Gaming

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• Latest news Patch fixes Marvel Tōkon PC launch, slashes CPU use and reduces stutters

  Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls launched on PC last week with serious technical problems that left PC performance worse than on consoles. The developer released a patch that drastically lowers CPU usage and significantly reduces stuttering on PC. The update narrows the performance gap between desktop and console players and restores much smoother gameplay for PC users.

• Latest news Brand New Day film drives biggest sales surge for Marvel's Spider-Man 2 in years

  The Hollywood blockbuster Spider-Man: Brand New Day caused the largest sales increase for the years-old Marvel's Spider-Man 2 since the game's launch. The film's release also brought new players to the game, boosting its active audience. The boost underlines how major movie releases can renew commercial and player interest in existing games.

• Latest news Netflix's The Last House ending frames humans as villains, not an alien invasion

  The director of Netflix's The Last House says the film's ending reveals that 'we humans are the bad guys of this planet.' The movie uses a Cloverfield-style mystery-box setup and delivers a third-act twist that reframes the apparent threat away from a straightforward alien invasion. That reveal shifts the film from a survival/monster story into a thematic critique of humanity's role on Earth.

• Latest news Australia blocks Halloween: The Game over incentivized drug use, banning sales

  Illfonic's Halloween: The Game, an asymmetrical multiplayer starring Michael Myers and due September 9, was refused classification by the Australian Classifications Board and cannot be sold in Australia or New Zealand. The board denied a rating because the game features incentivized use of a controlled substance—survivors can use marijuana to temporarily reveal Michael's position—rather than for its violent content. The refusal prevents both physical and digital sales in those markets, though pre-order content previously received an automated R18+ classification in July. The decision illustrates that Australia's ratings rules prohibit depictions that actively encourage drug use even when extreme violence is present.

• Latest news Offroad co-op game Over the Hill launches on Steam Oct. 14 after 1M+ wishlists

  Over the Hill, a chill offroad driving game from Funselektor, will launch on Steam on October 14. The low-poly 4x4 game includes a grappling hook and cooperative multiplayer and has amassed more than one million Steam wishlists since its announcement. Launch builds include several areas in the Canada and Alergia regions, console versions are scheduled for next year, and the game will be playable at Gamescom ahead of release.

• Latest news 50 Cent to executive-produce Payday screen adaptation with Starbreeze and Vice

  Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s G-Unit Film and Television will executive-produce a screen adaptation of the Payday video-game franchise in partnership with developer Starbreeze and Vice Studios. The announcement does not specify whether the project will be a film or a television series. The deal follows a March agreement between Starbreeze and Vice to adapt Payday “across screen and other formats.” Starbreeze previously signed a 2023 agreement with Stockholm Syndrome to develop a Payday story for TV or film; that earlier partner was not mentioned in this announcement.

• Latest news Multiple indie games hit million-plus sales while most remain undiscovered

  House House and publisher Panic's co-op game Big Walk sold over one million units in under a week, joining a string of indie commercial successes in 2026. Ball X Pit has topped two million sales and teased upcoming content, Mewgenics recouped development costs within hours after passing one million sales, and Meccha Chameleon has surpassed 15 million copies. These outsized results show individual indie titles can become financially transformative for small teams, even as the majority of indie releases struggle for visibility.

• Latest news House of the Dragon Season 3 Finale Rewrites a Major Targaryen Downfall

  The season 3 finale of House of the Dragon alters a key downfall from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood rather than following the book precisely. Showrunner Ryan Condal and writer Sara Hess led the adaptation that has been entertaining across the series run. Those changes change how the Targaryen dynasty’s collapse is presented in the television canon.

• Latest news US hires 2,000 Fortnite players as air traffic controllers amid staffing shortfall

  The US government has hired 2,000 Fortnite players to work as air traffic controllers. The move follows a yearlong effort to address a shrinking pool of trained controllers while annual flight numbers rise. Controller shortages have already caused delayed or canceled flights and increased safety risks.

• Latest news Chiikawa The Movie grosses ¥6.77B in 17 days, ranks 4th in Japan 2024

  Chiikawa The Movie: The Secret of Mermaid Island earned 6.77 billion yen (about $43 million) in Japan in its first 17 days, making it the country's fourth-highest-grossing film of the year. The film opened with more than $6.2 million on day one—the seventh-biggest opening ever in Japan—and has reached over $280 million worldwide. Its rapid box office performance places the Chiikawa franchise among this year's major commercial hits.

• Latest news Bubbly Basin in Pokémon Pokopia hides large sunken relics that grant furniture

  Players can find large lost sunken relics and other treasures in the sands of Bubbly Basin in Pokémon Pokopia. Dug-up relics handed to Professor Trangrowth grant a new piece of furniture for a player’s home. The same furniture items can also be purchased in the in-game shop or found elsewhere on the map. Relics only count toward the Ancient Artifact collection if they are excavated from a block.

