An October 27 statement from employees of Don't Nod, the developer best known for making the original Life is Strange games, warn that the company is in danger of insolvency and layoffs, and accused its management of "illegal" practices that have caused staff "uncertainty and anxiety."

The damning statement comes from employees who are members of the French game industry union Le Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo, which revealed that Don’t Nod is currently under a safeguard to help protect itself from insolvency (meaning that the company wouldn’t be able to pay its debts).

The statement claims employees were approached by management and given “several financial scenarios” that could happen in the near future, both of which “included redundancies," with the worst case forecasting the “liquidation of the company through 2026.”

The message states that “nearly all of the non-managerial jobs” were cut at Don’t Nod, which reportedly included all animators, character artists, concept artists, associate producers, and most environmental artists, sound designers, level designers, programmers, QA testers, HR and developers. Half of its game designers were also laid off, according to the statement.

“Management is extremely clearly going for heavily individualized targeting and hasn’t been shy about their intent to keep selected people in rather than jobs, which is illegal,” the union wrote.

The statement goes on to claim that management is betting on outsourcing to take on the workload of these fired team members — a decision that the union feels is “out-of-touch.”

The letter then says Don't Nod employees have been “living on the edge, in uncertainty and anxiety” for the last two years, to the point where six workplace accidents occurred this year and an inquiry was recently launched into a “serious and immediate danger.” It also alleges that management “refused to let those who would be willing to leave earlier go through a voluntary leave plan,” saying they “do not care about the damage it deals to employees’ health.”

The statement ends on a striking note; a government agency that represents employees is set to make its ruling on November 3. After that, management will have 21 days to decide on a plan. If this plan is accepted by the government agency, it’s possible that employees could “get their firing letters on November 25.”

“If it were to be rejected however, management would have to go back to the drawing board and improvise because, as you might have gathered, planning for contingencies isn’t their forte,” the letter concludes.

This is the latest news to surface regarding Don’t Nod’s dire financial straits after it was warned by auditors in a financial report that it could run out of cash as early as November. Its latest game, Aphelion, was released earlier this year to middling reviews, and given this recent union tell-all, its next project could be in peril.

The 1993 first-person shooter Doom is legendary. Its place in history is both untouchable and inarguable. The details of that history, though, are currently being debated on social media. Not by fans, mind you, but instead by two of the very people that created it. Doom co-creator John Romero and Doom level- and game-designer Sandy Petersen took to X (formerly Twitter) to dispute each other's recollection of the origin of Doom's groundbreaking DeathMatch PvP multiplayer mode.

It started with Petersen posting a thread titled, "How Doom changed the world." He discussed his history in the video game industry prior to getting hired at id Software to work on Doom – specifically on a real-time strategy game released in 1990 called Command HQ, and how designer Danielle Bunten Berry "thought that since 65% of gamers had modems it would mostly be played head-to-head. It bombed. I think it had about 40,000 sales." That set up a memory he shared next about working on Doom, about which he said, "We all agreed at id that it was unlikely anyone would ever play Deathmatch, except in very small numbers. After all, zero games had a robust head-to-head experience, and my personal time with Command HQ just hammered home the point. However, everyone at id loved Deathmatch, so we kept it in the game. We figured, even if no one else played it, WE could keep doing it."

Romero responded to politely take issue with Petersen's recollection of the team's sentiment around DeathMatch prior to release. He posted, "Hi Sandy. Are you well? This is wrong. On January 1, 1993, we sent a press release saying that multiplayer would be in DOOM, a full 8 months before you joined the company. We knew deathmatch would be huge. In that press release, in January 1993, we said multiplayer would be 'the number one cause of decreased productivity in businesses around the world.' We were sure of it, and we needed no convincing. I understand you are proud of your work on DOOM, and you should be, but please also respect the accuracy of your statements, particularly around game history. My concern is that these false statements are designed to trigger replies (like this one), reposts, and outrage discussion, all with the view of increasing your followers and subscriptions, particularly since this false deathmatch story (among others) is so easily disproved. I’ve even welcomed you to reach out to me ahead of time. You seem to appreciate game history as much as I do. Could you not also make yours accurate?"

Petersen continued the discussion with Romero, responding with, "John. First, 8 months before release is before I joined the company. So I have no knowledge of what you did then. Second, AFTER I joined we had a discussion in which I talked about my experience with Command HQ and YOU YOURSELF agreed that Deathmatch wouldn’t be that big a deal. Do you not remember? Third yes we all wanted Deathmatch anyway. And I’m glad my predictions were wrong. Perhaps check your own memory before gaslighting mine. Hope you’re well."

Romero came back with, "I am well, thanks, and so is my memory. I do not believe your recollection is accurate and neither do other members of the team. We KNEW deathmatch would be huge from the beginning. We said so. Once it was in, those aspirations were confirmed." As of the publication of this story, that's the last post in their online discussion.

Regardless of who is correct about DeathMatch's pre-release history, it certainly blew up once Doom shipped in December of 1993, and every multiplayer first-person shooter released since can trace some part of its lineage back to Doom. For my part, Doom is one of my favorite games of all time, and I was fortunate to get to check off a personal and career Bucket List item by playing through the entire legendary first episode of Doom (called "Knee-Deep in the Dead") in co-op with Romero to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2013. Today, Doom of course lives on with the new-generation team currently at id Software, with the studio having shipped the amazing Revelations DLC for Doom: The Dark Ages earlier this summer.

In the brand new free-to-play game Roco Kingdom, developed by Tencent’s Morefun Studios, you journey through the bright, colorful world of Carosiaas a Roco, a mage from the magic academy, who sets off on an adventure to collect Jinies. These Jinies are magical creatures that are native to Carosia, and there are a ton of different Jinies roaming the land. Morefun’s closed beta test is currently ongoing, and players are already experiencing what the magical world of Carosia and all that Roco Kingdom has to offer.

There are so many different kinds of Jinies to collect in Roco Kingdom, in fact, there’ll be 212 unique Jinies to find in the test, though you can expect hundreds more to come with the full launch of the game. There’s Vargheim, a wolflike Jini with tough claws and fur that acts as natural armor; Cluckchamp, a warrior chicken; Bluffa, a sweet yet feisty battling bear; and Duckiji, a super soft duck who has a penchant for spotting shiny objects around Carosia.

Though some Jinies look similar, every single Jini you encounter in Roco Kingdom is unique. That’s because each Jini varies in talents, personality types, height, weight, color, and specialities. Two Bluffas could be entirely different, with one having a stubborn personality (which means they have higher physical attack abilities), the other Bluffa could possess a cheerful personality, marked by their distinct smile. Jinies also have their own innate and unique specialities, like Shared Ride, which allows a Jini to carry you on its back as you explore, or Sharer, which can trigger bonus drops when using that Jini. There are, of course, visual differences, too. Some Jinies have a Chromatic variant, which gives a Jini a completely different color scheme. If you are lucky enough to find a Prism Pod, you can use them to capture Jinies and create a new random color gradient, which combine with glittery effects to make your Jini one of a kind. Some Jinies even have distinct physical variants that go beyond color changes. That means for Jinies like Duckiji, you can get an adorably fluffy (think chonkier) version, or the sleeker, slightly taller Duckiji. Finally, if your Jini has an Alpha Bloodline through hatching from Alpha boss eggs or an Alpha Bloodline Elixir, you have the chance to evolve your Jini to its Alpha Form, a fully upgraded and impressively powerful Jini.

