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News

Elgato's new 4k60 Facecam might just become our new favourite, featuring a new a lens, sensor, and analogue filters
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 1 hour ago

Elgato's new 4k60 Facecam might just become our new favourite, featuring a new a lens, sensor, and analogue filters

Elgato's specsheet is hitting it out of the park on this one.

General
This sci-fi horror racer is one of my favorite PC games, and it's currently going for less than a fiver during the Steam racing fest
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 2 hours ago

This sci-fi horror racer is one of my favorite PC games, and it's currently going for less than a fiver during the Steam racing fest

Distance is a quiet classic with an endless amount of stuff to do in 2025.

Teams & Players
What's this, a genuinely affordable Wi-Fi 7 mesh system from Netgear? Huzzah!
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 3 hours ago

What's this, a genuinely affordable Wi-Fi 7 mesh system from Netgear? Huzzah!

Rejoice, all ye who can't get Wi-Fi in thou chamber rooms .

General
Today's Wordle answer for Thursday, July 31
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 3 hours ago

Today's Wordle answer for Thursday, July 31

Help with today's Wordle if you need it.

General
IGN
IGNIGNabout 3 hours ago

Builds, Guides and a Database for Wuchang: Fallen Feathers

The Land of Shu is full of dangers, and Wuchang: Fallen Feathers doesn’t always explain its mechanics. We’ve teamed up with the experts at Maxroll to bring you all the guides you'll need.

Teams & Players
A week after Meta turned it down, Google agrees to sign EU's AI Code of Practice while still raising its own concerns
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 3 hours ago

A week after Meta turned it down, Google agrees to sign EU's AI Code of Practice while still raising its own concerns

"We will join several other companies, including U.S. model providers, in signing the European Union’s General Purpose AI Code of Practice. "

Call of Duty
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 4 hours ago

Disney Lorcana TCG Palace Heist Solo And Co-Op Game Is Steeply Discounted

Disney Lorcana TCG players and collectors can save on products in the Reign of Jafar set at Amazon. Most notably, Illumineer's Quest: Palace Heist is on sale for only $40 (was $60). Palace Heist is a standalone game that can be enjoyed solo or cooperatively with another player. The format makes it uniquely situated in the ever-expanding Lorcana TCG, as it's ideal for brand-new players as well as seasoned Lorcana enthusiasts looking for a change of pace. Palace Heist is only the second Illumineer's Quest standalone game in the TCG's nearly two-year history. It launched in early June alongside several other Reign of Jafar products, some of which are also discounted right now. Reign of Jafar's 24-pack Booster Box (288 cards) is on sale for $114 (was $144). You can also save five bucks on Reign of Jafar: Illumineer's Trove.See Reign of Jafar Set at Amazon Disney Lorcana TCG Deals at Amazon Amazon also has deals on Disney Lorcana TCG products beyond the Reign of Jafar set, including three other booster boxes and a couple of cool bundles like the Azurite Sea Stitch Collector's Gift Set for $30 (was $50). Interestingly, Amazon just created a new store page for the Into the Inklands Bundle for $35. This 2024 bundle comes with two single-player decks, six booster packs, and a Glimmer Foil Mickey Mouse Pirate Captain promo card. The bundle originally sold for $45 and was thought to be out of print, so Amazon's restock is a nice surprise.Illumineer's Quest: Palace Heist (Solo/Co-op Game) -- $40 ($60)Azurite Sea: Stitch Collector's Gift Set -- $30 ($50)Into the Inklands Bundle (New Restock) -- $35 ($45)Reign of Jafar: Booster Box -- $114 ($144)Ursula's Return: Booster Box -- $110 ($144)Archazia's Island: Booster Box -- $108 ($144)Azurite Sea: Booster Box -- $103 ($144)Reign of Jafar: Illumineer's Trove -- $45 ($50)Archazia's Island: Illumineer's Trove -- $40 ($50)Illumineer's Quest: Deep Trouble (Solo/Co-op Game) -- $55.36 ($60)Into the Inklands: Amber & Emerald Starter Deck -- $13 ($17)See all deals at Amazon You can take a closer look at Illumineer's Quest: Palace Heist and the rest of the products in Reign of Jafar below.

Teams & Players
IGN
IGNIGNabout 5 hours ago

I've Hunted Down Today's Most Massive Discounts on Console and PC Must-Owns

Nothing but the finest banger gaming deals for your pile of shame.

General
Esports Insider
Esports InsiderEsports Insiderabout 6 hours ago

Riot Games shares investigation results after Tier 2 NA VALORANT match-fixing accusations

Image Credits: Riot Games Riot Games has revealed the results of an investigation into cheating and match-fixing allegations, claiming there is 'no evidence' of cheating, manipulation or misconduct. The update from Riot came after Shopify Rebellion's General Manager Sean ‘sgares’ Gares claimed he found proof of 'underground gambling rings' in the Tier 2 North American … Continued The post Riot Games shares investigation results after Tier 2 NA VALORANT match-fixing accusations appeared first on Esports Insider.

Valorant
5 stealthy lessons the live-action Assassin's Creed Netflix series could learn from the clumsy live-action Assassin's Creed movie
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 6 hours ago

5 stealthy lessons the live-action Assassin's Creed Netflix series could learn from the clumsy live-action Assassin's Creed movie

(With a little help from A Minecraft Movie.)

General
Cat breeding roguelike Mewgenics includes human conditions like autism and dyslexia, but they aren't just debuffs: 'You've been given this hand, make it work'
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 7 hours ago

Cat breeding roguelike Mewgenics includes human conditions like autism and dyslexia, but they aren't just debuffs: 'You've been given this hand, make it work'

Mewgenics may strike a nerve by confronting players with the spectre of actual eugenics, but its creators want us to value the ways our cats diverge.

Teams & Players
How well do you know Balatro's jokers? Try to ace our latest quiz!
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 7 hours ago

How well do you know Balatro's jokers? Try to ace our latest quiz!

Ante up! Let's see if you're a true card sharp or just a flop.

General
IGN
IGNIGNabout 7 hours ago

Grab a Lisen 3-Port 57W USB Car Charger with Retractable USB-C Cable for Just $10

Store it in your car to fast charge your iPhone 16 or Nintendo Switch in a pinch.

General
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 8 hours ago

Save On Lego Optimus Prime At Target Before It Sells Out

Optimus Prime is one of the most popular and highly rated buildable models in the Lego Icons lineup--for good reason, too. The 1,508-piece collectible display set has an exceedingly clever 2-in-1 design that allows Transformers fans to convert the Autobot leader into his signature truck. Multiple major retailers recently restocked the set with a 20% discount that dropped the price to $144 (was $180). The deal is sold out at Amazon and Walmart, but Target has restocked the discounted set.It's a great time to add Optimus Prime to your Lego collection, as the Transformers series is about to get its third member: Soundwave. The Decepticon joins the Lego Icons: Transformers lineup on August 4, but Lego Insiders can purchase the 1,505-piece display model for $190 starting this Friday, August 1. Lego Icons: Optimus Prime Transformers 2-in-1 Display ModelBack to the Autobot leader: All three retailers have sold out of the Optimus Prime Lego set several times already this year. And though it has returned once again, it's worth noting that Optimus Prime was out of stock everywhere from last holiday season until March. The Lego Store has units available at the moment, but it'll cost you the full $180 MSRP. Walmart and Amazon also have great deals on two other iconic vehicles from movie history. The Lego Icons Back to the Future Time Machine is discounted to $170 (was $200) at Walmart. This is a 3-in-1 build, but unlike the Transformers sets, you'll need to pick which DeLorean model from the trilogy you want to build. If you change your mind later on, you can partially deconstruct the model and rebuild it using the instructions for one of the other designs. You can also get the set for $171 at Target, but Amazon is sold out of the $170 deal.Meanwhile, Dune fans can save 20% on the Lego Icons: Atreides Royal Ornithopter, dropping the price from $165 to $132. The 1,369-piece build comes with six Lego minifigures. Amazon is almost out of stock, but you can also grab this deal at Walmart and Target. Lego Sets for Adults: Best Deals in July 2025Check out a list of our favorite Lego display model deals for adults below:Lego Icons: Transformers Optimus Prime 2-in-1 (1,508 pieces) -- $144 ($180) Also at Walmart (Sold out)Also at Amazon (Sold out)Lego Icons: Back to the Future Time Machine (1,872 pieces) -- $170 ($200) Also at TargetAlso at Amazon (Sold out)Lego Icons: Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter (1,369 pieces) -- $132 ($165) Also at WalmartAlso at TargetLego Super Mario: Piranha Plant (540 pieces) -- $48 ($60)Lego Ideas: Sonic the Hedgehog - Green Hill Zone (1,125 pieces) -- $73 ($80)Lego Marvel: Infinity Gauntlet (590 pieces) -- $63 ($80)Lego Disney: Young Simba - The Lion King (1,445 pieces) -- $92 ($130)Lego Fortnite: Peely Bone (1,414 pieces) -- $92 ($100)Lego Harry Potter: Hogwarts Castle (2,660 pieces) -- $141 ($180)Lego Harry Potter: Talking Sorting Hat (561 pieces) -- $80 ($100)Lego Technic: Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar (1,775 pieces) -- $173.85 ($200)Lego Ideas: Tuxedo Cat (1,710 pieces) -- $91 ($100)Lego Architecture Landmarks: Himeji Castle (2,125 pieces) -- $136 ($160)Lego Architecture: New York City (598 pieces) -- $46 ($60)Lego Architecture: Statue of Liberty (1,685 pieces) -- $95 ($120)Lego Icons: Tranquil Garden (1,363 pieces) -- $88 ($110)Lego Icons: Bonsai Tree (878 pieces) -- $40 ($50)Lego Art: Mona Lisa (1,503 pieces) -- $83 ($100)Lego Art: Vincent Van Gogh - The Starry Night (2,316 pieces) -- $150 ($170)Lego Art: Hokusai The Great Wave (1,810 pieces) -- $85 ($100)Star Wars Lego DealsStar Wars fans should take a look at the Walmart-exclusive Kylo Ren and Darth Vader Helmet bundle while it's in stock, as it already sold out once. Over at Amazon, you can save on a nice variety of 25th Anniversary Lego Star Wars sets, including the 1,138-piece C-3PO statue. Lego Star Wars 25th Anniversary Series:Millennium Falcon (921 pieces) -- $68 ($85)C-3PO Droid (1,138 pieces) -- $112 ($140)R2-D2 Droid (1,050 pieces) -- $80 ($100)Droideka Destroyer Droid (583 pieces) -- $52 ($65)Mos Espa Podrace Diorama (718 pieces) -- $59 ($80)Tantive IV Starship (654 pieces) -- $62 ($80)Lego Star Wars Helmets:Darth Vader + Kylo Ren Helmet Bundle -- $99 ($134)Darth Vader Helmet (834 pieces) -- $69 ($80)The Mandalorian Helmet (584 pieces) -- $56 ($70)Captain Rex Helmet (854 pieces) -- $56 ($70)More Starship Display Models:Acclamator-Class Assault Ship (450 pieces) -- $40 ($50)Home One Starcruiser (559 pieces) -- $56 ($70)

Fortnite
IGN
IGNIGNabout 8 hours ago

The Best Prebuilt PCs for Students in 2025

These reliable prebuilt PCs will get your through your college years.

General
IGN
IGNIGNabout 8 hours ago

Xbox Game Pass Revenue Was 'Nearly $5 Billion for the First Time' Over the Last Year

Xbox Game Pass revenue reached a new record for Xbox over the last year, achieving "nearly $5 billion" in revenue for the first time.

