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17 stories

Steam MachineValvePC Hardware

Steam Machine Launch Woes: Valve Kills Companion Cube Case & RAM Buried Deep

Valve's Steam Machine is barely out the door, and it's already making headlines for all the wrong reasons. In a move that has disappointed fans and third-party accessory makers alike, Valve has issued what amounts to a cease-and-desist against Dbrand, forcing the popular customization company to abandon its wildly popular Companion Cube-shaped Steam Machine case. The cube-styled enclosure, which leaned into Portal's iconic imagery and had generated significant buzz ahead of launch, has been killed off before it could ship — leaving fans who were eagerly anticipating it empty-handed. Meanwhile, a hands-on teardown of the Steam Machine itself has revealed a curious and frustrating design choice buried within: the system's RAM is reportedly sandwiched beneath a dozen or more other components, making even a simple memory inspection a major undertaking. Rock Paper Shotgun's teardown — which began as a casual peek at the RAM configuration and ended up as an accidental near-complete disassembly — suggests that Valve has prioritized a compact, tightly integrated design over user accessibility, at the potential cost of repairability and upgradability.

Jul 1, 2026

Indie GamesSales MilestonesViral Gaming

Meccha Chameleon Earns $1M Per Day of Dev Work After Viral Success

Meccha Chameleon, the surprise indie hit that took only two months to develop, has achieved a staggering financial milestone — its creators have already earned the equivalent of $1 million for every single day spent in development. The figures underline just how explosive the game's reception has been since launch, turning what was a remarkably lean development cycle into one of the most efficient returns on investment in recent gaming memory.

Jul 1, 2026

XboxArkane StudiosMarvel's Blade

Xbox Reportedly Considering Closing Arkane Studios & Canceling Marvel's Blade

In what could be one of the most devastating blows yet to Xbox's first-party portfolio, multiple reports published Tuesday indicate that Microsoft is seriously considering shutting down Arkane Studios — the acclaimed French developer behind the Dishonored series and Deathloop — as part of an upcoming wave of layoffs expected to hit in July 2026. Alongside the potential studio closure, Marvel's Blade, the ambitious action game Arkane has been quietly developing, may also be cancelled outright. Sources indicate the title is reportedly over budget and has suffered significant delays, making it a likely casualty in Xbox's ongoing cost-cutting efforts.

Jul 1, 2026

PlayStation 6SonyConsole Hardware

Sony's PS6 Could Cost Over $1,000 to Make — And Sony Won't Sell It at a Loss

Sony has begun publicly managing expectations around the pricing of its future PlayStation hardware, signaling a significant shift in how it intends to bring the PS6 to market. The company has stated it no longer plans to sell PlayStation hardware at a "significant" loss — a stark departure from the traditional console business model that has long seen platform holders subsidize hardware costs to build install base, then recoup revenue through software and services.

Jul 1, 2026

Total War: Warhammer 3StrategyCreative Assembly

Total War: Warhammer 3 Gets New Endgames, Vampire Counts Rework & Nurgle's Grossest Champions

Total War: Warhammer 3 is set to receive a substantial content update that reshapes the late-game experience in a big way. Creative Assembly has revealed that the strategy epic will be getting new endgame crisis scenarios, individual victory conditions tailored to specific factions and lords, and — perhaps most excitingly — the ability for players to become an endgame crisis themselves, turning the tables on the rest of the campaign map in dramatic fashion.

Jul 1, 2026

Splatoon RaidersNintendo DirectNintendo Switch

Splatoon Raiders Nintendo Direct Drops New Campaign, Equipment & Multiplayer Details

Nintendo dedicated an entire standalone Direct to Splatoon Raiders on June 30, 2026, showering fans with a deep dive into the upcoming Splatoon spin-off just weeks after it was first announced in the June Nintendo Direct. The presentation covered a wide range of new details, including campaign gameplay, equipment systems, and multiplayer modes — making it clear that Nintendo is positioning Raiders as a major release worthy of its own spotlight event. The broadcast was accompanied by Treehouse Live appearances and multiple trailers, giving players an unusually thorough look at the game ahead of launch.

Jul 1, 2026

AtariThunderfulSteamWorld

Atari Acquires SteamWorld Publisher Thunderful in Latest Comeback Move

Atari has acquired Thunderful, the studio and publisher behind the beloved SteamWorld franchise, marking yet another major move in the iconic brand's ongoing resurgence. The deal adds a well-regarded indie portfolio to Atari's growing stable of properties, signaling that the company's comeback strategy is accelerating in earnest.

Jul 1, 2026

Assassin's CreedPS5Remaster

AC Black Flag Resynced PS5 Performance Revealed: 60 FPS & PS5 Pro Perks

Ubisoft has officially detailed the PlayStation 5 performance targets and features for Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, the upcoming remake of the beloved 2013 pirate adventure. The studio is promising 60 frames per second across the board on PS5, ensuring a smooth and modernized experience for returning fans and newcomers alike. The game's summer release window may seem like an unconventional slot for such a high-profile title, but Ubisoft appears confident in the package it's delivering.

