It’s how we stumbled upon Amazon Brazil’s listing for the game, and a detail that has us quite optimistic about Leonida becoming one of Rockstar’s most immersive and authentic open worlds. Yes, the graphics are going to be an important factor in making it believable, but we think it’s the city’s denizens that are really going to sell the experience. We’re beginning to suspect that Leonida’s real strength is going to come from its people, making it a real, reactive place that makes us a part of its identity.

Why is that? As always, we’re happy to tell you all about it. Strap in for this one, and let’s go!

The Promise Of A Better World

Let’s begin with what the retail listing claims is going to be a part of the experience on offer in GTA 6. Yes, there are factors like a dynamic weather system with potential effects on physics and gameplay alongside advanced ray tracing and reflections, and PS5 Pro-focused enhancements that could mean better resolutions and more stable frame rates. They’re all reasons to be excited, but are we really expecting anything less from one of modern gaming’s biggest and most ambitious titles?

We’re interested in all the other details that the listing promises. There are NPCs with advanced, AI-based routines for starters, and organically unfolding events peppered all around the map. The listing reports that the game’s version of Vice City and Leonida is going to be denser and more immersive, while an entire social media system that’s baked in could keep pushing viral videos to your character’s phone as you go about your day-to-day life in the city.

Vice City might also have influencers, who could lead you to secret side missions, giving you a good enough reason to engage with them in non-violent ways, even if they get too annoying. Establishments within the world could be interactive in ways you haven’t seen before. There’s a lot of promise in what the retailer suggests, and although we’d advise waiting until Rockstar confirms that all of this is indeed a part of the game, it’s still hard not to get excited at the thought of what it all means for an open-world that follows in the footsteps of games like GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, which are already quite high on our list of favorites in the genre.

A Living, Breathing World

The reason we’re so invested in the details about Leonida’s NPCs is that they’re always a part of Rockstar’s success, since its games live or die by what you’re doing in between missions in the main campaign. GTA 6 will already have us visiting a lot of the city’s points of interest, spreading it all out over police chases, heists, set-pieces, story chapters, and more. But those are kind of standard for the franchise at this point, and while we’re sure they’re going to be great, they’re not what players will hold with them long after they’ve rolled the credits on the grand adventure they experience.

It’s what they’re going to do in Leonida when they’ve got nothing on their plate that’s a potential fountain of fond memories, a personal collection of highlights that’s going to fuel the community built around the experience, and reasons to look back fondly on the game. Hell, it could all prompt a truly enthusiastic player to dive right back into a new playthrough to build an entirely different set of memories and fun moments. It’s going to places where the game doesn’t tell you to go; that’s a huge part of what makes Rockstar’s games memorable. The visuals could make the world look real, but it’s authentic NPC behavior that makes it feel real.

Think about RDR2, and what we’re trying to say here becomes clearer. The NPCs in Rockstar’s take on the Wild West didn’t feel like mere props, a facet that many other open worlds have neglected in comparison. Your camp members had lives of their own and were often found running errands or doing chores, their moods varying enough to make them feel like living beings, thanks to the conversations you could have with them.

Random encounters as you made your way across the world gave the impression of a world that was crafted to be unpredictable yet authored in a way that blurred the lines between a truly historical recreation and a digital sandbox that was built to suck you in. Witnesses to your crimes, bounty hunters, lawmen, and the like knew your face when your actions were not a part of the accepted social standards set down on their lands, while the honor system gave all of it a unique flavor that influenced the outcome of your time with Arthur. Meet the same folks a little down the line, and your actions were a part of how they responded to seeing you again.

Animals, settlements, and the strangers you got to meet were part of the illusion that the world you were exploring was one that existed independently of you and would continue to do so long after you were gone. It was a lovely undercurrent to the experience that made the narrative’s melancholic ending all the more poignant as a result.

But for all those merits, RDR2’s frontier-style experience allowed for a slower, more controlled approach to its open world. But GTA 6 has to factor in a significantly larger number of variables. There are things like traffic, highways, stores, the police, influencers, fellow criminals who may or may not be aligned with your own interests, tourists, the social media system, and the general hustle and bustle of the city to account for. That’s a challenge that we believe could push even Rockstar to its limits.

Getting Things Right

Of course, Rockstar’s track record could very well mean that it manages to pull a rabbit out of a hat with GTA 6, but the sheer scale of it all has us thinking of all the possible things it would need to do to manage such a feat. It wouldn’t be enough to merely have NPCs have AI-generated conversations, and we don’t think that Rockstar would even bother with such an approach (more on that a little later). But we think that the game’s AI is going to be invisible, working behind the scenes to make its systems come to life in ways that sell the experience on offer.

Let’s speculate a little on what that could mean. NPCs in Leonida could go to work, visit stores on the way home, maybe get a workout in before they take a shower, and go out exploring. Perhaps they could start a livestream while they’re at it, which you could then check out before heading on over yourself. That’s a day-and-night cycle with a multitude of possibilities already. We can already imagine the more patient ones among you following an NPC just to see if their routines are as elaborate as they are if that’s the case.

This tackles a normal day in the life of an NPC in GTA 6. But what if you were to upset that routine by perhaps committing a crime? You could draw the attention of those very same folks who could crown the scene and record a video (which then goes viral), or call the cops on you. They could run away in fright, or even try to confront you if they’re feeling particularly brave that day, which could very well be the case if their moods dynamically change from one day to the next.

Of course, that could mean that dynamic events wouldn’t have to be scripted but would be naturally unfolding responses to our own actions in Leonida. They wouldn’t need to be fixed markers that trigger when we get close, instead stemming from overlapping systems like the weather, law enforcement’s presence and influence in a region, traffic and NPC schedules, and social media trends, all of which act together to respond to what we’re doing in a specific place at a specific time. The possibilities then become endless.

It could also mean that the police could have more agency over the severity of their response to any crimes you commit, with factors like access to the area, available witnesses and footage of an incident, crowd density that may influence what weaponry they’re carrying, and, of course, the severity of the crime itself. It would mean a departure from GTA 5, where they simply spawn around your location to set off a chase.

There’s also the weather to think about. Storms might change how NPCs behave, with lower traffic and pedestrian movement, a change in driving and traversal physics, beach crowds, visibility, police patrolling, boat activity, and perhaps even mission conditions. We’ve already talked about the potential for influencers to change the way you discover side activities. Think about watching a viral clip and following the influencer in question to a location, or perhaps finding the place from their feeds.

All of these factors could eliminate question marks on a map entirely while also ensuring that no two players find a specific mission or event in the same way, creating a net of variables that ensures a unique experience for each of us, while still managing to pull from the same pool of scripted and unscripted content. It challenges traditional open-world design in interesting ways, where map icons, the above-mentioned question marks, scripted “random” encounters, fixed side mission locations, and NPCs just waiting for us to find them have become the norm.

GTA 6 could create exceptions that directly challenge these practices, bringing events that you discover for yourself instead of stumbling upon, with multiple ways to get to them hiding in plain sight but never fully revealing themselves. NPC routines could make triggers for attached quests or secrets become dynamically moving markers that you find so organically that you never think that they’re a part of a script. Side missions would need you to be in the right place at the right time, just as something like that would unfold in the real world. Shops and other establishments would become more than just decorative presences, going beyond their functionality to present you with even more variables. Crowds could be a facet that generates stories instead of just filling empty spaces in Leonida’s real estate.

Honestly, it’s made our brains hurt thinking about all the ways Rockstar could manage to make Leonida the best open-world it’s made, and possibly the best one we could be a part of in the last decade or so. But can it fit within the GTA franchise’s framework? Absolutely!

Risks and Rewards

You’re probably already with us on this, but GTA is the perfect franchise for the kind of chaos we’re thinking of. It isn’t hard to imagine pulling up our in-game phones to view a social media feed that points us to a specific location where something interesting has gone down, only to arrive there and find that the area has been cordoned off by the police. Talking to witnesses could provide new leads to follow, which could then allow an entire chain of side quests to unfold more organically than ever seen in any other open world.

