Gaming - Page 43

The CEO of Take-Two has clarified that Grand Theft Auto 6 won't use generative AI for any of its development.

Chief executive Strauss Zelnick was talking a lot about AI in an interview with Gamesindustry.biz (via Eurogamer), where he enthused about Take-Two being a 'leader in the space'.

Zelnick said:

Valve is gearing up to release its new Steam Machine in the weeks and months ahead, with rumors swirling that Half-Life 3 will be a launch title, and now AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su has said Valve is "on-track" to start shipping its Steam Machines "early this year".

During the February 3 earnings call, AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su said: "From a product standpoint, Valve is on-track to begin shipping its AMD-powered Steam Machine early this year, and development of Microsoft's next-gen Xbox featuring an AMD semi-custom SoC is progressing well to support a launch in 2027".

It looks like the new AMD chips for Valve's new Steam Machine are coming out the semiconductor ovens at TSMC, and ready to become yet another platform that AMD is providing chips for. Valve has promised its new Steam Machine would be launching in early 2026, and we're right in the middle of that now.

Rockstar Games made history by introducing a paid user-generated economy into FiveM, the online roleplay mod, showing a phase shift in how players can engage with content in a highly specific way. This is the way of the future, as Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick believes UGC is another avenue to explore.

With Rockstar Games essentially opening an official paid mod storefront for FiveM, aka the cfx.re marketplace, it seems clear that more UGC could be on the way at Take-Two.

That certainly seems to be the case, as Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says that there is "more opportunity to come" from user-generated content in the future. How this will take shape remains to be seen, but reports indicate GTA 6 could have some sort of built-in UGC storefront similar to Roblox.

Xbox recorded a mysterious write-down in its holiday earnings quarter, and it could be related to games missing expectations.

As part of Microsoft's latest Q2 results, company CFO Amy Hood confirmed that the Xbox games division recorded an impairment charge. At the time, we speculated that the charge may have been related to the games that Microsoft had released during the holiday quarter.

Companies typically record these kinds of charges as a way to adjust the value of software; if the game is selling badly, the company usually sees this as a sign it will be worth less than they previously thought. The game is then written-down--sometimes even written off--and it affects earnings as a result.

Based on Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick's latest comments, Grand Theft Auto 6 is expected to launch on both physical discs and as a digital download when it releases in November.

Take-Two's CEO Strauss Zelnick has denied recent claims of a digital-only release for GTA 6, telling Variety: "That's not the plan." This indicates that Rockstar Games will indeed have a physical release for GTA 6, which is good news for retailers, because this game has become one of the most anticipated releases in entertainment history.

Zelnick didn't offer any other details on Rockstar's plans, which is per usual, as Take-Two typically lets its individual labels speak for themselves. Rockstar Games is owned by Take-Two, but operates as its own publisher-developer unit, and is responsible for its own announcements. The GTA-maker has yet to comment on the rumors, however this quick quote from Zelnick could mean that they don't have to--this is an assurance from the top brass.

Nintendo's latest Q3'26 results have unlocked big sales milestones for both hardware and software.

Gaming's biggest companies are starting to report their holiday results, and for Nintendo, sales were good. Over the Holiday 2025 period, the company made new sales records as the Switch lineup officially beat the DS and became the best-selling Nintendo video games hardware of all time.

On the software front, Nintendo likewise broke new ground by announcing it has sold over 1.5 billion games cumulatively on the Switch family of consoles. Based on the data, Nintendo has now sold over 6 billion games across all of its systems, from the earliest NES and Famicom days to the modern Switch 2 era. To be more exact, Nintendo has sold around 6.095 billion games both digitally and physically over the multiple decades that it's been in the interactive entertainment business. Quick math shows that roughly 24.6% of Nintendo's total game sales were made on the Switch platform. That share bumps to 25% if we combine sales made on both the Switch (1,500.16 million) and the Switch 2 (37.93 million).

Nintendo's legacy goes full circle as the Switch becomes the company's best-selling system of all time.

It's official: Nintendo's latest Q3'26 results have made history, confirming that the Switch has outsold the legendary DS to become the best-selling Nintendo video game hardware of all time. The Switch has now sold 155.57 million units, finally breaking the DS' decades-running streak of 154.02 million sales.

