Gaming News

AU Deals: Today Was the Day When Waiting Actually Paid Off for Great Games

I treat sales like a stress test for taste. When prices drop this hard, it becomes very easy to buy things you will never actually play, and much harder to spot the ones that'll genuinely earn your time / attention / love. Let's remove the guesswork. I've already put hours into these games, and this list comes from experience rather than impulse. Every one is worth a run (Gotham Knights maybe less so.) Contents Retro Nintendo Xbox PlayStation PC LEGO This Day in Gaming 🎂 Today I’m celebrating the 26th birthday of The Sims. When this launched, I must confess that my first thought was, “Well, this is barely a game right here.” The Sims seemed more like a virtual fish tank that was only fun if I kept concocting new (and worryingly...

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Magic: The Gathering Just Had Its Most Successful Year Ever...Again

Magic: The Gathering just had its most financially successful year yet, Hasbro has announced. And it's largely thanks to its collaborations with other brands, via its Universes Beyond and Secret Lair releases. In its earnings call today, Hasbro revealed that MTG revenue was up 59% year-over-year, in no small part thanks to the Avatar: The Last Airbender set last year, which is now the third highest-selling set in Magic history after Final Fantasy and Lord of the Rings. Other Universes Beyond sets, as well as Secret Lair, also had a hand in the success. That 59% is a huge increase, and one that is responsible for Hasbro's overall numbers looking good. The company overall was up 14% year-over-year, almost entirely driven by 45% growth...

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Magic: The Gathering Won't Be Getting a Harry Potter Set Anytime Soon

Wizards of the Coast has confirmed that it doesn't "currently" have plans to visit any magical schools besides its own Strixhaven in future sets, suggesting that a Harry Potter collaboration isn't in the cards for the moment. This comes from a Reddit post from the official WOTC_CommunityTeam Reddit account in response to a thread on the Magic: The Gathering subreddit asking if WOTC might "touch the fire that is [Harry Potter]" in the future. The post was sparked by a slide from this morning's Hasbro earnings call, where the WOTC parent company talked about expanding its partnerships on IP such as Harry Potter, KPop Demon Hunters, Street Fighter, and Voltron. In response, WOTC_CommunityTeam wrote, "The Magic Multiverse has its own...

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Mewgenics Sells Over 150k Copies in First 6 Hours; "This Is Beating Expectations by Quite a Lot"

Mewgenics, the cat-breeding tactics roguelike from the developer of The Binding of Isaac, has hit the ground running to say the least. It’s already made back the cost of its roughly seven-year development, blew past internal sales expectations, and is currently approaching the highest peak concurrent player count of Isaac itself – and it only launched today at 6am PT. “So far this is beating expectations by quite a lot,” developer Tyler Glaiel tells IGN, saying it likely took less than three hours for development costs to be fully recouped. “Its a bigger launch than any of the Isaac expansions already, and its only been a few hours.” His partner Edmund McMillen, best known for games like Isaac and Super Meat Boy, put just how wide of...

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Blizzard Confirms Overwatch Just Had Its Best Weekend Player Count in a Year Across All Platforms, as Season 1 Officially Goes Live

The newly-rebranded Overwatch just benefited from its best weekend player count "in over a year" across all platforms, developer Blizzard has said, as the game's new Season 1 officially goes live today. Players have flocked back to Overwatch following last week's big Spotlight reveal event that confirmed the sequel was ditching its "2", adding a host of new heroes, and telling a fresh interconnected narrative over the next year. An early access launch for new hero Anran also helped draw players in, while the company has quickly addressed calls from fans and the game's English-language voice actress for tweaks to the character's design. As reported earlier this week, Overwatch had a particularly strong weekend on Steam — where the...

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Mixtape Preview: It’s All About The Music in the Idyllic ‘90s

I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that mixtapes (or Spotify playlists now) were an important part of those crucial, formative teenage years. I'm also sure that I'm definitely not alone in the shared experience of putting together the perfect playlist to share with my friends or a significant other. Simply put, those playlists tell a story. And while the ones from my teenage years may seem like nothing more than whatever cool metalcore bands I was into and in at the time, te memories created from those long lost CD-Rs and iTunes playlists still stick with me years later. The importance of music during that formative but extremely awkward time is how we expressed ourselves and built an identity. The subgenres and scenes were as...