All of this is a natural fit for the franchise, which has already demonstrated its ability to simulate life in a busy city in GTA 6’s predecessor, where your phone and the internet were already a way for the game to bring its satire and mission-related tools into the gameplay loop. GTA 6 could make your phone become a more natural part of the gameplay loop and a crucial tool that your adventure hinges on, making it a living, breathing mission board, rumor system, discovery tool, and a layer of world reactivity all on its own. And with it on your person at all times, it becomes the catalyst for a whole lot of chaos.

That would be really cool if it’s all done well, but we’re wondering if it could also be something that breaks the immersion if things don’t go according to plan. NPC behavior could fall into repetitive loops, or even worse, cause them to say the same old boring lines over and over again. Those are aspects we’ve seen a lot of over the years, and it’s been a while since they’ve gotten old. Random events could be so random they stop feeling believable, which is something we haven’t seen but could definitely break the spell Leonida casts on us.

AI-generated content could clash with authored writing, a conflict that would be all too evident in an adventure that comes with such an ambitious undertaking. Of course, there’s also the ever-present threat of bugs causing a lot of the magic to collapse right in front of us, a scenario that threatens the very fabric of Leonida’s unpredictability in ways that would need a lot of work to set right. Too many systems working together could mean that they eventually work against each other, making mission designs feel unpredictable in a bad way. It’s going to need a balance that’s as thin as a tightrope, but we’ve already said that Rockstar is a studio that could pull it off. It’s time to look at why.

Think of its legacy. GTA 4 was already more reactive and physical than most of the open worlds available to us at the time of its release. GTA 5 continues to be a gift that keeps on giving, with its modern sandbox offering an online experience that continues to keep its players coming back for more to this day. We’ve already spoken at length about RDR2, and it remains unmatched. That gives us a lot of confidence, as it’s not just the intelligent use of AI in creating a game world that makes GTA 6 a potential game-changer, but the fact that it’s Rockstar working to refine design philosophies that it has worked with for decades, making great use of available technology and hardware to bring pioneering experiences to the table.

If Amazon Brazil indeed has things right, GTA 6’s biggest innovation is going to be in how Leonida reacts to what we do when we engage with it without a goal in mind. With a world made stunning by better reflections and weather, it could also be one that feels genuinely alive thanks to how NPC AI could simulate the real world. RDR2 has already paved the way for such a groundbreaking approach. All GTA 6 needs to do is take that same philosophy and implement it across the board to make a world that’s louder, more chaotic, and modern.

Leonida could be a place where everyone has somewhere to be, and every crowd could tell stories better than a single NPC at a fixed location ever could. It could make every crime you commit become content, and make your every action the source of a new thread of activities to follow, the main campaign be damned.

We’re hoping that’s the case. It would definitely help us feel that the long wait for this one was worth it, and perhaps even a necessary part of the experience. Well, our fingers are definitely crossed, and we’re glad we’re not going to have to wait too long to find out if we’re right.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

It’s only natural, then, to expect remakes of Resident Evil 5 and 6, which had a lot of Chris Redfield and other important cast members from the overarching narrative squished into their respective stories. Leon, Claire, and Jill have had their time to shine in remakes, but the leader of the BSAA’s Wolf Squad has been conspicuous by his absence. That reference to him in Requiem could even be seen as a sort of a secret that points to him getting a couple of remakes as well.

But recent reports suggest that this might not be the case, and we think that assuming that remakes of RE5 and RE6 are definitely on the way ignores some obvious roadblocks, the biggest one being that they are quite different from all the other games that have been modernized. They’re bigger, louder, more action-heavy, and co-op driven than their counterparts. That doesn’t make them unpopular, not in the slightest, but it does bring unique challenges to the table that would make them a tad more complicated to modernize in a way that makes sense for both the developer and players.

The developer would have to think long and hard about what it wants them to be in the years to come, and make hard choices that could backfire, making them risky candidates for remakes despite their narrative significance. It doesn’t make sense to assume that the studio is going to remake these two titles at some point. Allow us to explain why we think that’s the case.

Looking To The Future

The report that the developer isn’t committed to remaking the two titles in question is a good place to start. Notice that we said “not committed” instead of ” cancelled”, an important distinction. Of course, we have to consider the fact that although the news came from Insider Gaming which is quite reliable, it was still coming from an insider who’s been known to focus on Resident Evil, an understandable sentiment considering the franchise’s popularity.

But if we were to take the rumors up on face value, the suggestion that RE5 and 6 are not on the developer’s roadmap for the franchise is an indicator that it isn’t going to try remaking them at some point, but could be biding its time in a bid to ensure that it gets things right. The way we see it, the absence of a plan is a good thing, and a far better alternative to rushing into something simply because of the wishful thinking of fans, who might not understand a few key intricacies despite the completely acceptable enthusiasm to see their favorite games coming back to the spotlight.

Fear not, because we’ve come prepared to convince you that the developer is right in holding off on remaking these two games. It’s time to get to the meat of this one.

A Case of Misplaced Co-Op Identity

If your mind has already jumped to Resident Evil 5, you’re probably thinking along the same lines as we are. RE5’s gameplay loop is quite deeply tied to co-op play, with Chris and Sheva working as a team for a major part of it. On its own, it presents the developer with a dilemma.

Is it a good idea to retain the co-op experience, which was arguably a very enjoyable part of Chris’s time in Kijuju? Could it be made into a single-player experience with improvements to the AI that make Sheva work well enough to feel like a legit combatant? Does combat need to be redesigned to account for either one of these options, and will the story have to be reworked to take on a more horror-oriented tone instead of the action-oriented, cooperative structure that made the original experience as enjoyable as it was?

All of these are complex areas that will need a lot of thought and nuance if a remake is on the cards, and what the developer decides is a good direction for a modernized version of the game. It isn’t going to be enough to overhaul the visuals on this one, and Sheva would probably be an area that poses a real challenge.

She would need to feel like a real character and a competent partner to Chris on the adventure they go through. Her entire skill set might need a serious revamp, rebuilt from the ground up to give her more agency in fights, allowing her to go past a simple AI-controlled companion if the remake takes the single-player route. She’s probably a factor that could make or break the remake, and is probably as important as the change in tone that any alterations would have to bring.

We say that since RE5 was a horror title with a lot of action, military thriller, and co-op shooter elements thrown into a story that had a lot of significant character development for Chris and Jill with Wesker acting as a catalyst for their growth over its story. All of those elements worked together to make the game as good as it was, and we wouldn’t want to be in the position of having to pick a few over the others.

Too much focus on one would come at the cost of neglecting everything else, which would defeat the purpose of a remake in the first place. Make it too serious, and the game loses that chaotic energy that underlined the entirety of its campaign, while emphasizing the action risks exacerbating the few complaints that made this one a divisive title for the franchise. It’s a game that needs cautious tonal correction over rampant tonal erasure, and that’s a tricky balance even for a studio with the developer’s obvious talent.

And then there’s Resident Evil 6, which brings its own set of problems to the table.

The Devil In The Details

If RE5’s main problem is co-op and having a remake working around that design pillar, RE6 brings the challenge of balancing multiple protagonists, narrative storylines, and gameplay identities. That automatically makes remaking it a nightmare more daunting than even the most formidable BOWs, since it would not only be a massive, expensive undertaking, but one that would require a complete restructuring of it all.

Make it too small, and it carries the risk of major cuts that would dilute the story’s impact. Reimagining it entirely would certainly put off more than a few purists whose interest would be in replaying the original experience with fresh new perspectives added in, the original’s scale and chaos being non-negotiable aspects of any effort to modernize the title.

RE6’s identity is easily the biggest roadblock to a remake that makes sense, given that each of its protagonists brings a unique perspective to the table. A part of the story is about the franchise’s signature style of horror, while another takes that to its extreme with superhuman spectacle. Those fights with Simmons continue to be among our most memorable ones in the franchise, after all.

But it also brings in military action and spy-thriller energy, pitting Chris as false Ada against each other in a narrative thread that was quite intriguing when we didn’t know what was going on. That many disparate threads leaves the developer with little choice but to go for a mere visual overhaul, which defeats the purpose of a remake considering the ones that have preceded it, or to create a more focused experience that risks foregoing the intensity of the original experience.