The new milestone is a big one for Nintendo, as the Switch line represents the unification of two of the company's most lucrative platforms--handhelds and consoles. Based on our findings, the Switch has generated over $100 billion in revenue for Nintendo across its 8-year lifespan, including both the Switch 1 and Switch 2 generations.

Nintendo scores big over the holidays with net sales exceeding $5.1 billion--middling results for the period.

Nintendo's latest Q3'26 earnings deliver somewhat middle-ground holiday results. Throughout the Holiday 2025 period, Nintendo generated over $5.147 billion in net sales, which ranks as the 5th highest holiday net sales since the Switch's debut.

Operating profit was hit by rising costs--SG&A, development, and production costs--leading to $991 million operating profit and a 19.2% margin.

The Nintendo Switch 2 has already beaten the Wii U's lifetime sales with over 17 million shipments worldwide.

Nintendo's latest Q3'26 results are out, revealing critical sales figures for the Switch 2's first holiday period on the market. According to the earnings, Nintendo sold 7.01 million Switch 2 consoles during Holiday 2025, which is just a little less than the 7.24 million that the Switch 1 sold during its first three-month holiday quarter.

Altogether, the Switch 2 is now at 17.37 million, beating out Nintendo's beleaguered, the Wii U, which is frozen in place as Nintendo's worst-selling console at 13.56 million units.

Capcom has released a grim and rather emotional live action trailer for Resident Evil 9, highlighting how the game will also tell a story full of intrigue and evil.

Resident Evil 9 releases in just a few weeks, and Capcom has prepped a surprising new 4-minute live action short film that sets the tone and story for the new game. The footage shows the fall of Raccoon City during the outbreak, and how society completely fell apart, leading to the disastrous thermobaric bomb strike that leveled the city.

The footage ends with a zombie character that we might actually end up seeing in Resident Evil 9 Requiem, along with the heartbreaking photograph amid the post-apocalyptic ruins of Raccoon City.

GOG was caught using AI in a recent banner image, and now the company comes clean and admits that the promos were made with AI, but it wasn't meant to be published.

Typically, gamers have a positive outlook on GOG, a store that sells classic PC games that have either disappeared or are very hard to find. That's not the case with a recent controversy, and GOG was caught using artificial intelligence in some of the art used for its New Year Sale promo.

GOG has since clarified exactly what happened to the subscribers of its new GOG Patrons program. In a private Discord, a GOG representative confirmed that the New Year Sale art was created using AI, but it wasn't meant to be pushed live as part of the sale, nor was it meant to be published at all.

Bandai Namco reveals the new changes and characters that are coming to Tekken 8's new season 3 content.

Tekken 8's controversial season 2 is behind us, and it looks like Bandai Namco took the feedback to heart because season 3 is going "back to basics." Season 3 starts in March 2026 with a number of balance patches and tweaks. The devs are also wiping and resetting ranked match standings.

The season 3 pass will have four paid characters--three of which were revealed: Kunimitsu in late spring, Bob in the summer, and Roger Jr. in autumn. There's also a mystery character coming in the winter. Gamers can pre-order the season pass on all platforms on February 9, and receive a special cosmetic pack upgrade as well as 120 hours of early access when season 3 content is released.

Will Bethesda ever remake Morrowind, one of the weirdest RPGs of all time? Probably not--at least that's what Skyrim's lead designer thinks.

Bruce Nesmith has had a shaping hand in Bethesda's landmark games, having served as quest designer on Oblivion and lead designer on Skyrim, the best-selling roleplaying game of all time. After everything he's done at Bethesda, he thinks that Morrowind is a product of the past that wouldn't translate well to modern audiences (the diabolically frustrating dice-roll combat says hello).

In a recent PR interview, Nesmith shared his view on a Morrowind remake--assuming it's even possible and Bethesda hasn't lost the original source code. Nesmith thinks that the game is so old that new-age players would cringe in response.

Microsoft and unionized Blizzard QA testers have reached an agreement, ratifying a new 3-year union contract.

The efforts of the video game industry's slow move towards unionization are starting to pay off, with unionized developers being able to secure actionable changes in the workplace. The CWA today reports that Blizzard's unionized QA developers have reached an agreement with Microsoft, securing and ratifying a 3-year union contract with Microsoft.

