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Stalker 2 Turned a Profit Before It Came Out Thanks to Money Microsoft Paid for Xbox Exclusivity
GSC Game World founder Sergiy Grygorovych has revealed that Stalker 2 was profitable before launch, thanks to the sum Microsoft paid for Xbox exclusivity, after being impressed by the huge viewership of the game’s debut trailer. Microsoft secured timed console exclusivity and a day-one Xbox Game Pass launch, and also helped produce and market the…
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How to sign up for The Duskbloods network test
FromSoftware has opened sign-ups for a network test of The Duskbloods, its upcoming multiplayer game, giving Nintendo Switch 2 owners a chance to try a pre-release version before launch. The test allows matches of up to eight players and is significant for fans wanting an early look at the game, though applying does not guarantee…
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Oasis Overtakes The Beatles to Score U.K.’s Bestselling Studio Album of All Time
Oasis’s 1995 album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? has been named the UK’s bestselling studio album of all time, overtaking The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The new ranking was published by the Official Charts Company as part of its 70th-anniversary celebrations, and reflects an updated methodology combining traditional sales with a decade…
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Why are OpenAI and Anthropic cheering on regulation in Australia? The answer has global reach
Anthropic and OpenAI publicly welcomed Australia’s move to introduce new AI regulations, a stance that might seem odd for firms that have thrived on a largely unregulated environment. The reasoning is commercial rather than altruistic: both companies are still privately owned but preparing for eventual stock market listings, and clear, predictable rules can make them…
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Splatoon Raiders developers reveal it originally was “like a base defense game” before evolving into a faster spin-off “with a strong sense of action”
Ahead of the Nintendo Switch 2 spin-off’s launch, four key Nintendo EPD developers behind Splatoon Raiders revealed in a “Ask the Developer” interview that the game began life as a very different concept: a solo-focused experience built around base defence and trap placement, rather than the fast-paced action shooter it became. The revelation matters because…
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New Jersey Dem gov’s blame game backfires after tech company pins noncitizen voter registration on state
New Jersey’s Democratic Governor Mikie Sherrill has faced backlash after blaming a “software error” for the improper registration of thousands of non-citizens to vote, only for the technology vendor involved, IDEMIA, to publicly dispute that account and place responsibility back on the state. The dispute matters because it has triggered a federal investigation into voter…
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Burnham announces £2 bus fare cap across England from January
Andy Burnham has announced that single bus fares across England will be capped at £2 from January, one of his first major policy moves in his opening week as prime minister as he seeks to address the cost of living. The change reverses a rise to £3 introduced by Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves in…
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What happens when you try to chop a photon in half?
A team of Norwegian physicists has explored a deceptively simple thought experiment: what happens to a single photon if it is only partway through reflecting off a perfect mirror when that mirror is suddenly pulled away? Because a photon is not a point-like particle but an extended wave-like object, the answer turns out to be…
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Finn Wolfhard Gives Update On Replacements Biopic
Finn Wolfhard, the “Stranger Things” actor known for his own indie rock projects, has given a fresh update on his long-in-the-works biopic about the Replacements, the influential and famously chaotic Minneapolis punk band. Speaking to Billboard, Wolfhard said the project is “going great” and that he and his producers are now searching for a director,…
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Of all the platforms, Xbox is the only one to have just grown year-on-year – but there’s a big catch
Circana’s June 2026 US games market report shows a broad decline in industry spending, down 21% year-on-year to $4.5bn, largely because June 2025 was an exceptionally high baseline thanks to the Nintendo Switch 2 launch. Xbox was the only hardware platform to post growth, with Series X/S spending more than doubling year-on-year, though this mainly…