Game Releases

4A Games says Metro 2039, due in winter 2026, has been fundamentally reshaped by Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with the studio developing under wartime conditions and reorienting the story toward the consequences of conflict, tyranny, silence, and freedom. Set in 2039 after Metro Exodus, the game returns to Moscow’s tunnels under the Novoreich and a new Führer, Spartan Ranger Hunter, while players follow a new protagonist, “The Stranger,” amid propaganda and fear.

Forza Horizon 6 has surpassed 500,000 pre-sales on Steam roughly a month before launch, translating to an estimated $30 million in gross revenue when factoring in different editions and regional pricing, according to Alinea Analytics. The figures point to exceptional momentum, potentially exceeding 2 million Steam sales in the first 24 hours, while additional demand from the Microsoft Store and Xbox Game Pass is not included.

With Vampire Crawlers and Kiln, Xbox Game Pass is getting two day-one releases next week. One looks like a promising roguelite spin-off from the makers of Vampire Survivors, while the other leans into a delightfully offbeat multiplayer concept built around pottery and brawling.

Nubby's Number Factory is now available on iOS and Android with no ads and no microtransactions, bringing the full Steam version to mobile for the first time.

The upcoming Forza Horizon 6 release features new Limited Edition Xbox accessories including a wireless controller and a rare branded headset. Leaked info confirm a May 19, 2026 launch date alongside a $10 price increase for Microsoft's latest premium hardware. This exclusive hardware collection showcases a Japan-inspired aesthetic for the flagship racing franchise.

Presented in stunning hand-drawn animation, Machinarium takes you on a potentially nostalgia-inducing trip to the early days of gaming.

Disco Elysium, the acclaimed isometric detective RPG known for its story-driven design and dialogue- and skill-check-based “combat,” is currently discounted 75% on Steam to $9.99, backed by strong critical and user scores.

Take-Two Interactive shares rose 2.5% after hacker group ShinyHunters released Rockstar’s stolen financial data without delivering any meaningful Grand Theft Auto VI leaks or source code. The disclosure showed strong recurring revenue, particularly from GTA Online, while Rockstar said the breach was limited and non-material, easing investor concerns and adding roughly $1 billion to Take-Two’s valuation.

Metro author Dmitry Glukhovsky has teased that Metro 2039, the next mainline entry from 4A Games and Deep Silver, will be “darker than anything you’ve seen before,” with a full reveal scheduled for April 16, 2026. The article notes the studio’s relocation to Malta amid the Ukraine war and emphasizes Glukhovsky’s close involvement in the writing to reinforce the series’ anti-war themes, as fans await details on its tone and whether Artyom returns.

Amid an ongoing lawsuit between Unknown Worlds and Krafton, Subnautica 2’s store pages on Steam, Epic Games Store, and Xbox now list Unknown Worlds as both developer and publisher, with SteamDB showing the change was made on April 7, 2026. Neither company has commented, leaving it unclear whether this reflects an official publishing shift or a strategic move to distance the sequel from Krafton as Early Access reportedly approaches in May.

Roblox has officially released its native PlayStation 5 app, offering 30% faster load times and enhanced DualSense support. While the update provides a smoother, high-end console experience, the launch arrives alongside heavy criticism on social media regarding child safety and grooming concerns.

Hoyoverse says Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.2 “So Laughed the Masses” will go live on April 22, bringing anniversary rewards, new characters Silver Wolf LV.999 and Evanescia, and the debut of the Elation Trailblazer.

City Masterplan, an upcoming Unreal Engine 5 city-builder from indie developer 1:1 Studio, is positioning itself as a next-gen rival to Cities: Skylines with a massive 24×24 km map, freeform roads, true-to-scale skyscrapers, and advanced procedural growth. While early footage looks impressive and Cities: Skylines II continues to recover from its troubled launch, City Masterplan’s sweeping realism claims remain unproven in gameplay and the project is still targeting an estimated 2027 release.