That’s not a trivial creative choice, but a massive undertaking that would mean devoting time, energy, and crucial resources to those who could otherwise be a part of other projects in development. That’s not an easy call to make, and if it were to cut content, the developer would have to face the ire of fans who love RE6 specifically because of its scale and ambition, facets that even we’d miss if they weren’t a part of a remake. Its absurd action and chaotic ambition were very enjoyable undercurrents that helped sell the story it was trying to tell, after all.

It’s a trap that we’d definitely think twice about taking on, since RE6’s perceived flaws are a part of its identity. Speaking of identity, there’s something common between both the titles we’ve been talking about.

A Pragmatic Approach

Both RE5 and RE6 represent the franchise’s action-oriented era, taking them beyond numbered mainline entries and giving them a sort of historical significance to the franchise. But that very part of it could also be a hindrance that makes it difficult to usher them into the future.

It’s definitely tricky, since the developer can’t ignore them forever, but must ensure that any effort to recreate them takes what made them rather divisive into account, and find a middle ground that works within the context of current-gen titles. Keeping that in mind, we’re pretty confident that holding off on remaking them is not just a smart choice, but is one that could pay dividends if the studio takes the time it needs to get things right. Irrespective of whether they’re faithful remakes, heavy reimaginings, or a suitable middle ground, staying put is a way to ensure that it avoids franchise fatigue while also handling each title’s unique problems on its own terms.

Remaking both games simply because we can’t wait to see them isn’t a good choice. RE5 would need improvements to its AI for solo players while building on important aspects like Sheva’s characterization, combat pacing and repetitiveness, and a better balance between horror and action. RE6 would need a campaign that’s structured better, less tonal clashes, a trimming of its mechanical excess, and more focused character arcs, which all point to it needing to be reimagined rather than remade.

They’re probably going to come to the surface at some point, but they’re not going to be easy wins in the way that other titles that received remakes were. Even those took a lot of effort, and these two are going to be expensive, challenging undertakings with the possibility that a section of players are going to dislike them no matter how well they turn out.

The developer is sure to confront the franchise’s most divisive period. We’re saying that letting it do that on its own terms is the right way to go about things.

In short, let them cook, folks!

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

The $80 price point is a stickler – I mean, many of us expected that. Some even suspected a $100 price, though Rockstar took the roundabout approach of locking five stores behind the same for the full-fledged experience. Triple-A gaming strikes again: unimaginable levels of greed, so on and so forth. But what’s truly been curious is the backlash against the lack of a disc with the physical version.

Is it priced any differently from the digital version? No. Is it simply a box with a code in it? Yes. Is Rockstar doing this to avoid leaks from retailers who break street date? At that point, we’re several steps removed from conspiracy theories about the PC version being ready and waiting to go, but facing a delay to ensure it doesn’t suffer a Steam leak like so many other high-profile games over the past year.

Yet it’s the lack of a physical disc that has people worked up. There’s a rumor that a proper physical release could happen in December. Then a response from Rockstar customer support claimed it was months away. And before any hope could materialize, The Hollywood Reporter, of all publications, cited a source claiming there won’t be a physical disc at launch or in the months after, and that the support message is valid but interpreted the wrong way. All in the span of a few days, mind you.

Of course, it’s not unreasonable to ask questions like, “Why are Rockstar and Take-Two demanding such a high price and not committing to providing a disc?” Whether you’re a collector, someone who believes in preservation or someone who doesn’t want to download the entire game for another playthrough somewhere down the line (even if you still have to deal with tens of gigs of updates), it’s not the loftiest expectation in the world.

But such is the hoopla around all this that other developers, like Insomniac Games with Marvel’s Wolverine, are getting caught in the crossfire. Neither releasing on the same date, let alone in the same month, but still wanting to reassure players – yes, it has a disc in the box. And as absurd as it seems, I wouldn’t be surprised if more developers issue the same statements, either to reassure retailers who won’t stock Grand Theft Auto 6 due to the lack of a disc or their players to avoid any kind of negative press. Or really any backlash, even if their sales skew massively towards digital, because the coming release period is so crucial and only a few will rise to the top.

The funny thing in all this isn’t people debating whether this is the new normal or whether publishers should be allowed to get away scot-free, especially in an age where digital ownership is a big deal, and a large chunk of gaming relies on an internet connection. It’s actually the shock at how much of the “new normal” this has really become.

You could go, “What’s next? Collector’s Editions with Steelbooks and no discs?” Yeah, PlayStation and Santa Monica Studio already beat you to that particular point of anger in 2022 with Ragnarok. The Collector’s edition didn’t have a physical disc.

Think times have changed? Feast your eyes on the Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Collector’s Edition with its 15-inch Magellan Man statue, art cards, a specially crafted box and even a Dollman figurine. Yet, no physical disc. That will be $230, but look on the bright side – at least it has a letter from Hideo Kojima himself.

You could argue that the lack of a physical disc is to keep costs down and that these are simply items for the more ardent collectors, but we come back once again to the crux of the matter. At these prices, a disc seems a given with how much money you’re putting down. Then again, it could just be a means for publishers – in this case, Sony – to have you spend extra for the actual game. Either way, the result is the same.

And while both of these editions received, at best, a moderate reaction given their price, Grand Theft Auto 6 has blown the entire discussion wide open. Now, that may not seem very fair. Then again, neither of those games is GTA 6. Just as that name entails a certain level of quality and seemingly allows for justifying $80 when other triple-A publishers simply wouldn’t dare, so too does it result in massive expectations in every single way. That includes something as seemingly innocuous as locking off a few stores out of dozens or providing a disc instead of a download code.

Yet suddenly, we’re in an age where the resale market is dead, physical retailers get the short end of the stick, and gamers face persecution…when these have all been ongoing issues for a while. Those who have purchased physical editions for years have had to go beyond simply asking whether there’s a disc. They’ve also had to look at a game’s playability without relying on downloadable updates. I still remember the controversy around Monster Hunter Rise in 2021, which shipped without a proper ending and final boss. Those got added a month later in an update, but that decision alone meant that some players never bothered with the physical edition, insane as it sounds.

Again, such is the hype and attention around Grand Theft Auto 6 that it could bring much wider attention to such issues. That it could prompt questions about whether gamers are actually getting a raw deal with a physical edition or simply a pretty box to stare at. Some companies, like PlayStation, may be looked at as “consumer-friendly” for doing the bare minimum, even though they’re very much part of the problem.

All the attention is ultimately a good thing, though, because it raises these issues higher than before, even if it’s sometimes through the same repetitive memes. The problem is all this will be drowned out over time.

That’s not just because this is the first step in the marketing cycle and that trailer 3 hype will effectively override any lingering concerns. Or that the proper gameplay showcase will have millions, including us, dissecting every bit for new details. It all goes back to the same reason why digital sales have become so dominant – most players don’t care about physical copies. So while there’s some justification for demanding a disc, even for old time’s sake, Rockstar and Take-Two will see the pre-order numbers and the tens of millions lining up on launch day, and they will simply continue as is, the entire “ordeal” will become an unrecognizable bump in the road towards billions in revenue.

Welcome to the new normal. You’ve been here for years.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Oh wait.

This year, it feels like every project from the house of Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Splinter Cell is having problems or cutting back to meet deadlines – including new entries in those very same properties. Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe has apparently pulled back and laid off 50 members from its team. Far Cry 7 is reportedly in a stage of development referred to as “Hell,” where things reportedly change every single month. And the less said about that fabled Splinter Cell Remake, which may as well be the stuff of legend at this point, the better.

So what about Ghost Recon, reportedly codenamed Project Ovr? A first-person shooter that seemingly takes after Ready or Not, reportedly promising a darker experience against the backdrop of a fictional war, where squad-based tactics are more prominent than ever? You know, everything that hardcore fans of the series have wanted? Well, sources previously told Insider Gaming that an internal alpha was scheduled for last Fall and if everything went well, it could launch this year.

Fast forward to this month, post-reshuffle and things have taken a rather drastic turn. Insider Gaming first reported that the alpha didn’t meet expectations. “Unrealistic deadlines,” “poor planning and management,” and “directors not listening to feedback” were apparently some of the things thrown around. Unfortunately, the head office has seemingly rejected any other arrangements, aside from reportedly bringing in VP of global creative Julien Sansalone and VP of production Jean-Baptiste Duval. Not to really change how the development team actually works, mind you. Just to oversee things. Presumably, they’re to be the eyes and ears for upper management, providing information on actual progress rather than going simply by whatever the studio says.

