Gaming

Arc Raiders is one of the best-selling new games of the season, and it did so well that it actually interfered with big franchises like Call of Duty.

With games like Battlefield 6 and Arc Raiders breaking into the top sales charts, competition was hot for shooters in 2025. One game, Embark Studios' extraction shooter Arc Raiders, has taken the world by storm. The $40 multiplayer hit has championed Steam's top sellers multiple since release, and has also shown up in frontline positions on the PlayStation Store and on Xbox.

Embark has now confirmed that Arc Raiders has sold 12 million units in less than 3 months time. These numbers are stellar--typically, we only see a few breakout games pull these kinds of sales. The extraction shooter has effectively made over $500 million in full game sales alone, and given the game's popularity, it's possible that Arc Raiders has made close to or even more from in-game purchases, microtransactions, and season passes.

Leaks indicate that Microsoft is gearing up to announce a new ad-supported tier for Xbox Cloud Gaming, following messages that appeared in front of users of the Xbox Cloud Gaming service that stated, "one hour of ad-supported play time per session."

The messages attracted the attention of Xbox insider Jez Corden, who penned a report over the weekend that outlined a change, per an unnamed source. "(adverts) will appear separately on Xbox Cloud Gaming, for those who have purchased Xbox games digitally, but don't have Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft has hundreds of games available to buy via Xbox Cloud Gaming, but as of writing, you need at least one tier of Xbox Game Pass to access them. This session-based ad-supported access tier will change that."

This isn't the first time Microsoft has dipped its toe in the water of an ad-supported tier of Xbox Cloud Gaming, as in October last year, the company said it was exploring a "free ad-supported" access tier. From Microsoft's perspective, it does make sense to roll out an ad-supported tier for its Xbox Cloud Gaming service, as it's expected that more users will adopt the service in the coming years due to the growing cost of hardware, particularly fuelled by the endless hunger of the AI sector gobbling up global supply.

Fable fans are patiently waiting for the Xbox Direct, which is scheduled to take place in just a few days. But ahead of the Xbox Direct, we have a slew of concept images to dive into of the highly anticipated Fable reboot.

The Fable reboot will be showcased during Xbox Direct, alongside the highly anticipated Forza Horizon 6. Sticking to Fable, the last time we saw a glimpse of the title was in February last year, when pre-alpha gameplay was released alongside the announcement of its delay. However, to tie the Fable fans over until the Xbox Direct, mp1st has obtained many concept art images showcasing the luscious world of Albion.

The above and below images come from an artist who previously worked on the upcoming Fable title. As for what is in the images, we can see a protagonist looking out over a large piece of land at a city in the distance. A sign in one of the images reads "Bloodstone," which Fable II fans will note is a port town known for containing criminals. Another set of images shows the protagonist making their way through sewers and then facing off against a werewolf standing atop a cage.

Rockstar North was recently hit by an explosion that resulted in emergency departments rushing to the Grand Theft Auto 6 developer at 5 AM on Monday.

Fire crews and police were called to Barclay House, the building where Rockstar North is located on Holyrood Road in Edinburgh, and after spending several hours at the scene, emergency services deemed the building safe after firefighters worked to secure structural damage. There were no reports of casualties, and now Rockstar Games has confirmed to a publication that the explosion was a result of a "malfunction" in one of the building's heating boilers.

A Rockstar Games spokesperson told BNONews, "Many thanks to those who reached out with concern, and also to the police and fire crews who were on scene quickly to assess the situation." Adding, "Please know that everyone is well and our studio remains open and operational." Rockstar North is the lead developer of Grand Theft Auto 6, the world's most anticipated media property, and following the explosion, many wondered whether it would affect the title's release date, which is currently scheduled for November 19, 2026.

Bungie's extraction shooter, Marathon, finally got an official release date earlier today, with the game set to hit PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on March 5, 2026. Pre-orders for the game are now open, with its $39.99 USD price matching that of its competition, 2025's breakout hit Arc Raiders.

With the PvPvE action taking place on the "dark sci-fi world of Tau Ceti IV," Marathon sees players take control of Runners that all sport different playstyles, as they fight for loot and gear solo or as part of a crew. One of the big drawcards of Marathon, outside of Bungie's impeccable reputation for delivering responsive and fluid first-person mechanics, is the art style.

