Gaming - Page 5

Activision could release Call of Duty on Nintendo Switch sooner than expected, but it remains unclear which platform the game will drop onto--the Switch 1, Switch 2, or both?

Back in 2023, Microsoft signed a legally-binding 10-year deal to release new Call of Duty games onto Nintendo platforms. The landmark deal was part of Microsoft's efforts to assuage regulators' worries that the $35 billion Call of Duty franchise wouldn't be made exclusive to Xbox--Microsoft made similar arrangements with NVIDIA and Sony.

Since then, three Call of Duty games have released, and none of them have appeared on the Switch. Apparently, that's going to change soon. According to Windows Central's Jez Corden, the first COD game planned for Switch is almost finished and could release in just a few months. This is an extremely interesting development that could hint at multiple Call of Duty games coming to the Switch in 2026.

Cyberpunk 2 could be out in 2030, right in time to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Cyberpunk 2077.

Polish analyst firm Noble Securities has made predictions on CD Projekt's upcoming Cyberpunk sequel. The group believes Cyberpunk 2 will be out by 2030 with multiplayer in tow, and based on what we know about the game, this feels like a valid prediction. Back in 2017, we reported that CD Projekt had received a multi-million dollar grant from the Polish government to add online multiplayer elements to Cyberpunk 2077. That didn't happen, and the online components had instead been moved to Cyberpunk 2.

Another prediction: CD Projekt will spend 1.5 billion PLN on Cyberpunk 2's development, which is about $419 million. This is a huge sum for any video game, but bear in mind that CD Projekt positions its games to sell for years--in The Witcher 3's case, for over a decade.

Over 201 million of EA's total ~203 million investors have voted in favor of selling all outstanding shares to a group of buyers led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

It's official: Electronic Arts, one of the last big AAA publishers in the video game industry, is going private. EA shareholders approved the megaton $55 billion buyout with a vote on December 22. According to the SEC filing, 99% of shareholders voted yes on the deal, with 1.9 million voting no.

The buyout is being financed by a trio of big investors, but the principal funding will come from Saudi Arabia's PIF. As a result, it's estimated that the Saudis will receive a staggering 93% stake in EA. As part of the proposal, EA's management will remain intact and CEO Andrew Wilson will still lead the company.

Hitman developer's new James Bond game has been delayed by a few months, and is now set to launch in May.

007 First Light has officially been pushed back by two months from its original March 2026 release, and is now coming on May 27, 2026 to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Switch 2.

IO Interactive says that 007 First Light is currently playable from start to finish, and that the extra time will allow the studio to polish gameplay to ensure it's up to par with what audiences expect from such a prestige entertainment brand. The studio also reminds fans that they are an independent developer-publisher tackling the James Bond game on their own, putting greater emphasis on first impressions and launch sales.

NVIDIA's flagship GeForce RTX 5090 D graphics card has been tested by ASUS China's Tony Yu, with ASUS's new high-end ROG Strix 27 Pro gaming monitor, ready with its 5K resolution of 5120 x 2880 @ 180Hz.

ASUS's new ROG Strix 27 Pro gaming monitor is one of the first "mainstream" 5K monitors, with its 27-inch panel and its 5K high-refresh "dual mode" function that knocks the native 5120 x 2880 resolution down to 2560 x 1440, and drives up the refresh rate of 180Hz to an uber-smooth 330Hz.

Tony mentioned that Windows scaling really helps the ASUS ROG Strix 27 Pro gaming monitor, as the 27-inch panel at 5K has an impressive 218 PPI, with the ASUS China boss using 200% scaling that makes everything better on the eyes, especially text. One of the biggest things to point out with the 5K monitor over a 4K monitor is that the 5K panel has around 78% more pixels than 4K, making it harder on the GPU.

Vince Zampella, one of the co-creators of Call of Duty and its development studio Infinity Ward, has died in a car crash while driving his Ferrari this weekend.

