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Obsidian Entertainment will not be making a third The Outer Worlds game after the 2025 sequel missed its sales forecasts. Read more View the full article

Area Interactive has raised $70 million in a new Series A round to build "a new generation of player-loved franchises." Read more View the full article

Ahead of today’s Overwatch Spotlight 2026 event, I flew to Blizzard’s headquarters to go hands-on with all of the updates and additional content coming in the first season of Reign of Talon, a year-long story arc that kicks off on February 10. Overwatch 2, which Blizzard is officially renaming to Overwatch alongside the update, finally feels fresh again thanks to the five new heroes launching alongside Season 1. Additionally, the first-person shooter’s new sub-roles help to further distinguish its Tank, Damage, and Support heroes with new passive buffs that better align with their specific playstyle and class identity. The team is getting better and faster at creating heroes, multiple developers told me, enabling them to commit to launching 10 heroes in 2026. Players can expect one new hero to launch with each Reign of Talon season, each introducing other game updates like character reworks, new maps, and quality of life changes. We’ve detailed each new character below, along with the new sub-role passives further down. Watch the Overwatch Spotlight 2026: Domina (Tank)Heiress and vice president of Vishkar Industries, Domina is a zone control tank who uses a variety of medium and long-range abilities to poke enemies from afar. One of her major perks allows her to use her Sonic Repulsors to push enemies into her own shield wall, stunning them and dealing 100% increased damage. Primary Fire: Photon Magnum - Medium-range beam that culminates in a high-impact shot Barrier Array - A segmented hard-light barrier deployed in front of Domina. Each segment must be individually destroyed, creating dynamic defensive angles Crystal Charge - Project an explosive crystal and reactivate to detonate it Sonic Repulsors - Push enemies back, stunning them if they hit a wall Ultimate: Panopticon - Fire a hard-light projectile that imprisons enemies and detonates on expiration Passive: Reconstruction - Dealing damage with abilities restores shields Emre (Damage)Once the Overwatch program's gold standard, Emre is a conflicted sharpshooter currently serving Talon. His cyber frag explodes after bouncing, allowing Emre to propel himself to higher ledges. Primary Fire: Synthetic Burst Rifle - Three-round burst weapon Secondary Fire: Take Aim - Hold to zoom in, tightening accuracy and increasing fall off range Siphon Blaster - Temporarily wield a semi-auto pistol with life-stealing explosive rounds. Move faster and jump higher while wielded Cyber Frag - Throw a grenade that detonates shortly after bouncing Ultimate: Override Protocol - An override initiates, transforming you into a living weapon. Fires rapid, explosive blasts or charged mega-shots capable of wiping out teams Passive: Altered Vitals - Passive health regeneration activates sooner and instantly restores 30 health when activated Anran (Damage)My favorite damage character of the bunch, Anran is the older sister of Wuyang and is a potent burst character. Her ultimate can be used dead or alive, and helps to quickly set enemies on fire alongside her fiery fans that ignite enemies and stoke the fires with ample oxygen. Primary Fire: Zhuque Fans - Hand fans that shoot fiery projectiles Secondary Fire: Fan the Flames - Hot wind blast that amplifies burning damage Inferno Rush - Propel yourself forward and damage enemies you impact Dancing Blaze - Strike nearby enemies while dodging all damage Ultimate (Alive): Vermillion Ascent - Charge forward, exploding on impact and instantly igniting enemies Ultimate (Dead): Vermillion Revival - Revive yourself in a fiery explosion Passive: Ignition - Hit enemies with fire attacks to burn them Mizuki (Support)This young ninja specializes in locking down enemies, deflecting bullets with his ultimate, and healing allies with his traditional Japanese hat called a Kasa. Mizuki can return to a previous location by marking it with a paper doll. Importantly, Mizuki's healing aura must be maintained by continuously dealing damage and healing allies, requiring players to stay on the front line. Primary Fire: Spirit Glaive - Throw a spinning blade that can bounce off walls, impacting enemies, and deals damage Healing Kasa - Throw your hat to heal an ally, bouncing to nearby allies and healing you when it returns Katashiro Return - Leap forward, leaving behind a paper doll. Reactivate to return and gain increased movement speed while active Binding Chain - Launch a tethering chain that hinders the first enemy hit Ultimate: Kekkai Sanctuary - Create a sanctuary that heals allies and absorbs enemy projectiles from outside the area Passive: Remedy Aura - Heals nearby allies. Healing scales with a resource generated by dealing damage and healing Jetpack Cat (Support)The long-teased Jetpack Cat is finally real. Her ability to tow allies and enemies makes for a ton of clever plays, and her major perk allows her to knock enemies back if she flies fast enough into them. Primary Fire: Bionic Pawjectiles - Mid-range projectile spread that heals allies and damages enemies Lifeline - Toggle into transport mode, allowing an ally to be towed, increases movement speed, and heals your ally Frenetic Flight - Accelerate in your movement direction. Fuel recovery is slower while carrying another player Purr - Pulsing area heal that increases in frequency over time. Knockback nearby enemies when activated Ultimate: Catnapper - Dive towards a ground location, knocking down enemies and tethering the nearest one to you Passive: Jetpack - Permanent flight New Sub-Roles and Passives: TankBruiser: Reduces critical damage received. While at critical health, gain movement speed Roadhog, Zarya, Orisa, MaugaInitiator: Staying airborne lightly heals you D.Va, Winston, Doomfist, Wrecking BallStalwart: Reduces knockbacks and slows received Reinhardt, Sigma, Ramattra, Junker Queen, Hazard, Domina DamageSharpshooter: Critical hits reduce ability cooldowns Hanzo, Widowmaker, Cassidy, Ashe, SojournFlanker: Health packs restore more health Tracer, Reaper, Genji, Vendetta, Venture, AnranSpecialist: Eliminating an enemy briefly increases reload speed Bastion, Junkrat, Mei, Soldier 76, Symmetra, Torbjorn, EmreRecon: Detect enemies below half health through walls after damaging them Pharah, Sombra, Echo, Freja SupportTactician: Gain excess ultimate charge that carries over after using your ultimate Lucio, Zenyatta, Ana, Baptiste, Jetpack CatMedic: Healing allies with your weapon also heals you Mercy, Moira, Kiriko, LifeweaverSurvivor: Using a movement ability activates passive health regeneration Brigitte, Illari, Juno, Wuyang, Mizuki View the full article

