LEGO has announced the winners of the LEGO Ideas First 2026 Review Stage. These sets originated as fan designs through the LEGO Ideas program, and have now been approved for official release. Among the newly announced upcoming sets is one based on the Christopher Nolan movie Interstellar. The other two sets to get approval during this review stage were Tulip Field Windmill and Chinese Cork Carving Art. As yet, there’s no word on pricing or official release dates for the newly approved sets.

LEGO Ideas Sets Approved for Official Release

• Interstellar by Minibrick41587
• Tulip Field Windmill by HisBrickMaterials
• Chinese Cork Carving Art by GenericBrix

The Interstellar set was submitted by fan designer Minibrick41587. It includes the wedge-shaped Ranger spacecraft from the movie, along with minifigures for the Matthew McConaughey character Cooper and the Anne Hathaway character Dr. Brand. Also included are the robot companions TARS and CASE.

While Interstellar wasn't immediately appreciated as one of Christopher Nolan's best films after its 2014 release (we gave it an 8/10 in our review), there's been a growing appreciation for the film in recent years among fans and critics. This LEGO set's approval may be another sign of its improving standing.

New Additions to the LEGO Ideas Parking Lot

• The 5th Element: Korben Dallas Taxi by MarinBrickDesign
• Peashooter by DistinguishedCrow

During this latest review stage, LEGO placed two additional LEGO Ideas submissions in the Parking Lot. These sets are The 5th Element, which features a flying taxi and a Multi Pass from the movie, and Peashooter, based on a weapon from the video game Plants vs. Zombies. The Parking Lot is where sets go when they “need a little longer to work through the review process.” They’ll stay in the Parking Lot until a final decision is made.

Other Sets Currently in the Parking Lot

• Lunch Atop a Skyscraper
• Hollow Knight: A Journey to Hallownest
• Bob’s Burgers Grand Reopening
• iMac G3
• Naruto: Ichiraku Ramen Shop

Parking Lot sets may end up being approved or not. But a set being put in the Parking Lot doesn’t say anything about its quality. The recently approved LEGO Daft Punk set had previously been in the Parking Lot.

We’ve just about reached the end of the line for new 2026 LEGO releases. The only remaining set scheduled to come out this year is the 2026 Black Friday LEGO set, LEGO Godzilla. However, a number of sets have been announced for January 2027 and beyond; see our running list of every upcoming LEGO set announced so far for more info.

GTA 6 preloads are live for those who live in New Zealand (or are pretending to live in New Zealand to play early) and fans are scanning the game files for new information. Of course, the files are encrypted so they can only tell us so much.

The main takeaway is how much space each of the things in GTA 6 takes up. Rockstar has announced that GTA 6 weighs in at up to 212 GB, “depending on your device.” But following the release of the preload today, it was reported that the audio file alone is 22GB.

Elsewhere, one Rockstar fan believes that because the files for story content are separated out from the main game files, the same will be true for the inevitable next version of GTA Online. This would suggest that you’ll eventually be able to install single-player and Online separately.

An account focused on reporting PlayStation game file sizes also noticed “intentType": "launchMultiplayerActivity," seemingly confirming Online’s eventual appearance in GTA 6. Rockstar has been completely silent on the existence of GTA Online for GTA 6, but the enduring success of GTA 5’s online portion means it’s safe to assume it’ll happen at some point.

Interestingly, a file named "core_restofworld001" is missing from the Australia & New Zealand version of GTA 6, perhaps suggesting there's cut content in those regions. Another fan noticed that BVH8 will be supported in GTA 6. BVH8 specifically makes ray tracing work better on PS5 Pro, which Ubisoft used for Assassin’s Creed Shadow’s PS5 Pro support.

“By itself, the PS5 Pro's faster GPU helps performance without much effort from developers, but the game changing technology is the improved ray tracing capabilities of the PS5 Pro that BVH82 offers over BVH4,” Ubisoft said at the time. “With our implementation of BVH8 support on PS5 Pro, we were able to speed up GPU tasks involving hardware ray tracing usage by about 300%.”

Officially, all we know about PS5 Pro support is the confirmation from Sony that GTA 6 will feature “PS5 Pro Enhanced Support.” Unfortunately, there’s been no word on what exactly that means. Indeed, Rockstar has yet to announce resolution and frame rate details for GTA 6 on any platform.

However, those hoping for higher frame rates might be disappointed. According to experts, it’s unlikely GTA 6 will go higher than 30fps on any platform because of its ray tracing and physics simulations.

While you wait for GTA 6’s November 19 launch, there’s still a small chance you might be able to bag some GTA 6 merch from Selfridges, but it’s selling out fast. And we've got all the information you need on the GTA 6 preload global release times, as well as details on the physical poster.

The lead animator for Mass Effect 2 has shared a previously unreleased trailer for the game, only ever seen by the developers at BioWare.

This trailer, described as a demo reel of the in-progress cinematics, dates back to April 2009. It would have been used to demonstrate the kind of work that the animation team was doing for Mass Effect 2, and eagle-eyed fans will notice several scenes that did make it into the final game.

Fuck it - here's something for #N7Day I haven't shown before. A very pre-alpha internal trailer intended to highlight the cinematics we were creating in Montreal.

Faces were the average of all the customisation sliders in Maya, and we ran every scene with each possible squamate when polishing.

— Jonathan Cooper (@GameAnim) November 7, 2026

Released by Jonathan Cooper, a game developer who has worked with the likes of BioWare, Ubisoft, and Naughty Dog, this Mass Effect 2 trailer gives us an incredibly early look at some of the game’s characters and pivotal moments. While it can be a little hard to make out, we can spot companions like Miranda, Garrus, and Jack.

Cooper hasn’t shared too much info on the trailer, but did say what it was like to work on it. “[…] remembering all the arguments and drama on the team haha,” he said. “But mostly reading the scripts and getting pumped imagining how awesome we could make Shepard look hitting those story beats.”

Mass Effect 2 was quite the departure from the first game, and this internal trailer makes that perfectly clear. After opening with Shepard’s death, we’re treated to a very ‘00s action movie monologue from the Commander themself, before cutting to the new Normandy crew.

If you’re curious about the song in the background, it’s C'Mon Try A Little Bit by Melodrone. It doesn’t appear to have been used in any of the promotional material that was shared with fans back in the day, and it only has 64,000 plays on YouTube.

All in all, this is nothing like the trailer we would be shown, cinematic or otherwise, but it does capture that edgier, action vibe that the sequel was going for, compared to its more optimistic predecessor. It’s a vibe that continues to resonate with fans to this day, as Mass Effect 2 is often held up as the best game BioWare ever put out.

Now, those same fans are fighting to protect the series they love. After EA closed BioWare and canceled Mass Effect 5, the community started the Save Mass Effect campaign, which urges the publisher to do something with the series, whether that’s fund new games or licence it out to another developer. Some are also pushing for Mass Effect to be returned to those who worked on it.

