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Grounded 2 is preparing for a major expansion on August 11, 2026, when its free Into the Abyss update launches alongside the game’s first release on PlayStation 5. The update significantly expands Brookhollow Park, with a major focus on the pond and deeper underwater exploration. New diving equipment will allow you to stay underwater for longer, reach previously inaccessible areas, and explore environments that

The Gears of War: E Day multiplayer beta is now live in early access, and the first wave of player reactions shows a clear split over the direction The Coalition is taking with the series. Early access opened for players who preordered the game as well as Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass members. Initial impressions are mixed, although many players appear

Halo co creator Marcus Lehto has shared his thoughts on Halo: Campaign Evolved, giving the remake a largely positive verdict while pointing out several areas he believes could have been handled better. Lehto, who played a major role in the original Halo and later worked on Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo: Reach, has been playing the remake on Heroic difficulty. He said he

Grand Theft Auto VI is still scheduled to launch on November 19, 2026, and Take Two says preorder demand has reached levels the company has never seen before. CEO Strauss Zelnick described the early response as unprecedented, astonishing, and exceptional, while also cautioning that the company does not yet know exactly how those preorder numbers will translate into final sales. The company also used

Several people who worked at Halo Studios have left the developer shortly after the release of Halo: Campaign Evolved, although there is conflicting information about whether the departures should be described as layoffs. An Xbox source has reportedly said that no layoffs took place at Halo Studios and that the changes involved external contractors leaving after the completion of a game. Microsoft has not

Evercade is expanding its collaboration with Xbox through two new physical game collections and a limited DOOM themed version of its upcoming Nexus handheld. The DOOM Collection and the Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie Collection will both launch on October 30, 2026 for $29.99 or £24.99. Each release comes on an Evercade cartridge and can be used across compatible Evercade hardware. Alongside the cartridges,

Xbox Game Pass already has four confirmed games for September 2026, with Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault and SpeedRunners 2: King of Speed joining the previously announced Dune: Awakening and Minecraft Dungeons 2. Moonlighter 2 arrives on September 2 as it leaves Early Access and makes its Xbox Series X and Series S debut. SpeedRunners 2 follows one day later on September 3 across

Xbox Series X and Series S players can now try three notable games for free, with new demos available for Monster Hunter Wilds, Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault, and Endless Legend 2. The demos arrive ahead of major upcoming releases and updates for all three games. Monster Hunter Wilds offers a substantial prologue covering the opening part of the adventure, while Moonlighter 2 and

Beast of Reincarnation is getting its first major multiplatform update shortly after launch, with five specific improvements already confirmed by the development team. The patch is targeted to arrive within a week and will address camera behaviour, text size, story pacing, the default graphics setting, and additional bugs. The team also says more updates are planned beyond this first patch. The update follows an

The Gears of War: E Day multiplayer beta can now be preloaded on Xbox Series X and Series S and through the Xbox PC app, giving eligible players time to install it before the first testing period begins. Early access is available to players who preordered the game or subscribe to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass. The first beta period runs

Xbox has confirmed that its Tokyo Game Show 2026 broadcast will take place on September 17, giving players another major showcase to watch after the company's Gamescom activities in August. The presentation will begin at 7pm JST, which is 5am PT, 8am ET, and 11am BST. Xbox Japan announced the date alongside details for an Xbox FanFest event taking place in Tokyo on the

Xbox has announced dates for six more FanFest events taking place during the second half of 2026 as part of the brand's 25th anniversary celebrations. The events will be held in Cologne, Tokyo, London, Mexico City, Sydney, and Toronto between August and November. A separate Seattle FanFest is also planned, although its date has not yet been confirmed. The 2026 FanFest tour is built

A leaked Xbox roadmap has outlined what may be Microsoft's next steps for backwards compatibility, including a full PC launch later in 2026 and a gradual rollout of Xbox 360 games across 2027 and 2028. The document has not been officially announced by Microsoft, so the timeline should still be treated as unconfirmed. However, it appears to build on the Xbox backwards compatibility program

Five Xbox games are scheduled to lose their online services during August 2026, with shutdowns spread across August 20, August 25, and August 31. The affected games are NBA 2K Playgrounds 2, WWE 2K Battlegrounds, Warface: Clutch, NHL 22, and NHL 23. Once their respective shutdown dates arrive, online functionality will no longer be available. The two NHL games are the latest additions to

Xbox has released a new set of cosmetic features to celebrate the brand's 25th anniversary, including a dynamic background for Xbox Series X and Series S, three new gamerpics, and a profile badge. The anniversary content is already available, with the new dynamic background drawing inspiration from the Xbox 360 Blades dashboard and featuring four major Xbox franchises: Halo, Gears of War, Forza, and

Mortal Shell 2 is making a strong early impression on Xbox Series X and Series S, with players responding positively to its open beta ahead of the full game's release on August 20, 2026. The beta gives you access to the game's prologue and offers an early look at the sequel's combat, performance, and overall direction. Mortal Shell 2 is a standalone follow up,

Razer's Huntsman V3 Pro gaming keyboard is available at a steep discount, with the tenkeyless model dropping to $124.99 at Best Buy from its original $219.99 price. That represents a $95 saving, or about 43 percent, and makes the Huntsman V3 Pro TKL much more competitive for anyone looking for a premium wired gaming keyboard with adjustable actuation and esports focused features. The larger

A modified NVIDIA driver setup has enabled unofficial external GPU support on a Snapdragon X2 Elite laptop, allowing a desktop GeForce RTX 5070 Ti to run games through a USB4 connection. The result addresses one of the main weaknesses of Snapdragon X2 Elite systems. While the processor delivers strong CPU performance, its integrated graphics remain limited in demanding games. An external graphics card can

A Costco shopper reportedly purchased a high end MSI gaming desktop with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 and AMD Ryzen 9 9900X for around $1,900 after receiving multiple discounts. The MSI Aegis ZS2 was originally listed at $2,800. A store rebate reduced the price to $2,300, before Costco applied another $500 discount because the display unit was missing its bundled keyboard. The final amount

Newegg offered a high end AMD gaming bundle that combined a Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor, a Gigabyte X870E motherboard, 32GB of DDR5 memory, and a free 240mm liquid cooler for $1,099. The promotion was aimed at builders assembling a premium AM5 gaming PC during a period of rising memory and component prices. Buying the main parts separately was said to cost more than $1,200,