When Sony announced that it would no longer be producing physical PlayStation discs from 2028, the response was not positive, to put it lightly. Yes, PC gaming may now be almost entirely digital, and things have certainly been moving in a similar direction with consoles over the last few years, but ceasing production of physical games entirely? It’s a significant step many didn’t want to happen so soon.

PlayStation fans have been vocal in calling out the negatives of Sony’s decision, specifically what this means for game ownership, preservation, and collectors who enjoy buying physical. The company has been reticent to address the backlash, but the comments section of every blog entry, social media post, or trailer release since the announcement is full of anger, pleas to reverse the decision, and glib remarks at Sony’s expense.

For anyone, like myself, who has enjoyed building a collection of physical games over the years across multiple console generations, it’s devastating news.

And I don’t think Sony’s refusal to address any of the feedback is helping matters. Yes, we’ve seen fan uproar dissipate into nothingness with countless hot-button issues in a matter of days in the past — but the vociferous fans don’t appear to be going away right now.

But I think some companies aren’t letting physical games go anywhere either.

A new challenger approaches

“What we've seen and what I have taken from all of the discourse is that there is an incredible passion for physical games and other physical objects. The digital space can never provide the same kind of satisfaction that people get from a tangible good.”

This is the view of Amanda White, co-founder of iam8bit. After starting out hosting pop culture workshops, the company has since produced countless pieces of video game merch and memorabilia over the past 20 years, as well as vinyl releases for popular soundtracks and physical editions for games across several platforms. Yes, they have standard boxed releases for games on PS5, Xbox, and Switch, but the company truly stands out for its jam-packed and reverential physical collector’s editions.

Scroll through the store now, and you’ll see a copy of Lies of P that comes with a wood-carved and hand-crafted marionette puppet, a Blue Prince bundle that includes printed versions of two memorable picture books from the game, and a The Outer Wilds set featuring a traveller’s bag and a replica of Chert’s bandana.

If you’ve played and are a fan of any of those games, you’ll immediately understand the connection between the extras that are included and the game itself, and why people are willing to part with their cash to own something that they can add to a collection, display at home, or carry around with them.

“We started to realise that there was something that people saw as incredibly valuable in these tangible goods,” Amanda explains of the company’s origins. “These unique tangible goods held memories for them that related to these community experiences they were having.

“So, we want to put in the extraordinary effort required to get the gasps of delight when something lands in someone's mailbox and they open it and experience it for the first time.”

Let's get physical

It’s the same fan passion that drives Limited Run Games: a similar outfit that’s published over 1,000 physical and digital game releases since its inception in 2015. Its motto, ‘Forever Physical’, defines the exact mindset of the PlayStation fans who are disappointed with Sony’s pivot to a fully digital future and what’s lost by moving in this direction.

“I think you're losing a key part of the experience, right?” suggests Brendan Madigan, CFO and General Manager at Limited Run. “Because, obviously, the actual media is a key part of that, and I think that's where we, at Limited Run, have a responsibility to our fans to innovate and to improve the experience.”

“I think where our fans have been clear in what they want is that they want collectible products that hold value, and they want the product to be an experience,” he continues. “I’ve always viewed our product as different from a retail offering anyway, because it's highly collectable, it’s very curated, with tonnes of added features and pack-ins to it. The delivery mechanism will always change…but nothing changes about the core experience that the collector wants to have.”

It comes down to the fact that the physical offering from the traditional industry has only grown more sparse over the years. Open a PS5 or Nintendo Switch game box now and you’re more often than not presented with the sad sight of a lonely disc or tiny cartridge set into an empty expanse of plastic. You’re lucky if you get a quick start guide, or a sheet of paper with a DLC code. A full manual? You must be joking.

Similar to iam8bit, the store pages of Limited Run are filled with physical game releases that span the entire range of consoles and generations — from bulky NES cartridges to the slim cases of Nintendo Switch titles.

The products that stand out most, again, are the most recent limited edition launches, with games like Tomb Raider, Silent Hill, and Star Wars Zero Company in beautiful presentation boxes that are filled with soundtrack CDs, trinkets, posters, and other unique extras relevant to the game or its universe.

Sales figures discussed by analysts might paint a grim picture for physical releases, but iam8bit and Limited Run both emphasize just how quickly some of their releases sell out — and how even restocks of older products that were brought back by fan demand are scooped up in no time. The audience and the demand do not appear to be shrinking from their perspective.

Digital is inevitable, but there is hope

As for fans signing petitions trying to convince Sony to reverse its decision, Limited Run’s Chief Operating Officer, Nic Ashford, is unfortunately not hopeful for the outcome they're seeking, but does see what they're standing for as an opportunity.

“Look at the numbers; they're not going to change, they're not going to go back. They can't afford to and it doesn't make sense. But that doesn't mean a company like Limited Run couldn't come in and say, look, we certainly know that 350,000 people want you to keep this going, and it could go up. How about working with us to come up with a solution that works?

“We've got to find the right solution for the number of people who are out there in the minority who still buy physical product,” says Nic. “Some might say, outside the industry, that’s a somewhat flawed business model. But, in fact, it isn't, because those people who seek that type of product will always seek that product out.”

He likens it to this wider push, primarily from younger generations, who want to reconnect to the physical world in our increasing digital age. In the same way that 4K Blu-ray, CDs, and, of course, vinyl, are all in various states of resurgence, it seemed inevitable that video games would also be swept up in this growing demand for and appreciation of physical goods.

“We have, over the last couple of years, set this company up in preparation for this moment,” continues Nic. “Physical is something that we’re intrinsically involved in, and we've been aware that this was going to be coming for several years — practically over a couple of decades. So, we focused on making things more of an experience for the fans and adding value.

“They are actively going out and seeking a connection with something real, something you can hold, something you can touch, and that you can own. That's encouraging. Today's generation and the next generation of physical buyers are going to be people who have that or grow into that, but they'll have a component of nostalgia in there as well.”

Blowing on the cartridge is here to stay

Nostalgia brings me nicely onto another aspect of why physical games are so important to many — one that grows even more important as gaming and console generations keep moving forward. Preservation.

If you buy a game digitally, then there’s the fear that it could disappear and no longer be accessible at any moment. Sure, Sony isn’t going to turn off PS5 game downloads any time soon, but the PlayStation Store on the PS3 and PS Vita is about to close.

And while the company has promised downloads will be possible “for the foreseeable future,” there’s always the thought in the back of your mind that, eventually, they’ll switch it off for good.

So, being able to scan your shelf or dive into a box and find that old copy of something you’ve been craving to play is clearly a driving factor for many physical game buyers — be it a rare PS1 cult classic like Parasite Eve 2, a slightly dusty but incredibly valuable Conker’s Bad Fur Day N64 cart, or a copy of Pokémon Red on the Game Boy that you last remember playing by the light of streetlamps in the back of a car.

One company whose goal is to preserve classic games and ensure you can play them as authentically as possible is ModRetro.

It started by launching the Game Boy-inspired Chromatic and just recently launched the M64, a modern take on the Nintendo 64 that I found was a terrific way to play that console’s games in 2026.

“We wanted to basically design these exactly with this core intention to preserve the authenticity of the gameplay experience,” explains ModRetro CEO Torin Herndon. “That's also why we publish games and re-release games, too. In terms of retro games, the collecting of them is a bigger thing than the playing of them, and one of the goals of ModRetro is to make those games playable again and make them accessible again.”

Original Game Boy and Nintendo 64 cartridges are simply slotted into the Chromatic or the M64 as you would with any standard version of the respective console.

And while some modern quality-of-life touches make things easier or smoother compared to the classic consoles, you’re effectively playing the exact same physical game that you may have owned for years or picked up in a second-hand store earlier that day. With a digital-only future upon us, that won’t be possible.

“The thing that's upsetting to people on the surface is this idea of ownership: that if you don't physically own a game where the game is on physical media, it can easily lose support at any moment. It can effectively be taken away from you in some sense,” says Torin in response to the reaction to Sony’s announcement. “And given that you paid AAA prices for some of these games, that is not a super consumer-friendly option.

“Obviously, these companies don't have a choice but to move away from physical media, because the overall business model of these companies is kind of reliant on having moved away from them in the first place. Most of the physical media that you can buy is actually just a key that allows you to unlock the game and download it.

"That’s another thing that I think is interesting, maybe more interesting even than ownership, is that back in the day these games were baked onto physical media and were more reliably baked before you bought it.”

Overcoming tech challenges

That’s less of an issue when we’re discussing the Game Boy and Nintendo 64 games that ModRetro is focused on, but there will come a point when these same conversations will be happening about more modern games that are reliant on day-one updates and DLC.

The topic is big enough for a different discussion entirely, but it’s a challenge that companies like iam8bit and Limited Run Games also need to be aware of with physical media in the modern era.

Jon Gibson, co-founder of iam8bit, responds to this by saying: “We've been on the side of positivity always, and we're looking at this from a perspective of, OK, you can't change what you can't change. But how can we pivot to embrace what we do so well and to give fans things that they will enjoy and cherish and love in that physical form?

“We hope that 20 years from now, 30 years from now, 50 years from now, people are going to find a copy of a game, or a record, or a CD that we minted that they had never heard of and they give it a shot. They pop it into their console, or they put it on the record player. That's really exciting to think about that we helped to give that thing staying power, whereas, otherwise, it might be deleted digitally when a licence expires.”

That optimism is echoed by Amanda. “As John said, we're going to lean into this aspect of what we already do and have been doing for 20 years, and we'll continue to do it. If that means we need to pivot a little bit so that we're making goods that are sitting beside PlayStation products, rather than direct physical PlayStation games, then we'll do that. We’ll still do our best to make those fans happy and build a robust experience around the IP they love.”

What’s clear speaking to iam8bit, Limited Run Games, and ModRetro is that the passion for games is there in abundance, as is the drive to provide their fans of today and in the future with ways to experience and enjoy the games they love in a physical form, not just as the ones and zeros they’re made from.

When CD Projekt Red finally announced The Witcher 4 was in development and dropped the first cinematic trailer at The Game Awards 2024, showcasing Ciri in all her butt-kicking glory, I jumped out of bed at midnight and did a backflip. Like most fans, I've been waiting for a new Witcher game for over a decade, and the news that the sequel will star Ciri on her own adventure easily made the game shoot up my most anticipated role-playing games (RPGs) list.

While the game is still in active development and there's no release date at this time, CDPR showcased a tech demo last year, offering an early glimpse into the Unreal Engine 5.6 features that will be used in The Witcher 4. It was confirmed that the demo wasn't actual gameplay, but rather an example of the cutting-edge technology, Unreal Animation Framework and Nanite Foliage rendering, that will power the game. Still, it's clear that CDPR has a huge ambition for the sequel.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a massive game, and as a certified fantasy RPG lover, I've spent hundreds of hours across multiple playthroughs exploring it as deeply as possible; so we should expect something similar for The Witcher 4, though I expect the graphical fidelity and attention to detail to be more impressive.

Game director Sebastian Kalemba and executive producer Gosia Mitręga have previously confirmed that the upcoming RPG will feature new regions never before seen in a Witcher game, but fans should expect a map size "more or less" the same as The Witcher 3's.

"The map is definitely more or less when it comes to size, the amount of quests, more or less the same," Kalemba said at the time. "Again, the game is going to be big. But also, the ambition of the entire team is huge. So first and foremost, we want to deliver a super compelling experience.

"Again, quality over quantity. But definitely, what we can promise: Yes, this game is going to be pretty big. It's going to be big compared to everything we've prepared so far..."

I won't lie and say I'm not looking forward to getting lost in the world of The Witcher 4; sprawling landscapes, intricately built cities, hidden dungeons, all wrapped in a sense of realism and reactivity that the Polish studio is best known for? I'll be there day one. That being said, as impressive as a highly detailed fantasy open world can be, it's hard not to worry about the game's launch.

We've seen the same song and dance before. Ambitious open-world RPGs launching in a sorry state, hindered by performance issues, bugs, and crashes, and CDPR's games are no exception.

The Witcher 3, while an exceptional experience today, launched with plenty of instability bugs, and while it took a while for the game to overcome them, it's the studio's futuristic action-RPG Cyberpunk 2077, in particular, that is remembered in history for having one of the worst game launches of all time.

If you didn't play the game when it released in 2020, let me briefly set the stage. It's 2013, and CDPR just released the first Cyberpunk 2077 cinematic teaser trailer, sparking overwhelming excitement among the studio's fanbase. But it wasn't until five years later that the official trailer was released, promising an expansive and interactive Night City, complex NPC routines and crowds, and incredible levels of character and gameplay customization. It was all the internet seemed to talk about.

It was the most anticipated game ever at the time, and excitement levels hit an all-time high when, in 2019, it was revealed that actor Keanu Reeves would star in the game, as well. An April 2020 release date was set, but the game was delayed twice, until Cyberpunk 2077 finally launched in November 2020. And... it was disastrous.

There were many factors that led Cyberpunk's terrible launch, many of which were down to crunch and rushed time management schedules, marketing promises that set expectations too high, and pressure from executives to release the game on last-gen consoles, which the studio was forced to work on until the very last moment.

"After three delays, we as the Management Board were too focused on releasing the game," said former CDPR president and joint CEO Adam Kiciński at the time, "We underestimated the scale and complexity of the issues, we ignored the signals about the need for additional time to refine the game on the base last-gen consoles. It was the wrong approach and against our business philosophy. On top of that, during the campaign, we showed the game mostly on PCs."

You couldn't ignore the performance issues that persisted, making the game largely unplayable on console; they were so bad on PS4 and PS5 that Sony issued full refunds and temporarily removed the game from the PlayStation Store, and it didn't return until a year later.

Miraculously, Cyberpunk 2077 experienced a renaissance, and over the years, CDPR delivered on its promise to fix the game and release a steady stream of significant patches that smoothed out the critical performance issues plaguing it across all platforms. Those updates even included new content, improved gameplay features, and the critically acclaimed Phantom Liberty expansion. Now, despite all its launch woes, it's regarded as one of the best RPGs you can play today.

While CDPR managed to save Cyberpunk in the end, I don't want The Witcher 4 to have to suffer the same fate at launch. Even though the studio has switched from its in-house REDengine to Unreal Engine 5 for this project, which boasts specialized tools that offer better stability, Unreal Engine isn't without its faults; I think it's in its best interest to address PC and console optimization first over an impressive and massive open world that could cause problems down the road.

The Blood of Dawnwalker director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, who also directed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, recently spoke to TechRadar Gaming about Rebel Wolves' upcoming dark-fantasy RPG, explaining that the game wouldn't exist if it weren't for the experience of former The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 developers.

Since the game has so many "complex choices and consequences, with so many unique mechanics," he explained that the team built on what it learned at CDPR. He also confirmed that the team prioritised optimization at the start of development to avoid the same launch issues as The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077.

"We learned how to approach the optimization of the game," he said. "When we started work on The Blood of the Dawnwalker, we already had people working on the optimization of our game all the time, right from the beginning.

"We didn’t want to be in a situation where we deliver a great game, but there are problems when we release it on consoles or some performance problems."

This is exactly what CDPR needs to do to avoid a messy Witcher 4 launch. Of course, the talented developers should take all the time they need to build the worthy Witcher 3 successor they dream of, but the magic of that experience will be lost if the game releases in rough shape. Focusing on optimization and ensuring that the game runs on current-gen and PC first and foremost, with no major performance issues, should be the priority.

CDPR recently confirmed that The Witcher 4 is in full production and recent comments from CDPR technical writers Jarosław Ruciński and Adrian Fulneczek (via GamesRadar) revealed that the studio is focused on documenting the technical process of its new games, something it wasn't able to do with older projects and which led to major development problems for games like Cyberpunk 2077.

"The future looks really promising for us," Fulneczek said of The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2. "We learned our lesson. We've got some new requirements, especially a new definition of 'done'. So as you know, any project, any game goes through development stages, and right now, every stage ends with a gate. Part of the requirements to pass that gate is the documentation, which wasn't the case before."

Ruciński added, "Unlike in the past, now, today our knowledge isn't locked between specific teams' permissions. It's a shared asset. If a team working on, let's say, The Witcher figures out a solution for a specific issue, the Cyberpunk team can see it, benefit from it, take it into their own code, modify it probably a little bit."

He explained that "problems aren't being solved multiple times by different teams, and also that if a breakthrough happens on one of the projects, the whole company benefits."

While not necessarily a direct comment on performance optimization, I'm cautiously optimistic that this means CDPR has taken lessons learned from Cyberpunk's launch to deliver a Witcher 4 launch experience worth remembering, positively this time.

Square Enix is gearing up to kick off a brand new era of Final Fantasy 14 with the release of the Evercold expansion. The beginning of the "Godless Realms Saga" story arc, it arrives after the epic conclusion of a decade-long saga, and follows on from Dawntrail which laid the groundwork for this new adventure.

Game producer and director Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida has already teased the new threat players will face in the DLC, which I'm beyond excited for, as well as a number of incredible quality-of-life system updates, new content, and improvements to outdated gameplay features.

It's looking to be a mighty expansion that will hopefully draw in even more players when the massively multiplayer online game (MMO) officially hits Nintendo Switch 2 next month, but there are a few things I'm particularly eager to experience.

Buckle up, we're saving the world again

Final Fantasy 14 story spoilers ahead

After a decade of buildup, the Shadowbringers and Endwalker expansions saw the pieces of an overarching story finally come together and conclude the Hydaelyn-Zodiark saga, resulting in one of the best Final Fantasy stories ever to be told.

While some events were wrapped up with resolute endings, some lingering questions were left open that presented new possibilities for the MMO, and it all starts with the Reflections: mirror worlds created by the Sundering, a great calamity that saw the Source shattered into 13 Shards.

Players have visited other Reflections in past expansions, but in Evercold we'll visit the Fourth Reflection, which was beset by a calamity of ice. This means an entire new world to explore, and from the trailers and concept art, it appears that SE is leaning heavily into the fantastical style I adored in Shadowbringers and Endwalker, and drawing from what looks like Norse mythology for inspiration.

A new, unexpected threat to all Reflections has also emerged with the recent release of Patch 7.5, the Solstice, which will bring about the natural Rejoining of the Shards and threatens to wipe out all life on the Source and its Reflections.

"In the time of the Ancients, Etheirys was divided across ten and three reflections to avert a terrible calamity," the expansion description reads. "Thus, for twelve thousand years did the star survive, and by its enduring hope did the Warrior of Light at last thwart its Final Days. Yet victory comes at a cost, and fate now demands its due.

"Faced with the new threat of the Solstice, the Warrior of Light is summoned to the Fourth reflection. But what do they hope to gain from wandering a world lost to ice?"

It's a bold move on the writers' part to thrust players back into a situation where they'll be dealing with the end of the world again; however, Dawntrail's subsequent patches have done a great job of building the foundations to make it a story worth telling.

I'm a FF14 player who looks forward to new story content most of all, and in Evercold, with the way the main scenario has been playing out, I'm certain our trip to the Fourth will open new avenues to explore and deepen the lore of the Ancients, which had been drip-fed to us over the years. In particular, the mystery behind the creation of Ethos, the key that opens up the path to these Reflections, and how this new ability to world-hop will play into the larger story.