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The 10 Best Funny Games

Games are often at their funniest when they’re not trying to be. It’s the Skyrim NPC who’s determined to deliver their stock line, apparently totally unperturbed by the dragon attack happening just behind him. It’s watching your custom character enter a sombre cutscene, standing eight feet tall and wearing a banana outfit. There’s something about the way games stoically keep up the pretense that this is all real, no matter how broken things have become in the moment, that’s sheer comedy gold. What about the games who dare to be funny on purpose, though? That’s a rarer collective. If comedy’s all about timing, and games are all about giving you the agency to go and do what you like, when you like – well, you can see the problem. But...

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Stardew Valley Fans Really Hope They'll Be Able to Marry Sandy, the Wizard, and the Hat Mouse in 1.7 Update

Fans of Stardew Valley are eager to get married... again. To whom? They don't know. But they're hoping their bride/groom will be a couple of individuals in particular. To understand why, take a look back at our own interview with ConcernedApe, where he exclusively revealed to us that the next update, 1.7, would include two new marriageable characters. He wouldn't say who they were, and we don't even know if these will be brand new characters or existing characters that suddenly become available. While ConcernedApe will let us know later this month on the game's 10th anniversary, that hasn't stopped people from wildly speculating who it'll be, and there are a few theories reigning supreme right now. Logically, we can put together that...

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Arc Raiders Gets PvE-Focused Event and New Rewards as Embark Squashes Duplication Bug in New Update

Developer Embark Studios has published Arc Raiders update 1.15.0, adding a new PvE-focused event and new rewards while (finally) squashing an infamous duplication glitch. Patch notes posted to its official website detail what is a surprisingly hefty update ahead of February’s Shrouded Sky content drop. While fans continue to wait for a new Arc threat and Raider Deck, today’s changes bring back a fan-favorite event while delivering a new mode with its own set of cosmetics to unlock. Arc Raiders players who drop into Speranza will find Shared Watch as update 1.15.0’s most notable addition. The limited-time event, which ends February 24, asks Raiders to team up with friends and strangers against Arc to earn merits. Merits unlock rewards...

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PlayStation Plus February 2026 Extra and Premium Games Include Sony Blockbuster Spider-Man 2

February's line-up of games for the PlayStation Plus catalog have leaked online, and include a major PS5 blockbuster. According to the ever-reliable dealabs leaker billbil-kun, Sony is set to confirm Marvel's Spider-Man 2 as this month's headline game for PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers. Insomniac's well-received web-slinging sequel will be joined by PS5 online racer Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown, plus arty indie Neva for both PS4 and PS5, all available to claim from February 17. Originally released in October 2023, Spider-Man 2 is Insomniac Games' third major Marvel blockbuster, following its original Spider-Man game and follow-up Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Both Spidey men appear in the sequel, as the pair work...

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Mouse: P.I. for Hire – Exclusive Boss Fight Gameplay | IGN First

Enjoy this exclusive new boss battle gameplay from Mouse: P.I. for Hire, the upcoming rubber hose-animated first-person shooter starring Troy Baker as Detective Jack Pepper. In this video you'll see Jack taking on the Third Wife in the Spooky Village. In the four-minute gameplay video (which you can watch below), you'll see Jack's flashlight coming in handy as he attempts to take down the Third Wife. You also get a look at multiple weapons in action – all animated as if they came straight out of a 1930's Steamboat Willie cartoon. Check out the original reveal trailer and our first preview if you haven't seen them already. Even more recently than those, though, don't miss our exclusive early-campaign gameplay and our overview of...

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'I Play Kojima's Latest Game Then I Return to Fallout 4': Ghost in the Shell Director Mamoru Oshii Says He's Racked Up 10,000 Hours While Avoiding the

Mamoru Oshii, the director of legendary anime movie Ghost in the Shell, has said that he's played Fallout 4 for 10,000 hours while avoiding its main quest. In a Japanese video interview to mark the 30th anniversary of Ghost in the Shell, Oshii chatted about his love of games — and specifically Fallout 4. "Looking at Steam, my playtime (in Fallout 4) is around 8,000 hours but before that I played it on PlayStation, so I think altogether I've put in about 10,000 hours," explained Oshii, the director behind anime cyberpunk movie Ghost in the Shell and its sequel Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, in remarks translated by IGN. "I'm still playing now," he added. So what is the appeal of Fallout 4 to Mamoru Oshii? The 74-year-old called it...

