Animal Crossing: New Horizons Version 3.0.1 Available (Patch Notes)
Nintendo released Animal Crossing: New Horizons version 3.0.1 on February 18, 2026, targeting both Nintendo Switch 2 and the original Switch. The patch addresses performance slowdowns, item duplication, NPC pathing, and visual glitches introduced with the 3.0 launch. Specific fixes include correcting cloud alignment on Switch 2 and adjusting controller vibration. Additional minor tweaks aim to smooth overall gameplay across all platforms.
![[Industry News] 400,000 Euros Gamecity Hamburg Prototype Funding 2026](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://mcvuk.com/wp-content/uploads/260219_gamecity_hamburg_prototype_funding26_en.png)
[Industry News] 400,000 Euros Gamecity Hamburg Prototype Funding 2026
Gamecity Hamburg is allocating €400,000 in non‑repayable prototype funding, with individual grants of up to €80,000 for digital‑game projects. The application window runs from February 23 to March 30, 2026, and targets developers, start‑ups, and SMEs that are based in or relocating...
Avowed's Custom Difficulty Won't Make Its Toughest Achievement Easier
Avowed’s latest Anniversary Update adds a Custom Difficulty option, but it does not soften the game’s hardest setting, Path of the Damned. The toughest achievement, “A Test of Your Reflexes,” still requires completing the story on that difficulty, keeping the...
Xbox Game Pass Adds The Witcher 3, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, and More
Microsoft’s second February Game Pass wave drops heavyweight RPGs, headlined by The Witcher 3 on February 19 and Kingdom Come II on March 3. The update also adds Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, EA Sports College Football 26, and several indie shooters, expanding the library’s genre diversity....
Todd Howard Claims the ‘Majority’ of Bethesda Are on Elder Scrolls 6, and Don’t Expect ‘Starfield 2.0’ Soon
Todd Howard revealed that the majority of Bethesda Game Studios is currently dedicated to The Elder Scrolls 6, which is nearing a major internal milestone but remains years from launch. He clarified that upcoming Starfield content is an expansion, not a...
Arc Raiders Sees 30% Player Count Drop as Marathon Looms
Arc Raiders, Embark Studios' retro‑futuristic extraction shooter, has seen its Steam concurrent player count tumble from roughly 410,000 in January to about 290,000—a near‑30% drop—while daily active users halved from 3.2 million to 1.6 million across platforms. The decline arrives just weeks...
Destiny 2 Delays Shadow and Order, Promises Tiered Loot for All Raids and Dungeons Alongside Pantheon 2.0
Bungie announced that the upcoming Destiny 2 update Shadow and Order will be postponed to June 9, 2026, three months later than planned. The delay accompanies a major expansion that adds tiered loot to every raid and dungeon, alongside a revamped Pantheon 2.0 raid‑boss...
EFootball 2026 Adds New Show Time Skill in “Attack Trigger” With Varane Arriving as a New Legend Card
KONAMI’s eFootball 2026 update introduces Attack Trigger, a new Show Time skill that raises teammates’ Attacking Awareness when the holder has the ball. The skill does not benefit the holder, only surrounding players, improving run timing and forward positioning. The...
Fans Uncover Strongest Evidence yet that Monster Hunter Wilds Is Coming to Nintendo Switch 2
Datamined files from Monster Hunter Wilds reveal a tutorial image that displays local multiplayer support for the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2. Earlier this year a PC update contained text strings referencing Switch 2 wireless features, which were later removed, adding weight to the...
Starbreeze Revenue Rises 19% to $24.5m in 2025
Starbreeze Entertainment reported a 18.8% rise in 2025 revenue to SEK 221 million ($24.5 million), yet the company posted a larger net loss of SEK 402.7 million ($44.6 million). Quarterly sales slipped 10.7% in Q4, driven by a decline in third‑party publishing and mixed performance of...
Game Pass Adds 5 New Retro Classics for Subscribers on All Tiers
Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass Retro Classics update for February 2026 adds five vintage titles – two Infocom Zork adventures and three Atari 2600 games – to the subscription catalog. The new releases are instantly available to all Game Pass tiers in regions...
Here's the Cheapest Way to Get High on Life 2 Right Now, and Score Eight Games in the Process
High on Life 2 refines its predecessor with tighter pacing and a skateboard mechanic, keeping the series' signature talking‑gun humor. The sequel expands weapon personalities while adding skate‑boarding combat tricks, delivering a fresh yet familiar FPS experience. Players can secure...
