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The organiser of Croatia's Reboot Develop Blue conference has been issued with a bankruptcy order by a court in Zagreb citing €520,000 in unpaid debts, according to a machine-translated report in Croatian news site tportal. Digitalna avantura, operated by Damira Đurovićam, has been directed to pay €2,000 to commence bankruptcy proceedings, after a judgement found that the company did not have the assets to cover its outstanding debts. Read more View the full article

Discord's global age verification rollout has been delayed to later this year after major criticism over privacy concerns. Read more View the full article

Xbox is facing "no pressure from Microsoft" to use AI under the new leadership of Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma. Read more View the full article

You might think holding playtests or server slams or betas or whatever technical term you want to call "a chance to play a game before it's officially out" for multiple games in the same weekend is a strange idea... I agree, but that's exactly what PlayStation is doing this weekend with two of its upcoming first-party games. Specifically, Bungie is launching a server slam this weekend for Marathon, starting at 10 a.m. PT on Thursday, February 26, and ending on Monday, March 2, at 10 a.m. PT, while Guerrilla Games is holding a closed playtest for Horizon Hunters Gathering starting Friday, February 27, and running through Sunday, March 1. Of course, the third-person action co-op gameplay of Horizon Hunter is quite a bit different from the first-person extraction co-op gameplay of Marathon, but at the end of the day, these are two first-party multiplayer games and it seems a bit odd to pit them against each other in the same weekend like this. Considering Marathon launches March 5, it makes sense to have a server slam the final weekend before its release – it gives Bungie the chance to test its servers and players the opportunity to see if the Destiny studio's vivid and mysterious take on the extraction shooter genre is for them. With Horizon Hunters Gathering having only just been announced earlier this month, with no release date in sight, it's strange to land on the same weekend for a playtest as Bungie's server slam. Alas, that's what's happening, so you, the player, have the opportunity to try out two first-party games for free this weekend. Bungie's Marathon Server Slam Details As for what to expect in this weekend's Marathon server slam, it will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC (via Steam) with crossplay and cross-save enabled. This server slam is what Bungie is calling an open preview, which means anyone can try it out, unlike Guerrilla Games' closed playtest for Horizon Hunters Gathering (more on that in a bit). If you play Marathon this weekend, you have the chance to earn the following in-game rewards, and each reward earned will transfer into the full game if you pick it up: Complete the first mission to unlock the Standard Arrival Cache, which includes the following: Standard implants (6x)Standard Runner shell cores (4x)Standard weapon chip mods (4x)Weapons: Overrun and HardlineReach Runner Level 10 to unlock the Enhanced Arrival Cache (Green), which includes the following: Enhanced implants (6x)Enhanced Runner shell cores (2x for each shell, 12x total)Enhanced weapon chip mods (4x)Weapons: Enhanced Magnum and Enhanced HardlineReach Runner Level 30 to unlock the Deluxe Arrival Cache (Blue), which includes the following: Deluxe and Enhanced implants (3x each, 6x total)Deluxe and Enhanced Runner shell cores (1x for each shell, 12x total)Deluxe and Enhanced weapon chip mods (2x each, 4x total)Weapons: Deluxe Magnum and Enhanced Volley RifleBackpack: Enhanced Base BackpackBungie says the emblem, player banner, and loot rewards will be waiting for you when Marathon launches. As for what you'll actually be doing, you can "infil" into two zones – Perimeter and Dire Marsh – as well as take on contracts for five factions in the Marathon universe. You can also try out five of the six Runner shells that will be available at launch. When the game launches (and when Season 1 goes live), two more zones to infil into – Outpost and Cryo Archive – will be available, along with the sixth Runner shell. Plus, full progression for all six of the game's factions will go live, as will Ranked Mode and "other secrets and surprises." The Marathon server slam begins on Thursday, February 26, at 10 a.m. PT, and ends on Monday, March 2, at 10 a.m. PT. Guerrilla Games' Horizon Hunters Gathering Closed Playtest Unlike Bungie's Marathon server slam, the Horizon Hunters Gathering closed playtest will not be open to everyone – you must sign up for PlayStation's beta test program here and hope you are selected to participate. While the Horizon Hunters Gathering playtest begins on Friday, February 27, it will only be playable for North American players from 4 p.m. PT to 7 p.m. PT, and from 7 p.m. CET to 10 p.m. CET for EU players on that day, as well as Saturday, February 28, and Sunday, March 1. It will be available for selected players on both PlayStation 5 and PC (via Steam), and will only support the English language. In this closed playtest, three playable hunters – Axle, Rem, and Sun – will be available to try out within two game modes: Machine Incursion (Normal and Hard) and Cauldron Descent (Normal). The playtest will be set within one explorable environment, which is Colorado Springs, and will feature access to The Gathering, which Guerrilla Games calls a shared social space with campsite customization. Unlike the Marathon server slam, there won't be any rewards to earn from this playtest, which makes sense considering we have no idea when Horizon Hunters Gathering is launching. Nonetheless, that's everything you need to know about upcoming opportunities to play Marathon and Horizon Hunters Gathering this weekend. In the meantime, check out the Horizon Hunters Gathering reveal trailer, and then check out the Marathon release date trailer after that. Are you hoping to hop into either of these games this weekend? Let us know in the comments below! View the full article

