Gaming

After a Pokémon GO tournament in Orlando, the community is seething: one player won the final fair and square, but was denied the title because his victory celebration was judged to be unsportsmanlike.

Highlights for Thermalright's first mass-produced mini PC include a vertical chassis to maximize water cooling efficiency, which unlocks the 176 W TDP mode for the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 APU, a 4.6-inch LCD that displays system stats, dual USB4 connectors and 10 GbE plus 2.5 GbE NICs.

Steam has discounted the RollerCoaster Tycoon series by up to 75 percent through April 11. Individual titles have dropped to all-time low prices - as low as $1.19. The complete collection is available for under $15.

The dates for Halo: Campaign Evolved’s Advanced Access phase and full release may have been leaked. The information is based on a cryptic X post by grunt.api, a dataminer known in the Halo community. Some fans interpret the post as pointing to an Advanced Access start on July 23, 2026 and a full release on July 28, 2026. There has been no official confirmation so far.

Sony's latest PlayStation Store sales now has Days Gone with a massive 60% discount that takes its price to an all-time low of $19.99. The version on sale is the Remastered one that released for the PlayStation 5 less than a year ago.

Pokémon Champions has been received better than many expected: less grind, fair monetization and a more accessible entry into competitive play are earning praise. At the same time, an annoying Pokémon Home bug and the 30 FPS cap are dampening the overall mood.

The TCL G64 QD-Mini LED TV is now on sale at Walmart for less than $150. The monitor is meant primarily for eSports and competitive play with a 300 Hz refresh rate, FHD resolution, a 1 ms response time, and AMD FreeSync/Nvidia G-Sync.

The latest Humble Bundle — Sovereign Sandbox — is here with eight well-rated sandbox games, all of which are rated as Steam Deck Playable or Verified. This bundle will expire on May 10, 2026, while the Steam keys will expire on April 29, 2027.

Southern Cross Interactive released the 1.0 version of Lay of the Land on April 8, 2026. The $17.99 sandbox RPG features a "Mostly Positive" rating aggregate and focuses on tactile, simulated environment interaction.

Ubisoft has released a new update for Assassin's Creed Shadows that brings a new way to play on the Nintendo Switch 2. The update also unlocks a weapon that was previously exclusive to the Claws of Awwaji DLC.

Devsisters’ latest CookieRun: Kingdom event adds Rumi, Mira, and Zoey from KPop Demon Hunters alongside a new Dark Cacao Kingdom story, limited-time battle modes, and themed Kingdom decor.

Console owners may not have to wait long for multiplayer to come to Rockstar Games' next title. The latest leak points to a December arrival for GTA 6 Online. GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 both saw the additional mode appear shortly after their release dates.

No Man's Sky is an exploration game set in a galaxy. As a player, you must uncover the secret hidden at its center, but to do so, you'll need to explore numerous planets and gather resources while avoiding various dangers.

Ahead of the release of 007 First Light on PS5, PlayStation has announced a limited edition DualSense controller based on the game. It will be available for pre-order in multiple regions and will be released on the same day as the video game.

Sony’s next major gaming event could unfold sooner than anticipated. A reliable leaker has heard that April 16th is a likely date for a PlayStation State of Play. Despite several major PS5 exclusives in development, third-party titles may take center stage instead.

MetaMech is a relatively unknown laptop manufacturer outside of China. While we await the Legion 7a 15ASH11 with AMD Strix Halo, MetaMech has released the MetaMech 16 2026 with the Ryzen AI Max+ 395, up to 96 GB VRAM, a 99 Wh battery and even OCuLink connectivity.

A supplier of critical console components expects a dramatic increase in revenue. Chicony Electronics may be prepping for a surge in PSU manufacturing to support Project Helix. Amid the ongoing memory shortage, skeptics have questioned whether a new Xbox console release date in 2027 is realistic.

Morbid Metal is a new 3D hack-n-slash game from Screen Juice that combines the fast-paced, heavy-hitting combat from the likes of Warframe with traditional roguelite mechanics and challenging boss fights from games like Elden Ring. It has officially launched in Early Access, and it supports the Steam Deck on day one with very lightweight system requirements.

The Honor Win's sequel could keep the massive battery and fast charging of the original. Honor is also rumored to be adding a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 processor along with a slightly bigger screen.

Sony is apparently testing a new user interface for the PlayStation 5, with early users reporting a revised home screen that offers faster access to the Store, PS Plus and the games library – in some cases even outside the beta program.

Evitania Online combines idle automation with MMO elements and is off to a remarkably strong Early Access start: just one day after release, the free-to-play game already has more than 140 reviews on Steam, 96% of them positive.

Ayaneo has raised the price of its cheapest Android handheld, the Pocket Air Mini. The new prices will take effect on April 9, but is currently limited to China.

Gamers are already suffering from high memory prices driven by the AI boom and may even have to brace for further restrictions in the future. The strategy game Stormgate is losing its online features because its server host was acquired by an AI company. It is entirely possible that scenarios like this could become more common in the future.

8BitDo has updated its 8BitDo 64 range with a new set of accessories. Designed to give its black and white versions a pop of colour, the Classic Button Set is relatively inexpensive too.

In late March 2026, there were reports about OnePlus working on a gaming handheld that would go against the likes of AYN Odin 3 and Retroid Pocket 6. A sketchy leak has now given a glimpse of what the device may look like from the back.