Luxury British department store Selfridges has had the ground floor of its flagship London store overtaken by GTA 6 ahead of its November 19 release date. It’s not just a little display, either; Rockstar and the retailer have gone all-out.

The front of the installation at 400 Oxford Street has a blue Grotti Cheetah Classic parked in the window — the exact car seen driving around Miami to promote GTA 6. There’s VI signage and Vice City iconography all over the store.

Good morning from Selfridges London #GTA6 https://t.co/dbQcQGhIaj

— GTA News 🔴 RockstarINTEL.com (@GTAonlineNews) November 9, 2026

Live from Selfridges at Oxford Street for the #GTAVI activation🌴

Rockstar are not messing around 🤯 https://t.co/vqqXKwB1oJ

— GTA GFX (@GTAGFX) November 9, 2026

In total, there are over 60 GTA 6-themed items for sale, from clothing to luggage tags. The most expensive item is an exclusove Goodtime State Varsity Jacket that costs an eye-watering £2,500 (approx. $3,355).

The GTA 6 activation opened at the Selfridges Bond Street shop this morning, with the online Selfridges GTA 6 merch going live at the same time. There are basketballs, bags, mugs, and a wide range of clothing options.

Launch saw queues of over 100,000 people and some of the items have sold out as a result, but queue times have at least died down now. Many of the items on sale are exclusive to Selfridges, making them a must-buy for hardcore collectors. At the time of this article's publication, the £2,500 jacket is sold out.

It’s the first major activation in the UK. Previously, Rockstar focused most of its efforts on Miami, the metropolis GTA 6’s Vice City is based on.

In September, Rockstar paid just shy of $1 million to install a massive, glowing "Welcome to Vice City" sign on top of the Miami Heat's arena, the Kaseya Center. The arena will also be home to an unprecedented NBA game sponsored by Rockstar Games.

On November 18, the Miami Heat will play a regular season game against the Milwaukee Bucks on a Vice City-themed court with never-before-seen jerseys inspired by GTA 6. The arena will also be selling Vice City merch, with Rockstar and the NBA labeling the event as a "night in Vice City."

We’ve got plenty more on GTA 6 while you wait for its November 19 release date, including an unlikely gameplay reveal in the latest episode of South Park, how GTA 6 named one of its biggest mechanics after a beloved GTA 4 meme, and how GTA 6's map will open up relatively early and let you explore freely.

Image credit: Selfridges.

A popular Nintendo blogger who tells his viewers obscure facts about Super Mario has been hit with serious health conditions, including heart failure. The online personality has vowed to continue running the blog for as long as he’s able.

Supper Mario Broth is a blog and series of social media accounts known for posting arcane and funny trivia about everyone’s favorite Italian plumber. The blog has shared thousands of facts from the series since its creation in 2012.

In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for Nintendo Switch 2, it is possible to play the ocarina using Dry Bones in Super Mario Maker 2. https://t.co/wv0RYNeSyM

— Supper Mario Broth (@MarioBrothBlog) November 5, 2026

“I am scared I will soon not be able to see Mario again,” he said in a post to his 270,000 X / Twitter followers. “However, I promise that until that day arrives, I will always be here, posting Mario facts. Thank you all so much for your support through the years.”

Despite a healthy lifestyle, the condition is genetic. According to the blogger, there’s a two-in-three chance he survives past one year.

The condition is also affecting his eyesight, degrading it over time. He isn’t sure whether surgery or medication can stop or slow this process yet.

“Since being able to see well is fundamental to my ability to both myself research Mario games and compile the discoveries of others, this may affect my ability to run Supper Mario Broth in the future,” he said. “However, I will never forget the promise I made to you: I will continue to run Supper Mario Broth for as long as I’m physically able to.”

The blogger continued to say that “sharing [Mario] findings is my only purpose,” but noted that the condition may cause gaps in the content.

Supper Mario Broth didn’t ask for any financial or emotional support in this difficult time. “I already have all the support I could need,” he said. “All I can do is hope for my frail body to overcome this.

“I hope with all my (failing) heart that I can continue doing this for years to come,” he said. “And if I should one day stop posting: thank you very much for reading.”

Thousands of supportive replies have poured in, thanking the blogger for his work and integrity. There’s fan art, messages of support, and even people pressuring Nintendo to let the blogger play whatever in-development Mario game it’s cooking up.

Photo by BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP via Getty Images.

A South Carolina man has been arrested and accused of leaving his 6-year-old daughter asleep outside a Target store overnight to hold his place in line for Pokémon cards, it has been reported.

According to the Washington Post, John-Michael Dooley, 35, had been waiting with his daughter outside the store this past Friday in Charleston's West Ashley district, where a throng of Pokémon fans had slowly gathered overnight in anticipation of a newly released set of the popular trading cards.

A news release from the Charleston Police Department states that officers arrived at the store around 2:30am after receiving reports of an unattended child. Witnesses at the scene told police that Dooley handed his daughter a blanket and a pillow sometime after 1am, before leaving her asleep in his spot in line. Wheen Dooley failed to return after an hour, these concerned witnesses were forced to contact the authorities.

Eventually Dooley returned to the store and was promptly arrested. In an interview with authorities, he admitted to police that he had gone home and left his young daughter unattended so that he could hold his spot in the line, according to the Charleston Police.

Dooley was then charged with unlawful conduct toward a child. Police said that the girl was unharmed and immediately placed into emergency protective custody.

This shocking act of Pokémon card-related parental neglect is in stark contrast to last week's news that the father of late Pokémon influencer Avery the Poké Kid had made a very moving plea to The Pokémon Company to create a special card in honor of his son. On his Instagram, Avery's father Christian Garcia said, "I want to make a plea to anyone, literally anyone from The Pokémon Company: If you’re watching this video, I want to figure out how to immortalize him somehow in the trading card game he loved so much." At the time of writing, there has been no official response from the Japanese company in regarding Garcia's request.

Pokémon Trading Cards, which is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary, was recently announced as one of this year's inductees into National Toy Hall of Fame, alongside Bingo, Care Bears, and the classic slide, and beating out nominees like Bop It!, mahjong, and Polly Pocket.

"Pokémon TCG’s widespread appeal and global presence are undeniable," said curator Mirek Stolee. "The Pokémon TCG successfully adapted card game formulas established by its predecessors, making it more accessible and infusing it with the lovable Pokémon creatures."

U2 guitarist The Edge apparently had such a good idea for Elf 2 that he went out of his way to write his own script.

That's according to Elf actor and Dancing with the Stars legend Andy Richter, who spilled the beans about the musician's fondness for Christmas during an episode of The Daily Beast's Obsessed podcast. It's a pairing no one ever saw coming but one that apparently still happened – or at least it almost happened.

Richter said the story of The Edge (real name: David Howell Evans) and his secret Elf 2 script comes from producer and frequent Will Ferrell collaborator Shauna Robertson. When exactly the elusive script would have been written is unclear.