• Latest news Hello Games shelved a larger Light No Fire reveal after teaser drew about 20M views

  Hello Games founder Sean Murray planned a bigger Summer Game Fest 2024 presentation for Light No Fire after a 90‑second teaser, but abandoned it when the teaser exploded in popularity. The trailer amassed about 20 million views and pushed the game to number two on the Steam wishlist, prompting the studio to keep the project private and focus on development rather than extra marketing. Murray says he played the current build and considers it well beyond what most studios would have shown. The decision changes the public timeline for the game and reduces external marketing pressure on the studio.

• Latest news Valve notifies European Steam hardware buyers after CEVA Logistics cyberattack

  Valve contacted customers who bought Steam hardware in Europe after regional shipping partner CEVA Logistics suffered a cyberattack between July 29 and August 1, 2026. The breach likely exposed delivery-related customer data that CEVA retains for up to 90 days, including names, street addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and order details. Valve learned of the incident on August 7, assembled a list of at-risk customers and warned recipients to watch for phishing that may use the compromised delivery data. CEVA’s attack affected eight warehouse hubs and caused shipping delays across Europe; no customer payment information or unrelated Steam account details were shared with CEVA and users do not need to change their Steam passwords.

• Latest news Starbreeze launches Heist Escape Roguelike: Payday Experience inside Fortnite

  Starbreeze released Heist Escape Roguelike: Payday Experience as a UEFN-exclusive game inside Fortnite. The mod reimagines Payday as a progressive roguelike shooter with three heists and is live now with Island Code 8105-9005-4478. Starbreeze is using Fortnite to introduce Payday to new players as Payday 3 underperforms commercially while Payday 2 remains active on Steam. The release follows earlier franchise expansions including Roblox spinoffs and a VR Payday title.

• Latest news 1666: Amsterdam resurfaces after 15-year development by Assassin's Creed creator

  1666: Amsterdam, a witchy new game from Patrice Désilets, returned to the public eye this year after a 15-year conception. Development included legal battles, multiple concept rewrites and secret publishers before the project reached an actual game. Désilets is known for creating Assassin's Creed and Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, making this long-delayed title notable for fans and the industry.

• Latest news 1666: Amsterdam enters PC early access on 25 August after years-long legal battle

  1666: Amsterdam, a dark, witchy action game from Patrice Désilets, will launch in PC early access on 25 August. The game will be sold on Steam and the Epic Games Store. Its release follows years of legal battles between Désilets and Ubisoft that had delayed the project, making this a notable public return for the Assassin's Creed creator.

• Latest news No Man's Sky at 10: 45+ major updates and Sean Murray rejects 'redemption arc'

  No Man's Sky reached its 10th anniversary this week and Hello Games says the space sim is 'stronger than ever' after a decade of support. Studio head Sean Murray reflected on the game's journey, outlined its future, and rejected the framing of the developer's history as primarily a 'redemption arc'. The studio has released more than 45 major updates since launch, and Murray also discussed smaller design details such as the origin of the game's emojis.

• Latest news Marvel Tōkon PC players report stuttering, matchmaking failures and high CPU use

  Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls launched this week and the Windows version is suffering severe performance problems. Players are encountering stuttering, online matchmaking failures and excessive CPU usage that disrupt gameplay. Developer Arc System Works has promised a fix while some PC users attempt unofficial workarounds to restore playability.

• Latest news No Man's Sky turns 10 as Hello Games says follow-up Light No Fire is well advanced

  No Man's Sky marks its tenth anniversary while developer Hello Games prepares a follow-up titled Light No Fire. Studio boss Sean Murray says the project is "quite far along" and that he has learned not to speak about progress too early. The comments signal Hello Games is progressing on a new major project while adopting a more cautious communications approach based on past experience.

• Latest news No Man's Sky creator plans Light No Fire as long-term, post-launch expanded fantasy MMO

  Sean Murray says Light No Fire, announced in December 2023, is being built as an earth-sized multiplayer fantasy sandbox that will receive major free features after launch, similar to No Man’s Sky. Ideas intended for Light No Fire—like buildable, multi-crew ships that act as separate physics worlds and can travel across huge oceans—were adapted into No Man’s Sky’s 2025 Voyagers update. Murray intends to keep working on Light No Fire for many years, aiming to support it a decade after release, which signals a long-term live-service approach.

