Xbox's new chief exec, Asha Sharma, has only been in charge for a few months but things already seem like they might be changing for the better. Or at the very least, they might be getting cheaper. The Verge reported that the new Xbox CEO wrote a memo to employees addressing the current pricing of the Game Pass subscription service. "Game Pass is central to gaming value on Xbox. It’s also clear that the current model isn’t the final one," Sharma allegedly said. "Short term, Game Pass has become too expensive for players, so we need a better value equation. Long term, we will evolve Game Pass into a more flexible system which will take time to test and learn around." After Microsoft upped the price for Game Pass twice within 15 months, many of us certainly felt that the service had gotten too costly to keep. Xbox is still offering a wide range of titles on Game Pass; the April update is adding indies like Hades 2 and new Double Fine project Kiln alongside AAA hits like the remake of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. The Verge's sources suggested that the addition of the CoD franchise might have been a factor in some of the Game Pass price increases, since Microsoft would lose out on revenue by making the latest entries in the series available under the subscription. It's too early to say whether this memo from Sharma means Xbox is on the brink of a resurgence. And there are changes the company could make, like adding ever more complicated tiers, that would further hamper interest and uptake of Game Pass. But acknowledging the problem, even internally, is refreshing to see after so many baffling moves from Xbox in recent years.

Fans of miniature plastic soldiers, rejoice. Games Workshop has brought a host of older Warhammer and Warhammer 40K video games to Steam for the first time, alongside a dozen games that haven't been available on Valve's storefront for a few years. The new to Steam releases consist of three games from the Warhammer fantasy range — Shadow of the Horned Rat, Mark of Chaos – Gold Edition and Dark Omen — and four from its sci-fi 40K universe — Chaos Gate, Fire Warrior, Final Liberation and Rites of War. If you're a Warhammer fan of a certain age, some of these may be formative experiences for you. I know they are for me. I can't count how many hours I spent playing Chaos Gate when I first discovered 40K at the age of 10. Yes, it was an XCOM clone, but by that point I didn't know about the MicroProse original, and Space Marines were cool. Years later and as a Tau collector at the time, I also loved Fire Warrior, even if it wasn't the most polished or deep first-person shooter. I haven't played the other five games included in today's announcement, but I've heard Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat and Warhammer 40K: Rites of War are pretty good if you're into the setting or, in the latter case, a fan of the Eldar. To celebrate the re-release of these old gems, Games Workshop is running a Classics sale on Steam, with discounts on all 19 re-releases. Plus, you can get discounts on some more recent releases, including the excellent Dawn of War – Definitive Edition and Dawn of War 2 – Anniversary Edition. If you're new to the Warhammer 40K universe, and would rather avoid a plastic addiction, one of those would be my first port of call, along with the excellent Space Marine 2.

There are plenty of retro gaming handhelds on the market, but Anbernic is introducing one that offers a unique spin on the square shape. The retro gaming handheld maker revealed the RG Rotate on its YouTube channel, showing off a 1:1 display that swivels out much like the T-Mobile Sidekick of yore. Anbernic often drip feeds details of its upcoming products over time, but so far, we know that the RG Rotate will run on Android, feature an aluminum alloy frame and come in Polar Black and Aurora Silver. Anbernic's video detailed that the handheld will have a "proprietary ultra-thin alloy hinge" that went through "high-durability testing." While the handheld maker has experience with other hinges as seen with its RG DS and RG 34XXSP, the RG Rotate's hinge mechanism could prove to be a new engineering challenge. As for the rest of the build, Anbernic is adding swappable L2 and R2 buttons that allow users to adjust the height of the shoulder buttons. From the video, the RG Rotate might only be built with a single USB-C port, which has irked a few fans hoping for an audio jack. Anbernic hasn't announced pricing for the RG Rotate yet, but it'll likely be much cheaper than more premium options from Ayn or Retroid.