Zampella is the boss of Respawn Entertainment, and the former CEO of Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward, and also released the latest Battlefield 6 to success, was involved in a single-car crash on the scenic road north of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Mountains. NBCLA reports that Zampella was driving his Ferrari when it veered off the road just exiting a tunnel, hit a concrete barrier, and the passenger was ejected out of the car, explains the California Highway Patrol (CHP).

The CHP said that Zampella was trapped in his car as it caught fire, dying at the scene, while his passenger died at the hospital, authorities told NBC4 Investigates. There aren't many more details just yet, with a witness providing a video of the crash that involved the 2026 Ferrari 296 GTS to authorities, showing Zampella crashing into the barrier just after exiting the tunnel.

Video game prices aren't expected to increase in 2026, but microtransactions might be a different story.

In-game purchases could get a price hike next year as the games industry seeks greater shareholder returns. The market is currently stressed due to consumer spending habits, rising software and hardware production costs, and economic unknowns like tariffs and trade disruptions. As a result, big players like Microsoft have conducted three price increases throughout 2025 alone--two Xbox Series MSRP bumps and a $10 increase to Game Pass.

Software, however, has stayed at $70 (which in itself is a relatively new baseline price that was set just five years ago). Ampere Analysis analyst Piers Harding-Rolls believes that games will stay at $70 throughout 2026, but Nintendo's new $80 price ceiling could give companies more wiggle room.

Grand Theft Auto 6 will cost $70 and not $100 at launch, former Rockstar animator Mike York predicts, with the rationale that there's simply no reason to damage consumer goodwill with such a dramatic price hike.

$70 games have been here since Sony and Microsoft kicked off Gen 9, and then Nintendo just raised frontline prices of its big tentpole Switch 2 games to $80 (although few games have actually launched at this price). Ever since Epyllion's Matthew Ball postulated on GTA 6 launching for a $100 base price, there's been lots of speculation that Rockstar and Take-Two could just follow through and actually charge that for the game.

The idea would generate tons of upfront revenue, sure, but that's already expected to happen. As we know from our GTA franchise earnings calculations, there's a lot of money to be made from GTA Online post-launch. It's believed that GTA 6 could have some sort of $100 edition, but the base standard version of the game would still retain normalized pricing. That's the thinking that former Rockstar Games animator Mike York has on the topic, with the developer telling Esports Insider that he believes GTA 6 will launch at $70 because Rockstar has no real need to be "greedy."

Microsoft has denied reports about a steep profit goal for its Xbox games division, telling CNBC that the recent Bloomberg reports aren't factual.

Microsoft has apparently delivered rare comments on the profitability of its Xbox business. The $3.61 trillion market cap company has denied rumors about profit target mandates within Xbox. Back in October, sources told Bloomberg's Jason Schreier and Dina Bass that Microsoft was pressuring Xbox to deliver a 30% accountability margin--Microsoft's own internal term for a profit margin. Now Microsoft tells CNBC that the profit margin reports are inaccurate.

Achieving that kind of margin would be a significantly high goal, especially considering Microsoft's now-inflated revenues. Buying Activision Blizzard King added several billions of dollars to Xbox's yearly earnings; Microsoft's gaming revenues went from $15.48 billion in FY23 to $21.52 billion a year later following the integration of Activision.

New reports indicate that Nintendo will not be resupplying stock of the Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle, which matches up with disclaimers on official sales promos.

If you want a Switch 2 as well as the new Mario Kart, now might be the time to buy. According to new reports, the Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle has been discontinued and will no longer be produced. The bundle was a launch year promo meant to drive sales adoption of the new higher-priced Switch 2.

The Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle is still on sale across major retailers and won't be pulled off of shelves. The best price right now is over at Best Buy where the bundle is currently $449.

Gran Turismo 7 is one of PlayStation's most successful live games in terms of player interactions, with millions of players engaged every month.

