Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Nintendo kicked off 2026 with huge updates for popular games that launched years ago on the original Switch. Animal Crossing: New Horizons' transformative 3.0 update added a new hotel feature that brings offshore strangers to your island as tourists and juiced up visuals on Switch 2, while Splatoon's unexpectedly meaty 11.0.0 update made some major gameplay changes, like the new Flow Aura mechanic for kill streaks and health bars displaying approximate HP for allies and opponents. During Nintendo's latest investor presentation, president Shuntaro Furukawa explained the company's philosophy on releasing such big updates for legacy Switch titles. It's worth noting that we ran this quote through machine translation, so Furukawa's precise wording is unclear: "To promote the adoption of a new platform, it is essential to release new titles on a regular basis. Furthermore, as we progress with the transition from Switch to Switch 2 over the coming years, we consider it extremely important to maintain our connection with customers who are already familiar with Nintendo hardware," said Furukawa. After a huge Animal Crossing: New Horizons patch was announced out of nowhere, Nintendo says it's "constantly considering" the balance of new Switch 2 games and big updates Despite shifting its "primary development focus to Nintendo Switch 2", Nintendo still plans on making games for the original Switch, and hopes fans will continue to play old ones, too Six years later, the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Switch 2 and Update 3.0 have hooked me back into this cozy world thanks to these five fresh features "In this sense, we aimed to update major Switch titles like Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Splatoon 3 at this juncture. This allows more people to continue playing on Switch while creating a pathway for customers to migrate to Switch 2 at their own pace, particularly when new titles of interest launch. From this perspective, we see value in updating software for the widely adopted Switch to sustain its operational base and encourage players to revisit these titles." Relevant here is the fact that both Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Splatoon 3 were both recently updated with content that works on the original Switch hardware, as well as upgrades specific to Switch 2. It sounds like Nintendo's strategy is to pull back lapsed players on OG Switch with some cool new stuff only to remind them that, hey, it just so happens this game is even better on Switch 2. Wink, wink. Speaking of: If you just got a Nintendo Switch 2, here's everything you need to set it up

Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Blizzard has taken a bold stance against number-two and is dropping the disgraced digit from the Overwatch 2 title. The hero shooter will henceforth be known as simply "Overwatch." Again. It was only four years ago that Blizzard reinvented Overwatch as Overwatch 2 – an awkward, fledgling thing halfway between a major game update and an actual standalone sequel, as we observed in our Overwatch 2 review. The game never even ended up including the PvE mode that was meant to make it a "2" in the first place, so the once-hearty FPS has been dipping in and out of stagnation since then. But Blizzard, during its Overwatch Spotlight stream on February 4, revealed plans to finally reinvigorate Overwatch, and it all starts with the "2." Overwatch 2 canceled its story mode, but Blizzard teases "to lean further into storytelling and character development" Blizzard's teases "the next chapter" for World of Warcraft and more as StarCraft fans enter year 11 of their desperation Splitgate devs give up on Splitgate 2 and combine the FPS games, just like everyone always wanted, for Arena Reloaded In a press release, Blizzard writes, "Overwatch is more than just a digit: it's a living universe that keeps growing, keeps surprising, and keeps bringing players together from around the world." Sure! "This year marks a huge turning point in how the development team envisions the future of Overwatch," Blizzard continues, "so we are officially dropping the '2' and moving forward as 'Overwatch.'" Franchise general manager and live service lead Walter Kong explains further (to our friends at PC Gamer), saying, "Something that we've talked about internally at the team as a stretch goal that we wanted to hit was something that we described as a 'return to form.'" With Overwatch's number-two out of the way, players can expect a new storyline, 10 fresh heroes to be released over the course of 2026, and even a Hello Kitty collaboration beginning Feb 10. (Notice how her name is not and has never been "Hello Kitty 2".) Even though Overwatch 2 canceled its story mode, Blizzard teases "to lean further into storytelling and character development" for the FPS' 10th anniversary.

