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
Tekken Legend Katsuhiro Harada Launches VS Studio Under SNK
Katsuhiro Harada, the longtime Tekken producer, announced the creation of VS Studio, a new development studio backed by SNK Corporation. Based in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Harada will serve as CEO, signaling a fresh collaboration between two historic fighting‑game powerhouses.
FunPlus CBO Chris Petrovic to Discuss the Games Industry's 'New Normal' At PGC Barcelona
FunPlus chief business officer Chris Petrovic will speak at Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona on June 15‑16, leading a fireside chat on the "new normal" in gaming. The session, titled “Navigating The New Normal: Growth, Capital, & Opportunity In Today’s Industry,”...
Moss: The Forgotten Relic Announced for PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, Switch, and PC
Polyarc announced Moss: The Forgotten Relic, a definitive adventure that merges the award‑winning VR titles Moss and Moss: Book II into one experience. The game will launch this summer on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, the original Switch, and PC...
How to Get Past Bloom in Subnautica 2
Subnautica 2’s Bloom infection blocks key map zones until players acquire the Sonic Resonator. The tool is crafted from a basic battery, wiring kit, titanium ingots and lead after locating the blueprint near the Blackbox‑Wander signal. Using sound waves, the Resonator...
You Can Save over $100 on the Asus ROG Ally Thanks to This Too-Good-to-Miss Deal, but Time Is Running Out
Asus’s ROG Ally handheld is available refurbished for $389.99 on Woot, a discount of over $100 from its original price and cheaper than the Steam Deck OLED and Nintendo Switch 2. The device packs a Ryzen Z1 processor, a 120 Hz display, and...
Xbox Game Pass Co-Op Beat 'Em up Absolum Gets Cross-Play Support
Dotemu announced that its co‑op beat‑em‑up Absolum now supports full cross‑play. Players on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox PC, Steam, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch can team up online or via split‑screen. The feature arrives after months of polishing since the game’s...
GTA 6 Pre-Orders Will Go Live Soon According to New Leak
Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto VI is slated for a pre‑order launch on May 18, 2026, according to a leaked Best Buy email, with the window running through May 21. The pre‑order period coincides with a promotional campaign and may precede a third trailer...
Red Bull Padel: Court Legends Brings Realistic Padel Action and Competitive PvP to Mobile on May 27, 2026
Red Bull is set to release Red Bull Padel: Court Legends, a realistic padel simulation for Android and iOS on May 27, 2026. The title is built in partnership with the Qatar Airways Premier Padel Tour and is already open...
The Caribou Trail for PS5 Delayed to July 7
Unreliable Narrators has postponed the PlayStation 5 release of its World War I narrative adventure *The Caribou Trail* from today to July 7 after uncovering a critical issue in the build. The PC version remains live on Steam and the Epic Games Store at $12.99....
Medabots Card Robattle RB Demo Appears on Switch in Japan
Imagineer has launched a public demo of Medabots Card Robattle RB on Japan’s Nintendo eShop, giving Switch owners a preview ahead of the full launch slated for June 25, 2026. The demo focuses on the Kuwagata version but will allow...
Xbox Giving Away a Cool Forza Horizon 6 Jacket, While Crunchyroll Has a Bonus for Forza Fans
Microsoft is promoting the early‑access launch of Forza Horizon 6 with two fan‑focused campaigns. Crunchyroll subscribers can claim a free in‑game car voucher that remains redeemable through September 30, 2026. Xbox is running an Instagram sweepstakes that awards ten Zipangu‑styled denim jackets and...
Marvel Rivals Season 8 Roadmap: All Upcoming Events, Skins, and Alchemax Headquarters Map
Marvel Rivals Season 8 “Sins Of Alchemax” launches May 15, adding the Devil Dinosaur hero and a fresh battle‑pass titled Project Heroic Age. The update introduces the Alchemax Headquarters map on May 29, alongside a steady rollout of themed skins for characters like Deadpool, Hulk,...
1Stop Translations Makes a Strong Entry Into the Video Games Industry
1Stop Translations announced its entry into the video‑games sector, becoming the official silver sponsor of Digital Dragons 2026 and an exhibitor at Gamescom 2026. The company highlighted its Red Pill Framework, which merges AI‑driven automation with human quality control to...