General
Bloober Team's psychological horror hit The Medium is being made into a movie by the guy who helped head up the Until Dawn film
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 8 hours ago

Bloober Team's psychological horror hit The Medium is being made into a movie by the guy who helped head up the Until Dawn film

Screenwriter and director Gary Dauberman says The Medium "is a natural for a feature film adaptation."

Teams & Players
IGN
IGNIGNabout 8 hours ago

Save 50% Off the Massive 75" Sony X85K 4K Google TV, Now Just $648

Supports 4K gaming at up to 120Hz on a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X.

General
IGN
IGNIGNabout 8 hours ago

6 of the 10 Best-Selling Games on PlayStation Last Quarter in the U.S. Were Published by Microsoft

Xbox just had a great Q2...and it might have PlayStation to thank. Or is it PlayStation that should be thanking Xbox?

General
Krafton says the Subnautica 2 delay proves its milestone process is being 'rigorously managed' because it didn't just shove the game out the door even though lots of people would've bought it
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 8 hours ago

Krafton says the Subnautica 2 delay proves its milestone process is being 'rigorously managed' because it didn't just shove the game out the door even though lots of people would've bought it

Well, it's an interesting argument.

General
Edmund McMillen thinks Mewgenics is his best game yet, and after playing it myself, I can see why
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 9 hours ago

Edmund McMillen thinks Mewgenics is his best game yet, and after playing it myself, I can see why

Hands-on with the cat breeding roguelike from the Super Meat Boy and Binding of Isaac creator and fellow Flash game luminary Tyler Glaiel.

General
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 9 hours ago

Link Figma Action Figure From Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Is Back In Stock

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom fans can grab the recently restocked Link Figma for $85.35 at Amazon. Made by Good Smile and released on June 24 for $90, this premium, customizable action figure had been sold out for many months after preorders first opened way back in March 2024. Good Smile also released a DX Edition with extra accessories in May, but that $136 model sold out fast when Amazon replenished its inventory.Figma figures of Princess Zelda and Ganondorf based on their appearances in Tears of the Kingdom are also in the works. Unfortunately, both of the figures remain sold out as of July 30.Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Figma Action FiguresLink Figma -- $85.35 ($90) | In stockLink Figma DX Edition -- $136 | Sold outZelda Figma -- Sold out | Releases January 2026Ganondorf Figma -- Sold out | Releases September 2025The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Link Figma figureGallery The new Tears of the Kingdom Link figure isn't the only premium Zelda collectible available on Amazon. Bandai Namco's Tamashii Nations collectible brand released a beautiful replica of the Master Sword late last year. The 41-inch Master Sword Proplica comes with a blue-and-gold sheath and display stand. You can get your own Master Sword for $186 (was $200) from Amazon.

General
Esports Insider
Esports InsiderEsports Insiderabout 9 hours ago

Shopify Rebellion exits Dota 2 esports scene

Image Credits: Shopify Rebellion Shopify Rebellion has announced its departure from competitive Dota 2, effective immediately, after a two-and-a-half-year run. In addition to this, all current roster members are now allowed to explore new opportunities as free agents. “I hope they all find great new homes and continue to shine, bringing their incredible talent and … Continued The post Shopify Rebellion exits Dota 2 esports scene appeared first on Esports Insider.

Dota 2
Esports Insider
Esports InsiderEsports Insiderabout 9 hours ago

Marvel Rivals Ignite 2025 Mid-Season Finals preview: A new challenger?

Image credit: NetEase Games The Marvel Rivals Ignite Mid-Season Finals are just around the corner, and the top teams from across the regions are preparing for the game's first LAN event. Ten top rosters will go head to head from August 6th to 10th, 2025, fighting for the lion's share of the $500,000 (~£376,700) prize … Continued The post Marvel Rivals Ignite 2025 Mid-Season Finals preview: A new challenger? appeared first on Esports Insider.

Teams & Players
IGN
IGNIGNabout 9 hours ago

I Can't Find Anything More Powerful Than the iBuypower Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming PC for Under $1,500

The Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics card is our favorite 2025 GPU release.

General
Space Marine 2 publisher says even he 'didn't believe that we could hit 7 million unique players,' but it's proof that players are hungry for sicko games: 'When the execution is right, it ends up resonating with many more people'
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 9 hours ago

Space Marine 2 publisher says even he 'didn't believe that we could hit 7 million unique players,' but it's proof that players are hungry for sicko games: 'When the execution is right, it ends up resonating with many more people'

Pullup Entertainment CEO Geoffroy Sardin says big budget triple-A games are suffering from "low agility to find the right audience and low creativity."

Teams & Players
IGN
IGNIGNabout 9 hours ago

Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 Adds Blade, Resource Rumble Mode, and More in August

NetEase has pulled back the curtain on Marvel Rivals Season 3.5, revealing a first look at Blade and many of the other additions coming in August.

General
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 9 hours ago

New Borderlands 4 Character Short Introduces Rafa's Violent Past

Gearbox Software has released a new character short for the upcoming looter shooter, Borderlands 4. Called “Yolt”, this video introduces Rafa the Exo-Soldier moments before he cuts ties with the morally bankrupt Tediore Corporation. It also displays a few of his abilities, including the Arc-knives--powerful energy-based swords deployed by Rafa’s exosuit.Early on in the short, Rafa can be seen proudly wearing a new exoskeleton during a live Tediore Corp. showcase. Things take a turn for the worse when his commanding officer reveals the finer points of the suit--like how it can operate even if the wearer dies--as well as the company’s desire to cut expenses. The ensuing chaos is comically violent; Rafa goes from standing at attention to fighting to blasting enemies to bits in a manner of seconds.What’s interesting about Rafa’s short is its inherently darker tone. While the events are still campy/in line with past Borderlands games, there is a seriousness to the themes being introduced. It’s possible that Borderlands 4 will not only have plenty of jokes for fans come September, but an engaging character-driven story as well.Borderlands 4 launches on September 12 for the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, with the Nintendo Switch 2 version dropping October 3, 2025.

General
IGN
IGNIGNabout 10 hours ago

Kingsman Star Taron Egerton Doesn't Actually Want to Be the Next James Bond: 'It Would Be Wasted on Me'

Taron Egerton has the look and the swagger to be the next James Bond — but the Kingsman star isn’t actually interested in taking on the now-vacant iconic role. In fact, he doesn’t even think he’s right for it.

General
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 10 hours ago

Get 30 Classic D&D PC Games For $10

These days, Baldur's Gate 3 is probably the first thing that comes to mind when people think "Dungeons & Dragons video games," but there's a long history of D&D video games stretching back to before Baldur's Gate 3--or even its predecessors like Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, Planescape Torment, and Neverwinter Nights--ever existed. Throughout the '80s and early '90s, there was a long list of titles like Eye of the Beholder, Pool of Radiance, and Champions of Krynn that adapted older D&D editions into video game form--and many are still considered important classics that are worth revisiting today. If you've ever been curious about these beloved PC games, you'll want to check out Humble's Dungeons & Dragons Classic Collection game bundle, which includes up to 30 old-school D&D PC RPGs, strategy, and action games, for just $10. But you'll want to act fast, as the bundle will only be available until August 7.See at Humble Like other Humble bundles, a portion of all Dungeons & Dragons Classic Collection revenue is donated directly to charity. For this deal, Humble is donating proceeds to Covenant House, which provides food, shelter, and ongoing services to homeless and trafficked young people. If you want to donate more, you can increase your pledge beyond $10 and change the revenue split between Humble, the game publishers, and Covenant House before checkout.The Dungeons & Dragons Classic Collection offers two payment tiers, and the more you pay, the more games you get. The bundle's base $5 includes six games, four of which are standalone releases, including the top-down action-adventure game Al-Qadim: The Genie's Curse, the classic dragon-flying combat sim DragonStrike, the kingdom-building strategy sim D&D - Stronghold: Kingdom Simulator, and DeathKeep, which is a fast-paced action-RPG with gameplay inspired by 90s first-person shooters. The other item in the bundle is Forgotten Realms: The Archives Collection Three, which includes two classic D&D dungeon-crawling CRPGs: the party-based "blobber" Menzoberranzan--which stars iconic D&D character Drizzt Do'Urden--and the hardcore roguelike Dungeon Hack.If you pay $10 or more, you'll unlock the full bundle, which includes everything from the previous tier. Most of the other items in this tier are multi-game collections with between two and eight titles each, totaling 30 games (a $109 value). There are several notable inclusions in this tier, but one of our favorites is the Forgotten Realms: The Archives Collection One, which bundles the Eye of the Beholder trilogy--often considered three of the best dungeon-crawling RPGs ever made--into a single title. If you've ever played the Legend of Grimrock games, you'll immediately recognize the gameplay style of Eye of the Beholder 1-3, which still holds up well today despite being over 30 years old.Humble's Dungeons & Dragons Classic Collection PC game bundleThe full list of games in Dungeons & Dragons Classic Collection offers a varied list of genres and worlds--including popular campaign settings like The Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, and Spelljammer, as well as more obscure worlds like Darksun and Ravenloft--making it a great source for classic D&D lore and history. Be sure to check out the bundle's Humble Store page to see everything included. Just remember that the bundle only lasts until August 7, so you have about a week left to grab it before it disappears. All games purchased in the bundle are official keys that unlock via Steam.Dungeons & Dragons Tabletop Game Deals & PreordersThis Humble bundle deal is awesome for checking out D&D's old-school video game adaptations, but if you've never tried the current edition of the tabletop game they're based on, you have a few options. For those who want a streamlined, easy-to-set-up version of the game, the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons x Stranger Things: Welcome to The Hellfire Club looks to be a solid entry point for the TTRPG. Launching October 7, the game comes with everything you need to start playing immediately--including pre-made characters, maps, and four follow-along adventures based on the campaigns made by Stranger Things character Eddie Munson. Preorders for the game are available for $50 at Amazon. If that still sounds too complicated, you may want to check out the new Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons board game. This D&D-themed version of the award-winning Horrified board game sees 1-5 players taking on quests where they encounter iconic D&D monsters like The Mimic, The Beholder, The Displacer, and Red Dragon in the notorious Undermountain dungeon from D&D's Forgotten Realms lore. The game is available now for $30. We had a chance to play the game ahead of launch, so be sure to check our Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons review for our impressions. For those who want to play the full version of the game, you can pick up the latest D&D 2024 Edition--also known as 5.5E--of the rulebooks needed to start playing, plus a selection of gameplay elements, expansions, and adventure modules. The new Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual are the three primary books you need to put together your own campaigns and characters, and all three are available at Amazon. And if you want some pre-made campaign modules to follow along with, there's the recently released Dragon Delves Adventure Anthology that comes with 10 adventures designed for characters from levels 1-12. There are also additional expansions and gameplay materials available if you feel like supplementing your collection even more. Check out the list below for all the Dungeons & Dragons 2024 Edition releases available at Amazon.All Dungeons & Dragons 2024 Edition Releases2024 Player's Handbook -- $40 ($50)2024 Dungeon Master's Guide -- $40 ($50)2024 Monster Manual -- $40 ($50)2024 Character Sheets -- $152024 DM Screen -- $19.39Dungeons & Dragons - Dragon Delves Adventure Anthology -- $49Dungeons & Dragons - Eberron: Forge of the Artificer Rules Expansion -- $30 | Releases August 19

Teams & Players
IGN
IGNIGNabout 10 hours ago

Extend Your Nintendo Switch 2 Playtime With This Iniu 10,000mAh Power Bank for Just $13

The 45W PD power output also means you can play and charge simultaneously.

