The head of No Man's Sky developer Hello Games, Sean Murray, has said it would be a bad idea for his mental health to think about how much money the studio could have made by charging for the game's various expansions or by selling microtransactions. "I'm sure somebody could take me aside, take me into a room and show me some PowerPoint and show me that we could have made more money if we had done in-app purchase or, you know, if we had done DLC or something like that," Murray told GamesRadar. "'And maybe that would be true. I never want to see that PowerPoint." Murray and the team decided against this, though, because the studio wanted players to have access to all of the post-release content together. "What I know is that I really, really enjoy--and I think the team really gets a kick out of--working on an update and knowing that what I'm working on, everyone is going to experience this," he explained. "Every player that we have is going to experience this. And I think we really enjoy the journey, and the journey is only possible because every update compounds." He went on to say that a feature like the Xeno Arena, a turn-based creature-battle mode, would not work "if you're fragmenting your audience." "It's a big part of our motivation, what gets us out of bed in the morning," Murray said. "So it doesn't matter if it's not the most commercially efficient thing that we can do. I think what matters is that it makes us still excited about working on it 10 years out." No Man's Sky recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, and Murray separately said players have only discovered 1% of the game's world, even now. Hello Games is now working on a new game called Light No Fire, an ambitious-looking game with dragons; it has no release date yet.

The Elder Scrolls 6 is one of Microsoft's biggest upcoming games, but it remains largely a mystery, despite being announced more than eight years ago. Today, August 11, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma provided an update on it, saying she witnessed a "live playthrough" of the game. She also teased the game's subtitle, or at least that's what it seems like. "The scale and grandeur are incredible. The story is even greater," she said. Those are buzzwords that do not mean much of anything. More intriguingly, Sharma included asterisks in her post that suggest she's referring to the game's subtitle. Her post used eight characters, and people are theorizing as to what it could be, if that is indeed what she is teasing in the first place. The Elder Scrolls 6 is indeed likely to have a subtitle, as all previous games in the main series also did. These include The Elder Scrolls: Arena, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. https://twitter.com/asha_shar/status/2087258678000779664 In July, Bethesda provided an update on The Elder Scrolls 6, saying it understands "it's been a very long wait for the sequel." "The next chapter is on the way. We’re where we planned to be, loving how it looks, and playing it every day," the studio explained. This statement came after the mass layoffs and upheaval at Xbox related to the "reset" of the business. The layoffs hit Bethesda as well, and staff at the studio said they fear further delays for The Elder Scrolls 6 and have expressed concerns about the "crushing effect on morale" related to the layoffs. The Elder Scrolls 6 is one of multiple new games in the works at Bethesda and its supporting teams. Some of the others include remasters of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, while Obsidian is working on some other new Fallout game. Fallout 5 is also in the works.

EA and Battlefield Studios have released a new trailer for Battlefield 6 that shows off the upcoming fan-favorite map Wake Island, which arrives on August 18 alongside a Top Gun-themed crossover event. Wake Island, which first appeared in Battlefield 1942, is inspired by the real-life Wake Atoll in the Pacific ocean where a World War II battle took place, and it's among the most beloved Battlefield maps ever. The newest version of the map for Battlefield 6 looks pretty incredible, at least based on the newly released gameplay footage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4tHPByfAZk EA said Wake Island was "rebuilt" for Battlefield 6, and that includes a stronger focus on naval warfare, along with updates to the land- and air-based combat. The new update for Battlefield 6 coming on August 18 also adds the F/A-81F Super Spectre and F-74A Seacat two-seat jets, bringing back a feature not seen since Battlefield 2 some 21 years ago. Three characters from Top Gun are coming to Battlefield 6 in the update, and they are voiced by their original actors. These include Lt. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller), Lt. Robert “Bob” Floyd (Lewis Pullman), and Adm. Solomon “Warlock” Bates (Charles Parnell). The game will also get Top Gun-inspired cosmetics. Battlefield 6 was also in the news recently after the game's successful launch helped EA CEO get a higher bonus. EA also laid off a number of developers who helped make Battlefield 6 a major success, and now the franchise is owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund by way of its buyout of EA.