A new interview at the Gran Turismo World Series in Japan reveals some interesting facts around Gran Turismo 7, and the overall state of the five year-old racing game that Sony considers as one of its key games-as-a-service titles.

In a recent interview with GT Planet, Polyphony Digital CEO and series producer Kazunori Yamauchi confirms that GT7 still has around 2 million players a month. These are strong numbers that have a firm and established position among the PS5's user base, which was 119 million monthly active users throughout July - September 2025.

Valve has depleted its inventory of LCD Steam Decks, and the company has no plans to produce more.

The Steam Deck OLED has now become the base model for Valve's handheld-PC hybrid. It's been discovered that that the LCD model is now greyed out and listed out of stock on the Steam Deck order page. In a disclaimer below the product buy links, Valve says that once the Steam Deck LCD is gone, it's gone for good.

"We are no longer producing the Steam Deck LCD 256GB model. Once sold out, it will no longer be available," the site reads.

Gamers now have an idea of what to expect from Blizzard Entertainment as management outlines plans to launch one or two big pieces of content per year, whether it be a fully-fledged game or an expansion update.

Two years after Microsoft took the reins, Blizzard is moving to a more predictable cadence of games and content. Blizzard is known for taking multiple years in between big releases and primarily subsisted off of expansions, content updates, and microtransactions. In 2022, the devs released Diablo Immortal, spiking Activision's mobile earnings to all-time highs, and then enjoyed megaton sales with Diablo IV a year later, which has made over $1 billion in revenue.

So what's next for Blizzard? In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Blizzard president Johanna Faries outlines a basic business model that sees the company launching 1-2 digital products a year. There's just one catch: That doesn't mean just full games or sequels, and expansions like Lord of Hatred and World of Warcraft's new Midnight expansion also count.

EA's latest Battlefield shooter is a big hit with an estimated 20 million copies being sold since the game's October debut.

Battlefield 6 is currently the #1 best-selling game in the US by revenue, temporarily beating Call of Duty, which is a rare win for EA's franchise. The Battlefield brand, once prestigious, has fallen off in recent years in both sales and players, leaving little competition for Activision's billion-dollar war series. That battle has been reignited, and analyst firm Alinea Analytics predicts that Battlefield 6 has already sold more than 20 million copies.

"Battlefield 6 took the #1 [spot], marking a massive return to form for the franchise. Our data shows Battlefield 6 has now amassed more than 26 million players (also including free-to-play REDSEC). The base game alone has sold over 20 million copies. As we covered earlier this year, this resurgence was driven by listening to the community's wishes and returning to the franchise's roots," Alinea's Rhys Elliott notes.

Researchers have mapped the real-world movement of rats into DOOM, enabling these pesky rodents to move throughout the DOOM world and even fire in-game weapons.

The team explained that an entire VR setup was constructed from scratch to enable rats to play DOOM, and it involves a ball driver mechanism that the rats sit on top of, and when they move across the surface of the ball, the directional movement is input into DOOM. The first version of the setup featured minimal sensors and no panoramic screen, but the rats have received an upgrade in the form of upgraded sensors and a foldable AMOLED screen with 180 ° horizontal and 80 ° vertical FOV with Full HD resolution.

Additionally, the rats are now firing weapons within DOOM. As the researchers explain, the rats have the ability to pull a custom-built hand-operated lever that, when activated with one of their paws, fires a weapon in-game. Positive in-game actions trigger a liquid reward in the form of sugar water delivered through a precise dispensing mechanism. The results of this entire setup were that the rats successfully learned to navigate the virtual environment and trigger the shooting mechanism.

GTA 6 could turn into a huge MMORPG says an industry veteran, as it has all of the hallmarks of an MMORPG cooking in the ovens at Rockstar Games.

In a new interview between our friends at Wccftech and game developer Rich Vogel, who has worked on some gigantic games including Ultima Online, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars: The Old Republic, DOOM (2016), New World, Halo Infinite, and Gotham Knights, said that many of the planned features for GTA 6 -- if confirmed -- would make it more like an MMORPG.