How Secret Door Created Roguelite Shadowstone From the Roots of Sunderfolk | Interview
Secret Door announced two major updates: a 2.0 overhaul of its co‑op tactical RPG Sunderfolk and a brand‑new solo roguelite titled Shadowstone. Shadowstone emerged from an experimental mode within Sunderfolk, evolving into a standalone title that shares the same universe...
Danger's Backstory Before Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls Is Quite Unsettling and Is One of the Reasons Why some Hate Charles...
Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls announced three new playable X‑Men—Wolverine, Magik and the obscure character Danger—joining Storm’s Unbreakable squad. Danger’s origin stems from the X‑Mansion’s Danger Room, rebuilt with Shi’ar technology that granted it sentience. Professor Charles Xavier knowingly continued to...
Football Commentator Permits EA to Use an AI Version of His Voice for EA Sports FC
EA Sports FC commentator Guy Mowbray has authorized Electronic Arts to clone his voice using artificial intelligence, allowing the game to generate pronunciations for more than 20,000 footballer names. Mowbray currently records each name several times to capture different emphases,...
Capcom Incorrectly States Street Fighter 6 Year 2 Pass Is 50% Off, but the DLC Is Still Discounted Along with...
Capcom mistakenly promoted the Street Fighter 6 Year 2 Character and Ultimate Passes as 50% off, but the actual discount is only 20%, pricing them at $24 and $40 respectively. The base game is currently 50% off at $20, while Year 1 passes...
Phaser Editor V5 Beta Now Available
Phaser Editor v5 entered beta, delivering a major productivity upgrade for game developers. The new version fully supports Phaser 4—including the updated filters system, Spine runtime, and fresh project templates—while preserving backward compatibility with Phaser 3. A standout feature is AI‑powered development via...
GreedFall: The Dying World Trophies Revealed for PlayStation 5
GreedFall: The Dying World expansion for PS5 unveils a full trophy list, featuring 15 visible awards and more than 30 hidden achievements. The trophies cover a range of actions, from crafting items and disarming traps to mastering skill trees and...
Runestone Expands Partnership With Roman Imperium Cup
Runestone announced an expanded partnership with Portugal’s Counter‑Strike 2 tournament, Roman Imperium Cup, becoming its official data partner for a multi‑event commitment through 2026. The deal gives the Cup access to Runestone’s secure live‑match data infrastructure, integrity monitoring, and fan‑focused analytics...
Outgoing Sucker Punch Boss Hopes Studio Can Make Games in 'Shorter Periods of Time'
Outgoing co‑founder Brian Fleming says Sucker Punch wants to shrink its development cycles from roughly five years to four. The studio’s recent hit, Ghost of Yotei, outperformed its predecessor and won a DICE award, proving the model can still deliver commercial...
AppsFlyer Talks Buyer Signals, Player Targeting and Staying Legally Compliant
At Pocket Gamer Connects London 2026, AppsFlyer executives Edik Mitelman and Adam Smart unveiled a data‑collaboration platform that taps consumers' real‑world credit‑card spend to identify high‑value gaming audiences. By partnering with Mastercard and other financial institutions, the firm can segment...
‘Let Us Normalize Delaying Games’: DayZ Creator Says Players ‘Have the Power’ to Tell Platform Holders Delays Are Okay
Dean Hall, creator of DayZ and developer of Icarus, used a Reddit AMA to ask players to stop stigmatizing game release delays. He highlighted the console version of Icarus, pushed back from February 26 to March 26, as a recent example. Hall...
How Transport Fever 3’s Six-Year Development Journey Showcases the Gaming Industry’s Evolution
Urban Games announced Transport Fever 3 in May 2025, marking the third entry in its transport‑simulation franchise after the 2019 release of Transport Fever 2. The title has been in development for six years and will ship with more than 300 vehicles, adding...
ED Freezes ₹505 Cr Held Abroad In WinZO Money-Laundering Case
The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached ₹505 cr (≈$55.7 mn) held in WinZO’s US and Singapore shell accounts as part of a money‑laundering probe. The agency alleges the gaming platform used bots and algorithm‑driven personas to play against real users, inflating revenues...
Tekken 8 Director Explains How to Submit Feedback that They're Checking for on a Daily Basis
Tekken 8 director Kohei Ikeda announced that the development team now tracks community requests posted with #鉄拳8 or #TEKKEN8 hashtags on a daily basis. The game’s Season 3 Pass will introduce Kunimitsu, Bob, Roger Jr. and an unnamed challenger, while a major balance...