Leaks surrounding Hideo Kojima’s PlayStation-exclusive action-espionage project Physint point to a major antagonist described in casting materials as a “quiet and intense” killer type with a mandatory German accent, likened to “Mads Mikkelsen in Hannibal, but with flair.” The report also notes Kojima Productions’ near-term focus on casting and performance-capture planning, with early shoots rumored for June and additional talent names circulating despite the game remaining in the concept stage.

Borderlands Mobile has launched out of nowhere, without any prior marketing campaign – but for now only as part of a soft launch for iOS users in the US. The game itself appears promising, yet fans remain concerned about aggressive monetization and frustrated by its limited availability.

Blizzard’s Director’s Take says Overwatch Season 2 will add baseline upgrades for Mercy, Reaper, and Pharah, revive post-match accolades, and give map-vote majorities more control.

S-Game CEO and Phantom Blade Zero director Liang says the studio has used zero generative AI, insisting every asset from character models and performances to maps and environments was created by human artists. Ahead of the game’s September 9, 2026, launch, he details an intensely hands-on production process involving actor scans, traditional brush-and-rice-paper art, forged weapon replicas, martial-arts motion capture, and on-location scans across China to realize its “Kungfupunk” aesthetic.

The pirate survival game Windrose is set to launch in Early Access on April 14. After the strong response to the demo and more than 1.5 million wishlists on Steam, Windrose Crew can likely expect a successful start.

Pearl Abyss has enabled Intel Arc GPU support for Crimson Desert following significant community backlash and public comments from Intel, with the game now launching properly on Arc cards after installing Intel’s Game On driver 32.0.101.8629. Early reports indicate the fix comes with notable visual artifacts and instability, while Intel XeSS remains unavailable.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance has received the Sega Villains Stage DLC on PS5 and PS4, plus a free update that adds Hardcore Mode and new combat settings.

Mojang’s Minecraft “Tiny Takeover” update, released March 24, refreshes baby mobs with fluffier designs and new vocalizations recorded from “real animal voice actors,” including a specialist “cow whisperer” brought in to capture authentic mooing. The patch also adds golden dandelions to prevent baby mobs from growing up, simplifies name tag crafting, and expands music-building options with copper-based note blocks that produce trumpet tones that vary with oxidation.

A gamer who bought an Xbox 360 development kit for £5 at an Edinburgh car boot sale discovered a legitimate 118GB November 2007 beta build of *Grand Theft Auto IV*, later shared online and now being examined by the GTA community. Early findings point to substantial cut content, including a ferry system removed due to AI and physics issues, altered radio assets, and evidence of a scrapped “Z: Resurrection” zombie mode that Rockstar’s former technical director Obbe Vermeij described as an internal test.

Microsoft has locked in June 7 for Xbox Games Showcase 2026, with a dedicated Gears of War: E-Day Direct scheduled immediately after the main presentation.

Fans awaiting Grand Theft Auto VI have begun scrutinizing Rockstar Games’ UK financial filings, with online analyses suggesting Rockstar North alone may have spent more than £2.1 billion (over $2.7 billion) since 2019, fueling speculation that the project could ultimately exceed $3 billion. The estimates, drawn largely from wages and expenses and popularized by a YouTuber and a Reddit user, remain unverified and may also reflect ongoing support for other Rockstar titles rather than exclusively for GTA VI development.

Will Wright, creator of The Sims, is continuing to push forward with Proxi, an AI-driven “memory game” that turns players’ personal recollections into a navigable world populated by avatar-like Proxies, despite years of technical uncertainty and investor skepticism. After Gallium Studios’ funding dried up in October 2024 and its 30-person team was laid off, Wright has kept the project alive with an unpaid skeleton crew while still searching for backers in 2026, framing the effort as a high-risk pursuit he’d rather see fail spectacularly than succeed modestly.

Xbox and Owlcat Games have confirmed a Spring 2027 launch window for The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, with a closed beta for Xbox Series X|S set to begin on April 22.

Hades II launches on April 14 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, and Xbox Cloud, with Microsoft confirming day-one Xbox Game Pass support.

Devsisters has launched CookieRun: OvenSmash globally for iOS and Android, while a new CookieRun: Braverse booster set arrives March 27.