General
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 10 hours ago

Donkey Kong Bananza Owes A Lot To A Longtime Xbox Studio

Donkey Kong may have been Nintendo's first breakout star, but for decades, the character was more commonly associated with other developers than he was with his creators. While numerous studios have put out Donkey Kong titles over the years, the simian really came into his own under the stewardship of Rare, who reinvented the character with 1994's seminal Donkey Kong Country. Though it hasn't been involved with the series since the early 2000s, Rare's work was so beloved that it effectively defined Donkey Kong for the next two decades--and that influence can still be felt throughout the newly released Donkey Kong Bananza.It's surprising how much of Rare's DK survived in Bananza. Despite some visual references to past Donkey Kong titles, everything Nintendo had shown off leading up to the game's launch suggested it would be a complete reboot of the series. Even beyond the lore implications of Donkey Kong teaming up with an inexplicably young Pauline, Bananza's freewheeling, destructive gameplay and subterranean setting are a marked departure from the Donkey Kong Country of old, giving the game a flavor and identity that's wholly distinct from every DK title before it.This first impression is not entirely off the mark; right from the outset, Bananza feels like a new direction not just for the character, but the series as a whole. While the game boasts plenty of platforming challenges to overcome, its core loop revolves around smashing your way through dense environments, using DK's mighty strength to carve up the terrain and unearth hidden collectibles. It makes for a decidedly different gameplay experience than previous Donkey Kong titles. And yet, despite this stark change in direction, Bananza still retains a number of elements that Rare's Donkey Kong games pioneered.Some of Bananza's challenge stages are overt callbacks to iconic Donkey Kong Country levels.You can see vestiges of the studio's influence all over the game design. Many of the elements that have become hallmarks of Rare's Donkey Kong reappear in Bananza. Balloons, initially your life counter in the Donkey Kong Country series, return in a similar role, ferrying you back to safety when you plummet into a bottomless abyss. DKC mainstays like Cranky, Diddy, and Dixie Kong make recurring cameos throughout the adventure, cropping up in unexpected places as you make your way to the planet's core. Even the soundtrack pays homage to Rare's games, interspersing iconic songs like DK Island Swing and the DK Rap amongst all the new tracks.Rare's lingering influence is even more prominent in Bananza's challenge levels. Battle arenas, which task you with defeating a specific number of enemies against a time limit, take obvious inspiration from similar challenges in Donkey Kong 64, right down to their staging. Some of the platforming courses that DK encounters on his quest, like the fittingly named Nostalgia Country, are even more overt callbacks, playing out like traditional side-scrolling levels with iconic backdrops from DKC. These stages have the same impact as the 8-bit sections in Super Mario Odyssey, offering a pleasant, nostalgia-stirring surprise for longtime fans that lovingly harkens back to the series' roots.Bananza shares many other similarities with Odyssey, having been developed by the same team, but both games' freeform structure was, in part, shaped by Rare. Though Super Mario 64 established the template that other 3D platformers would follow, Rare built upon it in novel ways with Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64. Whereas Mario 64 divided up its courses into different "episodes" that each focused on a specific objective, the levels in Rare's games were proper sandboxes, with all of their collectibles available right from the outset. Not all of them were immediately obtainable; some could only be acquired after returning with the appropriate skill. But players had the freedom to explore a stage and pick up as many collectibles as they could without immediately being kicked back to the hub area, which fundamentally changed the experience--and became the approach Nintendo would eventually adopt with Odyssey and Bananza.Even Bananza's fossils reference characters and enemies from Rare's Donkey Kong titles.Even ideas that initially seem unique to Bananza can be traced back to Rare's Donkey Kong games. Bananza's emphasis on music in particular owes a debt to Donkey Kong 64, which likewise incorporated music as a core component of its gameplay. Partway through the Nintendo 64 adventure, each Kong would add a different musical instrument to their repertoire of skills; DK, for instance, would get his (soon-to-be signature) pair of bongos, while Diddy would acquire an electric guitar. When the Kongs played these instruments in the appropriate spot, they'd send out a devastating shockwave attack that would destroy nearby enemies and activate something around the stage, often leading to a Golden Banana.It's easy to draw a throughline from DK64's instruments to Pauline's powerful vocal cords, which similarly serve multiple purposes in Bananza. On top of triggering the Bananza transformations, Pauline's singing can disperse Void seals, opening up new parts of the level to explore. She can also launch powerful vocal blasts in co-op mode, which will destroy any terrain and enemies in their path.For all the ways Bananza charts a fresh new direction for the series, the game is very much indebted to its past. In reclaiming the character, Nintendo could very well have wiped the slate clean and cast aside all traces of Rare's Donkey Kong, making the character wholly its own. But by preserving so many hallmarks from Rare's DK games, Nintendo has tacitly acknowledged that Bananza would not feel like a proper Donkey Kong title without them--that many of the elements Rare introduced have since become core to Donkey Kong's identity.With a rumored Donkey Kong movie on the horizon, Nintendo will likely lean heavily on the series moving forward. But regardless of where DK goes from here, there will always be bits of Rare in his DNA.

Teams & Players
Dune: Awakening is testing out a fix for ornithopter griefing and making an unforgivable change to flour sand farming
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 10 hours ago

Dune: Awakening is testing out a fix for ornithopter griefing and making an unforgivable change to flour sand farming

The new patch on the public test client will run for two weeks before it hits the main game.

General
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 11 hours ago

Razer Launches BlackShark V3 Pro, First Flagship Gaming Headset With ANC

Razer just launched a V3 series of its flagship BlackShark gaming headset. The lineup is headlined by the BlackShark V3 Pro Wireless Gaming Headset. The $250 wireless headset is the only model in the lineup with active noise cancellation. It's available in Xbox, PlayStation, and PC versions, but it's worth noting the Xbox edition of all of the V3 models has universal compatibility. If the V3 Pro is a bit too expensive for your budget, Razer also released two substantially more affordable models--the $150 BlackShark V3 and the $100 BlackShark V3 X HyperSpeed. The V3 Pro releases August 4, while the other two models are available now.See all BlackShark V3 HeadsetsWhile all three BlackShark V3 models share the same over-ear form factor and core features, there are, of course, some notable differences--one of the biggest being their wireless connection quality. The BlackShark V3 and V3 Pro are the first to use Razer’s HyperSpeed Wireless Gen-2 connectivity, which the company says offers playback latency as low as 10ms. The BlackShark V3 X HyperSpeed uses the previous version of the technology, which is still a solid low-latency 2.4GHz option. All models also support Bluetooth wireless pairing and wired connections via USB or 3.5mm.The BlackShark V3 Pro is also the only of the three with ANC, and it uses Razer’s high-end Gen-2 TriForce Bio-Cellulose 50mm drivers. By contrast, the BlackShark V3 uses the Gen-2 TriForce Titanium 50mm drivers, while the V3 X HyperSpeed is equipped with TriForce 50mm drivers. The V3 Pro also features a detachable HyperClear full-band 12mm mic, while BlackShark V3 has a detachable HyperClear super-wideband 9.9mm mic, and the V3 X HyperSpeed uses a detachable HyperClear 9.9mm cardioid mic.Razer's BlackShark V3 Pro PlayStation, PC, and Xbox modelsOne thing you’ll find across all three BlackShark V3 wireless headsets is virtual 7.1 surround sound. However, you’ll need to pay attention to which platforms the model is tuned for. The BlackShark V3, V3 Pro, and V3 X HyperSpeed all come in PC-, PlayStation-, and Xbox-specific models. While you can technically use each model on other platforms--the Xbox version is universal--they have specific surround-sound compatibility. The PC versions use either Windows 7.1 surround sound or THX Spatial Audio, which only works on specific versions of Windows. Meanwhile, the PlayStation models use Sony’s Tempest 3D Audio for PS5, and the Xbox models use Windows Sonic. Make sure you grab the appropriate model for your preferred platform if you plan on using virtual surround sound.Along with the differences in platform and spatial audio support, each platform-specific model of the BlackShark V3, V3 Pro, and V3 X HyperSpeed also features unique color schemes. For example, the PC models are all available in black or white, while the PlayStation models feature black with blue padding and accents, and the Xbox models come in black with green padding and accents.Check out the full rundown on each of the new BlackShark V3 wireless gaming headset models below.

General
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 11 hours ago

Blade Joins Marvel Rivals August 8, Along With New (And Removed) Team-Ups

Marvel Rivals' Season 3.5 update is coming August 8, and it will not only add the long-awaited vampire-hunter Blade, but also bring major changes to team-up abilities and competitive play.Blade enters NetEase's hero shooter with a number of sword-based abilities capable of slicing through foes in a deadly series of spins and slashes. However, he also comes equipped with a shotgun ideal for dealing damage at mid-to-close range. His ultimate ability sees him draw the Sword of Dracula to leave a deadly trail of slashes in his wake. Combined with the ability to prevent incoming enemy heals for a brief period of time and his maneuverability, and Blade looks to be a potent addition to the game's Duelist lineup.The Daywalker isn't the only new addition coming with the game's August 8 patch. As outlined in a new Dev Vision video, it will also add, remove, and adjust a number of team-up abilities. Guardian Revival, which saw Mantis and Star-Lord take advantage of Adam Warlock's regenerative abilities, is being removed, as is Luna Snow and Iron Fists's Atlas Bond.In their place are two new team-ups. Duality Dance will be for Adam Warlock and Luna Snow and looks to power up Luna's attacks based on the damage she received. Another new team-up called Vibrant Vitality sees Mantis serve as the anchor. When partnered with Groot, Groot's walls will heal nearby allies. When she's paired with Loki, his healing fields will also give a damage boost.Other team-up changes include Loki being removed from Ragnarok Rebirth, Iron Fist joining Luna Snow's Chilling Assault, Star-Lord joining Rocket Network, and Blade being added to Cloak and Dagger's Lunar Force.As for changes to competitive play, the 3.5 update will increase penalties for those leaving competitive matches by enforcing longer bans and implementing larger point deductions for leavers. For those forced to endure the rest of a match after someone on their team leaves, NetEase will offer more point compensation and make it easier to surrender. It also notes that it will be speeding up its appeals process for those banned mistakenly, and will continue to review cases where players are forced to leave games due to "unavoidable system issues."While it won't arrive at the same time as Blade and the team-up changes, NetEase also confirmed that new map the Throne of Knull and new mode Resource Rumble will be coming on August 22. Details on hero balance changes and team-up adjustments coming as part of the Season 3.5 update will be announced in the future, NetEase said.Marvel Rivals Season 3 began July 11 and added the Phoenix. The most recent update to the hero shooter added a new Fantastic Four: First Steps-inspired team-up ability for the Human Torch and The Thing that some players aren't exactly using as intended, while the cast of the film also recently tried their hand at playing their respective characters in-game.

Teams & Players
Esports Insider
Esports InsiderEsports Insiderabout 12 hours ago

G2 Gozen parts ways with VALORANT player Nelo

Image credit: G2 VALORANT via X G2 Gozen, G2 Esports’ female VALORANT roster, has announced the departure of Mathilde ‘Nelo’ Beltoise. This development is the latest of many roster moves G2 Gozen has undergone since the beginning of a turbulent 2025 Game Changers season. G2 Gozen was founded in 2021 following the reveal of VALORANT … Continued The post G2 Gozen parts ways with VALORANT player Nelo appeared first on Esports Insider.

