Games news

• PlayStation’s Disc-Based Game Sales Have Dropped Dramatically In Recent Years

  01-07-2026 16:47 via gamespot.com
  
  Sony has confirmed that it will no longer support physical discs for PlayStation games--for first- and third-party games--starting in January 2028. Many are wondering why, and it likely has to do with steep declines in physical software sales at the gaming giant.Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad has reminded people that while physical software is not a dead market--almost 70 million new disc-based PlayStation games were sold in 2025--but the shift toward digital keeps growing."Having a retail p
  
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• Why Is Sony Killing Discs? It’s “All About Profitability And Control,” Expert Says

  02-07-2026 20:22 via gamespot.com
  
  Sony recently announced that it will stop supporting PlayStation game discs in January 2028. Even though Sony continues to sell many millions of discs, the share of digital game sales continues to rise as physical falls, and Sony cited thisshift as the reason why it's going all-digital in the future. Now, Alinea Analytics analyst Rhys Elliott has weighed in with his thoughts on the matter, saying there is more to the story, and it's not necessarily a consumer-friendly decision."This is all about
  
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• Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced Launch Times And Preload Schedule Revealed

  02-07-2026 20:12 via gamespot.com
  
  A whole bunch of games are shipping out in July, but if you're in the mood for some treachery and leaps of faith on the high seas, then you're likely looking forward to Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced this month. Out on July 9, Ubisoft has revealed the official times for when you can expect to start playing, as well as the preload times in case you've preordered the game already.Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced - Standard Edition (PS5, Xbox Series X)$60 | Releases July 9 Preorder at Am
  
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• Amazon Prime Members Get 12 Games For Free In July

  02-07-2026 19:32 via gamespot.com
  
  The next batch of games for Amazon Luna has been revealed, and this July, you can look forward to superhero workplace drama, turn-based RPG action, and some escape room fun. In total, there will be 12 downloadable games for PC to check out, and five games to stream through Luna Standard.On the streaming side, the big draw for this month is Dispatch. One of the best games of 2025, the debut title from AdHoc Studio follows a down-on-his-luck superhero who takes up a desk job, where he's given cont
  
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• Former PlayStation Exec Is Less Than Impressed With Steam Machine

  02-07-2026 19:05 via gamespot.com
  
  The Steam Machine is slowly making its way into the wild, with some folks getting their hands on Valve's not-a-console console. One of those people is former SIE Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida, who called the device "meh" in some recent social media comments.Yoshida took to X on July 2 to give his early impressions of the Steam Machine. In a long post, he not only called its performance "meh," but he also said that it's "hard to recommend" because of its high price tag.
  https://twitt
  
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• Even The End Of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation Isn’t Actually The End, Leak Suggests

  02-07-2026 18:11 via gamespot.com
  
  Final Fantasy 7 Revelation wraps up a story years in the making when it launches in 2027, but beyond that? The Unknown Journey might continue a little longer, as one store listing for the game mentions an expansion pass.As seen on the Epic Games Store (via IGN), Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will have plenty of downloadable content and a "Story Expansion Pass" for purchase. It's not clear yet what these items are for--or if the titles are using placeholder text--but the Story Expansion Pass item do
  
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• PlayStation’s Digital-Only Future Makes Sony’s Dynamic Pricing Harder To Ignore

  02-07-2026 17:49 via gamespot.com
  
  With Sony officially ending disc production for PS5 games in 2028, hurtling us toward an all-digital future, it's worth remembering that the PlayStation maker recently introduced a new pricing model that is all the more worrying in the wake of this news.Back in March 2026, reports surfaced that PlayStation had unleashed dynamic pricing in various regions from Brazil to North America. This new model changed the prices you'd see on the PlayStation Store for a PS5 game depending on several factors,
  
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• Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7, Diablo 4, And More Games Are Free On Xbox This Weekend

  02-07-2026 17:49 via gamespot.com
  
  If you have some downtime over the 4th of July weekend and are looking for a game to play, Microsoft is bringing back its Free Play Days promotion, offering up sometop titles to play for the low, low price of $0.
  Call of Duty: Black Ops 7's multiplayer and Zombies modes are free now through July 6, while Diablo IV is free through July 7. Demonschool and The Stone Madness have free two-hour trials now through July 5. None of these games require an Xbox Game Pass subscription during the free perio
  
