Gaming

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.

The Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition Switch 2 upgrade is leaving many players underwhelmed. Pop-in and blurriness are common, with poor upscaling likely impacting performance. Even so, the smoother 60fps graphics may be worth the cost of the update.

Intel managed to improve the graphics performance with their new Panther Lake chips, even at lower power limits. This means the new processors are the perfect choice for gaming handhelds, which will benefit massively from increased gaming performance.

Bluepoint Games, maker of the critically-acclaimed Demon’s Souls port for the PlayStation 5, will be shut down in March. The move comes after Sony’s internal business review and will result in a loss of 70 jobs.

Humble Bundle's latest package — Beamdog and Owlcat: RPG Masters — is here with a total of 12 items. As the name suggests, it is full of RPG games from Beamdog and Owlcat Games.

The Last Campfire, an adventure game with a deeply thought-provoking narrative, is now on sale on Steam at its record-low price. Retailing for only $1.49, the game can be finished in two sittings and can be run on modest hardware.

Microsoft has added four new games to Xbox Game Pass’ free play weekend. The most notable title of them is Battlefield 6, which can also be bought for a discounted price.

Bethesda has multiple big projects in the works and studio head Todd Howard spoke about content coming to Starfield. He also mentioned that majority of the team is working on The Elder Scrolls 6.

The Epic Games Store is now offering a new free game for mobile players. Available for a short time, this penultimate giveaway of February 26 can be redeemed on Android and iOS. This week's freebie centres on Residual, which combines science fiction with nostalgic graphics plus crafting and survival mechanics.

The free games section has been refreshed on Epic Games Store, and the storefront has made the penultimate February 2026 freebies live. Alongside this, the last PC giveaway plans have also been revealed, and things are looking good.

Even after a promising launch, Valve shouldn’t feel threatened by ROG Xbox Ally sales. A Circana analyst revealed that the Steam Deck still enjoys strong support. The memory shortage could affect both the Linux and Windows handheld gaming PCs, with price increases possible.

Achilles: Legends Untold is an action RPG in the vein of Diablo, but its combat emphasizes skill-based mechanics reminiscent of Dark Souls. Instead of battling demons, players enter a world shaped by Greek mythology. On Steam, the game is now 80% off for the first time, bringing the price down to under $5.

The demo for the pirate-themed survival game Windrose has quickly gained strong traction on Steam. Shortly after launch, it reached more than 6,000 concurrent players and earned a 94% positive rating from over 400 reviews. The demo reportedly offers up to six hours of gameplay.

Wayblazer Dämmerung launched on Steam Feb 18, 2026, and it's a milestone since this is Eushully's first official Western release in 25 years. The crafting-focused JRPG holds a 90% positive rating based off the few initial reviews, alongside a $31.99 launch price.

The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 16 Gen 10 gaming laptop with the AMD Ryzen 7 8745HX CPU, an RTX 5060 laptop GPU, 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD is now down by more than $500 vs list price at Best Buy US. The resulting price makes the Legion Pro 5 16 a good value.

The Q27G4ZD is a new OLED gaming monitor that sits within AOC's Gaming series. Released globally, the AOC Gaming Q27G4ZD combines a 280 Hz refresh rate with Nvidia G-Sync compatibility and a four-port USB hub for a relatively affordable price tag in both the UK and the US.

The Epic Games Store has launched new free game giveaways. Exclusive to PC gamers, this week's freebies include numerous in-game items for one title and indefinite access to another. Epic Games Store will be giving away Return to Ash and Stalcraft: X Starter Edition until February 26.

High-performance gaming laptops are often loud—but the XMG Apex 17 proves that quiet gaming doesn’t have to mean slow gaming. In our testing, switching from Performance mode to Entertainment mode reduces fan noise by up to 60%, while gaming performance drops by only 10 to 12 percent. Here’s how much speed you really lose—and whether quiet mode is the better choice for everyday gaming.

The Gaminja ANS13 is a Game Boy-style budget handheld with a 720 × 720 IPS square screen, Linux-based open-source software, and more than 15,000 built-in games, all for under $40 on AliExpress. The gadget is designed for gamers seeking a budget retro experience in a compact and portable form factor.

After a new datamine, a Switch 2 version of Monster Hunter Wilds may be inevitable. An embedded image demonstrates a local multiplayer mode for the Nintendo handheld. Capcom removed other code that predicted how the Switch 2 game might perform on the console.