Valorant
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 12 hours ago

Birdigo Is Like A Combination Of Balatro And Wordle, And It's Out Now

What do you make when you combine Scrabble, Wordle, and Balatro? It's Birdigo and it's out now. This single-player word and deckbuilding game combines elements from those games, guiding a flock of birds on a global migration by forming words from a deck of letter cards. Each word propels the flock forward, with longer or more strategic words generating more "flaps," which determine how far the birds travel.Gameplay centers around building words using a hand of letter cards drawn from your evolving deck. Some cards come with special abilities and certain letter combinations that can dramatically increase your score. As the game progresses, you collect new cards, upgrades, and modifiers like enchanted feathers or bird songs that change the rules in your favor. The key is to balance word-building with careful deck management to keep your flock moving along.Help birds migrate using big words.Gallery Birdigo uses roguelike mechanics, so each game is a fresh run with randomized elements, and the challenge increases the further you get. You'll face progressively harder levels and need to adapt your strategy based on the cards you collect and the goals of each round. The objective is to travel as far as possible and rack up a high score before your flock can no longer continue.Created by screenwriter John August (Corpse Bride, 2000s Charlie's Angels) and game developer Corey Martin (Bonfire Peaks, Pipe Push Paradise), Birdigo just dropped today on Steam and is currently on sale for $8.50.

Teams & Players
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 12 hours ago

Fortnite's Rumored Simpsons Season: Everything We Actually Know So Far

With Fortnite OG existing as its own permanent mode now, we aren't expecting another throwback mini-season in the vein of last year's Chapter 2 Remix or the original OG season the year before. But with the upcoming Chapter 6 Season 4 starting on August 8, we're pretty much guaranteed a new mini-season in November, because Fortnite has never had a four-month season on purpose before. Instead, the hot rumor since the beginning of May is that we'll be getting another collaboration mini-season like Star Wars season in May, this time with The Simpsons taking center stage.When you consider Epic's cozy relationship with Disney, plus its long history of Fox Animation collabs--including three cartoon dads Fortnite dropped for Father's Day this past June--this rumor sounds pretty plausible. Indeed, there's been nearly no skepticism about it at all. November is still a long ways away, though, and a lot can happen between now and then. While we wait, let's see what exactly the rumor mill has said about this one.When would the Simpsons mini-season start?According to next season's update schedule, Chapter 6 Season 4 should end on Saturday, November 1, which indicates it'll have a live finale event to wrap things up during the day. If things work the way they did after the Death Star Sabotage event in June, the new mini-season would begin that same evening after 4-7 hours of maintenance. Otherwise, it would start the next morning, on November 2.Is the Simpsons mini-season officially confirmed?Not at all. Every bit of info about the purported Simpsons season comes from leakers and dataminers, and it has all just been written descriptions--there's been no leaked art or anything tangible that might serve as some level of confirmation. There is, however, one poster in Utopia City that could be hinting at a Simpsons collab, but that's not confirmation of any sort of takeover.Considering the way Epic typically likes to hold back on promoting a new season until the current one is almost over, we've got a while before Epic will say anything about it at all. But prominent leakers have been harping on it so regularly that a lot of folks have taken it as read that a Simpsons season is coming. But until some real teasers start popping up, November's Simpsons mini-season remains an unconfirmed rumor.What would a Simpsons mini-season entail?The rumors so far are vague and confusing, and so it's a little difficult to sift through it all right now. The full picture is not even remotely clear just yet. Keep that in mind as we lay out the fractured details that we currently have.The most surprising detail among the rumors thus far is that the Simpsons will have an entire map modeled after the Simpsons' hometown of Springfield, but the claim is that it will be the size of a Reload map and support only 40 players. It's not out of the question that the main Battle Royale mode could go small for this since it only lasts a month--let's not forget that Epic made everyone play Zero Build for two weeks after it was introduced in early 2022. But there's also another fairly obvious possibility worth considering: that the Springfield map actually will be for Reload, rather than BR.Considering Reload is Fortnite's clear no. 2 mode at this point, and it has no battle pass, it wouldn't be surprising if Epic looked for new ways to encourage folks to play it. Plus, it just got a Squid Game-themed map added to its rotation in June, so there's precedent. On the other hand, this part of the rumor could be completely wrong. Blortzen, the leaker who first spread the rumor about the Simpsons season, suggested in June that the rumor about a small map was actually about Blitz Royale, which was announced a couple weeks after all these Simpsons rumors were spread around.Beyond that, everything else we've heard makes this rumored Simpsons season sounds like it will include most of the same stuff other mini-seasons have--a small battle pass, accompanying shop skins, and weekly changes to the map. But since we haven't heard any significant new details since the beginning of June, it's still hard to gauge what exactly Simpsons season will look like.

Fortnite
Esports News UK
Esports News UKEsports News UKabout 12 hours ago

Team Nemesis announce CS2 roster with British duo

Team Nemesis have announced their CS2 roster, featuring Thomas 'Thomas' Utting, James 'bevve' Slinn, and former Endpoint AWPer Joey "CRUC1AL" Steusel. Continue reading Team Nemesis announce CS2 roster with British duo

Teams & Players
IGN
IGNIGNabout 12 hours ago

Monster Hunter Wilds Endgame Expansion Moved Up as Game Suffers From 'Soft' Sales

Monster Hunter Wilds got off to an incredible sales start when it launched in February. Unfortunately, it seems as though its success has fallen off one heck of a cliff since then - and Capcom appears to be trying to amend that by releasing an endgame content expansion much sooner than expected.

General
Battlefield 6 probably isn't going to cost $80: 'We're not looking to make any changes on pricing at this stage,' CEO says
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 12 hours ago

Battlefield 6 probably isn't going to cost $80: 'We're not looking to make any changes on pricing at this stage,' CEO says

EA CEO Andrew Wilson says the company isn't looking to jack up prices just yet.

General
IGN
IGNIGNabout 12 hours ago

Marvel Reportedly Focusing on an X-Men Movie With Younger Talent to 'Keep the Cost Down,' as Well as Black Panther 3, but No Urgency on Blade or Deadpool 4

Marvel is reportedly focusing on making an X-Men movie with a younger cast "to keep the cost down," as well as Black Panther 3, while it's apparently in no rush to get Blade or Deadpool 4 out the door.

General
IGN
IGNIGNabout 12 hours ago

Save up to 54% Off Bose Refurbished Headphones, Soundbars, and Speakers From Its Official eBay Store

Also comes with an extended 2 year warranty.

General
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 12 hours ago

A Former Bandai Namco Employee Allegedly Embezzled So Much Money, Execs Had To Take A Pay Cut

Between 2021-2023, a former employee at one of game publisher Bandai Namco's subsidiaries allegedly "misappropriated" around 500 million yen (approximately $3.38 million USD), resulting in the employee's arrest and a temporary pay cut for many of the subsidiary's leadership, the company has announced.While the arrest happened in January 2024 and Bandai Namco has since been pursuing civil and criminal charges against the former employee, the company is just now able to disclose the incident, according to a press release outlining the alleged misconduct and the steps Bandai Namco has taken to remedy the situation.The alleged embezzlement occurred at Bandai Namco's Hong Kong subsidiary Bandai Logipal and was discovered via an internal audit. Following the former employee's arrest, Bandai Logipal took disciplinary actions against many of its leadership in the form of a temporary pay deduction. Four officers and three full-time directors saw a 30% pay deduction for three months starting in April 2024, with two other full-time directors seeing a 15% pay deduction for the same period."Our group takes the occurrence of this incident very seriously and we sincerely and deeply apologize to all our stakeholders for their concerns and the inconvenience caused by such incident," Bandai Namco states. "We will continue our full cooperation with the local law enforcement authorities for the investigation, and we as a group shall work together to prevent the recurrence of such incidents."In a step to prevent a similar incident in the future, the Japan-based Bandai Namco is forming a new department to supervise the management of overseas subsidiaries. It notes that the impact of the incident on Bandai Namco's fiscal year ending March 31, 2026 is expected to be minimal.Sony recently announced it will be investing $463 million in Bandai Namco as part of a "strategic partnership" that will see it own around 2.5% of the entertainment company. While both company's are well known for video games, in a joint statement, Bandai Namco and Sony said it will "focus on expanding the fan community for IP such as anime and manga around the world and strengthening engagement, particularly in the anime field where rapid market growth is anticipated."

General
Esports Insider
Esports InsiderEsports Insiderabout 13 hours ago

BETBY esports feed continues to grow according to H1 2025 report

Image Credit: BETBY BETBY has announced a successful first half of 2025 in its latest report, from both its sportsbook solution and the BETBY.Games esports feed. BETBY saw its sportsbook solutions deliver an increased Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) of 472% in H1 2025 compared to the first half of 2024. Moreover, the number of active … Continued The post BETBY esports feed continues to grow according to H1 2025 report appeared first on Esports Insider.

General
IGN
IGNIGNabout 13 hours ago

10 Valuable Pokémon TCG Cards From The XY Era To Pick Up While They’re Still Cheap

Discover 10 undervalued Pokémon TCG XY era cards set to increase in value. Grab these affordable collectibles before prices soar.

General
IGN
IGNIGNabout 13 hours ago

Find Allies, Get Stronger, and Tear Down Rogue A.I. Together in Terminull Brigade

General
IGN
IGNIGNabout 13 hours ago

The Biggest Pokémon Card Crashers And Climbers This Week - July 30

Charizard ex, Blastoise ex, and Venusaur ex are climbing fast in Scarlet & Violet 151, while Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and their evolutions are dropping as supply increases.

General
Esports News UK
Esports News UKEsports News UKabout 13 hours ago

MLBB Esports World Cup viewership surges, eclipsing other EWC tournaments

The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) Mid Season Cup, held as part of MLBB Esports World Cup tournaments, has already peaked at almost 1.9 million viewers. Incredibly popular in South-East Asia, MLBB regularly attracts extremely high viewership figures. Its global popularity has made the Mid Season Cup one of the most popular tournaments at the Esports World Cup, outshining esports such as Valorant and League of Legends. If MLBB is so big, why do Western countries often not hear about it? Continue reading MLBB Esports World Cup viewership surges, eclipsing other EWC tournaments

League of Legends
IGN
IGNIGNabout 13 hours ago

The Best Audible Deal Ends in 2 Days: Get 3 Months of Premium Plus Subscription for Free

Catch up on the latest audiobooks from Brandon Sanderson, Stephen King, Suzanne Collins, and more.

General
Microsoft study suggests folks can't tell the difference between real and AI-generated images about 62% of the time—but can you do any better?
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 13 hours ago

Microsoft study suggests folks can't tell the difference between real and AI-generated images about 62% of the time—but can you do any better?

A truly cursed game of spot the difference.