Although Bungie faced plagiarism accusations (which have since been resolved) over the origin of Marathon's evocative style, the good news for PC gamers is that you won't need a high-end rig to jump into the action. With the game's PC system requirements live on Steam, the recommended GPU is NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 2060 6GB.

AYANEO's latest portable KONKR gaming handheld is the company's first Windows-based model, powered by the impressive AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 processor. And with a 7-inch OLED display and a large 80Wh battery, the AYANEO KONKR FIT is being positioned as an alternative to the larger Lenovo Legion Go 2 or ROG Xbox Ally X.

The Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 is one of the premium options in AMD's new Ryzen AI 400 Series of mobile processors, announced at CES 2026. With 12 cores and 24 threads and a 5.2 GHz Boost Clock, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 is also relatively power-hungry for a gaming handheld, with a TDP rating of up to 54W.

It also features an integrated Radeon 890M graphics card with 16 RDNA 3.5 Compute Units, making it a powerful APU for on-the-go 1080p gaming. The good news is that with its large capacity 80Wh battery, the AYANEO KONKR FIT should offer decent battery life simply because it's offering more capacity than the competition.

Ubisoft refreshes the sales figures for its key franchises, showing how important specific games are for the publisher.

Some good news for Ubisoft, following the recent Rainbow Six kerfuffle: Assassin's Creed is one of the highest-selling video game franchises on the planet, and the publisher's other series have likewise delivered solid sales.

The company's latest press kit shows that Assassin's Creed has now sold over 230 million copies worldwide, including the most recent release, Shadows. There are a few other tidbits, including that Black Flag engaged nearly 22% of the entire franchise's total unique players (34 million out of 155 million total), compared to Valhalla's 13%, or 20 million.

Hasbro and Scopely make history with their mega-popular mobile game based on the Parker Bros. classic.

Monopoly Go has made a fortune that would make even Rich Uncle Pennybags envious. According to data from analyst firm Sensor Tower, the Monopoly Go mobile game broke $6 billion revenue threshold faster than any other mobile game--conquering hits like Honor of Kings and Monster Strike with its speed.

Estimates show that Monopoly Go passed the $6 billion mark in 1,275 days, or roughly 3 and a half years, beating the closest competitor by over a year. Interestingly enough, Monopoly Go has only been on the market for 1,014 days. Sensor Tower notes that the timeframe doesn't include advertising revenue, and only in-app purchases are reflected. The game is said to generate $200 million in revenue per month--to put this number into perspective, a company like Rockstar Games earns anywhere from $150 - $200 million every quarter from Grand Theft Auto games.

Less than 24 hours after a pre-order trailer appeared on the Xbox store and was promptly removed, Sony has conceded and confirmed the release date for Bungie's Marathon.

The pre-order trailer appeared on the Xbox store and was quickly captured and re-uploaded across social media, sparking a stir that Sony was about to confirm the official release date for Marathon. Giving more credit that the leaked pre-order trailer was real is the copies of the trailer being taken down from social media, presumably from the rights holder. In this case, that would be Bungie or Sony. If it wasn't real, and the trailer was fan-made, take-downs wouldn't have occurred.

However, the trailer was real as Sony has conceded to the speculation and officially announced that Marathon will be launching on March 5, 2026, and that pre-orders are now open. Sony announced the news via its social media channels, and for those wondering if a free playtest will be available to those who wish to try Marathon, the official Marathon X account responded to a user asking this very question. "Yes. We'll have an open preview weekend before launch, and everyone will be able to try Marathon out!"

Since the emergence of AI, particularly generative AI, gamers have been opposed to the idea of these tools improving exponentially in the development of games. But, according to Razer's CEO Min-Liang Tan, gamers do want AI-powered tools assisting in game development, they just don't know it yet.

The statement comes from an interview with Min-Liang Tan and The Verge, where he was queried about Razer's $600 million investment into AI over the next few years. Tan was asked about his thoughts on Razer's hefty investment in the new technology and how gamers currently view AI. The Razer CEO said that many gamers are currently unhappy with "generative AI slop," and so is he, as he also doesn't want to be served poorly designed character models, hollow storylines, etc.