How to Complete A Royal Request in Monster Hunter Wilds
Capcom added a new side quest called A Royal Request to Monster Hunter Wilds in the February 18 patch, celebrating the upcoming Monster Hunter Stories 3 release. Players must be Hunter Rank 9 or higher and head to the Scarlet Forest base camp...
Doom: The Dark Ages Switch 2 Port Possibly Hinted At In Nintendo Sale
A Bethesda Publisher Sale on Nintendo’s eShop displayed a Doomslayer render from the upcoming prequel *The Dark Ages*, a game not yet listed for the current Switch. The artwork has been interpreted as an accidental confirmation of a Switch 2 port,...
Annapurna Will Launch Musical RPG People of Note on April 7
Annapurna Interactive and Iridium Studios unveiled a new gameplay trailer and a Steam demo for People of Note, a turn‑based musical RPG. The title launches worldwide on April 7 across PC (Steam, Epic), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch. The...
Battlefield 6 Season 2 Is the Foundation for Future Content, Says Producer
Battlefield 6’s Season 2 launched after a deliberate delay, allowing the team to polish new content and address pacing issues caused by the extended Season 1. Producer Phil Girette and associate producer Kit Eklof say the update introduces larger maps, the return...
Jacksepticeye Apologizes For Criticizing Life Is Strange 2’s Political Message: ‘I’ve Learned A Great Deal In The Last 8 Years’
Jacksepticeye, the popular YouTuber, apologized in February 2026 for his 2019 criticism of the political themes in Don’t Nod’s episodic game Life Is Strange 2. In his original Let’s Play, he claimed the narrative pushed a specific agenda and lacked depth, prompting backlash from...
Xbox RPG Avowed Snubs PS5 Pro Support
Xbox‑published RPG Avowed launched on PS5 and runs solidly, offering three visual modes—Quality (1440p/30 fps), Performance (1080p upscaled/60 fps), and Balanced (40 fps with 120 Hz support). The port mirrors the Xbox Series X experience but provides no PS5 Pro‑specific enhancements such as dedicated PSSR upscaling....
Remote Working Down, Mid-Level Contraction, and Eastern Migration: The Signals We're Seeing in Games Job Data
Sorcery.gg’s hiring data shows a modest 4% global contraction in games‑industry jobs in 2025, driven largely by a 25% drop in U.S. openings. Meanwhile, China posted a 25% increase, overtaking the U.S. as the top source of new roles. Mid‑level...
Former Capcom Developer Has Spent Over $500K On Microtransactions In His Own Gacha Game
Yoshiki Okamoto, the former Capcom producer behind Street Fighter II, disclosed on Japanese television that he has spent over ¥80 million (about $520 000) on microtransactions in his own gacha title, Monster Strike. The mobile RPG, which he launched after founding Game Republic, is...
Phasmophobia Development Preview 21 Outlines Upcoming Changes
Kinetic Games announced that the long‑awaited Player Character Update for Phasmophobia has been delayed to the first quarter of 2026. The patch will replace the game’s stiff early‑access avatars with lifelike models and introduce visual customization options. The studio also...
If You Can't Beat AI, Become One in Hooded Horse Strategy RPG Heart of the Machine, Which Hits 1.0 Release...
Arcen Games and Hooded Horse are set to launch the 1.0 version of Heart of the Machine in March 2026. The sci‑fi strategy RPG lets players assume the role of a super‑advanced AI tasked with reshaping a crumbling civilization, promising...
Minecraft Java Is Switching From OpenGL to Vulkan for the Vibrant Visuals Update
Mojang announced that Minecraft Java Edition will transition its rendering pipeline from OpenGL to Vulkan as part of the upcoming Vibrant Visuals update. The switch aims to unlock modern graphics features, boost frame rates, and extend visual fidelity across Windows,...
Dead by Daylight Horror Film Adaptation in the Works with Blumhouse and Atomic Monster
Blumhouse and Atomic Monster have revived the Dead by Daylight film adaptation, securing a writing team led by Alexandre Aja and David Leslie Johnston‑McGoldrick. James Wan joins Jason Blum as a producer, while the studios hunt for a director. The project aims...