Halo Campaign Evolved is a celebration of the franchise, but not many people are attending that party. New estimates peg sales at 1.2 million copies sold across PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5 so far, around $67 million in revenue, which isn't the best start for this remake of the original Halo campaign. Also available via Xbox Game Pass, the game is estimated to have 2.1 million players through the subscription service. According to Alinea Analytics' head of market analysis, Rhys Elliott, there are several reasons for this. Sales are split almost down the middle between Xbox Series X|S and PS5 at 42% and 41%, respectively, while Steam accounts for 17% of sales. This is up from its launch-week sales, but not by much. So what's the reason behind the lukewarm sales of the classic first-person shooter, which has gotten a new coat of paint and some fine-tuning under the gameplay hood? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LimYD3Ycwo As Elliott noted, Halo: Campaign Evolved's biggest competition on PC might be another Halo--specifically, Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The Halo game compilation offers better value for money and includes Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, a 2015 remake that's pretty solid in its own right. Throw in options for multiplayer and more Halo games to the mix, and the $40 price tag makes it a much more tempting offer compared to the $50 required for Halo: Campaign Evolved, which is more barebones in comparison. Shinier graphics, extra co-op missions, and the ability to sprint in that game just aren't enough, it seems. "The price is too high for a port like this one, and the Halo brand--candidly--has lost a lot of cache, Elliot wrote. "A lot of Steam users already own Master Chief Collection--8.5 million copies sold on Steam, as per our estimates--which offers more content for less. On PS5, Halo: Campaign Evolved is estimated to have sold 544,000 copies so far, neck and neck with Xbox despite the Sony platform having a larger userbase than its Microsoft rival. Elliot explained that while plenty of PS5 owners jumped in thanks to the nostalgia factor of Halo, sales were driven by an "older, nostalgia-driven crowd" that encompasses players who are roughly 32-40 years old. Many of these people were likely former Xbox 360 owners who had since moved to PlayStation hardware, but the game didn't make a big dent with a "fresh" PlayStation audience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woUnTCVv9JU Shooters, remakes, and legacy-leaning titles still sell well on the platform, as the audience overlap skews heavily toward the late PS2, Xbox 360, and early PS4 eras, Elliot explained. While Halo: Campaign Evolved didn't achieve the same velocity as several other Xbox ports did on PlayStation, bringing the Master Chief Collection with its multiplayer suite to that platform would have "certainly" done better, Elliot wrote. "At the very least, if the rumored Halo 2 remake ships with online multiplayer, it’ll sell a great deal more, assuming it comes to PlayStation at all." The co-creator of Halo and designer of Master Chief, Marcus Lehto, also shared his opinion on the remake recently, saying that he has a few issues with it but is generally happy with how it came out. Following the final update for Halo: Infinite in November 2025, Halo Studios has now begun work on new Halo projects.

Nintendo might be preparing for a 40th celebration of The Legend of Zelda series, with Switch 2 possibly getting its first special-edition system based on the beloved franchise. A new leak on social media shows a Triforce decked-out Switch 2 dock, with what appears to be black and green Joy-Con 2 controllers decorated with flourishes of gold.  The Centro LEAKS account on X posted two purported pictures of the Zelda-themed Switch 2 and Switch 2 Pro Controllers. Nintendo hasn't released any official statements about a new system or controller--let alone anything about a Zelda 40th-anniversary event. However, it's been common in the past for the company to bring out special Zelda consoles for new games in the franchise, such as the Tears of the Kingdom OLED Switch and Hyrule Edition Switch Lite that launched alongside Echoes of Wisdom.  https://twitter.com/CentroLeaks/status/2087196417433485448 In June, Nintendo did unveil a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time that's set to come out later this year. That said, the leaked images above don't seem to tie into that upcoming game specifically. Instead, the supposed special-edition system and controller seem more similar to the gold Hyrule Edition Switch Lite.  Switch 2 is still outpacing original Switch hardware sales, with over 23 million sold so far. That means Switch 2 has already passed lifetime sales of Wii U and Nintendo GameCube. A couple of months ago, Switch 2 celebrated its first birthday.  Meanwhile, Sony has officially announced a special-edition PS5 Marvel's Wolverine system, along with other products.  Best Zelda Games, Ranked – Where Does Echoes of Wisdom Fall? View Images