To collect these Jinies, you’ll use pods, which all catch Jinies and provide different buffs. A solar pod is best suited to get Flora and Light class Jinies, a Prism Pod gives a Jini Prismatic, and a Net pod works best for Water and Wing classes. These are just a few examples of the different pods you’ll use in Roco Kingdom.

In the world of Carosia, you’ll find Blossoms, which you can target and battle to capture specific Jini. You can team up with up to four players, as Blossoms can offer opportunities to capture high-level and high-individual aptitude Jinies, or even Chromatic and Prismatic variants. You’ll also participate in weekly PvE challenges in Roco Kingdom. This test features legendary boss battles against Winged King, an epic, flying horse character with bold purple wings that would give Pegasus a run for his money. You can also encounter Parlyth, a ferocious mystical dog with a devilish tail and sharp blue scales, claws, and horns. Taking them down rewards Jinies and other surprises.

This is just a taste of the deep gameplay and rich setting Roco Kingdom offers as the newest entry into the creature collecting space. Wishlist Roco Kingdom on Steam now.

Pokemon Unite will end service on March 23, 2027, following the game’s final competition, the Aeos Crown 2027, just two days prior in Tokyo. The MOBA Pokemon battler will be shut down on both Nintendo Switch and mobile.

According to The Pokemon Company, Aeos Gem sales have been halted immediately along with any new Unite Club memberships and automatic renewals.

“We offer our sincerest gratitude to the many Trainers who have played since service started for the Nintendo Switch version on July 21, 2021,” said the announcement. “We hope you continue to enjoy Pokémon Unite until the final day of service.”

Once the game closes, players will be able to view their stats and achievements, and even play practice rounds, but online matches won’t be available. To do so, you’ll need to download a new library feature.

"Even after service ends, players who complete the required library data download before Tuesday, March 23, 2027, at 00:00 UTC will be able to use the library feature to view certain records and in-game content,” the announcement said. “Players who do not complete the required download before service ends will not be able to use the library feature afterward.”

Many expected the news after Pokemon Unite was conspicuously absent from the Pokemon World Championships 2027’s list of games. The final update lands in November, along with a special event where players can grab Unite licenses, Holowear, and other items.

Pokémon Unite was originally released on July 21, 2021, for the Nintendo Switch, and on September 22, 2021, for Android and iOS mobile devices.

IGN’s 6/10 Pokemon Unite review called it “an entertaining casual MOBA constrained by its overcommitment to simplicity (and some questionable microtransactions).” At least those are gone now.

Here’s a list of every Pokemon game you can play on Switch right now. We’ll update that when Unite ends service in 2027.

The first batch of iPhone Duos are out in the wild, and a bunch of app developers are finding ways to make the most of its foldable design. Perhaps the weirdest so far is Toastie, a game that essentially turns your $2,000 device into a grilled cheese maker. Add some ingredients, close the iPhone Duo, and toast your creation to perfection.

We turned the iPhone Duo into the world’s most expensive toaster 🥪

Build the sandwich quickly, then close your Duo to toast it. Don’t burn it though!

Check it out: https://t.co/riRVUFLlm1 https://t.co/0llh2lv9R1

— Tom Szykulski (@t_szykulski) October 7, 2026

It costs $3, less than an actual grilled cheese, and for that you get "10 orders, 3 loaves, and 14 things to put between them." Your crispy masterpiece then gets a star rating for the recipe, plating, toasting, and preparation time. You can also play on iPhone and iPad without the cute close mechanic if you're more interested in browning wheat-based products than you are fooling around with a hinge.

The game is the work of Tom Szykulski and Cyprian Brytan, and they say development took place "over more evenings than either of them planned."

Apple revealed its first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, back in September. If you're waiting on your delivery, check out our picks for the best iPhone Duo cases while you wait.

Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney spent the weekend doubling down on his severe criticism of Valve, calling Steam’s AI content disclosure a “political act.”

The controversial majority owner of Epic is all in on AI, having recently triggered a “huge pivot” of the company to retool it for “maximum AI acceleration,” Sweeney said. Epic is a long-standing rival of Gabe Newell’s Valve, with the Epic Games Store struggling to make a dent in Steam’s dominance over the PC gaming market even as it offers developers more financially beneficial terms.

Sweeney is particularly upset with Steam’s AI content disclosure policy, which requires developers to disclose the use of AI in “creating content that ships with your game, and is consumed by players.” This includes content such as artwork, sound, narrative, and localization. It does not include “efficiency gains” through the use of AI tools.

On Friday, Sweeney hit out at Valve’s policy, saying “forcing developers to write a political statement to be used against them by the hate mob they’re helping organize is abhorrent.” This statement sparked a backlash online, with a number of people — developers included — confused by the suggestion that an AI disclosure was political in any way, and insisting that Valve was only providing clarity its customers wanted.

“Customers have a right to know what they’re buying,” David Goldfarb, founder of Metal Hellsinger developer The Outsiders and former Battlefield developer, replied. “They still bought Arc Raiders, they will definitely buy games they want to buy, AI use or no. Does it disadvantage small teams who need to leverage AI to survive? Jury’s out. Calling it a hate mob is far-fetched.”

Undeterred, Sweeney issued a number of social media posts defending his position, saying AI disclosures are “just as partisan as mandatory political essays or forcing developers to list their voting history to drive cancel campaigns and public struggle sessions.”

When one person challenged Sweeney on this, accusing him of being "anti-consumer" for forcing something consumers don't like on them, the Fortnite boss compared Steam's AI disclosures to Valve forcing developers to list their political affiliations.

"Say there is a large contingent of gamers that don’t like democrats or, equivalently, republicans. Should Valve force developers to list their political affiliation? Is that pro-consumer? Do you think that policy would have a positive effect on gaming?" he said. As you can imagine, this statement was ridiculed in the replies, with one person saying "equating AI to how a person votes is pure cope gymnastics."

Again, undeterred, Sweeney claimed that Valve is hitting developer revenue by “undermining their business with these AI hate campaigns,” insisting on “a real economic cost to Valve’s foray into forced political disclosures.”

He continued: “a substantial number of users would love to have mandatory political opinion disclosures for developers, with several saying they take it upon themselves to surface this info in reviews since it’s not disclosed on product pages.

“The primary use of both categories of disclosures is to drive cancel campaigns against games and deprive them of revenue and livelihood unless they get onboard with the movement’s political goals. Yes, blocking free choice to adopt productive technology is a political act.”

Earlier this month, Epic revealed a newly refreshed version of the Epic Games Launcher, its Steam-like platform that provides access to the Epic Games Store, your games library, social features, and a developer’s hub. And, in keeping with the company’s push for AI-assisted development, this new version of the launcher was created using generative artificial intelligence. “Programming is hard,” wrote Epic in a new blog post. “So, instead of doing that, we vibe coded a new Epic Games Launcher that’s way faster and more responsive than the current one, and has a new look.”

Epic then launched an Unreal Engine vibe coding contest with an image of a six-fingered hand, presumably as a joke about poor quality AI images.

Vibe your way to 50K.

The 2026 Epic AI MegaJam begins Nov 12: https://t.co/aAXEqj7zmE https://t.co/h3Kgs9Y5zH

— Unreal Engine (@UnrealEngine) October 22, 2026

Through it all, Valve has done what it does best: remain quiet. The long-running joke that Gabe Newell simply sits back and waits for his competitors to make mistakes seems particularly relevant here, as Tim Sweeney continues to tweet his outrage over Valve and Steam. Meanwhile, earlier this month Steam broke its all-time record for concurrent users yet again, with 43.5 million people logged in at the same time.

Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images

BioWare is dead, and my feelings are a strange cocktail of anger, sadness, and Jack’s Complete Lack of Surprise. The legendary RPG studio was bought by a private investment group earlier this year, and history shows that venture capital frequently kills what it touches, extracting whatever value out of it that it can before moving onto the next victim. It’s a hell of a contrast to the beginning of BioWare, which started out as such a pure thing. Two practicing doctors, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, quit medicine to pursue their dream of making computer role-playing games. Sure, the studio was bought and sold a couple of times between then and now, and yes, BioWare’s recent results haven’t lived up to its venerable past, but my goodness, what a legacy this studio leaves behind.

Everyone knows Baldur’s Gate now on account of Larian Studios’ Game of the Year-winning, 10 out of 10 Baldur’s Gate 3 from 2023, but what younger gamers might not know is that the first two Baldur’s Gate RPGs were built by BioWare in the late ‘90s. While they weren’t the studio’s first games – that honor goes to the 1996 mech action-sim Shattered Steel – they were the two that put BioWare on the map. Each was an incredibly deep and sprawling RPG based on the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset that was good for upwards of 200 hours of gameplay. At the time, they reset the bar for what a CRPG could be. Let me put it this way: Baldur’s Gate 1 took home IGN’s Game of the Year award in 1998… over Half-Life. That’s how good Baldur’s Gate was.

After another action-game pitstop in the form of 2000’s excellent MDK2, BioWare returned to role-playing with Neverwinter Nights, another CRPG that arguably brought video games closer to the pen-and-paper, pizza-party-at-your-best-friend/DM’s-house version of D&D than any game before it. It was the runner-up for IGN’s Best Role-Playing Game of 2002, finishing behind just one game: a little project you might have heard of called The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind.

Up to this point, BioWare had primarily been known in PC circles as a prominent CRPG developer. And then Microsoft made a deal with the studio and LucasArts to develop an exclusive new Star Wars RPG for the fledgling Xbox console. You already know what the result was: the absolutely unimpeachable Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which happens to be my personal favorite role-playing game of all time. My biases aside, it is unquestionably one of the best RPGs ever made. It’s also a lock for top-3 Star Wars games of all-time, and it has a strong case for No. 1 on that list. It told an incredible story in Star Wars’s ancient past and truly let you embrace the Light Side or Dark Side of the Force. I went fully evil just because KOTOR let me do so! And not only that, it embraced those choices. At one point, I distinctly remember triple-crossing someone – double-crossing the guy that I’d already double-crossed. Its plot twist is legendary, and on the off chance that the long-in-development-hell remake ever comes out, I won’t spoil it for you here. But whether it was visiting plenty of planets (including Kashyyk!), bonding with your party members (shout-out to my favorite droid, HK-47!), or planning out my evil Force attacks by stacking up my attacks in the turn-based combat system, KOTOR was the ultimate pairing of a beloved IP and an industry-leading developer.

Another Xbox console exclusive followed, albeit from a different team within BioWare. While KOTOR director Casey Hudson was planning something even bigger for his team’s next project, another crew at BioWare delivered the sublime and historically underrated Jade Empire, which was steeped in Chinese mythology. IGN gave it a 9.9 out of 10 (on a 100-point scale!) back in 2005, and while it was nowhere near the commercial success KOTOR was, it was every bit as big a hit with critics and fans.

And then came Mass Effect. BioWare promised us a space opera – a trilogy in which our choices in each game would carry over to the next and ultimately affect the ending to the whole story. Microsoft had wisely signed it as a console exclusive, and boy oh boy did it pay off. Mass Effect was one of the core memories most people have about the Xbox 360. It was released in fall of 2007, the greatest stretch in Xbox and quite possibly gaming history – and it actually delivered on its space-opera promise. As your custom Commander Shepard, the first in the trilogy introduced us to the universe and humanity’s place within it – including Shepard’s path to becoming a galaxy-protecting Spectre. It introduced the Reapers, and so many phenomenal companion characters from Wrex to Garrus to Liara among many others. And like KOTOR, it too allowed you to be a Paragon of good or a Renegade of evil. (And yes, I once again tested the limits of how bad BioWare would allow me to be.)

The first is my personal favorite of the trilogy, but for many that honor goes to Mass Effect 2, which leveled up your relationship with Shepard’s companions and more or less built the entire campaign around them. As promised, your save file imported into the sequel, bringing with it your Shepard’s look and choices from the first game. It also evolved Mass Effect’s gameplay from light turn-based, semi-tactical combat to more of a pure third-person cover shooter while sacrificing none of its role-playing elements.

The controversial trilogy-capper is best remembered for its ending, which upset fans so much that BioWare tried to improve it in a post-launch patch. But forgotten alongside that is how great the rest of it was. It took the time to really let you – and your Shepard – say goodbye to the friends you’d made along the way (or at least, the ones you hadn’t chosen to kill or sacrifice), and its combat was improved further over Mass Effect 2, making Mass Effect 3 a truly world-class third-person shooter alongside its well-established role-playing bonafides.

Whatever your thoughts of Mass Effect 3’s ending, BioWare had done what they said they’d do: They built a three-game space opera that spanned more than 100 hours of gameplay over the course of the five years it took to get all three games out the door. We developed meaningful bonds with its characters, in part because they’d been written so well. It was a bold RPG experiment, and one that, for my money, hasn’t been replicated or even attempted since.

The Mass Effect trilogy was, in hindsight, probably BioWare’s peak by just about any measure, but the studio kept going. Another original IP, Dragon Age, saw four RPGs released over a decade and a half – with the third of those, 2014’s Dragon Age Inquisition, taking home IGN’s Game of the Year Award. Anthem was a bold but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to bring BioWare’s storytelling talents to the hot-at-the-time live-service space. The studio cleaned Mass Effect up nicely for an excellent remaster of the trilogy in 2021 after the BioWare Montreal team’s disappointing Mass Effect Andromeda in 2017. Heck, BioWare even made a full-blown RPG starring Sonic in a team-up with Sega in 2008’s Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood!

And after announcing a fifth Mass Effect game that fans hoped would redeem the series after Andromeda, that project is now canceled alongside the studio being shut down. As sad as this day is – for both fans and BioWare employees who were there at any point during its 31-year history – I am left with a fulfilling sense of gratitude to this studio for all of the memorable gaming experiences it’s given me. With respect to CD Projekt Red, Larian, and Bethesda Game Studios, there’s never been a better RPG developer over a longer period of time than BioWare. It won’t be forgotten.

EA has paused development on a mobile multiplayer Sims game in favor of moving forward with a rumored Sims 4 sequel.

EA announced a wide variety of changes and projects today, including the closure of BioWare and the cancelation of Mass Effect 5. It also seemed to lean into recent rumors that DICE and Respawn are making a new Star Wars Battlefront game. One other big change is that EA is shelving a mobile-first multiplayer Sims project, formerly known as Project Rene and now known as Project Lotus. The game was once envisioned as the next big Sims title, but plans changed to more of a mobile spin-off once EA saw that people were still hanging on to The Sims 4.

With that game being put on the back burner, EA is shifting its focus to a Sims title that it's calling Project Evergreen. Although EA hasn't revealed what the focus of this game will be, rumors have been swirling about this project for a some time now. The game, which was rumored to be under the codename Project X, is expected to be a sequel to The Sims 4. Now, here's where it may get a bit confusing: It's not The Sims 5. It's being viewed more like The Sims 4 2.0. I know, it is unnecessarily complicated.