However, what Razer isn't against is providing the tools to assist game developers in the creation of the game. Tan provided an example of creating a tool that helps developers test their games faster and better. Tan goes on to say that Razer is building a QA (quality assurance) companion, a companion tool that works with a human QA tester to automatically fill out forms, identifying discovered bugs and problems within a game.

After taking a $1 billion investment from Tencent to prevent hostile takeovers and to pay back debt, the creative vision behind the Assassin's Creed franchise abruptly departed the company.

Marc-Alexis Côté, the former boss of the Assassin's Creed franchise, stated in October that Ubisoft offered him a new position, but it didn't carry the same "scope, mandate, or continuity with the work I had been entrusted with in recent years." Côté viewed this offer as a demotion, and now reports are stating Côté is suing Ubisoft for $1.3 million for lost severance pay and "moral damages". Additionally, the suit is demanding that Ubisoft lift Côté's non-compete clause.

Reports state the lawsuit outlines problems between Côté and Ubisoft began when the developer spawned Vantage Studios with Tencent, which is the new company that now controls Ubisoft's most-valuable IPs, such as Assassin's Creed. Notably, Côté discovered Vantage Studios was hiring for "Head of Franchises," which is a position that would supersede him.

Bungie's Marathon is reportedly going to be released in just a few short months, according to a recent leak that has made its way across social media.

The leak is from a pre-order trailer that was posted on an Xbox community listing and then taken down. However, before it was taken down, it was captured and reuploaded across social media, and then later verified by several outlets. The pre-order trailer, which can be viewed here, appears to be quite legitimate, being a fully-fledged nearly two-minute trailer teasing the release of the game and its Deluxe Edition.

To add further credibility that the trailer is real, copies of it on social media are currently being taken down, presumably by the rights holder, which in this case would be Bungie. If the trailer wasn't real and was fan-made, Bungie wouldn't bother issuing takedown notices. As for what is official, Bungie confirmed Marathon would be released sometime in March, but according to the leaked video, Marathon will be making a debut on March 5, 2026.

An explosion has resulted in a fire erupting at Rockstar North resulting in the offices of the Grand Theft Auto 6 developer being closed.

Reports have surfaced regarding an explosion at the Edinburgh office of video game developer Rockstar North after an explosion within the building. Around seven Scottish Fire and Rescue vehicles rushed to the property on Holyrood Road at approximately 5:00am local time, along with police. Currently, there are no reports of injuries or deaths, according to authorities.

The explosion and subsequent fire resulted in emergency service personnel being on the scene for upwards of two hours, and eventually left the studio after securing "structural damage" to the building, per a spokesperson from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Reports are currently suggesting the cause of the explosion was a faulty boiler, but this hasn't been confirmed by Rockstar, nor local authorities.

Rockstar Games has granted an exclusive early access playtest of Grand Theft Auto 6 to one huge fan of the franchise.

While the public will have to wait until November 19, 2026, to get their hands on Grand Theft Auto 6, one fan will be getting it many months earlier than everyone else. The news comes from Anthony Armstrong, a UI integrator at Ubisoft Toronto, who wrote in a LinkedIn post that one of his family members, who has been battling cancer for years, was recently told he has only 6-12 months to live.

Armstrong posted on LinkedIn and called upon his Rockstar Games contacts to request that his family member, who is a massive fan of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, be able to play Grand Theft Auto 6 before he passes. Armstrong wrote that his family member is willing to sign an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), and that he lives quite close to one of Rockstar's studios.

It's increasingly looking likely that Xbox Cloud Gaming, which is currently the cloud streaming portion of Microsoft's Game Pass service, will be getting an ad-supported tier sometime this year. This has been rumored for a while; however, the release appears imminent, as players are already seeing evidence of it while using the service.

As spotted by Windows Central and The Verge's Tom Warren, the Xbox Cloud Gaming launcher now displays the text "1 hour of ad-supported playtime per session," which references an ad-supported tier that doesn't exist. The message is an error; it's being reported that this ad-supported tier will be a session-based option for non-Game Pass subscribers who have purchased digital Xbox games that are available in the Xbox Cloud Gaming library.

