Gaming - Page 14

Square Enix has announced plans to bring its long-running MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn to Nintendo Switch 2 this August. CEO Takashi Kiryu made the announcement during the April 2026 FFXIV Fan Fest keynote, alongside a costly catch that will have players on the hybrid platform rethinking their subscription plans.

Normally, if you own FFXIV on multiple platforms, you can play on any of them under a single subscription. But Square Enix will change that for the Switch 2 version, requiring players to get a separate subscription in addition to buying the base game.

"After discussions with Nintendo, it was decided that the Switch 2 version of Final Fantasy XIV would require a separate subscription," FFXIV director and producer Naoki Yoshida said via translator. "Again, this was decided after many months of discussions with Nintendo, and I understand that this is different to how we've done things before."

It was recently leaked via an Indonesian Ratings database that Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced will feature "new characters and stories". While it had been rumored for months now, nobody really knew what the new Black Flag project was going to be. There was speculation among gamers about whether the new "Resynced" would be a remaster like Assassin's Creed 3 or a remake with brand-new content.

It seems like we have got the answer now, with Ubisoft's official worldwide reveal showcase of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced. As speculated before, the new Resynced project is indeed a remake with brand-new characters, story arcs, gameplay mechanics, and much more. Ubisoft lifted the curtain on the inner workings of Black Flag Resynced in a 28-minute showcase on 23rd April.

In Resynced, we will meet three new characters who will take the role of officers for our crew. Ubisoft introduced them as Lucy Baldwin, The Padre, and Deadman Smith. These are not faceless NPCs either, as we can see fully detailed, unique models for the characters in the reveal trailer. Furthermore, Ubisoft says each character will have a unique narrative questline that reveals their backstory.

Discord Nitro will soon come with a lighter version of Xbox Game Pass, offering access to 50 games.

Xbox is teaming up with Discord to bundle services together in a cooperative partnership. New leaks say that Discord Nitro subscribers will gain access to a new special Game Pass tier called the Starter Edition. If you've been closely following the Game Pass stories, then the Starter Edition is the official name for the tier codenamed Triton, which was believed to be a first-party only offering at the time.

This so-called Xbox Game Pass Starter Edition offers 50 games from the all-you-can-play subscription service, including a smattering of catalog first-party games like Fallout 4, Elder Scrolls Online, Gears of War, Doom Eternal, and Dishonored, as well as hit indies like Hades and Stardew Valley.

Ubisoft has cleared the air on Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, confirming the remake will not follow the RPG path many expected.

During the Black Flag Resynced Showcase, Ubisoft directly addressed speculation by stating that the game remains a solo, character-driven adventure and went further, describing Resynced as "not an RPG". In a response that shuts down months of rumors, the team confirmed during the showcase that it is not an RPG, signaling a return to the more focused design of the original Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.

That does not mean this is a simple remaster. Ubisoft is packing in a wide range of upgrades, including enhanced underwater exploration, a new dynamic weather system that impacts naval gameplay, and updated combat mechanics.

Microsoft is laying out a bold future for Xbox, and Project Helix sits right at the center of it all, with Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and the head of Xbox Game Studios, Matt Booty, outlining the brand's future in a new mission statement.

Following a major leadership shift that brought Asha Sharma and Matt Booty to the forefront, Xbox has detailed a sweeping strategy to redefine its platform. The company is dropping the Microsoft Gaming identity and returning fully to Xbox branding, while outlining a vision that spans console, PC, cloud, and mobile as a single connected ecosystem.

Project Helix is described as the next step in hardware, designed to lead in performance while allowing players to access both console and PC experiences in one place. But the bigger shift is philosophical. Xbox says it will focus on affordability, personalization, and openness, with flexible pricing models and experiences that adapt to individual players. This comes as rising development costs and changing player habits continue to reshape the industry.

Escape From Tarkov developer and creator Nikita Buyanov has been working on a new sci-fi shooter called Fragmentary Order for a few years now at the new Rant Gaming Studios. It's described as a "combat simulator" with vehicles, extraction mechanics, and all the action taking place on maps that are four or five times the size of those in Tarkov.

The game is currently in full production and will feature more realistic, advanced visuals thanks to being built on the latest version of Unreal Engine. In a new interview with GamesBeat, Nikita Buyanov opened up about the development process and confirmed that he and the team have received support from NVIDIA in implementing technologies like DLSS 4.5.

And with that, the interviewer asked Nikita whether the game would consider adding support for DLSS 5, and the answer might surprise you. Well, that is if you didn't bother to read the headline.

Xbox is promising a reset for the brand, and it all starts with making gaming cheaper and more personal than ever before. In a new mission statement, Xbox has said, "Xbox will be where the world plays".

Following a major shake-up in February that saw Phil Spencer retire and Sarah Bond step down, Asha Sharma has taken the reins and is already steering the company in a new direction. Alongside Matt Booty, Sharma confirmed that Microsoft Gaming branding is being dropped in favor of a renewed focus on Xbox, signaling a shift back to identity and clarity.