Midgard continues to fill up with characters for Amazon's upcoming live-action God of War TV series. Deadline has reported that Ed Skrein, who you might recognize as Deadpool (2016) villain Ajax, will play Baldur, the youngest son of Odin, in the show. Skrein, whose other credits include Jurassic Park: Rebirth, Rebel Moon, Game of Thrones, and Alita: Battle Angel, will go fist-to-fist with Ryan Hurst's Kratos in this God of War series, if it sticks closely to 2018's God of War. The game practically opens with the earth-shattering fight between the two gods, and Baldur continues to be a recurring antagonist throughout Kratos and his son Atreus' adventure to lay Faye, Kratos' wife and Atreus' mom, to rest on a mountain high in the sky. You can check out that fight from the game in the video below, courtesy of GameClips: "Charismatic, unpredictable, and armed with a razor-sharp tongue, Baldur lives by his own rules," Deadline's logline description of Baldur reads. "As a boy, Baldur was cursed; this curse denied him the ability to feel pleasure and physical sensation. This fuels an insatiable anger and bloodlust in Baldur, who favors a brawling fighting style that blends his immense power with the raw impact of his fists. Above all else, he longs for an opponent that can truly match his prowess in battle; an opponent that can finally make him feel something." With Skrein's casting, the announced cast of Amazon's God of War series is as follows: Ryan Hurst - KratosCallum Vinson - AtreusEd Skrein - BaldurMax Parker - HeimdallÓlafur Darri Ólafsson - ThorMandy Patinkin - OdinAlastair Duncan - MimirDanny Woodburn - BrokJeff Gulka - SindriAmazon has already made a two-season order for God of War and is currently in pre-production in Vancouver, Canada. The series is being led by showrunner, writer, and executive producer Ronald D. Moore (Outlander, Battlestar Galactica). It is being co-produced by Sony Pictures Television, Amazon MGM Studios, PlayStation Productions, and Tall Boy Productions. For more, read Game Informer's reviews for God of War and God of War Ragnarök. After that, read why God of War Ragnarök's Valhalla is so much more than just a roguelite DLC. [Source: Deadline] What do you think of this series' casting so far? Let us know in the comments below! View the full article

Thanks to the massive success of Insomniac's Spider-Man games, its next project, Marvel's Wolverine, is easily one of our highest-anticipated games of the year. Usually, every new piece of news about a game of this caliber would be closely guarded and revealed in grand fashion, but today's release date was a straightforward social media post. After learning last year that it would drop sometime in fall 2026, we just learned the official release date: September 15. The news comes in a quick, six-second video posted to Insomniac's various social media platforms. Text above the video reads, "Let's cut to the chase: Marvel's Wolverine launches September 15, 2026." The video itself just shows the game's key art (which features the illustration of the titular mutant that appears on the game's box art) and text announcing the release date. Fans (like me) hoping this news would be accompanied by some more footage or gameplay details are sadly out of luck. This is especially interesting timing given that Sony put on one of the biggest State of Play showcases we've seen in a while just a few weeks ago, and Wolverine was notably absent from the lineup. This was not a surprise, as Insomniac suggested on social media that Wolverine wouldn't be shown, but it also teased a bigger look at the game in its most recent trailer, possibly hinting at a larger trailer or dedicated showcase coming this spring. That said, we're not complaining about the locked down release date, and look forward to seeing more of what the game has to offer in the coming months. For more Marvel games, check out the recent X-Men-focused trailer for Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls. For more PlayStation, check out all our coverage from the recent State of Play, which included announcements about new God of War remakes, the return of 2D Castlevania, and a sequel to Kena: Bridge of Spirits. View the full article