This new feature is expected sometime later this year and is seen as a potential solution to the growing uncertainty surrounding gaming hardware amid the current DRAM crisis. Xbox Cloud Gaming and NVIDIA's GeForce NOW streaming services let players jump into hundreds of games, including the latest titles, without dedicated PC or console hardware.

Rockstar Games is on the final stretch of development for Grand Theft Auto 6, and despite its delays, the subject of Grand Theft Auto 7 has already popped up.

In a recent interview with Esports Bets, former Rockstar Games and Grand Theft Auto 5 animator Mike York said that it's typical of major gaming companies to have two games being developed simultaneously, and suggested that Rockstar might have already begun developing either Grand Theft Auto 7 or Red Dead Redemption 3.

York went on to explain that once a project is nearing completion gaming companies begin the leg work for their next project, with the former animator going on to say, "That's probably what is happening now at Rockstar; GTA VI is nearing the end of its production, so I would be shocked if they hadn't already started working on RDR3."

Valve has updated its guidelines for developers publishing on the popular PC platform, specifically addressing AI disclosure and requiring developers to notify gamers if AI was used throughout development.

The changes were spotted by Simon Carless, the founder of GameDiscoverCo, which he outlined in a new report. According to Valve, developers aren't required to publish an AI disclaimer if AI-powered tools were used to help create the game. This is specifically in relation to code-aiding software. However, when it comes to generative AI, Valve requires developers to provide a disclaimer if generative AI was used to generate content for the game.

This requirement also covers any marketing material for the game and the Steam landing page for the title. Additionally, Valve requires developers to add a disclaimer if the title has "AI content generated during gameplay," which covers "images, audio, text, and other content." Ultimately, it will be up to the players to determine if AI content disclaimers are warranted or not, especially considering the ubiquitous nature of AI-powered tools assisting all kinds of software engineers, not just game developers.

Nintendo and Sony are currently working on a live-action The Legend of Zelda movie that is slated to launch on March 26, 2027, and now we have learned that after its theatrical run, it will make its way over to Netflix.

The movie is being directed by Wes Ball and will star Bo Bragason as Princess Zelda and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Link. The decision to make a Legend of Zelda movie comes after the billion-dollar success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and at the end of last year, Nintendo released the first screenshots for the upcoming project, confirming the two aforementioned actors.

In a recent press release, Netflix confirmed that it will have the exclusive streaming rights to The Legend of Zelda Movie following its theatrical run. The screenshots that were released in November last year showcased both Link and Zelda in what appears to be the Hyrule fields.

CD Projekt Red gained its renown following the incredible release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in 2016, with the game going on to sell millions of copies around the world, spawn a Netflix TV show, and put CD Projekt Red on the map as one of the best development studios working today.

The monumental success of The Witcher 3 made fans fall in love with the world, and after completing the third installment in the franchise, many have gone back to play the second and first games. Now, CD Projekt Red's CEO Michal Nowakowski has revealed the sales figures for the entire Witcher franchise in a list of the most popular Polish video games.

Unsurprisingly, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has taken first place at 60 million units sold, followed by Cyberpunk 2077 at 35 million and Dying Light at 20 million. As for the first and second Witcher games, the Witcher 2 has sold 15 million units, and the first Witcher game has sold 10 million. According to Nowakowski, both the first and second Witcher games are still selling.

A new report claims the upcoming God of War TV show has secured another actor to play Thor's wife, Sif/Phoebe.

The upcoming TV show based on the popular game franchise from Sony and Santa Monica Studios, "God of War," recently confirmed Sons of Anarchy's Ryan Hurst as the actor who will play Kratos, and now a new report from Deadline has claimed Teresa Palmer will step into the shoes of Sif. Notably, Amazon has declined to comment on the rumor.

Palmer is known for her work in the movies The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Lights Out, Warm Bodies, and The Fall Guy. As for the other characters, a report from last month claimed Max Parker from Boots was in discussions to play Baldur, and Olafur Darri Olafsson from Severance is slated to play Thor. These reports have fans speculating as to what game the God of War TV show will be recreating, as Thor and his wife are only in God of War: Ragnarok.