As covered by Sims Community, the project is reportedly targeting September 2027 as its deadline to go gold, suggesting the game would launch in fall 2027. The game will release on PC and is also expected to be optimized for portable handhelds, such as the Steam Deck. If it really is releasing next year, we will likely hear more about it at The Game Awards or sometime in the first half of 2027.

Earlier this year, the team behind The Sims hinted at a new single-player game in the franchise for PC and console, noting that half of its development team was working on The Sims 4 and its "next evolution."

Ultimately, this sounds like a win for fans who have been hoping for a new traditional entry in the franchise. The Sims 4 was released in 2014, meaning it has been 12 years since the franchise got a new game. There are a ton of updates and expansions that keep the game fresh, but building something from scratch and moving away from all the bloat could be a strong move for the future of the series.

Humble Bundle has dropped an exciting new game bundle focused on Double Fine, and it's stacked with 11 great games to add to your Steam library. For as low as $8, you'll get beloved titles like Psychonauts, Brutal Legend, and Broken Age to boot up on your PC, which is an incredible deal when you take into account the bundle has a $146 value overall. That's some seriously huge savings.

The bundle won't be available for very long, though. From the time of writing, there's just over 16 days left to grab it, so keep that in mind if you want to mull it over before buying. Below, you can get a good look at all of the games included in this bundle before picking it up.

Humble Bundle – Double Fine Publisher Bundle

When it comes to translating One Piece into a video game, developers have typically taken the action route, leaning on flashy battles and wild Devil Fruit powers as pirates sail the high seas. That makes One Piece: Grand Gourmet’s Sanji-centric restaurant builder with the full roster of characters from across the series is an inspired choice. But while I adore the premise and appreciate revisiting the major locations and feeding nearly every character, working to win over residents of the Grand Line often feels as shallow as the lovestruck chef it's based around.

After a storm separates them from the rest of the crew, Sanji and Luffy find a restaurant ship being terrorized by a group of fake Straw Hat pirates who are posing as (and giving a bad name to) the restaurant of Sanji’s mentor, the Baratie. The duo sets sail to beat the fakers in culinary battles and clear the Baratie's name throughout the Grand Line and beyond. Taking a chronological path from the early Romance Dawn days in the East Blue all the way to a taste of the latest arc in the manga and anime, Grand Gourmet is packed with fan service in lieu of a meaningful original story. While I wish there was more meat on the bone, I enjoy Grand Gourmet embracing Sanji’s ethos that everyone who needs food will be fed, and it turns out, everyone the Straw Hats ever met is hungry.

Seafood, They Eat It

Your floating restaurant starts small and empty, with only a kitchen, a table, and Sanji’s chef skills to cook for hungry customers. Feeding people brings in valuable cash you can use to build out the restaurant with more tables, attractions, and decorations to improve the space's comfort. The more comfortable the accommodations, the happier the customers, and the more they will spend on food. Ironically, comfort is an unfortunate word for this metric. The crimes I must have committed to the concept of interior design have to be the most stressful and sloppy places to attempt to enjoy a meal. I love the idea of building a restaurant that pulls elements from various islands and lets you run wild with the decor, with Sanji cooking delicacies from across the globe, but that tantalizing proposition falls flat in execution.

Each new region brings a set of restaurant fixtures themed to the current story arc you’re sailing through, be that new flooring, lamps, benches, or landscaping. For example, the Thriller Bark set features horror-themed decor, plus a spot to plant the stray zombie friends who accompany the living visitors on the ship. Instead of rewarding you for making an aesthetically pleasing, well-organized dining room, Grand Gourmet doesn’t care about actual comfort. Instead, it incentivizes you to cram every square inch with lamps, benches, and shrubbery to boost stats. Neither Crocodile nor Eustice Kidd ultimately cares what their assigned seat looks like. And because of the limited space and clunky reorganization tools, these areas remained cluttered catastrophes that still somehow made a boatload of money.

Some elements also move beyond the typical restaurant vibe to make the ship a more appealing destination, but they aren’t without their own faults, either. My favorite fantastical attractions are meeting spots for giant sea kings or land crabs, which add cool elements to the ship's deck and showcase the eccentric animal designs of the One Piece world. It’s fun to collect fish to store in an aquarium or keep the pets of visitors in animal-friendly environments. However, once you have the features and creatures in place, there’s not much else to do with them. They’re yet another money-collecting attraction that doesn’t affect their surroundings besides providing a small bump of comfort.

Meal Prep

Like the interior design, the restaurant’s food has promising building blocks but lacks the finesse to make planning a proper meal worth the trouble. Sanji draws inspiration from his fellow crewmates and restaurant visitors, letting him make everything from simple dishes like rice or spring rolls to fantastical concoctions based on legendary characters or events from the One Piece world. Piecing together a balanced meal of up to four items lets you sell products at a higher price, and you can increase it further by pairing them with other food endorsed by the same Straw Hat crew member. Except, like the design elements, it’s disappointing that diners are never picky about what you specifically serve them; it only matters that you put the food out.

The best course of action is to serve what’s going to rake in the most cash every time, which the automatic meal tool already does effectively. I wish there were incentives for putting together a regional meal or a group-inspired platter to break up the monotony of only pairing the priciest products. This extends to the fake Baratie boss battles, which put Sanji in a Food Network-esque cooking competition, in which the automatic meals were still plenty successful. You can always put together bespoke plates of food and decorate a meal with different figures, plates, and utensils to spice up the meal-planning experience – there’s just not any reason to do so outside of having a little fun.

Learning to cook new foods is critical to building the restaurant's reputation and fighting fake Baratie, but whether or not you’ll unlock a crucial recipe is a crapshoot. Some foods are key to turning a customer into a fan of the restaurant, which lets them follow you to new regions, but it's nigh impossible to know who might know which recipe. Nothing points you toward who to impress and what food they are capable of inspiring. You have to be lucky enough to have the right items on hand, and the right people on board, to crack a novel recipe. Unlocking a specific food is often dumb luck, and while it can be frustrating to figure out, much of what you need falls into your lap at the right time. The moments when things don’t come together feel bad, though, especially when your favorite characters have to be left behind when the time arrives to move forward on the journey.

Pressureless Cooker

While Sanji handles the cooking responsibilities, Luffy sets out to explore with the rest of the pirate crew. The action itself is simple, but I looked forward to searching each new region because it’s one of the few tasks that enables the restaurant to consistently flourish in meaningful ways. These idle activities cost Berry, affinity points, or coins to send the crew to important One Piece islands, villages, and bases – the price is worth it, though, as exploration rewards you with new faces to visit the restaurant, giftable items to create new fans or increase profitability, and precious ingredients for new kitchen concoctions. Some rewards are level-gated while others require a specific crew member to bring them home, giving me a great reason to level up every member of the Straw Hat crew whenever possible (once you’ve found them somewhere in the vast ocean, that is).

Each crew member helps out the restaurant in a way only they can, and these are some of the best realized parts of Grand Gourmet. Sanji, of course, cooks all of the meals; Franky, the shipwright, creates new furnishings and can expand the square footage of the ship; crafty Ussop makes decorations and utensils to modify meals; and the swordsman Zoro trains the Straw Hats, allowing them to level up further for expeditions and other activities. My favorite crew member is the money-hungry Nami, who not only bailed me out financially multiple times but also negotiates a half-price discount on new amenities once a day, giving me a neat loophole to buy expensive ship upgrades on the cheap. Every member of the pirate crew brings a fun element to the ship, even if everything doesn’t necessarily help the cause of beating the fake Baratie.

