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• Target Circle Students can buy GTA 6 for $64 with 20% discount

  Target Circle Students members can buy the standard GTA 6 code-in-the-box for $64 before tax after a 20% student discount on the $80 price. To get the discount students must join Target Circle Students (free) and verify enrollment by submitting a school-issued document. Preorders at Target include the Vintage Vice City Pack and one month of GTA+; the $100 edition is only available as a digital purchase and not sold in stores, and GTA 6 launches November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

• Supermassive Games (UK) to lay off up to 75 staff; studio behind Until Dawn affected

  Supermassive Games, the UK developer behind cinematic horror titles Until Dawn, The Quarry and the Dark Pictures Anthology, has announced another round of layoffs. As many as 75 employees are expected to lose their jobs. The reductions further shrink the workforce at a prominent British studio and will affect the team behind its horror game portfolio.

• Gears of War: E-Day beta's wall-bouncing sparks split between new and veteran players

  The first stage of Gears of War: E-Day's beta has concluded, but debate over the game's movement continues. Wall-bouncing—leaping between cover while wielding a shotgun—is polarising newcomers and long-time players. The argument matters because some call the mechanic high-skill while others call it 'sweaty' and say it risks alienating casual players.

• Calamity Mod development ends after controversy involving lead developer

  The Calamity Mod team announced on Aug. 10 that it is ending development of the popular Terraria mod after nearly 10 years. The decision followed internal turmoil and allegations involving lead developer Ozzatron, with several contributors departing and requesting removal of their work. The team described the mod’s reputation as "irrecoverably tainted" and said many developers no longer wanted to be associated, marking a significant closure for the Terraria modding community.

• Take-Two: GTA 6 Preorders Skew Toward $100 Edition; Standard Priced at $80

  Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says the company could have charged more for Grand Theft Auto 6 but set the standard edition at $80 and a premium edition at $100 to keep pricing fair and deliver extra value. Early preorders are skewing toward the $100 premium edition because the earliest buyers tend to be avid and less price-sensitive. The game is digital-only with multiple preorder bonuses, and Rockstar has not disclosed details about GTA 6's online mode; pricing and buyer mix will shape initial revenue and the early player pool.

• Guide: Best Team-Up for Every Marvel Rivals Vanguard, Duelist, and Strategist

  A guide identifies the optimal Team-Up ability for every hero role (Vanguard, Duelist, Strategist) in Marvel Rivals. Team-Ups are special collaborative abilities and each hero has two options, with one often clearly outperforming the other. The recommendations show which Team-Up to pick to boost a hero's effectiveness in matches.

• Alan Wake 2 surpasses 3 million copies sold

  Updated sales data show Alan Wake 2 has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide. The title recorded an initially slow launch but gained sales momentum after release to reach this figure. The milestone is a significant commercial win for Remedy Entertainment and improves the studio's recent sales performance.

• Most GTA 6 pre-orders are for the $100 Ultimate edition, Take-Two says

  Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says the majority of Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-orders have been for the $100 Ultimate edition rather than the $80 Standard edition. Take-Two is the parent company of Rockstar, the game's developer. The pre-order mix raises the average revenue per pre-order and shows strong consumer demand for premium editions ahead of launch.

• MongolZ and FaZe invited to FISSURE's $1M FPG 3 in Suzhou

  FISSURE has invited MongolZ and FaZe to participate in FPG 3, a tournament being held in Suzhou. The event carries a $1,000,000 prize pool and has attracted multiple teams ranked inside the global top 20. The combination of the large purse and top-ranked entrants makes FPG 3 a high-stakes competition for professional rosters.

• Liga ACE-run VALORANT Challengers Americas LCQ Grand Final plagued by tech failures

  The Liga ACE-organized VALORANT Challengers Americas Last Chance Qualifier Grand Final on July 30 descended into hours of technical pauses, server breakdowns and repeated round rollbacks over a two-day final. The match awarded a single spot in the VCT Americas Stage 2 Play-Ins, making it a career-defining contest for Tier 2 players. Insiders responded with frustration about event management and the implications for Riot’s planned 2027 open ecosystem.