Then there’s the most recent report. What’s been done to bring the project back on track? A “cut and greatly reduced” scope, for starters, with “many features stripped.” The sources in question didn’t go into much detail on what exactly was removed, but they apparently vary in overall scale (and potential significance).

Furthermore, details on an internal alpha held last Spring have emerged. Ovr is apparently not “stable at all,” and the game is in a “terrible” state. What about last year’s internal alpha, and plans to shift to the final game within 12 months? I’m theorizing here, but it’s possible that after its organizational overhaul, upper management took one look at the game’s state and decided it was far from satisfactory.

It likely gave the developer time to shape up for another alpha test, and well, these are seemingly the results. Based on that, it’s made changes to ensure no roadblocks in deliverables.

Going back to Insider Gaming’s latest report, a beta is now apparently targeting November. Unfortunately, there’s another problem. Recent layoffs have hit multiple studios under the publisher’s umbrella, including this one, which means those remaining will purportedly have more work on hand. Which apparently means “long days of crunching” for the beta. So if it wasn’t bad enough that the team is working to get the game rolling, that too after abandoning several features, it has even less resources to do it and is under more pressure. Keep in mind that before these changes, some developers apparently expected the project to be outright cancelled.

Why? Because the studio’s management seemingly has no idea what it was doing. This was a concern that emerged with how much freedom these individual Creative Houses would have. But you should think of this as more of the old way of doing things meeting a new approach by management that’s more concerned with cutting costs and actually taking steps to ship the product rather than dilly-dallying.

And while it’s easy to blame the executives in charge at the top, you have to remember that Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced was reportedly meant for March before facing a delay. How that extra time would have helped the remake is anyone’s guess, but based on relatively positive impressions from both fans and media outlets, we’ll default to it being the correct choice.

But this is this, and that is that. One Creative House won’t necessarily operate like the others, and that goes double for its studios. It is the same as handling Splinter Cell and The Division, however – the former waffling about with its remake while the latter has yet to provide updates on The Division 3 for almost three years. Aside from executive producer Julian Gerighty, who had a key role in both titles, leaving the company, of course.

As for Ghost Recon, really, what can you say at this point? As much as this new studio structure ensures that projects actually get going rather than end up mired, it feels like the company as a whole has no clue what it wants to do with the franchise. When Wildlands embraced the open-world approach, there was significant blowback from long-time fans, and its launch state didn’t help matters either. Nevertheless, after strong sales, the company stuck with it, improving and introducing significant new features while showcasing how much fun it could be. It may not have been the true blue Ghost Recon that the hardcore fan wanted, but it was certainly getting there.

Then Breakpoint stripped most of that away, including AI squadmates and introduced a poorly implemented survival theme. The real goal? Taking Wildlands formula and trying to create a looter shooter, complete with a social hub. As noted earlier, this went down horribly and even with massive overhauls, it’s far from the ideal experience.

So what was the plan after that? Of all things, Ghost Recon Frontline, a first-person shooter battle royale that looked to embrace the Fortnite style of building walls. Except you were actually air-dropping them in with a laser pointer. The reception to this was so bad that the publisher ultimately just scrapped it months later. Good riddance.

By comparison, Ovr looked like it was going back to what made the series great while leaning into more grounded, realistic tactical play. Yet again, however, we don’t know where it fell short as to warrant so many changes. Was the squad management terrible? Did the gunplay disappoint? If there’s an open world, did it not have enough checklists of activities? We don’t know, but whatever its problems, the publisher isn’t keen to sit on the sidelines and wait for the development team to suddenly strike gold. And it’s not going to be lenient on them either, even with reduced manpower.

While it’s nice to hope that everything will work out, the past decade or so hasn’t been kind to Ghost Recon. And at this point, wistfully hoping that those in charge just “get it” and deliver an experience that will satisfy both the hardcore and the more contemporary fans feels like a pipe dream.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

But the fantasy of managing a college football team, which is arguably the crux of a simulator aimed at recreating the real-life experience in a digestible, digital format has always been Dynasty Mode. It’s the home of college football, and we’re quite eager to get started with it in College Football 27. That’s because EA seems to have gone beyond merely recruiting players to play games and then have you simulating seasons.

Things are different this time around, and the latest iteration of Dynasty Mode after two years of tweaks and modifications looks like it’s the real deal, with the entire experience coming close to managing an entire program. That includes managing expectations, dealing with spreading limited resources across the board, staffing challenges, negotiating NIL deals, facing the pressures that a coach would face, trying to retain players who would rather take their talents elsewhere, and establishing a team’s long-term identity one step at a time.

That’s a long list of things to do, but that’s precisely why we think this year’s iteration of Dynasty Mode might be the real main event in this year’s take on College Football. Join us as we take you through what’s made us so optimistic about it.

The Third Time’s The Charm

If CF 25 was the comeback after a very long hiatus for the franchise, CF 26 was a title that brought in a lot of refinements that proved quite popular. Based off of that trajectory and everything we’ve seen of CF 27 so far, it’s certainly looking like a big swing from EA, going past incremental improvements to present a bold, confident take on the sports sim that could easily find fame and glory thanks to what it’s bringing to the table.

EA is positioning College Football 27 as the third step in its rebuilt Dynasty roadmap, following the comeback foundation of 25 and the refinements of 26. And from what we’re seeing, it isn’t just about adding in new features and calling it a day. That would be too easy, and a potentially lazy solution to the vision it has presented. Its latest deep dive into Dynasty Mode showcases how it’s clearly being pitched as a deeper program-management experience rather than just another recruiting-and-season sim loop.

Instead, we’re looking at a program management mode that feels akin to what it would be like to manage an evolving landscape of players with many variables for us to control. Or at least, try as life attempts to wrest that very control out of our hands in a take on franchise management that’s bringing all of the chaos from the real world to our screens.

Where Road to Glory is about a single player and Ultimate Team puts you on a hamster wheel where you’re collecting players and grinding out levels, and Road to CFP is about simulating the competition, Dynasty brings all of that into one place, putting you right at the center of the broader fantasy of a college football simulator. It isn’t about a single season, but about building a lasting legacy within the framework of the game.

Athletic Director Expectations are the clearest example of that shift. Instead of treating every job like the same climb with different uniforms, CF 27 gives each program its own pressure points, patience level, and definition of success. A powerhouse could expect you to put them front and center of playoff runs, and perhaps not take too kindly to a decision to hold them back. A school that’s still trying to make a name for itself might give you a bit of breathing room as you try to help it get on the map. One job might hinge on rivalry wins, another on owning a recruiting pipeline, another on building an offensive or defensive identity, and another on keeping facilities or rankings at a required standard.

All of these parameters become part of an ever-changing landscape that you’re then expected to manage, just as a talented coach would have to do in the real world. A solid record may buy patience at one school and still feel like underachievement at another, depending on what the program believes it should be competing for. The new Dynasty isn’t just about winning, but doing so in a way that serves your school’s interests and expectations.

Of course, that can get chaotic without the game’s systems giving you a bit of control over the chaos. That’s where Dynasty Blueprint comes in, turning those expectations into an annual resource puzzle rather than just a list of objectives. You could choose to allocate a significant amount of funds to secure NIL rights for a recruit, or perhaps use that money to create facilities that secure your team’s long-term growth. You could also invest in staff to better support your team, or perhaps spend it all on ensuring a win-now season if that’s what your school really wants. Because Dynasty Points operate as a yearly, use-it-or-lose-it budget, the mode pushes you to make short-term calls instead of hoarding resources forever.

It’s about handling pressure, and handling it well enough to cement your own position within growing teams. And that’s just scratching the surface on systems that go a lot deeper.

A More Hands-On Approach

There’s a reason we mentioned NIL when talking about using your Dynasty Points as effectively as you can. In the real world, it’s a factor that gives players a fair bit of control over the trajectories of their football careers, and CF 27 is making that a factor of the experience by ensuring that the onus of retaining them or letting them move on to greener pastures is on you. Recruiting was already a major part of the experience in previous titles, and making retention become a factor makes things all the more authentic.