"She was in Europe, and somebody reached out to her and said, 'The Edge from U2 has written a sequel to Elf, and he wants to talk to you about it.' It's the weirdest story, but apparently, it was fully written," Richter recalled. "Somewhere in the world, there is an Edge-penned Elf 2 out there, which I would love for that to make the light of day."

If you're unfamiliar with the guitarist or the group he's helped define for the last 50 years, U2 is the Irish rock band behind megahits like With Or Without You, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Where The Streets Have No Name, and more. He's a legendary guitar player behind a long list of instantly recognizable songs, and by comparison he's got little to no experience in the movie world.

A proper, fully written film script for Elf of all things marks a trip through mostly uncharted territory for The Edge. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like his words will ever jump off the page and onto screens, and it's unclear if we'll ever get to read the supposed story for ourselves.

"It never happened," Richter continued. "It's just one of those things where she's like, 'All right, sure. I'll meet him,' you know? And then it just petered out and never, never happened."

Richter said he's on the side of Christmas fans who say "let it be." Directed by Jon Favreau and starring Ferrell, Elf is a holiday phenomenon which has yet to be matched in terms of sheer popularity, and that's probably why we may never see a sequel made. The Buddy the Elf star himself told IGN in 2016 that he never found the idea of following up the early 2000s classic with a full-on sequel.

"Now that that time has passed, I think that the movie has become so special that I think that people – and I think rightfully so – loathe to mess with it. Because we all can think of movies that have been tarnished by their sequels. This is so special and so perfect, and so beloved; why risk it?"

As far as what's been officially announced, Elf 2 is not in the works. While we wait to see if The Edge will change that, you can read what Ferrell had to say about the relationship he had with the late James Caan while filming the Christmas classic.

Photo by ELVIS BARUKCIC / AFP via Getty Images.

Denis Villeneuve has praised human creativity over AI prompts, and playfully stirred the pot over the increasing rumours and speculation surrounding the casting of the main character in his upcoming James Bond film.

Addressing the crowd at Saturday night's Art+Film fundraiser at the LACMA museum in Los Angeles where he was being honored for his contributions to cinema (thanks, THR), the Dune: Part Three director took the opportunity to praise his heroes including Steven Spielberg and James Cameron, before speaking to the existential crisis currently being suffered by artists as a result of the rise of artificial intelligence.

"At the heart of every one of my films, there’s a question I need to answer," said Villeneuve. "The audience may see it or they may not, and that is fine. For me, each film is a statement to the unknown to try and find that answer. Perhaps those questions are more urgent now than ever."

"We are at the crossroad, asking what defines a human being and what human expression is worth? Every parent on Earth is a little worried about the world of our children will inherit. That question is at the heart of Dune: Part Three with Paul and Chani fighting to give their children a better world than the one they were given.”

The director went on to discuss the vital role that human creativity plays in the process of creating art.

“For a filmmaker today, it is very real," said Villeneuve. "I have a choice. I can create something with a prompt or I can go into the desert with actors, with a crew and go on a real adventure where I learn about life and become better at my craft. Those are two different things. Well, I know there’s producers in the room and they will say that one is more expensive than the other. More important than the result is the process. The process is how the human experience acquires its meaning. In this moment in time, it is more important than ever that human beings keep making art together. That is the heritage I want to give to my children.”

On a more lighthearted note, Villeneuve closed his speech by referencing the growing hype surrounding the casting of the next James Bond. Playing up to the headlines, Villeneuve said, "To express my gratitude with the blessing of my new friends at Amazon, I will reveal to you tonight who will be the next James Bond. The new James Bond is… and I will stop right now because Amy Pascal is about to have a heart attack. Thank you very much.”

Just last week it was reported that The Batman's Robert Pattinson had screen-tested for the role of 007 in the 26th James Bond film, and that Superman's Nicholas Hoult had also come into consideration. The two join Jack Lowden, Callum Turner, and Josh O'Connor on the shortlist for the hotly-contested role, although nothing official has been confirmed by Amazon MGM Studios.

Casting for James Bond has been underway since spring, and since then rumours about who will take the role of the British super spy have been flying around from all angles like misfiring gadgets in Q Branch. Slow Horses' Jack Lowden would appear to be the frontrunner at least based on the feedback from fans, although former Bond Daniel Craig appears to be rooting for Josh O'Connor.

Meanwhile, Villeneuve's Dune: Part Three is set to arrive in theaters on December 18, 2026. Also arriving in theaters around that time are three Dune: Part Three popcorn buckets, including one with two sandworm mouths. Watch those teeth.

Nvidia has launched an independent investigation into CEO Jensen Huang after he admitted to having an affair with a suspected Chinese spy.

The tech giant's board confirmed the news in a statement today, saying that it is looking into its concerns "in light of recent reporting" that Huang has "been the target of a foreign intelligence effort." The update follows a late-October New York Times report, which stated the CEO had been unfaithful to his wife with an individual that U.S. intelligence believed to be involved in a Chinese spy plot.

The individual named in the report as having a relationship with Huang was Megaspeed executive and Chinese businesswoman Alice Huang or Huang Le. The CEO confirmed the affair in a letter sent to Nvidia staff (via BBC).

"I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children,” he said. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry."

"Regarding the national security concerns raised in news reports, Nvidia's Board of Directors has initiated an independent investigation," he added. "I support the investigation and will cooperate fully.

"I love our country and our company. I am committed to protecting Nvidia and supporting America's national security. I am proud and grateful to be an American."

Nvidia said that a committee of independent directors would oversee the effort with the assistance of outside independent counsel. The board said that it currently has "no reason to believe either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised."

The full statement follows: "The NVIDIA Board is initiating an independent investigation in light of recent reporting that founder and CEO Jensen Huang has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort. A committee of independent directors, assisted by outside independent counsel, will oversee the investigation.

"The Board prioritizes U.S. national and economic security, which is paramount to the interests of NVIDIA and its shareholders. While the Board has no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised, the Board's inquiry will examine all available information.

"Jensen fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating with it. The Board has confidence in Jensen and his leadership team and will provide further updates as appropriate."

Huang will remain Nvidia CEO as the investigation continues. The New York Times' report said that, as of last year, U.S. officials did not believe he was aware of Alice Huang's alleged intelligence activities for China.

Photo by Joel Saget / AFP via Getty Images.

New videos from the set of Miami Vice ‘85 reveal Austin Butler’s Sonny Crockett and Michael B. Jordan's Ricardo Tubbs driving a white Ferrari Testarossa, the wrong car for the period of the TV series that director Joseph Kosinski’s film is retelling. And there’s likely a legal reason for that.

In the first two seasons of the 1980s TV series, Don Johnson’s detective Sonny Crockett drove a black 1972 Ferrari Daytona Spyder convertible before it was blown up by a Stinger missile in the Season 3 premiere. (Cue the gaping Crockett meme.)