• House House's Big Walk sells 1 million copies in under a week

  Big Walk, a collaborative puzzle-solving and hangout game from developer House House, has sold over 1 million copies in under one week. Publisher Panic announced the milestone on Bluesky. The rapid sales represent a strong commercial debut for the developer and publisher and highlight robust player interest in social cooperative puzzle experiences.

• Dota 2’s standout player records: TI heroics, record MMR, marathon matches

  This roundup catalogs the most notable individual player records in professional Dota 2, covering career milestones, single-game performances, and unique accomplishments. It highlights feats such as The International heroics, record-breaking matchmaking ratings (MMR), marathon matches, and extraordinarily dominant individual performances. These records come from top professional Dota 2 players and demonstrate the highest levels of skill and consistency. They have helped shape the game's competitive history.

• 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.

• 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.

• Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls: Five Episode Mode Campaigns, Each With Unique Teams

  Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls contains five separate Episode Mode campaigns, each centered on a different Marvel team: Fighting Avengers, Unbreakable X-Men, Amazing Guardians, Samurai Outriders, and Knights of Doom. The campaigns all feed into the same larger conflict but present unique opening battles, enemies, and story perspectives. This structure gives players multiple starting points and distinct narrative viewpoints, increasing replayability.

• Esports Nations Cup debuts in 2026 as country-focused global event with 16 titles

  The Esports Nations Cup will debut in 2026 as a global tournament centered on national teams instead of esports organizations. The event includes 16 game titles, each with its own qualification path open to countries worldwide, and confirmed team rosters for every title have been collected. The country-first format changes how players will be selected and how fans will follow international esports competition.

• Forza Horizon 6 Week 4 Trial centers on Alfa Romeos and hyper‑aggressive Drivatars

  The Italian Exotics Festival Playlist is ending and Forza Horizon 6 will move into a new series afterward. The Week 4 Trial is the final challenge before that change and requires racing Alfa Romeos in super‑fast events. Opponents use hyper‑aggressive Drivatars, making this one of the most difficult Trials so far. Completing this Trial is necessary to finish the current playlist before the series resets.

• Dota 2 The International 2026 field set: 7 direct invites, 9 qualifier teams

  Valve has finalized the 16-team field for Dota 2 The International 2026 by awarding seven direct invites and filling nine spots via regional qualifiers. The announced lineup includes the full rosters for every team. The decision locks in the competitors who will contest TI 2026 and ends the qualification process.

• Big Walk sells 1 million copies in a week, faster than Untitled Goose Game

  Big Walk reached 1 million copies sold within one week of launch. The game was developed by Australian studio House House and is available as a monthly free PlayStation Plus title, on Steam and Nintendo Switch 2. The rapid sales outpace House House’s previous hit Untitled Goose Game (which took three months to hit 1 million) and follow strong critical reception for the co-op-only, no-death gameplay.

• Metroid Prime Origins: fans release polished 2D demake on Metroid subreddit

  On August 6, 2026 a fan team posted Metroid Prime Origins to the Metroid subreddit as a fully complete 2D adaptation of Metroid Prime. The project was developed in secret over three years and uses a deliberate 'fake-bit' NES-like aesthetic while adding more detail than classic 8-bit visuals. The demake recreates core Prime mechanics—including a scan visor with a bestiary and lore log, smooth grapple movement, and controller-mapped free aim and aim-lock—offering a high-quality alternative play experience for fans on the franchise's 40th anniversary. This release demonstrates sustained fan investment in preserving and reimagining a major Metroid title outside official channels.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• id Software programmer: Microsoft's mass layoffs are eroding studio quality

  Chris Hayes, id Software's lead services programmer and a Microsoft employee, criticized Microsoft's repeated mass layoffs in a recent YouTube interview, arguing they strip studios of the experience and motivation needed to make high-quality games. Hayes warned that cutting experienced teams and prioritizing short-term cost savings produces mediocre titles, damages long-term value in major IPs and prevents learning from failure.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• Vitality performance manager Jack Birtwhistle on focus, structure and 1% gains

  HLTV interviewed Jack Birtwhistle, Vitality's Performance Manager, in a lengthy conversation about the behind-the-scenes work that keeps the roster focused and consistent. He outlined how marginal gains and formalized processes create the structure supporting an era-defining team. The piece highlights performance management as a deliberate, team-wide effort that contributes to competitive longevity.