Given that you only have a limited number of Dynasty Points to reflect your budgets, you’re going to be smarter with resources in smaller ones while having to manage high expectations on powerhouse programs. It makes retaining your best players as important as recruiting new ones, and it’s a great way to link factors like prestige, deal breakers and school strength in a way that’s both comprehensive and cohesive all at once. The new approach to NIL makes Dynasty less predictable, which is something the mode has needed.

Factor in facilities and staff, and the NIL system’s unpredictability gets amplified, its scope extending beyond your team’s potential on the field. Once again, it’s a showcase of how the entire management experience is more all-encompassing this time around as your facilities and staff become long-term investments that can shape your program’s identity while making coordinators matter a whole lot more. Program grades then become a part of the long-term loop, making rebuilds feel different from merely stepping in to take over a well-established program for a national contender.

Those differences are a welcome addition, and a fine way to ensure that the coaching carousel actually has an impact on how things go for you and your team. You’re not just grinding out levels, which was something we couldn’t help but notice in previous iterations, but building a resume that gives you as much negotiating power as your powerhouses. It’s an effective way of making successes or failures work both ways between players and a coach, tying job openings to school expectations in a way that gives you a lot of choices, but with enough tradeoffs to make those decisions feel as agonizing as they might be in the real world.

Of course, all of that feeds very well into the new Dynasty storytelling engine, that brings in dynamic weekly recaps, Heisman Watch updates alongside a fully animated ceremony, and so much more. They’re all great ways to give a season context and flavor while making you feel like your decisions and hard work actually matter, being as impactful to your team’s journey as they can be. If everything else we’ve talked about lets you manage numbers to achieve the best possible advantage, or perhaps even a compromise between your school’s expectations and your team’s potential, this is where the drama comes in, presenting it all in a way that gets you immersed in the spectacle and realism of it all.

It’s all shaping up to look like this could be the most personal take on College Football’s Dynasty Mode, and the Team Builder now bringing in customisable elements like unique backgrounds and signature accents is a great touch. It lets you imagine yourself in the thick of the action at a stadium, your personal attachment to a program you’ve built represented well in the atmosphere around the games you’re a part of.

Building Balance

You’re probably wondering if everything we’ve said so far makes things look like they’re too good to be true. Believe us when we tell you that the thought has crossed our mind. Ambitious changes like the ones we’ve been talking about so far come with a lot of risk. The new NIL systems could become an unending maelstrom that sucks in your limited budget leaving you at the mercy of a treacherous sea of unpredictability.

The Athletic Director systems could be seen as too random, running the risk of generating expectations that seem unfair thanks to how unrealistic they are perceived to be. The logic between the Coaching Carousel and recruitment and retention must land as perfectly as it can in order for it to be believable, holding up across multiple seasons in a way that makes sense to us all. There needs to be a balance, and it has to be one that holds up under the duress of multiple concurrent seasons for the entire simulation to work.

All of these are reasons to be wary of getting too invested in what’s coming before we get to try it out. But they’re also a great showcase of how EA hasn’t just added new things to Dynasty and called it a day. It’s evolving what the mode is supposed to be in the modern era of college football. If it manages to get things right, it could make Dynasty go from being just another mode to indulge yourself in, and become the one that defines the entire game.

We’re rooting for that to be the case, if only for the selfish reason that it would mean hours upon hours of entertainment. But hey, that’s what we’re all tuning in for, right?

Thankfully, we don’t have to wait too long to find out!

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

We’re eager to chase storms, take on forts, transform our ship from a modest brig into the scourge of the high seas, discover new islands and the treasures they hold, board ships, and generally lose ourselves in a gameplay loop that brought the best of what the Caribbean had to offer. Resynced is more than a normal remake. It’s an opportunity to bring a fresh new take on one of the most naturally exploreable worlds that the franchise has given us, with a new engine, dynamic weather, new content, and more to spice up the experience.

It’s a chance to remind people about what made Assassin’s Creed so popular in the first place. Let’s examine why.

The Allure of The Sea

One of Black Flag’s best features was its ability to simulate life on the high seas as a crew of folks who treated the law as a set of guidelines rather than hard and fast rules. You were encouraged to make your mark on the places you visited, and the story just happened to unfold along the way. Saw a ship that was carrying some much-needed resources for your own vessel’s next upgrade on the horizon? Or a fort guarding a route to a hidden cove or jungle path that you really wanted to explore? Well, it was time to take up battle positions and let your cannons loose!

Perhaps there was a whale that you were really interested in hunting, or a storm that you could either try to avoid or sail right through like the reckless pirate you were encouraged to be. Edward was a focal point for all of this and more; his own nature blended seamlessly with the gameplay loop to make the whole adventure feel like it was a world that you were meant to engage with.

The detours you took along the path to becoming one of the Assassin Brotherhood’s finest warriors were a part of the journey, not a distraction from your goals. And that lent Black Flag a kind of beauty that we worried the franchise had left behind. It’s also why we think Resynced brings more than upgraded graphics to the table. It’s also bringing better open-world streaming, improved sailing, better weather systems, and more environmental detail while removing the friction between land and sea that was an unfortunate side effect of hardware limitations when the original game hit the shelves. There’s also the fact that enemy ships now have factional alliances and feuds, which could be a new layer that immediately makes sailing the seas more treacherous for everybody involved, as opposed to the Jackdaw drawing the fire of every other ship in the vicinity.

The absence of that friction is what we’re most excited about, as the Caribbean isn’t just going to look sharper, but feel more alive and responsive as a result. We’re expecting that setting sail could lead to more chaos on turbulent waters, and we’re all for it. The reduction in interruptions is going to make an already immersive world feel more convincing as a result.

The Pirate Versus The Viking

It’s a good time to compare Resynced to Valhalla, another Assassin’s Creed title that featured a protagonist who wasn’t really an Assassin, and who also viewed the laws of the land as ones that could be twisted to serve nobler purposes. Eivor’s romp through England was a ginormous undertaking, coming with tons of ambition as the first title in the franchise to make use of current-gen systems, and finding success in the effort.

It brought conflicts to the table, alongside having to navigate fragile alliances that rooted Eivor in the political landscape of England just as much as the Order of the Ancients. The game was framed around its advanced RPG mechanics, but that came with a pitfall: progression felt tied to exploration. You visited a new region, made a few friends, collected some gear, and resolved things before moving on to another one.

In perfect contrast, Black Flag and Resynced, by extension, are less tied to conquering new regions and more about chasing a horizon that always has something new to offer. You’re going to have to beef up to take on dangerous threats, yes, but it’s also entirely possible to have a jolly good time just soaking in the atmosphere and the sense of discovery that abhors a more checklist-based approach.

Where Valhalla was framed around visiting new places because an icon indicated there was something that was clearly demarcated by its color, Resynced brings back an approach that continues to be fresh even among modern games that are obsessed with scale, leveraging multiple systems, and the sheer volume of content they offer. That’s not to say that these things aren’t a part of Edward’s journey, but they’re spread out so well, and arranged in a way that makes engaging with them feel more natural.

It’s more about chasing something that caught your eye, and using the world map as a way to reach new discoveries instead of that very map telling you where to go and what you can expect to find there. There’s an air of mystery that pervades the Caribbean, and it was absent in England thanks to an approach that was enjoyable, but certainly not as immersive.

The best example of this is the new dynamic weather system. The sea in Black Flag wasn’t just an empty space you had to navigate between missions, acting as a sort of connecting thread between the story and exploration. Resynced has the opportunity to make it come alive with water cycles, lightning, waterspouts, and hazards to present a modernized ocean experience. We’ve already seen how the Anvil Engine made the weather a crucial part of the experience in Shadows. We’ve all dived into ice from viewpoints during our time in Japan, after all. In our case, it was on purpose just to see if the developer had been paying attention.

But modernization does come with risks.

A Balance Between Risks And Rewards

We’re being cautious about how better stealth, less frustrating mission designs, improved sailing and navigation, and quality-of-life improvements could change Black Flag in ways that take away something from the original experience by making things too easy. It’s a matter of the added convenience weakening the adventure.