In the show’s canon, Crockett’s cars were seized assets from criminals and loaned to him by the Miami-Dade Police Department as part of his undercover identity. The department supplied Crockett with a white 1986 Ferrari Testarossa in the second episode of Season 3.

🚨| Austin Butler and Michael B. Jordan back on the streets of Brooklyn filming ‘Miami Vice ‘85’ 🎬🌴

Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs, the city is yours 😎🔥 https://t.co/AWnbL6W400

— Miami Vice ‘85 Crave (@MiamiViceCrave) November 8, 2026

The Daytona Spyder seen on the show, however, was a replica built on a Corvette C3 chassis since Ferrari North America refused to provide the show with an authentic model. Ferrari launched a legal battle against the show and the replica builder, McBurnie Coachcraft, citing trademark infringement and brand dilution.

“They eventually settled the dispute, winning broad legal protections for their trademarks and even the ‘shape and profile’ of the car,” recapped by @CinemaIsLife on X. “As a part of the settlement they donated two authentic Testarossas (their new flagship car) to the production—but only on the condition that the fake Daytona be dramatically blown up on national television.”

It would appear then that Universal is simply avoiding another legal headache by jettisoning the Daytona Spyder from Miami Vice ‘85 and going with the white Testarossa even though it violates canon.

Miami Vice ‘85 has been filming in New York and New Jersey but will shift production to Miami once hurricane season is over. The film opens in theaters, including IMAX, on May 19, 2028.

Jesse Eisenberg said he will "sometimes experiment with AI" – but it's just because he's "testing it to make sure it's bad."

The Batman v. Superman and A Real Pain star explained why he finds the rapidly advancing and controversial technology unnerving – and how he deals with it – during a conversation with Variety. As he continues to plant his feet in Hollywood as a talent who can act, write, and direct, AI is something he's trying to keep his eye on in more ways than one.

"I have a paranoid answer for this," Eisenberg said when asked if he's nervous about the technology. "I’m totally paranoid. I sometimes experiment with AI to see whether it's good at writing. And it's still not.

"I’m paranoid, so I check and it still isn't. Thank God. I say, 'Write a scene like this.' I'm just testing it to make sure it's bad, and it's still bad. So I'm relieved, but, like, how far away is it from being good? How far are we from a kid putting on a pair of goggles and saying, 'I want to watch a movie about me where I rob a bank and then kiss the girl I’m in love with at school. Here are pictures of her, here are pictures of me' and then they press play? I'm paranoid about that."

While figures like George Lucas have supported AI in the past, there are plenty of entertainers who have spoken out against the technology as it has advanced in recent years. Goku's voice actor in Dragon Ball, Masako Nozawa, blasted those who had used AI to steal her voice for their own use. Nicolas Cage said he'll "probably not work with" Amazon again after he declined to sign its AI waiver. Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto said Nintendo would prefer to "go in a different direction" when speaking about the topic in September.

Eisenberg elaborated on his approach, saying that there are two saving graces: the power of the creative spirit and art that has stood the test of time. As AI development progresses to new and often intimidating places, these are the things that bring him some peace.

"Creative spirit will find ways to entertain and delight us and speak about things in a way that maybe computers won’t," he added. "The other thing I think about all the time, and [The Debut star Julianne Moore is] about to go to a play in New York, is that I do these Greek plays, which were written 2,500 years ago and we perform them the same way they were performed 2,500 years ago. If they’ve lasted that long, they’ll still be there.

"People want to be in the same room as other people, watching and listening to stories. It’s as old as cave people sitting by the campfire telling stories, and there will always be room for that. What I do worry about is whether we’ll still be able to make a living from it. I’m not 100% sure about that."

Eisenberg's next movie is The Debut, which is set to arrive December 11, 2026. In related news, the moviemaker recently reflected on how winning a Razzie for his role as Lex Luthor affected his career. In June, he talked about what it was like to turn down an opportunity to return as Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network sequel.

Photo by Zak Hussein/Variety via Getty Images.

Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden said he thinks innovation at Sony shouldn't come "from making a PS6 for $1,200" but from making "another PS5 for $300."

As tech costs skyrocket and rumors of pricey gaming consoles swirl, the former president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America took the time on The Trophy Room podcast to encourage the PlayStation maker to consider an unexpected, cheaper course of action. Pointing out how previous hardware leaps have typically offered clearly identifiable innovative qualities from generation to generation, he touched on why the PlayStation 6 simply leaning on "more ray tracing and more teraflops" might not be the best idea.

As Layden put it, "I think we have enough power in the machine."

"The innovation needs to come not from making PS6 for $1,200. It's to make another PS5 for $300," he added. "Now, that would be true innovation. This is the first platform that I've seen that has gone up in price over time. I mean, PS2, at the end of the PS2 era, it was $99. You could buy a PS2 for $99."

The PS5 launched almost exactly six years ago with two primary options for players to choose from: a base version with a disc drive for $499, and a Digital Edition for $399. What seemed like relatively fair price points in 2020 now seems almost like a steal thanks to a series of price increases in recent years. Today, buying a base PS5 directly from PlayStation costs $649, a Digital Edition costs $599, and a Pro costs an unbelievable $899 (up $200 from its reveal price). Things get even worse when you look at retailers like GameStop.

Sony has put the blame on "continued pressures in the global economic landscape," but that's done little to lessen the sting for the average buyer. As console sales for Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo suffer, Layden is of the mind that Sony shouldn't be looking for a way to get to a likely more expensive future but instead a cheaper past.

"I think if I were in their shoes, that's what I'd be doing. I'd be trying to find a way to get the cost down on the 5," he added.

Later, he continued: "It's a hard place to be right now, I think. What the company needs to do is do what it's never done, which is, don't iterate the console. Make it smaller, make it cheaper, do all the things you can around that, but the silicon's fine, the OS is fine. It's more than enough power to build the kind of games all of us want to play."

If you look at the raw console release timeline, we're just about due for the next PlayStation, but many players say they don't want to see a PS6 announced until hardware prices come down. In May, Sony said it was still trying to decide when its next console should launch. It followed a February report that stated the company was considering pushing the device to 2028 – or even 2029 – following previous 2027 launch expectations.

For now, however, we know distressingly little about the PS6. As PlayStation continues battling the backlash against its decision to kill physical discs, one leaker has said RAM and storage for the console alone could cost as much as $680. Meanwhile, an October patent suggested Sony may be looking into taking advantage of its own take on frame generation. How much the PS6 will cost when all is said and done is a mystery, but the future isn't looking particularly bright.

Godzilla Minus Zero crushed expectations with a strong $63 million in its opening weekend at the global box office.

Director Takashi Yamazaki's Minus One sequel performed in theaters with an estimated $31.6 million domestically and $31.4 million internationally. That's at least a few stories above distributor domestic projections, which had Godzilla propped up to open in the mid-to-low $20 million range (via The Hollywood Reporter), securing its title as the biggest opening for a live-action foreign language film ever.

