Gaming News

Dune: Awakening Is Back Online After Scheduled Maintenance — Here's What's New

Dune: Awakening is back online after patch 1.1.0.13 was rolled out. The patch — which sought to implement a "number of backend changes to improve client and server stability" — was deployed after servers were taken offline for a couple of hours earlier today. Players should also expect some "minor fixes," the details of which are listed below. (If you don't see the latest patch, Funcom recommends you restart your Steam client). The update comes as Dune: Awakening deals with an influx of new players. Although Head Starters have been visiting Arrakis since June 5, Dune: Awakening released for all players on June 10. And within hours of going live, Funcom's survival MMO had clocked up over 142,000 concurrent players on Steam: 142,050 to...

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Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree First Hands-on Preview: Twin-Stick Hades

Had I not known in advance that I was going to be playing Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree at Play Days last weekend, I might have overlooked its trailer during Summer Game Fest. The announcement itself was less than two minutes long, and what we saw mostly looked like Hades, but with character selection. However, after playing 15 minutes of the game at Play Days, I'm far more interested than I initially expected to be in Towa's take on the roguelite genre...though I'm going to need waaay more than 15 minutes to get good at it. Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree stars Towa, the guardian of Shinju Village and a child of the gods. When a dark god begins consuming the land around Shinju with an evil miasma, Towa rallies...

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Renown Has Medieval Survival Promise but Has a Lot of Work Left to Do

No one will claim that Renown, the Medieval European-flavored base-building survival game, is bringing brand new ideas to the genre. If you’ve played anything like it, from its primary inspiration, Rust, to more modern iterations like Runescape: Dragonwilds, you have a good idea of what you’re in for when you drop into a server to start your journey from humble homesteader to lord of the realm. My brief hands-on time with it was fun, but also raises and doesn’t clearly answer an important question: if you currently have a favorite survival game, is it worth making the switch right now? My crash course started with a tour of some aspirational structures that were all built with in-game resources. Some of them, like a huge castle...

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Gears of War: Reloaded - Here's What Comes in Each Edition

Gears of War is officially making its way to PlayStation. Yep, you read that correctly. Gears of War: Reloaded is a remaster of the first Gears of War game, featuring 4K resolution, up to 120 FPS in multiplayer, and cross-play. It's now available to preorder in a physical format for PS5. Unfortunately there's no physical release for Xbox, but you can preorder a digital copy of it right now which we've listed below. Both the physical edition of Gears of War: Reloaded for PS5 and the digital versions for PS5 and Xbox are listed for $39.99. It's set to release this year on August 26, so head to the links below to secure your copy before it drops. Gears of War: Reloaded – Physical (PS5 Only) Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop | Walmart If you...

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Deltarune Has a Hidden Message on PlayStation for Anyone Who Manages to Earn No Trophies at All

With Deltarune chapters 3 and 4 out last week, players have been eagerly mining the new episodes for more of Toby Fox's characteristic secrets and mysterious plot threads. In the process, they've found an absolutely fascinating bit of dialogue that's almost impossible to get, as it requires beating all four chapters of Deltarune on PlayStation without earning a single trophy. Warning: While this article won't spoil any of the major plot moments of Deltarune, it will talk in vague terms about some of the more common and low/no-spoiler trophy achievements. If you're someone who doesn't want to know a single piece of information about Deltarune before going in, probably better skip this one! As shared by Reddit user millsbuddy, there's...

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MindsEye Dev 'Heartbroken' Amid Troubled Launch as Players Report Success With Refunds and Sponsored Streams Are Canceled Last Minute

MindsEye’s troubled launch has continued with reports that the developer is canceling sponsored streams last minute, and some players are securing refunds. The developer has now issued a statement, saying it is "heartbroken" over the game's difficulties. Build A Rocket Boy’s debut title came out on June 10 across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC via Steam. On Valve’s platform, it currently has a ‘mixed’ user review rating, with most of the complaints revolving around performance issues, bugs and glitches, broken AI, and game crashes. Some players have reported gaining refunds — even from the notoriously stubborn Sony — rekindling memories of Cyberpunk 2077’s disastrous launch back in 2020. CD Projekt's game was eventually...