Alongside these huge stakes, we've got a new "big bad" to face, the Winterers and the Ascian Halmarut, who are working in the shadows to prevent the Solstice.

Halmarut is unique in that she is sympathetic to mankind's current state and will do anything to ensure it survives the Solstice; however, her plan of controlled Rejoinings comes at the cost of mass death and destruction, believing that it's better to sacrifice some lives so humanity has a chance. But as the Warrior of Light, we can't go along with that idea.

Interestingly, unlike other Ascians before her, Halamurut encouraged the player to find their own way to deal with the Solstice. The Ascian was only introduced in recent patches, but given how superbly the writers developed its past villains (namely the best Final Fantasy baddie ever, Emet-Selch), I'm eager to see how SE will handle another multidimensional antagonist with a world-ending goal.

Raid content galore

FF14 has always excelled at crossover raid content, whether that be the Yorha: Dark Apocalypse Alliance raid series, developed in collaboration with Nier developers Yoko Taro and Yosuke Saito, or the major raid series inspired by previous Final Fantasy games, like Final Fantasy 3, Final Fantasy 8, Tactics, and more.

Dawntrail's major Alliance raid series, Echoes of Vana'diel, wrapped up with the latest patch, a 24-player crossover celebrating Final Fantasy 6, that offered incredible bosses and a challenging yet rewarding experience.

For Evercold, SE revealed that the Alliance raid series will be based on the hit series Evangelion, titled "Ghosts of Desire", which acclaimed director and animator Mahiro Maeda will join as a special guest artist and designer. Like the Nier raid series, I'm expecting a high-quality experience with some unbelievable boss encounters that push the boundaries of the MMO; however, I'm more excited about the eight-player raid series SE has just announced at FanFest EU.

In the next expansion, FF7 Remake series director Naoki Hamaguchi and Yoshi-P took to the stage to unveil "Beyond the Lifestream," a FF7-themed raid series.

It feels like I've waited years for a proper FF7 collaboration, and the series will come just in time for Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, the final installment in the remake series.

Ahead of Evercold's release, FF14 will also be getting a FF7-themed adjacent feature in the MMO's Gold Saucer on October 28, Keybound Brawler, a new mini-game that will reward players with a glamour bundle inspired by Tifa and Barret's outfits from FF7; a teaser for what's to come.

While SE has yet to share the full raid details, I'm expecting the usual crossover gear (I'm begging for Cloud, Sephiroth, and Aerith outfits, please!), elaborate boss fights inspired by some of FF7's most iconic moments; a confrontation with Safer-Sephiroth while a remixed medley of the FF14 and One-Winged Angel themes plays in the background is surely a given.

Raid maps are also always incredible in FF14; I remember my first time entering the first raid of the YoRHa series and being blown away by the scale of the set pieces and attention to detail, so with Hamaguchi's team working alongside the FF14 team, I'm anticipating something next-level; hopefully a recreation of the dystopian metropolis of Midgar?

It's time for improvements

FF14 has been running for more than a decade after it was rebooted into A Realm Reborn in 2013. Since then, the MMO has seen innumerable changes, including to Jobs, a huge graphics overhaul that modernized the game's visuals, not to mention the upcoming expanded character customization options that players have been yearning for.

But some things have always remained the same, primarily the battle system and activity features. With the release of Evercold, FF14 will receive a significant overhaul with the introduction of the 'Reborn' and 'Evolved' modes.

Reborn mode will be based on the current combat system and Job mechanics, while Evolved mode offers greater emphasis on "job identity", updating combat rotations and changing some abilities, and will only apply to existing Jobs.

It's an exciting new change, because while Jobs occasionally get rebalanced, this is the first time the game is getting a significant gameplay revamp that will allow long-time players to experiment with a new way of playing, and newcomers have two options at their disposal.

What's more, the expansion will also see an overhauled gear progression system with the introduction of 'Adventurer Activity.' In its current state, FF14 requires players to log in every day to complete daily roulettes to earn XP and accrue their weekly cap of 450 Allagan Tomestones, which are exchanged for high-level gear; however, this can be a downside, especially for players who can't log in every day.

With Adventurer Activity, this redesigned framework will change from a daily to a weekly-based reward system, remove the exhausting grind of completing daily roulettes, and instead offer more player freedom.

Adventurer Activity (which may look like a battle pass system, but Yoshi P insisted it absolutely is not!) will let players complete a series of missions to amass activity points instead, whether it be dungeons, PvP, Trials, and more, and SE is even considering allowing unearned points from previous weeks to be collected if players miss out.

This is perfect for people like me who sometimes don't really feel like running roulettes and also gives players a chance to explore other content they wouldn't normally engage with.

Final Fantasy 14: Evercold will arrive in January 2027 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

• Control Resonant lead gameplay designer Sergey Mohov isn't worried about launching the game close to GTA 6
• He says the game's release date has been locked in for a while
• Mohov explains that "It's not really been a big consideration for us"

Remedy Entertainment isn't worried about launching Control Resonant so close to Grand Theft Auto 6.

GTA 6 is the most anticipated game of the year, if not of all time, and is on track to earn over $5 billion by the end of its launch week, so it's understandable if some studios want to avoid releasing their games so close to its launch for fear of being overshadowed.

After Rockstar Games formally announced that its game will arrive on November 19, Playground Games delayed Fable to February 2027 "so it can have the dedicated moment it deserves."

However, games like Marvel's Wolverine and Phantom Blade Zero are still locked in for their Fall releases, so not every studio is worried about competing with GTA 6 or is happy with the amount of breathing room they do have, at least.

Speaking in an interview with TechRadar Gaming about the upcoming release of Control Resonant, lead gameplay designer Sergey Mohov explained that he's looking forward to GTA 6 like everybody else, but doesn't think the game's launch affects Remedy "at all."

"Honestly, first of all, personally, I'm looking forward to GTA as much as everybody else," he said. "I'm a fan of [GTA] Vice City. But I don't think it's affected us at all, to be honest."

Control Resonant launches on September 24, which is eight weeks before GTA 6, so the Rockstar game shouldn't overshadow the former, and Mohov explained that Remedy's release date has been "locked in for a while."

"We expect it to be a very complete experience on day one when it comes out," he said. "We've been planning to release this game in September, for as long as I can remember. It's not really been a big consideration for us."

He added, "Obviously, this is a really exciting year to be a gamer. We're gonna be playing all of these [games] same as everybody else, but hopefully, you pick up, and your readers pick up Control Resonant as well."

Control Resonant will be available for PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC.

Loath as I am to say it, the future of gaming platforms isn’t looking so rosy right now. Windows is increasingly becoming more recalcitrant, constantly throwing hurdles in the faces of PC gamers in the form of performance-ruining updates and unsolicited AI implementations. And in the console world, Sony has irked everyone by ditching physical games from January 2028, while the recent bout of mass layoffs at Xbox belies its ‘back on track’ messaging.

Meanwhile, Valve appears to be going in the opposite direction. It already has a big advantage in the form of Steam, near enough the default storefront and launcher for PC gamers everywhere. Why, it’s generated an estimated $11.1bn in gross revenue in the first half of this year already. With pockets as deep as these, and without having to divert its earnings to shareholders (given it’s still, for now, a private company), that’s cash it can invest in expansion.

So is now the perfect time for Valve to break out, capitalize on its competitors’ floundering and shoot its shot at making SteamOS the next big platform?

SteamOS vs Windows

There’s no question that SteamOS has been quite the success already. This is almost entirely thanks to the success of the Steam Deck, Valve’s hugely popular device that launched in 2022 and kickstarted a mini revolution in handheld gaming. It runs SteamOS 3, which is based on the Arch Linux distribution and far superior to its initial Debian iterations. These were used on the original Steam Machines of 2015, and are no doubt part of the reason for the discontinuation of the units in 2018.

The big advantage of SteamOS 3 is its support for Proton, the compatibility layer that allows Windows games to run on Linux devices. Although it predates the Steam Deck, Proton found its calling on the handheld, proving a lot of doubters wrong by running a large library of modern games well on a small, portable device. Even AAA titles such as 007 First Light and Cyberpunk 2077 are perfectly playable, along with plenty of others.

But Valve is no longer confining its operating system to the Steam Deck and Steam Machine. It’s recently expanded support to ARM, AMD and Intel devices, which means it can run on more devices such as the Lenovo Legion Go S and the Asus ROG Ally. Chris Hewish, a former Executive Producer at Activision and current President of gaming MoR Xsolla, explains the advantages of running SteamOS on such devices over Windows 11.

“With the SteamOS 3.8 release in June, Valve officially took the OS beyond the Steam Deck to the ROG Ally line, and Lenovo's Legion Go family, and early Intel support is starting to pull devices like the MSI Claw into the fold," he tells me. "On the same hardware, reviewers keep finding it ahead of Windows 11 where handheld players actually feel it: battery life, sleep and resume, and an interface built for a controller instead of a desktop squeezed onto a seven-inch screen.”

So, does the continued success of SteamOS rely on expanding to more hardware? Greg Weller, Head of Gaming Partnerships at Generation Media, and someone with over 20 years of industry experience — which includes stints at Rockstar Games and Bethesda Softworks — thinks so.

“The opportunity is significantly bigger if SteamOS continues to be device agnostic," he says. "The Steam Deck proved Valve could build a fantastic hardware experience, but the bigger strategic opportunity is allowing consumers to carry their Steam ecosystem across multiple devices rather than tying it to one piece of hardware.”

He continues: “We're seeing the same evolution across other entertainment sectors, like music, film and television, which have largely moved beyond device-specific experiences. People increasingly expect their content to follow them rather than the other way around. So, Valve hardware can absolutely remain the benchmark experience, but if SteamOS becomes the connective layer between a player's library, identity and multiple devices, that's a much bigger opportunity.”

However, not everyone in the industry shares this view. “SteamOS’ success largely depends on Valve's hardware for now and how far they actually push the OS itself,” says André Pimenta Ribeiro, CEO and co-founder of Anybrain, whose behavioral AI tools are used in popular online games such as Arc Raiders and The Finals.

He adds: “SteamOS’ success largely depends on Valve's hardware for now and how far they actually push the OS itself. I think Valve’s best case here is to grow to a broader, more casual audience through its own hardware and by offering its massive library to the mainstream player base, rather than exporting SteamOS to more devices in general. Once Valve hardware or SteamOS reach more mainstream adoption, then opening up the ecosystem makes sense. For now it feels mostly like a development play.”

Sticking points

If SteamOS wants a larger slice of the gaming pie, though, there are certain obstacles it needs to overcome. Hewish points to one of the system’s major sticking points: its incompatibility with games requiring anti-cheat tools.

“Kernel-level anti-cheat either does not run on Linux or has not been enabled there," he says. "Until the biggest competitive games work reliably through Proton, SteamOS is not a no-compromise choice. It is an 'as long as you don't play those games' choice, and those games are some of the most played in the world.”

Another problem is what Hewish calls “hardware breadth,” explaining that: “Windows still has the deepest compatibility layer for the long tail: niche peripherals, capture cards, VR headsets, external GPUs. If the reports about official GeForce support come to pass, that closes a meaningful piece of the gap, since SteamOS has effectively been an AMD platform until now.”

Of course, the other advantage of Windows is that once you’re done gaming, you can switch to using it as an everyday computer. “SteamOS is deliberately narrow, a console-like shell, and that focus is a strength on a handheld,” says Hewish. “But if it wants to take on Windows more broadly, the path into desktop mode for a browser, schoolwork, or a spreadsheet has to get smoother.”

SteamOS vs consoles

But what about SteamOS as a console competitor? The revitalized Steam Machine launched in June this year was hotly anticipated, and looked like a serious contender to the PlayStation-Xbox-Nintendo triumvirate. Russell Kay, a former Grand Theft Auto developer and Head of popular 2D engine GameMaker, believes it was a success in bringing SteamOS to a wider audience.

“In the living room, SteamOS is now a proper alternative to a console,” he says. "The library is already there, and so is the audience. Millions of people have a huge digital collection sitting on Steam, and SteamOS finally gives them a way to put that under the TV instead of on a console. That's a real advantage no other platform has.”

However, he says: “The real problem is the price — Steam Machines cost more than a console. A gap that’s unlikely to close anytime soon thanks to the rising cost of RAM and hardware.”

And there are other issues for SteamOS in the console space. Hewish explains: “The Steam Machine needs reasons to exist beyond ‘runs your existing library’. Consoles win on curation and exclusives as much as hardware. That fight is about habit and content, not benchmarks. Close the anti-cheat gap and keep the hardware momentum, and ‘the default handheld OS’ is realistic within a couple of years. [But] the living room is a longer climb no matter what the software does.”

Ribeiro, meanwhile, thinks: "[Valve] can make a splash against this weaker console market, but right now it's still a niche system for a specific subset of people — growing beyond that depends on where they take it. Valve is known for doing its own thing, and that’s not always conducive to serving the broader global ecosystem of casual players. I think it makes sense from the perspective that they want to grow beyond a distribution platform, but the extent of impact and its longevity is still to be seen.”

He concludes: “I already see Steam devices akin to consoles, such as the Steam Deck and Steam Machine. I wouldn’t replace my Windows PC or mobile device with it, but vs the existing console ecosystem, that’s more a toss-up.”

The future of SteamOS

It seems fairly clear-cut, then, that SteamOS is clearly leading the way when it comes to handheld gaming. But a push beyond that realm to usurp Windows or seriously challenge consoles is less certain.

Ultimately, Hewish sees it this way: “Windows still wins in two places: games with kernel-level anti-cheat, and anything you want to do that is not gaming. And in the living room it is early days. The new Steam Machine only started shipping at the end of June. So I would put it this way: [SteamOS is] a genuine competitor on handhelds today, and a credible but very young challenger in the living room.”

Of course, the high price of the Steam Machine certainly dampened its appeal. The consensus seems to be that while it was a capable device, it was too expensive to present a viable challenge to the living room market. Of course, the seemingly interminable RAM crisis threw a spanner in the works, even crashing the Steam Deck’s party thanks to a price hike that put a serious dent in its sales. But the fact remains the PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S all undercut the Steam Machine considerably.

But perhaps there’s hope yet for the Gabecube and other SteamOS implementations besides handhelds. After all, Hewish makes the point that having one platform dominate isn’t especially useful for game developers.

He says: “If you make games for a living, you do not actually want any single platform to win outright, even one you like. Concentration is where leverage goes to die. When one storefront or operating system controls the path to players, it eventually controls the terms, the fees, and the relationship. The healthiest ending to this story is not SteamOS replacing Windows. It is real competition at the platform layer, because that is what forces every gatekeeper to treat developers and players better. SteamOS taking a real share does exactly that.”

He further adds: “My bet is SteamOS becomes the preferred choice for people buying a device specifically to game, and Windows holds wherever one device has to do it all.”

Weller sees another benefit to the gradual permeation of SteamOS.

He says: “SteamOS has already established itself as a credible competitor, but not in the way people traditionally define competition. Rather than trying to replace Windows or persuade console players to switch overnight, SteamOS is reducing friction between players and the game libraries they've already invested in, allowing people to take their Steam ecosystem into more places and devices.”

“This reflects a much bigger shift happening across entertainment. Historically, consumers bought hardware first and then built a content library around it. Now, they're increasingly buying into ecosystems. Players care less about the operating system they're using and more about whether their games, saves, achievements, friends and purchases move seamlessly between devices.”

Gaming ecosystems have become important for another reason. “Our research found 72% of players discover games through social media, 67% through YouTube and 53% through platform stores such as Steam, PlayStation Store and Xbox Store," Weller explains. "Platform ecosystems have become both the storefront and the discovery engine. So SteamOS isn't simply an operating system but another touchpoint within a much broader ecosystem.”

“Valve's long-term competitive advantage has never been selling games, but focusing on the surrounding ecosystem: community features, recommendations, cloud saves, and overall experience of staying connected to your library. Those are the areas where Valve can continue to differentiate, rather than relying on exclusivity.”

The point about community features is an important one. The community around Steam has played a major role in the platform cultivating its loyal fanbase and the general good will of gamers. Its openness to mods and add-ons via its Workshop is a large part of this. And, as Kay points out, although games purchased on its storefront do contain DRM, “[it has] been one of the better stories when it comes to DRM". So if SteamOS wants to expand its horizons beyond handhelds, it needs to retain the element that sets it apart from other, closed-off gaming platforms.

Do you think SteamOS is going to be the next big platform in gaming? Vote in the poll below, and if you want to say more, why not leave a comment as well?

The PlayStation 5 Pro has been my primary, booted-up-nearly-every-day console since the premium PS5 variant launched in late 2024. I’ve used it a lot on both a 60Hz display and a 120Hz display, and the experience it gives me on both for my PS5 games has been basically flawless.

The extra power, chops, and graphical prowess that it offers have been superb for a console enthusiast like me. It makes both fidelity-focused and performance-focused game settings better, but has also paved the way for a new middle ground between the two.

This in-between mode, often labeled as ‘Balanced’, allows players with a 120Hz display to enjoy a host of enhanced ray tracing features and boosted image quality, with a bunch of extra frames per second, giving it a clear boost over standard fidelity modes, which are normally locked at 30fps. What’s even better is that you can often engage this mode on base PS5 or PS5 Slim consoles when those are teamed with a 120Hz-capable display too, and it’s proving once again to be a saving grace for fidelity-chasers this generation.

This Balanced mode is absolutely excellent in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced and is the only way I’d recommend a PS5 or PS5 Pro user to play what is one of the best Assassin's Creed games. It combines the sheer beauty of the Anvil-engine-powered Caribbean setting with loads of water, shadow, and particle detail to boot, with a 40fps frame rate that, while not as super slick as 60fps, is absolutely noticeably better than 30fps. The difference is huge.

Two and a half years ago, I wrote how I was happy with 4K 30fps on console. But, after spending time with a PS5 Pro, I will happily admit that my preferences and opinions have changed — and that gives me much confidence when it comes to Grand Theft Auto 6.

Perfectly balanced

Not that long ago, stories were circulating saying that GTA 6 having a 60fps mode on console would be unlikely. And it was something to take note of too, given it was coming from the brilliant tech analysts over at Digital Foundry.

I don’t think many folks were truly surprised at this. The amount of technical brilliance and sheer detail that will likely go into GTA 6 will surely translate into the amount of demand on a console’s GPU and CPU. Think of the poor old Series S trying to run such a behemoth. Godspeed, little Xbox.

However, playing Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced on its Balanced mode right now has me feeling a bit more confident in the prospects of what we may have to settle for on GTA 6.

While the smoothness of 60fps is a joy on a console like the PS5 or PS5 Pro, I am one to chase graphical fidelity wherever I can.

I’m a sucker but also quasi-expert on video game landscapes and environments in a way, so I will always desire to see more detail like the edges of leaves, the fluttering of foliage in the wind, and expansive vistas across lands as far as the eye can see, views scattered with landscape features, ruins, and blissful seas — all at the expense of a few more frames. And that’s what Resynced’s 40fps mode does.

