Today's Gaming Pulse

Resident Evil Requiem launches free demo after 7 million copies sold
Capcom’s Resident Evil Requiem, which has sold over 7 million copies since its release three months ago, is now offering a free demo on Steam, Epic, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch 2. The demo lets players experience early chapters with protagonist Grace Ashcroft, though progress cannot be transferred to the full game.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Goldenpeak takes majority stake in Ampere Analysis

Pokemon Go Champion Stripped of Title for Celebrating His Win
Firestar73 won the 2026 Pokémon Orlando Regional Championships but was stripped of the title after judges deemed his post‑match celebration unsportsmanlike. The celebration involved removing headphones, standing, and punching the air before shaking hands. Officials reversed the result, awarding the win to opponent NiteTimeClasher, sparking community backlash. Neither Niantic nor the event organizers have commented on the decision.
Steam Will Estimate Game FPS Before Purchase to Show Expected PC Performance
Steam is developing a feature that predicts a PC's frames‑per‑second output for any game before purchase. The tool will draw on Valve's telemetry, which already collects anonymous hardware specs and in‑game FPS data from millions of users. By matching a...

Direct-to-Consumer Sales Hit Record Levels Again in Q4
Direct‑to‑consumer (D2C) sales continued to set new records in Q4 2025, with Playtika reporting $250.1 million, representing 36.8% of its quarterly revenue and a 43.2% year‑over‑year increase. Modern Times Group saw its D2C contribution rise to 32% of total revenue, up...

Here's What Crimson Desert's New 4K Performance Mode Looks Like On Xbox Series X
Ubisoft released Patch 1.02.00 for Crimson Desert, extending 4K upscaling to the Xbox Series X Performance Mode. Previously limited to Quality and Balanced modes, the update now upscales the native 1080p output to 4K while preserving the target 60 FPS frame rate. Early...

Three Easy and Cozy Xbox Game Pass Games You Can Quickly Finish over Easter
Xbox Game Pass is showcasing three low‑commitment, cozy titles—Minami Lane, Easy Delivery Co., and Unpacking—perfect for an Easter break. Each game can be finished in under eight hours and carries modest achievement hurdles, making them ideal for casual play. The...

EA Just Cut Apex Legends Map without Warning, but There Is a Good Reason
Electronic Arts’ Respawn has abruptly removed Storm Point from Apex Legends’ map rotation just two weeks after its re‑introduction, citing crashes on certain devices. The temporary fix replaces the map with a daytime version of E‑District across all game modes while...

Bridger Western Stands Index
Roblox’s Bridger Western has introduced JoJo‑style Stands, adding a high‑risk, high‑reward power tier to the western‑themed RPG. Players can obtain Stands via rare Stand Arrows, which carry a 50% chance of instant character death, or safer Stand Shards with a...

SonicFox Releases Final Tier List for 2XKO Before Akali Joins
SonicFox released the final tier list for 2XKO ahead of the April 7, 2026 addition of Akali as the game’s 13th champion. Despite being nerfed in recent patches, Ekko remains the top‑ranked character, while Ahri, Teemo, Illaoi and Yasuo are identified as...
Mochiko the Samurai Full Release Appears for PC via Steam on April 10
Felice Entertainment announced that the full version of Mochiko The Samurai will launch on PC via Steam on April 10, following an Early Access debut on March 9. The action‑RPG blends blade‑and‑magic combat, features a full Japanese anime voice cast,...

New Diablo 4 Book Reveals an Early Look at the Game's Next Expansion, Lord of Hatred
Blizzard Entertainment announced that the Diablo 4 "Lord of Hatred" expansion launches on April 28, 2026, introducing the new Skovos island chain and concluding the Age of Hatred saga. The update adds a Warlock class and lets pre‑order customers start with a...