What Is the Release Date for Marathon Season 2? Answered
Marathon’s first seasonal reset, Season 2: NIGHTFALL, arrives on June 2, 2026 at roughly 10 am Central Time. The update introduces a full wipe of player progression—including level, gear, and contracts—while preserving achievements and cosmetics. New content features the night‑time Night Marsh map, a...
Don't Touch the Snail Is an Anti-Cozy Game that Takes Permadeath to the Next Level
Don’t Touch the Snail is an upcoming indie title that turns a desktop cursor into a high‑stakes idle game. A persistent snail chases the mouse; if it catches the cursor, the player’s save is permanently deleted and the game can...
Amazon Reportedly Cancels Lord of the Rings MMO
Amazon Games has reportedly scrapped its long‑planned Lord of the Rings massively multiplayer online (MMO) title following a wave of layoffs that hit the division in October. Jeff Gattis, Amazon’s head of games, neither confirmed nor denied the cancellation but...
Media: Esports World Cup 2026 to Be Held in Paris
The 2026 Esports World Cup will be staged in Paris after escalating tensions in Iran forced organizers to relocate. The seven‑week festival begins on July 6, featuring 24 titles and a $75 million prize pool. Counter‑Strike: Global Offensive will close the event...
Developers of Party Animals Announce an AI Video Contest - Game Gets a Review Bomb
Recreate Games, the studio behind Party Animals, launched a $75,000 AI video contest inviting creators to showcase generative‑AI concepts. The announcement sparked a wave of criticism, pushing the game’s Steam rating into the "Mostly Negative" range with 828 negative reviews...
Roblox Appoints Former Amazon Exec John Ciancutti as First Chief Growth Officer
Roblox announced the hiring of John Ciancutti, a former Amazon Music product leader, as its inaugural Chief Growth Officer. The role will oversee the platform’s discovery algorithm, international expansion and new AI‑driven initiatives as the company seeks to boost revenue after...
Valve's Steam Controller Emits Wilhelm Scream When Dropped, Users Confirm Easter Egg
Valve's Steam Controller, priced at $99, contains a hidden Easter egg that triggers a Wilhelm scream when the controller is dropped with gyro enabled. The discovery, first reported by Reddit user RF3D19 and confirmed by GamesRadar, VideoGamesChronicle and Engadget, has...
Logitech G Study Shows Over Half of Gamers View Esports as Legitimate Career
Logitech G’s new global study reveals that 55% of gamers now consider professional gaming a legitimate career, while 67% of Gen Z respondents want formal education pathways. The findings highlight a shift in perception that could reshape curricula and industry...
Order of the Sinking Star Coming to Nintendo Switch 2, From Braid and The Witness Dev
Jonathan Blow, the creator of Braid and The Witness, announced that his new puzzle‑adventure *Order of the Sinking Star* will debut on Nintendo Switch 2 later in 2026. The game promises more than a thousand hand‑crafted puzzles across four interwoven worlds,...
High Times Launches July 23
Yangyang Mobile announced that its narrative dating and cooking‑simulation title High Times will launch on July 23 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. The game places players behind a quirky donut shop where “Donut Therapy” lets players craft...
MapleStory Universe Marks First Anniversary with MSU 2.0 Expansion
MapleStory Universe (MSU), Nexon’s blockchain‑powered extension of the MapleStory franchise, celebrated its first anniversary, reporting over 150 million cumulative on‑chain transactions and 3.82 million registered accounts. The platform now accounts for 23.3% of activity on the Avalanche network and its native NXPC...
Yangyang Mobile Is Taking High Times Dating and Cooking Sim to Consoles
Yangyang Mobile, a Manila‑based indie studio, announced that its narrative‑driven dating and cooking game High Times will debut on Xbox Series S/X, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch on July 23, 2026. The title, previously released only on Steam, lets players craft mood‑altering donuts...
Starbites Review
Starbites is an indie turn‑based RPG that starts slowly but grows into a deep, customizable experience. Players guide salvager Lukida and her mech‑riding party through a desert world, unlocking skill trees, mech frames, engines and cores that shape combat tactics....