The glorious beauty and image quality that’s on offer in the balanced mode isn’t far off the fidelity-focused 30fps mode at all. The overall fidelity in balanced mode is fantastic. I can enjoy all the detail of plants and foliage, and every landscape element and urban rooftop or dwelling is a sight to behold, genuinely.

Sony’s enhanced PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) tech, and the benefits of variable refresh rate (VRR) play a big part in how good it looks on PS5 Pro too, of course. The former offers excellent boosts to anti-aliasing, overall image detail and quality (at least in my eye), and things like the flickering of fire and light — something again noticed by Digital Foundry. The latter, VRR, does — as usual, in my experience — a great job of smoothing out any potential frame rate drops to reduce tearing, too, but it’s not something I’ve been hugely concerned about generally with Resynced.

The extended ray tracing is also excellent in this mode on PS5 Pro, with shadows being fantastic, reflections being lifelike and adding an extra mirror-like quality to views, and particles of dust or vegetation fluttering beautifully in the wind. The water is absolutely lovely too, with each splash from Edward Kenway’s swimming perfectly natural and evocative of how the seas would behave, and the glistening rocks and sand of every beach. Blissful at every glance.

A reason to be confident

As I said above, the difference between 30 and 40fps is absolutely noticeable and tangible, and while the jump to 60 is even smoother, I concede that the fact that one can cling on to extended ray tracing and high levels of detail at 40fps is a triumph and offers a super balance. For someone who, for one reason or another, but happily, has settled on one platform in PlayStation consoles, as one’s main way to play games, and has a penchant for quality and performance, then Resynced has nailed that sweet spot.

Combine Resynced’s excellence in this mode with the likes of the Horizon games, The Last of Us games, Marvel’s Spider-Man games and more on PS5 and PS5 Pro, and the 40fps modes are the reason I’m more confident in GTA 6 if 60fps really is off the table and it does indeed end up having a balanced mode ‘instead’ of a performance mode. Plus, given Rockstar’s track record of squeezing all the graphical excellence it can out of even standard consoles — how Rockstar made Red Dead Redemption 2 look that good on base PS4 is actual witchcraft — the detail, lighting, reflections, and image quality we can expect in Vice City’s urban and natural landscapes, as well as characters adn cars, is going to be immense.

Of course, I would prefer there were a 60fps mode for GTA 6. Heck, I’d hope for the three settings we’ve grown a bit used to on the PS5 Pro covering 30, 40, and 60 frames per second modes.

But if compromises have to be made due to the likely enormous demand made by GTA 6 on consoles, then this sweet, sweet 40fps mode in the middle could be the door to excellence on PS5 and PS5 Pro, given the evidence we have so far of it being the perfect middle ground for superb graphical fidelity and deliciously smooth frame rates.

There are few games as eagerly anticipated as Control Resonant, Remedy Entertainment's upcoming action-adventure RPG. After all, we've endured a long wait since 2019's Control introduced us to the Lynchian world of the red-hued Hiss and the Federal Bureau of Control.

The good news is that the wait is nearly over — because Resonant arrives in less than two months. And the really good news is that it looks great; so great, in fact, that we gave it one of our Best of Summer Games Fest awards.

So, what will the sequel bring to the table to stand out from its predecessor in a notable way? After playing a lengthy two-hour preview of Control Resonant recently, I had a chance to speak with the lead gameplay designer, Sergey Mohov, and put that question to him, among others.

Melee masterpiece

Unsurprisingly, combat is the centerpiece in Resonant, just as it was in the original. In that game, you played as Jesse Faden, equipped with a trusty shapeshifting handgun and tasked with finding her brother, Dylan — who is now the main character in Resonant.

You could unlock several different ammo types that would essentially act as different gun types: shotgun, automatic machine gun, grenade launcher, and so on. Those were joined by various powers, some of which allowed players to levitate or hurl objects at enemies.

In Resonant, Remedy seeks to double down on that combat-heavy gamplay, but specifically with melee, using a shapeshifting weapon, the Aberrant, and other supernatural abilities. The result reminds me of the best hack-and-slash games, such as Capcom's Devil May Cry 5.

Despite my hack-and-slash comparisons, though, Resonant's combat was developed mostly with its predecessor in mind, and that's what both the preview build and Mohov's answers make clear right away.

"We actually have a pretty long and eclectic list of references, and they're not all video games," Mohov says. "If I had to name one game that this game [Resonant] is trying to be like, it would be the original Control. That's our number one reference for everything.

"With our creative director, we started figuring out what makes Control, Control? That was a big question, because we wanted to make a sequel that is spiritually and experientially similar to the first game, so it still feels like a Control game. But we also wanted to have more of this melee-focused, in-your-face, aggressive gameplay at the same time."

While Resonant's structure and identity draw primarily from Control, Mohov stresses that the Remedy team also wasn't shy about incorporating elements from other games as well.

"We use references for the individual parts of the experience. I'm a big fan of DMC 2 and DMC 3, and PlatinumGames' titles. It's really hard to name one single reference, but I think if you play the game more, you'll notice that there are things that have been done in other games, but I don't think you can directly say Resonant is 'exactly like this other thing.'

"We learn lessons from all of these other projects to see what works and what doesn't, but I think you probably haven't played anything that is exactly like this."

Admittedly, the first Control was a game that I couldn't stick with throughout its runtime, mostly due to its somewhat convoluted storyline and combat being limited to Jesse Faden's shapeshifting gun.

Mohov confirms that the "core experience" in Resonant should be around "30 hours", while the completionist experience is expected to be within the "50 hours" ballpark.

That means it'll be longer than the first game, but with the impressive RPG elements on display, and with numerous weapon and skill types to choose from, it's an even more appealing experience than before — and one that doesn't require a full playthrough of the first entry.

"I don't think you have to play the first Control game to play Resonant," says Mohov, "but if you do, it will enrich your experience, especially narratively. We put in a Control recap, right at the top of the main menu, though, so you don't need to [play it]."

Walking away from my two-hour playtest and conversation with Mohov, I'm more convinced than ever that Remedy's step into a full melee-focused Control experience is going to pay off, and I can't wait to get my hands on it when it launches on September 24, on PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC.

Having been put on Konami’s backburner for over a decade, Silent Hill’s resurgence has been nothing short of extraordinary.

A tepid start with Ascension and The Short Message was counterbalanced by the excellent Silent Hill 2 remake from Bloober Team and the homegrown Japanese horrors of Silent Hill f from NeoBards. The series seems like it’s now heading further in the right direction with the next game, Silent Hill: Townfall.

Early this month I played three hours of Silent Hill: Townfall and spoke with both Screen Burn director Jon McKellan and Konami series producer Motoi Okamoto about the game’s approach to retro tech, the Scottish setting, and cultural authenticity.

Going retro

Silent Hill: Townfall follows a man named Simon Ordell in the fictional town of St. Amelia, Scotland. As he wakes up, he finds the entire place shrouded in fog. Slowly walking around, I eventually pick up a pocked CRTV television, which is used for both gameplay and narrative reasons. It's Townfall’s primary mechanic and star of the show. Through it, you can see old static video recordings of Simon’s mysterious partner, Zoe Ellis, who is seemingly his connection to this island.

The radio’s screen also typically shows you the next place to go, which means it’s up to you to search around town until you find the correct spot. Additionally, you can hold up the radio to see through walls to check a monster’s position. It’s a wonderful twist on a common trope. In similar games, protagonists sometimes come with a ‘radar’ sense so that players can stay stealthy and avoid enemy detection. Implementing the radar into the radio itself is not only clever, but reinforces that Simon is, after all, just human, in an unrelenting world filled with monsters.

The time period that Townfall takes place in is paramount to its horror themes. A puzzle hints that the current year is 1996, which is where the mass adoption of technologies like the internet and home dial-up started happening. The transition to an increasingly connected world filled people with anxieties. Simon’s CRTV radio is just advanced enough, but is nowhere near the cutting edge technology we see today.

“The world was on a technological cusp around the mid 90s, where the internet was starting to become a thing. But you were too early to have Google Maps in your pocket and you didn't have this magic bullet for all the problems that might come up,” McKellan explained.

He continued, “So with analog tech, you feel like you can't quite rely on it. It’s a little bit uncertain, and I think that's a great place to be for horror.”

Another theme that was prominently was medicine and healthcare. As I strolled through St. Amecia, I saw protest signs littered around the town square with phrases about “taking this town back”.

I picked up collectibles and notes about St. Amecia’s local hospital, vaguely hinting at some sort of institution providing “protection.” As an American citizen in a country with mainly for-profit healthcare, my mind immediately began trying to connect the dots and figure out the story’s direction. Scotland has a public system, but perhaps some private healthcare provider came in and tried to take over? And what about the “protection” aspect? Did Simon, or someone else, snitch?

The medical symbolism doesn’t end there. Zoe herself is a nurse, and Simon also has an IV bag strapped to his arm. With ingredients found scattered throughout town, he can craft items Resident Evil-style. These include items like blood bags for his IV, which let him resurrect with a sliver of health after being killed by an enemy.

Thankfully, Townfall’s combat feels much smoother compared to Silent Hill f’s. In the latter, there always felt like a second of awkward hit stun when your melee weapons made contact with enemies. Here, smashing planks over their heads feels satisfying. The way their bodies all of sudden go limp simultaneously gives me a feeling of surprise relief every time.

Simon also eventually gets a powerful pistol that one-hit kills many monsters, rivalling even Grace Ashcroft’s Requiem from Resident Evil Requiem. The downside is that it makes a ton of noise when fired, so enemies nearby will zero in on your location. With limited ammo, it’s definitely your last resort weapon, and it’s gratifying every time it goes off.

McKellen ensured that social commentary would be at the heart of the story, similar to how Silent Hill f’s overarching message was around gender expectations. “There are a few different threads in this game that start to coalesce as the game progresses, and I think it takes people in kind of unexpected places,” he explained. McKellen is hoping that people (like me) have an idea of what’s happening, then excitedly twist our expectations.

So why does Simon have a cannula in his hand, and why does it bring him back when he dies? They’re not just gameplay gimmicks—they represent something. McKellen adds, “There's a lot behind it, and we pride ourselves as developers that everything in the game has some relevance. Nothing is there just because or to fill a void.”

Crafting different Silent Hills

Over the years, the setting for most of the Silent Hill games were, well, Silent Hill. But recently, Konami has expanded settings for the series to explore other areas. Silent Hill: The Short Message introduced “Silent Hill” as a phenomenon, where similar psychological and experiences occur outside of the titular town in Kettenstadt, Germany. Silent Hill f took the series back to its hometown in the fictional town of Ebisugaoka in 1960s Japan.

“Our current approach in branding is to introduce that concept and show similar types of psychological experiences and narratives that place outside of the boundaries of Silent Hill,” Okamoto said.

Screen Burn, headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, has a wide age range within its developers. Some grew up with the older games, while others recently discovered it through the newer releases. But the big lesson that the team learned about what’s essential to Silent Hill’s DNA is the understated nature of the stories. They’re not explicit, with plenty of room for interpretation but still feeling satisfied after finishing the game.

“You can walk away from a Silent Hill game feeling like you know something, but whether you know everything or need to discuss that with someone else was one of the big things that came out,” McKellan explained. “People were saying that after every game they would end up talking to someone else about it and having different theories.”

The studio’s last game was the sci-fi horror adventure Observation (which is also one of my favorites that you should check out), and the team grew from the game before that, Stories Untold. Both of them had technology as a major theme to convey gameplay, with Stories Untold having players interacting with computers and Observation switching between different cameras in a space station.

You can see the theme of technology rearing its head again in Townfall through the analog CRTV, as well as the phone booth players call to manually save their progress.

Townfall is also Screen Burn’s biggest game to date. The most notable departure is the freedom that players have in exploring the town. “Townfall feels like a Screen Burn game unleashed. We’re taking our narrative sensibilities, puzzle design, and attention to detail, and blowing that out to something much larger with the support of Konami and Annapurna,” said McKellan.

“So if you've played our previous games, you'll probably see a lot of common ground there.”

The future of Silent Hill

Looking ahead, Bloober Team’s remake of the first Silent Hill is set to come out after Townfall. Okamoto understood the worry players had about the series potentially becoming annualized, perhaps resulting in fatigue or lapse in quality. That's why Konami was open to new takes on the iconic horror franchise. The Short Message focused on social media, Silent Hill f was distinctly Japanese, and now Townfall is in Scotland.

With the rising cost of game development, it’s a wise idea to have other studios take on notable IP rather than just having your internal studios handle them. Not only does this result in more games being released, but outside talent can revitalize interest. I mean, Bloober Team and NeoBards are proof enough.

Okamoto, however, explained that this method was more about portraying cultural authenticity than anything else, and dependent on the kinds of projects Konami is working on.

“For example, the Metal Gear team has their own philosophy and approach for how they develop games,” Okamoto said. “At least from our perspective, with the goal being trying to create a wider, richer, and more culturally varied universe for Silent Hill, we feel that partnering with third-party developers works best.”

Silent Hill: Townfall launches on September 24 for PC and PlayStation 5.

Are you a fan of CD Projekt Red's The Witcher game series? Have you ever fantasized about what type of character you'd be if you were somehow sucked through a magic portal and found yourself in the fantasy world of The Continent? Do you think you'd be a princess, a bard, a sorceress, or even a witcher?

A brand-new The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt expansion, Songs of the Past, has been announced, and it's launching sometime next year. While we don't have plot details yet, the story will once again follow Geralt of Rivia ahead of The Witcher 4.

This means an all-new journey to experience with everyone's favorite witcher, and, hopefully, one that will feature the return of the rest of the gang, like Ciri, Yennefer, and Dandelion.

CD Projekt Red has promised to share more about Songs of the Past next month, so we'll have to wait and see.

In the meantime, I've put together a fun little personality quiz that will help you figure out which Witcher character is your kindred spirit. Are you the protective, titular witcher himself? His daughter, Child of Destiny and cabale fighter, Ciri, or the fierce sorceress Yennefer? Maybe you're the merciless King of the Wild Hunt...

Everyone has a favorite, but which character are you really? Find out below.

Did you get the character you expected or someone completely opposite to your expectations? Let us know in the comments!

When I first caught a glimpse of The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, it sparked a great sense of anticipation within me. After all, Square Enix and Claytechworks were collaborating to bring a brand new HD-2D RPG to the table, which appeared to combine sprinklings of classic Zelda titles with the visual, sonic, and environmental grandeur from series such as Mana and Dragon Quest.

I’m a huge fan of the HD-2D graphical style, and massively enjoyed recent releases such as Final Fantasy: The Ivalice Chronicles and Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake, but I still wasn’t quite sure if I’d love The Adventures of Elliot. Was the action combat going to be polished and engaging enough? Was the world going to deliver the spectacle and appeal conjured up with other series? Would the narrative have me hooked?

Well, after playing the game for more than 25 hours now, I have an answer to all of those questions. Here’s what I made of The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales.

The good: combat that exceeds expectations

Let’s start by addressing my curiosity surrounding combat in The Adventures of Elliot — just how good is it? Well, I’m pleased to report that I had a lot of fun with the action in this game. It clearly pulls on 2D Zelda, with real-time combat that challenges you to use a variety of weapons to overcome your foes.

You can equip two weapons at once, and while I typically used my sword for close range attacks and bow for projectiles, I found genuine utility in a lot of equipment, be that bombs, a hammer, spear, and more. Combat feels fluid, responsive, and well balanced. You can also defend or parry with a shield, and using this to avoid big damage can be crucial.

There’s a pretty fast, high-octane feel to battles, big or small, and by defeating multiple foes in a row, you can build up a streak to obtain better drops. This adds a layer of fun to combat, and gives you a genuine reason to seek out and destroy random creatures in your vicinity — I had a lot of fun pushing myself to get that streak as high as possible.

Combat is absolutely at its best during boss fights, though. These can offer genuine challenges, and often require you to switch up attacks, defend with care, and employ a variety of weapons to get the win. The satisfaction I got when evading a robotic titan’s assault and slashing it to smithereens with my blade was nothing short of exhilarating.

What’s more, you can customize weapons with something called Magicite, which imparts specific abilities to help you wipe out the opposition with greater ease. This is executed very well, and helps you to raise attack power, unlock elemental attacks, and extend the reach of your attacks, for instance.

By spending more Tul (the in-universe currency), you can use more Magicite, and this helps you scale in terms of power as the game unfolds, making progression feel natural and well-paced.

Other gameplay elements are solid too. Platforming isn’t a massive part of the game, but feels precise and smooth. Your companion for most of the journey, Faie, also has abilities such as dashing and warping, which make traversing environments and taking down enemies even more varied and seamless, and you can unlock more of — and improve on — said abilities as the game progresses.

The not-so good: a narrative missing its spark

So, the gameplay in The Adventures of Elliot is a hit, in my book. The brilliant bosses and close contests against frogs, robots, slugs, and more kept me coming back for more. But unfortunately, some things made me feel reluctant to indulge in long, uninterrupted play sessions — namely, the game’s narrative and dialogue.

Simply put, the story in The Adventures of Elliot lacks the spark that I was looking for. It often feels flat, lacking moments of surprise and suspense, and its largely predictable plot points paired with sluggish and dull dialogue meant that I was tempted, at times, to skip through a few scenes — something I never do with story-driven RPGs.

On top of this, the cast of characters is surprisingly weak for a Square Enix game. The protagonist, Elliot, feels somewhat hollow, and spends much of the game telling people to follow their heart, chase their dreams, and to believe in themselves. To be blunt, it feels a bit sappy, and despite his striking appearance, he’s actually quite an uninteresting lead.

A lot of the other characters are written in a slightly wooden way, too. Elliot will meet them, they’ll reveal something that troubles them — be that isolation, missing a loved one, or seeking connection with others — the hero will do something to assist them, and then you move on. As a result, characters often lack nuance or depth, and it feels hard to care about the various individuals involved.

Like a lot of other players have pointed out online, your companion, Faie, is also rather irritating. She speaks up…a lot…and her hand-holdy, pointless interjections can feel grating. You can mute your companion, thankfully, which is a good thing given that the fairy’s high-pitched tone is still haunting me.

Much of the game is centered around time travel, another element that could’ve been handled more effectively in my view. A lot of the environments look identical across different eras, and enemy variety can be pretty limited across time as well.

I did like the discoveries you could make across different ages, though, and hunting for new weapons in the various dungeons, and general exploration, was pretty enjoyable. My critique here, however, is that the puzzles within various areas are very easy, and require little effort to overcome. Therefore, anyone seeking out the ingenious design of classic Zelda dungeons may be left wanting more.

Final thoughts: a new IP with growing pains

The Adventures of Elliot still nails a lot of the fundamentals, with a beautiful soundtrack, gorgeous HD-2D visuals, and a neat UI. But when I look at the full package, I’m left feeling conflicted.

While the combat is slick and enticing, the underwhelming story and lack of variation in environments and enemies slightly disappointed me.

Although I still had a decent time with The Adventures of Elliot, and I enjoyed its delicious HD-2D graphics and high-octane battles, it’s clear that the new IP has gone through a few growing pains. And unfortunately, its forgettable characters and lacking dialogue bring the overall experience down a touch, meaning it doesn’t quite hit the highest of heights.

