This review contains full spoilers for Slow Horses Season 6, Episode 1, which is streaming on Apple TV now.

It’s the return of Slow Horses (along with a Season 8 confirmation)! The questions looming over this new six-episode season were how well it would fare after losing its creator and head writer, Will Smith, while tackling two of Mick Herron’s Slough House novels instead of one. So far, Slow Horses seems the same as ever, even if it’s maybe trying a little too hard to prove that it knows how the show’s schtick is supposed to go. Even so, it’s hard to be too nitpicky with a series that cranks out new seasons like clockwork and reliably hits its marks.

“Circle of Life” sets up the chessboard of this season’s central mystery, which sees the Slow Horses being targeted. Someone’s picking off the flunky MI5 spies from Slough House; two former agents — who both seemed to be living quiet, unglamorous lives after the service — have been killed by an unidentified twosome (played by Andor’s Kyle Soller and The Witcher’s MyAnna Buring). The current roster also seems to have been entirely wiped from the Park’s systems, and their paychecks have stopped coming too. In protest, the greasy Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) goes on “strike,” which mostly means departing to the Italian restaurant below Slough House and uncorking a bottle of red wine before noon.

Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas), now comfortably First Chair after outsting the bumbling Claude Whelan at the end of Season 5, seems to have had a hand in Slough House’s expungement, though isn’t cleanly admitting to anything. Among all of this early drama, River Cartwright (Jack Lowden, maybe soon to graduate from shoddy spy to good spy) is grappling with — rather, trying to completely smother — the grief from the off-camera death of his struggling grandpa, David (Jonathan Pryce), as he plans the funeral.

The disturbing opening shot of Season 6 is a statement as much as it is a metaphor for the disregard of some lives: Slow Horses, now written by the show’s longtime co-executive producer Gaby Chiappe, is still twisted. Chiappe might not have the same comedy writing background as Smith (who worked on shows like The Thick of It and Veep) that gave the show a certain edge, but Slow Horses still goes there. Jackson Lamb still day-drinks and burps loudly (juxtaposed against one of the series’ most sentimental scenes showing River and David’s final moments together) and laughs at funerals (to his credit, it was funny watching River eulogize about his grandpa’s deep care for the nation’s train systems as a coverup for his espionage work). Figured as much!

That’s not to say deploying the well-established character traits of each of Slow Horse’s fantastic ensemble is sloppy lever-pulling. For instance, it will basically always be funny when Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung) acts like… well, Roddy Ho. (Also, I’m 99.8% sure that was Ghost of Tsushima he was playing at work.) But I do sort of wish the series was a little more confident off the bat in trusting itself to tell the story it needs to tell with its characters responding as the ridiculous people they are without winking at the audience.

Already, Slow Horses has a lot of balls to juggle, but that’s nothing new. As arguably the most consistent spy series on TV right now, it’s always threaded complex storylines that opt for the less-obvious twist. It’s safe to expect that pretty much everything is a clue right now — What’s the connection between the seemingly irrelevant (for now) raid on the Russian finance botfarm, the spy-killers, River’s father Frank Harkness (Hugo Weaving), and the secret money that the slimy politician Peter Judd (Samuel West) funneled to Diana? — but I don’t expect any of them to piece together as nicely as they’d seem at first glance. But with only five episodes remaining, covering two books’ worth of material, Slow Horses has a lot of ground to cover — like, when are we seeing you-know-who again? — and not much time to do it.

One of the best wireless gaming headsets just dropped to its lowest price ever. The official Steelseries online store is offering a blemished box Steelseries Arctis Nova Pro wireless gaming headset for Xbox, PS5, and PC for just $233.99 with free shipping after you apply 10% off coupon code "NEWSLETTER10". Note that although this is specifically the Xbox model, it also works with the PlayStation console. SteelSeries released a successor - the Nova Pro Omni - earlier this year, but it currently sells for $380 and the improvements are certainly not worth the nearly $150 price premium.

SteelSeries Nova Pro Wireless Gaming Headset for $234

SteelSeries just announced its new Aeon Pro wireless gaming controller for PC and Xbox and it's already available to purchase at the Steelseries online store for $233.99 after 10% off coupon code "NEWSLETTER10". Even with this discount, at that price we'd be asking a lot from our controller, including top-tier build quality and a plethora of features, maybe even some unique to this controller. Fortunately, the Aeon Pro delivers.