Forza Horizon 6 Review: Japan's Open World Racing Paradise
Playground Games' *Forza Horizon 6* launches on May 19, 2026, moving the Horizon Festival to Japan for the franchise’s first Asian open‑world setting. The game offers a sprawling map that mixes neon‑lit Tokyo, snowy mountain passes, and cherry‑blossom routes, alongside over 80 car...
One Genre, Three Strategies: How Magic Sort, Knit Out, and Pixel Flow Are Redefining Sort Puzzle Monetisation
The mobile sort‑puzzle genre has surged to almost $200 M in annual net revenue, driven by three titles—Magic Sort, Knit Out, and Pixel Flow—each embodying a distinct monetisation philosophy. Magic Sort sells comfort through low‑effort, turn‑based colour sorting, while Knit Out...
Why the Savvy-Roblox Deal Lands Differently in Saudi Arabia
Savvy Games Group and Roblox signed a Memorandum of Understanding to boost Saudi Arabia’s game‑development ecosystem under Vision 2030. The deal follows Roblox’s 2025 agreement with the Saudi media regulator that limited chat features and blocked thousands of games. While Roblox...
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BFI Announces Recipients of IBD Awards, Launches New Funding Stream for UK Devs
The British Film Institute (BFI) announced the latest round of International Business Development (IBD) awards, distributing £2.07 million (≈ $2.63 million) in non‑recoupable grants to five independent UK game studios. Grants range from £50,000 to £200,000 and are earmarked for hiring, marketing, and...
Xbox and Ubisoft's New Rainbow Six: Siege Deal Locks in Game Pass Benefits for June
Xbox and Ubisoft have renewed a partnership that makes Xbox Game Pass the official esports sponsor for Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege through the 2026‑2027 competitive seasons. Starting in June 2026, Game Pass subscribers will receive in‑game perks, with the deal also promising...
PS Plus Brings Back the Greatest Game of All Time After More than a Year Away – a Free Reward...
PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers will get Red Dead Redemption 2 back for free on May 19, reviving one of the platform’s most acclaimed titles. The same update adds the highly anticipated Star Wars Outlaws, an open‑world adventure set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Additional games such...
Why UBS Is Bullish On Take-Two Ahead Of Grand Theft Auto VI Launch
UBS reaffirmed Take‑Two Interactive as its top U.S. gaming pick, maintaining a Buy rating and a $300 price target. The firm projects a record fiscal 2027 with $9 billion in bookings, driven by an estimated $2 billion in full‑game sales from the...
Horsea | Pokémon Guide
Horsea (National Pokédex #116) is a Water‑type Pokémon introduced in Kanto with abilities Swift Swim, Sniper, and hidden ability Damp. It evolves into Seadra at level 32 and can further evolve into Kingdra when traded holding a Dragon Scale. The...
Consumer Rights Push, Headset Promos and Disc‑less Consoles Dominate Gaming Headlines
Martin Lewis warns UK gamers they may be entitled to free repairs under the Consumer Rights Act, while Microsoft’s Project Helix leaks hint at a disc‑less Xbox. Meanwhile, JBL’s spring sale bundles a free Xbox Game Pass with a headset,...
Jame: "We Were Ready for the Slump to Happen Soon, so We Are Not Experiencing Shock and Horror From Our...
PARIVISION was eliminated in the group stage of PGL Astana 2026 after a 1‑2 loss to G2, capping a turbulent tournament that also featured a win over Fisher College and defeats to 9z and Aurora. Captain Jame highlighted a recent...
Best Buy Tells Affiliates It’s Starting GTA 6 Pre-Orders Next Week, Sparking Speculation that a New Trailer Is Coming
Best Buy notified its affiliate network that it will begin taking pre‑orders for Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 6 from May 18 through May 21, offering a 5% commission on linked sales. The announcement has ignited speculation that a new GTA 6 trailer could drop ahead...
Games Growth Summit Returns with Industry-Defining Lineup — Last Tickets Available
The Games Growth Summit returns with a high‑profile lineup, kicking off with an Omdia fireside chat that assesses AI impact, market saturation and genuine growth avenues for 2026. Sessions cover cybersecurity essentials for studios, culture‑driven commercial momentum, and how charitable...