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• Why Resident Evil Movie Doesn’t Feature Familiar Characters

  02-07-2026 17:25 via gamespot.com
  
  The new Resident Evil movie from Weapons and Barbarian director Zach Cregger does not feature characters from the games--why is that?
  Cregger said in a new interview that it would be "inorganic" for his movie "try to shoehorn" legacy characters from Capcom's series into his film because it's a "self-contained story.""I have to put the story first and foremost," he said told Empire magazine, as reported by GamesRadar.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_KDtokTO1c
  Cregger's Resident Evil movie tells
  
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• Nintendo Could Inherit The Physical Gaming Crown By Default

  02-07-2026 16:30 via gamespot.com
  
  Sony plans to sell PlayStation games exclusively as digital products starting in 2028, and it's rumored that Microsoft will also adopt a digital-only approach with its next-gen Xbox Project Helix, a move that could leave Nintendo as the only console manufacturer that will still release games physically--at least for this current gaming generation.Speaking to VGC, Circana senior director and video game industry advisor Mat Piscatella commented on how he believes that both the PS6 and Project Heli
  
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• Xbox May Shut Down Obsidian Entertainment, Too

  02-07-2026 16:09 via gamespot.com
  
  As a massive layoff plan looms over Xbox's various subsidiaries, new reports suggest that the iconic RPG studio Obsidian Entertainment is on the chopping block, too.
  According to a July 2 The Game Business report,it appears that Compulsion Games, Double Fine, Ninja Theory, and Undead Labs aren't the only studios Xbox is looking to offload. Obsidian Entertainment--the studio behind games like Avowed, Fallout: New Vegas, Grounded, The Outer Worlds, and more--may get cut loose as well.As The Game B
  
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• Obsidian May Not Be On Xbox’s Chopping Block After All

  02-07-2026 16:09 via gamespot.com
  
  Although Xbox is planning a massive layoff soon that may impact several of its subsidiaries, it appears the iconic RPG studio Obsidian Entertainment is safe.According to a July 2 Bluesky post by Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, Obsidian Entertainment is "not in negotiations to avoid shutting down." More details will become clearer on Monday, July 6--the day the impending layoffs will reportedly start, which appears to have begun with South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games--but for now, X
  
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• Xbox Game Pass Is Removing A Lot Of Games Very Soon

  02-07-2026 15:38 via gamespot.com
  
  Microsoft is removing more titles from Xbox Game Pass, and it looks like there could be a lot of removals for July. The "leaving soon" page on Xbox's website lists off 11 titles set for removal on July 15.
  These include Golf With Your Friends, Stellaris, EA Sports FC 24, PowerWash Simulator, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. You can see the full list below, as relayed by PureXbox. While PowerWash Simulator is leaving, PowerWash Simulator 2 is still on Game Pass.This is expected to be the first of t
  
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• Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey Now Has Its Own Game

  02-07-2026 15:12 via gamespot.com
  Filmmaker Christopher Nolan's newest movie, The Odyssey, releases on July 17, and ahead of that, an official companion game is now available on Roblox.A survival sailing adventure game, The Odyssey: Defy the Gods, is out now on Roblox, and it's free. Players will assemble a crew, ration supplies, and "appease the gods for the right of safe passage" across the ocean.
  In the game, players will scavenge mysterious worlds to find food and crew that have gone missing. Out on the ocean, players have t
  
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• PGA Tour 2K25 Celebrates America’s Birthday With Nightmare Statue Of Liberty Skin

  02-07-2026 13:56 via gamespot.com
  
  It's a momentous milestone for the US this weekend, as it marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Various events are planned for the July 4 weekend, and if you're a PGA Tour 2K25 player, you can also join in on the fun--with some pure nightmare fuel.2K Games has unveiled a new cosmetic skin for the game, designed to add some extra liberty during each tour of the greens. It's also a weaponized distraction, as you can only imagine how nerve-wracking it would
  