Should you play The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

There are a number of ways to customize the experience in The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales. There are a handful of text languages, and you can swap between English or Japanese voices. You can alter text display speed, and set dialogue to auto if you want to watch scenes unfurl naturally.

There are a range of difficulty modes too, and you can remap controls to your liking for a more custom experience. Unfortunately, there’s no colorblind mode, or similar.

How I reviewed Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake

I spent more than 25 hours playing through the main story and side quests in The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales. I played on Normal difficulty in this instance.

For the most part, I played the game on my PS5, which is connected up to my Sky Glass Gen 2 TV and Marshall Heston 120 soundbar. However, I occasionally dipped into the title on my PS Portal, and used the Sennheiser CX 80U to enjoy in-game audio while on the go.

More generally, I’ve reviewed a wide range of games here at TechRadar, though my main focus has been on RPGs, including Square Enix titles like Final Fantasy: The Ivalice Chronicles and Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake.

First reviewed: July 2026

• The Star Wars Zero Company cast has been revealed
• The player character Hawks will be played by Jonathan Freeman (masculine) and Erica Luttrell (feminine)
• The Clone Wars stars Matt Lanter and Dee Bradley Baker will also return to voice Anakin Skywalker and a new Clone Trooper, Trick, respectively

Bit Reactor and Lucasfilm Games have revealed the stacked cast for Star Wars Zero Company, featuring some very familiar, fan-favorite voice actors from The Clone Wars.

Announced ahead of San Diego Comic Con on StarWars.com, it's confirmed that the player character, Hawks, will be played by Goliath actor Jonathan Freeman (masculine) and Erica Luttrell (feminine), who has also starred in another Star Wars game in the past, Squadrons.

"As the leader of Zero Company, an unconventional outfit of professionals for hire from across the galaxy, which includes a Clone Trooper, a Mandalorian, a Jedi Padawan and more, players must hunt down and stop Kundri Fathom (Rekha Sharma), the ruthless leader of the Separatist-aligned cult known as the Infinite Coil," a press release informs us.

In Zero Company, players will meet a collection of characters beyond their team members, and they're all played by some amazing talent.

Some of these characters include Kabb Uppercut, played by Arcane's JB Blanc; Jae Mordant, played by Judy Alice Lee of Marvel Rivals; and Neesh Renark, played by Marvel's Spider-Man 2's Jim Pirri. There's also D.C. Douglas, best known for Mass Effect 2 and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, who will play M-3VO ('Meevo').

The game will also feature two veteran Star Wars voice cast performers, Matt Lanter and Dee Bradley Baker. Lanter played Anakin Skywalker in the hit animated series The Clone Wars and will reprise this role in Zero Company.

Baker is best known for voicing the Clone Troopers in the show, including Captain Rex and Commander Cody, as well as others in The Bad Batch, but will star in Zero Company as the Clone Trooper, Trick.

You can read the full cast list below:

• Hawks (Masculine): Jonathan Freeman
• Hawks (Feminine): Erica Luttrell
• Kundri Fathom: Rekha Sharma
• Trick: Dee Bradley Baker
• Anakin Skywalker: Matt Lanter
• Runa Blask: Vic Michaelis
• Kabb Uppercut: JB Blanc
• Jae Mordant: Judy Alice Lee
• Cly Kullervo: Alex McKenna
• Bennic Halloren: Leo Howard
• Visser: Dylan Kenin
• Tel-Rea: Nicole Rainteau
• Neesh Renark: Jim Pirri
• M-3VO / Meevo: D.C. Douglas
• Typhon: Hunter Smith

Star Wars Zero Company launches on August 27 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Series S.

Bit Reactor has confirmed that the turn-based tactics game will take 30-40 hours to beat, "depending on your difficulty level and experience with the strategy genre," and it won't feature a New Game Plus mode.

• Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot says Sony's plan to end physical game disc production won't have a major impact on the industry
• Guillemot says there are pros and cons to the decision
• He says, "I think it will not disturb the industry too much"

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot doesn't think Sony's decision to retire the production of physical game discs will have a considerable impact on the industry.

Guillemot's comment comes from an earnings call following the release of its first-quarter 2026-27 sales (via VGC), during which the CEO was asked if Sony's plan to end disc production starting January 2028 could have a positive or negative effect on the future of the games industry.

While many disagree with Sony's decision, and some analysts predict it will endanger the $7.2 billion second-hand game market, Guillemot doesn't believe it will have a major impact on the industry at large.

Bold statements

"What we saw on the PC is that it helped to grow the market," Guillemot said. "There’s also some pressure for the future on the cost of machines, and being able to be only digital will help to have a more accessible machine, I would think.

"As you said, there are pluses and minuses, but I think it will not disturb the industry too much."

Sony announced its plan earlier this month and saw overwhelming backlash from fans. According to Wedbush Securities managing director of strategic planning Michael Pachter, Sony's plan to phase out discs in two years is now a threat to the used game market.

"Realistically, at least one-third of games have been sold historically as used, and the games that were sold also provided currency to the gamer who traded them in as cash to pay for new games," Pachter said. "Brick and mortar game retail is doomed."

Sega president Shuji Utsumi has also addressed the controversy and said that while the digital shift is "crucial," the company still understands the importance of physical media.

Similarly, former Nippon Ichi Software CEO Sohei Niikawa understands the decision "from a purely business perspective" but says physical editions are still "very important" to fans.

"If they’re going to go as far as eliminating physical packages, they may as well eliminate the hardware too," Niikawa said. "A television would be enough. Why would you need the console? If you’re going to get rid of physical games, you may as well go all the way."

• Sega president Shuji Utsumi has addressed Sony's decision to end the production of game discs
• Utsumi says, "We still value the culture of physical media," but "a digital shift is crucial"
• He adds, "It is important to strengthen our digitalisation" in the current market

Sega president Shuji Utsumi has addressed the controversy surrounding Sony's decision to end the production of game discs in 2028, acknowledging the importance of physical media but that the digital shift is "crucial."

In a recent interview with Japanese publication Famitsu (via Eurogamer), Utsumi explained that the digital market needs to be cultivated and Sega believes in bolstering digitalisation.

"When it comes to titles we call 'full games' for consoles and PCs, we believe that a digital shift is crucial," Utsumi said. "Of course, consoles are important, but the proportion of people who play on PCs is steadily increasing. Even in areas where consoles are not widely available, there are many people who say, 'I can play it on PC.'"

He added, "In order to cultivate that market, we believe it is important to strengthen our digitalisation. We tend to think from a physical perspective, so I think we need to be more digitally conscious and become more global."

Utsumi then touched on Sega's hardware history, saying that while it isn't in the console market anymore and now primarily publishes games, the company hasn't forgotten its roots and the importance of physical media.

"We were originally a platform provider, and of course, we still value the culture of physical media," the president said. "Rather than completely abandoning that, we are currently challenging ourselves to shift so that we can think about and act on the important aspects of digital media in parallel."

Sony announced its plan to retire new physical discs earlier this month, explaining that the transition to all-digital games "will enable us to align more closely with how most of our community prefers to access and play games today."

PlayStation fans continue to push back against the decision, but analysts believe the company won't change its mind.

It's also said that the $7.2 billion second-hand video game market could be in danger as a result of Sony's decision, with Wedbush Securities managing director of strategic planning, Michael Pachter, reporting that "Brick and mortar game retail is doomed."

Elsewhere, Former Nippon Ichi Software CEO has objected to the plan, saying that while he understands it "From a purely business perspective," Sony doesn't "understand the feelings of those fans."

"If they’re going to go as far as eliminating physical packages, they may as well eliminate the hardware too," he said. "A television would be enough. Why would you need the console? If you’re going to get rid of physical games, you may as well go all the way."

• Someone may have ported Grand Theft Auto 5 to Nintendo Switch
• Performance appears poor and reaches 22FPS at most
• It makes me wonder what Grand Theft Auto 6 could look like running on Switch 2

While we wait for Grand Theft Auto 6, someone has seemingly managed to port Grand Theft Auto 5 to the Nintendo Switch.

The port was apparently created by M0jso and posted to Reddit, where footage apparently shows a native v2699 (2023) version of the 13-year-old game, running on the original Switch, albeit rather poorly.

The performance overlay shows that the frame rate reaches 22FPS at most, and declines to 11FPS in some places, but it does appear to be playable.

A user explained that the footage had been taken down a while ago, but it looks like the project is in progress again. M0jso showcased more videos on X, explaining that rendering can be broken in some places, crashes are frequent, but they have seemingly managed to play GTA 5 on a real Switch console.

However, overall, performance appears poor, and the odds of the game reaching console or PC-level quality seem slim. It made me wonder what GTA 6 could look like running on the Nintendo Switch 2, a more advanced system that boasts 4K and 1440p resolutions and 60FPS.

For now, Rockstar hasn't shared any plans to port the game to Switch 2 - a PC version hasn't been announced either - but we've seen demanding games such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Hogwarts Legacy functioning on the console with minor frame rate issues.

That being said, GTA 6 will be a massive game, with a map possibly even bigger than Cyberpunk 2077 and GTA 5's. Not to mention the dense locations and level of detail that PS5 and Xbox Series X will also need to contend with.

While the game's performance features haven't been revealed yet, reports have claimed that it's likely to run at 30FPS on PS5 consoles due to CPU limitations, which could make the likelihood of a Switch 2 port rather slim.

According to Digital Foundry, GTA 6 running at 60FPS on current-gen might be pushing it, but a 40FPS mode could be possible.

There's still just under five months to go before the game launches on November 19, so we could learn more about performance, potential graphics modes, and even get a third trailer soon.

• The official story trailer for Marvel's Wolverine has been released
• The trailer features Jean Grey, Team X, and a multitude of villains
• It looks like The Last of Us actor Troy Baker will also star in the game

Insomniac Games has revealed brand new story details for Marvel's Wolverine alongside an official story trailer, featuring bloody battles, mutants, and a ton of villains.

Revealed at San Diego Comic-Con, the trailer kicks off with Logan, aka Wolverine, confronting Jean Grey in what looks to be the aftermath of a battle. The pair clearly share a lot of history in this story, and Jean can be shown accompanying Logan on missions as they rescue mutants and investigate threats as part of Team X.

"New allies and formidable adversaries emerge in the clash for mutant survival," the new story description reads. "As Wolverine, unite with Jean Grey to protect those most vulnerable. Fight alongside Team X to confront the world’s deadliest villains in the caliber of Bolivar Trask, Omega Red, and Deathstrike, and stand against oppressive forces like The Reavers and The Hand."

We also get a look at more members of Team X - the X-Men don't exist in this story - which includes Sabretooth, Mystique, and Sunfire. At one point, we also see a quick glimpse of another unnamed character, who appears to be played by The Last of Us actor Troy Baker.

There are plenty of shots of Logan in different cities around the world as he takes on enemies like Deathstrike and, notably, The Hand, which you might be familiar with because they're one of the major villainous organizations of the Daredevil TV series and the upcoming movie, Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Insomniac also dropped some brand new artwork for the game as well, showing Logan taking on The Hand, and it looks awesome.

In addition to a new story trailer, the studio also announced a collaboration with Arc System Works to bring Wolverine’s suit from Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls to Marvel’s Wolverine, as well as revealed a digital prequel comic book that takes place before the game.

It was also confirmed that award-winning composer David Fleming crafted the music behind Marvel’s Wolverine, which will be released on August 28, but fans can listen to the first track, "Logan," on available platforms like Spotify, Apple, YouTube, and Amazon.

Marvel's Wolverine launches exclusively on PlayStation 5 on September 15.

• Former Nippon Ichi Software CEO Sohei Niikawa has criticized Sony's decision to end the production of game discs
• The Disgaea creator says the company doesn't "understand the feelings" of physical game fans
• He adds, "If they’re going to go as far as eliminating physical packages, they may as well eliminate the hardware too"

Former Nippon Ichi Software CEO and creator of the tactical role-playing video game series Disgaea, Sohei Niikawa, has objected to Sony's plan to end disc production, saying the company might as well eliminate hardware too.

Sony announced its decision earlier this month, calling it a "natural direction" for the company that will come into effect by January 2028. It means that in the future, PlayStation owners won't be able to purchase discs for new games.

Fans have been vocal about their anger at the decision and have called on Sony to change its mind. Even Former PlayStation Worldwide Studios boss Shawn Layden has called the plan to move all-digital "a fairly dramatic decision."

Now, speaking to Noisy Pixel at Anime Expo 2026, Niikawa has also criticized Sony, saying that while he understands the plan "From a purely business perspective," it will hurt PlayStation fans.

"I think physical editions of games are very important," Niikawa said, explaining that fans who buy physical copies can hold a "great deal of value" and memories, and can even be taken to events to be signed by their creators.

"Physical games are important because they can carry that kind of meaning," he said.

"I can understand why the people at Sony would make that decision. However, the executives who decided it have probably never experienced coming to an event like Anime Expo and having someone approach them with a physical game to ask for an autograph.

"I don’t think they understand the feelings of those fans, and they may never have considered what physical editions mean to the people who value them."

He added, "If they’re going to go as far as eliminating physical packages, they may as well eliminate the hardware too. A television would be enough. Why would you need the console? If you’re going to get rid of physical games, you may as well go all the way."

For now, Sony appears firm in its decision, and analysts have determined that it won't change its mind, despite the backlash, arguing that "Digital is just too lucrative," in the current business.

Circana's Mat Piscatella also believes that Sony is taking advantage of the current digital market, and recently reported that only seven PlayStation games have sold more than 100,000 physical units year-to-date in the US.

The Halo series is in an awkward spot right now. With 2021’s Halo Infinite being the last major release, the franchise’s status as a system seller isn’t as strong as it was two decades ago. Halo: Campaign Evolved is a safe yet surprisingly competent remake of Halo: Combat Evolved that attempts to bring back the glory days.

My earliest memory of Combat Evolved on the original Xbox was when I could barely read. My dad was visiting his university friends from back in the day, and he left me with their college-aged children. I remember getting absolutely cooked in PvP, as the only video game I had ever played before that point was Pokémon.

25 years later, I’ve played every major Halo release, and even revisited 2011’s Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary remaster to see how it fared before diving into Campaign Evolved. When playing these two back-to-back, they really put into perspective how much small changes could yield substantially different experiences.

The same old story

Like the original game, Halo: Campaign Evolved follows the space marine Master Chief after his starship, the Pillar of Autumn, crash-lands on a large ring world. The Covenant alien race wants to destroy Earth, and it's up to Master Chief, along with his AI companion Cortana, to fight back against them. It’s the same exact story told in the original. Although it’s not particularly deep, it sets up an enticing universe that makes you eager to discover more about the Covenant, as well as the secrets of this new ring world.

Campaign Evolved offers three new bonus missions that, together, act as a prequel to the events of the main story. Here, Master Chief and Sergeant Johnson join up, and the duo infiltrates an enemy ship to steal some data that could point them towards the Covenant’s home world. In these missions, Master Chief doesn’t have Cortana yet and is surprisingly more of a chatterbox than his usual stoic self. He and Sergeant Johnson constantly exchange quips — Johnson’s sarcasm juxtaposes well with the Chief’s more nonchalant attitude.

However, it’s tonally inconsistent. Without going into spoilers, the ending doesn’t explain Master Chief’s stoicism in the following events of Campaign Evolved. Chief’s demeanor here would fit better in a post-Bungie universe, where the series became more character-driven beginning with Halo 4. But as a prequel to the original trilogy, his frequent yapping feels out of character.

Additionally, the three missions trade the original’s streamlined level design in favor of the more modern Halo combat arena approach. Large-scale firefights across long structures and domes are everywhere. Halo is no stranger to enemy skirmishes, but they were kept at close to medium range encounters. I won’t lie and say I didn’t have fun playing these, but I just wish Halo Studios kept the new levels more uniform with the original’s design philosophy.

The prequel missions also reintroduce the Jiralhanae brutes, which were first introduced in Halo 2. These furry monstrosities are a nice change of pace when considering that enemy variety was limited in the original.

Back to basics

The first-person-shooter gameplay isn’t as revolutionary as it was back in 2001, but I enjoyed going back to the more boots-on-the-ground experience compared to flying around everywhere with Chief’s grappling hook in Infinite. There are so many small adjustments and additions to the gameplay that actually made me take modern Halo gameplay mechanics for granted.

For starters, you can now hijack enemy vehicles, something you couldn’t do in the original or even the Anniversary remaster. You instead had to either shoot the enemy piloting the vehicle first, or blow it up, hoping that it was still operable afterwards. When I replayed Anniversary ahead of Campaign Evolved, years of muscle memory conditioned me to hijack a vehicle, only to remember that Chief can’t do that and subsequently get run over and die!

Along with the typical weapons like the pistols, assault rifles, and rocket launchers, Campaign Evolved includes new weapons found in later Halo games like the Needle Rifle and the Brute Spiker.

These new weapons actually feel more of a fit for the bonus missions. The Needle Rifle almost felt like a cheat code when I used it during the main campaign. Energy Swords were also in the original game, but Chief couldn’t pick those up. Now he can, and I never got tired of hearing the satisfying sizzling plasma every time I pulled it out. Effectively doubling the total weapon count, the minute-to-minute gunplay is more varied and fun than ever.

The radar now also shows an arrow up or down on red dots to indicate whether an enemy is above or below you. Verticality was always a personal issue for me in these games, so this is much appreciated. Power-ups can be held like in Infinite, letting you activate them when you want rather than in older Halo games where they activated upon pickup. This had a tangible impact on how I approached certain levels compared to the original, like Truth and Reconciliation, where I could choose the optimal time to turn invisible and sneak past enemies.

On the surface, these changes may seem minuscule. But when actually playing Campaign Evolved, I came to appreciate the gameplay iterations that came with later Halo games.

The human connection

Whereas the original only supported two-player co-op, Campaign Evolved can support up to four. This increase makes shootouts even more hectic and exciting, especially during the bonus missions where having a full team fits the combat design ethos. Online co-op is an easy process, as all you need to do is invite other players to your fireteam. Crossplay between PC, PlayStation, and Xbox players is a big plus too.

Performance is solid, even with bullets and explosions going off every second, although cutscenes can lag sometimes.

You can also find skull collectibles scattered throughout the campaign, which are gameplay modifiers that make your runs easier or harder, like enabling infinite ammo or disabling your sprint function. There’s a whopping 42 skulls to find, so not only do finding the skulls add more replayability to the campaign, but also turning them on does too.

The biggest letdown of Campaign Evolved is the lack of any PvP multiplayer. It’s a staple of the Halo series that makes this remake feel a bit lesser.

Even with the lack of PvP multiplayer, Halo: Campaign Evolved is comfortably the best way to play the first Halo adventure with all the bells and whistles that come with the modernized features of later games. The new bonus missions are fun if not a bit uneven. Campaign Evolved feels good to play, whether solo or with friends.

Should I play Halo: Campaign Evolved?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

Halo: Campaign Evolved has an extensive suite of accessibility features. This includes text options like subtitles, HUD text, and voice chat text size. You can also adjust font, line spacing, and dialogue color for friends and foes.