As part of the contract, workers receive protections against AI and crunch, a guarantee track for gainful wage increases, and making sure the developers names show in the games that they help test at Blizzard--among others.

A new Sony patent (PDF) spotted by Insider Gaming shows the company is working on a PlayStation controller without traditional buttons. The design, which could be a game-changer, includes various touch, optical, heat, and pressure sensors. The best way to describe it is like a blank canvas, allowing users to customize and configure a layout that best suits their playstyle or the game they're playing.

As part of Sony's patent, the document notes that a major drawback of existing controllers with physical buttons, sticks, and triggers is their fixed layout and configuration. Different players have different needs, and a single controller design might be too big, too small, or simply uncomfortable for some to use.

This new controller, PlayStation design from Sony, is a bold departure even from the impressive DualSense controller for the PlayStation 5, as it allows users to configure not only where buttons, directional pads, and even virtual analog sticks are placed, but also the number of buttons and how they respond to input.

In a new batch of Jeffrey Epstein files that were released by the US Department of Justice, it has been revealed that Epstein was banned from Xbox LIVE services in 2013.

According to the now-released email chain, Epstein was removed from the Xbox LIVE service due to being a registered sex offender, with the email from Xbox LIVE stating that Epstein's account has been "permanently suspended due to harassment, threats, and/or abuse of other players." Additionally, the email states, "This conduct has been determined to be severe, repeated, and/or excessive."

In another email, it reads that the action taken against Epstein's account was based on the New York Attorney General's partnership with Microsoft and other online gaming companies to remove registered sex offenders from online gaming services, such as Xbox LIVE. The rule to remove registered sex offenders from online gaming services is to preserve and protect the service from the potential risks registered sex offenders pose to others, particularly children.

Sony is reportedly cooking up a refreshed PlayStation Portal gaming handheld for 2026. It is rumored to debut with an improved OLED panel, replacing the LCD used in the current handheld.

In some new posts on the NeoGAF forums, leaker "KeplerL2" explained that Sony is working on an updated PlayStation Portal that would be released this year. He explained: "unfortunately, the recent AMD leaks confirm that AMD intends to keep RDNA 3.5 until 2029 and even then in when they release the RDNA 5 APUs they are going to exclusively reserve them towards their "Premium APUs" so those chips are going to go towards Handheld PCs that will cost $1200+ on release".

Kepler added: "this is probably why Sony came up with their own Dynamic Technology because that PlayStation Handheld that's coming out in 2027 is still going to be RDNA 3.5".

A new mysterious Dragon Ball game is in the works, and fans think it could be related to the franchise's MMORPG from 2010.

Bandai Namco has revealed a new Dragon Ball game as part of the franchise's big 40th anniversary, and it seemingly takes place some 680 years after the events of Dragon Ball Z.

The project is codenamed Age 1000, and not much is known about the game, but fans speculate that it could be related to the old Dragon Ball Online MMORPG that was released in 2010 because the both take place in the same age.

More than half of all Xbox consoles sold in the US in 2025 were digital-only devices, new data from Circana reveals.

The days of physical media seem to be numbered as more and more consumers are choosing to buy cheaper, disc-less video game consoles. According to Circana analyst Mat Piscatella, 66% of Xbox Series consoles that were sold in the United States throughout 2025 didn't have a physical media drive.

Interestingly enough, PlayStation gamers are also moving towards digital as well: 49% of PS5 sales in the US were also digital-only, and this includes the PS5 Pro model, which is digital-only by default. All new PS5 models are also digital-only by default, showing a clear funneling of consumers to Sony's more lucrative and profitable sector, software and services.

Konami's plans to revive dormant franchises expands even further as the publisher promises yet another Silent Hill game for long-time horror fans.

Konami has seemingly confirmed that a new Silent Hill game is in the works, and it could be separate from the previously announced games. A bit ago, Konami confirmed that a Silent Hill 1 remake was in the works with Bloober Team, and there's also the upcoming Silent Hill Townfall game that's expected to launch in March 2026.

Konami's latest Q3'26 earnings results give an update on what's to come from the franchise, with the company saying a "brand-new title" is on the way.