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Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater Has an Online Multiplayer Mode Called Fox Hunt With Completely Different Gameplay Than Metal Gear Online

Konami is bringing back Metal Gear multiplayer with Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, but don’t expect it to play like Metal Gear Online. Metal Gear Online is the fondly remembered multiplayer spin-off bundled with 2008’s Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Its servers shut down four years later, in 2012. With this August’s release of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, the remake of 2004’s Metal Gear Solid 3, Konami will rekindle Metal Gear multiplayer with Fox Hunt, although it said its gameplay is completely different than MGO’s. In a new video, Konami revealed snippets of Fox Hunt gameplay, which show a soldier controlled from a third-person perspective using camo tech to blend in with their environment. For more, check...

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How Hades Directly Inspired Bandai Namco's First-Ever Roguelite

During Summer Game Fest last week, you’d be forgiven for having overlooked Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree. It’s a brand new rogue-like that got a very, very brief trailer and little in the way of other information or fanfare. But its unusual development story may make Towa one of the most interesting games that appeared during the show. I spoke with Daisuke Nagaoka, producer at Bandai Namco on Towa, and Shuhei Yamashita, game director at developer Brownies, following the announcement of the game and some hands-on playtime, which you can read here. The two started by catching me up on the history of Brownies, a studio with a fascinating pedigree. Brownies evolved out of Nintendo-owned Brownie Brown Inc, a Tokyo-based...

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Konami Press Start Live June 2025: Everything Announced

Metal Gear Solid publisher Konami is back with a bang, and to prove it, it hosted a livestream showcase on June 12 called Konami Press Start Live. The half-hour-long livestream featured game updates and appearances from Konami developers and producers, introducing us to the "creative minds behind some of Konami's most iconic franchises," as well as giving us an extended look at Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Silent Hill f, and more. Here's what was revealed… Metal Gear Solid 3 Delta: Snake Eater Surprising no one, it’s Solid Snake who kicks off the show. Konami shared an extended teaser from its upcoming Metal Gear Solid 3 remaster, Metal Gear Solid 3 Delta: Snake Eater, and reminded us that the Snake vs. Monkey minigame is on...

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The Alters Review

Hey, do you have any regrets in your life? The Alters knows that you do, and that’s why its sci-fi story about morally and ethically questionable cloning on a wildly inhospitable alien planet hits home. It’s comparable to a playable Black Mirror episode (no, not that one) that envisions technology run amok, where science has granted us the ability to talk to versions of ourselves who took the road we didn’t travel. It then asks: what if some of those people hate your guts? Also, what if this is all the product of a mad scientist and/or corporate exploitation? Combined with a simple but effective resource harvesting and base management balancing act, as well as the constant specter of approaching death by a scorching sun, it’s an...

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Stellar Blade Only Released On PC Yesterday, But It's Already One of Sony's Biggest Steam Launches Ever

The PC version of Stellar Blade only launched yesterday, June 11, but it's already Sony's biggest single-player Steam launch ever. Right now, the concurrent player peak is almost 105,000, but that's the seventh all-time peak the game has set since I started writing this story. There's no doubt player numbers will continue to climb, especially as we move into the weekend. By comparison, Ghost of Tsushima topped out at 77,154 players, God of War peaked at 73,529, and Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered sports a peak of 66,436 players. In fact, the only Sony-published game to have a higher concurrent record than Stellar Blade is Helldivers 2, which is, of course, a multiplayer game. PC-specific features include AI upscaling via Nvidia DLSS...

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Save Big on 2024 GOTY Contender Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

The first part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy may have just been announced to be coming to Xbox, but for the time being, the second chapter, Rebirth, is one of the best games only available for PS5 and PC. If you’ve not yet picked it up, however, you can save 50% on the ambitious open world entry in the saga thanks to Amazon-owned retailer Woot. Save 50% on Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Woot has slashed the price of the title from its MSRP of $69.99 down to $34.99 as part of its ongoing video game sale (which notably ends in just a few days time). That’s not all, either. Because Woot is part of the Amazon family, the game includes the Amazon exclusive pre-order bonus from 2024: a nifty controller skin. You’ll find it in the box...

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SAG-AFTRA Suspends Video Game Voice Actor and Performer Strike, Bringing Industrial Action to an End After Almost a Year

It's official — the video game voice actor and performer strike is over. The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) confirmed it had reached a "tentative agreement" on the interactive media contract earlier this week, potentially bringing to an end almost a year of industrial action across the video game industry. Now SAG-AFTRA has formally suspended strike action as of noon PT yesterday (June 11). The SAG-AFTRA video game strike was instigated back in July 2024 after the union and the major game companies — Activision, Blindlight, Disney Character Voices, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Take 2 Productions, and WB Games — that sit on the board failed to...