There’s screen narration with volume and speed sliders, as well as color filters. You can adjust color correction strength, brightness, and contrast. Furthermore, you can turn on and off screen shake, flashing effects, and motion blur. For crosshairs, you can change the size, color, opacity, and thickness to see what works best for you.

There are also options to change directional damage indicators, navigation points, and even teammate markers to make finding things easier. Things like voice chat volume, widget opacity, and fade-out timer can be adjusted too.

How I reviewed Halo: Campaign Evolved

I played about 15 hours of Halo: Campaign Evolved (and counting) on Xbox Series X with a SANSUI 34-Inch Curved Gaming Monitor UWQHD. I finished the campaign, finding as many collectibles as I could along the way. I also played through the three prequel missions, as well as participated in a few missions with other reviewers in co-op.

First reviewed July 2026

• Star Wars Zero Company will take 30-40 hours to beat the main campaign
• The game won't feature New Game Plus mode, romance systems, or branching story paths
• Post-launch content is also unconfirmed at this time

Bit Reactor has confirmed that Star Wars Zero Company will take up to 40 hours to finish, and it won't have a New Game Plus mode.

The single-player turn-based tactics game is one of my most anticipated titles of the year, and ahead of its launch next month, the studio has conducted a community Q&A to answer a long series of questions.

One of the first questions asked how long the campaign will be, and lead producer Caydence Funk has confirmed that "Depending on your difficulty level and experience with the strategy genre," it's estimated that it can take between 30 and 40 hours for the average player to beat.

It's also confirmed that the story will be linear with no romance systems or branching paths.

"While we are excited about pushing the genre forward with a more cinematic approach, this is still a turn-based tactics game at its heart where adept skill and strategy are needed to overcome tense combat challenges," Bit Reactor said. "That said, there are story moments that can alter based on who you have in your squad, but the overall story is a linear one from beginning to end."

Personally, 40 hours is the ideal length, and a linear story means I can experience everything the story without having to worry about missing out on additional storylines.

"As far as exploration goes, yes, you’ll have the ability to explore a section of some planets prior to engaging in turn-based combat on them," the studio added.

"This is a minor facet of the game that we feel adds a unique, immersive quality to Star Wars Zero Company. These small segments are a chance for you, as Hawks, to conduct the espionage that Zero Company excels at, and are main-story-only segments that can affect the subsequent combat by granting Intel and Advantage Points."

Unfortunately, the game won't launch with New Game Plus mode, so new playthroughs will have to be completely fresh, "but players will unlock certain customization options on subsequent playthroughs" through progress.

Zero Company is set during one of my favorite Star Wars eras, the Clone Wars, so I'm very excited to experience a new story during this time period.

We can expect battles across the galaxy with the Separatist Alliance, a team consisting of a Clone Trooper, a Mandalorian, a Jedi Padawan, an Umbaran sniper, and more, as well as the appearance of Anakin Skywalker.

Customization will also play a big role in the game, and while players can't have an entire team of Clone Troopers, Bit Reactor confirmed that you'll have access to Clone armor cosmetics with the ability to customize your team's armor from the start. Outfits don't impact gameplay, but Clone Trooper helmets will provide a voice modulation effect, which sounds neat!

Even cooler, The Clone Wars TV series voice actor Dee Bradley Baker will provide his iconic voice to the character Trick and additional Clone Troopers, but the full cast has yet to be announced.

As for additional content, good news, there are no plans for microtransactions to be added to the game; however, the "Arc Trooper" Armor Set is only part of the "Grand Army of the Republic" Cosmetic Pack for the Deluxe Edition, but players will still have access to other cosmetic options in the base game.

The game also won't have mod support, and "right now" post-launch content isn't confirmed because Bit Reactor is "focused on making the best game we can at launch."

Star Wars Zero Company launches on August 27 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Series S.

From the scourge of Generative AI to the RAM crisis, from PlayStation axing discs to Xbox cutting legendary studios off at the knees, it seems like gaming is under attack from every angle. The industry is in dire straits, with studios seemingly no longer able to bank on the success of AAA blockbusters or Live Service behemoths like it used to. Even the biggest game ever, the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6, has had a troubled announcement, with its $80 price tag and discless contents getting people’s backs up.

It’s easy to feel helpless when seemingly insurmountable problems hit a medium you love, and speaking out feels like you’re merely howling into the void. But based on historic events, it's true that when enough gamers make themselves heard — and when they vote with their wallets — positive changes can occur, bad decisions can be reversed and better futures can be laid. Hey, even Xbox rolled back its Game Pass price hike (to an extent).

So we want to hear from you — which issue are you most concerned about? Participate in our poll below and tell everyone what you think. No doubt many if not all of these issues are interconnected. For instance, I can’t help but laugh at the cruel irony of the RAM being used to power the Gen AI tools for the purposes of developing games more cheaply is pushing up the price of the systems for playing those games. Of course, there’s no easy fix to any one of them, but we’ll follow up by dissecting the results and discussing the potential routes to bring gaming out from the dark place it’s currently stuck in.

• Dataintelo reports that the used video game market is worth $7.2 billion
• The firm thinks that Sony's decision to end the production of discs will cause it to decline
• Analysts say the market will "keep shrinking and eventually disappear"

The second-hand video game market could be in danger as a result of Sony's decision to end production of physical discs starting in January 2028.

A new story from CNBC included analysis from market research firm Dataintelo, which reported that the used game market was worth $7.2 billion in 2025 and predicted it could grow to $13.8 billion by 2034.

The figure represents all pre-owned games, console hardware, accessories, and peripherals, but consoles account for 42.3% of revenue, with North America being the biggest part of the market. That's compared to Europe, which captured 28.3% of global second-hand revenue last year.

The company explained that the second-hand game market is fuelled mainly by affordability concerns, an interest in retro gaming, and a "digital-to-physical gaming transition."

With Sony's plan to phase out discs in just two years, there's now a threat to the used game market.

"Realistically, at least one-third of games have been sold historically as used, and the games that were sold also provided currency to the gamer who traded them in as cash to pay for new games," said Wedbush Securities managing director of strategic planning, Michael Pachter. "Brick and mortar game retail is doomed."

However, physical discs and the second-hand market aren't likely to disappear all at once. Kazunori Ito, director of equity research at Morningstar, explained that the market will "keep shrinking and eventually disappear."

"There is an important difference between players accepting that shift because they see value in it, and having it effectively forced on them by taking away the alternative," Ito said.

"Most would prefer to make that transition in their own way and at their own pace, rather than having it driven by the end of physical discs."

In Sony's announcement earlier this month, it called it a "natural direction" for the company, arguing that the transition from physical to digital discs "will enable us to align more closely with how most of our community prefers to access and play games today."

While fans continue to push back against the decision, analysts have determined that the PlayStation company won't change its mind.

"Their current profit margin has been too weak for years now, so they feel like they must act," explained Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Japanese game industry consultancy firm Kantan Games. "From an economic perspective, digital sales just make too much sense especially for platform holders."

A recent report from Circana senior director and video game industry advisor Mat Piscatella also suggested that the digital market is in Sony's favor right now, explaining that only seven PlayStation games "have sold more than 100,000 physical units year-to-date" in the US.

• Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced game director Richard Knight is keeping future content plans under wraps for now
• He says post-launch support "doesn't feel like a crazy bet"
• He hopes fans will continue playing the game after Grand Theft Auto 6 launches

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced game director Richard Knight can't confirm if the title will receive post-launch content yet, but he hopes players will continue playing after Grand Theft Auto 6 releases.

In the same interview with YouTuber JorRaptor where Knight confirmed that Resynced will get a New Game Plus update at some point, the director was asked to discuss the game's post-launch roadmap and the plans moving forward.

"I can't say anything officially, but you know, it doesn't feel like a crazy bet," Knight said.

"We definitely need to support the game. We need to fix bugs. Sorry for anyone running into bugs. They hurt. They're painful for us, too. And we do want to add some quality-of-life stuff. So it's a pretty reasonable guess."

Then, as if considering the stiff competition when the game launches on November 19, he joked, "Also, please play us when GTA 6 comes out.”

As the first Assassin's Creed remake, it's unclear what the future holds for the game compared to new titles like Shadows and Mirage. While some hope for a remake of the original game's Freedom Cry expansion, Knight has said that it's still early days and plans aren't set in stone.

The director teased that there are team members who have "[DLC ideas," but balancing and updating the core game is currently the focus.

"Beyond that, I just want to say our focus with Black Flag remake has always been Edward," he added. "He's the kind of heart soul of the original game, and so you know maybe there could be more to tell there too."

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is now available on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC.

• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake will reportedly be re-revealed later this year
• A content creator reports that development at Saber Interactive has been "ramping up" and going "smoothly"
• Recent reports suggest the game could launch in 2028

Five years after being announced, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake will reportedly be re-revealed later this year.

That's according to reliable Star Wars insider and YouTuber 100% Star Wars (via Bespin Bulletin), who addressed reports that the KOTOR remake could launch in 2028.

In a new video, 100% Star Wars claims that Saber Interactive sources said the game's "best-case scenario" was a mid-to-late 2027 launch to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Star Wars, but a 2028 release window would align with the original 2003 game's 25th anniversary.

"A reveal later this year has been planned," 100% Star Wars said.

The KOTOR remake was announced in 2021 and was originally being developed by Aspyr Media. However, development was paused for some time before the project was eventually handed over to Saber Interactive in August 2022.

When asked about the game's progress earlier this year, Saber's chief creative officer, Tim Willits, said, "Yes, it is still in development. That's all I can say."

Aside from the teaser trailer revealed five years ago, we haven't heard or seen anything else about the game since, but according to 100% Star Wars, development has been smooth sailing since Saber took up the reins.

"I know about the extremely positive development cycle since the game has been at Saber since 2023," the YouTuber said. "Development on the game has not only been ramping up, but it’s been going extremely smoothly over the past 3 years since Saber started from scratch.

"They’ve been hiring some extremely high-end talent from across the industry and Saber is very much a unified front when it comes to the development of this game with resources and talent being pulled from all over the company."

While we wait for the KOTOR remake, Star Wars fans can look forward to Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, a role-playing game (RPG) from Arcnaut Studios being led by KOTOR and Mass Effect trilogy director Casey Hudson.

A new turn-based single-player game, Star Wars: Zero Company, from Bit Reactor will also launch this year on August 27, as well as Fuse Games' Star Wars: Galactic Racer, which arrives on October 6.

• Senior director and video game industry advisor at Circana, Mat Piscatella, reports only seven PlayStation games have sold more than 100,000 physical units year-to-date in the US
• He says two games "sold more than 10,000 physical units in the US during the week ending July 11, 2026"
• This comes as fans push Sony to reverse its plan to end the production of physical discs

In light of Sony's decision to retire the production of physical game discs, an industry analyst has reported that physical PlayStation games aren't selling too well in the United States.

Last week, angry PlayStation fans descended on the comment section of the latest Marvel's Wolverine trailer, another effort to push Sony to backtrack on its plan to end the production of physical discs starting January 2028.

As of writing, the video has over 12,600 comments, with the vast majority from fans sharing their thoughts on the decision.

Now, in response to a news story about the situation, Circana senior director and video game industry advisor Mat Piscatella has shared some interesting stats about the state of physical game sales in the US.

Writing on Bluesky, Piscatella said, "Two PlayStation video games sold more than 10,000 physical units in the US during the week ending July 11, 2026.

"Seven have sold more than 100,000 physical units year-to-date." He also clarified later that the figures didn't refer just to first-party PlayStation games, but "total PlayStation. All games, all publishers, all PlayStation platforms."

Addressing the fan backlash, the analyst added, "Commenting is cool, use your voice and all that. But commenting is cheap, [I don't know] idk."

Which games those are is unclear, but global estimates shared earlier this month by Alinea Analytics (via GamesRadar) suggest EA Sports FC 26, Resident Evil Requiem, and 007 First Light could be among those seven. It's estimated for Requiem specifically that 27.8% of its 3.5 million copies sold came from physical discs.

Sony has been notably quiet in the face of the backlash, and according to multiple analysts, despite the fan backlash, the PlayStation maker won't reverse its decision because "digital is just too lucrative."

"They of course knew what the online reaction would look like, and they now wait for this storm to pass," said Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Japanese game industry consultancy firm Kantan Games.

"Sony has over 120 million active PlayStation users. Around 50 million people subscribe to PlayStation Plus. As a thought experiment, let's say 500,000 cancel in protest, that would be just 1% of that business gone — of course not enough to Sony to start rethinking. Digital is just too lucrative.

He added, "Their current profit margin has been too weak for years now, so they feel like they must act," Toto added. "From an economic perspective, digital sales just make too much sense especially for platform holders."

• Topping has unveiled its new and compact desktop DX1 II DAC
• It's relatively affordable at £119 (about $160, AU$240)
• Multiple inputs and outputs, some clearly designed for gamers

If you've been considering buying one of the best headphone DACs, it's probably because you want to connect them to an audiophile-friendly hi-fi system — or even to your phone or dedicated music player on the commute. But Topping's latest option aims squarely at a very different audience: gamers.

The Topping DX1 II is a new piece of kit which is slowly being released in different regions; it's just been released in the UK from Electromod. It costs £119 (about $160, AU$240), so it undercuts many other options save for models built specifically for smartphones or digital audio players.

The DX1 II seems to have a specific user in mind though. The DAC is designed for all budget-conscious, audiophile-curious buyers, but it does feel aimed at gamers more than most. And that is thanks to a few key considerations that seemingly make it a good pick for enhancing your games' sound.

For example, while the DAC has two headphone outputs (3.5mm and 4.4mm), they're two-way, so you can use headsets with microphones. It can also switch between USB Audio Classes, allowing you to use it alongside the Nintendo Switch and PS5 which are some of the few gadgets only using UAC 1.0.

A DAC is for life, not just for gaming

Despite some gaming features being the headline tools, the Topping DX1 II seems to be a solid all-rounder too — and given how much we loved the larger and more expensive Topping DX5 II, it's well worth taking a closer look.

The DAC can input from USB-C as well as optical, and output to optical, stereo RCA, 3.5mm or 4.4mm. There's support for 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD 256, so high-quality audio won't be a problem. There are also EQ tools as well as filter and gain settings.

A built-in amp can deliver up to 1,000mW audio, and since it's quite compact at 10x10x3.2cm, it'll fit into various existing set-ups — and that glossy white casework will make it look right at home next to a PS5.

As a prolific gamer, I'm not sure that I can see a DAC being crucial to a hardware set-up — although I absolutely recommend any one of the best wired gaming headsets. That said, the Topping is still very useful as an affordable entry-level DAC for my music that can get double use for gaming.

• A new Marvel's Wolverine trailer has been swarmed by angry PlayStation fans
• Users are sharing their disdain for Sony's decision to end physical disc production
• Many are sharing how glad they are that Wolverine will be available on disc

PlayStation fans angry with Sony's decision to end physical disc production have descended on the latest Marvel's Wolverine to make their thoughts known.

Insomniac Games just released a new cinematic trailer for the upcoming Marvel superhero game titled 'Ain't No Hero' ahead of the game's launch on September 15.

It looks awesome, but if you think fans are having a healthy discussion about how cool the game looks in the comment section, you'd be dead wrong.

As of writing, the video has over 8,000 comments, and the vast majority are from fans who aren't backing down from their efforts to make PlayStation reverse its decision to retire physical discs in 2028.

"You know who isn’t the hero? The killer of physical," reads the top comment, which has over 12,000 likes.

"Wolverine was really getting PHYSICAL in this trailer, he has such a DISCtinct presence," one user said, with another writing, "Wolverine's treasured photograph demonstrates the importance of physical media."

Thankfully, Marvel's Wolverine will be getting a physical copy at launch, so fans won't have to worry about that. The only games that will be affected are titles launching from January 2028 onwards, and fans are letting PlayStation know how they feel about it.

"Can't wait for my DISC copy to come in," one comment reads, followed by numerous more of the same variety, like, "Can't wait for my PHYSICAL COPY," and "Looking forward to getting a PHYSICAL edition."

Since sharing the announcement earlier this month, Sony has been notably quiet in the face of the backlash. To urge the company to reverse its decision, fans have also created a petition, which now has over 326,000 signatures.

According to analysts, despite pushback from fans, the PlayStation maker won't reverse its decision because "digital is just too lucrative."

• Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced director Richard Knight says staff have "DLC ideas"
• He explains that the main game is the team's focus right now and doesn't know whether the Freedom Cry DLC will get a remake
• Knight also revealed that New Game Plus is in development

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced game director Richard Knight has revealed that staff on the development team have downloadable content (DLC) ideas, but is uncertain whether the Freedom Cry expansion will get a remake.

In an interview with YouTuber JorRaptor, Knight was asked if the team is actively exploring additional post-launch content, such as a remake of the DLC Freedom Cry, which is set 15 years after the main game and stars Edward Kenway's friend and quartermaster, Adéwalé.

While Knight acknowledged that the 13-year-old DLC is beloved not just by fans but by the team, plans for the game's future are uncertain. He explained that it's focused on updating the base game for now, but revealed that team members do have "DLC ideas."

"The reception has been amazing, but it's still so early right now," Knight said. "I know some folks on the team have DLC ideas. We need to balance those out with our future and then updating the core game."

"But beyond that, I just want to say our focus with Black Flag remake has always been Edward," he added. "He's the kind of heart soul of the original game, and so you know maybe there could be more to tell there too."

The director couldn't comment further on plans or on a potential DLC, only that the team has its hands full right now.

In the same interview, Knight also confirmed New Game Plus is in the works, but couldn't offer a release date.

"This is the one thing I can say: Yes, we're working on that right now," Knight told JorRaptor. "For sure. It's one of the first things. Partly because Shadows has already built their version, so it's considered a low-risk feature for us. We're still doing the work, so I can't promise exactly a day or anything, but we're definitely working on this one. It's just such a natural thing."

When asked if the Shadows' New Game Plus made it easier for the Black Flag Resynced team to add the feature to the game, he joked that Simon Lemay-Comtois, associate game director of Shadows, "did the hard work" of introducing it in the first place, and it gives the Black Flag Resynced team "something to look at."

"We have different challenges in terms of how that works," he said. "We can't skip to the hideout, necessarily. But we're looking into it."

On the possibility of the game having extra rewards for New Game Plus, like in Shadows, Knight suggested the game is still in early development, but, "If it's up to me, yes."

"There's still production discussions about what we can do and how much time it takes," he said. "Every item we make needs a model. Sometimes it needs cloth sim. All sorts of things."

In terms of a release date for the mode, he added, "I really can't promise anything – just to say it's at the top of the list of things. There's a lot of things. Some are harder than others, but it's something we definitely want to get done."

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is now available on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC.

• Richard Knight, director of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, has explained why hidden blade combat was removed from the remake
• He says the team "prioritized core combat"
• Knight adds that the team is also monitoring player feedback but "can't make any promises"

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced director Richard Knight has explained why the newly released remake of the 2013 game doesn't feature the original's hidden blade combat.

Black Flag Resynced is built from the ground up and features very little of the original code, but offers a faithful recreation that honors the original story, characters, and world. Many aspects have been changed to modernize the decade-plus-old game, including a revamp of the fight system, which notably does without Edward Kenway's hidden blade combat, which allowed the assassin to take down multiple enemies in a swift chain-kill.