Ubisoft has detailed controller support for The Division Resurgence ahead of launch, confirming PS5, Xbox, and Backbone compatibility, along with pre-registration rewards.

Barely released and already a small Steam hit: Scritchy Scratchy is winning players over with a simple but apparently highly addictive idle concept built around scratch-off tickets. In just one week, the game has already racked up more than 16,000 reviews – 94% of them positive. It is currently still available with a 20% launch discount for $5.59.

Crimson Desert launched March 19 to mixed Steam reviews but a generally favorable Metacritic user score, with criticism aimed at clunky controls and an uneven story while its expansive open world earns praise. Pocketpair publishing chief John “Bucky” Buckley said he spent seven hours “goofing around” and skipping the main narrative, calling it his “dream game,” as Pearl Abyss maintains the controls improve once players acclimate.

Intel says Pearl Abyss launched Crimson Desert without support for its Arc “Battlemage” GPUs despite years of outreach offering early drivers, testing, and engineering resources across multiple Intel platforms. Pearl Abyss only disclosed the incompatibility after release—advising Arc users to seek refunds—fueling backlash as the game reportedly runs, at least in limited form, on low-end Nvidia hardware like the GT 1030.

The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin’s March 22 update fixes a sound bug, quest progression issues, shortcut resets, and several boss-related blockers ahead of the game’s grand launch.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach has launched on PC, and Kojima Productions is responding to complaints that the game felt too easy by adding a new top-tier difficulty setting, “To the Wilder,” also available on PS5. Billed by the studio as the “upper limit” of challenge, the mode intensifies Timefall damage and forces stricter resource management, pushing players to plan routes and rely on items that were previously optional.

The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin is dealing with Version 1.0 launch issues, including audio problems, as Netmarble updates its official known-issues notice during Early Play.

The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin is now playable on PS5 and Steam through Early Play, while the full iOS, Android, and Google Play Games release is set for March 23.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick appeared to hint that Grand Theft Auto VI could launch at a “full price” of $70–$80 while arguing that interstitial in-game ads would be unfair at that cost, and he added that GTA VI will not include such advertising. While not an official pricing announcement (and with some analysts still predicting a potential $100 debut), the comments offer the clearest signal yet ahead of the game’s reported November 19, 2026, release.

With an estimated 400K Steam pre-orders before its release date, Crimson Desert hype has peaked. Some buyers may not be so enthusiastic about the game’s Metacritic score. Crimson Desert reviews highlight an immersive open world held back by awkward controls and quality-of-life issues.

Dragonkin: The Banished is the newest ARPG to hit the market. Developed by indie developer Eko Software, it is a mix of tried-and-tested tropes and some fresh mechanics.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has dismissed gamers’ criticism that DLSS 5 homogenizes game visuals and “yassifies” character faces, calling detractors “completely wrong” after backlash to examples cited from titles like Resident Evil Requiem and Hogwarts Legacy. Huang argues DLSS 5 is “neural rendering” that applies generative AI at the geometry level under developer control rather than a post-processing filter, with its real-world visual and performance impact to be tested ahead of a gradual rollout in fall 2026.

Timberborn, a new city-builder, has officially launched on Steam, making waves with its 1.0 launch. Within four days of its launch, the post-apocalyptic colony sim has attracted over 37,000 reviews (95% positive).

Just days before World of Warcraft’s Midnight Season 1 raids go live, indie studio Alvios Games has dropped Vellum: Raid Night Study Hall — a tutorial game for players to prepare.

Xbox says it will mark its 25th anniversary by bringing back select “iconic” retro titles in 2026, developed by its game-preservation team and updated to be playable in “entirely new ways.” While Jason Ronald did not name the games or detail the new features, he pointed to past backward-compatibility upgrades like Auto HDR and FPS Boost as the likely model for modernizing classics without changing their core identity.

Pearl Abyss has published Crimson Desert’s final PC system requirements ahead of its 19 March 2026 launch, outlining performance targets from 1080p to 4K across multiple presets.