General
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 13 hours ago

Best Rookies In Madden NFL 26 - Rookie Ratings Revealed

EA Sports has officially revealed the ratings for the top rookies in Madden 26. This comes after the 99 Club was revealed, which includes some new and familiar faces. The rookie class in Madden 26 is one of the most exciting in years, as there are terrific prospects at every position. There's also a prospect who plays two positions, so it'll be interesting to see how that plays in the virtual world of the NFL as well as in real life.Below, you can see the top 10 rookies by rating in Madden 26, along with some of their individual stats.Travis Hunter - 84 OVRIt's no surprise that the Jacksonville Jaguars' stud Travis Hunter is the highest-rated rookie in Madden 26. The second overall pick is slated to play both wide receiver and cornerback in the NFL and could be a star at both positions if he fully realizes his potential.Travis Hunter's starting stats:93 Speed96 Change of Direction85 Spectacular CatchAshton Jeanty - 83 OVRComing in right behind Travis Hunter is the Las Vegas Raiders' newest running back, Ashton Jeanty. The former Boise State Bronco was the fourth overall pick in the draft and nearly beat out Travis Hunter for the Heisman Trophy in 2024-25. Jeanty looks like a clear favorite for the Rookie Offensive Player of the Year award in the NFL and should be a workhorse for the Raiders all season long.Ashton Jeanty's starting stats:92 Acceleration91 Agility87 Break TackleAbdul Carter - 81 OVRThe second and fourth overall picks have already been ranked, so let's get the third overall pick involved. Abdul Carter is seen as a generational edge rusher prospect, and he starts his career as an 81 OVR. If Carter can produce like the New York Giants think he can, then Carter should skyrocket from that initial rating.Abdul Carter's starting stats:83 Finesse Moves86 Agility91 AccelerationMason Graham - 80 OVRMason Graham was the fifth overall pick in the draft and wound up in one of the best situations for him. Graham should play on the edge opposite 99 Club member Myles Garrett. Graham is the last of the rookies to be rated 80 or higher.Mason Graham's starting stats:80 Strength78 Speed74 AgilityWill Campbell - 79 OVRWill Campbell is the only offensive lineman to be included in the top 10 rookie ratings, and for good reason. Campbell was the clear-cut top prospect at his position during the draft process, and the New England Patriots are hoping he can be their long-awaited answer at left tackle.Will Campbell's starting stats:87 Strength73 Speed71 AgilityTravis Hunter is expected to be a generational player, and his debut Madden rating reflects that.Jalon Walker - 79 OVRThe Atlanta Falcons selected hometown talent Jalon Walker out of Georgia with the 15th overall pick in the draft. EA Sports has rated Walker fairly high in the initial rookie ratings, as he's surpassed a couple of other defensive players and several highly-touted offensive prospects.Jalon Walker's starting stats:86 Speed80 Strength85 AgilityKenneth Grant - 78 OVRSpeaking of other defensive talent, Kenneth Grant is next up in the rookie ratings. Grant is the second Michigan defensive tackle in the top 10, joining Mason Graham. With how depleted the Miami Dolphins are on the defensive side of the ball, Grant will have a chance to make an immediate impact in Madden 26.Kenneth Grant's starting stats:92 Strength77 Awareness68 SpeedJahdae Barron - 78 OVRJahdae Barron was one of the surprises of the 2025 NFL Draft, becoming the first cornerback to be drafted at 20th overall by the Denver Broncos. While Barron might be a fairly unknown name at the start of his rookie season, that can change quickly if he can form a lethal CB pairing with reigning Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain II.Jahdae Barron starting stats:93 Speed88 Agility91 Change of DirectionMykel Williams - 78 OVRMykel Williams is the third defensive lineman in the top 10 rookie ratings, and the seventh overall (eighth if you include Travis Hunter). The San Francisco 49ers drafted Williams with the 11th overall pick, and they're looking for him to become a stalwart on the defensive line alongside Nick Bosa.Mykel Williams' starting stats:86 Strength82 Agility81 SpeedMaxwell Hairston - 78 OVRRounding out the top 10 rookies in Madden 26 is cornerback Maxwell Hairston. Depending on who you ask, the Buffalo Bills got an absolute steal in Hairston at the end of the first round, or they reached with their first-round pick. It seems the talent evaluators at EA Sports are leaning towards the former line of thinking, and Hairston should start the season as one of the Bills' starting cornerbacks.Maxwell Hairston's starting stats:96 Speed94 Agility95 Change of DirectionThat wraps up the entire top 10 rookies in Madden 26. If you want to see the ratings and stats for all 365 rookies in the game, check out the official rookie ratings page on EA's website. You can also check that page for ratings on all players once every position has been revealed throughout the rest of this week.

Teams & Players
IGN
IGNIGNabout 13 hours ago

DreamWorks Includes AI Training Warning In The Bad Guys 2 End Credits

DreamWorks has included a warning in The Bad Guys 2 credits that makes it clear the film should not be used to train AI, as the future of artificial intelligence warps and becomes uncertain for creatives.

General
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 13 hours ago

SNES Classics On Switch 2 Just Got A Big Upgrade

The latest update to Nintendo Switch Online's Super Nintendo Entertainment System – Nintendo Classics app includes a new and improved CRT filter to better capture what playing SNES games on an older CRT television was really like.While it may seem counterintuitive given how much better TVs are today, new high-definition displays often don't do older games justice visually, as the games were originally designed with the scanlines and interlacing seen in CRT displays in mind.The Super Nintendo app already had a CRT filter, but this new version, added alongside the same update that added Mario Paint to the service, is a noticeable improvement. According to one user on Reddit, it's an "NTSC S-Video" style filter that more accurately displays what playing on an actual CRT is like.Users on social media have been posting comparison screenshots between the old and new filter, and the difference is definitely noticeable. One screenshot in particular, posted by a Bluesky user named Dalton, helps to highlight the difference, as you can clearly see the much more defined lines that help improve the image when compared to the old filter. You can check out some other comparisons below.Super NES - Nintendo Switch Online / Nintendo Classics CRT Filter comparison (captured on Switch)Ver. 4.1.0 // Ver. 5.0.0 pic.twitter.com/V8Njs5shaV — Disku★ (@DiskuNB) July 29, 2025A good comparison between the old CRT filter and the new one pic.twitter.com/GXr9KVUU4z — Michael Julius (@juliusaurus) July 29, 2025The new CRT filter is available for the SNES app on both the Switch and Switch 2. While the Nintendo Switch Online N64 and GameCube apps also have CRT filters, it doesn't look like they've received this new version just yet.In other Nintendo news, the Switch 2 just received a new hardware update that doesn't appear to do much, but does include "general system stability improvements." Nintendo announced it will host a Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase on July 31, which will include information on upcoming Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 games from third-party publishers and developers.

General
IGN
IGNIGNabout 13 hours ago

Score a Complete Micro PC with CPU, RAM, SSD, and Even Windows 11 Pro for Just $133 on Amazon

This diminutive PC measures 4" long, 4" wide, and 1.6 high.

General
IGN
IGNIGNabout 13 hours ago

The 8 Best Upcoming Book Adaptations to Read Before They Hit the Big Screen

From Ryan Gosling to Sydney Sweeney, Hollywood is wild for book adaptations and these are our picks for the ones you should read first.

General
IGN
IGNIGNabout 13 hours ago

Weapons Review

Writer-director Zach Cregger blends unbearable tension and dark humor once more in Weapons.

General
Hacker claims to have exposed Amazon's 'AI security theater' after exploiting its coding assistant with a simple factory reset prompt
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 14 hours ago

Hacker claims to have exposed Amazon's 'AI security theater' after exploiting its coding assistant with a simple factory reset prompt

Nearly 1 million users were potentially exposed in an attack that 'was unsuccessful in executing due to a syntax error'.

Call of Duty
If you catch the ball in Rematch, there's a small chance you didn't—Sloclap's desync issues are upsetting players in a game I otherwise can't stop playing
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 14 hours ago

If you catch the ball in Rematch, there's a small chance you didn't—Sloclap's desync issues are upsetting players in a game I otherwise can't stop playing

I came in like a soccer ball.

Teams & Players
Esports News UK
Esports News UKEsports News UKabout 14 hours ago

Los Ratones general manager Kieran Holmes-Darby to appear on Love is Blind

Excel Esports founder and current Los Ratones general manager Kieran Holmes-Darby will appear on Season 2 of Love is Blind. The 28-year-old is one of the male contestants on the UK version of the reality television show on Netflix. The original US version is ranked as the most-watched streaming original series of all time. You are seeing this correctly friends, my brother @KieranHDarby is starring in the upcoming second season of @LoveisBlindShow UK, coming soon on @netflix https://t.co/FKr6j8gU6W pic.twitter.com/35yyeMGCou — Joel (@JoelHDarby) July 30, 2025 Kieran will be part of a cast that has an equal number of single men and women, all looking for love. Continue reading Los Ratones general manager Kieran Holmes-Darby to appear on Love is Blind

Rainbow Six Siege
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 14 hours ago

The Last Of Us Complete: Collector's Edition For PS5 Is Back In Stock

The Last of Us Complete: Collector's Edition is back in stock at PlayStation Direct for $110. Outside of brief, sporadic restocks, this two-game PS5 collection has been sold out since its April reveal. If you weren't able to snag a copy when it launched July 10, you have another chance today (July 30).The new edition of Naughty Dog's acclaimed post-apocalyptic series includes The Last of Us Part I, The Last of Us Part II Remastered, and the Left Behind DLC chapter, getting you the entire saga in one package, along with a steelbook case, comics, art prints, and more. The Last of Us Complete: Collector's EditionThe Last of Us fans should also check out the upcoming book compiling the complete scripts for both games. The 616-page hardcover book releases December 16 and is available to preorder for $70 at Amazon. While you're picking up The Last of Us Complete at PlayStation Direct, don't forget to browse the Evo 2025 accessory sale. Until August 4, select PS5 accessories are on sale for 15% off with promo code EVO2025. We rounded up the best PlayStation accessory deals in the sale, which includes the DualSense Edge Controller, Pulse Elite Headset, and PlayStation Explore Earbuds.

Call of Duty
Esports Insider
Esports InsiderEsports Insiderabout 14 hours ago

Ready or Not: All you need to know about the controversy and surge in popularity

Ready or Not, despite the controversy, has seen a steep increase in players in the last 30 days / Image credit: VOID Interactive TL;DR Ready or Not is the spiritual successor to the SWAT series. After years of great reviews on Steam, the console debut has sparked controversy. The main point of friction is the … Continued The post Ready or Not: All you need to know about the controversy and surge in popularity appeared first on Esports Insider.

Teams & Players
IGN
IGNIGNabout 14 hours ago

Riot Games’ League of Legends Card Battler Riftbound Gets Release Date and Product List

Riftbound is Riot's second attempt at a League of Legends card game, and it's launching soon - here's how to preorder

League of Legends
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 14 hours ago

EA CEO Wants To See "All 350 Programs" In College Basketball Game

The revival of NCAA Basketball from EA Sports aims to feature "all 350 programs" for the sport. At least, that's what EA CEO Andrew Wilson said he'd love to see when talking on a quarterly earnings call earlier this week.According to Insider Gaming, Wilson was asked about the company's recent announcement of a new college basketball game after 16 years since the last one. Like the reveal, Wilson stayed relatively vague with details, though he noted his desire to include every university. "We’d love to do the same for basketball [as the company does with EA Sports College Football]. All 350 programs, men's and women's teams, the iconic traditions and rivalries, and of course, March Madness," Wilson said.There is no set date for when EA's college basketball is set to release, though 2028 was mentioned in a memo obtained by Extra Points. The last game in the series was 2009's NCAA Basketball 10. The sports franchise began in 1998 with NCAA March Madness 98 and only was known as NCAA Basketball for the last two installments.There very likely could be competition with EA's return to college basketball, unlike there is for EA Sports College Football. 2K Sports is reportedly working on a standalone college hoops game, too. However, the return of 2K's College Hoops franchise is apparently aiming to include only 100 programs (men's and women's).For more, check out everything we know about EA's new college basketball game.

Teams & Players
August 2025 is the month of remakes and remasters
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 14 hours ago

August 2025 is the month of remakes and remasters

We're going back in time.

General
IGN
IGNIGNabout 14 hours ago

Grounded 2 Off to Great Start on Steam as Obsidian Releases Early Access Roadmap

Grounded 2 is out in early access, and players are already swarming to see everything developer Obsidian Entertainment has planned for the future.

Teams & Players
The AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 chip in the laptop I've been testing just scored over 1,000,000 in Cinebench, breaking space and time and sending me whirling around my room like a nut in a blender
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 14 hours ago

The AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 chip in the laptop I've been testing just scored over 1,000,000 in Cinebench, breaking space and time and sending me whirling around my room like a nut in a blender

I'm typing this from the astral plane.

General
Esports Insider
Esports InsiderEsports Insiderabout 14 hours ago

Better Collective stock forecast 2025-2030: Will the share price continue rising over the coming year?