Day One Xbox Game Pass Action-Platformer Replaced Delayed to April
Replaced, Sad Cat Studios' 2.5‑D action‑platformer, has been pushed from its March 12, 2026 launch to April 14, 2026. The title will still debut on day one of Xbox Game Pass across Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC. The delay follows extensive community feedback on a...
Announcing A New 3D Mario Early Would Be “Dangerous” For Nintendo
Nintendo has not released a new 3D Super Mario game in over 3,000 days, the longest gap since Super Mario Odyssey. The studio’s 3D Mario team is currently occupied with Donkey Kong Bananza, leaving little progress on a potential Switch 2 Mario title....
These 4 Major PS5, PS4 Games Will Be Delisted in February and March
Sony will remove four high‑profile titles from the PlayStation Store between February and March, with Genshin Impact slated for delisting on February 25 and its online services ending April 8. The Finals, WBSC eBaseball: Power Pros, and WWE 2K24 will have online features...
Eternal Darkness Director Would Like to Work With Nintendo on Remaster or Remake
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, a 2002 GameCube horror classic, remains unreleased on modern platforms. Director Denis Dyack expressed interest in collaborating with Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto on a remaster or remake, noting the game’s cultural impact. Nintendo, however, has already turned...
How to Fix Iron Will Quest Not Working in NORSE Oath of Blood
The cooperative RPG *NORSE Oath of Blood* suffers a critical bug in the second phase of the Iron Will quest, where enemy units turn friendly and block mission completion. Players cannot advance without a workaround, prompting community‑driven fixes while awaiting...
![[Industry News] PQube Appoints Games Industry Veteran Dominic Wheatley as Chairman](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://mcvuk.com/wp-content/uploads/Dominic-Wheatley-PQube-1.jpg)
[Industry News] PQube Appoints Games Industry Veteran Dominic Wheatley as Chairman
PQube, a leading UK games publisher, has appointed industry veteran Dominic Wheatley as Chairman. Wheatley co‑founded Eidos and launched iconic franchises such as Tomb Raider and Championship Manager. He previously steered the growth of Catalis, Kuju, Curve Games, Testronic and Blaze...
Unity Says It Has a New Product That Cooks Up Entire Games Using AI
Unity announced a new AI-powered tool that can generate entire casual games from natural‑language prompts, aiming to eliminate traditional coding. The company will showcase a beta version at the Game Developers Conference in March. Unity frames the technology as a...
Everyone Has Echo Fighters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Thanks to the Efforts of Modders
After the DLC era, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s roster reached 86 fighters, including seven official Echo Fighters that share movesets with other characters. A group of modders has now produced Echo Fighter variants for every one of the 79 standard...
Where to Find the Municipal Muses Museum in The Sims 4
The Municipal Muses Museum is a community lot situated in Willow Creek’s Crawdad Quarter, near the southwest corner of The Sims 4 map. It appears in the Lost Legacies event, where players must visit the museum to interact with the Royal...
You Can Now Play Avowed as Small Person With Big Magic Stick
Obsidian’s Avowed anniversary update introduces three new playable races—dwarves, orlans, and aumaua—expanding the game’s character diversity. It also adds a quarterstaff weapon designed for mage builds, featuring bludgeoning damage and wand‑style stun finishers. The update brings stat bonuses tailored to...
All Weapon and Survival Skills in HumanitZ
The Destructoid guide catalogues every weapon and survival skill in HumanitZ, breaking them into melee, firearms, bows, explosives, and four survivor categories. Each entry lists the required player level, skill‑point (SP) cost, and the precise in‑game effect such as damage...
"Step Into the Shoes of NPC Man" With This Fallout New Vegas Mod that Lets You Get Faction Cronies to...
SkullzyRS’s new U_DO_IT – Faction Quest Assigner mod lets Fallout: New Vegas players delegate fetch‑type missions to NPCs from eight Mojave factions. A command device in the inventory launches off‑screen tasks ranging from scavenging to sabotage, with four difficulty tiers...
![[Industry News] Cat Lovers Rejoice – CatLands Demo Out Now](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://mcvuk.com/wp-content/uploads/CatLands_CapsuleMain_1920_wName.png)
[Industry News] Cat Lovers Rejoice – CatLands Demo Out Now
Indie developer releases the CatLands demo, a cozy landscape puzzle game that blends block‑matching challenges with village‑building mechanics and collectible cats. The demo features infinite puzzle levels, a relaxed aesthetic, and the ability to grow a small village, while promising...