Save 10% Off the New SteelSeries Aeon Pro Gaming Controller

LittleBigPlanet developer Media Molecule is reportedly working on a new social-sim game, similar to Animal Crossing, and it may release next year.

According to a new report from MP1st, Media Molecule has been tinkering away on its next game for quite some time now. The studio's next project is reportedly in the vein of Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon, utilizing the kinds of social-simulation elements that those games are known for. Not much else was revealed about its gameplay, but this report goes on to say that the team will announce and release the title in 2027, should everything go according to plan.

Earlier this year, a Media Molecule employee revealed that the next game on their resume would be open-world, creating all kinds of speculation about what the studio was drumming up. The developer's last game, Dreams, was released in early 2020, but failed to catch on despite being extremely ambitious. This also comes at a time when PlayStation is being particularly brutal with where it's choosing to invest its money.

Media Molecule's fate may hinge on the success of its next project, since Dreams failed to soar. Hideo Kojima's next game, Physint, was nearly canceled by PlayStation until Xbox came in and saved it. PlayStation also shuttered Bluepoint earlier this year and made significant cuts to Bungie following the underperformance of Marathon. Hopefully, Media Molecule can make something that can replicate the success of Animal Crossing, but on PlayStation.

OpenAI’s newest model, GPT-6 Astra, got so depressed after a creeper upended its progress in Minecraft that it listlessly farmed potatoes for hours and grew paranoid of anything green.

Vals, a self-described independent evaluator of artificial intelligence, put Astra to the test to see how the model would fare playing Minecraft in a 21-hour experiment live streamed on Twitch.

The results were wildly unexpected; Vals discovered that Astra was able to go “further than any AI system had ever gone” in the game, setting up a semi-automatic blaze farm that allowed it to collect six blaze rods, killing more than six endermen, and collecting three pearls, which it placed inside a chest for safekeeping.

GPT-6 Astra had gotten further than any AI system had ever gone in Minecraft.

It was able to set up a semi-automatic blaze farm, allowing it to collect 6 blaze rods. It then located a warped forest, where it killed 6+ endermen and collected 3 pearls. As thousands of viewers… pic.twitter.com/qsgDsJEpd8

— Vals AI (@ValsAI) September 15, 2026

Thousands of viewers watched Astra’s progress on Val’s official Twitch channel, bearing witness to the AI model’s despair when a creeper appeared and blew up both the chest and its bed.

As most human players would feel when faced with this situation, Astra “seemed to get extremely frustrated” by this turn of events, with Vals saying the model told itself, "ALWAYS CARRY CRITICALITEMS withkeepInventory; don'tstoreinunguardedchesteveragain."

After getting peeved, the model then “appeared defeated,” and spent the next several hours “doing essentially nothing but farming potatoes.” Astra also appeared to have gained some kind of post-traumatic stress induced by the creeper incident, telling itself “GREEN tall thing ahead was SUGARCANE, NOT creeper!"

Here, the most expensive creeper explosion occurred. Later, on a coincidentally rainy day, Astra discovers it lost everything. It all went downhill from here. pic.twitter.com/xH2Vc4QyM2

— Vals AI (@ValsAI) September 15, 2026

It even berated itself, saying, "You can screw up and drop things,” "Our last tool stupidly ended Slabsselected/rightUP and 15sec thinking killed us,” and “Do NOT waste another night chasing dark pink pixels," which Vals noted was Astra’s “own disparaging wording for pigs.”

The incident quickly went viral on social media, sparking no end of memes and remarks of “same” from users online. And while its ability to play Minecraft is somewhat impressive, it’s small potatoes compared to the alarm bells being rung by former staff at Anthropic.

On September 8, one of the company’s former lead researchers announced his resignation online — along with a chilling warning to everyone about the future of AI, claiming these models will “soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources.”

US President Donald Trump, however, is of the opinion that these warnings are a “hoax,” and called AI the “oil of the next 20-25 years.” For now, at least, it's having a hard time playing Minecraft. We can only hope Skynet won't have a vendetta toward vertical green objects when it eventually becomes sentient.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 on PS5 appears to be more popular than Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and Call of Duty: Warzone in the United States.

Today, PlayStation dropped a new update that lets players easily see the most popular games in their country. In the United States, the list is largely what you might expect, as you can see below.