Hot on the heels of AGDQ in January, Games Done Quick is hosting its second speedrunning event of the year, Back to Black 2026, starting tomorrow, February 5. The four-day event is organized by Black in a Flash and is raising money for Race Forward, a nonprofit that works across communities to address systemic racism. Back to Black is timed to the start of Black History Month and highlights the deep bench of talent in the Black speedrunning community. A few runs, like ones for Hades II, Donkey Kong Country and Silent Hill 4, were teased when Back to Black 2026 was announced last year. The full schedule has plenty of other runs worth checking out, though, like a co-op run through Plants vs Zombies: Replanted on February 5 or an Any% run of The Barbie Diaries: High School Mystery on February 6. Back to Black 2026 will be live on Games Done Quick's Twitch and YouTube channels from Thursday, February 5 through Sunday February 8.

Roblox launched an open-source AI model that generates 3D objects on the fly early last year and now that toolset is getting a massive boost. The platform has introduced a model that whips up "4D" objects. I put 4D in quotes because it doesn't actually allow access to the fourth dimension, but rather lets users make interactive 3D objects via prompts. As suggested, these aren't static 3D models. They are fully functional and interactive objects that move and react to players. The beta toolset can't be used to make anything, as it's rather limited for now. There are just two templates for users to choose from. Folks can make cars and solid 3D objects, like a box or a sculpture. The cars are fully driveable, however, and are made from five separate parts. The parts work independently of one another, allowing for spinning wheels and opening doors. The company says the physics should be accurate, so prepare for a whole lot of user-generated racing games. There's already a game on the platform that uses the 4D tools called Wish Master. It lets players generate cars, planes and all kinds of other stuff. As for those limited templates, Roblox says it plans to eventually let creators make their own but didn't release a timetable for this. It also says it is developing technology that will generate 3D models based on a reference image. Today's open beta comes after Roblox found itself at the center of lawsuits and investigations related to child safety. This led the company to implement mandatory facial verification to access chat, which has reportedly not been going very well. Some countries have actually banned the platform in an effort to protect children.

Blizzard is running a series of showcases for several of its major franchises and on Wednesday, it was time for Overwatch to step up to the plate. That’s Overwatch, by the way, and not Overwatch 2. The studio is formally nixing the number from the game's name. "Overwatch is more than just a digit: it's a living universe that keeps growing, keeps surprising, and keeps bringing players together from around the world," the Overwatch team said in a statement. "This year marks a huge turning point in how the development team envisions the future of Overwatch, so we are officially dropping the '2' and moving forward as Overwatch." Blizzard made a big hullabaloo about Overwatch 2 being a sequel to the original game when it went live in October 2022 as part of a shift to a free-to-play model. There were a ton of major changes, not least a format switch from 6v6 to 5v5, with one tank being dropped from each team — a contentious decision that has been walked back with the return of 6v6 modes. The grand vision Blizzard originally had for Overwatch 2 never quite came together. The studio canceled its planned hero missions, which were going to have RPG-like talent trees and long-term progression, but it carried some of that DNA over to the Stadium mode. We only got one round of co-op story missions as well. That paid expansion reportedly sold poorly, leading Blizzard to scrap work on the player vs. environment elements of Overwatch to focus on the competitive player vs. player modes. Over the last couple of years, though, Blizzard really seems to have steadied the ship. Overwatch is arguably in the best shape it's been in for a long time. This is shaping up to be a big year for Overwatch. May will mark its 10th anniversary (I have to imagine the team has something significant planned for