Former PC Planner and Insights Manager at PlayStation, Jerry Liu, who worked at the company between January 2021 and June 2023, has noted that his work at Sony helped the unit “grow from $0-300M in net revenue” over the span of three years.

To achieve this, his responsibilities included optimizing promotional strategies and forecasting budgets for PlayStation’s PC portfolio, providing insight and business cases to try and convince leadership to “pursue more aggressive pricing” strategies, analyzing the PlayStation back catalog, and developing forecast models and sales targets. Interestingly, he noted that his strategies for aggressive pricing led to an increase in gross revenue from PC releases by 25 percent.

Last month, a report had indicated that Sony was originally going to bring its recent and upcoming single-player titles—namely, last year’s Ghost of Yōtei and the upcoming Saros—to PC. However, the company has seemingly decided against this and has cancelled work on any ports that were in progress. According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, those “familiar with the company’s plans” said that a “faction within PlayStation” was unsure about porting its first-party games over to PC to begin with.

A major reason for this was apparently the belief that it would harm the sales of PlayStation hardware in the long term. While PS5 sales would also be affected, subsequent console releases might have also started facing trouble, as well as the brand as a whole.

In a more recent forum post, Schreier had said that Sony was going to make its plans to stop releasing single-player games on PC official “at some point.” It is unknown, however, when this will be, and could range from a simple social media post to a comment to its investors during an earnings call.

Despite these plans, however, Sony wants to continue bringing multiplayer titles to PC alongside their PS5 releases. The immense success of Helldivers 2 likely had a role to play in this, and upcoming games like Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls and Horizon Hunters Gathering are already confirmed for PC releases. This move makes sense, since cross-platform multiplayer on these titles also ends up ensuring that PS5 players won’t have to worry about low player counts with PC players bolstering the game.

This also means that Death Stranding 2: On the Beach might very well be the last single-player PlayStation game to come out on PC. However, it is worth noting that Kojima Productions isn’t a first-party developer under PlayStation Studios. Sony simply published the game, and likely has little say on whether or not the studio brings its games to more platforms. A report from last week has indicated that its PC launch was quite successful too, with more than 2 million sales since release.

“There was a test screening for Resident Evil. I hear it’s great,” he wrote on social media platform X. While this may come as welcome news for some, others have taken to social media to discuss how this could also potentially mean that, while it’s a good movie on its own, it might not be a faithful adaptation. However, just about everyone involved with the project has been tight-lipped about it, so no real details about its characters or plot have been revealed, at least for now.

Cregger had spoken in the past about how his Resident Evil movie would remain faithful to the core tenets of the franchise while still telling an original story. He also wants to make sure that the movie ends up being a love letter to the storied gaming franchise.

“Let me say this: this is not breaking the rules of the games,” Cregger said. “I am the biggest worshiper of the games, so I’m telling a story that is a love letter to the games and follows the rules of the games. It is obedient to the lore of the games, it’s just a different story. I’m not going to tell Leon’s story, because Leon’s story is told in the games. [Fans] already have that.”

He acknowledged that there might be some Resident Evil fans who want to see a faithful adaptation of one of the games’ stories. To them, however, he said, “They can play the game.” This might indicate that we might not get to see iconic characters like Leon S. Kennedy or Jill Valentine grace the big screen in the film, unfortunately.

As for the freedom Cregger has with the movie’s plot, the CEO of Resident Evil film rights holder Constantin Film, Oliver Berben, had spoken about it back in February.

“With Resident Evil, we have had an incredible journey with one of the most successful international IPs of more than a billion dollars in box office for many years and now we are creating something new, not just a new story idea, but to allow a new generation to take the IP into their own hands and form something different,” said Berben. To achieve this, Cregger has been given “the carte blanche to do whatever he wanted to do with that IP,” he explained.

The Resident Evil movie is being produced by PlayStation Productions alongside Constantin Film. The story is being co-written by Shay Hatten of John Wick: Chapter 4 and Army of the Dead fame, along with Zach Cregger, known for Barbarian, who is also the film’s director. Rather than being a new entry in the long-running Resident Evil movie franchise, however, Cregger’s film will be a reboot.