Running a business isn’t cheap, especially when serving hundreds of hungry mouths in the middle of the briney deep, but I’m disappointed by the lack of pressure or punishment for spending far outside my means. Every shop, buffet, and employee hired to help the cause has daily overhead, which put me deep in financial trouble almost every day. (Don’t get me started on how much it was to add Blackbeard to the payroll.) Each sunrise, my Berry count went negative, and I had to crawl through the day. Because no friction challenged my poor financial management, I never needed to find a better way to run the company. The only time anyone cares how shallow my pockets are is when I'm spending money during the day, and even then, someone usually bailed me out immediately, filling my coffers far more than necessary.

With no reason to think too hard about the business management side of things, what has instead kept me playing Grand Gourmet (even after the close to 20 hours it took me to roll credits) is seeing damn near every single named One Piece character running around the ship and interacting with each other. It’s fun to see old comrades share a table or bitter rivals chat about characters they relate to. Some meetups are surprising and funny, like two villains discussing “work,” which may or may not involve poisoning people with synthetic Devil Fruits. There are also references to its own lack continuity, which make for interesting meetups between characters who may not exist in the same place or lifetime.

Each character has an affection rating that, when raised to a specified level, can give your staff new items to craft or more customers to invite, making them important to interact with beyond just the fun of having them aboard. Grand Gourmet looks great too, full of small details on the hundreds of character sprites that are truly impressive. Almost every character’s design is recognizable and unique, with many featuring special animations that bring each person to life, like Akainu firing up a giant magma fist while helping to create a new dish. These flourishes don’t happen often, but do inject some much-needed panache to the normally mundane way everyone strolls around.

While almost every character the anime has produced is here, it’s a shame the same can’t be said for the memorable music, voice cast, or sound effects from its long history. Instead, the soundtrack is limited to a handful of nondescript background themes on a short loop paired with a painfully small sample of sound effects, which makes it feel like an early iOS game (which isn’t a huge shock given this game is so deeply tied to developer Kairosoft’s mobile game lineage). A big part of One Piece’s appeal lies in its audio design and music, so it’s a bummer that Grand Gourmet has none of that.

Two Umamusume concerts in Los Angeles have been canceled after workers could not get their visas approved in time for the event, leaving American fans distraught.

On October 18, the official Umamusume: Pretty Derby Twitter/X account announced that staffers working the shows — scheduled for October 22 and 23 — were having difficulties securing their travel visas. At the time, it did not cancel the events, but warned concertgoers that this may impact the festivities.

The possibility that these concerts would be canceled sparked concern among the game’s fanbase, with many joking (or perhaps being fully serious) that this event might politically “radicalize” them, given the extremely long wait times for visas in the United States right now.

The next day, Cygames confirmed that the Los Angeles concerts had been officially canceled, offering refunds to fans who’d purchased both on-site viewing tickets and streaming tickets to watch the show remotely. Responses to fans who made travel plans are also in progress, though Cygames admitted that this may take “some time.”

“Although we have coordinated repeatedly with all parties concerned and explored every possible option in our efforts to make this event happen, we were unable to obtain the necessary visas for entry into the US, so we have come to the painful conclusion that holding the concerts is no longer possible,” the post reads.

“Once again, we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this causes to all the Trainers who were eagerly looking forward to the concerts, as well as to the Umamusume cast, partner company staff, and everyone involved who put tremendous effort into making this event happen.”

It is with heavy hearts that we must announce the cancellation of the Umamusume: Pretty Derby – 7th EVENT: THE STAGE in LOS ANGELES concerts planned for Oct 22–23, 2026.

Although we have coordinated repeatedly with all parties concerned and explored every possible option in our efforts to make this event happen, we were unable to obtain the necessary visas for entry into the US, so we have come to the painful conclusion that holding the concerts is no longer possible.

To all the Trainers who were eagerly looking forward to the show, we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and concern this causes, and for announcing this so close to the event date.

Due to this cancellation, we will process refunds for the following:

・On-site viewing tickets

・Streaming tickets

In addition, we are looking into possible responses to Trainers who were planning to attend the concert in person. This will take some time, so we ask for your patience. Details will be announced on the 7th EVENT WORLD TOUR official website.

Once again, we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this causes to all the Trainers who were eagerly looking forward to the concerts, as well as to the Umamusume cast, partner company staff, and everyone involved who put tremendous effort into making this event happen.

Please see the link below for the official notice:

https://t.co/lrZyCDHwhh

— Umamusume: Pretty Derby (@umamusume_eng) October 20, 2026

It’s safe to say that Umamusume fans in the States are completely beside themselves over this news, with many who’d made travel arrangements feeling especially burnt by the situation — not at Cygames, but with the political issues that are making visa acquisitions especially arduous.

“I'm so sorry that this happened. I was excited to have a mini-concert at home and had many friends and acquaintances who were excited to go. I wish things could have worked out,” one fan replied.

“Thank you so very much for trying, it's heart-breaking but we know you tried until the very end,” another wrote.

“This is not the America I wanted to live in,” another said, while yet another joked that the country is currently experiencing an “anti-Uma administration.”

Knowing the power of the Umamusume fanbase, some netizens are genuinely convinced that this incident could result in real political activism; after all, these fans have made several real-world impacts over the years, with the community previously banding together to save a sick racehorse from a slaughterhouse, raising over $600,000 to rebuild stables for the horse Meisho Doto, and even inspiring a disabled fan to perform onstage for the very first time.

Umamusume concerts aren’t the only events getting impacted by long visa wait times; several other shows have also fallen victim to this issue, with the likes of Shinee’s Taemin being forced to cancel his entire North American tour due to being unable to secure visas for its staff and key personnel.

A vocal group of Fortnite players are calling for a boycott of Epic's battle royale game after a skin of Obsession’s Nikki Freeman, played by Inde Navarrette, sparked backlash among fans.

On October 20, Epic Games revealed that Nikki Freeman is coming to Fortnite in a special collaborative video with the character’s actress, Inde Navarrette. And while there’s no denying Obsession’s popularity — Nikki was one of the most-searched Halloween costumes on Google this year, after all — her inclusion as a purchasable skin in a video game is rubbing some fans the wrong way.

Warning: Major spoilers for Obsession below!

This uncomfortable reaction is in direct response to Nikki being the victim of Bear’s wish in Obsession. In the movie, Nikki’s body is overtaken by a malicious entity while the real Nikki is locked away in her own mind, unable to do anything but watch as the entity possessing her commits atrocities while wearing her skin.

Be careful what you wish for… Nikki is coming to Fortnite tomorrow 🪾 https://t.co/iSY6eseqVX

— Fortnite (@Fortnite) October 20, 2026

She is also taken advantage of by Bear, who engages in intimacy with Nikki’s physical form without getting the consent of the real Nikki. (Bear becomes aware of this fact in the film, but decides against trying to save her, asking, ‘What’s so bad about being with me?’ to which Nikki replies, ‘I’ve never been with you, Bear.’)

Needless to say, making Nikki — who is a victim of rape — a playable character in a video game isn’t exactly being met with positivity from some folks in Fortnite’s playerbase. That’s not including her special emote, which sees her hold up Wiley E. Coyote-style signs reenacting the famous dinner scene where she flips out on Bear, or the skin’s recreation of her iconic frown.

“Wanting your rape victim character in a game as a fun element (ironically Nikki suffers from has no control on her body and mind in movie) is a f**king choice,” one user wrote on Twitter/X. “Also, f**k Fortnite too for this choice.”

“I kind of hate how Nikki was turned into a meme like this. It kinda overshadows the actual horrific s**t her character actually went through in the movie, in my opinion,” another said.

