanks to his tragic story and phenomenal performance by voice actor Ben Starr. Now, Ifrit's Dominant returns in a new Final Fantasy game releasing on October 22. View the full article

To comply with *** law, some battle.net users will soon have to verify their age to avoid losing access to social interactions and more. Read the full story on PCGamesN: Some Battle.net players may need to verify their age to avoid losing access to voice chat and other social features View the full article

Halo: Campaign Evolved might be a remake of one of the best shooters to ever do it, but that doesn't mean it's entirely bullet proof. On Steam, the remake has debuted to an average 'Mixed' rating thanks to player complaints of crashes and server login issues that temporarily stopped people from playing the campaign-only game. For context, Halo: Campaign Evolved launches in full on July 28, but owners of the $70/£70 Premium Edition get to skip the ****** and jump in five days early. Despite paying extra, those fans have maybe been given the short end of the stick if user reviews are anything to go by. At the time of writing, about 32% of Campaign Evolved's 1,666 Steam user reviews give it the thumbs down, with many reviews citing semi-frequent crashes and problems even connecting to the game's servers in the first place. "Yes the game just came out, but it shouldn't be a trend for a game to always come out severely broken," one player writes. "Call me a boomer, but I miss when games came out in a playable state without patches needed." "Login failed," another states. "Cannot play the single-player game as servers are overloaded. ****** your DRM." Halo Studios actually responded to that user review by promising that login issues should now be fixed, and judging by the almost 20 hours the fan has on record, it seems server issues are a non-issue for now. Still, some other fans took issue with the fact that Halo: Campaign Evolved requires a login and a connection at all. The game is playable start-to-finish in online co-op, but there's no real reason why Spartans who prefer to go in solo should have to connect their Microsoft accounts before even reaching the main menu. Technical issues and a bumpy launch aside, players who aren't being interrupted by crashes seem otherwise happy with the classic game's second remake. "Finished the prequel missions. Barely any problems whatsoever, and so far it's been refreshing playing a "new" Halo game again," one fans says of the new three-mission arc. "Well – it's Halo 1's campaign, but with a new coat of paint on top and some interesting and fun tweaks to mix up the gameplay, with the most comprehensive set of skulls the series has ever seen that offer tons of replay value," a second player explains. "Really, that's all I think needs to be said to justify the recommendation here." GamesRadar's Halo: Campaign Evolved review had similarly good things to say about the remake, even if the package as a whole also felt like "a wasted opportunity for Halo Studios to put its own spin on a classic." Want more? A secret Halo: Campaign Evolved ending strongly hints that another Halo 2 remake is in the works – "See you in the sequel." [/url]View the full article

The Halo Campaign Evolved Skulls and Terminal found in the first level, The Pillar of Autumn, aren't too difficult to find, for the most part. The main issue is that a couple of Skulls are found so early in the game that you'll no doubt run right past them the first time you play. So, to help you find them quickly, I've explained exactly where to find the Terminal and all Skulls in the first level of Halo Campaign Evolved below. Halo Campaign Evolved Pillar of Autumn Skull 1 [Hidden Content] (Image credit: Xbox Game Studios) From Rally Point Alpha, the start of the level. At the very start of the level as soon as soon as you have control over Master Chief, turn around and head over to the two large, round containers towards the left side of the back of the room. Climb on top of these containers, then jump across to the nearby upper walkway. Walk to the other end and you'll find the Speed Limit Skull. Halo Campaign Evolved Pillar of Autumn Skull 2 [Hidden Content] (Image credit: Xbox Game Studios) From Rally Point Alpha, as soon as the marine says Cortana needs you at the bridge. The next room the marine will lead you into is an armory, and the Magnified Skull is on top of the central weapon rack near the middle of the room. Halo Campaign Evolved Pillar of Autumn Skull 3 [Hidden Content] (Image credit: Xbox Game Studios) From Rally Point Bravo, after the cutscene where Master Chief meets Keyes at the bridge. After this cutscene finishes, turn around and head back into the bridge. Go to the main control area with the glass canopy and the two pilots in their chairs and drop down into the floorspace below them. This is where you'll find the Perspective Skull, and there's a ladder you can use to get out. Halo Campaign Evolved Pillar of Autumn Terminal [Hidden Content] (Image credit: Xbox Game Studios) From Rally Point Charlie, when going through the upper cryo room with the cracked windows. You'll know you're in the right room if Cortana says, "it looks like the Covenant wanted to catch you napping". From here, carry on through the next door, then immediately turn left to find another open door leading into another room with red lights and lots of screens. The Approach Terminal is at the far end. Finding all these collectibles also takes a while, so expect it to add a few hours to how long it takes to beat Halo Campaign Evolved. If you've played Halo CE in The Master Chief Collection, you will have noticed that all the Skulls are in completely different places to that, which is one of the many Halo Campaign Evolved changes. This Halo 1 remake is out now in early access but the full Halo Campaign Evolved release time is still to come. In the meantime, make sure you've got your Halo Campaign Evolved pre-load sorted. © GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission. [/url]View the full article