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Amazon Has Several Sonic Games for PS5 With Major Discounts Right Now

Amazon's sale on select PS5 games has been filled with great offers. If you're a Sonic fan, we've spotted some especially nice discounts for PlayStation 5 that are worth taking advantage of while they're still available. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, Sonic X Shadow Generations, Sonic Superstars, and Sonic Frontiers have all dropped to excellent low prices at the retailer, offering up to 67% off in savings. If you've had your eye on one of them (or all of them), now's a great time to pick them up. We found a lot to enjoy in all of the above games. Both Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and Sonic x Shadow Generations earned 9s in their respective reviews from IGN's Jada Griffin. So what makes CrossWorlds stand out? It "fires on all cylinders with...

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'Next Game in the Making': Split Fiction Director Josef Fares Posts Set Photo Which Fans Think is a 3-Player Hint

It Takes Two and Split Fiction director Josef Fares has posted the first photo from the set of developer Hazelight Studios' next project. The image shows Fares, dressed in a cosy-looking sweater, in front of three actors in performance capture suits. Clearly, work has now begun on Fares' next game — and intriguingly, he seems to be doing his best to disguise who the actors are. With his arm outstretched and thumb raised, Fares is successfully blocking most of all three actors' faces — and this appears to be by design. "Next game in the making," Fares captioned the post, with a thumbs up emoji. "We're back in the kitchen, cookin' up something really delicious," the official Hazelight Studios social media account responded, adding: "Now...

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Until Dawn Developer Announces Release Date for Long-Awaited Sci-Fi Horror Directive 8020

Supermassive Games has finally nailed down when we'll get to play Directive 8020, its next slice of narrative horror. The sci-fi survival game will launch on May 12 for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. On consoles, pre-orders are available now, and physical editions will also be offered. Pre-orders unlock a free Deluxe Edition upgrade containing an outfit pack and collectables themed around the studio's past Dark Pictures games, a cinematic filter pack, plus a digital soundtrack and artbook. Starring Bond actress Lashana Lynch, Directive 8020 sees Until Dawn, The Quarry and Little Nightmares 3 maker Supermassive Games tackle sci-fi, in a story set on the crashed colony spaceship Cassiopeia. Directive 8020 features...

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ZA/UM’s New RPG Is Similar To Disco Elysium Because ‘We're Still the Same People’

Take one look at Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, the upcoming RPG from ZA/UM, and you can immediately see the similarities between it and the studio’s previous game, Disco Elysium. It’s an isometric game with a striking art style, featuring dialogue-heavy gameplay where conversations are displayed vertically on the right-hand side of the screen. Take a closer look and there are even more similarities. There’s a “Conditioning” system that replicates many of the functions of Disco Elysium’s unique Thought Cabinet. Its story aims to be deeply political and introspective. And then there’s the skills system, which manifests as a sentient inner monologue, commenting on your choices and the world around you. For some Disco Elysium fans, this...

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Romeo is a Dead Man Review

Time, the old saying goes, is a flat circle. We go round and round, repeating forever. The same events, the same choices, the same conclusions. All of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again. Romeo is a Dead Man, the latest from developer Grasshopper Manufacture and director Suda51, posits a different question: what if time was a sphere? The events might change, but all roads still lead to Rome. It’s a fascinating idea, but also one you shouldn’t rack your brain trying to figure out. This is a time travel story: spend too long trying to piece things together, and you’ll be making diagrams out of straws. In a convenient example of form as function, Romeo is a Dead Man is as fractured as a game as the universe Romeo...

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'There's a Level of Investment We Need': Despite the Popularity of Nintendo Switch and Being Owned By Microsoft, Blizzard Discusses Why Hearthstone St

Blizzard has said that its Warcraft-themed collectible card game Hearthstone is still not available on consoles because the team needs "a level of investment... to make that happen." That's according to executive producer Nathan Lyons-Smith, who recently revealed that because of the 12-year-old game's aging code — estimated to be 16 years old — any port to console must be done "right" and only when the team finds "the right time to do it." "There's a level of investment that we need to make that happen, primarily in terms of UI and UX, and making sure that it's very natural to go and play a card game on those platforms," Lyons-Smith said, as reported by Eurogamer. "I know it's possible — Duels of the Planeswalkers for Magic [The...