“So, lemme [make] this make sense: Fortnite is using a character who has a narrative about loss of coercion, loss of consent, psychological torment, and tragic violence for entertainment purposes? Fortnite monopolizing on obsession gives me the ick. I'm grossed out,” another argued.

A viral post, which has since been deleted, even called for a boycott of Fortnite altogether due to the skin — but another segment of the game's playerbase isn't on board with this idea, with several arguing that Nikki is merely a fictional character and that her Fortnite skin “isn’t that deep.”

“There’s obviously heated discussion surrounding Nikki being put into Fortnite, but I don't really get how the character [being] integrated into [the] game = not taking her story seriously. Most people BUY these things BECAUSE they care about a character, it's usually not for a punchline,” one said.

“Let’s please not try to reduce Nikki to just another ‘victim,’” another asked. “Yes, her story is horrific and tragic, but that does NOT mean we shouldn’t allow for her to appear in multi-media regardless of quality.”

“People have such a hard time comprehending that Nikki isn’t a real person and that she’s a fictional character,” yet another posed.

This isn’t the first time Nikki’s inclusion in other events an IPs has sparked a debate; she was also featured as a wandering character at Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights, which sparked its own discourse in the horror scene as to whether or not this was actually ethical (not to mention concerns about the actors’ safety). Indie Navarrette, for her part, seems to have no issue with the whole thing, even posing with one of the character's actors for a photo while visiting the theme park this October.

A brand-new ID@Xbox Showcase Presented by IGN has arrived, and it was filled with exciting upcoming games you won't want to miss. From remasters/director's cuts of Shrek 2, The Wolf Among Us, and Zero Parades to games about shredding paper (Paper Shredder!), tongue-grappling and pinball-bouncing (Croak), and digging holes (A Game About Digging a Hole Together), there it a lot to look forward to.

To ensure you don't miss a thing, we've gathered all the announcements and reveals in one place for you to check out! Let us know which was your favorite!

Shrek 2 Remastered Brings Everyone's Favorite Ogre Back to the Spotlight

Shrek 2 Remastered is bringing our favorite ogre back to the spotlight, and it will allow players to relive iconic moments and visit memorable locations from the film. Enjoy new graphics, new features, and more when Shrek 2 Remastered launches on November 10, 2026, on Xbox Series X/S.

The Big Bad Wolf Is Back in The Wolf Among Us Remastered

The Big Bad Wolf is back in The Wolf Among Us Remastered, and you can check how this new version of the 2013 classic looks in action. The remaster comes with enhances visuals, upgraded animation and audio, an all-new Noir Mode, behind-the-scenes content, playable deleted scenes, a redesigned werewolf form for Bigby, and more.

The Wolf Among Us Remastered will be released on October 29, 2026.

Zero Parades: Director's Cut Arrives Next Month

Zero Parades: Director's Cut will be released on November 3, 2026, on Xbox Series X/S and PC, and this new trailer features gameplay from the espionage RPG developed by ZA/UM. It's almost time to face you one final mission and all the trials and tribulations that come with it.

Travel to a Harsh, Remote Exoplanet in Magenta Down

Check out the reveal trailer for Magenta Down, a sci-fi atmospheric adventure game where players must traverse a harsh, remote exoplanet to endure injury and radiation exposure with scarce supplies.

Magenta Down will be released on Xbox Series X/S and PC in 2027.

Tongue-Grapple and Pinball-Bounce as a Frog Prince in Croak

Tongue-grapple and pinball-bounce to your heart's content in Croak, an upcoming hand-drawn 2D precision platformer game coming to PC and Xbox Series X/S in March 2027. Players become a frog prince and aim to reach the Witch's Banquet, fighting bosses, finding collectibles, and more along the way.

Transcend Through Music in Mr. Records

Feast your eyes on the Shine Level of Mr. Records to see more of George's upcoming adventure. Who is George? An old dreamer with an extraordinary gift that lets him transcend through music.

Mr. Records will be released on PC and Xbox Series X/S in Spring 2027.

See Both Worlds of Chronoscript: The Endless End In This New Trailer

Bosses and gameplay from Chronoscript: The Endless End take center stage in this new trailer that showcases the upcoming exploration-based action-adventure game comprised of two worlds: a 3D-rendered grand residence littered with thousands of manuscript pages, and the 2D pen-and-ink illustrated worlds within them.

Chronoscript: The Endless End will be released on Xbox Series X/S and PC in early summer 2027. It is also coming to PS5.

Love Is A Roguelite (LIAR) Mixes Turn-Based Tactics, Deck-Building, and Dating

Say hello to Love Is A Roguelite (or LIAR for short), an upcoming game that mixes turn-based tactics, deck-building, and dating, all set within a procedurally generated Love Story. Your choices matter thanks to the proprietary LoveSync system, so choose wisely!

Love Is A Roguelite launches in Fall 2027 on Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Protect What's Yours in Drill Keeper

New gameplay has been revealed for Drill Keeper, the upcoming deck-building roguelike siege defense game that see players traversing the galaxy to secure vital resources for their people. Protect your mining operations, design labyrinthine pathways and traps to halt your foes, and more.

Drill Keep will be released on PC Game Pass in summer 2027.

Push Your Luck in Mr. Magpie's Harmless Card Game

Mr. Magpie's Harmless Card Game received a new trailer and gave a new glimpse at the sinister roguelike deckbuilding where you'll "build your deck, push your luck, and combine powerful synergies to tip the odds in your favour.

Mr. Magpie's Harmless Card Game Xbox Series X/S and PC in early 2027.

Craft, Battle, Make Friends, Explore, and More in Waveling Island

Waveling Island is an upcoming cozy creature-collecting game that features hand-drawn pixel-art and an island filled with mysterious creatures.

Waveling Island is headed to Xbox Series X/S and PC soon.

A Game About Digging a Hole Together Proves Things Are Always More Fun With Friends

It's always more fun with friends, especially when digging a hole! In A Game About Digging a Hole Together, you'll be able to dig a hole at a beach with your friends. Dig together, collect resources, sell them, upgrade your equipment, and search for the promised buried treasure.

A Game About Digging a Hole Together will be available on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox on PC on December 4, 2026, and PC via Steam, PS5, Nintendo Switch 2 at a later date.

Scramble Knights Online Gets a Release Date Trailer

Scramble Knights Online is coming to Xbox Series X/S and PC on October 26, 2026, and to celebrate the release date, a new trailer was released that showed off new gameplay for the MMO-lite action RPG. Get ready to step into the kingdom of Terracott as a knight-in-training and embark on a grand adventure.

Shred, Sweep, Upgrade, and Cut Down Tower-High Piles of Confidential Records in Paper Shredder

Paper Shredded is an incremental game where players need to shred their company's paperwork to earn a $1,000,000 payout. Shred, sweep, upgrade, and cut down tower-high piles of confidential records to uncover what's hidden below.

Paper Shredder will be released on Xbox Series X/S and PC in winter 2026.

Wield a Sealed Blade and Rise in Rebellion in Vanran

Embark on an adventure in Vanran, an upcoming dark fantasy action RPG where a human slave in the Demon Realm wields a sealed blade and rises in rebellion.

Vanran will be released on Xbox Series X/S and PC in 2027.

Survive a Slum Inhabited by Infected Outcasts Suffering from Cognitive Decline in Rustown

Rustown, the upcoming story-driven action-adventure game, has been given a release date of June 30, 2027, on PC and Xbox Series X/S. Check out this new trailer to see the game in action, which happens to be set in a slum inhabited by infected outcasts suffering from cognitive decline. Avoid danger without fighting, uncover clues, and try to find your missing father.

