Gaming

PC Gamer reported that Blizzard’s World of Warcraft Forever will not use separate realms and will include optional transmog and significantly improved itemization, as revealed at a BlizzCon panel. The same PC Gamer report said developers described revised classes and talent trees plus new mechanics intended to pull strangers together in the open world. PC Gamer also reported the design push is meant to make this classic-like MMO less of a grind and that it draws on later WoW iterations to refresh the original experience. According to PC Gamer, these details were discussed by developers during the BlizzCon presentation and the article noted the project may remain in its first-year state for the foreseeable future.

GameRant reported that World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King is officially making a comeback. The report was published by GameRant on September 13, 2026 and credited to contributor Dominik Bošnjak. The GameRant article lists Blizzard Entertainment as the source of its images. The provided excerpt does not specify the form, timing, or other details of the comeback.

Level-5 president and CEO Akihiro Hino confirmed the studio used generative AI to enhance its recent digital showcase for Professor Layton and other projects, saying it helped make the presentation footage "more spectacular." Eurogamer reports the admission came after viewers and VGC flagged suspected undisclosed AI in the showcase. Hino apologised, saying some people felt uncomfortable, and he insisted the studio's "charm and individuality" remain created by "human hands." The revelation and response were published by Eurogamer on Sept. 13, 2026.

Polygon reports Disney will release a new sequel titled Wondrous to its 1951 Alice in Wonderland film as part of the movie's 75th anniversary. The sequel is described as sending Alice back down the rabbit hole for another strange adventure. Polygon identifies the book's author as Heather Fawcett, who wrote Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of F.... The original 1951 adaptation ends with Alice waking up and returning home, a detail Polygon recounts as part of the sequel's context.

Rock Paper Shotgun's The Sunday Papers (published Sept. 13, 2026) included a vivid passage describing sensations after playing The Blood of Dawnwalker, including a craving for blackcurrant juice. The item describes a surreal sequence — floating across rooftops, fighting supermarket attackers armed with trollies, and being dragged by a strange appendage — as part of that imagined aftermath. The Sunday Papers is RPS's weekly roundup of writing about (mostly) videogames, and this installment presents a creative, descriptive piece rather than reporting new facts about the game.

TheGamer reports Star Fox creator Takaya Imamura faced massive backlash over his use of AI. TheGamer published the story on September 13, 2026, written by Executive Editor James Lucas. TheGamer’s coverage describes Imamura as a beloved Star Fox creator who has come under fire for using AI. The supplied evidence does not include further details about the nature of the AI use or responses from Imamura.

GameRant reported seven anime series that "fell off" after their first season, identifying a decline following those initial seasons. The list was written by Hamza Ahmad and published on September 13, 2026. The piece notes that most anime are adaptations of manga or light novels and says anime adaptations help spread awareness of their source material. The excerpt provided does not include the specific seven titles named in the article.

Eurogamer reports Miles Buckle uses SimCity 2000 and other retro game aesthetics to recreate film moments as entirely imaginary video‑game clips on his Instagram. The feature cites examples including The Shining's "here's Johnny" scene rendered in a The Sims 2‑like style, the Twin Peaks opening reimagined through SimCity 2000 orthographic experiments, and a low‑poly Peter Finch performing the monologue from Network. Eurogamer describes the feed as a window into nostalgia and fiction and says these short clips produce perfect fever‑dreams that "can't and won't exist" outside the clips. The feature was published by Eurogamer on Sept. 13, 2026 and written by Alexis Ong.

Nintendo Life's Box Art Brawl this week pits the two regional covers of Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call (also known as The Last Specter). The feature says there are just two covers to choose between and is presented as part of a celebration of The New World of Steam finally getting a release date. Nintendo Life describes the game as the first entry in the series' prequel trilogy, introducing Emmy alongside Layton and Luke as they investigate spooky goings-on in the town of Misthallery. The site adds this was the last Layton title to use the series' classic 2D visuals, with later 3DS and Switch releases moving to three-dimensional presentation.

Polygon reported that five near‑perfect action shows are available to stream for free on Pluto TV, Tubi and Roku. The article contrasted those free offerings with higher‑profile series such as Prime Video’s The Boys, Reacher and Daredevil, which Polygon said require paid subscriptions. Polygon described the recommended free titles as featuring kinetic choreography and visceral action that inject excitement between quieter moments. The piece framed the list as options for viewers looking to watch action series without a paid subscription.