In an interview with YouTuber JorRaptor (via IGN), Knight revealed why the team chose to scrap the feature, explaining that it wasn't a priority.

"During development, if you looked at Edward — he's so powerful right now and has so many tools, and so we prioritized core combat because we needed to nail that," he said.

"Something like throwing weapons, while it's cool, it's just like, 'He already has ten ways to kill somebody.' So, given the cost to reinvent the feature and rebuild it from the ground up with today's characters, rigs, and animations, there's a lot more that goes into it. It was just lower-priority for us."

Edward's hidden blade combat was a pretty cool feature of the original game, so understandably, a lot of fans were a bit miffed to discover the remaster ditched it.

However, additional comments from the director suggest that the development team could make some changes in the future.

"We can't make any promises, [but] we're listening to the community," Knight said. "We're interested in what people want the most.”

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is now available on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC.

TechRadar Gaming's Managing Editor Rob Dwiar rated the game four stars in his review, calling it "a great remake of a classic game and does a great job of walking the tightrope between respecting the original source material and introducing new content and modernizing aged features."

• GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen says Sony's decision to end physical game production is 'totally irrelevant' to the company
• The statement is supported by both physical and digital games, which only contribute 18% to overall revenue
• Cohen's comments likely won't help gamers in their push to retain physical game discs

The backlash against Sony continues after its controversial choice to stop new physical disc production of PlayStation games from January 2028 and it looks like the US' biggest dedicated video game retailer isn't taking a stand.

In an interview with Bloomberg, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen dismissed the idea that the company will be impacted by Sony's decision to end physical game copies, stating "it doesn't matter at all," despite ongoing uproar from consumers.

"It mattered in the past; software makes up less than 12% of the business," Cohen said. "Collectibles makes up over half of the business, so it's totally irrelevant."

Frankly, it's a harsh and cold stance, but it isn't exactly incorrect, as Bloomberg highlights that both physical and digital copies of games are only 18% of GameStop's total revenue. The store has mostly transitioned to a focus on collectibles like Pokémon cards, and that's evident the moment you visit its website.

It's no secret that Sony's decision to end disc production in 2028 hasn't gone down well with most consumers, as many feel as though it's a direct threat to game ownership. A digital-only console means games (or other media) can be taken away from gamers at any time, and Sony has done that recently with over 500 purchased movies removed from user libraries.

Essentially, GameStop's reasoning for the end of game discs being irrelevant is similar to Sony's, as Sony highlighted the fact that most gamers are purchasing copies digitally in its announcement.

Despite that, the consensus among consumers is that the elimination of discs is quite unnecessary, only cutting off another option of purchase. It's also worth noting that prices for games on the PlayStation Store won't be as low as they would usually be via second-hand or video game retailers.

Sony has yet to address the matter since the announcement, even with the sheer amount of backlash it's receiving online, and gamers will likely be hoping that statements from CEOs like Cohen won't harm the fight to retain physical game copies.

• Market research firm Newzoo reports that Grand Theft Auto 6 has "the strongest pre-order campaign ever recorded"
• The game earned roughly $180 million in digital pre-order sales across the US and the five largest European markets during the last week of June
• It's estimated GTA 6 will achieve $3.3 - $5.2 billion in cumulative global sales by the end of launch week

Grand Theft Auto 6 reportedly achieved the strongest pre-order period ever and is on track to earn over $5 billion by the end of its launch week.

That's according to video game market research firm Newzoo, which released a new analysis reporting that the upcoming Rockstar title earned roughly $180 million in digital pre-order sales across the US and the five largest European markets during the last week of June.

These markets represent 69% of lifetime console players for GTA 5, which Newzoo used as a guide to estimate that the total global spend was around $260 million in the first week of pre-orders, concluding that this "kicks off the strongest pre-order campaign ever recorded."

"That is a massive sum with major implications for how GTA 6's total sales should be forecast," the firm said. "Placed on the sales curve GTA 6 is likely to follow, that puts it on pace for $3.3 - $5.2 billion in cumulative global sales by the end of launch week."

The report states that popular titles, such as Cyberpunk 2077 and GTA 6, follow three sales curves: the "brand-new IP," the "sequel with performance uncertainty," and "the proven sequel - a known quantity." GTA 6 "will most closely resemble the proven sequel curve," and will see linear growth as we get closer to release, with Newzoo predicting that the first-week pre-order sales account for roughly 5.8% of the total sales by the end of the game’s launch week.

With this being said, the firm believes GTA 6 could reach $4.5 billion in sales by the end of its first week on sale, which is roughly 51 million copies sold.

GTA 6 is the most anticipated game of all time, but it Newzoo noted that, contrary to social media reports, the game "has not done a billion dollars in pre-orders 21 weeks out" from launch.

"This is absurd. Given how pre-order curves look, nothing ever has and nothing ever will in the near future," Newzoo said. "What the data actually shows is $180 million in digital pre-order spend across the US and the five largest European markets in the final week of June, translating to a global opening week of roughly $260 million, with most of the ramp still ahead."

It added, "Run that figure through the plausible band of pre-order curves, and GTA VI is on track to book between $3.25 billion and $5.2 billion in week-one launch revenue. Even at the most conservative reading, namely that GTA 6 front-loads harder than any major title in our dataset, it lands at a tremendous number by any historical standard."

GTA 6 officially launches on November 19, but physical copies don't come with a disc, but a digital download code. Despite the controversy surrounding the move, a recent report suggested that the physical edition is a top seller at multiple retailers.

• Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden says developers need to lead with innovation to justify the increasing cost of consoles
• He says studios are "limiting our reach just because of the games we’re building now"
• While Grand Theft Auto 6 will be a hit, Layden says "there are a lot of people in the world who really don’t care" about it

Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden thinks studios need to start investing in unique games that entice a wider audience to justify the increasing cost of consoles.

The price of hardware has been rising over the past few years. We can blame the rising cost of manufacturing, the shortages driven by AI data centers eating up all the components, or inflation. For whatever reason, the current landscape is a mess, and the next generation is bound to be expensive.

As Sony and Microsoft hike the price of current-gen systems, despite the PS5 and Xbox Series X and Series S being six years old, analysts suggest that the PS6 and next Xbox could cost as much as $1000. It doesn't sound out of the realm of possibility when you consider Valve has just launched the Steam Machine, a console-PC hybrid, for the same cost.

From what little we know about the PS6, we can expect technical improvements over the PS5, which could mean better ray-tracing and higher frame rates. With PlayStation's plan to end physical disc production in 2028, analysts predict that it could also be an all-digital console, sadly.

But would this justify a $1000 price tag? According to Layden, who spoke about the changing industry in an interview with Kotaku, it doesn't, and Sony will need to lead with software innovation to draw in gamers instead.

“I mean really, how much more ray tracing can you put in there?” he said. “And will my eyes actually see 120 frames per second?”

Layden can't say what the PS6 will look like compared to the PS5 since he hasn't worked at Sony since 2019, but if there's a chance the technical gap between the two consoles is too narrow, software is where things need to change.

"I think we’re already kind of limiting our reach just because of the games we’re building now. I mean, variety and range seem to be narrowing," Layden said. "Most games are falling into a standard set of buckets."

He pointed to the genres of games we've been seeing over the years, including zombie apocalypse and space-marine games, action titles with "guys with really long swords and not much armor and dragons."

Layden then brought up GTA 6, and while he acknowledged that the game is going to be a massive hit, some gamers don't care about it.

"So, you see those categories and coming around that, of course, Grand Theft Auto is going to be like an asteroid piercing the atmosphere and hitting the gaming universe with great force and power," he said. "But there are a lot of people in the world who really don’t care about Grand Theft Auto, the non-gaming community."

He continued, explaining, "We talk about how big we are, $220 billion, $250 billion industry, but our social impact is the reverse. Everybody has a favorite song. That’s probably the least revenue-generating entertainment category, music, compared to gaming and film and television. But yet it has the widest impact. And so gaming, it’s huge on the revenue side of things, but it’s a very select group that are doing it.

"We’re getting more money from the same people all the time and not necessarily bringing in new people into the experience. And if these people who aren’t in the gaming experience have already said ‘we don’t care about Call of Duty, we don’t care about Grand Theft Auto, we don’t care about Gran Turismo,’ doing more of those same games is obviously not going to appeal to those people either."

While Layden thinks discoverability is one facet of the issue, the main problem is creativity, and if developers "close ranks" and continue making shooters by appealing to what the "base user" wants, things will be fine, "but we won’t get any bigger. We won’t bring any more people into the tent. And that’s probably bad."

He added, "We need to bring out more games for more people, which means actually you have to have more people making games and in different places and different experiences. I want to find out what games from Uruguay look like and what kind of game designers we have in Bulgaria."

• Dragon's Dogma 2 producer Naoto Oyama says Performance Mode will reach 60FPS on console ahead of the Dark Arisen release
• Oyama says the Switch 2 version will hit 30FPS and "even higher"
• He adds that Capcom's RE Engine has been "a really great fit" for Switch 2

Dragon's Dogma 2 is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 later this year alongside the launch of its Dark Arisen expansion, and Capcom has been making some major improvements to the base game in preparation.

Speaking in an interview with Eurogamer about the process of porting the fantasy role-playing game (RPG) to Switch 2, producer Naoto Oyama said that Capcom's RE Engine "has actually been a really great fit for Nintendo Switch 2."

He explained that the team has been able to use knowledge of previous Switch 2 ports, like Pragmata and Resident Evil Requiem, and the improvements made to the RE engine to create a solid port for Dragon's Dogma.

"Because this is an internal [Capcom-owned] engine, we've been able to accumulate knowledge and know-how from other teams," Oyama said. "And that means that the improvements that are made to the engine with each title, and the different features that are added with new games, get to stay with us - and we get to benefit from them on future titles. It's a really positive cycle for us."

The producer confirmed that the team has also been working to improve the game's overall performance, not just on Switch 2, but also on the launch PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S platforms.

"In particular, we've been trying to find as many small tweaks as we can make so we can build up and have a big performance improvement on consoles when it comes to Performance Mode itself," he said, adding that this will be a feature of the August title update, allowing the game to reach 60FPS in Performance Mode on console.

Oyama continued, confirming that the game can reach 30FPS on Switch 2 and "even higher" during many scenes.

"That means that, commensurately, all that effort we've put into the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of the game also pays off in the Switch 2 version," he said, "and we're currently seeing a minimum 30 frames per second rate performance on that hardware (and, in many scenes, it's even higher!).

"So it's a little while to go until the game releases, but it's exceeding our expectations on Switch 2, and I hope the players agree that we've done a great job again with bringing this game to that platform."

Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, which introduces a new region, Norgan, new armor, weapons, dungeons, and more, launches on October 9.

• Aston Martin just revealed the Dreadnought, a digital-only military SUV designed exclusively for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4
• It features rugged armor plating and a powerful V12 engine
• The vehicle will feature in the game's DMZ mode and the free-to-play Warzone battle royale

Legendary luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin has just revealed the Dreadnought, a heavily armored all-wheel drive SUV said to offer "supercar levels of performance" and "elite tactical performance" on the battlefield.

Its Chiltern Green painted body combines rugged military armor plating with advanced aerodynamics to deliver a powerful combination of both speed and protection, while the interior includes luxury elements like an Oxford Tan leather dashboard and golden gear lever.

Under the hood, it boasts a mammoth V12 engine and comes with a unique range of combat-oriented features such as dedicated weapons storage and reserve fuel tanks.

Its name is intended to conjure images of the HMS Dreadnought, a famous 20th-century British vessel that was so significant it spawned a whole new class of battleship.

The catch? It's not a vehicle that you will actually be able to buy; it's a digital-only concept that's been designed exclusively for the upcoming video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.

According to the car maker's chief creative officer, Marek Reichman, designing the vehicle posed a "not inconsiderable challenge" to reimagine what Aston Martin could be in a virtual world where "the only limit is imagination."

Although the car is fictional, Reichman said that it was imagined as "a vehicle living in the real world" throughout the design process, and therefore "feels genuinely real."

You'll be able to go behind the wheel of the Aston Martin Dreadnought in Modern Warfare 4's DMZ mode when the game launches on October 20, 2026. It will also appear in the free-to-play battle royale Call of Duty Warzone.

Fans attending the upcoming Fanatics Fest in New York will be able to see a full-size model of the car in the flesh at the Call of Duty stand.

• PlayStation has delayed the launch of the FlexStrike Wireless Fight Stick
• The company says production delays have caused the hardware to be postponed
• The PlayStation 5 peripheral will no longer launch on August 6, but "at a later date"

PlayStation has issued an update on the release of its FlexStrike Wireless Fight Stick, announcing that the hardware has been postponed.

The FlexStrike was originally slated to release on August 6, but now, in an updated PlayStation Blog post, the company has confirmed that "due to unexpected production delays," it "will launch at a later date."

"We’re working to ensure we deliver the best possible experience to our players with FlexStrike, so we’re taking extra time to put the finishing touches on the product," PlayStation said.

"We apologize for this delay and look forward to bringing the FlexStrike experience to the community when it launches."

Pre-orders for the fight stick opened on June 12, but the company confirmed that players can check their order status through PlayStation Direct and will receive communications regarding their order.

"Players who pre-ordered through another retailer should look for updates directly from that retailer or contact them with any questions," it added.

The FlexStrike is a PS5 peripheral and costs $199.99 / £179.99.

TechRadar's senior reviews writer Harry Padoan got the chance to test out the fight stick earlier this year, writing that it "hits the right notes" performance-wise when tested against Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, and is "approachable and straightforward to use," and "offers ultra-low latency in both wired and wireless capacities."

Elsewhere, Sony has announced plans to end physical game disc production. While remaining silent against the backlash, the company recently posted an advertisement for the FlexStrike, which received massive pushback.

• The Blood of Dawnwalker director, Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, says a delayed next-generation would be beneficial for Rebel Wolves
• Tomaszkiewicz says it's "easier" to work with the current generation and PC
• He says two more builds would multiply "the amount of work you need to do"

The Blood of Dawnwalker director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz isn't worried about the impact of what a delayed next-gen could mean for Rebel Wolves because working on the current-gen consoles is "easier."

It's unclear when the next-generation hardware will launch. Rumors suggest that the PS6 could launch as late as 2028, which would make it eight years between the start of the current generation, with Project Helix, the next Xbox console, also eyeing a 2028 release.

With console prices increasing due to manufacturing costs, not to mention the RAM shortages caused by a rise in AI data centers, there's a chance the next-gen consoles will be highly expensive.

While Sony and Microsoft have yet to reveal how much their new hardware will cost, a delay in the next generation could be on the table as the companies wait for things to settle down and for consoles to become affordable again.

This would also mean studios won't have access to next-gen tech for quite some time to develop their games, which would force them to stick with current-gen.

However, for The Blood of the Dawnwalker studio, Rebel Wolves, this would actually be beneficial to the development team.

The Blood of the Dawnwalker is the first installment in Rebel Wolves' dark-fantasy role-playing game (RPG) series, launching later this year, and has already teased a sequel set in a modern timeline.

When asked by Eurogamer whether the next console generation being delayed would be an issue for the studio and the future of the game series, the director said, "It doesn't at all."

"To be honest, it's even better for us," Tomaszkiewicz explained, "Because when you have the game, and you know the systems and the features adjusted to these particular consoles, you know what you need to do. Always, a new platform is a new challenge: you need to learn it, you need to know what are your borders, what you can do, what you cannot do. And also, it's an additional build you need to create that you need to take care of later."

The director continued, saying that since The Blood of the Dawnwalker has four builds - PS5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, and two PC builds, it's already a ton of work for testers, so another console generation to work with would be another challenge.

"Let's say we have four builds, and later on you want to deliver a patch for the players. You need to be sure that these changes work on the Xbox, on the PlayStation, PC one, and PC two," Tomaskiewicz said.

"When you have next-gen, you're adding an additional two builds, and it multiplies the amount of work you need to do. It sounds easy but you need to know that there is a group of testers who need to test every platform separately - not only this particular change but whether the whole game has no blockers, if you can finish it from the beginning to the end, and so on and so on.

"It's a huge effort, to be honest, and if we work on the consoles we have right now, it's easier, because we know how many builds we have and it's easier to manage."

The Blood of Dawnwalker launches on September 3.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is here, and it looks like this remake has been a massive success. Ubisoft says that it’s already sold more than two million copies, with players all around the world discovering (or rediscovering) its wonderful 1700s Caribbean setting and all the twists and turns of its engaging pirate story.

Our own Resynced review saw the game awarded four stars out of a possible five, praising its many modernized mechanics and just how faithfully it adapts the 2013 original. Although the main review was handled by our resident Assassin’s Creed expert, Managing Editor Rob Dwiar, I’ve spent the last few days pouring hours into the game and am having an excellent time so far.

I’m almost halfway through now, and there’s already so much to like about it, as you’ll see with some of the highlights below, but also one little thing that’s been bothering me.

The visual upgrades are a huge success

You don’t need to have put Resynced side by side with the original Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag to appreciate just how much of an improvement the new visuals are. It’s no hyperbole to say that this is the best-looking emtry to date, edging out the already stunning Assassin's Creed Shadows thanks to its smaller but more detailed world.

The opening sequence has you parkouring your way through a lush tropical rainforest, showing off incredibly dense plants and little details like dangling vines that really help sell the setting. The gorgeous ray-traced lighting dances through the canopy superbly, light scattering down onto the little pools of water that are dotted throughout the jungle and reflecting off them realistically.

If you examine the layouts in detail, there have been loads of changes, but key elements from the original level layouts have been preserved smartly, like the fallen tree trunks that protagonist Edward Kenway darts across, so everything feels just right.

It’s the same story when you reach the city of Havana, which feels larger and more bustling than ever before. The streets are packed full of non-player characters (NPCs) wandering around, chatting to one another, moving crates, or standing around market stalls to give the impression of a lived-in world.

As for the open sea, I don’t think another game has nailed the waves quite this well. The water physics are phenomenal, with countless waves that stretch off into the horizon. The sea here looks far brighter than the original game ever did, but rather than taking away from the atmosphere, I appreciate how inviting it makes it all look. This is a world that’s just begging to be explored.

The visual overhaul extends to the game’s cutscenes. The wooden 2013 character models are no more, replaced with far higher fidelity versions that look much more convincing. Faces are no longer stiff and awkward-looking, either, thanks to enhanced motion capture, making it much easier to get stuck in and immerse yourself in the story.

Refined combat means swashbuckling feels better than ever

Going into Resynced, having seen a handful of trailers, I was quite worried that the combat would feel like that of Assassin's Creed Mirage: awkward, clunky, and a throwback to the systems of the older games in all the worst possible ways. Thankfully, when I actually got my hands on the game, it was immediately clear that my concerns were misplaced.

The combat system here is like the simplicity of the original game’s mechanics merged with all the style and flair of the fights in Shadows. Enemies have decently sized health bars or shields now, which you can whittle down with sword strikes before hitting a perfect parry to trigger a stylish finisher. This isn’t your only option either, as abilities like the rope dart or kick let you quickly stagger tricky enemies without breaking your flow.