In a recreation of a diagram based on Sony’s development kit documentation, Moore’s Law is Dead has noted that Sony has offered advice on how CPU usage can be lowered for Power Saver mode. Compared to the base PS5 mode, which is able to run a game on 13 of its 16 cores, with 2 cores dedicated to operating system functions and one offering “support load”, Power Saver mode is meant to run games on 8 cores, leaving 5 cores unused and 3 cores for system and OS functions.

The latest set of leaks also includes mentions of a new feature for the PS6—PlayGo. Meant to be an answer to the Smart Delivery feature available on current-gen Xbox consoles, allowing players not to have to worry about whether they’re downloading the right version of a game for their console, PlayGo has already been introduced to the PS5’s SDK 13.

“Up until now, devs would have to include PS5 Pro’s higher res textures and higher detail assets in every PS5 download regardless of if a given console was a Pro or not…but no longer,” said a source to Moore’s Law is Dead. “Devs can now specify downloads for PS4 + PS4 Pro, PS5, PS5 Pro, and PS5 Power Saver Mode. Yes, Power Saver Mode is getting its own Asset+Texture Packaging!”

“This would only be done if this ‘mode’ was going to be the entire basis of a new console that might need its own tweaks! You save no energy by using smaller textures.”

Sony has also seemingly been taking steps to make game development for its next-gen consoles cheaper. Among these is a notice that has been sent to developers asking them to slow down on the legacy support for PSN features for PS4 games. While not too many details about this have been revealed, Moore’s Law is Dead has noted that these leaks indicate that the PS6 is “not many years away.”

As is the case with any rumor, it is best to take this latest set with a grain of salt. However, if it is true, it indicates that Sony is taking the challenges behind game development when console generations are transitioned quite seriously. Along with laying the groundwork for PS6 handheld game compatibility through the use of the PS5’s Power Saver mode, the company is also making sure that development teams don’t once more start facing ballooning budgets by recommending cutting down on things like support for previous-gen games’ online features.

For more on the PS6 handheld, take a look at another report indicating that it will be faster than the Xbox Series S. Also, check out what analysts say about the prices of next-gen consoles.

Söderlund has noted that the presence of generative AI presents a unique challenge to the gaming industry. While many developers are using it as a tool, he has said that the companies that best understand the challenge will end up being “the winners” in the race to effectively use AI.

“Every company has a plan; most will get it wrong,” Söderlund said. “They’re committing big investments in tools – but tools won’t help because they’ve misread the challenge. AI may be a race, but the winners won’t be the first movers – the winners will be the ones who understood the challenge. Think of game development as auto mechanics. The tools are available to everyone, but not everyone has the knowledge and experience to use them. That’s where Nexon is different.”

Lee, on the other hand, said that Nexon’s methodology in how it employs generative AI won’t lead to replacing the game developers responsible for a project’s creative aspects. Rather, “it frees them to create, with context.” This “context” is a reference to a collection of data used at Nexon that has been created over many years, dubbed the Mono Lake Initiative.

“Mono Lake makes the intelligence available across everything we build and operate – every developer, every live ops team, every product decision has access to the base of information we’ve accumulated over decades,” he said. “AI without context is just speed. Faster output of a generic outcome. Tools that know nothing about design history, player behavior, or innovation. Without context, AI is a race to the arithmetic middle where everyone’s games look the same. That’s not a competitive advantage. That’s noise, at scale.”

Lee also went on to describe the release of ARC Raiders as a “Trojan horse” that could be used to bring about “a shift in the mindset” about the use of AI technologies and how it “frees developers and live service teams to spend more time thinking and less time typing. More time innovating; less time writing code.”

“It changes how people work,” he continued. “The tools they use, how fast they can move, what they can accomplish. But what goes into our games – the creative content our players actually experience – that remains the work of our developers. Our methodology doesn’t replace creative people, it frees them to create, with context. Today, our best people spend more time making creative decisions – decisions guided by context…context based on billions of player decisions…context that precious few companies can match.”

Nexon’s biggest hit in recent times has been ARC Raiders, which is well known for having launched on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S with AI-generation used for some of its voice acting. However, the company has also been taking steps to remove some of it. More recently, the PvPvE extraction shooter got its Flashpoint update.