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Ever Wondered What's Behind the Mask of Elden Ring Nightreign's Characters? Here's Your Answer

Ever looked at the bulky helmets and garb of Elden Ring Nightreign's Nightfarers? Well, wonder no more, as one YouTuber has taken the mask off and shown the little details hiding underneath the coverings of Elden Ring Nightreign's cast. YouTuber Zullie the Witch posted a behind-the-mask look at Nightreign's cast on June 5. All of them have distinct models, with some surprising details under the hood. Some are just little curiosities, like Ironeye's face being fully modeled from the front. Zullie also notes that the Nightfarers' eye colors change depending on their skin. Other characters have some fun ties to other FromSoftware games, like the Duchess' similarity to Dark Souls 3's Firekeeper. Revealing the face of characters like...

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Flashpoint: Worlds Collide Codes (June 2025)

Last updated June 11, 2025 - Checked for new Flashpoint: Worlds Collide codes! Want codes for Flashpoint: Worlds Collide? In this article, you'll find the latest active codes so you can earn cash, experience, suits, and more fast. IGN has you covered for when new ones are released and updates when they expire. This article also explains how to redeem codes if you're not sure! Working Flashpoint: Worlds Collide Codes (June 2025) Here are all the current active codes for Flashpoint: Worlds Collide and the rewards you'll get for redeeming them: Velocity9 - 1 V9 50kinterestednext? - 10,000 Cash, 10,000 EXP holymolywehit150klikes - 5,000 Cash, 5,000 EXP getthegameto100klikesformorecoolcodes - 1,000 Cash, 100 Ignition, 5,000 EXP...

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AU Deals: Serious EOFY Savings on Consoles, Premium Controllers, PS Portals, Pokémon Legends, and More!

Looking to pad your collection without flattening your wallet? Today's gaming discounts span all corners of the digital landscape, from creature-collecting epics to emotionally loaded indies and big-name brawlers. Whether you're gearing up for couch co-op or hunting your next solo obsession, there’s something here worth slotting into your library. This Day in Gaming 🎂 In retro news, I'm celebrating the 16th birthday of Ninja Gaiden II. While the 2004 revival of Ninja Gaiden was lauded for being exceedingly hard, I remember this follow up was more largely known for being excessively gory. Death by dismemberment was all the rage, thanks to Obliteration Techniques that would put limb-reduced enemies into an even greater world of pain...

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Star Wars Outlaws for Xbox Drops to Just $20

Star Wars fans, don't miss out on this incredible video game deal. Walmart is currently offering Ubisoft's Star Wars Outlaws game for Xbox Series X for just $20. This game normally retails for $59.99 and the lowest price I've ever seen for it was $39.99 during last year's Cyber Monday sale. The game is a physical copy that's sold and shipped by Walmart itself, not a marketplace vendor. You'll need to get your order total to $35 in order to get free shipping, or choose free in-store pickup where available. Star Wars Outlaws (Xbox) for $20 Star Wars Outlaws Review by Tristan Ogilvie "It’s ironic that Kay’s ship is called the Trailblazer, since there’s actually not a whole lot of ideas in Star Wars Outlaws that haven’t been done before...

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Hasbro Reveals Comic-Con-Exclusive Marvel Legends Savage Land Set

Hasbro has revealed its exclusive Marvel Legends set for San Diego Comic-Con 2025, and '90s X-Men fans will be pleased. The Marvel Legends Series: Gamerverse Marvel Snap Savage Land 3-Pack features brand new figures of iconic heroines Rogue and Shanna the She-Devil, as well as the fearsome mutant villain Sauron. Check out the slideshow gallery below for a closer look at this stunning new set: This set gets the Gamerverse branding because it's technically based on a series of unlockable cards in the mobile game Marvel Snap. But it also has plenty of nostalgia factor, hearkening back to artist Jim Lee's run on Uncanny X-Men in the late '80s and early '90s. The Savage Land 3-Pack includes 15 different accessories, such as spears...