Ni No Kuni Dev Level-5 Confirms New Vision Showcase for This Week
Level‑5 will host its Vision 2026 livestream on Friday, April 10, 2026, promising a surprise slate of upcoming titles. The studio’s most anticipated project, the detective RPG DECAPOLICE, which was delayed to 2026, could finally be unveiled. Recent releases include Fantasy Life i: The...
Jobs Digest: Moves at Scopely, Google Play, CrazyLabs, Small Giant, Griffin and More
The mobile‑gaming job market is buzzing with senior hires and promotions across leading publishers. Scopely added ex‑Rovio product manager Anastasia Kuprina and former Gameloft manager Aravind Iyengar, while Google Play brought in former Netflix producer John Faciane and appointed Jamie...
Super Mario Galaxy Movie Nets $372.5 Million Globally, Year’s Biggest Opening
Illumination and Nintendo’s co‑produced Super Mario Galaxy Movie earned $372.5 million worldwide in its debut, the strongest opening of any studio film this year. The $110 million‑budget sequel drew massive family crowds despite a 40% Rotten Tomatoes score, highlighting the commercial pull...

Ex-Nintendo Sales Lead Warns Switch 2 Price Increase Is “Inevitable”
A former Nintendo sales executive warned that the upcoming Switch 2 will likely see its retail price rise, citing global RAM and storage shortages, inflation and tariff pressures that are already driving up console costs. Nintendo is attempting to soften the...

Heartopia Celebrates 30 Million Downloads with New Outfits, Permanent Price Cuts
Heartopia has marked 30 million downloads with the launch of the Whimsical Tea Party event, introducing new outfits, furniture sets, and a Cheshire Cat pet costume. The update also slashes prices for original pet outfits by up to 66.7% and reduces...

Artemis II Mission Sends Thousands of Players Flooding Back to 11-Year-Old Space Sim
The Artemis II lunar flyby, launched on April 1, ignited a surge in interest for the space‑simulation game Kerbal Space Programme (KSP). Steam concurrent players jumped from a steady 3,000‑4,000 to a peak of 11,933 on April 5, the highest level since the...

Noxious: 2D Isometric MMORPG Built with Phaser
Noxious is a 2D isometric MMORPG built on the Phaser HTML5 engine where every player shares a single, server‑wide world state. The game features ten sequential floors that remain locked until the entire community clears the preceding level, making progress...

Games and Numbers (March 25 - April 6, 2026)
The latest sales data shows a robust launch period for several high‑profile titles. Pearl Abyss’s Crimson Desert moved over 4 million units in just 13 days, prompting a full recovery of its stock price. Bungie’s Marathon logged 1.2 million copies and roughly...

LVL Zero Incubator Names 10 Indian Gaming Startups for 1st Class
LVL Zero, India’s first dedicated gaming incubator, announced its inaugural cohort of ten game startups. The program is financially backed by Mixi Global Investments, Nazara Technologies, and ChimeraVC. Selected companies span mobile, PC, and console titles, reflecting the diversity of...
ASUS ROG Strix OLED XG34WCDMS Introduced With BlackShield Film and 280Hz Panel
ASUS unveiled the ROG Strix OLED XG34WCDMS, a 34‑inch ultrawide QD‑OLED gaming monitor that supports up to 280 Hz refresh and a 0.03 ms response time. The display adds a proprietary BlackShield Film that improves scratch resistance by roughly 2.5 times and deepens...

Kunio-Kun and Double Dragon Creator Yoshihisa Kishimoto Dies at Age 64
Yoshihisa Kishimoto, the visionary behind the *Kunio‑kun* and *Double Dragon* series, died on April 2, 2026 at age 64, as confirmed by his son on Twitter. Kishimoto launched his career at Data East, contributing to titles like *Cobra Command* and *Road Blaster*, before moving to Technos Japan...