Roblox is preparing to roll out its biggest change since starting age verification late last year. While that program was initially focused on chat access, today’s news is about age-segregating the games on the massive platform. Starting in mid-May, users will be pushed into one of three worlds: Roblox Kids, Roblox Select or Roblox. The exact age ranges of these groups will vary by territory, but in the US they are 5-8 for Kids, 9-15 for Select and 16+ for the regular account. These three account types then align with the platform’s current content maturity labels, which divide games into Minimal, Mild, Moderate and Restricted. Kids accounts will be the most restricted, with chat off by default and only Minimal and Mild experiences available. Ages 9-15 get to chat with kids in their age group and “trusted friends” that have passed the parent test, and will be able to access Moderate content as well as games for babies. At 16, teens will automatically be moved to a full-fat Roblox account with all of its features, but not all of the games. Content marked as Restricted will only unlock once they turn 18. Roblox says over half of its users are now age checked, whether through ID verification or face scans. With the new account types rolled out globally — which the company says should be done by June — it’ll start forcing users who haven’t completed an age check into a Kids-like experience, with no access to chat or games rated higher than Mild. Once age verification is completed, Roblox still faces the task of ensuring that its vast collection of user-created content is actually age-appropriate. Its solution to this is, of course, ID verification, AI and upcharges. Developers will have to verify their identity and pony up $5 a month for Roblox Plus to show “a long-term commitment to the platform.” The wisdom is that, with these hurdles cleared, a developer will surely apply the correct maturity label to their games. On the off-chance that an experience is mislabeled, Roblox’s AI moderation will keep tabs on game instances to make sure what's happening on-screen and in-chat matches the maturity label. On the surface, this does leave a gap where a toddler could end up playing an incorrectly labeled mature game before the AI catches it. Don’t fret, though, as Roblox says users over 16 “play new games first,” which surely isn’t an overgeneralization and will ensure that no child ever plays a mature game. Roblox also previewed a pair of new parental control features coming in June. First, parents will be able to block any game and manage direct chat access until a child turns 16. Previously, kids over 13 could unblock experiences by themselves. Second, parents will be able to approve games outside of their child’s age bracket on a case-by-case basis. Roblox gave an example of a younger child wanting to play a game with their older sibling for this feature’s utility. Of course, the big blocky elephant in the room is the efficacy of automated age verification. Reporting from Wired in January suggested even enterprising toddlers might be able to get past the platform’s age checks, which somewhat undermines everything Roblox is trying to achieve. Speaking to press ahead of today’s announcement, Roblox Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman said, “If we get it wrong … we offer users multiple ways to correct that.” He added that the platform is “constantly measuring users’ behavior and comparing that against what their age-check data says. If we see those things divert, then we will just ask people to run through the age process again.”

Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. As always, we're here to tell you about a bunch of new games you can play this weekend, as well as several upcoming titles. The latest edition of the Triple-i Initiative showcase was packed with cool stuff, including a first peek at the fascinating next game from 1000xResist developer Sunset Visitor, word of a Don't Starve follow-up, a release date for stealth title Thick as Thieves and an announcement of when pirate survival sim Windrose will hit early access. We also got a release window for Neverway, a life sim with gorgeously creepy pixel art. The prologue is available to play now on Steam, and it doesn't take long at all before things become delightfully strange. I'll run through a few of the other Triple-i highlights below. Before we get to the new releases, though, I want to touch on something I spotted a little too late to include in last week's roundup. On Reddit, the developer of mixed reality game CoasterMania shared a video showcasing an update that lets players use their hands to build and interact with rollercoasters. I think this looks just swell. This is the most I've ever been interested in picking up a Meta Quest headset (which I'd inevitably use for a grand total of about 45 minutes). I don't like to overwork my brain when I'm playing games. I’m focused all day at work and afterwards, I just want to switch off for a bit. That's a big reason why I play a ton of Overwatch and don't really gel too well with most puzzle games. Minos, though, hits the sweet spot of brain engagement for me. In this roguelite from Artificer and publisher Devolver Digital, your aim is to stop glory-seeking adventurers from finding and killing a minotaur. You'll shape a labyrinth as you see fit in order to defend the beast from these warriors. You can set up the maze by building and knocking down walls, and setting traps. The adventurers will follow a set path to the minotaur's lair, then make a beeline for the monster when they discover it's hiding elsewhere. There are a lot of ways to dispose of the interlopers and you'll need to be thoughtful about how to set everything up to take out each wave of attackers. Many traps can only be placed on certain spots, so it's important to work around those. You'll need to adjust your setup after every wave — you’ll gain more traps and have to re-arrange them to fend off different types of enemies. Minos is more active than a lot of tower defense and strategy games I've played, as the minotaur can reset certain traps after they trigger and, if need be, try to kill the adventurers head-on. I found myself spending quite a bit of time thinking through each enemy's path through my domain and how I was going to eliminate them. Sometimes, I miscalculated and brought my run to an end. Being able to improve the minotaur's stats and unlock new powers between runs helped me keep coming back for more. I'm really enjoying Minos, and I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being one of my favorite games of the year. You can snap it up on Steam now for $18. A demo is available too. Spring has finally bloomed in my neck of the woods. I planned to spend a chunk of my weekend outside after a long winter. But now I might need to bring my Steam Deck with me, because the first DLC for CloverPit, one of my favorite games of last year, suddenly arrived during the Triple-i Initiative showcase. CloverPit is a Balatro-style incremental roguelite from Panik Arcade and publisher Future Friends Games. It tasks you with breaking the rules of a slot machine to meet increasingly high coin targets in order to pay off a debt. You can pick up charms that modify the machine, and the Unholy Fusion DLC is all about those totems. You'll be able to use a new device called the Surgery Machine to fuse charms into more powerful items (à la Ball x Pit). It seems like that will free up valuable space for more charms too. The DLC adds 30 fusion charms, 11 new base charms, a secret ending and other features. I've played CloverPit for dozens of hours (I'm far from the only one, as the game's pulled in more than 5 million players). I suspect I'm about to sink a whole lot more time into this DLC. The Unholy Fusion DLC usually costs $3, but there's a 10 percent discount on Steam until April 23. The base game is typically $10, though you can get 30 percent off on Steam until the same date. You'll save an extra five percent if you buy a bundle with both. CloverPit is also on Game Pass, and you can buy a bundle of the base game and DLC on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and Xbox on PC for $11.49. On iOS and Android, you can snag CloverPit for $5 and the DLC for $2. Another title had a surprise, sudden release during the Triple-i Initiative showcase: battle royale typing game Final Sentence. I really enjoyed the demo for this one, even though I'm not the fastest or most accurate typist around — I made four typos in this sentence alone. Make too many mistakes or fail to beat everyone else who's bashing away at a typewriter and it's curtains for you, courtesy of a creepy figure with a revolver that’s standing by your desk. Final Sentence, from Button Mash and Polden Publishing, is available on Steam. It'll typically cost $10, but if you pick it up before April 23, you'll save 10 percent. (Sidenote: I enjoyed a Steam review that read, “finally… a way for millennials to beat Gen Z at a battle royale game.) One of the most interesting things about People of Note is that Iridium Studios tried to make this musical adventure as approachable as possible. It's an RPG with turn-based battles, but you can skip the fights if you like. That's appealing to someone like me, who enjoys story-driven games but often struggles to engage with turn-based combat. Puzzles are skippable too. Great! People should be able to play non-competitive games however they want. I dug the demo when I played it a while back. The approach to battles here is interesting, as the protagonist, pop singer Cadence, recruits other musicians to join her band — in other words, your party. The combat is based around music, and you can create mashups of battle tracks based on the genres that your collaborators specialize in. People of Note, from publisher Annapurna Interactive, will normally run you $25, though there's a 10 percent launch discount. It's available on PS5 (the discount on that platform is only for PlayStation Plus subscribers), Xbox Series X/S, Xbox on PC, Nintendo Switch 2, Steam and the Epic Games Store. Tamashika is a fast-paced first-person shooter with a neat twist. The game only has one level available at any time. There are no checkpoints, and it'll take about 10 minutes to complete a successful run. The level gets a procedurally generated revamp once per day. A tantō blade, a pistol, your movement and your aim are the only weapons you have to defeat the enemies and reach the goal. I had to watch the trailer a few times to get it, but the quirky hand-drawn aesthetic is growing on me. Tamashika — from QuickTequila and publisher Edglrd — is available on Steam, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch for $20. A Hidden Object Fest is running on Steam until April 13, and a few new games have debuted as part of that. One of those is Nippets by Blink Industries. It's a hand-drawn game with lots of secrets and, at least judging by the trailer, charming animations. It seems like a very relaxing counterpoint to some of the more intense games out this week. It's pretty digestible too, as it has around two to three hours of gameplay, depending on how sharp your observation skills are. Nippets is available on Steam and Itch for PC and Mac. It costs $13, though there's a 10 percent discount on Steam until April 21. A demo is available on both storefronts too. Dead As Disco has some momentum after 1.2 million players checked out the demo, and this rhythm-based beat 'em up now has an early access release date. It's coming to Steam and the Epic Games Store on May 5. At the jump, you'll be able to play the first arc of a larger narrative and be able to take out bad guys to the beat of a soundtrack that has more than 30 songs, including original tracks, covers and licensed tunes. You can load in your own music as well, though I can't imagine being able to adeptly play this to the rhythm of Angine de Poitrine's wild time signature swings. Brain Jar Games expects the game to remain in early access for around a year as it adds new bosses, moves and other features, and makes adjustments based on player feedback. A co-op mode is planned too. You can get a taste of Dead As Disco now by checking out the Steam demo, though I would argue that disco is still very much alive. Those looking for a puzzle game of a Lovecraftian persuasion may be interested in Call of the Elder Gods, a sequel to 2020's Call of the Sea. The follow-up is bound for Steam, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch 2 on May 12. It'll be available on Game Pass and it's priced at $25 on the eShop. You seemingly won't need to have played Call of the Sea before diving into the sequel, though you'll surely get more out of Call of the Elder Gods if you have. You'll switch between two characters — professor Harry Everhart and student Evangeline Drayton — to solve puzzles from a first-person perspective and try to find out what happened to the pair's missing loved ones. I'd seen Long Gone at another showcase some time ago, but the name of it slipped from my memory. No such issues after it made an appearance in the Triple-i Initiative stream though, as this project from Hillfort Games and co-publisher Outersloth is now firmly on my Steam wishlist. It's a narrative-driven game set amid a zombie outbreak in which you'll solve environmental puzzles to learn about the lives of people who are no longer around. It's ostensibly a point-and-click adventure that looks very heavily inspired by a certain post-apocalyptic series from Naughty Dog, right down to the backpack-wearing protagonist. There are platforming sections too. I'm absolutely going to be interested in any game that smooshes together The Last of Us and the Monkey Island series. I'm really looking forward to playing Long Gone sometime next year.