Game Informer Issue 376 has just become…Invincible! That’s right, our next cover will be graced by Invincible VS, the tag team fighting game by developer Quarter Up and Skybound Games based on the acclaimed comic and animated series. We traveled to Skybound Entertainment to go several rounds in Invincible VS, which includes exclusive hands-on time with an unannounced fighter. Our 14-page cover story features new insights into the game’s conception, development history, and design approach based on interviews with Quarter Up's development leads, Skybound executives, and Invincible creators Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker. For the first time since Game Informer’s return, our issue features two artist renditions of the cover art showing off Invincible and Omni-Man facing off with new hero Ella Mental watching from afar. The first version comes from Quarter Up art director Dan Eder and is based on the Invincible VS in-game art style. Invincible co-creator Cory Walker lends his artistic talents to the second variation that renders the same scene in his signature style. Both versions appear on the same issue, with one on the front cover and the other on the back. For the subscriber edition, Cory Walker's art graces the front page; the newsstand edition flips the images to feature Dan Eder's art at the forefront. Check out the full spreads of both editions below: Subscribers can read the digital edition when it launches on March 3. Physical versions will begin arriving in the mail in late March, and you can expect to find the magazine in bookstores and newsstands around the same timeframe. Be sure to subscribe today to receive 10 Game Informer magazines a year (physical and digital) and get Invincible VS as your first issue! View the full article

Mouse: P.I. For Hire has been delayed. Developer Fumi Games and publisher PlaySide Studios want to spend more time getting the vintage cartoon shooter ready for its debut, so it will now launch a month later than planned. Originally set to be released on March 19, Mouse is now coming out on April 16. The development team shared a message explaining the delay that says, in part, “As we approach the final stages of development, we want to ensure we are taking the extra time and care needed to make Mouse: P.I. For Hire an experience to remember. We remain unwavering in our goal to deliver you the best game we can, and that will take just an extra few weeks.” You can read the full message below: Mouse: P.I. For Hire was first announced in 2023 and is a noir first-person shooter inspired by “Boomer” shooters such as Doom, with a 1930s animation aesthetic. Players control detective Jack Pepper, voiced by Troy Baker, who must solve various mysteries across the city of Mouseberg, shooting loads of bad guys along the way. Game Informer subscribers can read our most recent magazine preview for the game here. When Mouse: P.I. For Hire arrives, it will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Switch, and PC. The game arrives two days after Replaced, another highly anticipated indie that was also delayed from March to April in the last week. View the full article

Platform: iOS, Android Publisher: Activision Blizzard Developer: Blizzard Entertainment During my recent trip to Blizzard Entertainment’s headquarters, I received a discreet invitation to a small gathering with a new team that’s been working on a secret project set in the Overwatch universe. The new game, Overwatch Rush, is a top-down multiplayer twin-stick shooter in early development for smartphones and tablets. Helmed by Blizzard’s Barcelona team, the standalone spin-off manages to smartly convert Overwatch’s essence into a surprisingly easy-to-control mobile adaptation. Despite the genre shift, Overwatch Rush is surprisingly similar to the main game, incorporating many of the same characters and mechanics (exact copies, in several cases), but offers the ease of access mobile games are known for. The free-to-play shooter features intuitive touch controls, including tap and hold buttons to activate character abilities, a dedicated virtual analog stick for movement, and a secondary directional stick that doubles as the character’s primary fire. There is a small amount of auto-aim present, but you’ll still need to master the fundamentals to reach the top of a surprisingly high skill ceiling. While the team’s goal is to introduce more heroes from the base game slowly, Overwatch Rush’s launch roster currently includes Tracer, Reinhardt, Kiriko, Soldier: 76, Lucio, Pharah, Mercy, and Reaper. Many of these heroes are one-to-one adaptations, but characters like Mercy have undergone significant changes. In Overwatch Rush, Mercy channels her battle medic persona, swapping her primary fire from her signature Caduceus Staff to her typically secondary blaster. You can tap her Blessing ability to self-cast or attach a simultaneous damage and healing boost to an ally. Additionally, Mercy has a directional boost that allows her to reduce or increase her distance from battle at will, and notably, enables her to fly alongside airborne heroes like Pharah. While Mercy has an area-of-effect resurrection ability, Blizzard has completely reworked her ultimate ability to be a damage and healing aura that affects players in proximity. Repeatedly playing a hero earns you mastery levels, which unlock new mods and talents. Mods include minor hero improvements like decreased ability cooldowns, bonus health, and heal boosts. In contrast, talents offer more significant game changes, like causing Reinhardt’s Fire Strike to trigger a fiery tornado that sucks opponents into a central area. Alternatively, talents can alter Tracer’s recall to grant overhealth or imbue her Blink ability to deal damage if she passes through an enemy. While you can’t swap heroes mid-match, which are over in under five minutes, you can change loadouts if your selected build isn’t performing well. Players compete across multiple modes, including familiar staples like Control Point and new ones like Nano Grab. The latter pits two teams against each other, requiring them to collect 100 green tokens, called Nanos, and deposit them in scattered banks that activate for only a short time, similar to a King of the Hill ruleset. Killing other players causes them to drop the Nanos they’re carrying, creating a satisfying risk-and-reward element. While I’m still skeptical as to whether the project can stand on its own legs without any progression ties to Overwatch, it does feature substantial cosmetic rewards you’d expect from the series’ signature loot boxes. Overwatch Rush won’t release anytime soon, but I’m curious to see if Blizzard can capture a new, casual audience for one of its flagship series. View the full article

