Gaming

Shortly after taking on her new role as head of Microsoft’s Xbox gaming division, Asha Sharma revealed what was described as her Xbox gamertag. The account quickly came under scrutiny, with many fans questioning its authenticity.

Former Xbox President, Sarah Bond, may have championed the criticized This Is an Xbox initiative. In a report from The Verge, co-workers shared concerns about the devaluing of Xbox consoles. New Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma hinted that the company realizes the importance of first-party hardware.

Path of Exile co-creator Chris Wilson has defended Blizzard’s $25 Reign of the Warlock DLC for Diablo II: Resurrected, arguing that paywalling certain quality-of-life updates reflects an effort to preserve the original game as a “museum-piece baseline,” rather than a push for extra revenue.

Managing multiple subscriptions can be a burden for devoted gamers. A new rumor suggests that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate may cover the cost of World of Warcraft, Minecraft Realms, and Fallout 1st. The service has faced criticism over price increases and the lack of enticing day-one Xbox games.

There have been speculations about the price for GTA 6, seeing as how massive and content heavy it will be. The latest one comes from a popular digital storefront and it shows pricing for both console and PC versions of the game.

Amazon is giving away a total of 10 free games throughout February 2026 via Luna, and among them, four became available before mid-February. Now, the penultimate free game batch for the month has been unlocked, and it brings three freebies.

Now built on LibreELEC 12.2, Lakka 6.1 is a new release of this retro console emulator for single-board computers. Back in April 2024, version 5.0 came out, and since then, the team has been working on revamping the core ecosystem and introducing several new features.

Diablo II: Resurrected – Infernal Edition came to Steam on Feb 11, 2026, securing a "Very Positive" 90% rating with over 2,100 reviews. The 1.0 release introduces the Warlock class and has recently surpassed Diablo IV in concurrent player counts.

Microsoft will likely depend on Call of Duty games to encourage future hardware purchases. A leaker reports Activision intended to ship Modern Warfare 4 with the next Xbox console. With its release date delayed to 2027, the publisher may support the system with two titles, including a zombies title.

Wordless is a 2D platformer with battles that will put your skills to the test and fast-paced platforming sequences. Face your enemies and upgrade your character to become more powerful and achieve your goal.

While The Pokémon Company launches a barrage of marketing, another franchise is not receiving the same attention. The Zelda 40th anniversary looks set to pass without major news. Former Nintendo marketers explain how the company waits for new game releases to celebrate its IPs.

Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse launched Feb 19, 2026, on Steam and Switch. The 360-degree maritime mystery features an addictive diving loop and non-linear timelines, and it currently holds a "Very Positive" 95% rating.

Courtesy of an ongoing sale on Lenovo's online store, the well-equipped Legion 5i 15 gaming laptop with a 20-core Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX CPU and RTX 5070 Laptop GPU can now be bought with an attractive $705 discount. The QHD gamer sports great performance paired with a beautiful OLED display.

Evercade has announced the Evercade Wireless Controller for its VS, VS‑R, and Alpha systems, with a confirmed release date of 28 September 2026 and pre-orders already available at select retailers.

The Steam Deck is now out of stock across much of Europe, Canada, and Japan, as memory and storage shortages linked to the AI data center boom disrupt supply. Valve confirms the issue, with restocking timelines still unclear in several regions.

The debut of the ReXGlue SDK for Xbox 360-to-PC recompilations has spurred the launch of four wildly different recompilation projects, though three of them are tied to deceased mangaka Akira Toriyama of Dragon Ball fame. ReXGlue SDK also lays the groundwork for many more recomps to come.

The Resident Evil 2 director recommends a harsh sentence for anyone responsible for spoilers. Hideki Kamiya echoed Capcom’s position, warning fans against posting Resident Evil Requiem leaks. Risking copyright infringement, gamers continue to share footage before its release date.

The Surge 2, an RPG with soulslike mechanics, immerses you in a world ruled by armed soldiers and robots. Its punitive gameplay requires you to choose the right strategy to defeat your enemies with many weapons and gadgets.

Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo report that Nioh 3 has sold over 1 million copies in its first two weeks, making it the fastest-selling entry in the series and pushing the franchise past 10 million lifetime sales.

Former Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer first considered leaving the company later in 2025. Still, he may have intended to delay retirement until after the next Xbox console shipped. A leaker who predicted the move blames the sudden shakeup on dwindling hardware and software sales.

The Warfare Legacy Collection brings back the classic Flash-based World War strategy games Warfare 1917 and Warfare 1944 in remastered form, adding a new Battle of the Bulge campaign. Instead of the traditional isometric perspective, it adopts a distinctive side-scrolling view. The collection holds a 93% positive rating on Steam and is now 25% off for the first time, bringing the price down to around $7.50.

Phil Spencer is stepping down as CEO of Microsoft Gaming, while Xbox President Sarah Bond is also leaving the company. Asha Sharma, formerly head of Microsoft’s CoreAI division, will assume leadership. Her appointment has sparked concern within the community, with many fearing a stronger push toward generative AI.

In an interview with Variety, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot outlined several projects currently in development. Insider sources have since provided additional details about the titles he referenced.