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Capcom Developing Another Monster Hunter Wilds 'Large-Scale Expansion' Similar to Iceborne

Monster Hunter Wilds will welcome a "large-scale" expansion later this year. Addressing fans in a video celebrating the open-world adventure game's first anniversary, series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto teased that this expansion will be similar to Monster Hunter World's Iceborne add-on, but was otherwise coy about the details. He did, however, stress that this will be the "final update" for the monster hunting game. "We are currently at work on a large-scale expansion similar to Monster Hunter World: Iceborne and Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak for Monster Hunter: Wilds," Tsujimoto said. "We plan to share more information with you this summer." We also learned a little more about the update dropping on February 18, too, including details...

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Black Myth: Wukong Developer Reveals 'Non-Canon' Teaser for Sequel Black Myth: Zhong Kui

Here's almost seven minutes of Black Myth: Wukong follow-up Black Myth: Zhong Kui. Well, kind of. While developer Game Science has dropped the new in-engine trailer and labelled it as pertaining to the highly-anticipated sequel, it also features a "non-canon" disclaimer which suggests everything you see here could have no bearing whatsoever on the final game or its story, and has only been released by the team to celebrate Chinese New Year and welcome in the Year of the Horse. But while you won't see any gameplay or combat per se, the "non-canon, for entertainment purposes only" trailer nonetheless shows in-engine footage and gives us our best look yet at what to expect from the sequel, particularly in terms of how it looks and...

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Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls Roster Count Leaked Ahead of PlayStation State of Play

Details on the upcoming, PlayStation-published Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls have appeared online, just days ahead of this week's big State of Play broadcast. The highly-anticipated Marvel fighting game will feature 20 characters at launch, and also include a single-player "Episode Mode." That's according to a Steam page description of the game briefly seen before it was pulled (but not before the leak was spotted and shared on social media). Marvel Tokon's roster is described as "expanding" — so it sounds like we should expect further heroes from the Marvel universe to turn up in future. Online, there's mention of 64-player online lobbies, including standard VS modes. PC players will require a PlayStation account, meanwhile...

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Riot Games Lays Off Dozens From 2XKO's Development Team Less Than a Month After Launch

Less than a month after the launch of its free-to-play 2v2 tag-team fighting game, 2XKO, Riot Games is scaling back its development team. Admitting the news was "difficult to share," producer Tom Cannon said that despite securing a "passionate core audience," the new game "hasn't reached the level needed to support a team of this size long term." "With a smaller, focused team, we’re going to dig in and make key improvements to the game, including some of the things we’ve already heard you asking for. We’ll share some of our plans soon," Cannon added. "Our plans for the 2026 Competitive Series are unchanged. We remain committed to partnering with tournament organizers and local communities. Our focus will continue to be on supporting...

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'We Agree That She Can Be Even Better': Overwatch Director Responds After Voice Actor and Fans Say Changes Are Needed to New Character Anran

Overwatch's game director has responded to calls for the appearance of new hero Anran to be changed, following fan criticism and a public declaration of support by the character's English-language voice actress. Over the weekend, Anran voice actress Fareeha took to social media to address "the elephant in the room" surrounding her character's in-game appearance — which she and many other fans have called out as being a victim of the so-called "Same Face Syndrome", and different to her earlier appearances in a comic and cinematic. Those appearances set a "precedent" for Anran, Fareeha said, leaving her to now "mourn" the final in-game design made available to play in early access at the weekend. "There was an unspoken promise that said...

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Remedy Finds New CEO in Former EA Exec Jean-Charles Gaudechon

Control and Alan Wake developer Remedy Entertainment has named Jean-Charles Gaudechon as its new CEO. The company’s board of directors announced the news with a post on its website today. Co-founder Markus Mäki will continue to serve as interim CEO until the leadership change takes effect March 1, 2026. “I’m excited and honored to join Remedy at a pivotal time,” Gaudechon said in a statement. “The studio has a unique creative identity and a strong pipeline. My commitment is to protect what makes it special, deliver exceptional games, and scale Remedy in a way that builds lasting value.” Mäki took over as interim CEO after former Remedy CEO, Tero Virtala, resigned from his position in October 2025. It was a sudden shakeup that...