Roblox has announced a beta tool which enables users to create interactive 3D models from text prompts, an upgrade to its existing 3D asset generation tool revealed last year. The feature was announced in a blog post. Read more View the full article

Build a Rocket Boy has announced a "new phase of ongoing development" for its troubled open-world game MindsEye, marking the company's first notable PR push since the game's launch in June, but arriving alongside fresh controversy around the studio's founder. Read more View the full article

The very first Pokémon games launched in Japan on February 27, 1996, meaning the series' 30th Anniversary is this year. Ahead of an anticipated Pokémon Day stream later this month on February 27, The Pokémon Company International has announced that a yearlong campaign to celebrate the 30th Anniversary will begin this weekend with a Super Bowl LX commercial. The company released a quick teaser for the Super Bowl LX commercial on its YouTube channel today, showing an excited Jigglypuff sitting backstage on a couch, presumably waiting to perform the halftime show of her dreams. This commercial will be the "campaign debut" of yearlong details, announcements, and more. "The Pokémon community has been the foundation and inspiration for the brand since the very beginning, and the passion of our fans is what has allowed Pokémon to have a lasting impact on pop culture around the world and across generations," Pokémon Company International president Kenji Okubo writes in a press release. "As we look to the next 30 years and beyond, we invite trainers to join in celebrating this landmark milestone, starting with Super Bowl LX, where they'll see themselves and their fandom reflected in unexpected ways." Alongside the Super Bowl commercial, The Pokémon Company International has already shared some details about what to expect for this anniversary celebration. Available now at participating retailers, the Pokémon TCG: Pokémon Day 2026 Collection celebrates Pokémon Day, and you can also soon pick up Pokémon TCG: First Partner Illustration Collection cards from Series 1, which spotlights first partner Pokémon from the Kanto, Sinnoh, and Alola regions. Series 1 of the set will be released on March 20, and more regions will be featured in new First Partner Illustration Collection cards set to release in the future. Starting today, you can visit the Pokémon Center online to purchase exclusive 30th Anniversary-inspired merchandise that includes apparel, TCG accessories, home decor, and more. And finally, The Pokémon Company International says to keep an eye out for partner merchandise from companies like Lego, Jazwares, and more for additional 30th Anniversary products. Pokémon Day 2026 is February 27, and we expect to receive updates on upcoming games like Pokémon Pokopia as well as (hopefully) the reveal of Pokémon Gen 10. In the meantime, read Game Informer's Pokémon Legends: Z-A review, and then read our review of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. What do you hope to see as part of the Pokémon 30th Anniversary celebration? Let us know in the comments below! View the full article

Electronic Arts has announced the preliminary results of its third fiscal quarter, reporting a 38% jump in net bookings to over $3 billion following the successful launch of Battlefield 6. Read more View the full article