There’s a fantastic rhythm to all of it, and I’ve found that charging in with my swords drawn has quickly become my favorite way to tackle encounters. It certainly helps that the most frustrating instant-fail parts of missions have been entirely reworked as well, giving you more freedom than ever to experiment with Edward’s arsenal.

There's finally no modern-day nonsense

Rob lamented the loss of some of the modern-day content, but I’m in the exact opposite camp. I think taking it out was the right decision, as the diversions into the modern setting are some of my least favorite parts of older Assassin’s Creed games.

I’ve always found the series’ whole meta narrative incredibly tedious — filling what would otherwise be grand adventures with a barrage of pointless conversations between characters that I’m convinced nobody ever cared about. Can anyone earnestly say that Desmond Miles is the best Assassin’s Creed character? No, and he just takes up precious time that we could be spending with someone actually entertaining and charismatic like Ezio Auditore da Firenze.

The modern-day stuff was especially bad in the original Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, casting you as an unnamed game developer working for a company controlled by the evil Templar Order. Wandering around a plain office block reading files and chatting with a handful of annoying coworkers is indescribably dull — I enjoy games that let me escape from my daily life, not recreate it.

Yes, the segments do introduce a little bit of satire, riffing on some of the more ridiculous events of the alternate history plot, but otherwise you’re not really missing anything with their removal.

Like Shadows, there are still some elements of the overarching narrative here as well for those that really care: the intro makes it clear that the game takes place in a simulation, and there are plenty of documents that reference the modern Assassin vs Templar struggle (on top of new Animus Rift challenges that explore interesting ‘What if’ scenarios connected to Edward’s life).

Thankfully, that’s all optional, so it can be promptly ignored if, like me, you’d rather focus on the historical fantasy.

But I wish the UI was a little more distinct

It’s clear that Resynced draws quite heavily on Shadows both technologically and mechanically (in addition to a healthy splash of Skull & Bones for the parts where you’re at sea). This, of course, isn’t a problem in and of itself, as Shadows is clearly an excellent foundation to build upon, but I do wish that the design of the menus and UI was more distinct.

There have been some tweaks for sure, like the position of different elements and the icons of map markers and so on, though to me lots of it still looks a little bit too similar - the loading screens are the scale, and the inventory menus are practically identical, for example, as are prompts when you’re being seen while in stealth. Both games even use the same fonts throughout.

It’s definitely not a big deal, but it all leaves Resynced looking more like a Shadows DLC than a remake of an older game at its most surface level. A more imaginative UI that drew more from the original Assassin’s Creed 4 and less from the most recent instalments would really help give Resynced more of a distinct identity.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is out now for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and Series S.

Denshattack! is undoubtedly one of 2026's best indie games, providing endless amounts of fun. It takes clear inspiration from several fast-paced platformer classics, from its splashy and colorful art style, bombastic and intense OST, to its high-speed and intense levels.

Instead of the conventional control of a character, developer Undercoders has you taking control of a train. You focus on style mixing skills and speed across multiple theme park-like levels, and aim for the highest scores possible throughout to beat rival gangs, and fight to wreck a 'shady megacorp', known as Miraidō, in a 'Japanese dystopia'.

Frankly, the story wasn't my focus going in, but rather how the developers could keep the experience feeling exciting as you progress — and fortunately, it managed to do just that with each stage feeling like it was ripped straight out of an action-packed comic book.

This is a game that I can certainly see others coming back to over and over again for challenges to obtain higher scores, and most importantly, enjoy the intense atmosphere each level provides.

Denshattack! borrows from three huge platformer classics

From the off, the inspiration behind Denshattack! was clear as day. The incredibly fast-paced and intense train adventure sequences reminded me very much of my experiences with Sonic games, notably Sonic Unleashed and its first Windmill Isle level.

In Denshattack!, you'll be overwhelmed with how many combinations you may have to remember at such high speeds, and you'll need fast hand-eye coordination to pull off tricks and dodge obstacles. You'll have several objectives to hit in each level, some being main objectives, but others standing as optional, with the latter contributing to the final score.

One example is what I call the brake-to-boost mechanic; Denshattack! allows players to break at any given moment during a level, but will give you a heads-up when turning a corner on a track for a drift. If you hold down the left trigger and let go at the right time (when the meter is centered in the middle and fully green), you'll get a big boost to speed, which is often one of the optional objectives in levels.

The intensity of Denshattack!'s gameplay is incredibly high; avoiding crashes into walls, jumping to change railway tracks, and even timing perfect landings to increase your score add to the game's difficulty. It even encourages you to avoid obstacles at the very last second, with one aspect of each level's final score labelled 'dares', effectively testing your daredevil skills.

Many of these mechanics play a significant role in boss battles, which require faster reaction speeds. That might sound straightforward, as most boss battles in games are more difficult and require better timing, but with how rapid Denshattack!'s gameplay flow is, leaving you very little time to settle, it's absolutely worth noting.

Sometimes, it can even feel like the game is moving just a tad bit too fast when you're attempting to keep track of objectives — arguably an issue with modern-day Sonic games too — but getting the hang of controls and timing doesn't take very long, and once you do, there's plenty of fun to be had.

Jet Set Radio is another Sega classic, and a simialrly big inspiration. The art style in Denshattack! is very similar, with its cartoonish and colorful nature, even down to the very font across the game's UI in-game and within menus.

The soundtrack is phenomenal, and also much like Jet Set Radio's, which shouldn't come as a huge surprise, since some of Jet Set Radio's composers, like Richard Jacques, have collaborated on Denshattack!'s funky, disco-like, bass-centric, and synthwave-infused OST.

Those inspirations are combined to make an intense adventure come to life, but what gives Denshattack! its own identity is the vast amount of unique maneuvers, tricks, and even attacks (during boss battles), giving players a push for higher scores.

Many of the tricks reminded me of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, like grinding across rails at high speeds and air spins, but not on a skateboard. Instead, you're quite literally using a train to provide a great spectacle, in what I originally thought was an odd move, but perfectly highlights the chaotic nature of riding in Denshattack!.

There's also a fair amount of customization available for the train car itself, and plenty of levels and collectable items to look out for throughout the game's runtime — and seeing a significant portion of what you can do in Denshattack!, I have no doubts this will be a 2026 sleeper hit.

• PS5 user reports being locked out of Ghost of Yotei digital copy for 'half an hour' due to license verification
• License verification isn't new, but this case is important amid Sony's plans to axe physical game copies
• Once physical game copies are gone, access to games on PlayStation will be at Sony's disposal

Sony's plans to push for an all-digital future for games on PlayStation have come under major scrutiny since the announcement, and one case highlights just how dangerous those plans are to game access and ownership.

A Reddit user (in a now-removed post) reported being locked out of the digital copy of Ghost of Yotei on PS5 for half an hour, even after refreshing licenses. When attempting to open the game, the message reads: "Can't use this content. Your licenses are being verified. Try again later."

It's important to note that this type of scenario isn't exactly new; license refresh prompts can occur after a long period, especially when sharing a game with another user. However, this Ghost of Yotei license check example comes amid Sony's ongoing, controversial decision to end the production of physical game discs from January 2028.

Once the supposed digital-only PS6 arrives, this very example of a consumer being locked out of a game can happen at any time. Unlike physical game discs, access to digital PlayStation game copies is at Sony's discretion, and the same will soon apply to all game copies, which essentially means game ownership will be non-existent.

Comment from r/gaming

Comment from r/gaming

Since there has been no follow-up statement since the disc axe announcement, it seems Sony is waiting for the storm to subside so it can ultimately commit to its digital-only plans, despite pressure from consumers online.

Unlike Microsoft's decision to walk back on its 'always-online' Xbox One plans after backlash in 2013, it may take a tumultuous effort from consumers, game studios, and video game retail stores to make an impact.

It's also quite ironic that Sony, which previously mocked Microsoft for the ability to share physical game copies, is now responsible for eliminating physical game copies. In the same vein as the subscription-based PlayStation Plus, which is a requirement to play games online, if consumers don't continue to push back against digital-only plans, there will be no going back once the PS6 arrives.

• Sony Santa Monica has confirmed God of War Laufey will be available on a physical disc
• The studio's comment come after PlayStation's announcement to retire physical game discs from January 2028
• This means God of War Laufey could release before the end of 2027

Following PlayStation's announcement to retire game discs, Sony Santa Monica has confirmed that God of War Laufey will be available on disc, suggesting the game could launch within the next year.

The studio's comment comes from X, where it shared its schedule for the God of War Laufey panel at San Diego Comic-Con.

In the thread, Sony Santa Monica added, seemingly in response to fans who have been asking for the past few weeks following PlayStation's announcement, that "We can confirm God of War Laufey will be available on disc."

Sony confirmed earlier this month that it would end the production of game discs starting from January 2028. Now that we know Laufey will get a physical disc, it suggests that the game will launch before 2028.

The new God of War entry was announced last month at Summer Game Fest 2026 and is set to star Kratos' wife, Faye. It would be great if the game launched in 2026; however, there are five months left in the year.

The latter half of the year is stacked with upcoming game releases, including GTA 6 in November and Marvel's Wolverine in September, so I find it unlikely that the new Laufey will release any time soon.

Given the studio's comment, it's more likely it will launch before the end of 2027, or, if we stretch it to the last possible moment, January 2028, before physical discs are retired.

Sony has faced overwhelming backlash since sharing its plan, with many fans hoping it will reverse its decision if there's enough support.

A petition has also been created, which now has over 310,000 signatures, urging Sony to back down, but for now, the PlayStation company has remained silent.

• The PlayStation and Xbox One versions of Dying Light: The Beast have been cancelled
• Techland says the game "was built from the ground up to take full advantage of current-generation hardware"
• The decision "reflected the technical realities of development and our commitment to delivering the best possible experience"

Techland has announced that Dying Light: The Beast will no longer be released for last-generation consoles.

The latest entry in the survival horror series launched in September last year for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC, and it was Techland's plan to eventually bring the game to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at a later date.

Now, in a statement shared on X today, the studio confirmed that it has "made the difficult decision" to cancel the ports "after careful consideration."

"Dying Light: The Beast was built from the ground up to take full advantage of current-generation hardware. Its open world, advanced visuals, and fluid combat and traversal all depend on processing power and memory that previous-generation consoles simply cannot provide," Techland said.

"As development progressed, it became clear that bringing the game to those platforms would require compromises that would prevent us from delivering the experience we set out to create."

It continued, saying the decision wasn't a "matter of choosing to leave those platforms behind" but rather one that "reflected the technical realities of development and our commitment to delivering the best possible experience."

"We know many of you were looking forward to playing on PS4 or Xbox One, and we are truly sorry for the disappointment this causes. Anyone who was expecting to play on either platform will be eligible for a refund. Thank you for your understanding and continued support."

In TechRadar Gaming's Dying Light: The Beast review, reviewer Christian Guyton said the game "went from potential expansion to a fully-fledged sequel, and although its origins are on full display in its narrative and protagonist, it never feels constrained by them."

"It’s not reinventing the wheel," Guyton wrote. "Techland has a solid formula that mixes traditional open-world action sandbox elements with a solid parkour-based movement system and high enemy density, so it’s understandable that The Beast wouldn’t be too much of a deviation from the norm. Still, the new setting is a breath of fresh air, and it still feels fantastic to dropkick a zombie off a roof."

A new edition of the game, Dying Light: The Beast Restored Land, was released earlier this year and included the base game, all post-launch content, and the 'Restored Land' survival mode.

• The Entertainment Retailers Association has slammed Sony's decision to kill physical discs
• The UK trade organization says digital games "should complement physical formats, not replace them"
• The ERA says, "Removing discs doesn’t represent progress – it simply removes choice"

UK trade organization, Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), has criticized Sony's decision to end production of physical PlayStation discs.

The gaming company has received overwhelming backlash since announcing its plan to retire physical discs in 2028, and now, as reported by The Game Business, the ERA, which represents most major video game retailers in the UK, including Amazon, Game, Sainsbury’s and HMV, has condemned the plan, calling it "a triumph of corporate convenience over consumer choice."

"Every year, millions of gamers still choose to buy physical copies because they value true ownership," CEO Kim Bayley said in a statement. "A disc can be shared with family, traded in, collected, preserved and, crucially, still played years from now. A download licence often offers none of those freedoms."

Per NielsenIQ and market research firm GfK, The Game Business reports that 45 percent of all physical games sold in the UK in 2025 were for PS4 or PS5, which represents almost half of all physical game revenue during this period, and a majority of sales were made through the post as opposed to in-store pick-ups on release day.

The ERA also said that 25 percent of gamers under 25 use discs and the total UK disc-based games market was valued at over £300 million in 2025, "demonstrating that there remains a substantial and committed audience for boxed games."

"Retailers see this demand every day," Bayley said. "Physical games continue to bring people into shops and give consumers real value through gifting, collecting and resale. The industry should be embracing every legitimate way consumers want to buy games, not narrowing their choices."

The CEO continued: "Digital distribution has transformed gaming and is hugely popular, but it should complement physical formats, not replace them.

“Consumers deserve the freedom to choose how they buy their entertainment. Removing discs doesn’t represent progress – it simply removes choice. That’s bad for gamers, bad for retailers and ultimately bad for the long-term health and preservation of our games industry."

Since its announcement earlier this month, Sony has remained silent in the face of the backlash. Many fans have banded together to urge the company to reverse its decision, including signing a petition that now has over 310,000 signatures.

• Call of Duty: Black Ops Season 5 has been revealed
• The update drops on July 23, 2026
• Big additions include new weapons, maps, and modes

With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on the way, Activision has revealed the next batch of content coming to 2025's Black Ops 7 and the free-to-play Warzone battle royale.

As detailed on the Call of Duty blog, the major additions include five new multiplayer maps, three of which drop alongside the season's launch on July 23.

The one I'm most looking forward to is Jubilee, an all-new 6v6 environment set in a rural Japanese town. It's joined by Frequency, a remaster of a Black Ops 4 map, and a remake of Black Ops 2's iconic Dig (itself a version of World at War's Courtyard).

The two other maps, Turbo Tilt and Freerun: Descent, will be added in the subsequent Season 5 Reloaded update.

A wealth of new modes

Some new limited-time modes are dropping as part of the update as well: Overdrive Domination (a twist on the classic Domination mode that incorporates the power-up stars from Overdrive), Gauntlet Rush (which rotates between five distinct game modes), and, in the mid-season, the return of Cranked Moshpit.

It wouldn't be a new season without some fresh weapons and attachments, and the ones coming in Season 5 are some of the wildest yet.

At launch, you'll be able to unlock the FG42 assault rifle, a modernized version of the WW2 weapon with serious damage and almost no horizontal recoil, and the dual Gremlin SMGs, which trade the ability to aim down sights for extreme firepower and mobility.

Later in the season, the Mammoth LMG is being added and, true to its name, it's a massive gun with two high-power barrels that fire continuously in addition to a new mace melee weapon.

On the attachment side, completing weekly challenges will unlock the likes of the Jäger 45 Grid-Breaker Kit — a crazy pistol conversion that turns your side-arm into a portable EMP blaster — or the M34 Novaline Garand Conversion that transforms the futuristic burst-fire rifle into an old-fashioned top-loaded one.

If you're keen to dive in, Black Ops 7 is available now for PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Xbox One.

• Former Rockstar Games producer John Ricchio thinks Grand Theft Auto 6 will be "monstrous" in scale
• He says the developer tends to make every game bigger than the last
• However, he wouldn't want to work on the game because of how ambitious it is

Former Rockstar Games producer John Ricchio believes Grand Theft Auto 6 will be a massive game and is glad he isn't working on such an ambitious project.

In a new podcast interview with Kiwi Talkz, where the developer discussed his time at Rockstar and the crunch culture that came with the role, Ricchio was asked whether there was any part of him that wanted to work on GTA 6, or if thinking about the project stressed him.

"I think the fact that every single time they do a GTA, it's like ludicrously bigger than before is like something that I think about," Ricchio said. "I can only imagine the size of GTA 6. It must be monstrous, or if not monstrous, it's probably way more detailed."

GTA 6 will have a much larger Vice City map, allowing players to explore several regions of Leonida. There will also be a ton of open-world activities and features to access, including car shops, clothing stores, hairdressers, safehouses, as well as boats that players can take on the water.

The developer suggested that if Rockstar "kept the same footprint as GTA 5, which was significantly bigger than GTA 4, significantly bigger than RDR [Red Dead Redemption] and continued to build upon that framework, GTA 6 will be a massive game.

"Between RDR and GTA, I think they were continually growing the size of the world, which is a big deal, right?" he said. "It's a lot more stuff to build. It's a lot more performance to deal with. There are a lot of considerations with going with a bigger world, but it really does make you feel like you're in a place, right? It makes you feel like you're in a huge place."

For this reason, Ricchio jokingly added, he's "pretty happy" he's not working on the game.

"Not that it wouldn't be cool to work with those people. I still think about my Rockstar teams all the time," he said.

"It is really difficult, and it's a hard period of your career when you're working that hard on something, and getting to the end and then getting to have people be really excited about what you've done is just magic, it is so rewarding.

"I'll never forget some of the play with the public events for Max Payne or for RDR, and even GTA, we were involved in very specific pieces, but just having people so excited about what you've made or being a part of something. It is so incredible. It is such a good feeling to make something, to spend a lot of time [on something] and have people appreciate it."

Ricchio continued, saying if he was still at the studio and working on GTA 6, he wouldn't be "amenable" to how things operate currently, which would "probably lead to an exit for me."

"I've learned a lot about different ways that you can do things and different ways to build successful, kind of hard projects, and it doesn't require that way to do it on the backs of burning people out," the developer said. "Clearly it works, and they make games that do really well, and I expect GTA [6] to do really well even at the higher price point."

• Future Games Show will return for Gamescom 2026
• The main showcase will begin on August 26, followed by the FGS Live, and the FGS Best Of Gamescom will air on August 30
• Future Games Show at Gamescom will feature world premieres, new trailers, and more

The Future Games Show will officially return next month for Gamescom 2026 with three digital showcases.

Future Games Show at Gamescom will air the same day the industry event kicks off, on August 26, and feature new announcements from "some of the industry’s most creative studios," including world premieres, exclusive trailers, developer deep dives, and brand-new game demos.

The recent Future Game Show Summer Showcase in June included 40+ games and 11 world premieres, and reached over 17.8 million live and launch-weekend views, so viewers should expect some more exciting game reveals.

FGS Live From Gamescom will immediately follow the main showcase on August 26, be hosted by the FGS editorial team, and feature more world premieres and exclusive trailers, as well as news and interviews from the Gamescom show floor.

To round out the event, the FGS Best Of Gamescom broadcast will kick off on August 30 and take viewers to the show floor to wrap up the best games of the event. Those tuning in can also expect exclusive booth tours, developer interviews, and a recap of Gamescom’s most exciting announcements.

All three digital shows can be watched on Future Games Shows' Twitch, YouTube, X, TikTok, Facebook, and GamesRadar+.