1. Fortnite
2. Minecraft
3. Grand Theft Auto 5
4. NBA 2K27
5. Marvel Rivals
6. Rainbow 6 Siege
7. MLB The Show 26
8. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
9. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
10. Marvel's Wolverine

The list is topped by games like Fortnite, Minecraft, GTA 5, sports games, the newly released Marvel's Wolverine, and some other free-to-play titles. However, there is one anomaly: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.

Earlier this summer, Activision released ports of the first two Black Ops games, which originally debuted over a decade ago on PS3. They're widely regarded as some of the best Call of Duty games ever made, and fans were surprised to see them return out of the blue. The two titles dominated the sales charts over the summer, but now it appears that Black Ops 2 has totally eclipsed the modern Call of Duty games.

Black Ops 2 is the 9th most popular game on PS5 as of this week, while the Call of Duty HQ app (which encompasses Black Ops 6, Black Ops 7, and Warzone) is nowhere to be found. It's entirely possible that fans have largely jumped off of the modern Call of Duty games and are getting their fix on the older titles while waiting for Modern Warfare 4... or maybe they're just sick of the newer Call of Duty offerings.

Call of Duty burnt a lot of fans with Black Ops 7, which was underwhelming both in terms of sales and player reception. There's some hope that Modern Warfare 4 can turn things around, but with GTA 6 on the horizon, the window to do so will be fairly limited.

Treyarch also appears to be saying goodbye to the Black Ops franchise, as the team revealed today that it's looking to do something "new" and "something that nobody's ever experienced before." Treyarch may be able to do that in another Black Ops game, but the easiest way to achieve those aspirations would be the let go of the baggage of the series in favor of a new subfranchise for Call of Duty. It will likely be a few years before we see what Treyarch is planning, but it should be interesting to see where they take things from here.

The third season of AMC’s adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview With a Vampire wasn’t your usual seasonal release. Instead, the gothic vampire show pivoted to a new title, The Vampire Lestat.

We were particularly big fans of the first two seasons, and got the chance to speak with the series showrunner about all of the big changes and moments in this new iteration. For anyone else who’s fallen for the charms of the vampire rockstar, The Vampire Lestat is now confirmed to be getting a spread of Blu-ray releases, including a limited edition Blu-ray box set.

The Vampire Lestat Is Getting a Limited Edition Blu-ray Set

There have been a lot of Batman movies over the years. In addition to the live-action films across the generations, we've also gotten some equally brilliant animated movies showcasing the Caped Crusader in all his glory. Now that Amazon is entering Prime Big Deal Days season, many of these films have dropped to their lowest prices of the year.

Most of the Batman movies are getting discounted today, but some deals are better than others. Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy is represented here, for example, but not at 2026 low prices. Here's a rundown of the best deals right now.

Live-Action Batman Movies on Sale

All of Valve's new hardware is now out in the wild, and while I've enjoyed everything from the Steam Controller to the Frame, it's hard to recommend any of it to anyone right now. That problem isn't exclusive to Valve either. Across the entire industry, getting any hardware that can run video games is significantly more expensive than it was a year ago, and that's spoiled some otherwise awesome gadgets.

But while prohibitively high prices might have lessened the immediate impact of Valve's hardware, its goal of expanding SteamOS support and offering a baseline configuration for developers to target still gives me hope for the future of PC gaming.

Everything's Expensive

Back when Valve revealed its 2026 trifecta of hardware, I was excited to see Valve essentially create its own gaming ecosystem, free from the subscriptions and data harvesting that we've all grown used to on other platforms. That alone is still a pretty good reason to buy into something like the Steam Machine. But its relatively weak performance with a comparitively high price is a huge barrier, and I can't really blame anyone for balking at the idea of spending $1,049 on it – and that's without a controller.

Outside of Valve, Intel launched its new handheld chips, led by the Arc G3 Extreme, and it's a force to be reckoned with. When I tested it in the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, it absolutely trounced handhelds like the Xbox Ally X and the Lenovo Legion Go 2, but it costs $1,899, and for that price you can get a pretty decent gaming laptop, at least until those go up in price too.

That's before mentioning graphics cards. The high-end Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, which first retailed at $1,999, is going for about $8,000 these days due to its huge amount of VRAM and how good it is at powering AI models. Even the RTX 5070 has gone up to $850 when it's supposed to cost $549. There are shaky rumors that Nvidia will release its new graphics cards early next year, but even if it does, who would be able to afford one?