Nintendo has announced that it will host a Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase tomorrow, on Wednesday, February 5. It will air at 6 a.m. PT/9 a.m. ET on YouTube and the official Nintendo website. The company first revealed the news on its Nintendo Today app before announcing it on official social media channels. Nintendo says the Direct will feature "roughly 30 minutes of upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch games," and considering it's a third-party showcase, it's unlikely we'll see any big first-party reveals or updates. There are a lot of third-party games coming to Switch 2 this year like Pokémon Pokopia (March 5), Pragmata (April 24), Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection (March 13), Resident Evil Requiem, Village Gold Edition, and Biohazard Gold Edition (February 27), WWE 2K26 (March 6), Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties (February 12), and Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection (March 27), to name a few. There's a good chance we'll see updates to some of these games alongside brand-new third-party reveals. Fortunately, we don't even have to wait 24 hours to learn more as the Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase will air on Wednesday, February 5, at 6 a.m. PT/9 a.m. ET. In the meantime, read about how Mario Kart World is the Switch 2's best-selling game, and then check out this story about how the Switch is officially Nintendo's best-selling console ever. After that, read about our hands-on impressions of Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata on Switch 2 and then check out why we think the upcoming Switch 2 Virtual Boy peripheral is actually kind of cool. What do you hope to see at the Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase tomorrow? Let us know in the comments below! View the full article

I’m knee-deep into playing Nioh 3, and though the review embargo has lifted, we still need more time to complete this densely packed threequel. But after playing for a couple of dozen hours, we can confidently say I’m having a fun time slicing apart yokai in this time-hopping adventure. While the game remains a deliciously difficult action game, especially thanks to its new Ninja style, I’m arguably most impressed with its rewarding approach to exploration. One of Nioh 3’s big additions is the Ninja Style Shift, which effectively gives you a shinobi-flavored class that feels like controlling a wholly different character. While its opposite Style, Samurai, offers the more traditional Nioh combat experience (complete with the four weapon stances), I much prefer the speed and agility of the Ninja Style. Slashing apart foes using the Ninja’s bespoke weaponry like dual swords, splitstaves, or tonfa, while swiftly dodging around and behind them to take advantage of the Ninja’s stronger backstab damage, is thrilling. I also enjoy experimenting with the Ninja’s impressively deep suite of unlockable tools and magic. Regardless of whether you favor Samurai or Ninja, swapping between them with a button press allows for a dynamic shift in gameplay styles that keeps combat fresh and strategically engaging for hours. I’m enjoying mastering each style’s inherent traits and the many weapons each has to offer. I’m also enjoying Nioh 3’s approach to open-world exploration. While not a true open-world game, players visit different expansive hubs, and a single landmass can take 15-20 hours to fully explore. Nioh 3’s approach to exploration smartly threads the needle between the overly-guided icon-littered maps of most open-world games and the more cryptic “pick a direction and see what you find” design ethos of Elden Ring or the recent Zelda games. Upon entering a region, the map is a blank slate. But the more you uncover, the more you unlock tiers of exploration rewards, such as stat bumps to attack/defense, but, more importantly, the map begins displaying icons of the goodies you were in the vicinity of but missed the first time around. These include side quests, loot chests, hidden Kodama spirits, Jizo statues, Guardian Spirit traversal sections, and much more. Nioh 3’s world may not boast jaw-dropping emergent moments, but it constantly incentivizes exploration because everything you find improves your character in some way. You’ll gain new weapons, gear, skill points, passive upgrades, and more simply by wandering, and it’s an effective hook when the game still pummels players with its high difficulty curve. Another of Nioh 3’s big destinations is Crucibles, demonic realms presenting a higher overall challenge befitting its hellish landscape. Usually presented as a climax to a plot milestone, I like Crucibles as self-contained challenges and breaks from the overworld. I also like the unique Crucible weapons they reward, which bear special, unlockable skills and inflict more damage, but cause the player to take increased damage. Nioh 3’s encounters, especially its boss fights, remain challenging affairs. However, overcoming a seemingly insurmountable foe has never felt more feasible thanks to the more freeform exploration. Nioh 3 allows players to explore and get stronger should they hit a wall, and as I previously established, there’s no shortage of things to do or find. This is much more enjoyable than grinding the same corridor-like route ad nauseam. But even if you technically surpass a region’s recommended character level, boss battles demand a high degree of reflex and pattern recognition – plus the savvy to know when to switch combat styles – that sheer number grinding can’t solve; and that’s where success tastes the sweetest. Still, when your dexterity isn’t up to snuff, Nioh 3 offers plenty of ways to help pick up the slack. From having two completely different loadouts between the Samurai and Ninja styles, multiple systems for recycling unwanted loot and strengthening preferred equipment, expansive skill trees for each weapon (with free respec), and other features still revealing themselves, it’s impressive how much you can customize your character to prepare for any given fight, even by this series’ standards. Naturally, you’re going to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of options at your fingertips – I certainly was – but the game does a solid job of easing players into these systems between playable tutorials and a glossary succinctly explaining each feature. Nioh 3 also allows you to get accustomed to an initial batch of features for a good dozen or more hours before unlocking new options and expanding existing ones, and I’m grateful for that. Unfortunately, it does mean a lot of downtime must be spent in menus inspecting/recycling dozens of pieces of loot, as well as checking the boxes of numerous rewards across multiple menus. While it feels good to continually grow, pausing to do so does feel like having to shove a mouthful of veggies when I just want to get back to devouring my juicy steak. I have a good way to go before I’ll be rolling credits in Nioh 3, but I’m having a blast so far. The action remains slick and satisfying, and the game’s customization allow overwhelming agency in how you build your hero, and the open world offers compelling reasons to explore every nook and cranny. I hope the world’s offerings continue to compel me to explore, and much of that will depend on how much tougher the bosses become going forward. As of now, I’m eager and willing to tackle whatever remaining challenges lie ahead. View the full article