At the core of this new strategy is affordability, a word that continues to dominate conversations across the industry. Xbox says its future, including the upcoming Project Helix console, will focus on flexible pricing, accessibility, and personalization.

We recently covered a report saying Sony plans to stop releasing its first-party PlayStation games on PC. This rumor gained further traction recently, as Sony made several changes to the PlayStation website, quietly removing any mention of PC from its marketing materials. However, it seems like not everybody is on the same page regarding Sony's decision.

Shuhei Yoshida, former President of Sony Interactive Entertainment, recently sat down with Back Pocket at ALT Games Festival in Australia for an interview, where he shared his thoughts on Sony's new direction. Yoshida maintains that PC ports are "largely positive" for Sony and don't have a meaningful negative effect on console or game sales.

Yoshida goes on to defend PC ports, saying that, rather than costing Sony financially, they could help recoup some of the initial development costs. This is because PC ports often arrive a year or two after the console launch, giving the game another sales cycle and media coverage. It is also important to note that Yoshida did not seem to think Sony would be moving toward shunning PC ports altogether. He also cast doubts on how Sony would continue to develop big-budget AAA games without help from PC ports.

Xbox's new CEO Asha Sharma shares what's next for Xbox, and the plan makes a lot of sense.

Today, Microsoft published a memo outlining the future of Xbox. Management has already reduced the price of Game Pass, nixed the confusing This is an Xbox marketing campaign and the Microsoft Gaming brand name, and promises a return to form...with a modern twist.

While Sharma did promise to "reevaluate" exclusivity, prompting fanfare from gamers, the most interesting part of the memo is one that reveals Microsoft's hand as a platform-holder and -operator.

Final Fantasy VII Remake made its Switch 2 debut earlier this year, and it did so with style. For Nintendo Switch owners, though, that was a bitter pill to swallow, since the remake never came to the original handheld. And that would have remained the case had modder Naga not decided to put his skills to work to achieve this impressive feat.

Naga detailed the creation of a Nintendo Switch Lite "Pro" in a new video spotted by Wccftech, showing the PC version of Final Fantasy VII Remake running on the modified handheld. Even with the performance overhead of the Box64 and Wine translation layer required to run a PC game on an ARM system, the results looked plausible.

The modifications behind it are straightforward enough. Naga upgraded the Switch Lite's RAM from 4GB to 8GB, swapped in a 256GB eMMC storage card, and fitted a Super OLED screen. The result is a custom Nintendo Switch Lite that can handle both native and emulated games.

Xbox's new CEO Asha Sharma gives a status update on her first 60 days leading the games division, offering hope to fans who want to see the return of Xbox exclusive games.

Xbox broke exclusivity back in 2024, and hasn't really looked back since. Looking at the sales figures, it's not hard to see why--pent-up FOMO demand has led to gargantuan sales of key first-party Xbox games, with titles like Forza Horizon 5 amassing an estimated 5 million copies on PS5 alone. Opening up a sales portal on PlayStation has helped surge game sales, engagement, and possibly even in-game spending in Microsoft's games.

Despite the sales jump, which has had a material positive impact on Xbox's results, it's possible that Microsoft could return to some kind of content exclusivity and launch new games only on the Xbox ecosystem. In an open memo, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma mentions that Microsoft will "reevaluate our approach to exclusivity," meaning that the group is now at least willing to entertain the idea of Xbox exclusives, likely on a case-by-case basis.

Microsoft Gaming has apparently been retired as the last vestiges of the former gaming rebrand have been stripped out of Xbox.

For some time now, Microsoft has been trying to slowly rebrand the Xbox games division as Microsoft Gaming. The name would pop up frequently in the FTC v Microsoft trial documents, and was often used interchangeably with the term 'Xbox.'

Now that's all over; sources tell The Verge's Tom Warren that the division's identity crisis has been solved. The Xbox moniker is back and Microsoft Gaming has been cut out of the naming scheme.

NVIDIA has implemented a quality-of-life update for its GeForce Now cloud gaming service that improves the visibility of supported titles that can be played with streaming services. In a blog post, the GPU manufacturer announced "in-app labels" that will appear on games that can be streamed with Xbox Game Pass or Ubisoft+.

This little tweak will help gamers better identify which games in the GeForce Now library can be played with Xbox Game Pass or Ubisoft+, preventing situations where gamers accidentally assume a game (that is available through a supported subscription) can't be played unless they buy it. To get labels working, GeForce Now users will need to first connect their Ubisoft and/or Xbox accounts to their GeForce Now account. Labels will then appear on the game art for each supported title.

NVIDIA is introducing five new games to GeForce Now this week, at the same time the labels update is going live. Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors will be available on Xbox Game Pass starting April 21st, Tides of Tomorrow releases on Steam starting April 22nd, '83 releases on Steam starting April 23rd, Diablo III releases on Ubisoft Connect starting April 23rd, Crimson Desert is now available for streaming through Xbox, and MapleStory M is available to play now with Steam. NVIDIA has been adding games non-stop to its GeForce Now library this month, including Pragmata, which was released on Steam April 17th.