Newport World Resorts Picks PhilWeb for Online Betting Tech
PhilWeb Corp. has signed a partnership with Travellers International Hotel Group to serve as the system administrator for Newport World Resorts' online gaming platform, NWRPlay. The agreement tasks PhilWeb with providing the underlying technology, system support, content integration, and marketing...
Intel Pulls the Plug on XeSS Support in Unity Game Engine
Intel abruptly discontinued its official XeSS plugin for the Unity game engine, removing support for frame generation, temporal super‑sampling, and antialiasing. This follows the release of Intel's XeSS 3.0 SDK only a month earlier, which introduced multi‑frame generation and shared...
How to Unlock 1911 Pistol in Black Ops 7 & Warzone
The classic 1911 pistol returns in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and Warzone Season 3, offering the highest damage per shot among handguns. It is not part of the Battle Pass but unlocks through completing six Season 3 weekly challenges across any...
New Kirby Air Ride Mirrors Classic GameCube Original
So the new Kirby Air Ride is really a remake of the old GameCube one.

We've Gone Mad for Puzzles. This Makes Sense – It’s Reassuring to Have Answers in These Perplexing Times | Joseph...
Puzzle games have surged beyond the pandemic, becoming a daily habit for many Americans. New York Times app users now spend more time on Wordle‑style challenges than on news articles, while quiz‑book sales jumped 24% last year. Neuroscience links the dopamine hit...

Monolith Soft Shares Design Insights From Zelda: TotK, Pledges to Offer "New Surprises and Emotions" In Future Zelda Titles
Monolith Soft detailed its deep involvement in Nintendo’s *The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*, revealing design choices from Ganondorf’s final look to the iconic Horriblins. The studio collaborated closely with Nintendo on a weapon‑combination system that yields more...

Fire Emblem Heroes "Unforgettable" Summoning Event Announced
Nintendo announced the Fire Emblem Heroes "Unforgettable" summoning event, slated for release on April 7, 2026. The event will feature a roster of Young Special Heroes and introduce new inheritable skill restrictions. Additionally, the 5★ hero Eliwood: Pledged Friend will...

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Composer Was Writing the Film's Score From a Hospital Bed, Says It Includes over 300...
Composer Brian Tyler revealed he wrote most of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie score while recuperating in a hospital bed after suffering a double subarachnoid brain hemorrhage in August 2025. Despite the life‑threatening injury, he continued work to meet the...
Mythic Plus Dungeons in WoW: What Do You Need to Know?
World of Warcraft’s Mythic Plus dungeons have spawned a booming third‑party boost market, where skilled players offer services that fast‑track leveling, secure high‑level gear, improve PvP ratings, and earn achievements. Boost providers package power‑leveling, dungeon runs, and personalized support, promising...

This Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen Trick Gets You Virtually Any Pokemon Without Glitches
A new guide shows how to use RNG manipulation to discover your Secret ID in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, then leverage tools like Ten Lines and EonTimer to time three precise button presses. By calibrating these presses, players can summon virtually...

Pokopia Player Creates Incredible Song in the Game
A Pokopia player known as m_ad_clown used note blocks, rails, and a Handcar to recreate Paramore’s hit “Misery Business” inside the life‑simulation game. The two‑minute TikTok showcase, posted on April 5, 2026, quickly amassed over 25,000 likes, highlighting the platform’s robust building...
All Abilities and Skill Tracks in Black Ops 7 Endgame
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Endgame, a new 32‑player PvE mode, becomes permanently accessible after completing the first eleven campaign missions. Players can equip one major and one minor ability, then advance through exposure zones while their Combat Rating climbs...
RayNeo Air 4 Pro Brings HDR10 to $299 AR Glasses
RayNeo has launched the Air 4 Pro AR glasses at $299, the first budget‑friendly headset to support HDR10 video and gaming. The device pairs a Vision4000 display chip, 120 Hz refresh rate and Bang & Olufsen‑tuned speakers, positioning it as a...

Final Fantasy 9 Fan Builds Alexandria in Pokopia
Pokémon Pokopia, the new life‑simulation game released on March 5, 2026, has seen a fan‑made recreation of Final Fantasy IX’s capital Alexandria. Player Negi1021 built a sprawling cityscape featuring Alexandria Castle, a market square, beach windmills, and a floating airship using Pokopia’s building...