The games industry will be recognised in the 2026 UK Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) framework, providing video game development and publishing with dedicated four-digit codes to accurately reflect the scale of the sector. Read more View the full article

Development of Borderlands 4 on Nintendo Switch 2 has been paused, Take-Two Interactive has confirmed. Read more View the full article

Take-Two Interactive has published its financial results for its third fiscal quarter, recording increases of 25% and 28% in net revenue and bookings respectively. Read more View the full article

Reviewed on: PlayStation 5 Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC Publisher: 34BigThings Developer: 34BigThings Release: February 6, 2026 Rating: Mature In the '90s and '00s, vehicular combat games were commonplace. Franchises like Twisted Metal, Burnout, and Carmageddon were instrumental in establishing the brand of high-octane, aggressive driving that is much rarer in 2026. Though Twisted Metal and Burnout have been dormant for years, Carmageddon: Rogue Shift introduces a roguelite right turn to the genre, proving that while the vehicular combat genre often feels like a relic from a bygone era, it still has some gas left in the tank. Rogue Shift is a post-apocalyptic, single-player racing game that takes the age-old formula of competing in crash-filled events and applies the roguelite formula to mostly strong results. Each time you fire up a new run, you select a vehicle from an ever-growing garage; I appreciate how each one not only controls differently, but features distinct weaponry and perks. I loved using the beefier vehicle I unlocked early on, which not only gave me more battering damage but more health, durability, and a special perk that increased my damage every time I improved my defense. This tank-like vehicle let me stay alive longer than the speedier, sportier options as I gained my bearings in Carmageddon: Rogue Shift. However, as I unlocked more vehicles and improved my skills, I started shifting towards those faster, less sturdy cars. Once in a run, you navigate a menu-based map as you select the route to each phase's boss encounter. I admire the risk/reward elements at play in choosing which way to go at every fork; do I want to head towards the weapons shop where I can upgrade my shotgun, even though there's a more challenging Elite event right after it, or do I want to steer clear of the risk and just go on to the next standard event? When any failure, whether you miss the specified placement for the event or your vehicle is demolished, results in a game over and the end of your run, these decisions carry great weight. On multiple occasions, I fist-pumped as my risk paid off, but more often, I fell victim to my own hubris, and I watched helplessly as my vehicle exploded and my aspirations went up in smoke. On the road, Carmageddon is an often-glorious symphony of explosions and speed. Most events are lap-based races, where you compete against a field of fellow armed-to-the-teeth racers as you jockey for position and aim for the checkered flag. Speeding through zombie-infested streets as you blast, smash, and bash your competition creates white-knuckled affairs where I found myself holding my breath until I crossed the finish line. Picking up ammo, locking onto your opponent, and blasting them sky high with whatever weapon you have equipped is a thrill only rivaled by the feeling of shoving your foe into a barricade and watching them explode like a firework to mark your triumph. Every car controls differently, which is exacerbated by the disparate road surfaces and weather conditions, creating situations where one bad roll of the elements can bring your run to a screeching and demoralizing halt. This is particularly true because the controls don't allow for fast recovery if you get turned around or caught on a jagged environmental element; with the game's entire premise being based on vehicles wiping out, it takes entirely too long to course-correct if you get nudged off course. And since there's no retry button outside of special items that grant you an extra life, frustration mounts when you spin out near the end of a race. Since the controls are a little more slippery than I prefer in my arcade racers, every time I had an event with rain on a dirt road, I knew I had to focus extra hard to ensure I didn't spin out on every high-speed turn. And since zombies walk across every racetrack, you also need to watch out for special variants that explode when you go near them. I enjoy smashing through the hordes of undead to earn bonus credits, but the post-apocalyptic setting is perhaps the least memorable part of the overall package; I would have had just as much fun taking part in these high-speed destruction derbies without zombies spilling into the streets. Playing into the roguelite elements, you accumulate two kinds of currencies during your run: credits, which can be used at various shops within your run, and beatcoins, which are used at the Black Market dealer at the start of each run. The shops scattered throughout the map offer new perks, like boosts to your weapon damage, repairs to your vehicle, or one that converts the credits you earn into HP. At first, building my preferred killing/racing machine often came down to the luck of the draw, as each shop is randomized, but through a permanent perk unlocked at the Black Market dealer, I