Sony has launched The Playerbase, a new community program that will select one fan to have their face scanned and appear as a limited-time character portrait in Gran Turismo 7, with additional PlayStation Studios titles reportedly under consideration. Eligible PSN users across multiple regions can apply by sharing their PlayStation experiences, after which finalists will be interviewed and the winner flown to Los Angeles for 3D scanning ahead of a planned summer 2026 announcement and a later in-game update.

Another PS5 Pro enhanced game has arrived on Sony’s pricey but increasingly potent console. Digital Foundry analyzed the new ray-traced focused Cyberpunk 2077 update. The performance review praised the lighting and influence of PSSR, but the upgrades excluded some reflections.

The Asus ROG Xbox Ally has a lot going for it, especially its comfortable design, but the overall experience is marred by its weak processor. Now that it is on sale, its lower price makes it more appealing and worth considering.

Frostpunk is a city builder taking place on a frozen Earth, where you must build the last city. Establish laws and develop technologies to maintain the confidence of your people. And don’t forget to explore this hostile world to better understand its history.

RPCS3 developers release a simplified set of 2026 system requirements, broken into "Minimum", "Recommended", "Optimal", and "Max Performance" tiers. All told, these requirements look pretty reasonable, as they should following years of optimization efforts.

Veteran artist Mark Linington says Nvidia’s DLSS 5 demos have pushed AI-assisted rendering beyond simple enhancement and into reinterpretation territory, creating new concerns about creative control, authorship, and whether the final image still belongs to the artists who built it.

Nintendo is again facing the prospect of an anticipated game leaking early. There are reports of a bootable Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream Switch ROM already in the wild. A retailer displaying physical copies may be the source of the Switch emulator compatible file.

A particularly powerful desktop system is now available with a pre-order discount. It is intended not only for accelerating AI models but also for gaming and productivity applications. It also includes significantly faster networking.

Sony is hunting for a server-side engineer to revamp the PlayStation Network. The job listing mentions voice chat across multiple platforms, likely for live-service PS5 PC games. Rumors had suggested that the company planned to keep more titles confined to the PlayStation Store and consoles.

Take-Two Interactive, publisher of Grand Theft Auto VI, has reportedly shut down its AI team and terminated its head of AI, Luke Dicken, along with other AI staff, according to multiple LinkedIn posts from affected employees. The move appears to reflect a shift in upper management priorities and contrasts with CEO Strauss Zelnick’s recent investor comments, which touted “hundreds” of AI initiatives while emphasizing that GTA 6 uses no generative AI.

LG has now released a new gaming monitor with 2,304 Mini LED backlight zones. Also featuring Dual Mode technology with support for 165 Hz and 330 Hz refresh rates, the LG UltraGear Evo 27GM950B delivers up to 750 nits SDR and 1,250 nits HDR peak brightness.

Samson, an open-world action game reminiscent of genre heavyweights such as GTA and Sleeping Dogs, launches on Steam on April 8. Despite the clearly recognizable parallels, developer Liquid Swords wants to give the title its own identity.

YAR: Forgotten Throne, an open-world RPG with strong Slavic influences, has climbed into the top ranks of SteamDB. The indie title from Honor Games launched on April 3, 2026 and appears to be going down well with the community: 93% of Steam reviews are positive.

LG has finally released its latest 39-inch OLED gaming monitor. Available in the US before other markets, the UltraGear OLED 39GX950B combines a 5K2K resolution with a 165 Hz refresh rate and 335 nits full panel brightness.

Nvidia’s own promotional video for DLSS 5 was blocked on YouTube because of a third-party copyright claim. Although the clip is now back online, the case is still causing frustration in the community – and raises questions about the reliability of YouTube’s copyright system.

Microsoft has announced the next lineup of games that Xbox Game Pass members will be able to download and play this month. The lineup includes Hades II, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and more.

Although it takes a different path than its predecessor, Frostpunk 2 remains a very good city-building game. Anyone who has not yet had the chance to see that for themselves can now pick up the title on Steam with a 50% discount for the first time.

Pokémon Champions is about to launch, and experienced players have already prepared their teams in Pokémon Home. However, anyone who is not bringing their own Pokémon and does not want to spend money on the game may have to brace for a rather slow start.

The RedMagic 11 Pro series has been delisted from the 3DMark benchmark because the gaming phone line was caught "cheating" to achieve high scores. As it turns out, the phones can actually score high, but by ignoring safe thermal limits.

According to leaks, one version of the WIN laptop is expected to feature an Intel Core i7-14650HX processor paired with an RTX 5060 GPU, along with 16GB DDR5 RAM and up to 1TB SSD storage. Another higher-end variant could include an Ultra 9 290HX processor combined with an RTX 5070 GPU.

At launch, AYN marketed the Odin 3 as a Snapdragon 8 Elite gaming handheld, but it turns out that the device isn't actually powered by that SoC. Instead, it packs a modified version, without the camera processing and 5G modem, and the chip is called Dragonwing Q8.

Programming a save and load system is often a fundamental part of game development. Yet, a gossip site claimed that issues with the feature would postpone the GTA 6 release date. A reporter who has covered Rockstar Games extensively refuted the rumor, but fears over a delay persist.

Not every Counter-Strike update is good, and not every video essay is worthy of an essay—but Counter-Strike 2's new animgraph overhaul ported and overhauled from Half-Life: Alyx may be worth revisiting the game.