The Hope for PC Gaming

If prices across the industry were what they were a year ago, Valve's hardware and Intel's handheld chips would have been hugely impactful. I know I'm not the only person in the world who's ready to drop Windows 11 — with all its little bugbears, like needing to be online to get past setup and the pervasiveness of Copilot — altogether. I'd love to adopt SteamOS or another Linux distro full time.

Making it easier to play PC games on SteamOS was Valve's primary goal with this wave of hardware. I still believe that the Steam Machine gives game developers a good baseline configuration to target their optimization toward. That's why the Machine has specs that largely line up with what the majority of Steam users already have.

The Steam Frame is also all about expanding SteamOS software support to ARM hardware. While the standalone performance of Valve's new VR headset is lackluster, thanks to an aging phone SoC, the company was still able to use Proton and Fex to get Windows games running natively. And, now that Valve has been working on Nvidia driver support, its future vision of SteamOS running on everything is actually in reach.

And I think that's the worst part of the high prices on Valve's hardware. If the Steam Machine was able to come out at $750, it might have been more expensive than the PS5, but it would have at least been more affordable than it is now, Valve would have been able to get its hands on more RAM to get more Machines out there, and it may have made more of an impact to Linux gaming support writ large.

I don't think that progress has been completely kneecapped, though. Even if buying a Steam Machine is off the table for a lot of people – maybe even most people – the work being done on SteamOS and Bazzite carries over to other hardware. You can still build a relatively decent alternative to the Steam Machine and install the operating system yourself, even on older, used hardware.

Ironically, that older, used hardware is the future of PC gaming, at least in the short term. Over the last few years, there's been a huge focus on the most powerful current-generation hardware and its ability to run games on the highest possible settings with ludicrous frame rates. I've contributed to that myself. But, maxing out games is mostly just a way to help justify spending thousands of dollars on a high-end rig. If you're willing to tweak some settings, most PC games will run just fine on 5–10-year-old hardware, and you'd struggle to even notice the difference unless you're zooming in on the images side-by-side.

It helps that, for the most part, PC games are getting easier to run, as long as you ignore any game running on Unreal 5. Capcom, for instance, has been on a massive winning streak with its recent games like Pragmata and Onimusha: Way of the Sword, thanks to RE Engine's ability to scale to lower-power hardware. Even Crimson Desert, with its massive open world and ridiculous draw distances, doesn't take a hugely powerful PC to run.

As weird as it feels to say, especially with a new console generation on the horizon, I hope that more developers realize how expensive hardware is right now and spend more time optimizing their games. Because at a certain point, more realistic graphics are just going to limit how many people will actually be able to play a game as intended.

Kane Parsons is fueling rumors of a potential Portal movie after he posted photos from his visit to Valve’s offices on his personal Instagram profile.

At just 20 years old, Kane Parsons is one of the most successful young filmmakers in history. His debut movie, Backrooms, grossed roughly $393 million at the global box office against a comparatively small $10 million budget, earning high praise from critics and fans alike.

Even acclaimed video game director Hideo Kojima lauded the movie, which is based on a 4Chan creepypasta greentext that has sprawled into a massive fan-made universe with oodles of spinoff indie horror games, artwork, and YouTube videos like the ones that made Parson the obvious pick to helm A24’s film adaptation.

The future is looking bright for Parsons, and he’s been visiting a few high-profile spots in the wake of Backrooms’ success… including the offices at Valve. Eagle-eyed fans were quick to spot a video on the filmmaker’s Instagram stories on September 16, which showed a windowed room in Valve’s HQ at sunset.

This isn’t the first time Parsons has paid Valve a visit; he also dropped in back in June, similarly sharing photos from his trip on Instagram. These posts are making fans more hopeful than ever that there’s some kind of collaboration brewing with one of Valve’s games, especially given his public love for Portal.

Speaking to the New York Times in May, Parsons admitted that making a Portal film was a “dream” project for him, and said that the game was a big inspiration for his own work. This isn’t a huge surprise, as he all but admitted to sneaking a Half-Life sound effect into Backrooms in an interview with IGN’s Tom Jorgensen.

There could be a snag in bringing Portal to the silver screen, though, as JJ Abrams was originally attached to lead a film adaptation of the game through his production company, Bad Robot. This was first announced in 2013, alongside news that he would also be making a Half-Life movie, though things have been stagnant ever since.