Polygon reports Lee and Andrew Child will publish a new Jack Reacher novel in October, marking the character’s return in print rather than on television. The news arrives as Prime Video’s Reacher season 4 nears its conclusion. Polygon also says a Reacher spin-off is in development and that the TV series has established the character as a reliable action lead. The provided excerpt does not include the novel’s title, plot, or an exact release date.

PC Gamer called Revolution Software's 1994 point-and-click game Beneath a Steel Sky "a must-buy for all serious adventure fans." The review reports that comics artist Dave Gibbons supplied the dystopian cityscape, character designs, and part of the story after a planned Watchmen game fell through. PC Gamer says the game's art is its most convincing aspect and suggested it made the reviewer question the need for 3D graphics, while also noting the title's puzzles align with traditional adventure-game design. The review situates Beneath a Steel Sky alongside Revolution Software's other adventure titles such as Lure of the Temptress and the Broken Sword series.

Polygon reports Twin Peaks is now available free on Pluto TV. Polygon calls the series the greatest detective thriller and highlights its original blend of small‑town life with strange, genre elements. The report notes Twin Peaks was developed by David Lynch and Mark Frost, began in the 1990s, and officially ended in 2017. Polygon also connects the show’s approach to later series such as Widow’s Bay, Stranger Things and The X‑Files.

Polygon reported Stranger Things officially returns to Netflix this week with 10 new episodes. Polygon said the show's core cast — the D&D-playing kids known as "The Party" — will be back. Polygon noted the series premiered in 2016, concluded with a series finale at the end of last year, and that its 1980s Stephen King/Spielberg-style vibe was a major draw.

Polygon reports that a line by Peanuts character Sally Brown is still considered an iconic comic-strip line 63 years after it first appeared. The feature, written by Thomas Hindmarch, surveys notable lines from Charles Schulz's Peanuts and highlights Sally's anti-school stance. The piece references appearances such as A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973) and places Sally's line amid the strip's recurring focus on Charlie Brown's misfortune. The article was published on Polygon on Sep 13, 2026.

GameRant reported that Tommy Oliver wasn't at his best as the Green Ranger. The piece was written by Nicholas Beach and published September 12, 2026 on GameRant. Beach's author bio on the site notes he graduated from Drew University in 2023 with a degree in film studies and lists his gaming and pop-culture interests.

Insider Gaming published hints and the answers for The New York Times’ Strands puzzle #923 for Saturday, September 12, 2026. The article offers tips and strategies intended to help players find words faster and warns that it contains spoilers for that day’s puzzle. It describes Strands as a daily NYT word-search launched in 2024 that uses a 6×8 letter grid where players find words that share a common theme and a Spanagram that reveals a deeper theme. The piece also notes key mechanics such as three-letter-or-fewer words not counting, correct-theme words appearing in blue, and the Spanagram turning yellow when found, and directs readers to the game’s website to play.

Director Na Hong-jin has moved away from slow-burn horror and mystery toward a fast-paced sci-fi monster movie, Hope, Polygon reported. Polygon wrote that the film abandons slow-burn storytelling in favor of relentless speed and quoted Hong-jin saying, "speed was an incredible focus for us." The article notes Hope arrives after nearly a decade away from directing following The Wailing. Polygon also reported that it conducted a Zoom interview with Hong-jin for the movie's U.S. release.

Steam hosts a News Hub page for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Separately, Ubisoft has said its games on Steam will no longer require the Ubisoft Connect launcher to start, calling the change an initial step toward a smoother launch experience. The Steam page provides a central location for updates, but the evidence does not specify whether this title is affected by Ubisoft’s change. Details on which Ubisoft games and the rollout timing are not established in the provided sources.

Professor Layton and The New World of Steam will launch on 10 December 2026 for Switch 1 & 2. It is presented as the first mainline Layton game in over a decade after years of mystery and delays. The plot centers on Layton and Luke traveling to the land of Steam Bison to investigate a phantom gunslinger terrorising a town. The announcement gives a firm release date but does not include pricing, editions, or wider platform details in the provided evidence.