could reroll each in-run shop once for free. The Black Market dealer, which you access at the start of every run, is where more meaningful upgrades that carry from run to run occur. Here, you can unlock permanent upgrades, like one that adds an extra item for sale in every shop, as well as new perks and weapons that cycle through the shops, plus new vehicles. These upgrades help keep the experience of racing the same handful of tracks over and over again feeling fresh. Though survival is at the forefront of every race, and I always built to survive the next escalation of opponent, the boss battles were always at the forefront of my mind when determining my loadout. Though the pool of bosses is shallow, I always looked forward to taking on these decked-out adversaries. Whether you're talking a bulldozing tank that blasts fire in all directions, a duo of bosses that blast projectiles at you until you destroy them, or a speedster that is nearly indestructible, these phase finales effectively shake up the pacing of your run, giving you a distinct experience from the more standard race events. Even the most seemingly straightforward events have the potential to devolve into a chaotic pileup, which can be a blessing and a curse; it enhances the excitement, but I sometimes frustratingly got stuck sideways as opponents pushed me into a wall. You can force a respawn, but often by the time I did that, my chances for prevailing were long gone, even with some noticeable rubber-band AI; several times, I went into the final turn in first place, only to get spun out by an overly reckless AI opponent who sabotaged their own placement just to ruin my race. When you add to that the poor AI of the cop-like Enforcers, who more often than not steer into the walls, and a couple of times when the boss battles ended because the boss just decided to stop driving, it's clear that these post-apocalyptic racers are lacking in the smarts department. The AI would be a problem in a multiplayer game, but in a single-player title like Carmageddon: Rogue Shift, it's a much more impactful issue. And really, the underwhelming enemy AI somewhat typified my experience with Carmageddon: Rogue Shift, as a persistent lack of polish permeates the experience. Muddy textures that pop in while you're playing may not be the end of the world, but on a couple of occasions, my controls outright froze, disabling my ability to steer, leading to an unceremonious end to my run. It wasn't a common problem, but it was frustrating enough to stick with me long after I stopped playing. Even with some of those runs feeling like they came to an end due to little fault of my own, Carmageddon: Rogue Shift had me eagerly saying "one more run" time after time. This novel twist on vehicular combat may not be the full revival longtime genre fans have been craving, but it delivers a genre mashup I never knew I needed while simultaneously providing a fun callback to racing's most explosive eras. Score: 7.75 About Game Informer's review system View the full article

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has told GamesIndustry.biz that the company is making extensive use of AI and "always has", but said it was deployed in tools rather than creativity, and "generative AI has zero part in what Rockstar Games is building" for GTA 6. Read more View the full article

Claim your free DLC for Endless Space 2 (limited stock)! View the full article

Mario Kart World was the marquee launch title for the Switch 2 last summer, and to nobody's surprise, it's the best-selling game on the console. At 14.03 million units sold, including units sold with the Switch 2 bundle that included the game, Mario Kart World is far and away the best-selling software on Nintendo's newest console. In fact, it nearly dwarfs second place by 10 million units. That second-place game is Donkey Kong Bananza, which launched in July, roughly a month after Mario Kart World – 4.25 million units have been sold as of December 31, 2025, according to Nintendo's latest financial earnings report. Close behind Donkey Kong Bananza is Pokémon Legends: Z-A, at 3.89 million units sold. If you combine Pokémon Legends: Z-A's Switch numbers – 8.41 million units – with its Switch 2 sales, its total sits at 12.3 million units sold, closing in on the Switch 2-exclusive Mario Kart World's total. After Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Kirby Air Riders sits at 1.76 million units sold, with roughly 900,000 of those units (so more than half) sold in Japan – it's clearly a hit there in Nintendo's home country, and notably, Kirby Air Riders only launched on November 20 last year, meaning it hasn't even been available for purchase for three months. "For software unit sales, Nintendo Switch 2 software totaled 37.93 million units, and Nintendo Switch software declined 12.1% year-on-year to 108.93 million units," the earnings report reads. "The steady increase in unit sales of software has also been enhanced by the wide variety of titles released by software publishers, providing a solid lineup." For more from this earnings report, check out this story about how the Switch is officially Nintendo's best-selling console ever. After that, read Game Informer's list of the top 10 best Nintendo Switch 2 games, and then check out these new Joy-Con 2 colors hitting stores this month. What's your favorite Switch 2 game so far? Let us know in the comments below! View the full article