Besides a wealth of Fortnite skins based on Disney IP, it hasn't really been clear what the entertainment company has gotten in return for its $1.5 billion investment in Epic from 2024. That could change this November, Bloomberg reports, when Epic releases a Disney-themed extraction shooter. The game is one of three Disney projects the publisher is currently working on, and is reportedly expected to be Epic's comeback after the company laid off 1,000 employees in March due to a "downturn in Fortnite engagement." The game is reportedly similar to Arc Raiders, a multiplayer shooter where players fight for resources before escaping through an extraction point, but with Disney characters fighting enemies instead of post-apocalyptic survivors. Bloomberg writes that internal reviewers have worried that the game's mechanics are "not very original," but the project is the most promising of the three Epic is developing. The second title received middling internal reviews, according to Bloomberg, and Epic moved resources off the third project "after reports that Disney was disappointed by Epic’s release timeline." “This is not reflective of the ambitions of the Disney collaboration,” Liz Markman, Senior Director of Communications at Epic Games, said in a statement. “We are building a new games and entertainment universe of Disney experiences.” While details of Epic's work for Disney are coming into focus, it's still unclear whether this new extraction shooter will be a standalone game or incorporated as a mode in Fortnite. In its efforts to sell the title as a "multiverse" and a competitor to Roblox, Epic has introduced multiple games inside Fortnite over the last few years with distinct mechanics. The developer announced that it would shut down three of those titles — Rocket Racing, Ballistic and Fortnite Festival Battle Stage — as part of its recent round of layoffs. According to current and former Epic employees Bloomberg spoke to, several affected employees were also working on these unannounced Disney games. When it invested in Epic in 2024, Disney wanted to build an entertainment universe, where players could "play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar, and more." Epic's current plans sound less all-encompassing than that, but if they manage to increase engagement with Fortnite and Disney's brand, that might not matter.Update, April 10, 7:29PM ET: Added a statement from Epic Games.