"War reduced Japan to zero, and Godzilla plunged it into minus," an official description said. "Two years have passed since then, and the country has faced agonizing struggles to achieve recovery and finally reclaim daily life. Just as humanity managed to cling to a hard-won peace, a new threat strikes, crushing hope in an instant. There is no third time. Everything ends here."

Where its predecessor focused on one lone pilot named Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) who found himself caught in the middle of post-war Japan's first run-in with Godzilla, Godzilla Minus Zero turned the focus to a new, otherworldly threat: King Ghidorah. Toho has mostly done its best to keep the classic kaiju antagonist's design a secret in the lead-up to the sequel's release, so don't worry, we won't spoil anything here. Although images and even shoddy theater recordings have polluted the internet in the few days since the film's release, the Godzilla vs. Ghidorah rematch almost certainly played a part in encouraging audiences to buy a ticket early.

Godzilla Minus Zero also pulled in $21.3 million in global IMAX returns alone, breaking the record for an opening for a Japanese IMAX film. Booming audio aside, Godzilla has been going strong for the last decade or so. While films like the brutal Godzilla Minus One and Shin Godzilla helped reclaim the King of the Monsters' crown as a theatrical force to be reckoned with, Legendary has also kept other audiences entertained with its take on the character.

Included in a cinematic universe known as the Monsterverse, this version of Godzilla has appeared in everything from a 2014 standalone film to team-ups with King Kong. The most recent arrived with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire in 2024, with another sequel, Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, due out in March of next year.

Legendary's Monsterverse has benefited from solid box office returns, but Yamazaki's vision for Godzilla has earned the atomic lizard critical acclaim. More than three years removed from its 2023 release date, Godzilla Minus One still boasts a 99% from critics and 98% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes (IGN gave it an 8/10). It also famously won an Oscar for VFX at the 96th Academy Awards. Godzilla Minus Zero holds an admittedly lower 90% from critics and 96% from audiences on the review aggregating website. IGN's 7/10 review said the sequel "ups the ante on the carnage" but didn't quite manage to have the same impact with its human characters.

"Godzilla Minus Zero doesn’t disappoint in the slightest on the kaiju front," we said, "but does lack the same level of emotional resonance that its predecessor held."

Time will tell if Godzilla Minus Zero is looked back upon as fondly as the film it follows. In the meantime, the kaiju and his three-headed archnemesis are enjoying their time as kings of the worldwide box office. Competition for the weekend included Ramayana: Rise of a Legend, which earned $55.7 million, and the new animated Dr. Seuss movie, The Cat in the Hat, which earned $30.5 million.

Elsewhere at the box office, we had Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim's Elizabeth Holmes documentary, You Can See Everything, which continued to attract eyes with another $8.8 million for the weekend and $79.8 million total, domestically. DC Studios' Clayface's domestic total is now at $56.6 million, with its global haul hardening at $109 million.

Godzilla Minus Zero also stars Minami Hamabe as Noriko Oishi, Hidetaka Yoshioka as Kenji Noda, and Min Tanaka as Kanji Murakami. Despite the movie's promise of "no third time," Yamazaki recently said he's "fifty-fifty" on whether or not he'll return for another sequel.

For a better idea of how the story could continue with Godzilla Plus One (or whatever it ends up being called), you can read IGN's spoiler-y breakdown of Godzilla Minus Zero's ending. You can also check out how we think the rest of Godzilla's rogues' gallery could be utilized, and then read about the household inspiration for the movie's final fight.

From quicker movement to sending Link to space, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time speedrunners have already found a few ways to break the remake.

One of the best things about a new Zelda game is seeing just how quickly players can speed through it, but Nintendo's latest video game being a remake presents a unique situation. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has accumulated some of the most bizarre speedrunning strategies in its 28 years on the market, and in just a few days, the Nintendo Switch 2 remake looks like it will live up to that legacy.

Creative players started peeling back the layers of the new version of Link and Zelda's classic adventure just hours after it launched November 5. Even just moments into its life, they've discovered some seemingly useful (and hilarious) ways to break the game, with more almost certainly to be discovered in the weeks, months, and years ahead. Let's start with what might be the most common tactic under investigation so far: sending Link hurdling into the air at high speed.

Ocarina of Time Remake speedrunning has begun https://t.co/lnEvgaHgj0

— ZFG (@zfg111) November 7, 2026

Ocarina of Time speedrunner Zfg1 seems to be one of the first to discover that the Switch 2 Zelda remake has interesting physics, which, if pushed far enough, can toss Link into the air like a firework. Even at first glance, you can probably guess how a safe landing from that height opens the door for players to get creative and skip portions of the game.

It seems relatively easy to replicate, too, with X/Twitter user @Vespher also sharing footage of them pulling off the same stunt in the same location. Other locations seem to be susceptible to Link's sudden weightlessness with some careful positioning, with a similar area highlighted by other players.

You might think that Link will only be able to fling himself skyward in extremely specific locations, but fear not, as there are other ways to send him for a ride. Another popular glitch making the rounds in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake's first weekend in the public's hands only asks Hyrule's hero to stand in a chest. A few sudden movements (or even a well-placed bomb), and poof, ceiling.

Nocturne skip with a normalized setup and a buffered ocarina actor jump (ez mode) https://t.co/QvtrVKYnC1

— Vespher (@Vespher) November 7, 2026

特定の宝箱の上でめっちゃ高く飛べるバグ

ネタバレ注意

#NintendoSwitch2 #ゼルダの伝説 #時のオカリナ https://t.co/y2Y5htiSTd

— かえる (@k4erup) November 7, 2026

時のオカリナリメイク完全に理解した https://t.co/AoSYzB33ob

— せーら姫 (@sera18171) November 7, 2026

Like so many other frequently speedrunned games out there, Ocarina of Time players have picked it apart to find the fastest means of traversal. Whether it's walking backward, hopping, or rolling, there are plenty of different ways to get around Hyrule. Nintendo has done its best to make speed concerns a thing of the past in the Switch 2 remake thanks to Link's new sprint feature.

Did that stop fans from finding faster alternatives? Of course not.

In fact, hilariously, early speedrunning strats show that rolling, again, may have emerged victorious as the ultimate way to get to the final fight against Ganondorf as quickly as possible. There are two seemingly faster options so far: one involving hopping, and one without. The former, as outlined by YouTuber KnightPohtaytoe, requires players to target-hop forward into a roll and seems marginally faster than sprinting. The latter, shown by Reddit user Pomps8a, is a bit easier to get the hang of and simply asks Link to cancel his roll with a quick attack.

As this story is being written, the Zelda community has already found even more ways to skip sections of the game. One that started being shared around earlier today lets players climb walls by simply switching items.