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said he "fully understands the legitimate concerns of our teams" after the firm's restructuring plan and subsequent layoffs. Read more View the full article

Amazon Games is shutting down Glowmade's online multiplayer dungeon crawler King of Meat. Read more View the full article

Roblox "strongly disputes" claims it is failing children after officials in Los Angeles filed a lawsuit against the online platform Roblox for allegedly "failing to protect children from predatory behavior." Read more View the full article

PUBG publisher Krafton has appointed a new chief AI officer. Read more View the full article

Ubisoft is appointing three developers to a new leadership team in charge of the Assassin's Creed franchise. Technically, Vantage Studios is doing the appointing, as it's the subsidiary Ubisoft established last year to manage its highest profile franchises, including Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six. Martin Schelling, Jean Guesdon, and François de Billy each have experience with various stages of the series' nearly 20-year history, but all three worked on 2017's Assassin's Creed Origins. Ubisoft announced the news in a post on its website. Schelling will serve as the Head of Assassin's Creed Brand, which will put him in charge of "overall strategy and long-term vision." He's previously worked as a producer or brand producer at various levels on most games since Revelations, including Black Flag, Origins, and Valhalla. According to LinkedIn, he's worked as Ubisoft's Chief Production Officer since April 2024. Guesdon will be the Head of Content, which seems to be the most hands-on out of the three roles. He'll reportedly "lead [the franchise's] creative direction, support individual games, and guide the future of Assassin’s Creed." He was the creative director of both Black Flag and Origins, though he left Ubisoft from 2023 to mid 2024 to work at Behaviour Interactive, a studio best known for Dead by Daylight. Finally, de Billy is the new Head of Production Excellence, tasked with broadly strengthening production practices across Vantage's various Assassin's Creed projects. He was a production designer on Origins and Valhalla, but has worked at Ubisoft since 2001, and currently is its Global Senior Production Director. We enjoyed Shadows, the most recent entry in the Assassin's Creed series (and you can read our review of it here). We're still waiting to see what exactly Ubisoft has in mind for the popular historical fiction franchise moving forward, but the last entry is less than a year old, so it'll likely be a while. But while we haven't heard about Assassin's Creed, its parent company has been in the news a lot in 2026, and not for good reasons. You can read about how it shut down its recently unionized Halifax studio, how it laid off employees at Massive Entertainment, or how it canceled six games in development (including the Sands of Time remake). View the full article

Nexon has appointed Patrick Söderlund as its new executive chairman to "accelerate global strategy, transform creative direction, and lead the next phase of growth." Read more View the full article

Ubisoft subsidiary Vantage Studios, the new Tencent-backed home of Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six, has announced the leadership team for Assassin's Creed. Read more View the full article

Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC Publisher: 2K Games Developer: Visual Concepts Release: March 13, 2026 Rating: Teen Annual franchises have the difficult task of staying fresh and exciting within a development cycle that doesn’t allow for gargantuan changes each year. It’s a reality fans should keep in mind when measuring their expectations for the next release, but it’s also understandable to desire major shakeups. After playing a few hours of WWE 2K26 at 2K’s Creator’s Fest at WWE Headquarters last week, I felt conflicted by its overwhelming familiarity while still acknowledging some neat additions and subtle improvements. During my session, I toured most of the usual modes. I peeked at the CM Punk-focused Showcase, began a new campaign in the story-driven MyRise, drafted a pool of superstars in MyGM, and took a return trip to The Island. I also sampled the four new match stipulations: I Quit, Inferno, Dumpster, and 3 Stages of Hell. And finally, I briefly checked out the new Ringside Pass, 2K26’s battle pass equivalent. Positives that stood out to me immediately are the superstar models. These games have always looked great, though that quality varied by superstar. I certainly didn’t see everyone on the 400+ character roster, but the active stars I did see looked impressive. Cover star CM Punk looks fantastic, as do several others, including Randy Orton, Penta, Rey Fénix, Guilia, and Blake Monroe. Hearing the action called by the new commentary team of Michael Cole, Wade Barrett, and Booker T is a refreshing and long-overdue change. Another cool addition is AAA, the Lucha Libre promotion WWE acquired in 2025. Getting to control wrestlers like Mr. Iguana and El Hijo Del Vikingo is unexpected and awesome. Developer Visual Concepts touts improvements to stamina and reversal systems, but I couldn’t tell you if I noticed a marketed difference. Executing reversals still feels like they require the same timings and inputs as previous entries, and my WWE 2K muscle memory didn’t need any adjustments. I feel similarly about managing stamina. That said, I am tickled by little additions such as the new pre-match interactions like choosing to rush the opponent before the bell, offering/rejecting handshakes, or hyping the crowd. Messing around with the more interactive entrance mechanics is also a small, goofy treat. Incessantly pressing the d-pad commands to trigger stage and ring pyro like I’m 2009 Randy Orton trying to blow up John Cena made me chuckle. The new match stipulations are fine additions, in that it’s always great to have more gameplay options. However, I didn’t find any of them to be as exciting as, say, adding WarGames a few years ago. In 2K’s defense, some of the stipulations are weak in real life, too, so they worked with what they had. The Inferno match, which unfolds in a ring surrounded by fire, involves hitting enough big moves to fill a meter that causes the flames to rise. Once this meter is full, you can then attempt to set the other player ablaze, which plays out similarly to nailing a Royal Rumble elimination by tossing them over the ropes using grapples or hard Irish whips. Some fun back-and-forth can be had in these moments. It is odd, however, that before filing the meter, you can exit the ring and even bring weapons inside. Cool on one hand, but the point of Inferno bouts is to keep the participants inside, and only a spectacular move, like diving over the top rope a la the Undertaker, can see a superstar escaping the flames unharmed. Dumpster and I Quit matches fall squarely into the “nice to have, but I’ll rarely play it” category. Dumpster is essentially a Casket match, with players fighting to toss each other into the bin positioned at ringside and trying to out-button-press each other to close the lid. I Quit involves beating your opponent down and hitting a button to trigger a stop-the-needle mini-game, with the victim trying to nail multiple safe zones in succession to refuse to quit; missing too many leads to quitting. 