Jagex Outlines Problems With Auras and How They're Resolving Them in RuneScape's Road to Restoration
Jagex announced that most Auras will be removed as part of RuneScape’s ongoing “Road to Restoration” overhaul. The devblog explains that Auras force one‑hour play sessions and add little strategic depth, prompting the shift of useful Aura effects onto existing items or new rewards. The company will also retire related achievements, eliminate Aura refreshes, and repurpose the Aura slot into a cosmetic “Visual Effects” slot. Community input will guide final details, but the core aim is to give players more flexibility without hidden power‑creeps.
The Best Ways To Earn Pesos Quickly In High On Life 2
High On Life 2 offers several low‑effort activities that instantly boost a player’s in‑game cash, or pesos. The simplest is pressing a red button in Circuit Arcadia for a guaranteed 500 pesos, while fishing, betting on Fight Club, completing story bounties, and...
The Road to EWC Begins at DreamHack Birmingham
ESL FACEIT Group unveiled the "Road to EWC" qualifiers at DreamHack Birmingham, scheduled for March 27‑29, with a combined $120,000 prize pool across Street Fighter 6, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, and Trackmania. The events use double‑elimination formats and cap...
Xbox’s New Boss Promises Not To Flood It With ‘Soulless AI Slop’
Phil Spencer retires after a 12‑year tenure, and Microsoft appoints Asha Sharma—formerly head of its Core AI Product division—as Xbox’s new CEO. In her inaugural memo, Sharma vows to keep “soulless AI slop” out of games while acknowledging AI’s role...
God of War Leakers Pulled Off Their Signature Move and Found Files in Ragnarok that Could Be a Clue for...
Leakers examining God of War Ragnarok’s game files uncovered a cut scene featuring Atreus, Athena, a robed figure and a character named Mau. The dialogue references Egyptian terminology—Mau meaning cat and a "white snake" likely alluding to the god Apophis—hinting...
![Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer Retires, Xbox President Sarah Bond Resigns [Update]](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://www.gematsu.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Xbox-Changes_02-20-26.jpg)
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer Retires, Xbox President Sarah Bond Resigns [Update]
Microsoft Gaming announced that longtime CEO Phil Spencer will retire on February 23, and Xbox president Sarah Bond has resigned. Asha Sharma, formerly head of CoreAI and with experience at Instacart and Meta, will take over as CEO, while Matt Booty...
Smash Vows to Defeat Former Team T1 After Dplus KIA’s 3–1 Win at 2026 LCK Cup
Dplus KIA defeated DN SOOPers 3‑1 in the lower‑bracket Round 2 of the 2026 LCK Cup, keeping their tournament run alive. AD carry Shin “Smash” Geum‑jae earned Player of the Match by excelling on Ezreal, Aphelios and Ashe. He explained the...
Phil Spencer Retires From Xbox And Sarah Bond Resigns As Microsoft’s AI Exec Takes Over
Microsoft announced that longtime Xbox chief Phil Spencer will retire after 38 years, stepping down this summer. Asha Sharma, previously head of Microsoft CoreAI, is named the new CEO of Microsoft Gaming, with Matt Booty promoted to chief content officer....
Seven Knights Re:BIRTH Update Adds Legendary Hero Radgrid, Real Time Arena PvP and New Events
Netmarble rolled out a major update for Seven Knights Re:BIRTH, adding two Legendary heroes—Radgrid, a Defense‑type Celestial Guardian, and Bai Long, an Attack‑type single‑target damage dealer. The patch also launches Real Time Arena, a PvP mode where players manually select skills...
Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime Reveals Star-Studded Voice Cast
Bonte Avond unveiled a new trailer for its upcoming indie RPG, Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime, at the Convergence Showcase, revealing a star‑studded voice cast whose combined social‑media following exceeds 78 million. The game is described as a comedy‑focused, fully voice‑acted adventure...
Quantum and Games: The Shift Developers Can’t Afford to Ignore
Quantum computing is poised to reshape game development by tackling the most complex design problems, not by running games in real time. Developers are already leveraging quantum algorithms for procedural generation, rule‑validation across massive worlds, and hard‑to‑find bug elimination, feeding...