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AU Deals: Save on Great Games Like MGS Delta, DK Bananza, and More Right Now!

If there is a theme running through my game deals of today, it's confidence without chaos. Games that know exactly what they are, respect your time, and quietly reward commitment rather than demanding obsession. I've played almost all of these, and in every case the discounts meaningfully shift the value conversation. So get amongst 'em before they're gone. Contents Retro Nintendo Xbox PlayStation PC LEGO This Day in Gaming 🎂 In crusty gamer news, I’m summoning sweary imps to bake a 14-shaped cake for The Darkness II. Though I didn't adore this as much as the non-cel-shaded, Starbreeze Studios original at launch, how could I not greedily devour any game starring Jackie Estacado, the best “dark hero” this side of Spawn. Basically...

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The Alienware Presidents Day Sale Starts Now and I've Picked Out the Best Deals on Gaming PCs and Laptops

The Dell Presidents Day Sale offically kicks off this week. Traditionally, this has been Dell's best sale during the early part of the year to score a big discount on both Alienware gaming PCs and laptops. Prices on prebuilts have risen in 2026 because of the increased demand for RAM and GPUs, so if you're looking to upgrade now, you don't want to miss this opportunity to get a new system without an egregious markup. All systems ship free and include a one year warranty. I will continue to add to this article as more deals go live closer to President's Day weekend. Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5080 Gaming PC for $2,180 Dell is currently offering an Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5080 gaming PC for $2,179.99 with free delivery after a $650...

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Amazon Has an Excellent Sale on Select PS5 Games Today

PlayStation users can stock up and save on some new games for their library through Amazon right now. The retailer is offering some excellent deals on a selection of PS5 games, including Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater (down to $30), Silent Hill f (down to $40), Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds (which is down to $25.24 after clipping a coupon), and more. These are just the start of what's available. Have a look through more of our favorite PS5 games that are currently on sale at Amazon below. Select PS5 Games on Sale at Amazon What makes these deals even better is that some of the games above have hit their lowest prices yet at the retailer. Price tracker camelcamelcamel shows that this is the lowest price Silent Hill f, Civ VII, Double...

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Power, Comic Books and Zero Parades for Dead Spies: How ZA/UM Found Its Disco Elysium Successor

“Zero Parades is an exploration of failure,” explains Jim Ashilevi, writer and VO director at ZA/UM. “What it means to lose everything and then keep going regardless. And then, since it's such a painful question, it inevitably becomes an exploration of what it means to be human. How uncomfortable and strange it is to exist in a body that has thoughts and feelings and responsibilities, and a past that they can't go back and fix.” “This is why I love working here,” says ZA/UM’s head of studio, Allen Murray, with a smile. “I never had these conversations making Halo games.” The studio behind Disco Elysium was, of course, never going to follow up its 2019 “disaster cop” RPG with a game about heroes saving the world. That’s not to say that...

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Blizzard's Latest Attempt at a StarCraft Shooter Reportedly in Development at Nexon

Blizzard has reportedly partnered with Korean gaming giant Nexon for yet another crack at turning StarCraft into a shooter. While unconfirmed by Blizzard itself, the project is the subject of an article in The Korea Economic Daily, the country's largest business newspaper. The report states that Nexon has a development team dedicated to the project within its shooter division, with a StarCraft modder installed as its project lead. Blizzard has long held ambitions to launch a shooter spin-off from its sci-fi real-time strategy series, while Nexon has recently found Western success within the shooter space as the owner of Swedish development studio Embark Studio — the outfit behind The Finals and Arc Raiders. Still, the report is...

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Dispatch Developers Reveal How Aaron Paul's Performance Changed the Game

There are a million things that have to go right for a video game to be a success. Well, maybe not a million. But a lot. Michael Choung, the CEO of AdHoc Studio – which released the popular superhero workplace comedy game Dispatch last year – admits as much. Choung says that there were “probably 20 decisions in the last seven years” that aligned to make the game a huge success. And casting Aaron Paul as Dispatch’s protagonist, Robert Robertson/Mecha Man, was one of those decisions. I spoke exclusively with Choung and Dispatch Creative Director/Executive Producer Nick Herman ahead of the DICE Awards (Dispatch is nominated for six, including Game of the Year) on February 12 to break down everything that had to go right in order for...

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