• Latest news Sean Murray revisited the unpatched 2016 No Man's Sky and praises its solitary charm

  Hello Games director Sean Murray played the original, unpatched 2016 build of No Man's Sky and said he enjoys its 'esoteric' and 'weirder' feeling of being alone on a planet. He said the modern game still contains that core sense of solitary exploration while the studio has added many features over ten years. Murray also praised newer systems like base-building and ship customization and often starts new saves to recapture the original feeling. This matters because the developer views the original exploration experience as the game's enduring heart despite dozens of major free updates.

• Latest news The Division Resurgence, a free-to-play mobile spin-off, arrives on Steam

  The Division Resurgence, a free-to-play mobile off-shoot of Ubisoft's The Division, has launched on Steam and is now playable on PC. It is one of the few announced Ubisoft spin-offs that actually reached release rather than being canceled. The Steam arrival has prompted confusion and irritation among portions of the player base.

• Latest news Marvel Rivals cuts PC install by ~40 GB with season 9.5 texture overhaul

  NetEase repackaged Marvel Rivals' assets as part of its season 9.5 update, using an optimized texture resource compression across all platforms to shrink the PC install by about 40 GB. The initial season 9.5 patch download is larger than normal because of the rework, but the final installed footprint is much smaller. Creative director Guangyun Chen described the work as a massive texture compression overhaul that preserves visual fidelity. This frees substantial disk space for players and follows similar storage-reduction efforts in other recent games.

• Latest news Gears of War: E-Day will launch with nine multiplayer maps, seven detailed

  Developer The Coalition lists nine multiplayer maps for Gears of War: E-Day and has released concrete details for seven of them. The confirmed pool includes six Versus maps and three Horde Siege maps, with two maps still lacking public details. E-Day also overhauls movement, traversal, and shooting, which will change how those maps play in both competitive and co-op modes.

• Latest news House of the Dragon Season 3 reframes Rhaenyra as trapped and driven by prophecy

  Rhaenyra Targaryen captures a castle at the start of season 3 but finds it has become a prison where she must babysit political rivals, hide from enemies, and endure insults from local commoners. Her conviction that she is destined for greatness comes from her father and is reinforced by a prophecy witnessed by her husband/uncle Daemon. The series’ focus on her frustration and ambition reshapes her character arc and alters how viewers may understand her role in Targaryen history.

• Latest news GRRM posts and deletes blog blasting House of the Dragon Season 3 changes

  George R.R. Martin published a blog post on September 4, 2024 titled "Beware the Butterflies" criticizing HBO’s Season 3 handling of Helaena Targaryen and her son Maelor. He deleted the post shortly afterward, but fans saved and circulated its contents. The episode-ending choices that prompted the post exposed public tensions between Martin and showrunner Ryan Condal and prompted close fan scrutiny of the adaptation.

• Latest news Sorting-and-shelving games surge on PC; Toy Shop Tidy Up exemplifies trend

  PC players are flocking to games built around cleaning, tidying and sorting, with recent hits like House Flipper, Power Wash Simulator and Unpacking demonstrating mainstream demand. The micro-genre dates back to 1982's arcade Bubbles and includes entries such as Harvest Moon, Chibi‑Robo and Katamari Damacy, while grimmer variants include Viscera Cleanup Detail and The Gunk. New releases that focus entirely on placing thousands of items on shelves—most notably Shiftmoon's Toy Shop Tidy Up, launched August 7—are appearing on Steam and generating player feedback about item-placement mechanics.

• Latest news The Division Resurgence launches on Steam; 46% positive reviews cite bugs and heavy microtransactions

  Tom Clancy's The Division Resurgence arrived on Steam this month after earlier mobile and Ubisoft Connect PC releases. Steam reviews sit at 46% positive as players report login failures, mouse-control bugs, weak loot progression and aggressive microtransactions. The free-to-play, third-person looter-shooter is set in a post‑pandemic New York and players say core progression is gated by limited daily tasks, impacting the game's play loop and reception.

• Latest news Dungeon Crawler Carl: Earth rebuilt as an 18‑level reality‑show dungeon

  In Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl, Earth collapses and is reconstructed as an 18‑level dungeon called Dungeon Crawler World. The protagonist, Carl — a U.S. Coast Guard veteran — survives the collapse outside in winter wearing only his underwear and teams up with Princess Donut, a talking cat and the only nearby survivor. The planetwide dungeon is run by a corporate alien race as a televised reality show, creating a premise that blends apocalypse, dungeon‑crawl structure, and dark satire.

• Latest news Marvel Tokon PC port crippled by stutters as Steam approval falls to 40%

  The Windows PC port of Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is experiencing severe performance problems, with widespread stutters and frame drops that many players say make the game nearly unplayable. Community backlash has driven the game's Steam approval score down to 40%, with most negative reviews pointing to technical hiccups. Players are attempting their own workarounds to restore playability, highlighting the port's impact on user experience and public reception.