Amazon Prime Members: You Can Play These Games for Free
Amazon has refreshed its Luna cloud‑gaming service by offering a free Luna Standard subscription to all Prime members. The bundle now includes high‑profile titles such as Hogwarts Legacy, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and the February additions of Alan...
Hello Kitty Desktop Mate DLC Teased
Infiniteloop announced a new Desktop Mate DLC featuring Sanrio’s Hello Kitty, revealed via a silhouette teaser on social media. The add‑on has no confirmed release date, but the “coming soon” label appears in both Japanese and English, indicating a global...
Siliconera+ 2 Month Free Trial Added
Siliconera has relaunched its ad‑free Siliconera+ subscription with a two‑month free trial for users who enable recurring payments. The $1.99 monthly fee only starts after the 60‑day trial, meaning a subscriber joining on November 17, 2026 would be charged on...
Genvid Introduces Story Maps to Continue ‘DC Heroes United’ Narrative
Genvid has launched Story Maps, a new feature that adds branching narrative layers to its interactive streaming platform. The tool is being rolled out with the mobile game DC Heroes United, which debuted on November 20, 2024 and is licensed...
Pax Dei Outlines Proposals to Make Crafting Failures Less Punishing and Fairer
Pax Dei’s Master Crafting and a major crafting XP rebalance have gone live, prompting the team to address the pain points of failed attempts. The developers propose a salvage‑target system that returns a portion of invested materials based on the total...
Best New Xbox Game Pass Games to Play This Weekend (Feb. 20-22)
Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass added three high‑profile titles for the weekend of Feb 20‑22, including Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Complete Edition, and the indie heist game Relooted. The additions arrive amid a recent price increase that has sparked...
Residual Is This Week’s Free Mobile Game on the Epic Games Store
Epic Games Store is offering the Android survival game Residual for free from February 19 to February 26, 2026. Developed by Orangepixel, the title blends side‑scrolling exploration, crafting, and procedurally generated planets. Normally priced at $7.49 on Google Play, the...
Oilstone Locations in Starsand Island
In Starsand Island, Oilstone is a high‑tier material hidden behind the Moonlit Forest gate, which opens after completing the Intermediate Explorer quest with Zephyria. Players must craft a Plume Bow, Bomb Arrows, and defeat a turtle boss before accessing the...
Blacklyte Named Desk and Chair Sponsor of RLCS 2026 Boston Major
Blacklyte announced it will serve as the exclusive desk and chair sponsor for the Rocket League Championship Series 2026 Boston Major. The company’s Athena Pro Gaming Chair RLCS edition and Atlas Lite Desk will be featured onstage during the finals...
Capcom Begs Fans Not To Share Resident Evil Requiem Footage As Spoilers Start Leaking
Capcom has publicly urged fans to refrain from sharing leaked footage of the upcoming Resident Evil Requiem, which launches on February 27, 2026. Early physical copies obtained by retailers and fans have already surfaced online, including a premature reveal of...
SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X Wireless Gaming Headset Review: Sweet Sounds for PC and Handhelds
The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X Wireless headset brings an over‑ear form factor to the same USB‑C 2.4 GHz receiver used in the Arctis GameBuds, letting it toggle between a desktop PC and handhelds like the Steam Deck. Sound quality is solid with...
Most PlayStation 5 Owners Have Been Playing The Same Games Since 2022
Circana’s 2026 U.S. data shows that the same five titles have dominated PlayStation 5 playtime since 2022, with Fortnite reaching 56 percent of active owners. The list—Fortnite, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto V, Roblox and Minecraft—remains unchanged from the prior two years,...
Pokémon Day 2026 Pokémon Presents Confirmed for Feb. 27
The Pokémon Company confirmed a Pokémon Presents livestream for Feb. 27, 2026, kicking off the franchise’s 30th‑anniversary celebrations at 6 a.m. PST across YouTube, Twitch, Instagram and TikTok. A week earlier the company announced Nintendo Switch ports of the classic Game Boy Advance...
Beyond Good And Evil 2 Studio Evacuates 500 Over Apparent Bomb Threat Hoax
Ubisoft evacuated its Montpellier studio on February 19 after a bomb threat email forced 500 employees to leave the building. Police found no device, confirming the threat was a hoax. The studio, which is developing Beyond Good and Evil 2 and...