TL;DR Shares in the Danish digital sports media company have fallen 40% over the past year and stood at 140 SEK as the stock market closed on July 30, 2025. A disappointing trading update, weakness in the US market, and Brazil’s new regulatory backdrop have caused problems. The BETCO stock price could rise 17% to … Continued The post Better Collective stock forecast 2025-2030: Will the share price continue rising over the coming year? appeared first on Esports Insider.

General
IGN
IGNIGNabout 14 hours ago

Save $630 Off the New 2025 Lenovo Legion Gaming PC with Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPU

This is one of the best prices I've seen for an RTX 5070 Ti prebuilt from any brand.

General
If you'd like to see Meta's AI gunk purged from WhatsApp, a new antitrust investigation in Italy might just do the trick
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 14 hours ago

If you'd like to see Meta's AI gunk purged from WhatsApp, a new antitrust investigation in Italy might just do the trick

Be gone, all-seeing Eye of Zuckeron.

General
Esports News UK
Esports News UKEsports News UKabout 14 hours ago

IEM Cologne Playoffs Preview: What do the Group Stage results tell us about what is to come?

After upsets, shock eliminations, and pure Counter-Strike passion, the Group Stage has come to a close, and the IEM Cologne Playoffs are on the horizon. Here’s who has qualified, who has excelled, and who has been shown the door: IEM Cologne Playoffs: Qualified teams Six teams begin their Playoffs journey on Friday, August 1st: Team Vitality Team Spirit The MongolZ MOUZ FURIA Natus Vincere (NAVI) Team Vitality and Team Spirit finished at the top of their respective groups, rewarding them with automatic semifinal qualification. How does he do this man…@donk1337 #IEM pic.twitter.com/oTaCFTFH39 — ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) July 29, 2025 MOUZ, FURIA, The MongolZ, and NAVI will play in the Quarterfinals at the IEM Cologne Playoffs. Continue reading IEM Cologne Playoffs Preview: What do the Group Stage results tell us about what is to come?

CS:GO
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 15 hours ago

Battlefield 6 Isn't Just A Product But A "Platform," EA Says

After the struggles of Battlefield 2042, EA is now going "all-in" on Battlefield 6 and the future of the series as the company looks to build Battlefield into a "platform" as opposed to a single product.EA CEO Andrew Wilson said this during the company's latest earnings call, as reported by VGC. He said, "We've been investing more behind this Battlefield than any Battlefield product before it.""And really, the big reason for that is this isn't just a product. We're really building out Battlefield as a platform. All will become more clear about the nature of our investment over the last four years, with four studios building against this launch to date," he added.The four studios Wilson is talking about are DICE, Criterion, Motive, and Ripple Effect, all of which are working together under the Battlefield Studios banner to build the future of Battlefield.The next big reveal for Battlefield 6 is coming up on July 31, which is when EA will lift the veil on the game's multiplayer mode. After that, EA will continue to market and promote the game, saying EA is "all-in as a company on it."Regarding the upcoming reveal, Wilson said, "This will be the first time people really see the true scale of what we've been building and get sneak peeks at what’s to come."So far, it's been confirmed that Battlefield 6 will have multiplayer and single-player, while rumors and reports have suggested the Portal mode is coming back, while a battle royale mode is said to be in the works as well for sometime after launch.Battlefield 6 is rumored to launch on October 10, and preorders are said to begin on July 31. The game is not expected to cost $80 for the standard edition, however. An open beta for Battlefield 6 is also coming.

Teams & Players
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 15 hours ago

8BitDo N64 Bluetooth Controller Gets Switch 2 Support, Available Now

8BitDo's reimagined Nintendo 64 controller is available as of today (July 30) for $40 at Amazon. The 8BitDo 64 Bluetooth Controller is compatible with Switch 2, Switch, PC, and Analogue 3D. Support for Switch 2 was revealed on launch day; it joins a handful of other 8BitDo wireless controllers that are compatible with Nintendo's new console, including the Ultimate 2 Bluetooth, All-Button Arcade, and the upcoming Pro 3 Bluetooth Gamepad. Switch 2 owners will need to update the controller's firmware to sync it with the console.If you're a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscriber, the new controller offers a cool new way to play classic N64 games.The 8BitDo 64 Bluetooth Controller was revealed alongside the Analogue 3D last October. Analogue's 4K Nintendo 64 has been delayed twice, and since the new gamepad was designed in collaboration with the retro hardware manufacturer, the 8BitDo 64 Bluetooth has been pushed back twice, too.The Nintendo 64 controller isn't 8BitDo's only exciting upcoming release. On August 12, 8BitDo will launch the Pro 3 Bluetooth Gamepad for $70. The highly customizable retro-inspired wireless controller is compatible with Nintendo Switch 2, Switch, PC, Apple devices, and Android. Check out our 8BitDo Pro 3 preorder guide for more details.What is the Analogue 3D?The Analogue 3D is the premium retro hardware manufacturer's next FPGA console. Unfortunately, preorders for the $250 console sold out last October, so interested retro gamers will want to keep an eye on potential restocks after the console launches in late August.The console lets you play your original N64 game cartridges with hardware-accurate emulation and 100% compatibility in up to 4K resolution. The console has four controller ports for real Nintendo 64 three-prong controllers or third-party wired controllers. It does not come with a controller, though, so you'll want to grab an 8BitDo 64 Bluetooth Controller or another controller or two.Preowned N64 controllers are available to purchase at GameStop. Alternatively, you can buy one of the many clones of the original controller on Amazon for cheap.

General
It's the scantest of rumours but given AMD's track record, I actually believe the claim that the Ryzen 9000G series will be nothing more than an 8000G refresh
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 15 hours ago

It's the scantest of rumours but given AMD's track record, I actually believe the claim that the Ryzen 9000G series will be nothing more than an 8000G refresh

Desktop APUs don't sell in big numbers, whereas laptops do, so it's clear which market needs the chips.

General
I've just anointed the Razer DeathAdder V4 Pro as our new best gaming mouse because... well, it's simply better than the rest in almost every conceivable way
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 15 hours ago

I've just anointed the Razer DeathAdder V4 Pro as our new best gaming mouse because... well, it's simply better than the rest in almost every conceivable way

Oh, you'd like to know more? Well *cracks fingers*, let me count the ways.

General
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 15 hours ago

Cute Climbing Game Peak's Latest "Totally Normal Update" Adds In Totally Not Normal Cannibalism

Peak is, despite being a game about climbing massive mountains in order to be rescued from a crash landing on an uninhabited island, generally quite a sweet-looking game. It also released a new update yesterday, within the features section of the patch notes quite literally just saying "added cannibalism." As developers Aggro Crab and Landfall put it, "Totally normal update to the game. Nothing to see here."This update comes in spite of Aggro Crab literally saying it can't add cannibalism to Peak, but hey, the people get what the people want. Luckily, this new feature doesn't force you to Hannibal-style cut up the cute little avatars that are your friends. Instead, when your player character is too hungry, your friends' avatars start to look like a walking rotisserie chicken. If you manage to successfully eat them, they turn into a skeleton (and die, unsurprisingly).Thankfully, cannibalism wasn't the only thing added in with this update. In the options menu you'll find a few new additions, like the ability to adjust your field of view while climbing, and a push-to-mute setting ("No more having to listen to your streamer friend talk to chat"). There's also been some big fixes, one being a temporary solution to a bug that caused a lot of fall damage from short distances, and performance has been "greatly improved" too.You can check out the full patch notes below.Patch 1.10.a NotesFeatures:Added cannibalism.Options:Polish and Turkish translations are in!New Setting: "Climbing Extra Field Of View". This lets you adjust how the FOV changes while climbing.New Setting: PUSH-TO-MUTE. This works the opposite way of "Push-To-Talk." No more having to listen to your streamer friend talk to chat.Settings that were previously hidden outside of the Main Menu will now show up but be disabled. Hopefully this reduces some confusion!Balance Changes:Fixed an issue where Trail Mix, Granola Bar, Medicinal Root, and Airline Food would not give extra hunger reduction after cooked.Fixed an issue where cooking something Well-Done and then stashing it would remove the buffs. For reference, the intended behavior is that Well-Done items give the same bonus as Cooked items. It's your warning before it burns :)Remedy Fungus now also cures poison in addition to injury, because it seems like it would.Major Fixes:We have a temporary solution to the FALL DAMAGE BUG where you would take a signifcant amount of fall damage when falling a short distance, often from spamming the climb and lunge buttons. A more comprehensive improvement will come in a later patch. Let us know if you still see any weird fall damage behavior!EDIT: It seems like this only addressed the issue when sliding down while holding the wall, but not the one where you are on a slope. Sorry about that folks, we'll continue to investigate.THE NAPBERRY PLANT IS TEMPORARILY DISABLED. Some folks were having issues with lag and crashes due to our implementation of the Napberry Plant. Trust me its a weird one. While we work on a better implementation asap, the Napberry Plant won't show up in the level.Performance at the PEAK is greatly improved. It was the dang wildflowers.Fixed an issue where an item would get stuck in your "Hands" Item Slot. This issue happens when the server can't keep up with items that are swapped too rapidly, so a tiny delay has been added after swapping items before you're able to pick up a new item.Minor Fixes:You can no longer get the Bookworm Badge by simply reading the final page without the others.Fixed an issue where reading the guidebook pages out of order could result in inconsistent stat tracking for the Bookworm Badge.Removed an un-spatialized sound effect that would play when players landed from a fall.Fixed an issue where Ticks counted as berries toward the Foraging Badge, lol.Fixed an issue where an item in the temporary slot would display the wrong amount of Cooked.Fixed an issue where eating a Scorchberry wouldn't contribute toward the Forager BadgeFixed an issue where getting an Anti-Rope Cannon wouldn't get you the Esoterica Badge.You can no longer obtain progress achievements (such as Beachcomber Badge) while you are a ghost. Reaching a new area while alive should grant you achievements for all the areas completed that run.

League of Legends
Esports News UK
Esports News UKEsports News UKabout 15 hours ago

EMEA Masters Summer Final will be held in Paris for first time ever

The League of Legends EMEA Masters Summer Split Grand final will take place in Paris, France on November 2nd. This will take place at the Dôme de Paris on the main stage of Paris Games Week. Paris Games Week will also host the Grand Final of the first-ever women-exclusive LoL Game Changers Rising on October 30th. For the first time ever, the EMEA Masters Finals are coming to Paris! Continue reading EMEA Masters Summer Final will be held in Paris for first time ever

League of Legends
Esports Insider
Esports InsiderEsports Insiderabout 15 hours ago

EMEA Masters Finals heads to Paris in November

Image credit: EMEA Masters via X EMEA Masters has revealed that its Summer 2025 Finals will take place at the Paris Games Week on November 2nd. League of Legends fans can purchase tickets for the event venue, Expo Porte de Versailles, through a dedicated website. EMEA Masters is an annual tier-two League of Legends esports … Continued The post EMEA Masters Finals heads to Paris in November appeared first on Esports Insider.

League of Legends
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound review
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 15 hours ago

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound review

An imperfect but enjoyable 2D slash-‘em-up from the creators of Blasphemous.