The employee, going by the name Sean, praised Nintendo’s recent announcement, which involves digital copies of first-party games being priced lower than physical copies. He called it a “consumer-first” move. However, he also noted that the company will have to follow up by raising the price for its console hardware. In fact, he believes that making digital copies of games more affordable might be a way to make potential increasing hardware prices “more palatable.”

“Unfortunately, I think eventually the hardware price is going to have to go up,” he said. “I think that there’s things that they can and seem to be doing to try and mitigate that, but I also look at this move on software, if I’m reading it correctly, as a way to make a hardware price increase a little bit more palatable.”

The pricing differences for the physical and digital copies of first-party Nintendo games will kick off in May with the release of Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, which will cost $59.99 on the eShop and $69.99 at retail. The company noted that this decision “simply reflects the different costs associated with producing and distributing each format and offers players more choice in how they can buy and play Nintendo games.” The move marks a major change, which had previously charged $79.99 for its Switch 2-exclusive releases like Mario Kart World. On the other hand, Donkey Kong Bananza was priced more in line with other AAA releases, at $69.99.

Fears that Nintendo would increase the Switch 2’s price arose in light of global memory shortages and various tariffs on imports. These discussions have been heating up in recent weeks thanks to Sony announcing price hikes for the PS5, PS5 Pro, and PS Portal. As a result, the PS5 Pro is now priced at $899.99 in the US. The company said that these hikes were “a necessary step to ensure we can continue delivering innovative, high-quality gaming experiences to players worldwide.”

Back in February, a Bloomberg report had indicated that Sony and Nintendo were keeping an eye on RAM prices, with Sony possibly pushing back its next-generation console launch to either 2028 or 2029. Nintendo, on the other hand, was noted as looking at raising Switch 2 prices later this year.

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa has spoken about having to deal with the current state of the global economy, especially when it comes to trade tariffs, exchange rates, and memory shortages.

“Hardware profitability depends on factors like component procurement conditions, cost reductions through mass production, and the impact of exchange rates and tariffs,” he said. “It’s difficult to generalize. Fundamentally, we aim to address this by advancing component procurement over the medium to long term.”

“They were targeting 2028 [as far as I know], but the whole RAM/NAND situation could delay it,” wrote KeplerL2. “Also, since they don’t have a semi-custom SoC, unlike the PS6/Xbox, if it gets delayed, it could end up with better specs.”

Since its launch in February 2022, the Steam Deck has proven to be quite successful for Valve, and recent trends in memory prices have even left the company to deal with greater demand than it can supply.

The handheld features a quad-core AMD CPU running on Zen 2 architecture with 8 threads, a clock speed of between 2.4 GHz and 3.5 GHz, depending on the software. It’s paired with an RDNA 2-based GPU with eight compute units clocked between 1 and 1.6 GHz, and 16 GB of unified LPDDR5 memory either clocked at 5500 MT/s or 6400 MT/s, depending on whether you have the LCD or OLED version of the Steam Deck.

Valve’s thoughts on making a new version of the Steam Deck have largely revolved around the company waiting for a major generational jump for hardware, not just in terms of raw specs but also energy efficiency. In October 2024, Valve designer Lawrence Yang said there was no reason to work on yearly iterations of the handheld.

“It is important to us, and we’ve tried to be really clear, we are not doing the yearly cadence. We’re not going to do a bump every year. There’s no reason to do that. And, honestly, from our perspective, that’s kind of not really fair to your customers to come out with something so soon that’s only incrementally better. So we really do want to wait for a generational leap in compute without sacrificing battery life before we ship the real second generation of Steam Deck. But it is something that we’re excited about, and we’re working on.”

In more recent times, the company has had its hands full with trying to launch the Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and new Steam Controller, which were unveiled back in November 2025. While there hasn’t yet been any solid launch window announced for the three products, the company is still trying to release them in 2026, and that “More updates will be shared as we finalize our plans.” Hardware delays have largely been blamed on memory and storage shortages.

It is worth noting that the revocation of the patent is a non-final decision, which gives Nintendo some room to try and fight back and appeal the decision. Game Fray’s Florian Mueller has noted that it has two months to respond to the decision, and also the choice of asking for an extension.

Mueller has noted that the re-examination of the patent didn’t require the USPTO to look at any game to get to the conclusion that it was “obvious”. However, the proceedings have been made “somewhat complicated” by the USPTO not having looked at other games.