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Series Shipments and Digital Sales Top Three Million
Bandai Namco announced that worldwide shipments and digital sales for Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth and its sequel Hacker’s Memory have topped three million units. The two titles, originally released on PS Vita in 2015 and later expanded to PS4, Switch and PC, have steadily grown from 1.5 million...
EA Sports FC 26 LaLiga Team of the Season Revealed with Mbappé and Lamine Yamal Leading the Way
EA Sports FC 26 has announced its LaLiga Team of the Season, spotlighting the league as the domestic campaign winds down. Kylian Mbappé and teenage sensation Lamine Yamal lead the attacking line, while Pedri, Aurélien Tchouaméni and Federico Valverde anchor the midfield. The defensive...
UK Games Industry Fundamentally Misunderstood, New Report Calls for Unified Research Framework
UKIE and charity OKRE released the "Building a Unified Framework for the UK Video Games Impacts" report, proposing a Theory of Change‑based model to quantify the sector’s economic, cultural, health and educational contributions. The framework expands the industry definition to...
My Talking Tom Friends Expands Bus Trip Into a Free Exploration World with School, Mall, and Hospital Update
Outfit7 has transformed the Bus Trip feature in My Talking Tom Friends into an open‑world exploration system, adding three new destinations—School, Mall, and Hospital. The update lets players move freely between locations, using medical tools in the Hospital, attending classes...
Crushed in Time Invites You to Explore a Funny Point-and-Click Adventure Spin Off, Arriving on Mobile Later This Year
Indie studio Draw Me A Pixel announced Crushed in Time, a humorous point‑and‑click adventure starring Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The game launches on PC on June 10, 2026, with Android and iOS releases slated for later this year. It blends...
Clash Royale May 2026 Update to Bring Collection Levels, Mastery Rework, and Progression Overhaul
Supercell announced a major Clash Royale overhaul launching May 26 2026. The update eliminates King’s Journey and XP, replacing them with a Collection Level system where every card upgrade adds a level. Mastery tasks are streamlined and rewards shift toward gold, while milestone...
Forza Horizon 6 Review
Forza Horizon 6 arrives with a sprawling Japanese open world that fuses arcade‑style fun and the series’ signature physics. The title adds refined haptic feedback, new downhill Togue Battles, and a more festival‑focused social layer that downplays influencer hype. Progression...
Battle Suit Aces Is Now Available on iOS and Android via the Crunchyroll Game Vault
Outersloth and Trinket Studios have expanded their sci‑fi card‑battling RPG Battle Suit Aces to iOS and Android via the Crunchyroll Game Vault. The title originally launched on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC in October 2023 after a June 2024 announcement....
Last Flag Studio Lays Off Staff as Game From Imagine Dragons Brothers Misses Targets
Night Street Games, the indie studio founded by Imagine Dragons brothers Mac and Dan Reynolds, announced staff layoffs after its multiplayer shooter Last Flag failed to meet financial expectations. Executive producer Jonathan Jelinek confirmed the shortfall in a LinkedIn post,...
Sega Cancels $880 Million Live‑Service Project “Super Game” Amid Fierce Competition
Sega announced the cancellation of its $880 million live‑service venture Super Game, citing weak free‑to‑play performance and intensifying market competition. The move redirects resources to established franchises and film adaptations, marking a strategic retreat from high‑risk online titles.
Ropz: "IEM Atlanta Is Not a Priority Event for Us, but We Don't Want to Go Home with Regrets"
Team Vitality entered IEM Atlanta as heavy favorites while chasing a sixth consecutive trophy, but a week off left them rusty. After a solid win over BC.Game they were stunned 2‑1 by BetBoom, marking their only loss to a non‑Falcons...
Deathbringer’s Reign Is Turning Baldurs Gate 3 Into A Lush Baldurs Gate 1
Mod team Deathbringer’s Reign has completed a major visual overhaul of Candlekeep in Baldur’s Gate 3, recreating the original Baldur’s Gate 1 environment with a lush, overgrown aesthetic. The revamp surpasses the earlier demo and showcases the team’s mastery of the BG3...