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• Metroid Ravenous Listing Sparks Speculation About Nintendo’s Next Game

  02-07-2026 13:07 via gamespot.com
  
  What's next for the Metroid franchise? Following last year's release of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, it looks like Nintendo has more plans for the franchise, and thanks to a Brazilian ratings board leak that has since been removed, it looks like we know what the title of the next game is: Metroid Ravenous.Posted by the Brazilian Ministry of Justice and Public Security (via Necrolipe and the Famiboards gaming forum), the listing mentions a production start date of 2026 in the US for the title. Other
  
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• Battlefield 6 Almost Made A Great Change, Twice, But Both Were An “Error”

  01-07-2026 22:23 via gamespot.com
  
  Battlefield 6's latest update almost introduced a great change to XP boosts, only for developer Battlefield Studios to state it was an "error" and walk it back. Even more confusing--it's actually the second time the exact same mistake has been made in three weeks. As part of Battlefield 6's June 30 update, one that overhauled the game's gunplay and introduced a new mode, a surprising, but welcome, message greeted players who logged in: "XP Boost Update: Now Based On In-Game Time."Since Batt
  
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• “Profoundly Disappointed” Is This Company’s Response To Sony’s Decision To End Disc Support

  01-07-2026 21:50 via gamespot.com
  
  iam8bit, a company known for its physical gaming collectibles, has responded to Sony's announcement that it will no longer support physical PlayStation discs in 2028, saying it is "profoundly disappointed" by the news."Physical games are vital to games preservation, ownership, and consumer choice, values that have guided iam8bit since our first physical release in 2016," the company said.The company added that it remains committed to these values. "Long live physical media," iam8bit said in its
  
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• “Profoundly Disappointed:” Companies Respond To Sony’s Decision To End Disc Support

  01-07-2026 21:50 via gamespot.com
  
  A number of companies have responded to the news that Sony will no longer support physical PlayStation discs beginning in 2028. That includes iam8bit, a company known for its physical gaming collectibles, which said it is "profoundly disappointed" by the news."Physical games are vital to games preservation, ownership, and consumer choice, values that have guided iam8bit since our first physical release in 2016," the company said.The company added that it remains committed to these values. "Long
  
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• Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Just Showed Up In A Very Unexpected Place

  01-07-2026 21:45 via gamespot.com
  Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is expected to be one of 2026's biggest game releases alongside GTA 6, and the company is expected to go all-out with its marketing and promotion campaign for it. That may have already begun, but not in the way anyone might have expected.
  World Cup fans have spotted a curious detail on the French men's national team bus--luggage that appears to carry the Modern Warfare 4 branding.
  You can clearly see the branding in the image below. We don't know if th
  
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• Existing Unauthorized Steam Machine Companion Cubes Are Being Destroyed After Release Fiasco

  01-07-2026 21:36 via gamespot.com
  
  The unlicensed Companion Cube engineered, illegally, for Valve's Steam Machine will never go on sale again, with those who preordered already being refunded. But what about the handful that made it out of the door and into the hands of journalists, influencers, and content creators? Instead of becoming collector's items, it seems they're all being destroyed.The fate of the existing Companion Cubes wasn't covered in the lengthy statement describing the entire fiasco, which was published by manufa
  
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• Diablo 4’s Worst Grind Just Got A Lot Easier In Season 14

  01-07-2026 21:00 via gamespot.com
  
  Diablo 4's worst endgame grind just became a lot less painful in Season 14, thanks to a batch of impactful changes to gems and conversion recipes.In Diablo's latest expansion, Lord of Hatred, Blizzard introduced two new tiers of gems to its ARPG: Horadric and Flawless Horadric Gems. These gems are far more powerful than their lower-tier counterparts, but there is a catch--they can't be found as drops. Instead, they can only be crafted using the Horadric Cube's Amalgamation recipe. The recipe tur
  
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• This Week In Games Was Bad, But Next Week May Be Worse

  01-07-2026 20:34 via gamespot.com
  
  While it can seem like every week feels bad in the games industry, this past week felt especially awful. You're not wrong for thinking so, too, and the start of this week wasn't that great either. But what if I told you that it could get even worse? It doesn't sound possible, but trust me, it appears it definitely could.Let's look at what happened last week.A week to forgetOn June 22, news broke that Ubisoft co-founder Claude Guillemot died in a plane crash on June 19. His brother, Yves Guillemo
  