“It is all based on combinations of two or three prior art references in the form of published US patent applications,” he wrote. “Two of those earlier patents were filed by Nintendo itself, and one each by Konami and Bandai Namco.”

If Nintendo can successfully argue for 18 of the 26 patent claims, it has the opportunity to take legal action against other companies, citing that “a person having ordinary skill in the art (i.e., a game developer in this case) would not necessarily combine those different prior art references”.

It remains to be seen whether the company will decide to modify the application to make it narrower or abandon the patent application altogether. Nintendo had faced a similar issue with a patent application in Japan.

Back in November, the re-examination of US 12,403,397 was initiated by USPTO director John A. Squires, who said that he had “determined that substantial new questions of patentability have arisen,” from looking at older patents that also involved a player’s companion participating in fights alongside the player.

These patents were considered to be part of Nintendo’s larger legal strategy for dealing with Pocketpair’s monster-catching survival game Palworld. While the former has been battling the latter in Japanese courts for some time now, its filings to the USPTO have indicated a desire to curtail Palworld‘s popularity on a greater scale.

October 2025 saw another one of Nintendo’s patents—part of its ongoing legal dispute with Pocketpair—had been rejected by the Japan Patent Office (JPO). At the time, the JPO had cited prior art with games like the ARK series, Monster Hunter 4, and Pocketpair’s Craftopia already featuring “monster capture” mechanics as they were described in the patent.

At the time, Mueller had noted that the JPO’s decision, even if it weren’t non-final, wouldn’t be binding for the sake of Nintendo’s lawsuit against Pocketpair, which is being presided over by Judge Motoyuki Nakashima. Rather, it only led to the lawsuit’s delay. The rejection had also presented Nintendo with two distinct options: abandon the patent application altogether or try to appeal the rejection with a modified version of the application.

One of the core ways Pearl Abyss achieved this, he noted, was by getting players used to the “gameyness” of Crimson Desert quite early on. This includes aspects such as its control scheme, gameplay systems, and even other games that may have inspired it. The “magic” of the open world only starts kicking in after players have already spent a few hours with the game.

“Interesting how Crimson Desert functions opposite to most games of this type: generally the beginning is magical, and after a while you start to see the strings ‘ah this is close to this game, oh this is going to be repeated etc,” he wrote on social media. “You start with the gameyness front-loaded: the inspirations, the controls, the systems: it’s almost all you see. But after a while, all this takes the back seat: magic kicks in and doesn’t disappear because you have already accepted the rules/constitutive elements.”

“It’s almost like the specific type of immersion of a board game where at first all you see is the board/rules, but then you enter the magic circle properly, and the real fun begins. And where it excels is at this point, the game hasn’t thrown everything it has in store at you.”

Bakaba went on to praise the fact that Crimson Desert likes to introduce new aspects of its open world to players at a steady pace. He also noted that gameplay systems introduced in this way also happen to be quite “meaty” and fit into the larger world quite well. This helps players have more fun in their journeys, since they’re also constantly rewarded for the time they spend with the game.

“It keeps on introducing new things, giving more significance to systems and making them interact with each other,” he wrote. “It doesn’t hurt that most of them are ‘meaty’ and realized diegetically, and that there is also some tonal liberties with some (smartly engineered) stupid fun.”

“This coalesces in a singular player journey from game to magic to discovery that might be why so many find investing time in it rewarding and “personal”. In a time of fast consumption, a game that is sticky because it has friction, and not because it’s smiley feels amazing.”

Crimson Desert was released on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S in mid-March and has since become quite a hit with players. Pearl Abyss recently confirmed that it had sold 4 million copies of the game. The fact that the studio has offered consistent post-launch support by releasing updates that address some of its biggest pain points, as noted by players, has also certainly helped. Check out our review for more details. And while you’re at it, take a look at our own thoughts about why calling the game’s early parts “boring” misses the entire point.

Headlining chapter 2 will be the new zone, Liangzhou, which players can access on completion of the Hexi Campaign – Whitecrown Fortress quest. The area has been described as “a refreshing frontier landscape” thanks to its snow and a “city shaped like a jade cup”. The atmosphere of the area is also noted as being “entirely different” when compared to Jade Gate Pass.