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Elden Ring Nightreign Is Perfect for Handheld Gaming PCs

Elden Ring ran extremely well on the Asus ROG Ally X, but with the release of Nightreign, handheld gaming PC nerds (like me) are desperate to know if it continues the trend. After all, Shadow of the Erdtree was more demanding than the original, and that was an expansion built into it. Considering Nightreign is a standalone title, it has the potential to take things up a notch. But I have great news: It runs even better than Elden Ring. That seems surprising, but it shouldn’t be: Elden Ring Nightreign is limited to a small map called Limveld, meaning there’s far less on the screen at any time. It helps that the environment is based on Limgrave rather than anything from Shadow of the Erdtree, which came out two years later and had more...

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Open-World Action RPG The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin Unveils Two New Trailers

Open-world action RPG The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin recently dropped new trailers at Summer Game Fest and the Future Games Show, showcasing the world and characters developer Netmarble has been cooking up. They also announced that pre-registration has opened for all regions as momentum builds to its release window later this year. The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin is being made by the same team that created 2019’s The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross and tells an original story set in Brittania, the same world as The Seven Deadly Sins anime and manga series. That series has sold 55 million copies and Grand Cross reached 70 million downloads globally, so it’s fair to say there’s a huge fanbase that’s been anticipating the latest installment...

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PlayStation Plus Game Catalog for June 2025 Confirmed

Sony has published its PlayStation Plus Game Catalog additions for June 2025, revealing a list of games that includes highlights like FBC: Firebreak, Battlefield 2042, Deus Ex, and more. The lineup of nine games to be made available across the PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium tiers was announced in a PlayStation.Blog post. Every game on the list will be available to download for subscribers starting June 17, 2025, less than one week from today, June 11. Remedy Entertainment’s FBC: Firebreak is the headliner here. This inventive, co-op first-person shooter plops players back into the Control universe as a cleanup crew tasked with clearing out a Federal Bureau of Control overrun with otherworldly creatures. It’s three-player FPS...

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One Elden Ring Nightreign Player Shows the Power of the Humble Wraith Calling Bell By Clearing the Final Boss

FromSoftware games have a history of "unconventional" weapons and attire. In fact, compared to players with a jar on their head or the bubble-sprayer, a Wraith Calling Bell is not too strange. It's fascinating, though, to watch one player clear the big bad of Elden Ring Nightreign with the bell. YouTuber Syrobe posted a solo Recluse run yesterday where, throughout the outing, they took down Nightreign's final Nightlord Heolstor using just the Wraith Calling Bell. It's a great run to watch, and also highlights some interesting tech being discovered in Elden Ring Nightreign right now. Through the whole run, you can see Syrobe ringing and flinging the little ghosts from the bell at their foes. Now, the Wraith Calling Bell is not an...

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Report Sheds New Light on Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s Development Turmoil, Reveals Dialogue Rewrite Sparked by Forspoken’s Failure

A report has shed new light on Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s tumultuous development, and raised concerns about the future of BioWare. In January, publisher EA said Dragon Age: The Veilguard had "underperformed" versus its expectations by around 50%, just days after the game's director Corrine Busche confirmed she was leaving the company. Meanwhile, other BioWare staff who worked on the game were laid off. In the same month, BioWare signalled it had released its final update for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, with no further content announced or expected. IGN has reported on The Veilguard’s development before, detailing how it was rebooted from a single-player game into a live-service multiplayer game and back again. Now, Bloomberg’s Jason...

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ConcernedApe Says the World of Haunted Chocolatier Will Be Even 'Larger' Than Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley creator Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone has confirmed his upcoming game, Haunted Chocolatier, is "larger" than the already sizeable Stardew Valley. How much bigger, or in which way it's bigger? Sorry — Barone didn't elaborate. "The world of Haunted Chocolatier is larger than Stardew Valley" is the full extent of his message. If he's referring to the length of the game, however, How Long to Beat? has the average Stardew Valley playtime listed as over 50 hours for just the main story, and around 168 hours for a completionist run. Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, these 10 words sent a ripple of excitement through his fan communities, with one exclaiming: "[Concerned Ape] STOP TEASING. I MEAN- DONT STOP TEASING. I MEAN- IDK IM SO...