Sick! The Federal Aviation Administration is targeting gamers in its most recent job advertisement for air traffic controllers. The administration's annual hiring window opens at 12AM ET on April 17, and considering the ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers, it's calling this a period of "supercharged hiring." Rad! The FAA's YouTube video draws parallels between gaming and directing air traffic, and notes that the average salary for the role after three years is $155,000. Hella! The FAA is clearly seeking players who are at least old enough to remember the Xbox One and Bjergsen in the LCS, which puts would-be candidates around their early 20s at least. It's either that, or the ad editors really just picked videos at random from the pile of stock footage marked gamerz. But I won't lie, it made me smile to see that Xbox One logo appear out of nowhere. Nostalgia is a hell of a thing. "To reach the next generation of air traffic controllers, we need to adapt," US Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said. "This campaign’s innovative communication style and focus on gaming taps into a growing demographic of young adults who have many of the hard skills it takes to be a successful controller." The FAA has been losing more air traffic controllers than it can hire and retain since the 2010s, and this trend only worsened during the pandemic in the 2020s, according to a report released in December by the US Government Accountability Office. The administration increased hiring every year since 2021, but at the end of 2025 it employed 13,164 air traffic controllers, 6 percent fewer than in 2015, the report said. At the same time, the number of flights in the air traffic control system increased by about 10 percent, to 30.8 million. Or, as the FAA put it on the ATC hiring page: "Join the BEST AND BRIGHTEST, the elite squad of 14,000 controllers protecting 2.9 million daily passengers." Applicants must be a US citizen, under 31 (maybe those video editors do know what they're doing), and be able to speak fluent English. An aptitude test, medical screening and academy training follows, among other steps.

Amazon is ending support for third-party integrations on its Luna cloud gaming service. The most immediate changes mean that it's no longer possible to buy Ubisoft+ and Jackbox Games subscriptions or standalone games through Luna. Amazon will automatically any cancel active subscriptions bought through Luna at the end of customers' next billing cycle. If you have a Ubisoft+ subscription that you bought directly from Ubisoft instead, you’ll still be able to access games on that service through Luna until June 10. The Bring Your Own Library option — which allows users to play games they own on the likes of EA, GOG and Ubisoft on Luna — is going away too. You won't be able to access games from on those storefronts via Amazon's streaming service after June 3. If you bought any games outright on Luna, you'll still be able to play them there until June 10. Unlike Google did when it shut down Stadia, Amazon isn’t offering refunds for those purchases. However, you'll still have access to them through the respective third-party platform that's linked to your account, be it the EA App, GOG Galaxy or Ubisoft Connect. That doesn't exactly help folks who don't have powerful-enough systems to play more demanding games and were relying on Luna. As such, some people might need to turn to the likes of GeForce Now in order to keep playing games they bought through Luna (and they’ll need to hope GFN actually supports their specific games). Amazon has been reshaping Luna over the last several months. It rolled out a revamped version of the service back in October, with more of a focus on GameNight party games that you can play with a smartphone. Prime subscribers will still be able to claim PC games and stream games on the Luna Standard tier at no extra cost. The Luna Premium subscription, which includes a wider range of third-party games, is still available too. “We’re doubling down on a broad range of gaming experiences, including strong third-party titles, delivered in ways that make great games more accessible, as well as new and unique gaming experiences like GameNight,” Amazon wrote in an email to Luna users. The company also said it will offer some folks a free Luna Premium subscription.

Doki Doki Literature Club! has the drawing style and the makings of a typical dating sim, but players find themselves confronted with serious themes, including depression and suicide, soon after starting. Its Play listing was appropriately marked as “Mature 17+,” which means that children won’t be able to download it if their devices have parental controls. In addition, the developers clearly communicate that the game tackles serious issues. "This game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed" is the first line of the game. "In-game content warnings for such material can be enabled in the Settings menu at any time,” it also warns players. In settings, there’s link to a page that lists content warnings that apply to the visual novel. We’ve asked Google for a statement on why the game was removed, and we’ll update this post when we hear back. Salvator and Serenity Forge said they’re doing everything they can to “find a path forward for getting DDLC reinstated on the Google Play Store.” They’re also looking at other methods of distribution for Android devices. At the moment, the game’s Play listing shows that it’s still not available, but it’s still out on Steam, PlayStation, Switch eshop and iOS.