Upcoming Game Releases Spark Excitement—What’s Your Top Pick
Some incredible games coming out in the next year or so! What are you most looking forward to?
Saudi EGDC Boosts Capcom Stake to 6.04%
Saudi Arabia's Electronic Gaming Development Company (EGDC) increased its stake in Capcom from 5.03% (revealed last month) to now 6.04%, This was disclosed in a report to regulators today here in Japan (where the stock market just closed for Monday).

How To Unlock Endless Mode In Raccoin
Raccoin’s Endless Mode unlocks after the standard 15‑round challenge, letting players chase ever‑higher target scores. Success hinges on a mix of upgrades—like the Dog Food keychain for unlimited canine helper uses—and score‑rate boosters such as Chips, the Folding Screen, and...
Path Tracing Elevates Cyberpunk—Time for a Fresh V
cyberpunk with path tracing is next level. i’m gonna just roll a fresh v and do it all over again

New Steam Feature Estimates Your FPS Before Buying a New Game
Valve is developing an FPS Estimator tool that will let Steam users forecast a game’s framerate before buying. The feature asks users to input or save their hardware specs and then aggregates performance data from other owners with similar configurations...

World of Warships Charts a Steadier Course for 2026 With Core Gameplay Focus
Wargaming unveiled its 2026 roadmap for World of Warships, putting core gameplay at the forefront after a turbulent rebuild following its 2022 exit from Russia and Belarus. The plan rests on four pillars: matchmaker improvements, quality‑of‑life updates, steady content delivery,...

The Best Naruto Games For Playing As Sasuke
The article ranks the five best Naruto video games for playing as Sasuke, from the 2005 PlayStation 2 classic *Ultimate Ninja 3* to the 2015 *Ultimate Ninja Storm 4*. Each title is highlighted for its unique Sasuke variants, combat mechanics, and story integration,...

Dune: Awakening Gets New Haunted Overland Zone, Free Weapon Reward, and Smuggler Concept Art in Latest Communinet
Funcom released its April 1 Communinet Signal highlighting patch 1.3.10, which adds the new overland zone Ruins of Tsimpo to Dune: Awakening. The update also grants a free Battle Rifle Variant to players logging in between March 25 and April 25, and showcases fresh...
ThreeJS Becomes Default Game Engine for Agent Coding
The future of game engines is ThreeJS because this is what agent coding defaults to using. Pretty amazing the kinds of things people are building now

Will Saros Come to PC?
Sony’s upcoming title Saros will launch exclusively on PlayStation 5 on April 30, 2026, with no confirmed PC release date. While Sony traditionally brings its first‑party games to Windows within six to twelve months, a Bloomberg report cites the company’s retreat from its...

‘Forza Horizon 6’ PS5 Release Date Window, Everything We Know
Forza Horizon 6 will debut on PlayStation 5 in the second half of 2026, trailing its summer 2026 launch on Xbox platforms. Xbox executives attribute the delay to late‑stage strategic adjustments in the game’s multi‑platform rollout. The open‑world title is...
New FPV Sim Adds Kill Count,
🌅 Was mostly out enjoying the sunset today with gf and @rameerez @marc et al But I did add kill count, soldiers firing back at your drone and improved heat vision (can now see through walls) to find people in my...
“We’re Not Expected to Make It”: Cloud9 Coach Immi Is Not Concerned Being the only NA VCT Team to Never...
Cloud9’s Valorant squad sits 14th out of 48 teams in the 2026 power rankings, making it the only North American franchise yet to qualify for a VCT international event. Head coach Ian “Immi” Harding told podcaster Andre Hopkins he feels...

Dragon Knights: Dragon Knight Academy Redeem Codes and How to Use Them (April 2026)
Ujoy Games' upcoming mobile RPG Dragon Knights: Dragon Knight Academy enters its pre‑registration phase and is slated for release in the last week of April 2026. The game currently offers no active redeem codes, as the launch window has not...

Best Locations and Farming Methods for Epidote in Crimson Desert
Epidote, a mid‑to‑late‑game ore in Crimson Desert, becomes available after players reach the Pailune and Crimson Desert zones. The first source is Count Felix's quest in Hernand, after which the richest vein lies on the eastern cliffs of Pailune near...