Universal Tower Defense Relics Guide
Universal Tower Defense introduces relic items that provide passive stat boosts and can be equipped on any unit. The guide details six relic sets—Ex Captain Uraharo, Berserk Shinigami, Sun God, Laughing Captain, Junior Ninja, and Master Ninja—each offering distinct bonuses...
US Supreme Court Strike Down Majority of Trump's Tariffs, so Hopefully That's One Less Hardware Buying Headache to Worry About
The U.S. Supreme Court voted 6‑3 to invalidate most of the tariffs President Trump imposed on imported hardware components. The decision hinges on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which the court found did not grant Trump authority for those...
Jujutsu Zero Tier List February 2026
The February 2026 Jujutsu Zero tier list ranks clans, weapons, and techniques to guide players toward optimal builds. S‑tier clans such as Gojo, Kashimo, and Sukuna lead the pack, while the Festering Life Sword tops the weapon rankings. Limitless, Shrine,...
#361: Pointless
Sony announced it will shut down Bluepoint Games in March, ending the studio’s four‑year tenure under PlayStation. The Austin‑based team, famed for high‑profile remakes such as Shadow of the Colossus and the PS5 Demon’s Souls, produced no original titles after...
Square Enix Video Says ‘NieR: Automata to Be Continued’
Square Enix released a promotional video that concludes with the phrase “NieR: Automata to be continued,” signaling a possible new project tied to the franchise. The video also celebrates the title reaching 10 million units sold across Switch, PS4, Xbox One,...
"It Needs to Cooperate Fairly, and It's Clearly Not." Why Valve Is Facing a £656m Day in the UK Courts
A UK class‑action lawsuit led by digital‑safety advocate Vicki Shotbolt accuses Valve of breaching competition law by imposing a 30% revenue‑share fee and a price‑parity rule on Steam. The claim seeks up to £656 million in damages for consumers, arguing that...
What It Would Look Like to Receive a Punishing Counter Hit From a Fighting Game in Real Life
A popular creator, rde, posted a comedic skit reenacting fighting‑game counter‑hit animations in real life. The video showcases exaggerated physics, from chest‑holding flops to backward staggers and sliding knockdowns, mirroring mechanics that reward predictive skill. By juxtaposing game footage with...
Hide and Luig
Hide and Luig, a free point‑and‑click hide‑and‑seek game built with the Phaser framework, has quickly become a standout title on itch.io, earning over 400 ratings and a 4.8‑out‑of‑5 average. Its simple click‑to‑search mechanics and surreal humor deliver instant, accessible fun,...
Despite Positive Reviews, It Seems the ROG Xbox Ally Isn't the Steam Deck Rival that Asus and Microsoft Likely Hoped...
The Asus ROG Xbox Ally launched with strong initial interest but quickly saw sales dip, failing to dent Valve's Steam Deck dominance. Senior games journalist Mat Piscatella confirmed the handheld’s modest volume and noted the ongoing Steam Deck stock shortage....
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and PS5 Top January US Charts, Switch 2 Still Carries Hardware Spending
January 2026 was a quiet month for U.S. video‑game sales, but Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 reclaimed the top spot on the software chart. The PlayStation 5 led hardware unit and dollar sales, while Nintendo’s Switch 2 generated the most hardware spending...
Fortnite Holds Surprise Live Event Mid-Week – Here’s What Happened
Epic Games surprised Fortnite players with an unannounced 90‑second live event on Thursday at 3 PM PT. The brief spectacle featured a rocket from the red rift landing in Classified Canyon, reviving the Visitor character and instantly unlocking new story quests. The...
Netmarble to Shut Down Seven Knights 2 in April
Netmarble announced that its mobile MMORPG Seven Knights 2 will cease operations on April 15, 2026. In‑app purchases were suspended on January 14, and all cash‑shop items have been removed. Servers will stay online until the shutdown date, with scheduled events proceeding as planned....