However, when you consider how these features all work to present a world that’s free of stealth-focused course corrections, elements that strayed pretty close to live-service territory, a general air of franchise fatigue, and massive RPG worlds, Resynced is an opportunity for a return to what worked before all of the above came into play. It’s a chance to show players who might not have engaged with the franchise before Origins how things were done back in the day, and the way in which the franchise had been a pillar for the developer’s success.

Its modernization doesn’t take away from the simplicity of having a pirate aboard his ship, and a world that has a sea full of troubles that calls to you, making you go off course in ways that feel organic and natural, instead of forced. It could turn out to be the Assassin’s Creed game we’ve been wanting for a while, and one that we deserve for sticking with the franchise through thick and thin, building on the forward momentum that Naoe and Yasuke set up for it. That Black Tides’ mission could be a bridge that lets us get back to being Assassins first, and RPG characters second.

It isn’t merely nostalgia for an era of gaming that many believed was now lost to Davy Jones’s locker. It’s the possibility of getting to play (or replay) an Assassin’s Creed game that made exploring the world feel like a natural extension of its protagonist’s rise to infamy, and his eventual transformation into a man who looked beyond his own interests.

Like Edward, who went in search of fame and fortune only to find a higher calling, Resynced could be a game that builds on its own fame to become something more, and in the process be a signal fire for the future of Assassin’s Creed. It could become a beacon for future titles, being a template for what makes a title built around ancient civilizations and a never-ending war feel like it’s still fun to play, and actually enjoyable to engage with.

Well, with only weeks to go before we get to find out, we’re going to be on our decks and at the wheel of our ships, just waiting for the winds to hit our sails before we embark on an adventure that’s both nostalgically appealing and mechanically fascinating. And of course, you can bet we’re going to sing along to those shanties at the top of our voices when we do.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Pricing, pre-load date, an Ultimate Edition with exclusive single-player content, new and returning vehicles, hints of different activities – the list goes on, and you can likely find even more because of the 60+ screenshots released. Rockstar doesn’t consistently provide updates, but when it has something to announce, it brings its A game.

Aside from the Ultimate Edition’s exclusive benefits, there’s one other key detail that’s elicited some mixed reactions, and not just from fans. It’s the announcement that the physical version of the game will not have a disc. Instead, it will feature a download code in the box, and the memes have already started flowing in. Someone posting that they have the physical edition of Grand Theft Auto 6 right now and showing an empty box with no disc…That’s about the extent of it. Not much to be done when there’s really nothing to work with.

Of course, as some will no doubt point out, this is far from a new development. Remember the controversy surrounding Starfield back in 2023 when it lacked a disc for the physical version on PC but included it for Xbox? That was only the Standard Edition, though – if you bought the Constellation Edition, regardless of platform, you only get a digital download code. Even for games that ship with physical discs, like Crimson Desert, you still need to download a massive patch to play it. And let’s not even get into the whole thing about Game-Key Cards on the Switch 2.

There’s also the fact that digital sales have only been increasing year in and year out. In its last fiscal quarter report ending March 31st, 2026, PlayStation revealed that 85 percent of its total software sales came from full game digital downloads, up by five percent year-over-year. The house of Resident Evil, Pragmata and the upcoming Onimusha: Way of the Sword is even higher, with 93 percent of total sales being digital.

So why is this such a big deal? Well, for the one obvious fact – this is Grand Theft Auto 6. Even if physical game sales on Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 have been underwhelming for a while, there’s the hope that a major release like this could offer a pivotal boost.

Which is funny because you have to consider the consoles without disc drives, especially in this economy, where not everyone wants to splurge extra on a separate Blu-ray disc drive for their PS5 Pro or those opting for the PS5 Digital Edition because it’s cheaper. Given the price bumps that both consoles – the Xbox Series X/S – have seen in recent years, there’s even more incentive to go disc-less.

But that hasn’t stopped two retailers – VGP and Loot Box Gaming in the US – from dropping the release. They both have a valid stance as well. VGP is “committed to supporting physical media and preserving the value of physical game ownership.” Loot Box echoed this sentiment, while adding, “If a product can’t honor the people who pay their hard-earned money to purchase it, then we have no business trying to sell it to our customers, whom we value above anything else.”

And there’s no denying either of them because at the end of the day, Grand Theft Auto 6 costs $80 for the Standard Edition ($100 if you’re picking up the Collector’s Edition). Call it an old-school mentality, but there’s still an expectation that, at the very least, a physical version should include a disc. And besides, this is Grand Theft Auto, which will make back its budget several times over in the next decade. Does Take-Two not have enough money to justify a proper physical release?

That said, there are significant reasons for these steps, which could include eliminating any resells. Much like the physical games market, the margin for reselling games isn’t extinct, but it’s not exactly bustling either. Grand Theft Auto 6 is a massive release and has likely already notched up millions, if not tens of millions, in pre-orders already. However, Take-Two is also looking at the long game, and that doesn’t just mean controlling the price – it means removing any option for a future customer to buy it for cheap and cutting out the middleman entirely. Say what you want about how awful it is and how game ownership has gone to the gutter, but in terms of business sense, it’s expected from one of the biggest franchises in the world.

If that wasn’t enough, this approach helps to battle leaks and potential spoilers from getting out in the wild on the first day of launch. We could sit here and discuss why that shouldn’t matter, but with how heavily it’s being marketed as a single-player experience, to the point where the belief is that the next iteration of GTA Online will require a separate purchase, it’s clear that spoilers are important for Rockstar. Not like the full story walkthrough won’t be available online within a week or so anyway, but at least it can stop any retailers from potentially breaking street date.

Do I believe that Take-Two could do away with physical releases entirely down the line? It’s certainly possible because, like many other publishers, much of its revenue is digital. And yet, I wouldn’t put it past them to debut a Collector’s Edition or a limited physical edition with a disc down the line, just for the sake of getting even more money. Hobbyists will probably be satisfied because they can add it to their collection, even if it requires a major download to actually play. The hardcore fan will have some goodies to carry the value beyond the disc, and if copies are limited, the publisher won’t need to worry about long-term profit implications.

So to recap, in a nutshell: It’s not personal. It’s just business. Would that we could return to the days when a game, triple-A or otherwise, was available on a disc, and you were free to do with it what you’d like. But as much as the decision feels like “typical bad corporation doing bad corporation things,” Grand Theft Auto 6 is far from the first title to opt for this approach. If anything, it’s a sign of the times, and highlighting the absolute state of physical versions and the resale market. Excluding itself from either won’t necessarily deal a death blow to either.

Because it’s GTA, it will sell boatloads and then some, and that was always going to be the case, regardless of what pricing was announced (which is hardly a controversial stance). Maybe Take-Two will find a way to make amends with retailers somewhere down the line. Maybe it’s just the latest to move on entirely. Either way, the Grand Theft Auto 6 hype is only just picking up steam, and it’s all the industry can do to follow the damn train.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

We know that there are two million of you out there who agree that it was an experience like no other, and that’s no mean feat when you consider a bevy of great games last year. And that’s precisely why we think that it’s worth talking about. Death Stranding has always been a franchise that’s had the distinction of being one that has big names, actors, an astronomical budget, visual splendor, and the benefit of being a PlayStation exclusive. You’d think those sales numbers could, and perhaps should, be bigger.

But the reality is that it’s feeling like a niche hit with a massive fan base as opposed to the more universally appealing PlayStation mega franchises that we’ve come to know and love. We’re sure you’re curious about why that’s the case, so let’s get right to it.

The Numbers Tell Stories

Let’s break down those rather modest sales numbers first. Death Stranding 2 reportedly passed the 2 million mark after it launched on the PC, with 425,000 copies sold on Steam and another estimated 1.6 million of them moving via the PS5. For many games, those are numbers that the developers behind them would be smiling about.

But this is Hideo Kojima we’re talking about, and a game that had Sony, Norman Reedus, Lea Seydoux, and Elle Fanning in its cast. Moreover, the production values on it screamed of a premium experience, a sentiment echoed by the game’s marketing. The numbers feel more modest than anyone would expect, considering those factors.

Of course, Death Stranding 2 was indeed a premium game, and was one that can’t easily be imitated by another studio. It was also highly anticipated, with Sam Porter’s adventures in the first game allowing the sequel to command a very attentive audience ever since the curtain was lifted on it. But somehow, it feels like the discourse around it may have pushed the ceiling it was supposed to hit too high for its own good.