Say Hello to the Recently Resurrected Fritz and the Team in this Red Fritz Trailer

Vampire spy house leader Daddy introduces us to the recently resurrected Fritz and the team you'll lead in this latest trailer for Red Kiss. From developer Wispfire, Red Kiss is a tactical narrative RPG where you'll have to dispatch a team of vampire spies through the tense and fractured streets of Cold War Berlin.

Red Fritz will be released on Xbox Series X/S and PC in 2027.

Solve the Case in Graytail

Get ready to solve the case in Graytail, an upcoming mystery action-adventure title set within a 2.5D pixel-art world. After a famous pilot vanishes over the Pacific, a detective with a headache that never stops embarks on a journey to find them with the pilot's daughter in tow.

Graytail will be released on Xbox Series X/S and PC in November 2027.

Arctic Eggs, Mouthwashing, and No, I'm Not Human Sizzle Reel

Check out this sizzle reel to learn about three exciting upcoming games - Arctic Eggs, Mouthwashing, and No, I'm Not Human.

Arctic (October 20, 2026) has you frying eggs on Mount Everest, Mouthwashing (October 29, 2026) has you taking responsibility for a dying crew of a shipwrecked space freighter, and No, I'm Not Human (2027) has your interrogating door-knocking strangers to spot deadly shape-shifting imposters.

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.

Clash Royale: The Grand Arena has officially launched on Kickstarter and it's already off to a solid start. The upcoming board game adaptation has blown past its initial $25K goal in less than an hour after going live.

IGN had the chance to reveal the first trailer for the game last week and found it to be a faithful adaptation to the very popular mobile game. If you want to get in on the game before it officially launches, pledges start at $49 and go up from there.

This isn't the first Clash of Clans board game to come out of a collaboration between Maestro Media and Supercell. Clash of Clans: The Epic Raid followed a similar path via Kickstarter and managed to raise over $500K for the project ahead of its release. With the initial success of The Grand Arena, we expect the second board game adaptation to put up similar numbers before the campaign ends in November.

As for what the game actually looks like, we had the chance to talk to the game's lead designer, David Gordon about what actually went into its creation: “We tried mechanisms such as actual real time play against a clock, putting out a bunch of cubes, and simultaneous reveals, as well as various strategies to minimize the admin for players. Ultimately, we found that focusing on elixir spending in a turn-based card play system yielded a fun experience that most resembled that of the video game.”

the game itself, which is designed for 2-4 players, controls their own forces of eight-card decks built around a chosen Champion. Players take turns trying to destroy each other's towers, using elixir to fuel each move they make. Each tower you destroy earns you a crown, and the player with the most crowns at the end of the game is the winner.

“It was important that a strategy game fan who had never played the video game would find the tabletop version fun," said Gordon about the game. And that's really the core thesis behind and Clash of Clans game. You should be able to jump into gameplay fairly quickly and be able to have fun without knowing any backstory about the franchise.

Clash Royale: The Grand Arena is now available to support on Kickstarter. Fans can pledge their support via various tiers, including more expensive options that will get you access to expansions of the game.

At first glance the Love and Deepspace Blade Runner 2049 crossover is a cool, if unexpected, addition to the otome game's romantic universe, but it didn't take long for fans of the game to notice an uncomfortable parallel between one of the key storylines featuring the lead character's AI companion, Joi, and the canceled Love and Deepspace character Valko.

Warning: Blade Runner 2049 spoilers below!

In Blade Runner 2049, lead character K (Ryan Gosling) has a romantic relationship with an AI companion called Joi (played by Ana de Armas), but loses her when the "emanator" device that K uses that allows her to travel with him is destroyed. Love and Deepspace players immediately noted that something similar happened to the game's promised sixth love interest, Valko, a companion that players were already attached to when he was canceled by developer Infold just a week after his reveal following controversy around his character.

ironically, the bladerunner collab makes more sense like this, we lost valko just like the protagonist lost his virtual girlfriend joi, destroyed by the very same big corpo that created her, only for him to bump into that ad with another joi, naked and suggestive but not HIS joi

— lyn (@xialyn_ne) October 18, 2026

Other fans noted that a Blade Runner 2049 crossover, which is an unusual one for the universe, would have made sense as a vehicle for Valko, given that the character was described as a tech CEO and hacker.

Many are still hopeful that Valko could return, given the outpouring of support for the character on social media, at real-world events, and through boycotts, petitions, and charitable donations in his name. Players have sent money to wolf sanctuaries, sponsored forests, paid for billboards to feature him, and even set up memorials for the character. Infold has made no official comment about Valko since the initial cancellation.

The special event runs from today until November 5 and includes free in-game rewards inspired by the film. It's most likely part of a promotional campaign for the new Blade Runner 2099, which launches on Amazon Prime on November 25.

Google researchers have released a paper claiming that four Google Gemini 4 Argon AI agents just beat Minecraft without any help from humans. It took them just over 27 hours to take down the Ender Dragon in what is believed to be a world first.

Of course, it’s not as simple as just turning up and firing arrows at the thing. To reach The End and defeat the Ender Dragon in Minecraft, there are a series of trials you have to complete.

You have to get Ender Pearls, Ender Rods, and craft Eyes of Ender, before tracking down a Stronghold and completing a puzzle. This takes a fair bit of farming and requires you to work up through the basic Minecraft tools.

To start the test, Google placed a team of four agents into a random Minecraft seed with a goal of defeating the Ender Dragon. According to Google, the agents used in-game chat to coordinate but otherwise had no strategy assigned going in — just a goal.

"Each agent controlled a player via an open-source library called Mineflayer and coordinated with its teammates through in-game chat and shared memory," the researchers said. "No one assigned roles or wrote game logic. The agents planned, wrote, and debugged every program themselves. Researchers could watch the run on a live dashboard and pause or stop it at any time, but they had no cause to intervene."

The agents settled into roles quickly, with some building Enderman shelters for farming materials, others gathering food, and others focusing on exploration. They shared combat tips and helped each other recover lost gear when they died.

Over the playthrough, the four agents exchanged 229 messages, ran 2,783 programs, and died 605 times, which suggests worse performance than my kid when he was five. A fifth agent oversaw the process to make sure the other bots weren’t cheating, but you can tell they weren’t by how many times they died anyway.

It took around 13.5 hours to reach The End, and the remaining time was spent trying to kill the final boss (and dying a lot). The current Minecraft speedrun record is six minutes and 36 seconds, so the AI agents won’t be breaking any records any time soon. The agents used 1.35 billion input tokens, which would cost a normal user around $1,620. That’s $60 per hour, which works out at $15 an hour per agent. Not a bad salary for a group of computer ghosts who don’t need sustenance.

"To our knowledge, this is the first end-to-end autonomous completion of Minecraft by AI agents, achieved using only the standard Mineflayer library without pre-scouted seeds or other game-specific tools written by humans," the team wrote in a paper, via Engadget. "Winning required the agents to keep a coherent plan across thousands of dependent steps for more than a day."

What is the point of all this? The researchers said they wanted to study how teams of agents coordinate in a setting where every step is visible to help understand such systems before they are trusted with real-world tasks. "The skills required to solve Minecraft such as coordinating a team, recovering from failure, and pursuing a goal for more than a day, are also what agents need to work reliably alongside people," they said.

Ubisoft was apparently making another Assassin’s Creed game set in ancient China, except this one was a full-fat AC with a massive open world and a fancy umbrella weapon. According to a new report, the game was called Assassin’s Creed Destiny.