Indiegala is offering two new free games on its freebies section. One of them is Neon Phonk Robots, which has neon-soaked visuals that channel a Cyberpunk-inspired aesthetic. The second one is RoboBall, a physics-based puzzle game.

Following initial excitement regarding a potential franchise revival, original Saints Row design director Chris Stockman has confirmed that his 1970s-set prequel pitch has been "ghosted" by IP owner Embracer Group. This effectively stalls any immediate future for the series.

Nintendo and Illumination’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie already features a large ensemble of popular personalities. Nevertheless, a British cinema mentions an unconfirmed antagonist on its website. The character could help Bowser Jr. stop Mario and Luigi from foiling a plot to rescue his father.

In addition to the manufacturer's website, the TrimUI Smart Pro S can also be purchased on Amazon. It is available in all six colors and at the MSRP along with the option of a microSD card.

The next Pokémon Day looks jam-packed with new and announced creature-catching titles. Still, the rumored Pokémon Gen 10 could steal the show, with an open-world island-hopping adventure. Fans have anticipated a reveal for the Switch 2 game since the Teraleak data breach.

The Gigabyte MO27Q28GR is a new 280Hz Tandem OLED monitor, now with a glossy panel for improved clarity and colors. Available now for $599.99, it arrives as a budget alternative to similar models already on the market.

Humble Bundle has refreshed the game bundles section, and a new package has been added: Focus Entertainment Bundle 2026. It delivers six well-rated Steam Deck-playable games for $25, and some of them are multi-award winners.

Retailers have indicated that Asus will be bringing its first Strix Halo-powered 14-inch gaming laptop to the US soon. Thanks to AMD's Radeon 8060S iGPU, the gaming laptop does without a dGPU altogether. Retailers have confirmed that the FA401EA version of the TUF Gaming A14 will not be available in the US with the option of setting 48 GB VRAM like in other countries.

Synthetik: Legion Rising is a top-down shooter with roguelike mechanics in which you face enemies and bosses in different ways. And if you want a bigger challenge, several difficulty levels are available, but you will have to give the best of yourself.

With QD-OLED technology, the 65-inch Samsung S90F delivers extremely bright and accurate colors. An improved processor minimizes stuttering in frantic movies and games while modernizing older content. Reduced in a new Amazon sale, only the lack of Dolby Vision limits this OLED TV.

Shutaro Ida was a veteran and titan in the metroidvania genre, whose passing was mourned by friends, family, coworkers, and gamers across the globe.

Paragnosia is an atmospheric horror game that immerses players in an apartment filled with unsettling anomalies. The title is currently free to claim on Steam until February 23.

Moore’s Law is Dead has acquired new information about Nvidia’s upcoming flagship graphics card. The RTX 5090 Ti/ Blackwell Titan is only marginally faster than the RTX 5090, but it conumes remarkably more power.

Another wave of new free games has been spotted on Steam. These new additions were mostly released on the platform in February 2026, and among them, there are a good number of titles with decent player ratings.

In a massive blind test conducted by a popular publication, it was found that gamers prefer Nvidia's DLSS 4.5 over AMD's FSR 4 and native rendering. In fact, nearly half of the respondents picked DLSS 4.5, while less than 15% chose FSR.

In a social media post, the ex-Firaxis developer announced the studio's closure and shared a glimpse of the game they were working on.

Labeled as “significant restructuring,” the layoffs reverberated across the entire studio, affecting several co-founders.

Sony has closed Bluepoint Games, the maker of critically acclaimed Demon's Souls remake. Sony cites difficult market conditions and rising costs as the reason for the studio's closure. However, PlayStation fans have not received the news well, and outrage is pouring all across social media.

Nintendo is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the first Pokémon games by releasing two of the most popular Pokémon classics for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch II. The games are available for pre-order now, and unlike many retro games on the Nintendo Switch, these titles do not require a subscription.

The XMG Apex 17 is primarily an extremely fast RTX 5060 gaming laptop—but after calibration, its QHD display reveals surprisingly strong qualities for content creators. With full DCI-P3 coverage and very low DeltaE values, the panel achieves excellent color accuracy. This means the powerful 17-inch laptop could be appealing not only for gamers, but also for photo and video editing.

Humble is back with another solid bundle called the Time Capsule. It includes nine Steam Deck-friendly games worth $154, but you can score them for just $15.

After the downfall of Bluepoint Games, a Bloodborne remake or remaster seems even further away. Sony has also cited unofficial projects, like Bloodborne: Top Down, for trademark infringement. PS4 emulators may be the only way to optimize the FromSoftware title on modern hardware.

The 45-inch LG UltraGear 5K2K gaming monitor is now 35% off on Amazon, dropping its price by around $700. With an extremely color accurate OLED panel, WUHD resolution, and 800R curvature, the UltraGear monitor is a treat for immersive gaming.

Nintendo has released a free Mario app for mobile devices as well as the Switch and Switch 2 handhelds. The internet-free app allows kids and their guardians interact with Mario in several fun ways.

Under the Island launched on Feb 17, 2026, with 90% positive reviews out of the few initial pieces of feedback. The $19.99 Zelda-like adventure is available with a 15% discount and full Steam Deck verification for its non-linear, puzzle-heavy 2D world.