Classic Pokémon games, including FireRed, LeafGreen, Ruby, and Sapphire, are getting a new companion app called PKsinew. The software makes it easy to transfer Pokémon from one game to another, and it can also unlock events that wouldn't be accessible otherwise.

A new Sony patent wants to streamline the development process for PS5 games. By working on a cloud server, developers could test and publish projects without dev kits. One feature of the platform involves generative AI tools to speed up the creation of assets.

Kynseed is a 2D adventure game that allows you to travel through an open world and build your farm while incorporating RPG mechanics. You will have to fight battles, craft items, and make important choices during your adventure.

GameMT has pivoted to a new handheld after releasing the E3 Vigor in December. Seemingly a reworked GameMT EX5, the new handheld retains the EX5's odd control layout that omits a second joystick in favour of a performance dial. Somehow, the Pocket Super Knob 5000 is a real name too.

CD Projekt Red have announced a 5th Anniversary Collector's Set for Cyberpunk 2077 that gives fans a chance to own one of the core elements in the game. The set can be purchased with or without the game.

Dell has added two new budget gaming monitors with extremely affordable pricing. Featuring 27-inch Fast IPS panels with 240 Hz refresh rate, the monitors appear to be quite well-specced on paper despite being affordably priced.

Abxylute has launched the N6 deck-style controller alongside the N9C in the global market. Both models share very similar features, including built-in gyro motion control, vibration feedback, drift-free Hall Effect joysticks, turbo functionality, custom button mapping, and a dedicated C button for system features.

Following a high-profile armed robbery, a New York City Pokémon store has a new name. The Poké Court is now called The Trainer Court to avoid potential trademark infringement. Nintendo requested the rebranding, but its response to the shop’s misfortune is being criticized as lacking empathy.

Sony currently plans to offset rising RAM and component costs for the PS5 by increasing revenue from its existing player base. This could lead to higher game prices and a possible PS Plus price hike.

Stone Story RPG stands out thanks to its distinctive blend of idle gameplay and animated ASCII visuals. The game is currently on sale on Steam until February 24 for just under $15 – 50% off its regular price.

Euro 3v3, a fast-paced arena shooter that combines classic first-person combat with sandbox elements, launched on Steam on February 17. The game is completely free to play and has received consistently positive reviews so far.

Nvidia has released Linux driver 580.126.18, a recommended update that fixes a kernel module build issue affecting Linux kernel v6.19. Here’s what changed and who should update.

More than 20 years after its final update, Unreal Tournament 2004 has made an unexpected return. With official approval from Epic Games, the community developers at OldUnreal have released a major patch for the classic arena shooter, making the game available for free.

AOC has officially launched a blazing-fast new gaming monitor. Spanning 27-inches with a 2.5K resolution, the new monitor also outputs at 540 Hz or 1,000 Hz as needed. While AOC tends to release its gaming monitors globally, it has only introduced the Agon Pro AGP277QK in China for now.

The Might & Magic Fates – Heroes TCG is a new addition to the series. This free-to-play game from Ubisoft is currently on Steam, but the reviews aren't that great. It currently has a 58% positive rating, and the poor reception is due to the game's monetization model.

Intel Arc B580 and Arc A770 have been tested with XeSS 3 Multi-Frame Generation. Using 4x MFG, the Intel Arc B580 and Arc A770 show strong performance gains, achieving over 200% better FPS in some games. Intel has also reportedly done a good job with managing latency through XeLL.

The XMG Apex 17 is one of the fastest gaming laptops equipped with a GeForce RTX 5060—but that level of performance comes at a price, and that price is now climbing even higher. Manufacturer Schenker has increased the base price to €2,049. This suddenly puts the RTX-5060 laptop into the same pricing territory as some RTX-5070-Ti models. This article explains what’s behind the price increase and whether the Apex 17 is still worth considering.

The powerful Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3 Android gaming tablet has dropped below $350 on Lenovo's official store, thanks to some handy coupon codes. The tablet packs a flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, 12 GB of LPDDR5X memory, 256 GB of storage, and an 8.8-inch 2.5K display.

The NZXT H2 Flow is a new mini-ITX case, and for a limited time, the company is offering a prebuilt gaming mini PC with this chassis. This prebuilt SFF system comes with an Nvidia RTX 5080, paired with a performance-focused AMD or Intel CPU.

Valve’s Steam client beta adds optional PC specs labels to game reviews and an opt-in setting to share anonymized framerate data focused on SteamOS devices, helping add context to performance complaints.