デクの棒でジャンプ斬りする瞬間に他アイテムに切り替えることで高い足場にも届くバグが見つかった

ほかの場所でも使えそう

#NintendoSwitch2 #ゼルダの伝説 #時のオカリナ https://t.co/DuDoGidQu7

— かえる (@k4erup) November 7, 2026

All the speedrunning stats are still coming in, but so far, it looks like it will take the average player about 20 hours or so to beat The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake on Switch 2. Content creator @MrGymnast86 is one speedrunner who started gunning for the fastest time out of the gate and managed to complete an Any% run in a little less than four-and-a-half hours. It's a time that will almost surely shrink as more methods are developed by the community.

The players looking to uncover sequence breaks – the ones who really want to get that game timer down just mere seconds if they can make it work – have found ways to allow Young Link to perform tasks only available to Adult Link and vice versa. As you might have guessed, the Ocarina of Time remake…doesn't really know how to tell the difference between the two if progress is made illegitimately. The results are almost impossible to describe, so you can see what some players have managed to capture below.

Using a glitch to get a really big jump in the remake, its now possible to get the silver gauntlets chest as adult, which is supposed to be gotten as child. The cutscene that plays after tries to fit adult link into child link model, which ends up looking like this. https://t.co/un9DflnvxT

— ZFG (@zfg111) November 7, 2026

This isn't possible with glitches yet, but if we can find a way to get into an adult only cutscene as child, we'll see this. https://t.co/0DC756ZLJV

— ZFG (@zfg111) November 7, 2026

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake is out now for Switch 2. For more, you can see why IGN gave it a 9/10 review. You can also read about the developers who helped reimagine the Nintendo 64 classic for a modern audience.

Image credit: @zfg111 on X/Twitter.

Epic Games has revealed the drop rate for Fortnite's Pirate Token after backlash surrounding the infamous in-game pickup saw fans try to report the studio to the FTC.

It's been just one week since Epic turned the Item Shop on its head with the launch of its Treasure Hunters mini-season November 1. At the center of the backlash is the Pirate Token, an ultra-rare drop that grants access to the Pirate Shop and effectively makes just about every item in the shop free for 14 days.

It's an in-game collectible with unprecedented value, so naturally, it's sent players into a frenzy as they turn over every chest in hopes of finding one for themselves. The problem with a token like this, players have argued, is that they should probably be made aware of the odds of actually finding it so they don't gamble their time on chests that could very likely never yield results. It's transparency that Epic has failed to provide – until now.

The developers finally took steps to bring the backlash to an end with a post shared on the Fortnite Service X/Twitter account. Leaving no room for guesswork, Epic spelled out the exact drop rate for this season's treasures and how luck may differ between the average day and Treasure Hours. The one caveat is that Treasure Hours drop rates may be higher in the future, with the team giving the example of a window from tonight that boosts rates for the Pirate Token and Weekly Gold Outfit. You can see the full breakdown below.

Fortnite Treasure Hunters Drop Rates

Normal Match

• 1:1,562,500 - Weekly Gold Outfit

• 1:137,500 - Pirate Shop Access

• 1:7,813 - Weekly Vehicle & Decal

• 1:568 - Weekly Pickaxe or Backbling

• 1:391 - Weekly Jam Track

• 1:272 - Weekly Loading Screen

• 1:127 - Gizmo (any)

Treasure Hours

• Pirate Shop Access: 1.5x

• Weekly Gold Outfit: 7.5x

• Weekly Vehicle & Decal: 10x

It's the not-knowing that's been most painful for the thousands of fans who have dedicated hours upon hours looking for the Pirate Token in the last week. Some chose to stick to the grind, opening up chests to no avail. Many, many others, however, took their frustrations online.

"All Fortnite players deserve equal treatment," one disgruntled player claimed. "Players who barely play get the Pirate Shop Access Token on day one, while longtime players with 3000+ chests get NOTHING. I'm calling on Fortnite players if we don't get this token, let's BOYCOTT FORTNITE FOREVER."

Epic responded to claims that not all Fortnite players have an equal opportunity to find rare items like the Pirate Shop Token in an X post. In addition to saying "buying an account or using fake tools is a scam," it confirmed that, like any other chest in Battle Royale, "every player has an equal opportunity to find Pirate Shop Access."

@Pirat_Nation Hey @Pirat_Nation - Buying an account or using fake tools is a scam. This is just like any of the chests in Battle Royale, so every player has an equal opportunity to find Pirate Shop Access.

— Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) November 3, 2026

Hello @FTC, Epic Games added a new "Pirate Token" which doesn't have any public odds of getting it, which creates anti-consumer field/FOMO. The game is majorly played by children, they can do anything if they wouldn't get it, so take action against Epic Games please

— KBAHTCET │ QuantSet (@QuantSet) November 5, 2026

You may not be too surprised to see some calling to boycott Fortnite over the confusion surrounding the Pirate Token. What may be a bit more shocking, though, are those who tried to report Epic to the Federal Trade Commission for failing to share odds out of the gate.

"What Fortnite has brought upon this game is predatory and is conducting a deceptive business practice making people believe that everyone has a 'FAIR' chance," another player, who said they "wouldn't be surprised" to see the FTC get involved. "I know people as well where entire squads with over 15,000 chests opened and not getting items simply as the car, jam track, pickaxe, or the loading screen. Fortnite needs to have better transparency with the community and their partners when it comes to hosting events like this."

We now know that, during most hours of the day, everyone has a 1:137,000 chance of opening a chest that grants Pirate Shop Access. Before the clarification, players had no idea how many chests they should expect to open before letting frustration set in. A few players online had even surmised that the drop rate could be somewhere around 1:7,000, a far cry from what ended up being the reality.

@FortniteStatus "1:137,500 - Pirate Shop Access"

That's why Luffy still hasn't found the One Piece after 20 years. https://t.co/eSDpRLYZev

— UKNON Jones - OUT NOW! (@uknonjones) November 7, 2026

Fans are generally happy to see exact odds on their screens, even if they wish Epic had been more transparent at the season's drop. For now, it's unclear if the studio has any plans to try any moves like this again, or if drop rates will be clarified earlier on.

"Thank you, this is what we wanted," @StableRonaldo said. "W Fortnite."

"Thank you for transparency but it should not have taken a week," @M1das_OW2 replied.

Fortnite again found itself in hot water when players launched a campaign against its Nikki from Obsession skin last month. Epic is reportedly working on a Star Wars and Marvel crossover game, though it was reportedly recently delayed.

A Utah teenager was rescued from an Oregon man's home after she successfully contacted help from another child in Among Us.

Authorities saved the 17-year-old November 1, 2026, after receiving a tip relayed by a younger player she met while playing developer Innersloth's hit party mystery game, according to Newsweek. She had allegedly spent more than 500 days held captive by 39-year-old Adam Harmel after he took her across state lines and prevented her from leaving.

The Utah teen was just 15 when she was reported missing in May 2025. Harmel allegedly began contacting her through Snapchat earlier that month before offering to send her money to travel to his home in Oregon. He then made the hours-long drive to her location and lured her into his vehicle, disposing of her phone by throwing it into a river shortly after.