3 Stages of Hell, the 2-out-of-3 falls match with each fall taking place under a different stipulation, is my favorite match addition. There’s nothing mechanically unique since you’re simply playing three match types back-to-back, but the endurance factor makes it a fun challenge since body damage carries across the matches. It’s tough to get a true sense of how the other modes shape out when under a time limit. Since I need to hop around, I could only sample the early portions of Showcase, MyRise, MyGM, and The Island. From what I did see, don’t expect dramatic changes from each one. The Island’s addition of voice-acting is a big improvement, and the premise of players aligning with one of three themed factions led by CM Punk, Rhea Ripley, and Cody Rhodes may have some silly promise. One of my main criticisms of the mode last year was how much it pushes players to buy Virtual Currency (VC) to purchase expensive cosmetics and character stat points using real money. Although I didn’t get a look at how or if these prices are adjusted, getting control of my character on the Island and immediately seeing nothing but name-brand stores like Nike still feels icky. Showcase is usually one of my favorite destinations, and chronicling CM Punk’s career is a great choice. You can proceed through Showcase either through a timeline or in a gauntlet format; I chose the former, more traditional route, so I couldn’t tell you what the latter entails. Right off the bat, the mode begins with Punk’s early days on Raw, seemingly skipping his ECW run. There’s always a chance Showcase unfolds in non-chronological order, but as a Punk fan, I was disappointed to see his first two years in WWE referenced only in a video package. Outside of that, Showcase appears to be Showcase: play historical matches (with Punk adding contextual narration), complete optional objectives to trigger in-game cutscenes that unlock additional rewards afterwards. MyRise and MyGM offer expansions to the familiar template. MyGM now allows players to book matches involving up to eight participants and includes intergender bouts. This is always one of my favorite destinations, and I’m sure I’ll still enjoy playing the booker in this year’s iteration. MyRise has a new, likely goofy storyline starring a superstar returning from a years-long absence (at least on the male side). This is also very familiar, as you’re still roaming backstage between matches to scroll a social media feed and chat with superstars in choice-driven conversations that influence a face or heel alignment. The bones appear to be the same, but the narrative meat will ultimately dictate how entertaining MyRise is this year, and the jury is out on that for now. Ringside Pass is probably 2K26’s most significant new addition, adding battle pass progression that replaces the series’ usual DLC packs. Like every battle pass you’ve ever engaged with, it features free and premium (paid) tiers offering two sets of unlockable superstars, cosmetics, and other rewards. I appreciate that you can earn XP by playing any game mode, and I quickly unlocked the first batch of rewards of both tiers, netting me the playable Vikingo right off the bat. Depending on the game, I don’t mind battle passes as a concept; there’s an undeniable satisfaction in constantly gaining rewards simply by playing. But like everything else in the game, I’ll need to spend much more time with 2K26 to see how much longer it takes to unlock the later tiers, how much VC is required to buy tier skips, and the overall quality of the rewards themselves. I decided to skip Universe Mode and the Creation Suite due to time constraints; these destinations require much more than a cursory glance to appreciate what Visual Concepts cooked up this year. As I scanned the rest of the package, the phrase that kept popping into my head was “Yep, it’s another WWE 2K game.” That’s neither terrible nor overtly exciting. I’ve largely enjoyed the last few entries, and 2K26 feels on track to at least maintain a status quo of quality. But much like the current TV product, the status quo is growing increasingly stale. Unless 2K26 hides more surprises or mechanical nuance than I could glean, fans are likely in for a perfectly enjoyable but extremely familiar package. View the full article