The Nintendo Switch is officially the company's best-selling console ever, surpassing the Nintendo DS, which long held the record at 154.02 million units sold. As of December 31, 2025, 155.37 million Switch units have been sold, making it Nintendo's best-selling console ever, according to the company's latest financial earnings report. This doesn't necessarily come as a surprise, as the Switch has been trending toward taking that top spot for a while now, but it is perhaps surprising that the achievement occurred after the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 last summer. Of course, there are plenty of people still buying Switch consoles, especially with sales happening more frequently to liquidate stock in light of the Switch 2's launch, but it's a funny coincidence nonetheless. "Through the third quarter, cumulative sell-in of Nintendo Switch surpassed that for Nintendo DS, reaching the highest sales volume of any Nintendo hardware," the earnings report reads. "The most recent figure shows that the number of annual playing users has remained steady. Even at this juncture between platform generations, the number of annual playing users remains above 100 million users, as in the previous year." Nintendo says that in prior generational leaps, its relationship with consumers was disrupted and challenged as consumers upgraded to the latest console. "In contrast, the Nintendo Switch install base, which is our largest ever, and the fact that many consumers continue to play on the platform, provide a strong business foundation that has supported the launch of Nintendo Switch 2," it notes in the earnings report. The Nintendo Switch 2 has already sold through 17.37 million units, according to the report, with 15 million of those sold in the console's first six months. Nintendo says Switch 2 adoption is growing at the fastest pace ever, "significantly outpacing even the Switch." Perhaps the Switch 2 will surpass the Switch's total units sold, but if that were to happen, it's years away at this point. For more about the Switch 2, check out the new Joy Con 2 colors launching alongside Mario Tennis Fever this month, and then check out Game Informer's list of the top 10 Nintendo Switch 2 games. Have you picked up a Switch 2? Let us know what your favorite game on it is in the comments below! View the full article

Last week, Nintendo invited me to an event in New York where I played a handful of upcoming Switch 2 titles, including the Virtual Boy and the Super Mario Bros. Wonder DLC. I was far more curious about the event's third-party titles, though. Specifically, Capcom decided to demo Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata for the Switch 2, and after playing both, I'm shocked at how well Nintendo's newest console handles them. Both demos are ones we've played before at Game Informer, though it was my first time with either. The Requiem demo is the same as what was offered at Summer Game Fest and Gamescom last year, showing Grace scramble through a dark medical facility to escape a mutated monster in a hospital gown. Meanwhile, the Pragmata demo is now available on PC and features protagonists Hugh and Diana as they hack and blast their way through a station on the moon. The clearest downgrade between the Switch 2 versions of these games and the higher-quality footage I've seen in trailers, presumably captured on other consoles or PC, is in the texture quality. It was especially noticeable in Pragmata, where the sci-fi environment is plastered with high-tech walls. In the PC demo, you can see how shiny and detailed these metallic surfaces are, but on the Switch 2, they're slightly more blurry and less reflective. Outside of cutscenes, however, it was less noticeable, and having played my fair share of subpar Switch ports, it certainly could have been much worse. Requiem was similar but looked cleaner, especially in the lighting. I played with headphones on in the corner of the event space, and I got so immersed that I genuinely forgot which console I was playing on at times. It didn't feel like a Switch 2 version of Resident Evil Requiem – it felt like Resident Evil Requiem. I'm sure that after playing the full game on a more powerful system, I'll eventually be able to pinpoint the differences more accurately, but I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. It's worth noting that I played Requiem in first-person, but in both games, the character models also had a clear downgrade. This is most easily seen in how the RE Engine rendered hair, which is fuller and flows more smoothly on more powerful machines. Like the textures, it was far more noticeable in a cutscene than in a faster-moving gameplay section, but not quite egregious in either. Meanwhile, the performance of each demo was extremely stable. The fast-paced gunplay and puzzle-solving of Pragmata felt buttery smooth, and Requiem felt the same, even though the latter didn't have twitchy combat to test frame rates to the same degree. There are plenty of caveats. I only had time to play each game in docked mode, but I heard good things about handheld as well. My sessions were also limited to bespoke demos, and it's fully possible that technical success is limited to these earlier builds, or that later areas might look worse. Still, based on what I played, these seem like the best-case scenario for a Switch 2 port. There's an expected, minor drop in visual quality, but the game runs just as well as on other platforms, and you can take it on the go. It's a theoretically even trade-off that has me excited not just for Pragmata and Requiem, but for the other Resident Evil games coming to Switch 2 (Resident Evil Biohazard and Resident Evil Village launch on Switch 2 the same day as Requiem), along with whatever else Capcom decides to bring to the console. I play my Switch 2 all the time, but if this is the level of quality to expect from third-party releases going forward, I think I'll be playing that handheld even more often. View the full article