Out of nowhere, the Embracer-owned Aspyr Media announced and released a new edition of The Lord of the Rings: War in the North today across PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC. The game was originally released in 2011 for PS3, Xbox 360, Switch 2, and PC, but now it's available on the latest generation of consoles for $20 (or $18 through August 25) as part of a "Legacy" edition. The new version features online or local split-screen co-op and "optimized" solo play, though further specifics about the updates and upgrades were not detailed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_gZuaXTDEo War in the North was originally developed by Snowblind Studios, which closed in 2012. The game takes place in Middle-earth, but doesn't adapt the books or movies. It does, however, feature characters and story details from J.R.R. Tolkien's books and Peter Jackson's movie series, following EA's own games that only had the rights to elements of Jackson's movies specifically. The game has three different playable characters: the ranger Eradan, the elf Andriel, and the dwarf Farin. Players can swap between each during battle. The characters have their own unique skills and abilities, and players can upgrade them over time with new weapons and powers. The game also incorporates the franchise's iconic eagles, with players able to call in Beleram to fight. Some of the characters players will meet in the game include Aragon, Gandalf, and Elrond, while the game also takes players to famous Middle-earth locations like Rivendell, Lorien, The Lonely Mountain, and Mirkwood. The Lord of the Rings might be set for a revival for video games, as Embacer--which now owns the rights to the series--has teased a renaissance for The Lord of the Rings games in the future. Kingdom Come developer Warhorse is making a new The Lord of the Rings RPG, while Crystal Dynamics is said to be developing one as well. Both studios are owned by Embracer.

The recent Mortal Kombat movies have been hailed for adapting the bloody fighting games to the big screen, but will the duology ever become a trilogy? Simon McQuoid--the director of the two movies--isn't so sure, as he's currently focused on a very different project. When quizzed by The Wrap on the topic of Mortal Kombat 3, McQuoid diplomatically replied that he wasn't sure yet if a threequel would be made, but he was open to the idea. "I think it's still going through its life cycle. So I don’t know yet. I'm not sure," McQuoid said. "I feel like there are other stories that I want to tell that aren't necessarily in Mortal Kombat, and I have multiple things in development, one of which we're just casting now, and that's not Mortal Kombat at all--something that is in the real world and very much a deep dive into a singular character and character study. I'm excited about it. But I never want to close doors. I'm just always trying to open doors." Ludi Lin as Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat 2. The 2021 Mortal Kombat movie directed by McQuoid made $84 million at the global box office, but given that theaters were reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic at the time, the low figure is understandable. The 2026 sequel didn't do much better, bringing in only $129 million during its run. Hollywood movies are typically expected to at least double their production budget when they hit theaters, and with Mortal Kombat 2 reportedly having an $80 million budget, it fell short of that mark. It's worth noting that Mortal Kombat 2 also had a lengthy delay, as it was originally scheduled to launch on October 24, 2025. If a third movie does get greenlit and McQuoid returns to direct, he has hinted at telling different stories set in the Mortal Kombat universe. “That’s both overwhelming and really exciting,” he said earlier this year. “There’s always a, ‘What about that character?’ It never really stops.” While Mortal Kombat 3 looks unlikely for now, you won't have to wait too much longer to see another live-action fighting game adaptation on the silver screen. Street Fighter will be out on October 16, and judging by the recent teaser featuring Jason Momoa's Blanka, it looks like it's going to be wild.

There is no stopping Sony's all-digital future for video games. I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but the company's decision to kill off physical game discs in 2028 and effectively turn the PlayStation Store into the only place in town where you can grab a new PS5 title won't be stopped by an endless barrage of memes in the replies section. Like Thanos preparing to snap the universe into a 50% discount on life, it's inevitable. Sony has said as much in recent comments, carefully tiptoeing around the subject with polite, investor-friendly language and stats that seemingly reinforce the plan, as the company said that 82% of games sold during the April-June quarter were digital sales. We've written about the topic, how it's the end of an era, why people are so (justifiably) upset, and the response from some of the biggest names in the industry, but now is the time to look forward and focus those energies where it counts. If Sony wants to increase its profits and sell games in a digital-only format, then it also needs to ensure that the consumer process is safe and fair, because it'll have healthy competition from other platforms. And one way it could do that is by taking a page out of Steam's book, as Valve's digital platform helped usher in an end to physical PC game sales decades before Sony was catching flak for following in those footsteps. Sony needs to protect its customers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FatSqS3VYY&t=30s It's high time that Sony built a game-refund system for the PlayStation Store. The company has been slow to adopt one of the most basic forms of consumer protection, and outside of incredibly rare instances like Cyberpunk 2077 and Concord, you've been out of luck in case you bought a game that working as advertised. That needs to change, and Sony shouldn't just emulate Steam's process for refunds--buy a game, play it for less than two hours, or own it for less than two weeks and you can claim a refund--but improve on its entire storefront as well. One major way that Sony could make using its storefront better would be by focusing on discoverability, because right now, the front page is dominated by a mix of first-party releases, free-to-play games, and upcoming AAA releases. Curation is desperately needed, especially for the smaller developers putting out the kind of in-between content that helps fill the gap between big releases. Sony has made an effort to cut down on slop through its marketplace, sweeping low-effort trophy-farming titles out the door, but it needs to focus on balancing big-name releases with smaller games that deserve to be in the spotlight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOWq-zO-5t4 This shouldn't be too difficult either, as with all the data it collects on players, having a program that generates recommendations based on your gaming habits should be feasible. Throw in more user-friendly options like a rewards program--RIP PlayStation Stars--kill any plans around dynamic pricing, and you've got the start of a healthy marketplace to herald in the next PlayStation era. A specialized focus and consumers with more investment in the storefront is an easy win for everyone, and if Sony wants to pioneer a digital future for console gamers, then it owes them the best possible experience.