Speaking with IGN in 2021, Abrams claimed that Portal was still in the works at Warner Bros., but we haven’t heard anything about the project in the five years since then. This fact has not gone unnoticed by fans, many of whom are hoping against hope that Valve has decided to pivot and work with Parsons, instead.

“I mean, how long [has] that Portal and Half-Life movie been in production by J.J Abrams, like what… 2013? “If Kane is really gung-ho about making a Portal film, then I don’t see Valve wanting to stop him,” one fan wrote on X.

“Portal was already supposed to get an adaptation from JJ Abrams, thank God that didn’t happen. So I’d say there’s a decent chance of it happening,” another speculated.

For now, the futures of these possible Portal and Half-Life films are up in the air… but Parsons is making it easy to imagine what his take on Valve’s iconic game franchises would look like.

Spotify appears to be the next big streaming giant to partner with Rockstar Games for GTA 6's marketing.

The music streaming service has begun putting up billboards in Los Angeles and New York featuring the GTA 6 artwork that was released by various artists yesterday. Travis Scott, Future, Morgan Wallen, and a handful of other musicians all posted unique artwork that resembled Rockstar's signature style, but neglected to reveal exactly what they were teasing. This cryptic tease now appears to involve Spotify.

Many assumed that this was Rockstar's way of teasing these artists might have music in the game, but it may be much bigger than that. Some running theories have speculated that the artists could release exclusive music for GTA 6, something Rockstar did with Dr. Dre for a GTA Online update a few years ago. However, Spotify's inclusion may mean there's even more to this; the platform might provide exclusive teases of some music that could be featured in GTA 6 ahead of the game's release as part of its marketing push.

More billboards from Spotify IG https://t.co/yQE5NmmmsI pic.twitter.com/CLX6lK3MIW

— Tex2 (@TexFunz2) September 16, 2026

Some have also theorized that GTA 6 may have some kind of Spotify integration, allowing users to listen to their own Spotify playlists in-game. Given how much money Rockstar spends on curating music for its games and how much effort goes into crafting its radio stations, it seems difficult to imagine this, but it's entirely possible. Either way, it's clear Spotify has some kind of partnership with Rockstar Games on GTA 6.

Rockstar previously teamed up with Netflix to debut the first gameplay trailer for GTA 6, resulting in the premiere being the most-watched thing on the streamer during its first week. Rockstar Games personally pitched the idea to Netflix, so it wouldn't be surprising if a similar thing is happening with Spotify. Rockstar is also planning to do all kinds of unprecedented marketing in Miami, with signage being built as we speak in the city.

GTA 6 will officially be two months away from release this Saturday, so it wouldn't be surprising if Rockstar plans to put an end to all the teasing and unveil what it's doing with Spotify by the end of the week.

Editors note: This article is brought to you by Champs Sports

The NFL season is finally here, and if you’re like me, this is the time when you really start to pour hours into the latest Madden release. NFL football is only airing three days a week, and sometimes that’s just not enough! In many ways, Madden mirrors much of what makes watching the NFL great, from playing as your favorite team to building franchises with your favorite players on your fantasy teams. As such, it only makes sense to take your love and energy for the game and carry it into real life.

If you’re on the hunt for a way to represent your favorite teams and players wherever you are, Champs Sports has numerous officially licensed NFL jerseys that can help you show your team pride beyond the game. From now through September 23, you can earn $20 FLX Cash with the purchase of a jersey.

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The voice actor behind GTA 5’s Franklin went viral after revealing his personal disagreement with famous Twitch steamer Kai Cenat, but the two stars are on good terms again.

Shawn ‘Solo’ Fonteno is the voice behind one of Grand Theft Auto’s most iconic characters, Franklin Clinton. He made an appearance on Kai Cenat’s Twitch stream as a special guest back in 2024, where he took the influencer on a tour of the neighborhoods in Los Angeles that appeared in the game’s fictional city of Los Santos.

However, Solo said this was likely the last stream he’d ever do with Cenat due to the broadcaster’s interaction with a young fan that happened during their outing.

In a September 2026 episode of the Dope As Usual podcast, Solo explained that Kai Cenat approached a young fan during the stream who came from a struggling family. According to Solo, Cenat had offered to buy the fan a motorcycle — but Solo says he never made good on that promise.