Too Big For Its Boots

Why do we say that? Well, Death Stranding 2 is a game that’s always felt like one whose scope extended far beyond the world it tries to get you invested in. It’s one whose name echoes in every corner of the gaming world, and is one that invites opinions even from people who haven’t really played it.

Its trailers often become trends on their own, its weirdness has been the source of many hilarious memes, moments from its gameplay are often cited as ones that stay with you long after you’re done playing it, and Kojima’s iconic presence gave every reveal made throughout its marketing campaign an aura of importance that often transcends what other games are evaluated on.

But cultural significance doesn’t necessarily translate to mainstream adoption. A game can get famous even if it hasn’t been played by a significant majority of gamers, and Death Stranding is arguably the best example of that. It might be talked about quite often, but does that mean it has the mass appeal of Sony’s other franchises?

Look at Spider-Man, for instance. That was a franchise that carried prestige alongside the appeal of playing as a superhero, which we’ve known for most of our time engaging with popular culture. Ghost of Tsushima carried the Sucker Punch label and the appeal of a samurai fantasy, along with a story that was instantly captivating. The Last of Us was an excellent game whose story catapulted it to fame, while the TV show immediately boosted its accessibility.

Death Stranding carried a fair bit of prestige too, with Kojima’s pedigree often announcing it as a title to watch out for, but it was a title that demanded patience, diligence, and a lot of willingness to contend with friction in its gameplay loop. It’s a great concept and a solid game, but it wasn’t for everyone. And that difference matters.

Kojima’s name isn’t a cheat code for automatic success, after all. He’s an icon whose very presence can help sell a project, creating anticipation, trust, and a fair bit of attention for anything he touches. But Death Stranding is evidence that the Kojima brand isn’t enough to make a concept as strange as the one it offers a mainstream success.

Yes, it can help with getting people to talk about the game, and perhaps even watch a few trailers. It can get critics and fans to treat a launch like a culturally significant event, a milestone of sorts. But dive into the gameplay loop, and you see a finished product that’s deliberate and slow.

And that could cause many players to admire it from a distance instead of actually engaging with it and discovering how emotionally dense and layered what it’s offering can be.

Praised, But Not Adored

You might be wondering why we picked this one as our Game of the Year, given all that we’ve been saying about it here. A game’s quality isn’t necessarily tied to its commercial scale, and that’s a bit of nuance that’s often overlooked. That’s especially true when it’s quite hard to accurately point to what makes a game special, and in one that’s as unusual and demanding as DS2, that becomes especially relevant.

It’s a game that comes with barriers, challenging you to overcome them by showing the same resilience that its protagonists demonstrate. DS2 might have been polished, beautiful, very emotionally resonant, and extremely ambitious, but it still had its limitations. It was a sequel to an already divisive first outing, while its core fantasy doesn’t carry the immediate appeal of a samurai or superhero.

The story could seem too philosophical to players who want something more straightforward, and the same can be said for its gameplay loop, which comes with an appeal that only the most discerning of players could grow to love. These so-called “flaws” are what make it as special as it is and are a part of its identity. But they could also limit how appealing it can be to someone who doesn’t grasp the vision it brings to the table.

It’s also important to consider that the first game had a very long time to accumulate massive sales. The original game managed five million copies across the PS4 and PC by March 2021, but there were several factors at play. They include a longer post-release window, a lot of conversation (and we mean a lot!), and had multiple discounts, a re-release, access via subscriptions, and of course, the game’s PC debut working its favor.

Doesn’t DS2 deserve a similar window before its commercial viability is analysed? We’d agree, as its launch momentum isn’t a final indicator of its mass appeal. But that only serves to strengthen our argument that this one’s a game that slowly draws players in through word of mouth, curiosity, discounts, a presence on PC, and, of course, its cultural staying power.

It may not be a mainstream blockbuster franchise, but it does have value as a long-term prestige play. And that’s where Sony comes in.

A Prestige Problem

If you think about Sony’s wider strategy for PlayStation, the brand has built a reputation around polished, cinematic experiences that are presented as premium single-player titles. It’s a strategy that’s paid dividends in the past and recent present, and will probably continue to do so in the near future.

DS2 stands out in that regard, though. It’s a prestige project to be sure, but it’s one that doesn’t come with a broadly accepted fantasy, the appeal of a familiar genre, or mass-market characters. It does carry a unique, auteur-driven identity that lets it stand out from other titles that fall into one or more of the other categories, though.

That doesn’t rule out its chances of achieving commercial success on the level of those titles over the course of its shelf life, and it’s not a bad investment despite not having the same commercial ceiling. It does, however, cement PlayStation as a home for ambitious creators who come with a vision for something that hasn’t been done before.

It’s proof that its unique form of prestige might not be as commercially well-performing, and it proves that not every critically acclaimed game is going to be a tentpole for the PlayStation brand, even if it’s one that became an internet sensation and a source of a lot of discussion around it. The intensity of its online presence seems to have distorted expectations around its scope and scale, in a way that has made it seem like it should have sold more than it has, despite the actual game being attractive to a relatively narrow buying audience.

But that still isn’t bad news for Kojima Productions, as a successful cult game is probably the best thing to happen for the studio. It has never needed to chase the largest possible audience it can get, but has definitely shown the intent to be a studio that makes games nobody else can make.

DS2’s devoted audience, and its rare creative identity courtesy of its makers, are factors that are more crucial in the examination of its overall success. Its sales numbers pale in significance to its avoidance of trying to be a mainstream blockbuster. It never tried to be one, and we think that it’s high time the industry and the game’s fans acknowledge that facet of its existence.

From that perspective, DS2 is a reality check, and should be seen that way as opposed to thinking about it as a disappointment. It isn’t Spider-Man, or Horizon Forbidden West, and that’s the point. It’s a title that has all the makings of a blockbuster, but one that is a lot more specific and focused on a vision that’s decidedly stranger and more fragile.

It’s what has made it sell like a successful cult game, and is certainly what it was always meant to be.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organizatio

Did you really think about the playtime? Or if you’d actually be entertained during those hours? That it was a linear experience is only one factor, because even if there were an optional side area or two, or additional difficulties to encourage replay value, the main story path would still need to deliver. Why else would you drop $60 on it?

Of course, over time, that promise has become muddied. It’s the age of $70 games, with the occasional threat of an $80 release. Where developers aren’t just pushing for massive game worlds, they’re promising entire systems to explore (well, at least one of them did, to a mixed response). Gaming as a hobby has become much more expensive in general. As a result, players look for the most bang for their buck or join the overwhelming majority that only really play a handful of titles all year – Madden, Call of Duty, EA Sports FC – not to mention free-to-play titles like Fortnite.

But for every new title with checklists of stuff to do – free or otherwise; for every game that pushes Battle Passes, challenges, and whatnot, there will still be titles that favor succinct quality over excessive padding. We’ve seen it in the likes of Astro Bot, Returnal, Saros, and so on, and we’re seeing it again in 007 First Light.

You can see it from the opening minutes to the training missions in Malta to Bond’s first real mission in Slovakia. The story moves at a brisk pace when it needs to but also takes its time when required. You’ll have plenty of moments that establish the characters and setting, making you actually care about them. It could be Greenway administering a lie detector test to Bond and drawing his ire, or trying to earn money to enter Bawma’s private auction for a chance to meet him. Every single scene is deliberate but never outstays its welcome.

The sheer restraint in the storytelling is as incredible as those high-note moments, be it while chasing enemies through the countryside or during an intense shootout. There is that promised forward momentum in every aspect of the gameplay, but the development team knows how to temper it with variety.

The result? This feeling of pushing ahead to see what’s next, be it a gorgeous new environment or some new plot development. Maybe you’ll unlock a new gadget that fundamentally changes how you play. Perhaps a seemingly innocuous story sequence will lead to you chasing assassins to a gala, transitioning from running and gunning across rooftops to tense stealth, and back again. It’s a design approach that I can only really describe as “watercooler moments,” where something incredible is always around the corner, keeping you hooked.