Hello Games introduced Update 7.0, Cosmos, which overhauls space content in No Man’s Sky. Players can become director of a space station with customizable interiors and exteriors, found galactic alliances with names and banners, and construct space bases. The update also adds a new star system map, mechanics for stripping derelict hulks for parts and hauling physical salvage to remote outposts, and deep-space outposts inhabited by alien lifeforms; it arrives alongside the Our Journey Continues expedition marking the game's tenth anniversary.

OpenAI’s GPT‑6 Astra was trained using roughly 100,000 Nvidia Grace Blackwell NVLink72 server racks. Company leaders describe this as the first training run that used more than 100,000 GPUs and say a substantial portion of the compute went to safety and alignment work. Access to GPT‑6 Astra has begun for a limited set of organizations, with wider subscriber access planned soon. Nvidia plans to scale hardware up to about 400,000 GPUs to support future needs.

Polygon published a Fall Preview that leads with its list of the 10 most anticipated movies for fall 2026 and encourages theater outings. The same preview contains a gaming section listing anticipated fall games and a set of Game On dispatches about specific titles. Those Game On items reference a Fire Emblem–inspired RPG blending roguelike and dating-sim elements, a new carnivorous deckbuilder framed as unlike Slay the Spire, and impressions of Gears of War: E-Day’s campaign after two hours. The directory also includes Big Interviews with pieces on Resident Evil by Zach Cregger and a feature on Kyle Gordon.

At Gamescom, Playground Games ran a behind-closed-doors, hour-long demo of Fable (2026) that the writer played twice using two distinct loadouts. The short slice of the game came from a dungeon a little way into the game populated by undead. Associate game director Will Kennedy told the player they would be trying “two very different loadouts,” and the studio instructed the writer to run the encounter twice, signaling developer confidence. Fable is scheduled to launch on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, PC and Nintendo Switch 2 on 23 February 2027.

A Nexus Mods upload called Better Story Timer strips out The Blood of Dawnwalker’s 30‑day, 30‑night time mechanic that advances whenever quests are completed. That built‑in timer is a core gameplay element that forces players to weigh choices because doing one thing can prevent another. The mod went live shortly after the game's launch last week and has been downloaded more than 115,000 times, making it the title's most popular mod. The change lets players play without the original time constraint rather than altering the game itself via official updates.

A seven-day Freerun Descent event in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 tasks players with posting the fastest single-course times to earn limited-time cosmetics. Leaderboard positions are locked at the end of every three-hour window and determine which items players receive. Exclusive rewards include an animated calling card and a Peacekeeper MK1 blueprint, with higher placements and cleaner, faster runs yielding better cosmetics. The event structure encourages repeated short runs across the week to chase those timed unlocks.

Brandon Sanderson argued that a 'fatal fantasy' mistake undermined Game of Thrones, pinpointing maps as the core issue. He made the remark during a talk with fellow author Joe Abercrombie that was shared on YouTube earlier this year. Sanderson is a prominent fantasy author and publisher who expands the Cosmere on a near-annual basis and gives public lectures on topics such as Tolkien’s magic systems. The comment links a specific worldbuilding element to the show's perceived failings while coming from a widely read, public-facing genre figure.

In the week ending September 6, 2026, Steam received 54 new idle-game releases, a cluster noted for recurring visual and interface similarities. A significant number of the titles include developer disclosures that AI tools were used in their creation. The Steam Week in Review framed this surge alongside earlier idle-game milestones such as Cookie Clicker, Candy Box, and the satirical Cow Clicker. The concentration of near-identical UIs and explicit AI disclosures was the central observation about the week’s releases.

Hello Games released Update 7.0, called Cosmos, which changes No Man’s Sky’s space gameplay and affects players of No Man’s Sky. The update, released as part of the Our Journey Continues tenth‑anniversary expedition, adds station directorship, player‑founded alliances, space‑base construction, a new star system map, derelict‑hulk salvage mechanics and deep‑space outposts inhabited by alien lifeforms.

This week the industry felt two competing forces: AI at unprecedented scale reshaping tools and PR, and heavy player engagement around big releases — some of it expressed through mods that alter core game systems. Those trends intersect with platform moves and developer stances that will matter to players and studios alike.