Circana's latest sales charts indicate that Sony is the leading platform-holder/publisher in the US in terms of the number of best-earning games, with the company beating out competitors like Nintendo and Xbox in some sales metrics throughout March 2026.

Sony is on a roll, or it was throughout March 2026. According to the latest data from Circana director Mat Piscatella, Sony Interactive Entertainment had 5 games in the US top 20 best-selling titles of March, more titles than other major industry players.

The PlayStation games lineup includes MLB The Show 26, which was #1 top-selling game of the month in the US by gross sales revenue even with Nintendo and Xbox sales excluded, as well as Bungie's new shooter Marathon at #4, Ghost of Yotei at #14, Helldivers 2 at #16, and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach at #17.

Ubisoft's official breakdown of Black Flag Resynced reveals a remake that goes far beyond visuals, with sweeping changes across gameplay, systems, and presentation.

The updated version of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag introduces a wide range of improvements, including enhanced lighting, upgraded character models, more detailed environments, and improved movement, combat, and more. According to Ubisoft's official showcase on Resynced, the goal was to modernize the experience while preserving what made Black Flag one of the franchise's most beloved entries.

Beyond visuals, Resynced appears to refine gameplay systems, particularly naval combat and traversal. The ocean simulation has been expanded to create more dynamic encounters, while animations and responsiveness have been updated to better align with what gamers expect out of their games today. The return of Animus elements also suggests a renewed focus on narrative structure, something that was relatively light in the original release.

A bold new claim from Google suggests most of the games you're already playing are powered by AI, whether players realize it or not.

Speaking recently, Jack Buser said that "roughly nine out of ten game developers" are already using AI-powered tools, based on an internal survey conducted during Gamescom 2026. According to Buser, the gap between that figure and other industry reports stems from developers' reluctance to publicly disclose their usage. The comments position AI not as a future shift but as a technology already deeply embedded in modern game development.

The claim stands in contrast to widely cited reports such as the GDC State of the Game Industry, which places adoption closer to 50 percent. Buser argues that the discrepancy reflects underreporting rather than reality.

Bungie's stylish extraction shooter has made a splash on the bestsellers charts in the US, where it came in the #4 spot in total dollar sales revenue.

New data from Circana director Mat Piscatella gives indications of Marathon's success. According to the listings, Marathon was the 4th best-earning game in the US throughout March 2026 in terms of revenues from game sales, not just raw sales volume.

It's also very important to note that Pokopia's digital sales aren't included on this list--had they been, Pokopia might have been nearer to the top, as Nintendo themselves had confirmed Pokopia's mighty 2.2 million sales in just 4 days. It's also worth mentioning that Crimson Desert's digital sales weren't included, and as we know, the game sold 2 million copies in just 1 day.

Ubisoft has officially lifted the lid on Black Flag Resynced with a press release, and it's now clear the collector's edition leak was right on the money.

Following weeks of leaks, Ubisoft has released new official details for Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, confirming the scope of the project and reinforcing earlier reports that positioned it as a full remake. Alongside the announcement, previously leaked information about a premium collector's edition is now aligning with what Ubisoft is publicly outlining.

The collector's edition, which surfaced online ahead of the reveal, is expected to retail for around €199.99 and includes a detailed Edward Kenway statue, a steelbook case, an art book, a map, and additional physical and digital bonuses. This mirrors my reporting that framed the bundle as part of Ubisoft's plan to make Resynced a full-price AAA release rather than a smaller remaster.

Ubisoft has finally revealed the PC requirements for Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, and they point to a proper modern rebuild rather than a light remaster.

In a new blog post outlining the announcement, Ubisoft confirmed that Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced will demand significantly more powerful hardware than the 2013 original. The updated version of Assassin's Creed Black Flag has been rebuilt with modern rendering features, improved lighting, and denser world detail, all of which increase system requirements across the board.

Minimum specifications target mid-range hardware, with recommended specs pushing into modern GPU territory to fully experience the visual overhaul. Ubisoft is also leaning into newer technologies, such as improved volumetrics, higher-resolution textures, and expanded environmental detail, particularly in ocean rendering and large-scale naval encounters. These upgrades reflect a broader shift toward current-generation standards, aligning the remake more closely with recent Assassin's Creed releases.

Ubisoft has finally broken its silence on Black Flag Resynced, confirming the long-rumored project just days after leaks painted a clear picture of what's coming.

In what is a culmination of leaks, Ubisoft has officially acknowledged Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced via its social channels, and at the time of writing, is currently hosting its Resynced showcase. The confirmation comes after multiple reports outlined updated visuals, the return of Animus elements, and a modernized take on Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.

The leaks leading up to this moment have been substantial. Reports pointed to upgraded graphics, potential gameplay refinements, and even collector's edition listings surfacing online. Previous coverage has also suggested the return of Animus-related features, hinting at a more integrated modern-day narrative compared to the original release. Now that the showcase has gone live, we can see that Ubisoft has made substantial changes to the new version of Black Flag, and that many of these rumors were quite accurate.