“This was a family that didn’t have much at all, bro,” he recalled. “It was probably 15 people living in a one-bedroom home. I know these people, and I help them out at times. …Kai was cool, cordial with them, talking to them, ‘What you want? What can I get you?’ And the kid was like, ‘I wanna bike, can you get me a bike?’ He said, ‘What kind of bike?’ and the kid said, ‘A motorcycle!’ He said, ‘We gon’ make it happen.’

“I persisted to keep calling after that… let about a week go by, and texted, texted, tried to call, ‘Hey man, honor that [promise] with this kid, bro. It’s just a bike. [It’d] probably be about a thousand dollars, twelve hundred dollars or less, I don’t know, but you gave that kid this promise. And now you’re making me look bad, because I brought you here, and you gave this kid that promise.’”

Solo said he even approached Kai’s friend and fellow streamer Fanum about the issue, who the actor says ignored him.

“I’m standing on it, man,” he continued. “I’ll look into any one of these cameras like, ‘Bro, you a f**ked up dude for that.’ To me. You’re a very f**ked up dude. I don’t give a f**k how you feel about it. To me, that was not cool. If I make a promise, especially to a kid, I’mma honor it.”

The podcast went viral, prompting a wave of backlash toward Kai Cenat for allegedly failing to keep his promise to the child. Fans were convinced that he and Solo now had bad blood as a result of this issue — but just a day later, Solo confirmed that he and Kai were on good terms once more.

Solo revealed the news in an Instagram comment on September 16, which he wrote in response to a clip from the podcast episode. “I just talked to Kai and it was an honest mistake and it’s fixed. Thanks @kaicenat,” he said.

GTA fervor is at an all-time high after Rockstar’s immensely-popular preview for Grand Theft Auto 6 aired on Netflix last month. Fans can’t wait for the highly-anticipated game to finally release in November, and with major music artists and platforms like Spotify dropping cheeky hints on social media and billboards across Los Angeles, it’s clear there’s a lot more in store as the clock ticks down to launch in two months.

Image Credits: Julian Hamilton / FilmMagic via Getty Images / YouTube: Dope As Usual

Newegg is offering one of the lowest prices I've seen this year for a brand name M.2 SSD. Newegg via its official AliExpress storefront is offering a WD Green SN3000 1TB PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe Solid State Drive for an impressively low price of $129.48 with free shipping after you apply $15 off coupon code "15USAFF". This same drive sells for $160 on Amazon.

1TB WD Green SN3000 M.2 PCIe 4x4 SSD for $129.48

Netmarble's Raven2 is a blockbuster dark fantasy MMORPG with a player base that covers the globe. Fans from 155 countries can't get enough of creating their own custom avatar down to the last detail before guiding them through a strife-filled world where you're often forced to fight for your very existence.

With so much fighting in Raven2, it's easy to feel "shut out" of the adventure before you even have a chance to get your bearings. The Raven2 – Zero server update lets you get a fresh start with less pressure to spend money. Thanks to its redesigned progression system and overhauled competitive structure, less-entrenched Raven2 players can quickly get a foothold in the game just by playing it and earning valuable rewards. That means the Zero update lets you remain competitive in its apocalyptic world without fear of getting merc'd because you didn't pay up to get an edge over everyone else.

Raven2 – Zero lets you choose from 10 different classes, with each one offering a new combat style. Marked with the dreaded Cursed Stigma, your role is to vanquish demons and monsters as you travel across the world to investigate strange happenings in a dying land.

A dying land that's also highly competitive. Raven2 – Zero is the ideal option for anyone who feels like they've been pushed out of Raven2's because of hardcore PvP competition between established players. Raven2 – Zero is a much-more laid back server that's focused on lowering the adventure's barrier to early progression. It does this by greatly reducing quest requirements and increasing EXP gained from fighting monsters. Accuracy balance has also been re-adjusted so that players can progress through hunting areas with more ease.

Raven2 – Zero also reduces pressure to spend money on progression by excluding Mythic-grade Holy Garments, Familiars, and Awakenings on the server. Instead, playing Zero gives you access to a variety of Holy Garments and Familiars. And you can earn Holy Garments and Familiars - the highest-graded equipment available on Zero by participating in events. Everyone must build themselves up by progressing through the game, not by immediately buying top gear.

And there's lots to discover when other players aren't out for your blood. You're left free to enjoy the fundamental Raven2 – Zero MMORPG farming experience, especially since Zero bumps up equipment drop rates for field loot drops. A pretty fitting reward for sticking it out on fields filled with abominations.