Investigators said Harmel forced the teenager to sleep in a bed with him in his basement, becoming increasingly violent through the 521 days she was held captive. She found her window to escape when the alleged kidnapper granted her access to a phone without cellular data.

Although unable to contact others via traditional means, the device did allow her to use a WiFi connection to play online games. Among Us, which allows players to communicate and was released for mobile devices in 2018, allowed her to get in touch with another child.

After moving the conversation to a different, undisclosed social media app, she then told the other player who she was, revealing that she was actively being held captive at Harmel's home in Oregon.

She shared concern that, after more than 500 days of searching, authorities had stopped looking for her. The other child then alerted their mother to the interaction, with the parent then reaching out to the FBI. A subsequent video call with the missing teenager saw her describe her circumstances to investigators.

She was rescued from Harmel's property later that day. Harmel has since been arrested and charged with transporting the teenager across state lines with the intent to exploit her.

Sony has announced an indefinite delay for PlayStation's Pulse Elevate wireless speakers just days before their global launch.

The tech company announced the last-minute schedule change in a November 6, 2026, update to an existing PlayStation.Blog post. The message cites a recently identified "production issue" that must be attended to, with no new release date shared.

"As part of our ongoing quality testing of Pulse Elevate speakers, we have identified a production issue with the product and have made the decision to delay the launch," Sony's announcement said. "The additional time will allow us to ensure the product will deliver the experience we intended for our players. We apologize for the delay and appreciate your patience and understanding. We look forward to bringing Pulse Elevate to players soon."

Scroll the tiniest bit further down, and you'll see that Sony had set the Pulse Elevate speakers to launch globally November 12 – just six days out from when the delay update was published. Whatever problem its team encountered must have been pretty significant, but without a new release date or additional information, it's unclear if we'll learn what happened.

Sony announced its new PlayStation-branded, $219.99 speakers in September of last year as the latest entry in its collection of Pulse audio accessories, which includes earbuds and headphones. They were said to be available in both Midnight Black and White, with both boasting a built-in microphone with "AI-enhanced noise rejection." The speakers are also able to be paired with PlayStation 5, PC, Mac, and even PlayStation Portal devices.

"Pulse Elevate builds upon the immersive next-level gaming audio experience we introduced to players with Pulse Elite wireless headset and Pulse Explore wireless earbuds, combining powerful technologies like planar magnetic drivers and PlayStation Link into new form factors for players to experience with their favorite games," Sony said at the time of the announcement.

How many units were manufactured ahead of the delay, or how the new issue may impact these existing speakers, was not made immediately clear. IGN took a closer look at all of the new PlayStation hardware, Pulse Elevate wireless speakers included, back in June. We came away looking forward to how the tech might work in practice, calling its noise rejection system "seriously impressive stuff."

Without BioWare, N7 Day is quieter this year, but that didn't stop the Normandy cast and crew from teaming up for a video message asking fans to help save Mass Effect.

EA shuttered BioWare, canceled Mass Effect 5, and put the gaming side of the franchise on an indefinite hold just weeks before the series' annual November 7 holiday, leaving players just as hurt as they were confused. There's not really any official festivities to enjoy this year, but the developers and actors behind the stories and characters fans love still made sure to get together for a special video message.

Organized by the unofficial group known as We are Mass Effect, the two-minute video message features appearances from composer Sam Hulick, Jennifer Hale (Commander Shepard/FemShep), Ash Sroka (Tali'Zorah), Keythe Farley (Thane), Kimberly Brooks (Ashley), Mark Meer (Commander Shepard/MaleShep), Steve Blum (Urdnot Grunt), Brandon Keener (Garrus), and many more. One by one, they each call to "Save Mass Effect" in the wake of BioWare's closure, marking what is only the latest shot to garner attention and, hopefully, give the franchise a shot in the arm.

Today is a very special day for Mass Effect fans.

We've worked incredibly hard to bring together most of the original Mass Effect trilogy's voice cast to share a very important message with you.

We need to #SaveMassEffect. https://t.co/FOp0qp4wBI

— We are Mass Effect - #SaveMassEffect (@WeAreMassEffect) November 7, 2026

"It started feeling like Shepard recruiting the squad in Mass Effect 2!" We are Mass Effect's Mer told IGN when describing the process to make the video. "We were bringing people on board one by one, and Mark was a huge help in making that happen! It almost felt like we were gathering War Assets. And the most surprising thing is that with every video we received, the actors would thank us.

"We'd get messages saying, 'Thank you for doing this,' or 'Thank you for your work.' We were the ones who felt incredibly grateful to them for taking the time to participate, but they kept turning around and thanking us. That really touched me. Everyone involved, from the people who made these games to the people who brought their characters to life, cares deeply about this universe."

We are Mass Effect and other Mass Effect fans have been busy the last few weeks. After footage and details for the canceled Mass Effect: Universe appeared online just days after EA brought the franchise to a halt, a petition has launched and gained more than 310,000 signatures. A Canadian politician also started a government petition to save BioWare just last week.

As some have called to boycott EA, others have taken their fight straight to the publisher's front door. We are Mass Effect has been a big part of that initiative, with its first and most notable move arriving when it launched a #SaveMassEffect billboard in Times Square. Yesterday, the group drove a mobile billboard around EA headquarters in Redwood City, California. More billboards are live today, including one posted up around the former BioWare offices in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, with another set to appear around The Game Awards next month. Former project director and executive producer Michael Gamble also sent a message to fans for N7 Day.

🚨 WE ARE IN EDMONTON

Today, our mobile billboard is right outside BioWare's former offices.

For 30 years, BioWare gave us unforgettable stories and characters. Today, we're standing up for the people who brought them to life.

#SaveMassEffect https://t.co/fXa4bemyfE

— We are Mass Effect - #SaveMassEffect (@WeAreMassEffect) November 7, 2026

🚨 WE'RE KICKING OFF N7 DAY WITH ANOTHER BILLBOARD

This time, #SaveMassEffect has made its way to Cardiff, Wales, thanks to the incredible @psykit.

Another amazing initiative from our community, showing that we're not giving up on Mass Effect and BioWare's legacy. https://t.co/4avNpk18jd

— We are Mass Effect - #SaveMassEffect (@WeAreMassEffect) November 7, 2026

🚨 WE ARE TAKING OVER TEXAS

A member of our community, AngryBaby, has put up #SaveMassEffect billboards in the Frisco and Dallas areas of North Texas.

It's incredible to see fans taking the initiative and spreading the movement on their own.

HOLD THE LINE 🫡 https://t.co/AoJBppCzbV

— We are Mass Effect - #SaveMassEffect (@WeAreMassEffect) November 6, 2026

You all are truly amazing. The love and passion for this…universe…is incredible. Even in worst days, we could always count on you.

To all the stories left untold.

Happy N7 Day.