Jul 1, 2026

Tomb RaiderNintendo Switch 2Limited Run Games

Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition Switch 2 Gets a Limited Run Physical Release

Lara Croft is making her way to store shelves — well, sort of. Following the surprise shadow drop of Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition on Nintendo Switch 2 back in November, physical game publisher Limited Run Games has announced it will be producing a physical edition of the title for the platform. Pre-orders are set to open this week, giving fans a limited window to secure a boxed copy of the beloved remaster on Nintendo's latest hardware.

Jul 1, 2026

Sonic FrontiersNintendo Switch 2Digital Foundry

Sonic Frontiers Definitive Edition on Switch 2: Digital Foundry Calls Tech Improvements "Substantial"

Sonic Frontiers Definitive Edition has landed on Nintendo Switch 2, and Digital Foundry has weighed in with its signature deep-dive technical review — and the verdict is encouraging. According to the analysis covered by Nintendo Life, the upgraded release delivers what Digital Foundry describes as "substantial" technical improvements over the original Switch version, suggesting Sega made meaningful use of the Switch 2's increased hardware capabilities.

Jul 1, 2026

Godot EngineOpen SourceArtificial Intelligence

Godot Engine Bans AI-Authored Code Contributions Over Quality & Accountability Concerns

The Godot Engine project has officially updated its contribution policy to reject AI-generated code submissions, drawing a firm line in the sand against what it describes as a rising tide of "AI slop" threatening the quality and maintainability of the open-source game engine. The decision reflects growing frustration among the project's maintainers, who argue that contributors relying heavily on AI tools to write code often lack sufficient understanding of what they're submitting — making it impossible to trust that they can debug, iterate on, or stand behind their contributions when problems inevitably arise.

Jul 1, 2026

FPSSoulslikeViktor Antonov

Guns of Eschaton: Viktor Antonov's Final Game Is a Wild West FPS Soulslike

Viktor Antonov, the visionary art director behind two of gaming's most iconic visual identities — Half-Life 2 and Dishonored — passed away in 2025 at the age of 53. Now, the world is getting its first look at the project he was working on before his death: Guns of Eschaton, a wild west-themed FPS soulslike that blends occult atmosphere with intense action. The game is currently listed as "coming soon" on Steam, making it a posthumous release and a bittersweet final chapter in the career of one of the industry's most celebrated creative minds.

Jul 1, 2026

Nintendo Switch 2BethesdaRPG

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Hits Nintendo Switch 2 on August 11

Bethesda Softworks has officially confirmed that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is coming to the Nintendo Switch 2 on August 11, 2026. The announcement puts a firm date on one of the most anticipated ports for Nintendo's new hardware, giving fans of the beloved RPG a chance to explore Cyrodiil on the go. The game originally made waves as a surprise shadow drop in 2025, quickly becoming one of the year's biggest hits — particularly in the United States — so demand for a portable version has been high.

Jul 1, 2026

Labor & UnionsGTA 6Rockstar Games

Rockstar Faces Strike Threat as GTA 6 Devs Push for Union Recognition

With Grand Theft Auto 6 locked in for a November 19 release date and pre-orders already open, Rockstar Games is facing a serious labor crisis that could derail one of gaming's most anticipated launches. Employees have formed the Rockstar IWGB Game Workers Union and are pushing for official recognition, fueled in part by the fallout from 31 firings that took place in 2025. The union has issued Rockstar a 10-working-day ultimatum to voluntarily recognize the group — or face the matter being escalated to a government tribunal. In response, Rockstar has agreed to meet with the employees seeking unionization in what appears to be an effort to avoid a potential strike.

Jul 1, 2026

GTA 6PlayStation 5Rockstar Games

GTA 6 Dominates PS5 Charts as Sony & Rockstar Marketing Deal Emerges

Grand Theft Auto 6 is already proving to be an unstoppable commercial force on PlayStation, topping the PlayStation Store pre-order charts across nearly every regional storefront in the world since pre-orders went live. The sheer global scale of the game's dominance is staggering, with Sony's digital marketplace reflecting what many are calling a foregone conclusion: GTA 6 is the most anticipated game of this console generation by a wide margin.

Jul 1, 2026

Love and DeepspaceMobile GamesDating Sim

Love and Deepspace Cancels New Love Interest Valko After Fan Backlash

In a rare and striking move for the games industry, Papergames (also known as Infold) has completely cancelled Valko — the planned sixth love interest in its popular mobile action dating sim Love and Deepspace — following significant backlash from the game's fanbase. Shortly after the character was announced, player complaints and outcry reached a fever pitch, ultimately convincing the developer to scrap the character entirely rather than push forward with his introduction.

Jul 1, 2026

Diablo 4Season of Death AwakeningAction RPG

Diablo 4 Season 14: Death Awakening Is Live — Ruptures, Solo Self Found & More

Diablo 4's fourteenth seasonal chapter, the Season of Death Awakening, has officially launched, bringing one of the game's most content-rich updates yet. The season introduces Ruptures — a brand-new mechanic shaking up the endgame loop — alongside a wave of new Mythic Unique items, a fresh questline with its own dedicated story, and a host of balance and system changes detailed in the accompanying patch notes.

Jul 1, 2026