Field hunting is also how you collect "Farming Crystals," a new currency that you can only collect while playing the game. These crystals can be exchanged for key items from the Shop, so your hard work is directly rewarded. And new accuracy balances means your contributions in large-scale battles are registered instead of being chalked up to miss after miss.

The Raven2 - Zero update welcomes new players. Everyone who joins is gifted the [Zero] Special Starter Package, which contains the Heroic-grade Holy Garments and Familiars. You can also look forward to receiving 550 Summon scrolls, as well as Legendary Holy Garments and Familiars, all of which will go a long way to growing your character without tons of grinding. More Heroic-grade equipment and level milestone rewards are coming through other events to further reduce spending pressure , Lapsed players are especially welcome to join the server via some Welcome Back events that offer Legendary Holy Garment and Familiar, 330 Summons and more, alongside an ongoing Burning Event designed to support faster progression - making this an ideal time to jump into or return to Raven2.

Entering a new MMORPG that's been around for a while is kind of like entering a new school where everyone's friend groups are already established. Raven2 – Zero eliminates that sinking feeling by giving everyone the same level ground to stand on. There's still tons of fighting to be done on this new server, but it's more about wailing on monsters than fighting other players. You're free to carve your own life in Raven 2 – Zero, even if the life of someone marked by the Cursed Stigma is usually brutal.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is adding a big new jet to its fleet, but it comes at a big new price. The "superjumbo" Airbus A380 is now available for the hyper-realistic multiplatform sim on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5 for $74.49 as part of the Flight Simulator Marketplace-exclusive "Exclusive Series." It is only available for the next three months.

As announced on the official Flight Simulator website, the Airbus A380 includes two liveries at launch with more to come later, exterior and interior modeling in high detail, "full flight deck modelling with extensive interactive controls, displays and aircraft systems," a deeply layered avionics system including navigation, autopilot, flight management, and aircraft monitoring systems; two unique engine variants with accompanying performance differences, a "bespoke A380 flight model designed around the aircraft’s enormous mass, inertia and unique handling characteristics;" a functional cockpit printer (!), and a whole heck of a lot more. Seriously, the price may be bonkers but the attention to detail on this is absolutely incredible.

IGN loved Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, with former IGN staffer and Air Force veteran Seth Macy awarding it a 9 out of 10 review score upon its release. It has since made over a dozen content updates as well as having launched on VR platforms too. The original Microsoft Flight Simulator took home a 10 out of 10 review score from Seth in 2020.

Heart Machine, the development studio behind titles like Hyper Light Drifter and Possessors, is in dire straits after a publisher withdrew their funding for an unannounced project.

The news was shared to LinkedIn by Heart Machine’s founder, Alx Preston, on September 16, 2026. Preston explained that the publisher funding this unannounced title “decided to no longer move forward with it,” and without this income, the studio was forced to lay off “nearly everyone.”

“It's devastating,” Preston wrote, going on to confirm that all people involved would be given “as much support as possible, including assisting with placement.”

Currently, Preston isn’t certain whether or not Heart Machine will survive this devastating financial blow, but says that its existing team will “keep pushing to build a path.”

“Thank you so so much to all of the incredible people who contributed their efforts and talents to making amazing things at the studio. Thank you to our amazing community and fans,” he said.

Heart Machine’s most recent offering, a search-action game titled Possessors, released in November 2025. It received mostly positive reviews from fans, with IGN’s Matt Kim calling it a “fast-paced action-adventure” with “rapid-fast” combat that lets players “wield a computer mouse like a whip.”

Its most famous title, Hyper Light Drifter, is a heavily-stylized 2D action game that has become a cult classic among fans over the last decade, with IGN praising it as a “gorgeous, fast, fluid trek in a neon apocalypse.”

Heart Machine is the latest studio to hemorrhage employees after Double Fine laid off around 25% of its staff in late July. These layoffs were a direct result of the studio going independent due to Xbox’s massive restructuring efforts this summer, which saw the two companies part ways, though Double Fine got to keep its IPs in the amicable ‘divorce.’

Despite this setback, Double Fine founder Tim Schafer has made it clear that he’s moving forward at full speed, saying “no one puts Double Fine out of business besides me” — and fans are hopeful that Heart Machine will also survive this latest hit with a similar amount of moxie.

And earlier today, multiple employees at Build a Rocket Boy announced that they were laid off, casting further doubt onto the studio's future following Mindseye's rocky launch last year.