— Michael Gamble (@GambleMike) November 7, 2026

"We're still holding on to that hope and fighting for the future of Mass Effect, BioWare, and the people who have dedicated so much of themselves to bringing this universe to life," Mer added. "N7 Day is a reminder of what these games mean to all of us, but also of the people behind them. The impact they've had on this community will never been forgotten, and we will continue celebrating it for as long as we can."

Meanwhile, as the Mass Effect cast and fans on the ground do their best to celebrate N7 Day, other developers have chimed in to share their love for the series on its saddest holiday so far. Owlcat Games, the team behind the upcoming Mass Effect-inspired RPG The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, shared a video celebrating what BioWare and its work over the decades means to them.

"Everybody in Owlcat dreamt about playing Mass Effect 5," studio creative director Alexander Mishulin said. "It's very, very selfish, but we wanted to experience the next chapter in those adventures. Our hearts and minds are with [BioWare], and we really hope they find themselves a new home, different studios that will allow them to make even more worlds, even more experiences, more adventures that we will be amazed at. That will be new beacons for new generations of game developers.

This #N7Day is a sad one for all Mass Effect fans. So we want to reminisce about what Mass Effect and many other BioWare games meant to us and how they inspired us. https://t.co/HKG5XkLA28

— Owlcat Games (@OwlcatGames) November 7, 2026

"It will be not Mass Effect, but it will be something else, and something beautiful."

BioWare's final years were captured on video and will soon be shared in a new documentary. For more, you can check out IGN's interview with one modder who has rebuilt Mass Effect 3's multiplayer. You can also read about how AI is impacting the modding scene.

Over the past few months, there's been an explosion of AI in the modding scene. Whether it's mashup mods on Twitter or full decompilation done by Claude, AI is everywhere in the mod community, and it could be killing the hobby.

I got a chance to sit down with ME3Tweaks' Mgamerz to talk about his new Mass Effect Legendary Edition ME3 Multiplayer mod, where I asked him about how AI has affected the modding community. While he admits that Claude is very effective at modding games, it's causing an avalanche of low-effort content that's hard to sift through. And, while there has always been a range of quality for mods, the inherent difficulty of getting into a game's files and changing things was a natural filter that's slowly eroding.

Mgamerz told me, "The difficulty of making mods and getting into it filtered out a lot of low-quality stuff. You see this on stuff like the Switch eShop, I've heard. It's full of slop, because there's no quality control and you can just ship whatever, and then users have to dredge through all sorts of stuff like that."

Although typing in a prompt to mod your own copy of a game is one thing, the problems start to appear once you start distributing it on platforms like Nexus Mods, where you have to be mindful about how your mod will interact with other add-ons, otherwise you're likely to just break peoples' games.

Mgamerz laid out that process, telling me, "In the modding community, you have an ecosystem. For example, I have my mod manager, you deploy mods through the mod manager, it runs a bunch of checks on the mods to make sure you're not going to ship something that's just going to break someone's game immediately."

These AI mods can do more than just break other people's mods too — they can also make your game much harder to run if they aren't optimized properly. For example, Mgamerz says, "There's certain knowledge, like you don't put stuff in startup files because it wastes tons of memory. If you stuff everything in there, you boot the game, oh, now the game takes an extra gigabyte of memory for your single mod to work, because you didn't want to do it the proper way."

It's hard to argue with the fact that these AI tools are introducing a whole new generation of gamers to modding, but it's doing so without making them go through the effort of figuring out how to make things effectively. We've already seen major modding communities pull their sites down because of this outbreak of AI modding tools that can take months of someone's hard work and spin it around into a 'working' mod after a couple of Claude prompts. And that might end up becoming the default for people who learn how to code exclusively through AI tools.

When I asked Mgamerz what the pathway for people who want to get into modding these days is, his answer was grim. He told me, "Getting into [modding]? I feel like modding is kind of dying. If you come in and you're like, 'I want to just do this, no AI. I just want to cut my teeth, find the boundaries, break over them, have a difficult, challenging task,' you pretty much have to work in secret now."

"Because if you essentially have an idea and someone else is like, 'Wow, that's a cool idea.' And you're like, 'Well, it's going to take me six months.' And they're like, 'I don't want to wait six months.' They can spend 20 bucks and pump this thing out in a day or two, and it'll probably work, but the user will have no understanding of how."

Mgamerz understands, though, that the prevalence of these AI tools is getting a lot of people interested in modding their favorite games, and that's not a bad thing. He told me, "If you don't release the stuff that you make, I don't see any problem. You made something cool for yourself."

Instead, the problem is that, if you install it without considering how it'll interact with other software, it can really bungle other peoples' projects. "Once you hand this product over to somebody else, share it with the world, suddenly it can become everybody's problem. And from my experience, everyone that vibe codes stuff, two weeks later, they're gone. They're not supporting it. So the people that stick around have to fix and deal with all of it."

Ever since Claude Opus 5.5 released back in September, it feels like the modding scene has been going through a rollercoaster, and it's impossible to know where exactly it's going to land. Whether the world of Nexus Mods and publicly available GitHub forks is going to start to die down like Mgamerz thinks it will is anyone's guess. But one thing's for sure: Once The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel drops, modding is going to be a completely different animal than the Skyrim days, if Bethesda's next game is even moddable at all.

World of Warcraft Forever is all about taking your time and exploring the world, rather than rushing to the endgame. But, despite the Forever team's insistence on taking your time and making friends, a WoW Forever player has already hit level 60.

Team JokerD, led by the eponymous streamer was the first team of characters to hit level 60, and the team was made up entirely of Undead characters and one Troll. The Undead race was important there, because Blizzard changed the Cannibalize ability to help you regenerate mana, which meant there was little to no downtime between massive pulls. I spent some time watching the streams of these speedrunners, and they'd gather entire groups of mobs to nuke them down with AoE abilities.

JokerD's claim to fame was being the world's first level 60 when World of Warcraft Classic launched back in 2019, so it's not super suprising that his team was the first to hit max level in Forever. There was plenty of competition this time around, but JokerD's team was pretty far ahead of the fray throughout the entire race. Even at the time of writing, the second place character who's not part of JokerD's team is Ksuper Worldfirst, who is still level 53.

However, while it's cool that these players have been able to hit max level already, there's not much of a reason to rush to endgame right now. The first raids, Barrow Deeps, Hyjal Summit and Onyxia's Lair, don't open until December 9, so players hitting level cap this weekend might find it hard to find what they should do next.

When I interviewed WoW Forever principal game designer Kris Zierhut, he made it pretty clear that Blizzard intends players to level multiple characters, and reinforced that leveling is a major part of the game. So, if you do manage to make it to level 60 super early and you run out of content before raids open, it might be worth it to start another character and take a different path to max level.

WoW Forever also had an extremely smooth launch, and was largely free of any major server problems. But, then again, Blizzard later came out and bragged that the game was running on more than 200TB of RAM, so it'd be a little concerning if the servers still buckled under the weight of players trying to log in.