Epic has claimed a 57% YoY increase in third-party game revenue on the Epic Games Store, a 4% increase in time spent in third-party games and a record level of 78 million monthly active users, in a blog post summarising its performance for 2025. The store now lists over 6,000 games. Read more View the full article

Platform: Switch Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Release: October 20, 2023 (Switch), March 26, 2026 (Switch 2) Super Mario Bros. Wonder was one of my favorite games of 2023, so I was more than happy to learn about its substantial update accompanying the Switch 2 version. During a recent trip to New York, I went hands-on with the game's local and wireless multiplayer minigames included in Meetup in Bellabel Park to get a taste of what's coming in the full DLC release. Ultimately, it met my expectations, which is nothing but a good thing. Firstly, I played the Switch 2 update, which gave the game a slight visual boost, but the technical differences are largely negligible. In docked mode, the game now has an admittedly crisper 4k resolution, but thanks to an art style that focuses on bold shapes and bright colors, the Switch version remains perfectly acceptable in 1080p. Combined with such solid framerates, Mario Bros. Wonder's performance wasn't really held back by the Switch, and while a tech upgrade is nice, it's far from the add-on's primary selling point. The main attraction – or attractions, in this case – can be found in Bellabel Park, a new theme park-style area filled with various multiplayer minigames. Attraction Central (just one of the park's areas) is split into two dedicated sections: Local Multiplayer Plaza and Game Room Plaza for online or wireless play. The former is much more fleshed out, with 17 attractions compared to the latter's 6, so we spend most of our time there. I sat on a couch with three others and grabbed a pair of Joy-Con 2s. Our first stop was the character select screen. Everyone on the couch hovered over Rosalina, the newly revealed character exclusive to the DLC, and politely hesitated as the Nintendo representative told us that only one person could play as the intergalactic princess. After a moment, no one had claimed her, so I decided to try her out for myself. Her character model and animations both look great, and while she controls identically to the main cast, it's always nice to play as someone new. We only played one or two matches of each minigame, and each minigame had several stages at different difficulties. The demo's goal was to get us to play as many modes as possible in a short window of time, so we typically tried the first or second level of a longer roster. I imagine it would take an hour or so to make your way through every stage of the modes we played, depending on the players' skill levels, but that's a rough estimate. To start, we played a game that utilizes the Switch 2 mouse controls. Two players each slid a Joy-Con 2 around on a table to draw paths of disappearing platforms (known as Donut Blocks) for the other two, who traverse the level like they normally would. It's a frantic mode that encourages communication. I got the chance to be on both sides of the game, and while the platforming worked out, I did have some difficulties with the mouse. The disappearing platforms are only one block wide per segment, but it locks you into drawing platforms in a straight line, so my diagonal staircases appeared on the screen as steep right angles. Once I figured out the game wanted me to draw flat paths, the attempt ended in victory. Another mode has all four players playing hot potato with a golden Bob-omb. As you head through the level as a group, one of Wonder's talking flowers will call out a player's name to signal that it's their turn to hold the Bob-omb. Every second the bomb isn't held by the correct person, either because it's on the ground or being held by the wrong person, you lose time from the stopwatch at the top of the screen. If it gets to zero, you lose. In my experience, though, we lost far more frequently because we dropped or threw the Bob-omb off a cliff in our mad dash to reach the level's end. This mode was much easier with just two players, because you always know who to throw the explosive to next. After the cooperative side of the park filled each of us with festering resentment for our teammates, we journeyed to the competitive side to work our issues out in a relatively healthy way. The first game we played armed each player with a button they could use to deploy a lightning rod. After a few seconds, it summons a bolt of lightning from the sky, spanning the entire vertical length of the screen, as well as a small area to the left and right on the ground. This stage was also made of four pillars that rose and fell at seemingly random intervals, so avoiding the hazards was especially tricky. For whatever reason, I absolutely dominated this section, only getting hit once while my opponents were each struck 3-4 times. As such, I enjoyed the mode, though it felt a little simple compared to the other ones I played, and I hope more difficult maps are more engaging. Other modes have more indirect competition. In one minigame, all the players have a red light/green light-style face-off with King Boo. The goal is to get as many coins as possible while the ghostly monarch sleeps, but if you're not stationary when he wakes up, you're stunned and drop some of your winnings. A similar mode was devoid of King Boo, but had us each equipped with a baby Yoshi as we raced to eat as many fruits as possible before time was up. We closed out with some local wireless gameplay, so I transitioned to a different TV with the game running. This mode was a race where each player held onto a bouncing ball and had to maneuver across the stage as quickly as possible. Like some of Super Mario Bros. Wonder's other multiplayer gameplay, opponents are represented as ghosts on the screen and can't collide with you, so they're really only present on screen so you can see their progress. I had a great lead for most of the race, but came up against a curved wall at the very end and lost my momentum, ultimately finishing in third place. Meetup in Bellabel Park is about what I expected based on the trailers, and that's a good thing. I had a great time in Attraction Central, and knowing there are so many more stages in each minigame has me looking forward to playing the full release with some family on my couch. View the full article