Night in the Woods Publisher Finji Accuses TikTok of Creating "Racist, Sexist" And Uneditable GenAI Ads for Its Games
Microsoft announced that longtime Xbox head Phil Spencer and president Sarah Bond are departing the division. Asha Sharma, previously Microsoft’s CoreAI product president, will take over as Xbox CEO, while Matt Booty moves into the chief content officer role. The...
Grand Mountain Adventure 2 Wins Mobile Honour at Swedish Game Awards
The Swedish Game Awards 2026 highlighted the nation’s creative strength, with ARC Raiders sweeping multiple categories and Minecraft retaining Best Live Service. While PC and console titles dominated, mobile games earned a spotlight as Toppluva’s Grand Mountain Adventure 2 captured Best Small...
Exel by Merak Appoints Faisal Sedrani as CEO to Lead Its Next Growth Phase
Exel by Merak, the Saudi gaming accelerator owned by Merak Capital, has named Faisal Sedrani as its new chief executive officer. Sedrani, who previously built Exel as a Merak subsidiary and serves as VP of Innovation Platform, will steer the...
Fogpiercer Is a Tactical Game that Recognises the True Joy of Artillery Is Using It to Give Your Enemies a...
Fogpiercer is a deck‑building roguelike where players command a heavily armed train through a fog‑filled wasteland. The game’s standout mechanic lets artillery shells shove enemies into walls or each other, turning direct damage into positional puzzles. Its turn‑based battles echo...
Esports Nations Cup 2026 Adds VALORANT as One of 16 Titles
Riot's tactical shooter VALORANT will debut as the 16th title in the Esports Nations Cup 2026, slated for Riyadh from November 8‑15. The tournament features 32 national squads competing in a round‑robin group stage followed by a single‑elimination playoff, culminating in...
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire Looks Awesome in the New Boss Trailer
Mouse: P.I. For Hire, a first‑person boomer shooter inspired by 1930s cartoons and noir, is set to launch on March 19, 2026. A new trailer released on February 19 at the Convergence Showcase spotlights the three‑stage Robo‑Betty boss fight, highlighting...
VALORANT Masters Santiago Will Let Fans Compete in On-Site Skirmish Series
Riot Games is adding a fan‑focused Skirmish Series to the VALORANT Masters Santiago event. The on‑site competition consists of four days of 1v1 single‑elimination qualifiers, featuring 16 players per day and a total of 64 participants. The top 16 advance...
WePlay Studios and Global Gaming League Will Host League Competitions in California | Exclusive
WePlay Studios announced a partnership with the Global Gaming League to stage league competitions in California, shifting some esports activity from Las Vegas to the West Coast. The collaboration combines WePlay’s high‑production content capabilities with GGL’s celebrity‑owned team model. Events...
Shiren the Wanderer Series Sales Surpassed 3 Million Copies Worldwide
Spike Chunsoft announced the Shiren the Wanderer series has sold over 3 million copies worldwide, coinciding with its 30th‑anniversary celebrations. The sixth main‑line title, The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island, reached 300,000 units globally within its first year, with more than...
The Best SSDs for the Steam Deck
The article benchmarks a range of M.2 2230 SSDs to identify the best upgrades for Valve’s Steam Deck handheld PC. It crowns the Corsair MP600 Mini as the overall winner, while the Crucial P310 delivers the strongest price‑per‑gigabyte value and the...
Steam Deck OLED Facing Stock Shortages Due to Memory Supply Issues
Valve confirmed that the Steam Deck OLED is experiencing intermittent stock shortages across several regions, driven by a global crunch on memory and storage components. The shortage stems from soaring DRAM and NAND prices as AI data centers hoard chips,...
Nintendo Publishes Pokemon FireRed & Pokemon LeafGreen Switch FAQ
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company announced that Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen will debut on the Nintendo eShop on Pokémon Day, February 27, 2026. The titles are faithful ports of the original Game Boy Advance releases, with connectivity shifted to the Switch’s built‑in local wireless and GameChat...
Stop Killing Games Campaign Hope to "Signal that We're Not Just Going Away" By Setting up Online Game Preservation NGOs
The Stop Killing Games campaign, backed by a petition with just under 1.3 million verified signatures, is pressing EU lawmakers to address server shutdowns that render online‑only games unplayable. While awaiting a meeting with European officials, the group announced the creation...