General
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 15 hours ago

Apex Legends Adds Chaotic New Permanent Party Mode Called Wild Card In Season 26

Apex Legends Season 26: Showdown launches on August 5. The first-person shooter has been live for just over six years now, and this season is adding a new permanent game mode called Wild Card--the chaotic new party mode that takes a hard left away from the structure of the regular battle royale experience players are accustomed to.We attended a press event ahead of the season's launch and got the chance to ask a few questions about the mode while speaking to members of the dev team. Apex Legends senior technical designers Chris Ruvolo and Kevin Wolski answered all of our questions about Wild Card.What is Wild Card?Wild Card is a battle royale mode that throws in mode-specific perks called wild cards, several kitted weapons, and exciting features that both streamline and speed up the experience. For example, the ring is condensed and filled with just 30 players, giving you less of the Kings Canyon map to explore, while adding in new ziprails, gravity cannons, and more. A smaller playable area with extra traversal options likely means quicker deaths, so Wild Card gives each player a self-revive kit for a second chance.The mode also contains kitted weapons that can be upgraded as you play, alongside about 11 mythic red-tier weapons. The mythics aren't reduced to one or two options in Wild Card--and they're all on the floor--which gives it a true party game vibe to distance itself from the seriousness of ranked matches."So this is our take on a more fast-paced battle royale mode that maybe is a little bit less intimidating for newer players that maybe jump into the regular battle royale experience and [feel] a little bit overwhelmed with all the looting and the equipment [management] that they have to do. This mode really focuses on shooting, movement, and Legends," Wolski said."Yeah, and just to add to that, Wild Card also came about because we were looking to address player feedback that they don't like the unranked experience getting filled with overpowered weapons or crazy mechanics," added Ruvolo. "So we want to keep that mode pure and very similar to ranked. So, if you want to try LTM-style stuff with these strong weapons and modifications to the core gameplay, Wild Card is going to be the place you're going to want to go."Octane using a ziprail in the Wild Card version of Kings Canyon.More than an LTMThe introduction of a new permanent game mode comes as a bit of a surprise because Apex already offers limited-time modes (LTMs) every season, as well as a separate permanent playlist of rotating modes in its Mixtape selection. Wild Card could have been slotted into Mixtape, like other new modes. So, naturally, that raised the question of why the team chose to go this route and make Wild Card its own separate mode."So, Wild Card is a permanent mode from a couple of factors," Wolski said. "A lot of the community feedback that we've heard as an events team through the last couple of seasons worth of LTMs was--especially when things like Three Strikes or Revivals came out--we heard the majority of feedback was 'Fans wish that this was a permanent mode. We really just want a mode where you can respawn in battle royale and have that be permanent.' So this is our answer to that feedback."Apex Legends has indeed lacked mainstay modes outside of battle royale for some time, especially during the period when Arenas was offline. There have been standout LTMs that add an extra jolt of excitement and uniqueness, like Three Strikes, but they come and go. And Mixtape does contain Team Death Match, Gun Run, and Control, but they're constantly in rotation."And alongside that, this is really also a mode that's a little bit more laid-back than the traditional battle royale," Wolski said. "So this is more of an action-packed, focused spin on the battle royale experience. Along with revivals, there's a lot of other very new, exciting features that we're adding, such as auto-looting and the Evo weapons and the Evo collection that really just let players get right back into the combat quicker."One of the strong weapons revealed in the press event is completely new and exclusive to Wild Card. It's a baseball bat that you can charge and swing to launch enemies in strategically dangerous directions for some easy KOs."With the bat, if you're in the final ring, there have been moments where you can literally knock somebody out of the ring and have them die to the ring," Wolski said. "Or even off the map, and have them fall to their death off the edge of Kings Canyon. You could also do it to teammates as well. We're really excited to see what people pull off with this weapon because you could send your teammate with the bat flying up, and then, with Pathfinder, grapple to them and fling yourself past that. So we really can't wait to see, because this is the first weapon that really is playing with a lot of physics. So it's going to be really exciting."Caustic and Bangalore facing off inside smoke.Fun over balanceWild Card seems to be going for fun and excitement over everything with the implementation of the wild card system, which allows you to equip one new card per round, up to three total cards.Each card is a perk that borders on being broken, providing boons like team revives after a kill, increased knock distance with the bat, a wall run, and other chaotic effects. Wild Card will start with seven available cards in Season 26, but the team aims to introduce new cards to eventually rotate existing ones in and out. According to Ruvolo, the goal is to have "dozens" of wild cards to create a pool of options.With all these powerful cards, we had questions about how balancing would work--if it mattered at all."I would say we're always striving for every mode to be competitive and fair," Wolski said. "But Wild Card is definitely that mode where we could turn things up to 11, you know, and try new experimental things. Especially with being able to play the same Legend in the squad."Continuing with the theme of fun over everything, Wild Card even allows you to stack Legends. This means players on a team can choose the same Legend, rather than the usual lockout of one player per Legend. Want to pick three Bangalores and move across the map in a never-ending smoke cloud? Go right ahead."Putting this out there was definitely one of those features that was pretty contentious when we were developing it," explained Wolski. "Like, is this going to be balanced? Is it not? But we're kind of letting it shake out and see how players try this out. We've never really done something like this as a permanent mode. So we're really interested also just to see how the meta, even within Wild Card, evolves. Obviously, if there's any broken, super-exploitable things, we're going to be looking at that. But overall, I think we're just letting it loose and [seeing] how players play the game."A full team of Fuses in Wild Card.The cards are an item that you actively choose and equip, but Wild Card is also introducing a new passive pickup known as Evo Orbs. These orbs upgrade weapons, regenerate shields, charge your character's ultimate ability, and more. They seem incredibly useful, but Evo has never worked like this before."We know we wanted to change the way Evo worked in the mode in general," Ruvolo said. "So, to start, one of the things we did is we got rid of Evo armor. Everybody just has blue shields off the drop. So your Evo is going to, instead, move into accumulating on your weapons. We've brought the kitted Weapons system back where you collect Evo and you can upgrade the tier of your weapons. So you start off with a white tier weapon, you level it up to blue, purple, gold, etc. So you're not searching for attachments or anything like that. But the Evo Orb is a way to earn that XP, and it's a reward for eliminating players. [You can also] find them in the loot pool."Collecting Evo Orbs is an essential part of the Wild Card experience because the orbs affect almost every single core gameplay element. They can even help keep you alive by kickstarting your health regen. Wild Card doesn't contain health items like syringes or med kits--instead, there's a passive healing system that starts after six seconds. Evo Orbs will start the regen immediately upon pickup.Evo Orbs can be found after player eliminations, with ground loot, or in loot bins with other items. Sometimes, you can even hit the Evo jackpot, and you'll receive a ton of orbs from a single bin.Infinite ammo waiting in a loot bin.Quality of life improves quality of fightsAll of these new features are meant to streamline the gameplay to create a party mode that's both fun and fast. The average match length in Wild Card is about 15 minutes because there are fewer rounds than a standard battle royale match.The ring moves more quickly, but does less damage because you can't heal yourself with syringes or med kits. The new ziprails and gravity cannons allow you to rotate around the map and escape the ring more efficiently. Looting has also become more efficient because items like ammo are automatically added to your inventory, while guns are still in deathboxes.Even the upgrade animations for the weapons are more streamlined. In Control, upgrading a weapon can stop the flow of combat with an animation, but that's no longer the case in Wild Card. Changes like these are meant to allow you to focus on the most entertaining parts of the BR experience.Wild Card replaces Arenas, which temporarily returned in Season 25. When asked if Arenas would be back as a full-time mode, design director Evan Nikolich had this to say: "[We're] not committing to anything at this point. We want to be able to take it offline [and] work on it. It's still not hitting the engagement that we want to see."This is the same reason Respawn Entertainment gave as to why Arenas was originally removed from the game back in Season 16--low player count and numbers that indicated a lack of interest."We had good engagement, then it trailed off toward the end [of Season 25]," explained Nikolich. "Unless we get consistent engagement, we're gonna keep working on it."Three Bangalores on the Wild Card podium.We ended the interview by talking about what the team feels they've done to lay the groundwork for Apex Legends going into the second half of the year."For Wild Card specifically... We've really laid the foundation for future season updates," Wolski said. "We have a full team dedicated to just working on Wild Card. They're separate from the regular battle royale team. So this game mode is going to receive iterations every season. With [Season] 26, we're introducing the baseball bat as the first signature weapon of the mode, along with the wild cards. And then the plan is that with each season moving forward, we're going to be adding all sorts of new wild cards and weapons and equipment, toys--whatever we come up with--that really shake up the experience and keep it fresh. So I think even with Wild Card, we've kind of laid the foundation there for the future."Lead Legend designer Josh Mohan added that Respawn is looking to continue to be more responsive to the Apex community as it adds new content to the game."I feel that in the first half of 2025, the most important thing we've created is actually a better framework for how we interact with our audience and plan future content," Mohan said. "We've gotten much faster at reacting to community feedback on the state of the game, and in acting more frequently, we're getting better at knowing how to address pain points quickly. It's a virtuous circle we want to continue into the future."Apex Legends is available for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Switch, and PC. All versions support cross-play and cross-progression.

Teams & Players
IGN
IGNIGNabout 15 hours ago

My Deals For Today: Fallout Season 2 Funko Pop Preorders and The Best 1TB MicroSD Express Card

Fallout Season 2 Funko Pops are now up for preorder at $14.99 each, while the Lexar 1TB Play PRO microSD Express Card is $219.99 with blazing 900MB/s speeds. Plus, grab a 2‑pack of 240W USB‑C cables for just $9.48.

General
Oblivion Remastered lets you shatter whole buildings like Fabergé eggs with mod that resurrects spirit of Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 15 hours ago

Oblivion Remastered lets you shatter whole buildings like Fabergé eggs with mod that resurrects spirit of Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction

Take that, society.

General
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 15 hours ago

Krafton Wants PUBG To Become A "Platform," Similar To Fortnite And Roblox

Battlegrounds might be literally built into the acronym PUBG, but Krafton sees something far bigger for the battle royale game's future. The company wants PUBG to become a "gameplay platform" in the vein of Fortnite and Roblox--featuring various modes and even user-made content.GameFile reports that Krafton chief financial officer Dongkeun Bae discussed the company's expanded vision for PUBG on an earnings call earlier this week. "In the age of PUBG 2.0, it will not simply be a battle royale game per se," Bae said. The CFO wants the game to turn into a platform, noting that they're "developing wide-ranging modes under that objective."A major part of this transition will include the switch to Unreal Engine 5 for PUBG. Krafton has openly talked about this change since March 2024, with the Epic game engine opening up user-generated content to become a part of the experience. (Things have really come around, considering the PUBG Corp. once sued and then dropped a lawsuit against the Fortnite maker.)There is also a PUBG spin-off in the works called PUBG: Blindspot, previously known as Project Arc. The game is "a 5v5 team-based top-down tactical shooter," according to Krafton. Another spin-off in the same universe is reportedly an extraction shooter called PUBG: Black Budget.Meanwhile, Krafton is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with Unknown Worlds co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, who were reportedly forced out from the developer earlier this month. In the middle of this, Krafton has confirmed an internal document leak for Subnautica 2 was legit, pointing to multiple missed development milestones.

Fortnite
Esports Insider
Esports InsiderEsports Insiderabout 15 hours ago

IEM Cologne 2025 Playoff preview and predictions: Can Team Vitality walk out victorious?

Image credit: ESL FACEIT Group Following a week of Play-In and Group Stage matches, the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Cologne 2025 Playoffs are set as the Tier-1 Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) LAN enters its final stages. Out of the 24 teams in attendance, six have secured a place at the Lanxess Arena after battling through two … Continued The post IEM Cologne 2025 Playoff preview and predictions: Can Team Vitality walk out victorious? appeared first on Esports Insider.