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Embracer CEO Who Oversaw High-Profile Acquisitions, Studio Closures, and Thousands of Layoffs to Step Down Later This Year

Lars Wingefors, founder of Swedish gaming company Embracer, is stepping down from his CEO role. Current deputy CEO Phil Rogers will assume the position from August 2025. Embracer, which oversees IPs like The Lord of the Ring, Dead Island, Metro, and Tomb Raider, is no stranger to change, of course. After making high-profile acquisitions like the purchase of Middle-earth Enterprises and Borderlands-maker Gearbox in 2022 and 2021, respectively, Embracer found itself in turmoil after a $2 billion deal with Savvy Games Group fell through. In the time since, the company has shut down Saints Row developer Volition Games, sold Gearbox, split from Space Marine 2 developer Saber Interactive, and overseen thousands of layoffs. Wingefors called...

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Nintendo Switch 2 Launch Helps Street Fighter 6 Hit 5 Million Sales 2 Years After Launch

Street Fighter 6 has now sold over 5 million copies, Capcom has announced. That’s up from the 4 million reported in September 2024. The latest sales milestone was helped by the fighting game’s launch on Nintendo Switch 2. Capcom said it aimed to “maximize the game’s userbase” by bringing Street Fighter 6, now two years old, to the Switch 2 at launch. The Switch 2 version has exclusive modes designed for the console, and new gameplay features that utilize the gyro functionality of the Joy-Con 2. It’s worth noting the Switch 2 version has crossplay, maximising the pool of players available for matchmaking. “These initiatives have contributed to Street Fighter 6’s wide appeal, expanded global sales and resulted in the title achieving the...

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MindsEye Dev Says It's 'Working Around the Clock' to Improve Performance Amid 'Mixed' Steam User Reviews

The developer of MindsEye has said it’s working to improve the game’s performance after a number of players took to Steam user reviews to complain. Build A Rocket Boy’s debut title launched on June 10 and has settled on a ‘mixed’ user review rating on Steam, where it also hit a peak concurrent player count of 3,302. Many of the negative reviews focus on MindsEye’s performance problems, which appear to be hitting PC gamers hard. There are also reports on various bugs, glitches, and NPC behavior oddities. In response, Build A Rocket Boy issued a statement on the MindsEye subreddit, saying its engineering team is “working around the clock” to improve performance. Patch 3 will be revealed soon, it added. Here’s the statement in full...

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Dune: Awakening One of the Most-Played Games on Steam as Peak Concurrent Player Numbers Hit New Heights

Although Head Starters have been visiting Arrakis since June 5, Dune: Awakening released for all players yesterday, June 10. And within hours of going live, Funcom's survival MMO had clocked up over 142,000 concurrent players on Steam: 142,050 to be precise. That was enough to make Dune: Awakening the the ninth most-played game of the last 24-hours on Steam. The expectation is the game's player numbers will grow over the course of this week as it heads into its first weekend following the launch proper, so we could see an even bigger concurrent peak on Saturday or Sunday. Ahead of launch, Funcom confirmed the console version of Dune: Awakening isn't expected now until "sometime in 2026"). We've also reported on how Dune: Awakening...

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Days Gone Dev Bend Studio Cuts Jobs As It 'Transitions' To Next Unknown Project

Sony-owned Days Gone developer Bend Studio has laid off an unspecified number of staff. In a brief statement posted to social media, the studio said layoffs were necessary as it "transition[ed] to its next project," admitting it is "a difficult moment for our team." “Today, we said goodbye to some incredibly talented teammates as we transition to our next project," the statement began. "We're deeply thankful for their contributions as they've shaped who we are, and their impact will always be part of our story. "This is a difficult moment for our team, but we hold immense respect for everyone who got us here. As we move forward, we remain committed to building the future of Bend Studio with creativity, passion, and innovation in the...

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inZoi Publisher Dismisses Plummeting Steam Concurrents, Insists Sales Are a Better Indicator of Performance Because It's a Single-Player Game

inZoi publisher Krafton has addressed an ongoing debate about its plummeting Steam concurrent player count, insisting that as a single-player game sales are a better indicator of performance. The eye-catching The Sims competitor launched big on Steam with an all-time peak concurrent player count of 87,377. Krafton announced inZOI sold impressive 1 million copies in a week, the fastest sales milestone ever for a game published by the South Korean megacorp. It rose to number one on Steam’s Global Top Sellers List (by sales revenue) just 40 minutes after release, with CEO CH Kim said at the time that Krafton planned to “foster" the game as a "long-term franchise IP." However, inZoi's Steam concurrent player count has dwindled since...

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