By all accounts, I am not the target audience for the Virtual Boy. The ancient VR console was launched and subsequently discontinued years before I was born. I'm extremely prone to motion sickness, and I wear glasses, which seldom fit in gaming headsets. Also, word on the street was that the console sucked, and that I wasn't missing out on much. As such, I've never been interested in even trying it, and haven't had many opportunities, but that changed last week. Nintendo flew me out to New York to play some upcoming Switch 2 titles, and I knew I had to do my due diligence and try the new Switch 2 peripheral and the accompanying library of Virtual Boy games. I entered the event, and after procrastinating by playing basically every other game present, I peered into a pair of plastic ruby-colored lenses. And honestly? It was kind of cool. Many of the complaints about the Virtual Boy are still valid. It's a headset with legs, so you can only play it if you're sitting at a table with the correct height. Nintendo's representatives had an adjustable table ready for the demo, but the best the average person can probably do is an adjustable desk chair. I also can't imagine I'd love leaning into one of these things for hours at a time, but I didn't have the option on the day of the event. That said, it didn't make me motion sick or give me a headache, and I'll typically have motion sickness triggered within minutes of starting a game, VR, 3D, or otherwise. I suspect it has to do with the higher quality screens developed over the last 30 years, as I didn't have to strain my eyes to see what was going on. To that end, my glasses also fit into the headset just fine. I wear wide frames, so I bet most pairs would fit, but I heard from another attendee that she had trouble with her glasses, so it probably varies by person. Still, I was able to wear it comfortably, and the visor successfully blocked out any of the room's overhead lighting. The actual gameplay experience was similarly positive. The Virtual Boy is an odd, gimmicky console with genuine 3D graphics, thanks to its stereoscopic lenses. It was cool to see developers from the mid-90s being creative with the newly added depth, especially as someone with a lot of nostalgia for the 3DS. Landing 3D blocks in 3D Tetris is surprisingly challenging, and Virtual Boy Wario Land uses the background as a secondary area to jump into and side-scroll through. I also played a bit of The Mansion of Innsmouth (known as Innsmouth no Yakata in Japan), which is coming to the US for the first time with this classics collection. I enjoyed it less, partially since it didn't make use of the 3D as effectively as the other games I played, but after only a few minutes with it, I can't make a complete verdict. A cardboard Virtual Boy on display I did not get a chance to play with any of the most recently announced quality-of-life features, like the option to change red pixels to another color or the rewind feature. Both features are coming later in the year, so this isn't a huge shock. I was far more disappointed, however, that I didn't get a chance to try out the weird little cardboard headset, which I'm endlessly curious about. They had one in a glass display, though, and it seemed much smaller in person. At $24.99, it's far more affordable than the proper model, and I'm not quite enthusiastic enough about my experience to get the $99.99 plastic peripheral, so I hope the cheaper model is at least comparable to use. I'm far from a Virtual Boy convert, but I'm definitely not a hater either. People speak so poorly of the 1995 model that I fully expected to immediately reject the Switch 2 version, but I came away mildly impressed. When the baseline expectation is "headache, neck pain, and nausea" but the actual experience is "huh, pretty neat," I think it's fair to say this exceeded my expectations. It's far from a perfect device, but it very well may be the best way to revisit Nintendo's worst console. View the full article

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