CS:GO
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 15 hours ago

EA CEO Reacts To Rematch's Big Launch And Avoiding Arrogance With Its FC Series

A new soccer game hit the market this year with Sloclap's Rematch, and EA CEO Andrew Wilson welcomes new competition in the market. Wilson said during EA's latest earnings call that, "We love competition" after being asked if EA sees any "competitive pressure" with its FC series.To be sure, Rematch and EA's FC series are not exactly true competitors given the size and scale of EA's franchise. But Rematch is nonetheless a new player in the soccer market that EA is paying attention to."We come to work every day to compete--that's been true for all of our games, especially our sports games, for the best part of 30 or 40 years," Wilson said, as reported by GamesRadar. "I think competition makes us better. We're always watching what the competition does. We're always evaluating where there are new needs being met for new players. We're always looking to work that into the offerings that we have for players."Rematch is an arcade-style soccer game that doesn't feature real-life players or leagues. Wilson said "the magnitude of licenses" for EA's FC series helps set the franchise apart.That being said, Wilson said EA won't "rest on our laurels" and will try to find new ways to win fans and keep them. "We never sit back with arrogance and pretend we don't have to be thoughtful about what's going on in the marketplace and what new players might want out of the next football experience that they want to play," he said.Rematch launched in June on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, and it reached 5 million players after a month. The next EA Sports FC game, meanwhile, launches in September.

Tournaments
IGN
IGNIGNabout 15 hours ago

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Update 1.4.0 Adds Battle Retry Option as Dev Teases Future Updates

Sandfall Interactive has published Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 update 1.4.0, adding key features like a Battle Retry option as well as a host of quality-of-life improvements.

General
EA CEO taps into the great machine spirit of corpo-speak, says Battlefield 6 isn't 'just a product', it's a 'platform', and that EA's 'all in' on making it massive
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 15 hours ago

EA CEO taps into the great machine spirit of corpo-speak, says Battlefield 6 isn't 'just a product', it's a 'platform', and that EA's 'all in' on making it massive

They have "hundreds of creators and influencers". Hundreds!

General
IGN
IGNIGNabout 15 hours ago

Happy Gilmore 2 Secures Biggest U.S. Opening Weekend of All Time for a Netflix Film, KPop Demon Hunters Now the Most Popular Netflix Animated Film of All Time

Happy Gilmore 2 has secured the biggest U.S. weekend opening for a Netflix film of all time, with KPop Demon Hunters now the most watched animated film of all time on the streamer.

General
'They stuck to their convictions': Astarion's VA Neil Newbon is glad Larian stepped away from Baldur's Gate 3 to follow their passions, since 'It was absolutely the right call'
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 15 hours ago

'They stuck to their convictions': Astarion's VA Neil Newbon is glad Larian stepped away from Baldur's Gate 3 to follow their passions, since 'It was absolutely the right call'

See you later, astral cowboy.

General
IGN
IGNIGNabout 15 hours ago

PS5 Controllers and Accessories Are 15% Off With Code EVO2025

You can score 15% off a selection of PS5 controllers and accessories right now with code 'EVO2025' at PlayStation Direct. This offer lasts until August 4.

Call of Duty
Grounded 2 roadmap teases aquatic mounts, earwigs, Steam Deck verification and the conclusion of a big mystery
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 15 hours ago

Grounded 2 roadmap teases aquatic mounts, earwigs, Steam Deck verification and the conclusion of a big mystery

A year of updates has already been planned.

Teams & Players
Esports News UK
Esports News UKEsports News UKabout 16 hours ago

EWC Chess: Anish Giri losses from hugely advantaged position, leaving analysts "speechless"

Anish Giri threw away a "99, even 100 times out of 100" victory, according to the analysts at the Esports World Cup, to lose 2-0 to Nihal Sarin in EWC's Chess tournament. Continue reading EWC Chess: Anish Giri losses from hugely advantaged position, leaving analysts "speechless"

Tournaments
New body scanning Wi-Fi tech has me seriously considering ditching my corporeal form in favour of joining the rogue AIs on the net
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 16 hours ago

New body scanning Wi-Fi tech has me seriously considering ditching my corporeal form in favour of joining the rogue AIs on the net

But going full Cyberpunk 2077 may be a touch premature.

General
IGN
IGNIGNabout 16 hours ago

Games Workshop and the Warhammer Hobby Are In 'Great Shape,' but the Company Has Two Problems Right Now: Trump's Tariffs and a Cute Bat That Is Delaying Work on a New Car Park

It's boom time for Games Workshop, which has reported bumper profits across its business. But there are just two things holding the Warhammer 40,000 maker back right now: Trump's tariffs and a "cute looking" bat.

Esports Business
Best base locations in Grounded 2
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 16 hours ago

Best base locations in Grounded 2

Location, location, location.

General
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 16 hours ago

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Update Makes Retrying Bosses A Lot Less Annoying

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 received a brand-new update yesterday, mostly focusing on quality-of-life improvements, but it also introduces a big performance and visuals feature. With this update, frame generation and low-latency mode support for DLSS and XeSS has been added in for compatible GPUs on PC. Developer Sandfall also noted that it's "still exploring support for FSR, but we need more time to work on it. Stay tuned for more updates on that in a future patch!"On to the quality-of-life improvements! The completionists amongst you that hate getting booted out to the overworld again after failing a boss fight will be very happy to hear that a "Battle Retry Prompt" has been added in as of this update, simply "giving you the option to quickly retry the battle."You also can relax a bit more in dialogue scenes, as an autoplay option has been added in for dialogue outside of cutscenes. There are separate volume sliders allowing you to adjust the volume for exploration and combat phases, and the Pictos menu "clearly displays the Lumina cost of each ability for better planning."If you're after the full patch notes, you can check them out below for more.Patch 1.4 NotesPerformance & VisualsDLSS & XeSS Enhancements: Added Frame Generation and Low-Latency Mode support for both DLSS and XeSS (compatible GPUs only). Enjoy smoother gameplay and lower input lag!Quality-of-Life ImprovementsBattle Retry Prompt: A new pop-up window appears after defeat, giving you the option to quickly retry the battle.Lumina Cost Display: The Pictos menu now clearly displays the Lumina cost of each ability for better planning.Autoplay Dialogue: Added an optional autoplay feature for dialogues outside cutscenes. You can toggle it in the settings and during dialogues.Separate Volume Sliders: Audio settings now lets you independently adjust the volume for exploration and combat phases.AccessibilityAdded icons to Lune’s Stains to improve readability and accessibility for colorblind players.CombatLune's "Thermal Transfer" skill will no longer grant an extra turn without meeting the Stain consumption requirementsCharacters will no longer gain immortality when using the Second Chance pictos combined with Healing Boon and Protecting DeathMiscFixed the Rocher holding a crystal occasionally despawning after reentering the Stone Wave CliffsFixed some players being teleported behind the Monolith upon loading a saveFixed Gameplay modifiers being applied to a New Game save when enabled on other savesFixed landing as Esquie without the party spawning, leading to input lossFixed the Fog on Flying Manor covering the screen and blocking the view on Steam DeckAchievementsFixed journals vanishing after loading a Save File that was created at the exact moment of picking up that journalThe following two trophies should now pop for you when you load your save if you were effected by these bugs:Fixed "Expeditioner" and "Trailbreaker" achievements not unlocking if the characters reach a level higher than 33 or 66 after a battleFixed 'Connoisseur' and 'Follow The Trail' achievements not unlocking after collecting all required items on some savefilesEnvironmental PolishVarious environmental bugfixes, tweaks and visual polish across multiple levels for a more immersive experience.

Teams & Players
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 16 hours ago

Valve's Gabe Newell Thought He Would Be A Doctor Until A Fateful Chat With Steve Ballmer

Valve co-founder Gabe Newell has revealed he originally thought he might become a doctor before he had a fateful chance meeting at Microsoft where future CEO Steve Ballmer gave him some pointed advice.Speaking to YouTuber Zalkar Saliev (via PC Gamer), Newell said when he started programming in high school, it wasn't necessarily thought to be a real career path. Video games didn't exist at that time, either, he said. "So when I was a kid I thought I was going to be a doctor, and programming was what I did when I should have been doing something else," he said. "It wasn't a career path, you know, there were no classes in it, and my first programmable device was a calculator, a [Texas Instruments] calculator."Newell's brother Dan worked at Microsoft and was an early hire for the company, which was founded in 1975. At the time, Microsoft wasn't a big player in software development, with Newell saying it was only the third-largest software developer in Washington state. "So there was no notion of having any of the reputation that it would have, say, 10 years later," he said.Newell visited his brother at work one day with the expectation that the two of them would just hang out. Newell said Ballmer got upset with him because he was distracting Dan. Newell said Ballmer told him, "'If you're going to be hanging out here, you know, why don't you do something useful?'"So that's what Newell did--he took time off at Harvard to "just work at Microsoft."Newell never returned to Harvard and instead built a career at Microsoft where he helped build the first versions of Microsoft Windows. He worked at Microsoft for 13 years before leaving in 1996 to start Valve with another Microsoft employee, Mike Harrington. Newell enjoyed tremendous success at Valve, helping steer the company through various game-development projects and the creation of Steam.Newell is now a billionaire who works from his yacht and goes scuba diving on breaks. Newell also recently revealed the secret to his success.

Teams & Players
Corsair's Strix Halo mini PC will set you back $2,300 for the top model, but boring old AI productivity is the name of the game
PC GamerPC Gamerabout 16 hours ago

Corsair's Strix Halo mini PC will set you back $2,300 for the top model, but boring old AI productivity is the name of the game

It's a pricey thing but no Ryzen AI Max+ PCs are cheap, unfortunately.

General
Esports Insider
Esports InsiderEsports Insiderabout 16 hours ago

League of Legends: All Spirit Blossom skins and how to get them

Image credit: Riot Games and League of Legends TL;DR Spirit Blossom refers to a collection of LoL skins themed around a fictional, Japanese-style festival. There are currently more than 30 Spirit Blossom skins in the game. The collection began in 2020 and has continued to grow, with the most recent Spirit Blossom skins released in … Continued The post League of Legends: All Spirit Blossom skins and how to get them appeared first on Esports Insider.

League of Legends
GameSpot
GameSpotGameSpotabout 16 hours ago

Itch.io Is "Reaching Out To Other Payment Processors" Following Ban On Adult Games

Last week, the typically indie digital-games storefront Itch.io deindexed a majority of not safe for work (NSFW) or adult content. Deindexing doesn't mean that the games are all no longer available, but it does mean you can no longer find them through searching on the site. This came after the organisation Collective Shout launched a campaign against both Itch.io and Steam demanding that payment processors prevent the sale of particular forms of content. Now, in an updated FAQ from Itch.io, the storefront has shared that it's looking to work with other payment processors that do allow NSFW and adult content.Explaining the timeline for these changes, Itch.io wrote, "The situation is evolving as we await final determinations from our current payment processors, Stripe and PayPal. There are still unknowns that prevent us from providing a fixed timeline."In the meantime, we are actively reaching out to other payment processors that are more willing to work with this kind of content. We have suspended the ability to pay with Stripe for 18+ content for the foreseeable future. Our immediate focus has been on content classification reviews and implementing stricter age-gating on the site."The expanded FAQ also explained why so many more games have been removed from Itch.io as opposed to Steam: "The difference in our responses stems from the difference in our platforms. Steam is a “closed” platform where every product page is approved before it appears on the store. Because they were generally aware of the content they host, they could identify and act on specific pages."Itch.io is an open, “UGC” (User-Generated Content) platform. With over 2 million product pages, anyone can publish content at any time with minimal barriers. We could not rely on user-provided tagging to be accurate enough for a targeted approach, so a broader review was necessary to be thorough."Since the changes took place, payment processors like Visa and Mastercard have also been inundated with emails and phone calls in an effort to push back against the banning of adult content. The International Game Developers Association has also released a statement condemning the move.

Teams & Players