And yet, even as First Light crams all these moments in while offering the occasional level with multiple approaches, and numerous unique locations, the story can be completed in about 15 to 16 hours. Partaking in the extra side content bumps that up to about 19 hours. That’s not including repeat playthroughs on a higher difficulty, of course. Which wouldn’t be surprising to anyone who’s played IOI’s Hitman World of Assassination. For all the replay value on offer, especially with Freelancer mode, the main story of each title isn’t very long.

However, at $70 for First Light, it’s easy to balk at that playtime in this day and age. But once again, just like an Uncharted or The Last of Us back in the day, you’re paying for a certain level of quality. The real question before launch is whether IOI could actually execute on that and deliver everything that it promises. Judging by the reviews from critics and the response from almost three million players, we’d say they were successful.

Not that a James Bond title couldn’t have worked as an open-world game, but this particular 007 experience could only be delivered like this, even if it didn’t necessarily cost $200 million to develop as widely reported.

None of this is to knock open-world games or titles that you can sink dozens, maybe hundreds of hours into (though I can think of more than a few live-service titles that deserve the criticism). There’s also nothing wrong with adding features that encourage replaying, even if that’s not your main reason. For example, Titanfall 2’s multiplayer would have been the biggest appeal for returning fans, but it remains one of the best single-player first-person shooter campaigns of all-time. In the same vein, anyone who picked it up just for the story would have gotten their money’s worth.

But there’s a difference between extra features or side activities and padding that doesn’t serve the game in any shape or form. Insomniac Games understood that with the Marvel’s Spider-Man games – that’s why their stories take about 17 hours to complete. Could it have justified extending the sequel’s playtime, especially with all the things fans wanted to see but never got (Symbiote-infused Sandman, we barely knew ye)? Of course, and it might have done so if not for the already massive budget.

Would it have gone that route if it affected the pacing and overall plot? Probably not. Granted, not every single sequence is a winner, but none overstay their welcome. Keep in mind that these are still open-world games at heart – it’s just that the approach to storytelling is very much in line with a linear single-player experience.

Value is subjective, and one person’s $20 microtransaction is another’s Hollow Knight: Silksong (as depressing as that may sound). But if this year has served as a reminder of anything, it’s that triple-A games can have incredible linear single-player campaigns and still be successful. Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata proved this, and Onimusha: Way of the Sword could complete that hat trick.

Not everyone can deliver this kind of experience, and I’d be lying if I said it always meant success. See Saros reportedly selling only 405,000 copies since launching last April, despite costing $70.

Regardless, the point still stands. You don’t need to stuff hours of busywork into the experience for the sake of “value,” or just abandon the formula outright because the call of the live-service model is too strong (see: Rocksteady). Maybe it’s because more and more publishers have reeled enough from these games-as-a-service titles to instead fall back on the tried and true, even as development costs continue to balloon.

That doesn’t mean the budgets will reduce anytime soon, especially with reports about Gears of War: E-Day costing upwards of $400 million to develop (and that packs a lot more than just a campaign). But there’s something to be said about delivering a tight, well-knit story that doesn’t make you wait for the fun. Value is subjective, but time is money, and sometimes, a 15-hour experience that stays with you can feel superior to a 100-hour title that feels like a slog.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Since then, we’ve seen a well-known French retailer’s Portuguese chain post five listings, seemingly indicating different editions from 90 to 200 Euros (which caused many to assume that the Standard Edition would cost $80). No sooner had that happened than Dealabs’ billbil-kun, who’s been on the money for various leaks throughout the years, claimed that these weren’t representative of the game’s final price.

Granted, it didn’t take long for the truth to come out. The Standard Edition will retail for $80 while the Ultimate Edition costs $100. But this is Grand Theft Auto 6 we’re talking about – where the hours feel like days and the days feel like months, desperate for any new details. Even if it’s clear when we can expect more, that doesn’t make the wait any less agonizing. And who should pour more fuel on that fire than, of all entities, YouTube.

If you happened to return to Grand Theft Auto 6’s Trailer 2 due to the announcement of pre-orders, then you might have noticed an influx of new comments. Fans excited about the same, making plans to call in sick, predicting that it would sell at least 1000 copies on launch – the usual. All perfectly reasonable, because why wouldn’t you want to share your excitement, or keen financial prowess on how this latest title in a long-running franchise of multi-million blockbusters would perform at the very minimum?

However, in the midst of all this, the official YouTube channel, commented: “Consider us busy June 25th.”

Now, on the surface, you could assume it’s just a playful comment about how it’s potentially looking forward to pre-ordering the game alongside millions of others (ignore the logistics on how). A bit of sharing in the community hype, and since this is one of the most popular trailers on the platform, it makes sense. But “consider us busy” is where things take a turn. It’s one thing for a fan to say this, but the biggest online video platform?

Thus, as someone looking forward to Grand Theft Auto 6, there’s only one reasonable conclusion to draw: Trailer 3 on June 25th.

A big leap in logic? Probably, but again, I wouldn’t consider pre-ordering a game something that should keep anyone, much less YouTube, “busy.”” Featuring and managing significant traffic for another trailer that brings in hundreds of millions of views in just a few hours, which could spawn who knows how many shorts, reactions, and whatnot? Now that sounds like busy work. And besides, there’s taking the remark in the most literal sense – that you should consider YouTube as a platform to be busy later this week. While that’s possible based on all the videos fans will doubtless share about pricing and various editions, it’s even more plausible if there’s a new trailer to go along with the same.

Alright, I can imagine your reaction, and it’s telling me that’s not enough evidence. Leaving aside the fact that we’re officially in what Take-Two Interactive considers the “Summer” window of when marketing is about to start, at least in the Astronomical sense, there’s also some history to draw on. Remember Red Dead Redemption 2? One of the greatest games ever made?

Its third trailer debuted on May 2nd, 2018 – a little over five months from its October 26th launch the same year. Fast forward to now, and June 25th is a little under five months before Grand Theft Auto 6’s launch on November 19th. You could call it a coincidence, but at this stage of development, everything that Rockstar does should be taken as completely intentional. Perhaps it judges that five months is enough for a marketing cycle, and quite frankly, it wouldn’t be wrong – hype notwithstanding, this is the first new title from the developer in more than eight years.

Of course, you probably shouldn’t expect anything too long if it does happen, simply because it will have an extended gameplay showcase and hands-on previews lined up in the coming months. Assuming it follows the same pattern as Red Dead Redemption 2, you can likely expect the showcase by late August or early September. Not because it needs to really show anything to guarantee those tens of millions of pre-orders, but because things will only continue to ramp up from there.

Then again, it’s always possible that this isn’t the plan. That Grand Theft Auto 6 Trailer 3 doesn’t actually exist; and that the marketing plan is completely different from what Rockstar did eight years ago (which only resulted in the third-best-selling game of all time, but I digress). But the more things change, the more they stay the same, and something tells me that the development team is eager to take the wraps off its open-world behemoth and outline everything about it.

And it may not be as immediately extensive as we’d all like at this stage, but Rockstar knows the assignment: Stoking the flames of hype. Rewarding fans who have waited this long for something, anything, new. Slick as those new clips on its official website may be, they’re not even enough as an appetizer, and you’d have to assume the team knows this. That’s the purpose behind a new trailer – to really build on everything that’s already there. Well, besides presenting something suitably attractive enough that the few people who don’t know about Grand Theft Auto 6 would be willing to pre-order, coincidentally on the same day.

From there, the hype can really work its own magic, as fans dissect every single detail, though you’d have to assume that Rockstar would provide a little bit more than just new gameplay. A tease of the next GTA Online, perhaps? The announcement of advanced access for those nice enough to pre-order the Ultimate Edition? I wouldn’t go so far as the developer telling us when the showcase will happen, though. It would be nice, but that hasn’t been the developer’s MO.

Until it says that Grand Theft Auto 6 has gone gold, and the game is on my console, ready to play, I’d really hesitate to say that it’s launching on November 19th, guaranteed. Such is the nature of game development, and I’ve seen plenty of instances where games get delayed weeks, even days, before their official release. Even if that ends up happening here, all the buzz and the start of Rockstar’s marketing campaign at least proves one thing – that GTA 6 is very much real and tangible. And even if the chaotic nature of game development decides to play spoiler for whatever reason, it’s soon to be playable in the very near future. That alone is a good enough feeling – now it’s on the development team to deliver and live up to the monstrous hype.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.