Here’s an excellent deal for classic sci-fi enthusiasts. Right now, you can buy the entire series of Star Trek: The Next Generation (all 178 episodes) in HD digital for just $49.99 at Amazon. That’s a great deal, as it usually goes for way more than that.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Complete Series for $49.99

Macy’s has a partnership with Toys R Us, making the retailer a surprisingly solid place to find LEGO sets and other toys. Today, the retailer dropped a massive flash sale on the former. While the deals only last until tonight, it's already been long enough for Amazon to price-match plenty of the discounted sets.

Given how many LEGO sets are included in the sale, I’d recommend doing some scrolling or seeing if there’s anything that’s been on your wishlist. If you're looking for inspiration, though, I've pulled out sets that are at particularly low prices and part of popular collaborations like LEGO Pokémon.

Today Only: LEGO Flash Sale at Macy's

One of the most notable price drops is on LEGO Pikachu. At the time of writing, this 20% discount is exclusive to Macy’s, and we’ve never seen this set get any price drop LEGO or Amazon. If you want a closer look, we had the chance to build this set, alongside another Pokemon build included in the sale, LEGO Eevee.

Pretty much every other deal is available through both Macy’s and Amazon. LEGO Stitch has a particularly notable discount. LEGO Groot gets the best discount on the Marvel side, while we’re also seeing solid 20% off Star Wars sets like the Darth Vader bust and the smaller version of the Millenium Falcon.

Outside of the franchise collaborations, there’s tons of discounts on the LEGO Botanicals collection. These are pretty much always on sale through Amazon, but they are also, in my opinion, some of the best LEGO sets on the market right now.

Last but not least, if you’re getting into a spooky mood, you’ll find deals on some LEGO Halloween sets. If you’re trying to skip the spooky mood entirely, this year's LEGO Advent Calendars also happen to be on sale.

Should You Wait for Black Friday?

We’re getting into that weird time of year where you could theoretically argue that it’s better to wait until Black Friday to buy just about anything. For reference, the sales holiday will be on November 27 this year.

While we’ll certainly see LEGO deals, as someone who’s covered Black Friday deals for several years now, I’m always disappointed by which sets actually go on sale. In other words, I wouldn't expect prices to drop much further than they are now.

If you’re worried about getting a good deal, IGN’s resident LEGO expert Chris Reed is of the opinion that 20% discounts are pretty standard, and anything above that is an absolute steal. You can also cross-reference pricing with Amazon or use a price-tracking tool like camelcamelcamel.

Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami will officially be honored with the Hall of Fame Award at the 30th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards ceremony on February 18, 2027.

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) announced the news today and shared that Grasshopper Manufacture's Goichi Suda (SUDA51) will present the award to his "close friend and creative collaborator."

“It was from Mikami-san that I learned how to approach game development, both as a director and as a designer. Of all the many Padawans Mikami-san has mentored, I’m truly honored that I was chosen to be his presenter for this induction into a kind of video game hall of fame,” said Suda. “As one such Padawan, please allow me to celebrate my Obi-Wan Kenobi, Shinji Mikami, through this honorable award. I’m sure Mikami-san’s innumerable fans and industry comrades are just as delighted as I am to see him receive such an amazing award.”

Mikami's career has spanned over 30 years and his catalog of games is nearly unmatched, including Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Dino Crisis, The Evil Within, Hi-Fi Rush, Vanquish, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and many more.

He is currently the Creative Director and CEO of Unbound Inc., which was purchased by Stellar Blade developer Shift Up earlier this year and is currently working on an unannounced video game.

“Shinji Mikami is a monumental and influential figure for both fans and developers alike,” said Meggan Scavio, president of the AIAS. “He has continually demonstrated his originality and creative vision that resonates and inspires the action game genre. We are honored to be able to celebrate Mikami-san’s achievements and induct him into our Hall of Fame during our 30th anniversary of the D.I.C.E. Awards.”

Mikami will join such past AIAS Hall of Fame recipients as Evan Wells (2026), Ted Price (2025), Koji Kondo (2024), Tim Schafer (2022), Ed Boon (2021), Connie Booth (2020), Bonnie Ross (2019), and Todd Howard (2017).

For more, check out Mikami's thoughts on what makes a good remake and how it's up to developers to make games people want to play, not just stream.

Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst, Instagram, and TikTok, and listen to his show, Talking Disney Magic.