Meta is "shifting the focus" of its Horizon Worlds metaverse platform to be "almost exclusively mobile." Read more View the full article

TiMi Studio Group, a Tencent subsidiary, has reportedly shut down its Montréal studio. Read more View the full article

Asha Sharma has "no tolerance for bad AI" as she takes on the role of Microsoft Gaming CEO and EVP. Read more View the full article

Former Xbox president Sarah Bond called her recent departure "the right time for me to take my next step, both personally and professionally." Read more View the full article

US consumer spending on video games rose 3% year-on-year to $4.3 billion in January 2026. This growth was driven by a 23% increase in non-mobile subscription services, generating $596 million in revenue. Read more View the full article

This month IndieGala is giving away Neon Phonk Robots for free! Neon Phonk Robots is an indie fps... View the full article

Fun fact: last week's edition of what you should play this weekend was our most trafficked entry into this series of weekly posts that we've published so far. Thanks for reading! We're not analyzing why that particularly post was so popular too much. We just like sharing our weekly recommendations that also offer some insight into what we have been up to as a staff beyond the reviews we place our bylines on. In any case, it's time for the weekend and our usual recommendation of games and things you should check out! But before that, here's a recap of the biggest stories of the week: Phil Spencer Is Retiring, Xbox President Sarah Bond Is Leaving, And Microsoft's CoreAI Head Is New CEO Of Microsoft GamingI Can’t In Good Conscience Recommend The Virtual Boy Switch Package – But I Love That It ExistsPlayStation Shuts Down Bluepoint Games, Makers Of Demon's Souls And Shadow Of The Colossus RemakesPokémon FireRed And LeafGreen Are Coming To Switch, Switch 2 Digitally Next WeekSlay The Spire 2 Reveals 4 Player Co-Op, March Early Access Release DateNier: Automata Crosses 10 Million Copies Sold Alongside Mysterious 'To Be Continued' Tease Resident Evil 2 (2019) Kyle Hilliard Evil Requiem (a.k.a. Resident Evil 9) releases next week. It's arguably the first huge release of the year (though there have already been plenty of good and big games so far in 2026), and as a result, we have Resident Evil on the brain. Usually, when it comes to prepping for a sequel, the best bet is to play the entry that takes place right before the new one, but both Resident Evil 7 and 8 are somewhat anomalous entries in the larger franchise. They are undeniably canon, but Ethan Winters' adventure is kind of individual in the grand scheme of all things Resident Evil. We don't have any story insight, but it seems that a better prep for Resident Evil Requiem is to revisit the excellent 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2. It's a chance to spend time with Leon as well as Racoon City, which are both elements that will be part of Requiem. So that's the one we're playing. We also highly recommend checking out our full, Super Replay playthrough of Resident Evil Outbreak. The 2004 (2003 in Japan) online PlayStation 2 Resident Evil game is where the character Alyssa Ashcroft is introduced and is playable, who is the mother of Grace Ashcroft, one of the protagonists of Resident Evil Requiem. You can watch the first episode right here. Arkheron Welsey LeBlanc Arkheron is a game I recently previewed with two and a half hours of hands-on time, and though its battle royale description didn’t inspire much excitement in me, I finished my gameplay ready for more. This PvP isometric action game pits 15 trios against each other and looks like Diablo, with dark fantasy dungeons to loot and creatures to destroy, but despite what its POV would have you believe, it actually plays a lot like a shooter. Because the camera rotates around your character as the focal point, aiming your on-screen reticle requires the accuracy and precision of a game like Valorant. What I especially enjoyed in my preview was discovering new weapons and loot as my trio attempted to climb to the top of the tower through vicious PvP arena fights. Most of the gear, save for healing items and the like, is that of 10 Eternals, god-like beings that rotate in and out of the loot pool. Collect two of an Eternals’ item, and you gain a set bonus – collect all four, and you transform into them for some wild combative effects. There is a lot more that impressed me in Arkheron, and you can read my full thoughts here in my preview, but I say all this to recommend that you check it out on PC! As part of Steam Next Fest, developer Bonfire Studios has turned its servers on for 24/7 access to Arkheron from today through March 2 – I’ll see you in the Tower. Steam Next Fest Demos Kyle Hilliard Steam Next Fest is happening right now, which is where developers releasing games on Steam all agree to launch demos of their games to encourage Wishlist additions and give players an excuse to check out games early. We have not played all the Steam Next Fest demos. There are a lot. But here are a few that we've played and enjoyed. Replaced The quick pitch here is Cyberpunk aesthetics, Limbo/Inside cinematic platformer puzzles and mood, and Batman Arkham combat. It seems to be a potent mix that is already really impressing us. You can watch us play and discuss the demo above. Denshattack Denshattack is a game that demos very, very well. In it, you control a train that can leap and stunt between tracks in a sort-of-post-apoclyptic Japan as you try to be the best train race trick performer in the world. It plays like a modern Dreamcast game and it's very cool. You can watch us play it above. Planet of Lana II Unlike the other two games listed here, Planet of Lana II is a bit more of a known quantity, as any sequel is. I mentioned Limbo/Inside above and Planet of Lana II takes heavy inspiration from those games, and does it well. The sequel is shaping up to be a worthwhile follow-up to the first game and you can check out the demo with us above. View the full article

In this episode of our weekly gaming podcast, Game Informer's Kyle Hilliard reviews God of War: Sons of Sparta, a new 2D metroidvania that Mega Cat Studios and Sony Santa Monica released during last week's PlayStation State of Play. Unfortunately, it's an underwhelming title. Kyle then explains why he spent $99 USD on Nintendo's Virtual Boy rerelease and what it's like experiencing the headset's strange catalog of games on the Switch 2. Later in the show, Eric Van Allen dives into Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse, a mystery adventure about a cursed Japanese seaside town that has impressed him. Finally, Alex Van Aken shares his thoughts on the rock-climbing simulator Cairn and how it's an excellent example of how games can uniquely tell stories. The Game Informer Show is a weekly podcast covering the video game industry. Join us every Friday for chats about video game reviews, news, and exclusive reveals alongside Game Informer staff and special guests from around the industry. Watch the video version here: Listen to "God Of War: Sons Of Sparta Review And Spending $99 On Virtual Boy" on Spreaker. Follow our hosts on social media:Alex Van Aken (@itsVanAken)Kyle Hilliard (@kylehilliard)Eric Van Allen (@seamoosi)Jump ahead using these timestamps:00:00 - Intro03:31 - God of War: Sons of Sparta Review17:44 - Nintendo Virtual Boy on Switch 230:22 - Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse44:59 - Cairn is Excellent View the full article