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• Next-Gen Xbox May Not Have Disc Drive, Disc-To-Digital Feature Coming, Reports Say

  01-07-2026 20:08 via gamespot.com
  
  Following Sony's announcement that it will not support PlayStation discs starting in 2028 and conjecture that the PS6 won't have a disc drive, it's now been reported that Microsoft's next-gen Xbox, Project Helix, won't have a disc drive either.
  Jez Corden of Windows Central reported today that Project Helix will not have a disc drive. The report did not include any further details, but this would not be a surprising development given the increasing percentage of games sold digitally compared to
  
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• PlayStation Plus Free Games For July 2026 Revealed

  01-07-2026 17:34 via gamespot.com
  
  This month's batch of free games for PlayStation Plus subscribers has been revealed. All PS Plus members will be able to claim a trio of freebies starting July 7--Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, For the King 2, and CrossCode. If you haven't claimed June's PlayStation Plus free games yet, make sure to do so before next Tuesday.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 isn't exactly a high point for the franchise, but at the very least, the 2023 game was a comfortably familiar experience. Set directly after
  
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• GameStop Is Not Hurting After Sony Kills Discs, And There Is A Good Reason Why

  01-07-2026 17:25 via gamespot.com
  After Sony announced that it would stop supporting physical discs starting in January 2028, many expected GameStop's stock price to take a hit. After all, the company is known to drive revenue from new and used game sales. However, GameStop is not hurting today. Actually, GameStop's share price is up.Why is that? Whereas GameStop's business was once mainly focused on selling game software, that's no longer the case. The store still sells new and used games, of course, but for GameStop's latest r
  
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• Subnautica 2’s Legal Troubles End With Bonuses And CEO’s Exit

  01-07-2026 17:09 via gamespot.com
  
  After a year of litigation that resulted in the firing and rehiring of Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill, the Korean publisher Krafton Inc. has agreed to pay the entire Subnautica 2 team bonuses in three annual installments.According to a July 1 Bloomberg report, Krafton Inc. and Unknown Worlds Entertainment have reached a "legal settlement" with the Subnautica 2 studio's CEO Ted Gill and its co-founders. As part of the agreement, Gill has resigned, stating that the two companies--Krafton Inc. and Unk
  
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• Sony To End PlayStation Store Support On PS3 And Vita

  01-07-2026 16:59 via gamespot.com
  
  After Sony's surprising announcement that it plans to end PlayStation disc production by 2028 in favor of a digital-only future for its consoles, some fine print has gotten lost in all the buzz: Sony is also ending support for the PlayStation Store on PS3 and PS Vita."After nearly two decades of supporting the PS3 console generation, we wanted to let you know we will be closing the PlayStation Store on PS3, as well as on PS Vita," Sony senior director Sid Shuman shared in a blog post announcing
  
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• PlayStation Disc Death Sends The Internet Into Its Physical Media Defense Arc

  01-07-2026 16:51 via gamespot.com
  
  Sony's announcement that it will end production of all PlayStation game discs in 2028 hasn't gone over well with fans of physical media. While the move might be an obvious one to make for Sony--digital sales account for almost 80% of its game sales on PS5 currently--the news still feels like it came from out of nowhere.
  Coupled with Sony also confirming that it'll be closing the PS3 and PS Vita storefronts next month, today feels like a solid reminder that you don't own the game you just bought,
  
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• Goodbye Discs: Digital Game Sales Continue To Grow At PlayStation, As Well As Many Other Big Players

  01-07-2026 16:47 via gamespot.com
  
  Sony has confirmed that it will no longer support physical discs for PlayStation games--for first- and third-party games--starting in January 2028. Many are wondering why, and it likely has to do with steep declines in physical software sales at the gaming giant. And it's not just Sony that's seeing major declines in physical, disc-based games--many other publishers are as well. It's part of a wider trend of people increasingly buying games digitally, for convenience and other reasons.
  Niko Part
  
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