"The Future Games Show is the best place to discover new games, from indie gems like acclaimed-puzzler Blue Prince to AAA blockbusters such as sci-fi RPG Exodus," said Daniel Dawkins, Content Director of Future Games Show at Future. "Our Summer Showcase delivered 3.72 wishlists per live viewer, comfortably outperforming industry averages, thanks to our super-engaged viewers.

"Since launching in 2020, we have been proud to showcase the industry's most exciting titles alongside premier hosts like Troy Baker, Alix Wilton Regan and Ben Starr. This Gamescom, we are delivering three massive digital showcases packed with the latest news and world premieres for PC and consoles. Don’t miss it!”

• Ubisoft has revealed that The Crew Motorfest is coming to Nintendo Switch 2
• The port will release on October 8, 2026
• A physical edition is planned in addition to the digital version

With all eyes on the recently released Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, there's a strong chance that one of Ubisoft's most interesting announcements has passed you by. Last week, the company quietly confirmed that The Crew Motorfest is coming to Nintendo Switch 2.

In my eyes, this is pretty excellent news as the Switch 2 has been in serious need of some more quality racing games.

Sure, you have the excellent Mario Kart World (not to mention Kirby Air Riders), but if you want something a bit more realistic, your only real option so far has been Grid Legends: Definitive Edition, which focuses solely on track racing.

The Crew Motorfest is a proper AAA open-world experience that lets you drive anywhere in hundreds of officially licensed cars, plus a handful of planes and boats when you want to spice things up.

It's set in a massive recreation of Hawaii, with loads of real-world towns and landmarks represented, in the midst of hosting a huge international car festival. Yes, it's a very similar premise to the Forza Horizon games — but is that really such a bad thing?

It's a proven formula and, with no word of a Forza Horizon 6 Nintendo Switch 2 port yet, I think The Crew Motorfest will fill a very significant niche.

The port is set to arrive on October 8, with a physical retail version planned alongside a digital release.

• One of the original Xbox founders, Laura Fryer, suggests Sony is stripping away game ownership via an all-digital future
• It comes after PlayStation announced physical game discs won't be produced starting from January 2028
• Fryer claims Sony let Rockstar 'take the heat' by announcing a digital-only GTA 6 first

Sony is still under fire after its latest announcement of a future all-digital future for PlayStation games, as physical game copies are due to be axed — and not only are consumers livid, some gaming industry veterans are too.

As reported by Notebookcheck, Laura Fryer, one of the original founding members of Xbox, has recently condemned Sony's announcement ending physical game discs for future PlayStation games, and highlights the threat the move poses to game ownership.

The announcement from Sony has since resulted in major backlash regarding game ownership from thousands online, including a slight pushback (or support for physical media) from indie game developers like Astrolabe Games.

In this case, Fryer hasn't been shy about noting just how dangerous the end of physical game discs will be once 2028 arrives, especially since rumors suggest Microsoft may follow in a similar direction with its next Xbox console.

"Digital is convenient until someone else decides you've had enough, and there are some games and movies where I will never have enough of them," Fryer stated, which is arguably a valid statement since Sony recently removed over 500 purchased movies from users' libraries.

It's worth noting that Rockstar Games recently opened GTA 6 pre-orders, with the announcement that there won't be a physical copy of the game, which Fryer highlights as an important step to Sony's latest plans, stating: "Sony waited for Rockstar to make the first move, take the heat, and now they're going all in to make this the new normal."

Fryer even references Don Mattrick's infamous statement regarding an 'always online' Xbox One console experience, as she suggests that this is what Sony, Microsoft, and, frankly, Hollywood are doing today.

"When was the last time you put a disc in and the game just worked without a big download? All the major players, Sony, Microsoft, even Hollywood, they're all aligned here. Digital kills the used market, and it stops your old library from competing with new games on the next console."

That 'always online' future is closer than it ever has been, and with Sony also shutting down PS3 and PS Vita stores in 2027. That means whenever the PS6 (or future PlayStation consoles) eventually becomes a retro console like the PS3, there will be no way to play games on the system unless it's via digital means — and that directly eliminates game ownership completely.

Sony's social media team are having a rough week: anything they post is getting piled on by angry gamers who are outraged by Sony's plans to stop the production of game discs.

Many PlayStation owners are vowing to boycott the PlayStation Store, cancel their PlayStation Plus membership and never buy PlayStation products again.

It's a PR nightmare for sure, with pretty much any online PlayStation content becoming a place for gamers to protest, derailing any attempt to talk about anything else.

It reminds me of the response to Sonos' introduction of a new and hugely flawed app, which Sonos now admits was badly done.

Sonos' PR nightmare lasted for around 18 months, there is now optimism and rebuilt trust around the new changes it's bringing to improve the app. Could Sony learn from Sonos' experience and its attempts to rebuild customer trust?

I think the answer is: yes it could, but no it won't.

What Sonos got right and Sony probably won't

Speaking to TechRadar earlier this year, Sonos CEO Tom Conrad set out his views on how to try and make angry customers happy again. "You just have to show up in people's life with some humility and do the hard work of earning their trust back through great execution, great product, great software, great experiences, and never forget what you put people through."

So far, Sony isn't doing that: rather than respond to gamers' concerns, it's battening down the hatches and staying silent about its move to digital-only. And that's a shame, because there are genuine reasons for gamers to worry about Sony's decision.

There are three key concerns about digital-only. The first, and I think the most important, is cost. The PlayStation Store is ludicrously expensive: for example Spider-Man 2, a three-year-old game, is £69.99 digital today in the UK, where I'm based. Competition between retailers means it's around £37 on disc.

The second is second-hand gaming. I buy many games second-hand, and many gamers like to sell their games after they've completed them or got annoyed by them, so that they can spend what they recoup on more new games (a win for the industry overall). So I can buy Returnal for about £20 on eBay. I can't buy the digital edition second-hand, so if I want the digital version it's… you guessed it, £69.99.

To be fair, you can get both games, and others, on PlayStation Plus Extra. But not everyone wants or can sustain yet another subscription, and we know that all subscription services go up in price — often dramatically so, as we saw with Xbox Game Pass last year.

And the third is ownership. Sony's disc announcement came just days after it deleted customers' purchased copies of over 500 movies, making it clear that purchasing doesn't mean owning forever. And those movies cost a lot less than £69.99.

Sony may have to eat humble pie for a while in order to mimic Sonos here, seeking out customer views to talk about those concerns, and maybe thinking about how to address them — so for example it could tell us that digital codes would still be sold through multiple retailers, like Nintendo does with its key cards, or that we'd be able to resell our digital-only games (even if it hasn't developed the mechanism for this yet).

However, the reality is that for a firm the size of Sony, even a significant customer backlash such as 246,586 signatures on a petition represents a microscopic proportion of its 125 million PlayStation Plus subscribers, let alone the many more PlayStation owners — and it can afford to ignore them.

That's something of a gamble. Just ask Microsoft, whose Game Pass price hike scared off far more customers than expected — according to reports, it lost 4 million out of 34 million Game Pass subscribers when it was expecting huge growth instead, forcing a partial reversal.

But Sony's gaming business is far bigger, and that means it can still upset a lot of customers without feeling much pain.

I suspect Sony is going to take a different lesson from the Sonos situation: even at the height of customer anger, Sonos still sold lots of speakers, soundbars and subs.

Then again, maybe Sony is more rattled than it's currently letting on. Two days after the digital-only announcement, with customers raging online, Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki sold more than half of his Sony stock and Sony's chief strategy officer unloaded a bunch of Sony shares too.

If you love cinematic action games like The Last of Us, then there’s one upcoming release that should be on your radar. Summer Game Fest 2026 gave me the opportunity to go hands-on with Blood Message, which seems set to deliver a killer mix of gripping stealth, visceral melee combat, and intense set-piece moments.

Set in Ancient China, it follows a nameless hero and his son on an epic 1,000-mile journey through the scorching deserts of East Asia towards the historical city of Chang'an to deliver a vital message. The pair must survive against impossible odds, navigating vast sieges and escaping the clutches of relentless enemy forces.

An epic journey

Because this is the first single-player title by Naraka: Bladepoint developer 24 Entertainment, I had no idea what to expect when I sat down for my demo.

Showcasing an early segment of the game, the demo opens with our protagonist searching a house, desperate to recover an important letter as hostile soldiers comb through the surrounding town. The high production values are immediately apparent: everything here is rich in detail, with plenty of high-fidelity objects for you to pick up and pore over. The architectural style of the building around you is striking as well, with clay walls, sandy floors, and thatched reed roofs.

While Ancient China is certainly becoming a more common setting in games, I can’t think of the last time I saw its arid desert regions depicted. I’m desperate to explore more of its tantalizingly exotic environments and soak in the unique aesthetic.

Playing with a DualSense Wireless Controller, I also quickly appreciate how the movement feels very fluid and benefits from some impressive animation that, like The Last of Us Part 2, looks seriously cinematic and realistic without sacrificing responsiveness.

It’s not long until I find myself in combat against a group of foes, and it’s just as excellent. You have a heavy attack and a light attack, plus the ability to parry. This is by no means a unique formula, but the impeccably slick way that the protagonist interacts with the environment leads to some of the most gripping encounters that I’ve ever experienced. There’s a real meatiness in your swings, which realistically causes enemies to trip and stagger.

Attacking a foe next to a stacked wooden shelf will send them tumbling into it, knocking objects onto the floor and stunning them for a moment. Launch a heavy kick while your opponent is standing in front of a table, and they’ll be pushed right over it onto the floor, creating vital distance when you’re surrounded. Fail to deflect an incoming strike yourself, and you’ll often be forced onto your knees, tapping a button to pelt anything heavy that’s within arm’s reach to give you a few moments to escape.

Although my combat time was limited, I was still impressed by the variety of ways in which fights could unfold, particularly when there was an allied companion in the mix. There were definitely some moments that felt scripted, like when two enemies locked swords with me at the same time near the end of a brawl to trigger a climactic struggle. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it helps introduce unexpected and exciting moments.

I really enjoyed going in with my sword drawn, but most of the time, combat is entirely optional thanks to a robust stealth system. This is another area where Blood Message feels similar to The Last of Us Part 2, forcing you to scurry through long grass and crouch in cover to avoid patrols. Get behind one of your quarries undetected, and you can initiate a brutal takedown, though be warned that any wrong move risks thrusting you straight into open combat.

At certain points, getting seen is inevitable, triggering bombastic chase sequences that have you sprinting away from barrages of arrow fire, scrambling up ledges, and leaping over perilous gaps. The path you need to take always feels very intuitive, though there are a few little alternative routes sprinkled throughout if you want to experiment.

Everything I played could easily rival the output of a developer like Naughty Dog, and with Blood Message set to release on consoles and PC, this should be at the top of gamers’ wishlists.

• Take-Two Interactive has its next quarterly finanical report scheduled for August 7
• The report will take place before the market open, which is unusual for Take-Two
• Fans are hoping for a new GTA 6 update

Rockstar Games' parent company, Take-Two Interactive, has quite an important day coming up, and fans are hoping for a new update on Grand Theft Auto 6.

We are four months away from the launch of the most highly anticipated game of all time, and so far we've seen exactly zero seconds of in-depth gameplay.

So what's next? It's said that this summer will kick off the big GTA 6 marketing push, but aside from pre-orders going live and an updated Rockstar website filled with screenshots and detailed game features, we're still waiting for Trailer 3.

However, as spotted by GameSpot, Take-Two will release its next quarterly financial report on August 7, which suggests we'll learn at least something about the game.

Typically, these financial reports are followed by a Q&A session with investors and are usually held after the market closes at 4 PM ET.

This August 7 report, however, will be released before the market opens, at 9:30 AM ET, and will be followed by a conference call at 8 AM ET. This is unusual for Take-Two, but it hasn't explained why it's doing it this way this time.

Whether there will be a pre-order sales report or a date for the next trailer, we'll have to wait and see, but fans on Reddit are hoping the financial report could kick things into high gear.

"Rockstar said summer will be the biggest marketing for them I don’t see this happening so far," one fan said, with another writing, "Trailer 3 moment passed, if they were going to drop it, we would have seen it by now. I honestly think the next step is a gameplay trailer."

We also have Gamescom 2026 in August, which means another month of game announcements, so Rockstar may finally drop a new trailer during this time.

GTA 6 officially launches on November 19 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, but pre-loading begins on November 12 if you choose to pre-order.

A recent report claimed that physical copies of the game are flying off the shelves, despite the fact that they don't come with a disc but rather a digital download code in the box, which has caused some controversy.

• Former Dragon Age lead writer and creator David Gaider says it's "unlikely" the beloved RPG will have a future at EA
• However, he would be open to working on the series again
• Gaider would return to the series' roots and make a "dark and dangerous" game

Dragon Age creator and former narrative lead David Gaider doesn't believe the beloved role-playing game (RPG) series has a future at EA, but would be interested in working on a new game if given the chance.

Speaking to PC Gamer, Gaider said it's "unlikely" we'll ever see another Dragon Age game made by BioWare under EA's control and explained how, while working at the studio, it always felt like "We were always one breath away from the [current] project being shelved."

"The thing that happened is that we kept releasing games, and it would sell much better than they thought it should, and it kept surprising them," he said.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard was the exception, which underperformed for EA. However, the publisher was also reported to have been pushing BioWare to incorporate live-service elements into the game, but when the studio stuck to its RPG roots, CEO Andrew Wilson called it a mistake.

Gaider suggested that the Mass Effect series was EA's golden child, and even if it didn't sell as well the team "got excuses, because it was an action-oriented game. They thought it should sell more. It was slicker."

While Gaider believes Dragon Age is dead under EA's ownership, he would be interested in taking on the series again and returning to what made the dark fantasy series so loved in the first place.

"If you'd asked me that in the past, I would have said absolutely not. That I’d done my time," he said. "I left the Dragon Age team before I left BioWare. After Inquisition came out, I went to [Dragon Age's creative director] Mike Laidlaw and I said, ‘I've told all the stories with mages and dragons and what have you that I have in me. And I could keep going, but if I keep working on this, it's going to become rote, and I think that would be a disservice to the team. So I should step aside, let fresher voices rise’. I don't know if that was the right decision, but it felt right at the time."

He added, "I do like a challenge. So if, out of some weird alignment of the stars, somebody handed the Dragon Age franchise back to me and said, ‘Breathe the life back into this baby’, that'd be a tough one, but I think that'd be an interesting thing to do. To go back to the basics of what made Dragon Age appeal to so many people in the first place. And go somewhere dark and dangerous, and do things that will make people upset. I think that’s what I would want to do with it."

• Daniel Ahmad of Niko Partners says Sony ending physical disc production was inevitable
• He says it would have happened if not for the PS6, then the PS7
• Ahmad says Sony wants to create a "closed ecosystem with high margins"

Sony's decision to end the production of physical PlayStation discs in 2028 came as quite a shock to the community, but one analyst believes the move was inevitable given the rise in digital sales on consoles.

Sharing his thoughts in a long thread on X in a response to a fan likening the situation to Apple removing the headphone jack from its products, Daniel Ahmad of Niko Partners said, "It's more like Apple removing the CD Drive from its laptops starting in 2008."

He explained that while there were many complaints at the time, there's "not a single person is complaining about it today," and there were not many people complaining in the early 2010s either. Ahmad puts Sony's decision down to digital PlayStation software performing better now than it ever did before the PS4 launched.

"The first thing to note about Sony's decision is that it would inevitably happen at some point for consoles. If not PS6, then PS7," Ahmad continued. "Full game digital sales on PlayStation have gone from less than 10% prior to the release of the PS4 to around 80% today."

He added, "On Xbox it's already over 90%, and if anything I'm surprised they weren't the ones to do it first. Yes, these numbers include digital only games, reflecting the current market environment, but they don't include DLC, microtransactions or subscriptions / free games."

Ahmad shared a bit more data to support his claims, saying that about 50% of the PS5 user base is subscribed to PS Plus and has built up a large library and/or has access to numerous digital games.

"The truth is that the console ecosystem is nearly entirely digital at this point," he said, pointing to how Sony also earns revenue through digital add-on content, like microtransactions and other in-game purchases, more than it does "from the sale of physical and digital full game sales combined."

Games like Fortnite, Grand Theft A 5, Minecraft, Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Marvel Rivals, Battlefield 6, and Arc Raiders, Ahmad pointed out, had the highest number of players on PS5 in May, and half of them don't ship on a physical disc.

"Over 30% of PS5s sold to date do not have a disc drive (Meaning that 70% do, however)," the analyst added. "More importantly though, the current sell through rate of digital only PS5s is above 50%."

Ahmad also said Insomnia Games' sales figures, which have been presented as evidence that physical sales represent a good chunk of PS5 sales, are "out of date" and "people are looking at the sell in number rather than the sell through number."

He explained that one of the reasons retail is high for certain physical games is "because Sony counts bundles as retail sales, even if it's a digital code with the console."

A reason he believes Sony is going forward with an all-digital future is simple: "The economic argument." Because of the profit margins between physical and digital games, Sony can retain 100% of first-party games sold on the PlayStation Store, but it earns $21 (30%) from a $70 third-party title.

"When it [Sony] sells a third party game at retail, it earns around half that amount, even if the player spends the same $70," he said. "The difference isn't as stark for third party publishers, but they'd prefer to sell all games digitally if they could for the higher margins. That's why physical game revenue makes up just 5% of Sony's total game software sales revenue (incl. DLC / MTX), despite accounting a higher % share for units sold. When Sony said it would stop publishing games on PC, no one pointed out that it essentially earned the same from PC sales that it earns from physical disc sales, and the former was considered too little."

Ahmad said another reason is the market we're currently in, where console prices seem to be increasing regularly. Sony knows that the PS6 could enter a market where other hardware is over $1000, and players will think twice about upgrading on day one.

"While part of it is cutting costs, it's also a realization that consoles are no longer going to be $199 mass market devices and they will need to focus on hardcore gamers who are willing to spend more than ever," he said.

A third reason would be Sony wanting to create a "closed ecosystem with high margins."

"The retreat from PC is partly about this, the end of disc production is also about this, as is the exploration of different form factors. Right now you can resell, gift, or even refund physical games. With digital games, you don't have the same rights currently," Ahmad said. "As Sony looks to maximize spend per user, it is essentially ending the used market for PS6 software and ensuring all software sold is high margin and they capture a %. In other words, Sony controls the license in its entirety and access is dependent on them."

Ahmad concluded, calling Sony's lack of announcement around what will happen to PS4 and PS5 discs "a mistake," and had it "talked about a disc to digital program, or confirmed a disc add on for the PS6, the backlash wouldn't have been as strong."

The analyst also said it's "unlikely" that Sony will reverse the decision, but "wouldn't be surprised if they do end up clarifying certain aspects." However, Ahmad thinks it could support physical games for a few more years, perhaps through limited-run hardware or a more expensive PS6 compared to the digital version.

"I'm also of the belief that even if the PS6 costs $1k, used physical games helps increase overall affordability," he said.

Ahmad ended by saying the conversation needs to shift to "consumer rights" and what digital game ownership really means.

"Regardless of whether we're talking about bringing physical back, or embracing digital, the conversation needs to shift to consumer rights and what a license should enable. Stop Killing Games was one part of it, but gifting, family sharing, refunds, and other aspects are just as important," he said.