that). Blizzard laid out much of the roadmap for 2026 during the Overwatch Spotlight showcase. We won’t have to wait long at all to see significant changes to the game. When the next season goes live on February 10, it will be the biggest update to Overwatch at least since the Stadium mode and perks system went live last year, and arguably since the dawn of the Overwatch 2 era. That’s partly because Blizzard is adding five new heroes to the mix all at once next week. One of those is a character that the studio said in 2017 it had experimented with but ultimately, um, scratched. Jetpack Cat is alive after all, and is coming to Overwatch in a matter of days. This is a support hero with a permanent flight ability who can "tow" an ally — providing a speed boost while healing them. Jetpack Cat's ultimate ability sees the kitty diving into the ground to knock down enemies and tether the closest one to them. It's called Catnapper, which is delightful. Also, the hero's primary weapon is called Biotic Pawjectiles, so I adore Jetpack Cat already. It’s fun to see weird Wrecking Ball-type characters coming to Overwatch again. The other new heroes joining the fray next week are Domina (a zone-control tank with "long-range precision"), damage dealer Emre (a "fast‑paced, mobile soldier archetype with conflicting identity due to cybernetic modification"), Mizuki (a support who can throw a hat to heal allies) and Anran (a high-mobility hero who deals fire damage and can self-resurrect with their ultimate). As with Jetpack Cat, the latter of those is aligned with the Overwatch faction. You can try Anran out starting February 5 as part of a hero trial. The other three have ties to the villainous Talon organization. Expect another hero to join the fray every couple of months this year as each new season gets under way. That means more heroes will be added to Overwatch in 2026 than in any year since the game’s debut. The next season spells the beginning of what Blizzard is calling a "new story-driven era" for Overwatch, starting with a year-long narrative arc called The Reign of Talon. All of the lore, heroes, events and so on that emerge over the next 12 months will be tied to the rise of Talon. The studio says this is the "the first fully connected annual storyline in Overwatch history." A new arc will begin next year with Season 1 of 2027 (Blizzard is resetting the season counter when The Reign of Talon begins). Elsewhere, each role will be split into sub-roles, and the heroes in each will share a passive ability. For instance, "initiator" tanks heal more while they're in the air, several damage heroes can detect enemies that are below half health through walls after damaging them and some supports have excess ultimate charge that carries over after you use their most powerful ability. Also on the way soon is a "meta event" called Conquest. This is billed as a faction war between Overwatch and Talon that will run for five weeks, with dozens of loot boxes and other rewards (such as some legendary Echo skins) up for grabs. Blizzard has overhauled the Overwatch interface too, with updated menus, a new hero lobby, a notification hub and the promise of faster navigation. Stadium will have some updates, such as refreshed ability icons and recommended builds based on global data that will be updated between rounds. Vendetta is joining that mode's roster as well. Along with all the new heroes and other updates, a Hello Kitty collaboration will run for two weeks starting on February 10 with themed cosmetics for several heroes. Lots of other cosmetics are in the pipeline, including Crimson Wolf weapon skins you can unlock using competitive points, and rainy day and Valentine's items. Shop items from the last six seasons are going into loot boxes, while mythic cosmetics for Mercy, Juno and Mei will be available in Season 1. Looking further ahead, a Nintendo Switch 2 version of Overwatch will arrive alongside Season 2, which will start in April. Some heroes will be getting their second mythic skins, including Ana and Genji. Genji, Hanzo and Sojourn will have mythic weapon skins in the coming months. Two new maps, including a Japan Night one, for the main modes are coming, along with the return of post-match accolades. There’s so much on the way for my go-to game. I don't know how I'm going to be able to take a long-enough break from Overwatch to play cool indies ever again.

Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! This year's Grammy Award for the best video game soundtrack celebrated some excellent OSTs – but notably, the list of nominees did not include Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Even this year's winner is having a hard time believing that Sandfall's game didn't make the cut. "Thank you to everyone who supported this project, has supported me in general," Wintory says in a sort of makeshift acceptance speech. "Been very lucky in my career overall these last 20 years in that regard. Working with Giant Squid on a game like Sword of the Sea is a life's dream. Working with Matt Nava and this team for the last more than 15 years has been the joy of a lifetime. I can only hope to be so lucky for that to continue." As Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 gets snubbed at the 2026 Grammys, Assassin's Creed and Journey composer says he'd "happily trade places" with the RPG Assassin's Creed Syndicate composer praises Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 devs: "They make us all better" Not even Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 devs can believe it's the most-nominated Game Awards title in history: "There are so many deserving, precious games from this year" But, Wintory adds, "I simply must address a sentiment I know is shared by many" – the fact that Lorien Testard was not among the nominees for his work on Expedition 33. "I would have been absolutely delighted and overjoyed to stand alongside Lorien in the nominations and then be cheering as he ran up the stage to receive the award," Wintory says. "I guess in that way I say thank you and I happily dedicate this Grammy to him and to Sandfall for a really, really special achievement that I know I echo millions of people around the world in saying it meant a lot to." Wintory says that Expedition 33's soundtrack is "excellent," and it "not only carries all the gameplay highs and lows and narrative beats beautifully, but the sheer amount of depth and subtlety and nuance to it in addition to just bold in your face gestures are uncountable and immeasurable. Not to mention that Sandfall so beautifully built the game to depend heavily on this score. It's just so rare to see. It's incredible." Wintory lavishes praise on Expedition 33's "excellent soundtrack," which "carries all the gameplay highs and lows and narrative beats beautifully." And, "on top of that," it's also "a great Spotify record." He argues that part of the proof of the excellence of Expedition 33's soundtrack is that so many love it outside the context of the game. "It is an amazing album that people love in its own right," Wintory says, "and it actually went a step further even than that. It became a generational-level phenomenon. The fact that there's concert tours selling out all over Europe and people putting it making the music into memes or putting it in their TikTok videos and all kinds of stuff, that is just rare. I mean, it's literally a-once-in-a-generation-level rarity." Wintory already heaped praise on Expedition 33's soundtrack back in November when the Grammy nominees were first announced, so he's nothing if not consistent. Despite extensive speculation from the game's devoted fans, it's never been clear why Expedition 33 didn't even make the nominee list. Soundtrack publisher Laced Audio pushed a "for your Grammy consideration" for the game on social media last year, but if there's a formal reason for Expedition 33 not to have been considered, it's not been revealed. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 beats Elden Ring for most Game of the Year wins from awards shows, media outlets, and more, and it's not done yet.

Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Nick Kaman of Peak co-developer Aggro Crab made a seemingly silly, very fair point when he reckoned that "eight bucks is still five bucks" when it comes to indie game pricing and player perception. Games director Mat Piscatella of analyst firm Circana says the idea is very real, and reaches way beyond the indie space, especially at a time of enormous price fluctuations in games. "We're seeing more movement on the low end and on the high end, more flexibility," Piscatella says. "People are promoting heavily or less heavily, they're promoting more often or less often, and they're establishing base prices all over the board. Because we don't have as much physical distribution anymore, pricing can be much more fluid and adaptive to the market or what that particular game maker wants to try to achieve. Peak is $8 because the devs wanted you to see a $5 price tag and, hey, "eight bucks is still five bucks" "Silksong charged $5 more, 9 years later, and people lost their minds": Indie dev says pricing is actually really easy The median price of best-selling new games on Steam has dropped in the past 2 years, research finds: "Charging >$25 is getting trickier, as players compare value to the $10-$15 indie titles" "You see a lot of consternation on the high end. But you know what, if a game has that kind of price point and it doesn't meet that muster, it's not going to sell, right? We've seen that over and over again, where people have tried to push that price point and the game has not been successful because people didn't find value there. But because of the digital marketplace, those prices can change really quickly, and that stuff tends to even out more quickly over time than it was when it was a more retail-focused environment." Peak, an $8 game that wanted to present as a $5 game, is an interesting example here. "I don't know how mechanically true that is, but I get what they're going for," Piscatella says of Kaman's comments. "You just try to find the right price point that fits. You can't science it all. Sometimes vibes pricing is OK." (More seriously, it's also an example of how games can, without massive content changes, seek to eke out more revenue at a time where way more games are coming out, but not much more money is being spent on games each year, and it's especially relevant for games that already appear cheap.) "Vibes pricing" is a very real phenomenon across the games industry, Piscatella reckons, calling Kaman's comments a "little showing behind the curtain" at how prices are chosen, and often un-chosen and chosen again. "A lot of video game players will think, 'Oh, they have these suits and they're running these hyper sophisticated pricing models on whopper computers,'" Piscatella says. "OK, there's a little bit of that. But a lot of it is also, 'I don't know, is this a $60 game or a $70, $80 game? How much? Is this good? What do you think? I don't know. 70 bucks seems right. All right, we'll try that.' There's a lot of that too. A lot of art with the science when it comes to pricing." Ask players how games should be priced and you'll likely get a thousand different answers – genre, length, replay value, in-game monetization, graphics, production cost, multiplayer, or even Early Access progress. The only hill I'll die on is that 'hours of fun per dollar' is a silly way to go about it. PC gamers and Steam customers are "a really bright spot" as the games industry struggles with pricing and sustainability, analyst says: "We can look at an audience that's excited to try new things."

Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! The Prince of Persia series is known to many from the PS2-era hit Sands of Time and its follow-ups, but it began with developer Broderbund's original Prince of Persia in 1989, designed and helmed by Jordan Mechner. Following the cancellation of the Sands of Time remake that had been in the works, and indeed in the trenches, at Ubisoft for years – just one casualty of a massive overhaul at the long-declining company – Mechner took to his blog to commiserate with fans and developers hurt by the news. "I'd hoped my first post of the new year would celebrate The Sands of Time's release, but alas, that's not in the cards," Mechner begins in a February 4 post. "The remake's cancellation as part of Ubisoft's restructuring was disappointing news to all fans who'd been eagerly awaiting it, myself included." Mechner extends his sympathies to the Sands of Time remake team at Ubisoft Montreal, who'd endured internal reboots during production. "Having a project killed is a brutal experience," he says. "It's an aspect of the game industry that the public doesn't often see, but developers are all too familiar with." Prince of Persia remake dev comments on its cancellation: "We know this is deeply disappointing" Former Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake dev says the end was "close," but Ubisoft had other "priorities" Prince of Persia remake cancellation is "the most devastating moment" of voice actor's career after 3 years of work Loads of games are cancelled without a single public word, often over funding or creative issues, or in the name of other business priorities. World of Warcraft and Overwatch 2 maker Blizzard has an especially, but not uniquely industrious project graveyard. Mechner later adds that he feels "grateful" to now be working with books and other art like graphic novels, where production budgets are smaller and creative freedom is "priceless." "A cancellation so close to release can be particularly devastating for younger team members who don't have decades of past shipped titles on their resumé," Mechner continues, and that's especially true given the state of the games industry after tens of thousands of layoffs in the past few years. "It's tough to suddenly absorb that the past four years of hard work you were proud of, and looking forward to seeing out in the world as your new calling card, will now never see daylight." "Words like loss and grieving might seem exaggerated, but artists put their hearts into their work," he adds, and losing that hard work outright, especially to business decisions above your head, is a real blow. "Memories of nights and weekends spent in studio crunch instead of at home with loved ones, sacrifices that felt worth it at the time, only add to the pain retrospectively once their object ceases to exist," he concludes. Eman Ayaz, one of the actors on the Sands of Time remake, called the cancellation, which she only learned of online, "the most devastating moment" of her career. She said she broke her foot during the project but "continued to work," and found that she'd dug up some of her best performances during recording. After 6 years of waiting, multiple delays, and a complete reboot, Prince of Persia remake dev comments on its cancellation: "We know this is deeply disappointing."

Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! You'll be greeted by a familiar face if you log into Helldivers 2 just now, because the service technician aboard your Super Destroyer is once again reporting for duty. After taking some time away, she can be found hanging about in the lobby, maintaining all your guns and equipment. "Grateful to be back," she exclaims in some of her fresh dialogue. "And to have been gone. You learn a lot in professional development training, like how to create better documentation, and how to stay focused on a projector screen for hours at a time." It sounds riveting - better her than me. Sarah Elmaleh, the voice actor behind the character, marked her comeback to the multiplayer shooter on Instagram. "Sounds like the latest update has some staffing changes," she says. "So happy to be back in Helldivers 2. Love this game, love this team, love this character. Love to the devs for having me back; love to the players who missed her." Helldivers 2 writer had 7 days to find face of the franchise John Helldiver, the "most insincere" man in the galaxy All Helldivers 2 voice actors in the main cast and their roles Helldivers 2 boss says morale at Arrowhead is "much better now" following Into the Unjust blowback as "Steam score is trending upwards" and "development is progressing" A post shared by Sarah Elmaleh (@selmaleh)A photo posted by on A post shared by Sarah Elmaleh (@selmaleh)A photo posted by on A post shared by Sarah Elmaleh (@selmaleh) A photo posted by on While that utterly dull extended powerpoint is the in-universe reason she's been gone, in reality her absence aligns with the recent SAG-AFTRA video game strike. From July 2024 to July 2025, voice and motion capture actors in games struck against publishers over the potential use of AI in the industry. Around 2,600 people associated with motion capture and voice work were involved, no longer providing their talent until a new agreement was negotiated. The technician's disappearance probably coincided with when Arrowhead ran out of banked lines from Elmaleh, and it's taken until now for another batch to be written, recorded and added to the game. However it's come to pass, players are appropriately excited. "This is the best day of my democratic life!" proclaims a Redditor. "It's good to have her back on board," says another, while a third jokes about only hearing the "legends." Naturally, there's some strike-related humor mixed in here, too. "Apparently, non-compensated labor was what that strike was about, the one that some other service technicians got a little too interested in," the service technician states in another possible exchange. "The bad apples got re-educated, so it all worked out." Helldivers 2 grunts, your tank awaits: Completely "pancake" Automatons threatening democracy with "new heavy-hitting" Bastion Tank

Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Nioh 3's Metacritic score places it above the second entry in the Soulslike trilogy, while it still sits below the original game. At the time of writing, Nioh 3's PS5 version sits at an 86 while the PC version comes in slightly lower at 85. So at least on PS5, its beating Nioh 2 which received 85 for its original PS4 release (however, the PS5 and PC re-release Nioh 2 – The Complete Edition did slightly better at 86, once again tying things). However, despite fans generally being warmer on the second game, the original Nioh still holds the series highest score at 88… and ironically also the lowest score in the series with Nioh: Complete Edition sitting at a score of 84. Nioh 3 review: "Brutal clashes across wide maps avoid retreading Elden Ring – this is all demon killer, no filler" Nioh 3 is already locked in as my favorite Soulslike of 2026, feeling like Team Ninja's response to Elden Ring with its open exploration and intense yokai clashes I was going to play the Nioh 3 demo for 30 minutes – I played 5 hours, and this Soulslike is blowing me away at 120 FPS On the positive side of things, Rock, Paper, Shotgun's review cites "wonky performance" for the PC version but awards it its "Bestest Bests label" while The Daily Star gives it full marks and calls it as good as Elden Ring. Meanwhile, the lowest review scores come from five outlets, each of which still award the game a solid 7/10. But as of right now, Nioh 3 is the highest-rated game of 2026 alongside Cairn, although The Cult of the Lamb's new Woolhaven DLC is ahead of both. Nioh 3 might come to Xbox for the first time in the nearly 10-year-old franchise's history

Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! There's no doubt that legendary Mario voice actor Charles Martinet helped Nintendo's red-hatted plumber become as iconic and beloved as he is today, but in his original audition, he "didn't know anything about video games," so he opted for a slightly unconventional approach and "made things up about food," instead. Speaking to GAMINGbible in a new interview, Martinet says that he "started off crashing an audition where I had never heard of the character or even Nintendo." He explains, "I was simply told to start talking, and when you run out of things to say, that's your audition." No pressure, then. Although he "didn't know" whether the audition's audience "would have children in it," Martinet "didn't want to do an Italian plumber sounding gruff, mean, and nasty or scary," as he adds: "I have a principle of comedy of always being kind." Mario's new voice actor has "unbelievable respect" for 32-year icon Charles Martinet No, Super Mario's actor hasn't secretly been narrating any Nintendo Directs, despite the "weird narrative online" Nintendo icon Shigeru Miyamoto says while he's not as involved with making Mario games anymore, he always plays about 30 minutes during development to make sure they feel right That led to the "much more silly and fun" version of Mario's voice that more accurately matches the one we know and love. "I didn't know anything about video games, so I just made things up about food and started talking," Martinet admits. And hey, it clearly worked. If you're curious exactly how that went down, the story matches up with the actor's previous recollection of the audition in an interview with Retro Gamer, where he revealed that he opened with, "'Hello, I'm-a-Mario, let's make a pizza pie together. You get some sausage, I will get some spaghetti. And then I chase you with the pizza, and if I catch you with the pizza, you gotta eat de pizza.'" After that, he continued talking about lasagna and "every pasta I have ever heard of," before eventually "making pasta up" until he was eventually told to "stop talking" because there was no videotape left. He obviously made quite an impression. Back to the latest interview, Martinet notes that after he secured the role, he "began to do more things with Mario, and I cemented the idea that he's going to be optimistic, loving, respectful, and comedic. Mario has a positive impact on children, and I think that's the essence of his character." While Martinet has now retired from being the voice of Mario, with Kevin Afghani having taken over in the games since Super Mario Bros. Wonder, the veteran actor says that "being able to bring that joy into children's and adults' lives has been a tremendous honor." Mario's new voice actor has "unbelievable respect" for 32-year icon Charles Martinet: "Look, Charles, as far as I'm concerned, IS Mario."

Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! The ever-beloved farming sim gem Stardew Valley has now been around for nearly 10 years, so you'd think we dedicated fans would've discovered just about everything it has to offer by now – but, according to developer Eric 'ConcernedApe' Barone, that's not the case. There is, in fact, a secret remaining that no one in the community has uncovered. Speaking in a recent interview with IGN, ConcernedApe reveals as much. "There's still a secret that no one has ever found," he admits. "I don't think they ever will. Maybe I'll reveal it someday, but the problem with the secret is that it's basically a secret message that's in the game, and it reveals something that actually isn't even true anymore." What could the dev possibly mean by that? He does begin to explain, but cuts himself short, asking, "Do I want to reveal it or not?" Sadly, he opts not to. "Well, that's all I'll say. I'll say it was a secret message that was basically announcing something that I actually shifted gears [on] and that thing wasn't even true anymore, but it's still in the game." At this point, I'm pretty desperate to find out what the heck it is – but I doubt we ever will. Stardew Valley creator ConcernedApe wants to make the farming sim "infinitely replayable" – but "without the use of AI" Stardew Valley 1.7 update might be as big as the farming sim's last, as ConcernedApe hints there's "lots more" to come Stardew Valley 1.7 update will add "2 more marriage candidates," and fans theorize they could be anyone in the farm sim As ConcernedApe puts it, "I just don't know if anyone will ever discover it because it's so obscure." I'm sure it is. It's only been a decade, and Stardew Valley is only one of the most popular games, available on like a billion different platforms… so, yeah, I believe him. I'd love to know what misinformation it actually points to, though – something tells me it has to do with a past update. All I know is I'm going to be inspecting every nook and cranny. With the 1.7 update underway, two new marriage candidates and all, ConcerendApe is likely to shake things up even more. How, I'm not certain, but knowing the creative mastermind, we might even find ourselves grappling with other secrets – yes, on top of the one we have evidently not been able to uncover. Plus, with Haunted Chocolatier in the works, too, there's plenty of ConcernedApe-style charm to look forward to. "That's never going to happen": Stardew Valley creator ConcernedApe wants to make his farming sim "infinitely replayable," but only "without the use of AI."