On wrapping up pre-requisites, players can access the Lost Chapter: Ten Through the Pass to unlock Liangzhou. There are also new collectibles to find—Liangzhou poems—which can be used to gain rewards from the Gilt-Fin Collection, including things like Echo Jade, and Recipe – Snowy Stone Lantern, among other things.

The introduction of a new zone also brings with it a new chapter to the main story. Players can access the new chapter, dubbed Hexi Main Chapter – A Lonely Moon Over Chang’an, after having reached level 14 and completing Hexi Main Chapter: The Burlap Sack. The story will revolve around a young musician who, after being on a poignant journey, finds his home of Chang’an feels unfamiliar.

The update will also bring Chapter 3 of the main story, dubbed Paper Moon, which will revolve around a shared longing for Chang’an. Rewards include Accessory – Paper Moon and Inscription – Observe Freedom, among other things.

There are also plenty of side quests to take on, like volumes 4 and 5 of the Jianghu Legacy series, and Death of the Governor, which revolves around an old mansion “shrouded in wind and snow”, complete with a mysterious conspiracy surrounding it. A brand new World Boss will be roaming the realm of Liangzhou—the Moongazing Maiden—which rewards Helm – Swaying Jade Osmanthus, and Accessory – Verdant Sonata as rewards for the first time you beat it. Subsequent attempts through the Sword Forge Challenges in the Trial interface will offer even more rewards.

Two more world bosses—the Everdeer and the Pocketrupt Circus—will join the Moongazing Maiden in offering players intense challenges. Much like other world bosses, these two will also offer unique rewards on your first victory against them, along with cosmetic rewards on subsequent attempts. As for end-game content, hitting level 86 and having a group ready will allow you to take on Bloodstained Sands.

For players looking forward to expanding their wardrobe, the new Raging Tides sect can be joined at level 10 and gives you access to new appearance sets and decorations, among other things. A new martial art—Stonesplit – Strength—can be learned, giving players access to the Phalanxbane Blade and Snowparting Blade moves.

Those looking for non-combat challenges can partake in the Landlords mode of Wandering Paths—a new three-player card game. The only requirements are reaching level 32 and completing the Kaifeng Main Chapter: New Arrival in Kaifeng – Begin the Journey quest.

Where Winds Meet is a free-to-play game available on PC, PS5, Android and iOS. For more details, check out our thoughts on its Hexi expansion so far.

“I hope they go back to it, but I love those guys and just want them to make a game they feel nails the Gears experience everyone loves,” wrote McIntyre when asked about whether he was upset that the trilogy started with Gears of War 4 never got a conclusion. “That’d be awesome. And hey, if that leads back to the trilogy, happy days.”

“We did Gears 4 and 5, and there was a suggestion that maybe there would be a Gears 6,” he continued. “But the team wanted to try something new, as I understand it. And honestly, it looks great. Can’t wait to play.”

As for JD’s ultimate fate owing to the events of Gears 5, McIntyre proposed his own solution for how The Coalition can bring the character back for a potential Gears 6. It essentially involves the Swarm somehow having revived the character and controlling him, and eventually even bringing in his father and original trilogy protagonist Marcus Fenix joining the fight to save him.

“I have a solve for that regardless of what you choose,” he explained. Hoping that Del is canon, Marcus loses his mind and goes rogue, and you learn JD has kind of been revived and controlled by Swarm, his dad has to fight him. But somehow you save him. Not sure how yet. Or if it matters lol.”

JD was introduced as a new protagonist in Gears of War 4, which also revealed that he was the son of Marcus. Set over two decades after the events of Gears of War 3, Gears 4‘s story revolved around the rise of a Locust-like race known only as the Swarm, as well as the COG, serving as the secondary antagonist thanks to its desire to bring Outsiders back into the fold.

While the story’s resolution turns the crew into allies of the COG, Gears 5 offers a fun twist on the story. JD, ordering a Hammer of Dawn to fire on large Swarm creatures in the midst of an evacuation, accidentally triggers the death of many civilians. The role of protagonist for Gears 5 is played by Kait, who starts having visions related to the Locust.

The next mainline entry in the franchise, Gears of War: E-Day, is slated for release later this year. The story takes place before the events of the first game, putting players in the midst of the Locust attack on Sera. Players once more take on the roles of Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago as they fight their way through the invasion in the city of Kalona.