Assassin’s Creed Jade will explore the same setting, targeting mobile. Destiny’s prototype footage appears to be aimed at modern consoles and PC instead.

Destiny was reportedly set during 206 BCE, where the Qin dynasty made way for the Han dynasty after a brutal civil war. The game likely would have focused on Liu Bang’s rise to power.

MP1st found the footage in developer portfolios. According to the report, the game was supposed to be a partnership between Ubisoft and Tencent, the Chinese conglomerate that owns huge portions of the games industry, including a 25% stake in Vantage Studios, a subsidiary that oversees some of Ubisoft’s biggest IPs.

The footage shows a hooded assassin battling through a siege headed up by warlord Xiang Yu, before switching to greybox testing environments for combat abilities. There’s a spinning umbrella weapon shown at one point.

Another snippet suggests players would have been able to choose between a male and female character, or it could have done the Shadows thing of having dual protagonists. Yin-yangs and ink brushes are used to tie the UI into the setting thematically.

While Destiny was seemingly cancelled, Assassin’s Creed Jade is still in development. The last we heard about it was that it was delayed to 2025. Considering it’s 2026 now, it’s probably safe to assume they’re having some issues getting the mobile game off the ground, which is ironic for a series about assassins who love rooftops.

Elsewhere in the world of hidden blades, leaps of faith, and stylish hoods, Assassin’s Creed Hexe is the next major game in the series. If leaks are to be believed, that’s got its own development issues, mind you. One report suggests Assassin’s Creed Hexe developers decided to rework the game, removing magical abilities from the mix.

Hexe's game director Benoit Richer recently departed the project for reasons unknown. That departure followed the exit of Clint Hocking, Hexe's creative director, sparking the beginning of a major internal reshuffle at the top of the franchise that saw Ubisoft veteran Jean Guesdon ascend to become Assassin's Creed Head of Content.

Nothing beats jumping into a scary game around Halloween. But if you're someone who prefers games on the lighter side of spooky, Humble's Cozy After Dark Showcase Bundle is perfect for you. This collection of 10 eerie indies is available to grab for as low as $12, and features a great lineup that includes Paradise Killer and Fear the Spotlight.

If you were to buy all 10 of these games on their own, it'd set you back $176, so this is a fantastic offer to take advantage of. As of the time of writing, it's only available for another 18 days as well, so the countdown is on to grab it. Below, you can check out the full game lineup for this bundle, which can all be redeemed on Steam if you decide to treat yourself to it.

Humble Bundle – Cozy After Dark Showcase Bundle

If you've been on gaming Twitter at all over the last month, you're probably aware of the massive wave of people using AI to rapidly decompile, port, and remix games. That wave of AI decomps has forced a massive decompilation community to sunset.

In a blog post, admin @encounter from decomp.dev, a community repository for people to track decompilation posts, cites a wave of bad actors who are using AI to essentially steal the hard work of programmers working on existing decompilation projects.

The act of decompiling games itself isn't new, and people have been taking games and trying to decompile them down to the source code for years. But what was once a herculean task requiring coding expertise can now be done with little effort thanks to new AI models like GPT 6 Astra and Claude Opus 5.5.

The blog post doesn't blame the models themselves for the surge of vibe-coded decompilations and ports, but rather claims that bad actors are taking existing projects and then using AI to rush them to completion. While there might be some developers who are open to people with a Claude subscription using their work to create, say, a browser port of Halo, that should be up to each developer.

The post says, "Every project works differently: some may not want to use AI for legal or ethical reasons, and others may be okay with AI, or use AI themselves, but do not want drive-by contributions from folks who have put no effort into making sure the contributions are good. The bottom line is that these kinds of hostile forks put little to no effort into meaningfully contributing to existing projects, tearing apart our community fabric."

As for the ports themselves, the blog claims that people are taking the code from hobbyists and forcing a barely functioning port out of them. "While community members put in the effort to decompile a game, opportunists have frequently raced to release a half-baked, barely-functional port from it," @encounter writes.

The blog post also mentions that this recent wave of AI decomps, recomps, and ports is muddying the waters of what the decomp community is trying to do. A lot of classical decomps are done out of the love of games and a desire to know how they work, but this trend of using AI to brute force working PC ports has caused a lot of people to rush into communities like decomp.dev looking for simple ways to create easy PC ports of games.

As for decomp.dev itself, the website will still exist, and users can use it to track existing projects, but @encounter is taking down the main index and disabling new projects.

Unfortunately, when it comes to Opus 5.5, Astra 6, and decomps, the cat is out of the bag, and it's unlikely that one decomp repository going offline is going to meaningfully stop this trend. We've seen everything from making Minecraft playable on X/Twitter to modders shoving Minecraft and Elden Ring together. There have also been a lot of browser ports, with games like Halo: Combat Evolved and Grand Theft Auto 5 being briefly playable on Chrome before those games' respective publishers predictibly brought them crashing down.

Either way, it's a shame to see a community built out of the love of programming essentially die off because a bunch of people with Claude subscriptions are using game developers' work as a starting point and finishing it with AI.

Maestro Media recently announced a new board game adaptation of the popular mobile game Clash Royale. Now, IGN can exclusively reveal that Maestro Media will be launching a Kickstarter campaign in support of the final product: Clash Royale: The Grand Arena this month

The Kickstarter, which is aiming to launch on October 20, follows the successful crowdfunding of Maestro’s previous collaboration with Supercell, Clash of Clans: The Epic Raid. Ahead of the campaign, we got the chance to speak with the board game’s lead designer, David Gordon, about how the team approached bringing the mobile hit to the tabletop.

First, we learned a little more about what to expect from the board game itself, which you can get the gist of in this exclusive trailer:

The Grand Arena generally adapts the deck-building and strategy elements of the mobile app into a board game. Yep, that means fans will finally be able to build Clash Royale decks with real cardboard.

The tabletop game is designed for two to four players. Each player controls their own forces, which consist of eight-card decks built around a chosen Champion. Cards will be based on the mobile game’s card list, plenty of which feature characters and items going back to the original Clash of Clans era.

In-game, players take turns to try and destroy other players’ Towers while also protecting their own. The board features two lanes, and players must determine where exactly to play cards to launch attacks, plant defensive units, and use items. Players can’t endlessly cycle through their cards, either, as moves are limited by the classic Clash resource, Elixir.

Destroying another player’s Tower nets you a Crown, and the player with the most Crowns at the end wins.

Sound familiar? It should - at least to Clash Royale fans. Maestro Media put some serious thought into translating the mobile gameplay to the tabletop.

We asked the game’s lead designer, David Gordon, about how the team approached the game’s design, and learned the process took some trial and error: “We tried mechanisms such as actual real time play against a clock, putting out a bunch of cubes, and simultaneous reveals, as well as various strategies to minimize the admin for players. Ultimately, we found that focusing on elixir spending in a turn-based card play system yielded a fun experience that most resembled that of the video game.”

That said, the team behind The Grand Arena was weary of designing a game that would only appeal to die-hard Clash fans. Over the course of the game’s development, they play-tested The Grand Arena with both Clash veterans and people who had no experience with the Supercell franchise. In Gordon’s words, “It was important that a strategy game fan who had never played the video game would find the tabletop version fun - and hopefully even inspire them to try the video game!”

The Grand Arena will be joining Maestro Media's previous release, Clash of Clans: The Epic Raid, which was successfully supported on Kickstarter in 2025 and is now available from retailers like Amazon and Target.