Thick as Thieves, the magical heist game from a crew of stealth legends at OtherSide Entertainment, is coming to Steam on May 20. OtherSide and publisher Megabit Entertainment announced the release date in a new gameplay trailer during today's Triple-i Initiative showcase (which was packed with cool indie games, as always). OtherSide was founded by Thief and System Shock 2 veteran Paul Neurath in 2013, and Deus Ex creator Warren Spector joined in 2016. These are two of the developers who shaped the stealth genre as we know it, so Thick as Thieves has a solid foundation. The new trailer showcases the game's fictional Scottish city of Kilcairn, where magic and technology clash against a backdrop of 1910s music and architecture. At launch, Thick as Thieves will feature two thieves, two maps, 16 contracts, six unique pieces of gear and multiple difficulty settings, which alter the layout of each level. Thick as Thieves has evolved since its introduction at The Game Awards in December 2024. It was originally pitched as a PvPvE game, but it's landing as a solo or two-player experience, with no player-on-player brawls. OtherSide announced the pivot on Steam on April 2, 2026: "As development progressed and the world of Kilcairn has come to life, we found that we were having more fun with solo and co-op play. So, we’ve taken a decision we feel is right for the game: Thick as Thieves is now focused on two-player co-op and single player. This sharpened focus has allowed us to double down on what makes Thick as Thieves truly special — dynamic stealth gameplay." A handful of playtesters and early fans expressed their disappointment at the removal of PvP. A developer responded to one question with, "PvPvE may come further down the line." There's also no word on the console versions of the game. Thick as Thieves was announced for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, but today's news suggests it's coming to Steam first (if not only). Details are a bit up in the air at the moment, but hey, at least it's on-brand for the developers of a stealth game to be sneaky.

Netflix has added a heavy hitter in party activities to its gaming lineup. The streamer announced that Jackbox Party Essentials is joining the Netflix Party Games collection. This move makes three of the popular Jackbox group games available for free to Netflix subscribers: Fibbage 4, Quiplash 3 and Drawful 2. Each one supports up to eight players. Netflix has been refocusing its interactive strategy to highlight family-friendly and party games. The company has even offered tie-ins to its original content; for instance, playing Overcooked through Netflix will let you use a member of Huntr/x from Kpop Demon Hunters as your in-game avatar. We also saw Netflix's Game Controller software, which turns any mobile device into a gamepad for its game library, take the crown as a top-downloaded iOS app around the Easter holiday weekend. That performance could indicate that many families were at least thinking of trying out the streamer's games as part of their festivities.

Developer Klei Entertainment has announced a follow-up to Don't Starve that adds a new sense of depth to the popular survival game. And that's in a literal sense: Don't Starve Elsewhere translates the game's resource gathering and sanity management to a world with three-dimensional terrain at different elevations, a first for the traditionally flat series. Don't Starve Elsewhere doesn't quite seem like the Super Mario 64 to Don't Starve's Super Mario Bros. but based on the trailer, having actual mountains, cliffs and plateaus does offer plenty of new opportunities to have your world rocked by an unfriendly goat. The game also incorporates new biomes, what looks like plenty of new animals, enemies and bosses and several features that were first introduced as DLC for the first Don't Starve. Klei released the original Tim Burton-inspired Don't Starve all the way back in 2013, and has been remarkably consistent in supporting it with paid DLC introducing new characters, mechanics and biomes over the last 13 years. Additions like multiplayer support, from standalone expansion Don't Starve Together, and dynamic weather patterns, introduced in Don't Starve: Shipwrecked, appear to be built into the new game from the start. A mobile spin-off created by Tencent, Don’t Starve: Newhome, was announced in 2020 and appears to still be in active development. Klei hasn’t announced a release date for Don’t Starve Elsewhere, but if the game is anything like the developer’s previous games, it will be released in early access on PC before it makes its way to a full release on other platforms.