Vogel and two other MMO veterans were asked if there's still an audience for big Western-made MMO games, to which he replied: "Yes, I believe a large audience is waiting for the right MMORPG to emerge. Consider the millions of players who have played and continue to play WOW, SWTOR, ESO, UO, EverQuest, Fallout 76, and others. The problem is that no publisher is willing to invest the money and take the risk at this time".

R-Type Dimensions III developer ININ Games prematurely reveals that lower-capacity Switch 2 cartridges are on the way, and then deletes the original post, clarifying that they have nothing official to announce.

Nintendo may be ready to release smaller Switch 2 cartridges in an effort to alleviate developer frustrations. Reports indicate that Nintendo only produces 64GB cartridges for the Switch 2, which are more costly to produce than the lower-tier models used on the Switch 1. This means developers who choose to ship full games onto actual physical Game Cards will typically have to pay a higher price, on top of having to deal with the slower memory bandwidth offered by Nintendo's ROMs.

Today, R-Type Dimensions developer ININ Games issued a lengthy post telling gamers that Nintendo had "announced two new smaller cartridge sizes for Nintendo Switch 2." The devs then deleted this post, later issuing a correction statement clarifying that Nintendo has not actually announced anything. Interestingly enough, ININ had originally said that the physical Switch 2 cartridge of R-Type Dimensions III was increasing in price by 10 euros to reflect the higher production costs associated with the lower-capacity Switch 2 carts.

The worldwide video games industry is expected to make $197 billion in 2025, a new all-time high that's driven in part by recent software and hardware price increases.

The global video games market will generate $197 billion throughout this year, analyst firm Newzoo predicts. 2025's revenue figures represent a significant 7.5% year-over-year increase, which can be attributed to a number of factors, including higher prices, wider content availability, and other things like accounting and revenue recognition practices.

The platform breakdown also underlines why Microsoft is pushing so hard into the PC space. According to Newzoo's estimates, mobile will lead the charge this year with a megaton $108 billion in revenue, representing more than half of the total--55%. What's interesting is just how close PC and console are to each other; console is to make $45 billion revenue, up 4.2% and representing 23%, where PC is close behind with $43 billion, making up 22% of the total.

Larian boss Swen Vincke issues multiple statements on the heels of a recent Bloomberg report, which says that Vincke is pushing the use of generative AI in future games.

Controversy has struck indie darling Larian, a studio that garnered tremendous goodwill with fan favorite RPG Baldur's Gate 3. The game creators are apparently using generative AI to make their next game, Divinity, which is said to be the group's most ambitious project to date.

Now studio head Swen Vincke has clarified Larian's position on generative AI, even going so far as to promise an AMA where users can directly ask questions to the team. Vincke tells IGN that Larian won't "trim down teams and replace them with AI."

The Legion Go Gen 2 is the company's latest flagship PC gaming handheld, powered by the new AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme Processor with integrated RDNA 3.5 Radeon Graphics, sporting 16 Compute Units. There are multiple SKUs available, but all of them include 32GB of fast LPDDR5X-8000MT/s memory and an impressive 8.8-inch 1920 x 1200 OLED display with a 144 Hz refresh rate, HDR-1000, and VRR support.

However, the current Legion Go Gen 2 is akin to the flagship ROG Xbox Ally X from ASUS and Microsoft in that it ships with Windows 11 and the new Xbox Full Screen Experience for accessing system features and games via controller input. According to a new report over at Windows Latest, Lenovo is set to unveil a new Legion Go Gen 2 model at CES 2026, one that will ship with SteamOS pre-installed.

SteamOS, Valve's Linux-based operating system on the Steam Deck, is widely considered one of the best platforms for PC gaming because it essentially transforms the Steam app into an intuitive console-like experience. Not only that, it's optimized for efficiency and performance, leading to games running faster on SteamOS than on the same hardware running Windows 11.