Modern Warfare 4's first beta session arrives next week to let players get hands-on time with this year's new game. Call of Duty betas typically only include multiplayer content, but the official social media account is hinting at a potential Warzone Resurgence map for beta testing as well.  The latest episode of Infinity Ward's "From The Ward" docuseries was geared toward the new Kill Block multiplayer map shown at Fanatics Fest, but fans have spotted a teaser for an upcoming Warzone Resurgence map with the codename "Zodiac." As players questioned online when this map could potentially get announced, an official Call of Duty account replied by saying, "Find out in....beta?" https://twitter.com/CallofDutyCM/status/2086980684346806348 This tease doesn't give us a lot of details, but new Call of Duty games typically integrate a new Warzone map and content with the first seasonal update, which usually arrives a month or two after the game's launch. We'll likely get more information about this mysterious Zodiac map and the future of Warzone on August 21 with Call of Duty: Next, which is Activision's annual event to showcase upcoming games.  There will be a few opportunities to play the Modern Warfare 4 beta, with the first beta session going live on August 21 directly after the Call of Duty: Next presentation. The initial content confirmed for the Modern Warfare 4 beta includes various multiplayer maps and game modes. Players will also be able to unlock up to 19 different weapons during the beta, giving them a feel for the arsenal that will be available with the launch of Modern Warfare 4. If Warzone is included in the beta, this will be a first for Call of Duty's battle royale. In addition to multiplayer content, Modern Warfare 4 also launches with a full campaign and the return of Infinity Ward's DMZ extraction mode from the Modern Warfare 2 reboot. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 releases on October 23 for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch 2.

Marvel's Wolverine launches next month, and to celebrate, Sony has revealed a new limited-edition PS5 console and controller design inspired by the game. Dubbed the Marvel’s Wolverine Battle Yellow Limited Edition Bundle and priced at $650, fans of the Marvel mutant can choose between a PS5 Digital Edition that comes with both a matching DualSense wireless controller and a download code for the game, or they can pick up the $75 console covers for their base model PS5 and the PS5 Pro. Sony says that these will be available through the PlayStation Direct store, as well as through select retailers starting September 15, the same day that Marvel's Wolverine launches. https://youtu.be/9KDStKJtMZY The design includes a striking yellow finish, as well as an illustration of Wolverine by Jock, the graphic artist who has worked on numerous comic books over the years and film projects like 2012's Dredd. His design includes exposed claw marks that reveal the PS5 console chassis, and the overall look is inspired by the "Battle Reborn" costume that Wolverine wears in the field. The $85 DualSense controller also ties into that aesthetic, and it will be available as a standalone purchase. "I wanted to show Wolverine at his fiercest for Marvel’s Wolverine Limited Edition PS5 Console bundle and accessories. I still draw all my artwork traditionally, so the opportunity to marry cutting-edge hardware with the energy and looseness of hand-drawn ink is incredibly exciting. I’m stunned by how well the console and accessories captured the raw energy of the drawing, bringing Wolverine to life in a completely unique way." If that design is a little too yellow for you, there's an alternate PS5 Pro console cover and DualSense controller that features the same illustration on a silver background, emulating the unbreakable adamantium that coats Wolverine's bones. It won't make your PS5 unbreakable since it's made out of plastic, so try to avoid stress-testing the cover. Compared to the PS4 generation, Sony has released far fewer limited-edition PS5 consoles. Most of these designs have also been very underwhelming, with the Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Monster Hunter Wilds, and Ghost of Yotei editions being either very subtle with their designs or too flashy--with the sole exception being the classy PlayStation 30th anniversary PS5 consoles. In contrast, some of the limited-edition DualSense controllers featured incredible designs that perfectly balanced the unique identity of their video games with distinct designs. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Marathon, and Concord's DualSense controllers stood out from the pack, and it's a shame that those designs never made it to PS5 consoles.