To seemingly make matters worse, Rebs Gaming claims that the team doesn’t have any projects in full development or even close to launch. The Halo 2 and 3 remakes reported last year are allegedly on shaky ground, seemingly depending more on Campaign Evolved’s success. Meanwhile, other projects are apparently in the “early exploration stages.”

Despite confirming no post-launch support for Halo: Campaign Evolved, it seems the studio is exploring DLC options. This is to apparently prevent any major gap between the remake and whatever’s next.

It’s a lot to take in for sure, but not completely unbelievable given the reports about trouble at Halo Studios (even back when it was still 343 Industries). On the one hand, Xbox wants to focus on tentpole franchises like Halo going forward, but on the other hand, more layoffs are coming in the next 12 months, which has studio members worried.

Whatever happens next, there’s no denying that the series could use a win. Halo: Campaign Evolved launches worldwide on July 28th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, so we’ll see if it can measure up.

So it shouldn’t be surprising that there are those within Xbox itself who aren’t fans of the model. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reported on the Triple Click Podcast that, “There are a lot of people out there in studio leadership within Xbox who absolutely detest Game Pass and think it has destroyed the value of their games. They think it has taken away the value from all games in general and has been a detriment to the games industry because of how it devalues games.”

It’s hard to argue with that logic, considering Xbox itself removed day-one launches for new Call of Duty titles, starting with this year’s Modern Warfare 4. Even if it never explicitly said it’s because Game Pass is eating into player numbers, the lack of growth, combined with Call of Duty being its biggest moneymaker, would certainly indicate a lean towards sales over player numbers.

Regardless, Xbox has plenty of other titles coming to the service on day one, including Gears of War: E-Day, Fable, Clockwork Revolution, and more. And even if it eventually overturns day one releases for its first-party titles (as Schreier suggests), there’s plenty more to look forward to on the third-party side such as Beast of Reincarnation, Persona 4 Revival, and Stranger Than Heaven.

The well-regarded leaker has also reported that an Ultimate Edition version of the game will be available, offering 8 days of advanced access. A similar bonus is also expected to be available to EA Play subscribers. This advanced access would start on September 17th. More details, such as an official trailer, gameplay changes over EA Sports FC 26, and cover athletes, are expected to be revealed next week.

In Europe, the PC and Nintendo Switch 2 versions of EA Sports FC 27 are expected to be priced at €69.99, and the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions will reportedly be priced at €79.99. In the US, all platforms will seemingly have the same price tag – $69.99. Physical copies that include the game disc will also be available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

The reported September 25th release date for EA Sports FC 27 plays into the company’s tendency to stick to strict release schedules regarding its sports games. Similarly, last year’s entry was unveiled in July 2025, which indicates that we will see a similar announcement for this year’s entry soon.

The last major update for EA Sports FC 26 brought with it a celebration of the World Cup. The update, titled The World’s Game, was released in May and added a 28-team international tournament mode to the game. New teams were added as well, including 53 fully licensed playable national teams, out of which 41 participated in the real-life World Cup. Two teams that weren’t licensed – Egypt and Japan – were also included, albeit with authentic players. Five generic squads were brought in for Algeria, Curaçao, Iran, Iraq, and Jordan.

“National team inclusion depends on our ability to secure licensing rights directly and comply with applicable laws and regulations, including U.S. sanctions, which may limit our ability to partner with certain federations,” explained the company.

EA Sports FC 26 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2. In our review, we gave it a score of 8 out of 10 thanks to the addition of Competitive and Authentic modes, variety in its Career mode, and better balance of different styles. However, we also criticized the minor changes it introduced over EA Sports FC 25 and the redundant nature of the Unexpected Events feature.

For more information, check out our guides on its Career mode, how you can farm coins quickly, and how you can unlock and level up all 13 archetypes. And just in case you’re curious, here are the 13 biggest differences between EA Sports FC 26 and its predecessor.

Keep in mind that this is only within the first week of pre-orders going live. If it keeps this pace up, GTA 6 may well have “the strongest pre-order campaign ever recorded,” potentially earning about $3.3 to $5.2 billion within launch week. When boiling that range down further, the firm believes that “GTA 6 is on pace for $4.5 billion in sales by launch week (roughly 51 million units at an assumed $88 average selling price).” A potential 51 million sales in seven days. It’s absurd when you say it out loud, but such is the hype.

As for why that’s the case, it describes the title as falling into the “proven sequel – a known quantity” model. These include franchises which are “Massively anticipated each release with a tried and tested formula. The audience is aggregated, loyal and established. They don’t need to ‘wait and see’, so a higher share of the total revenue is booked early in the pre-order window.”

Of course, this is only if the pre-order sales momentum can keep up, but at this point, Newzoo hits back at claims it’s already earned “a billion dollars in pre-orders.” “This is absurd. Given how pre-order curves look, nothing ever has and nothing ever will in the near future.”

Launching on November 19th for Xbox Series X/S and PS5, Grand Theft Auto 6 is easily the most anticipated game of the year. Check out our feature for the latest details, including what makes the Ultimate Edition so sought after.

“Confirmation that the new Halo release is the expected coaster,” they wrote, referring to the fact that the disc may as well not exist. “[It] needs a download to start AND won’t let you play without an additional login even after.” Along with this, Does It Play has shared three screenshots to provide more context.

One of these screenshots is of the Game Information screen for Halo: Campaign Evolved on PS5, which notes that its download has been completed despite the size only being 37.94 GB. While the PlayStation Store hasn’t listed the storage requirements for the game, the PC version needs around 100 GB according to its Steam listing. With that in mind, around 38 GB would be less than half of the game’s files.

A second screenshot shows an in-game notification about a game update being available, asking the user to “please close the game and update to the latest version.” There doesn’t seem to be any option to skip the update even temporarily. The third one shows an error message about the user’s login attempt failing. These two screenshots together indicate that it will be impossible to start playing Halo: Campaign Evolved without being connected to the Internet at least during the first-time launch.

In further posts, Does It Play has posited that Halo Studios simply didn’t have all of the game’s files ready when discs for Halo: Campaign Evolved went into production. This seemingly comes down to the fact that the build of the game without any updates is one from April. When another user asked whether this is simply due to the game not yet being out, Does It Play responded: “What does a semi-empty disc and a hard-coded login prompt have to do with that? None of that changes after launch.”

Halo Studios’ statement about the physical release of Halo: Campaign Evolved featuring a disc came in light of the criticism faced by Rockstar Games over Grand Theft Auto 6 not including a disc in its release. While the studio hadn’t made any confirmation one way or another about whether all of the game’s content would be present on the disc, a quick look at its PlayStation Store listing reveals the “Online play required” tag, which indicates that players will need to be connected to the Internet in order to play it.

Halo: Campaign Evolved is coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on July 28th. A Premium Edition is also available, which provides 5 days of early access to the shooter. For more, check out details about its Machina mode.

According to a WARN (Work Adjustment and Retraining Notification) reportedly letter sent by the company, 14-year veteran and studio head Joe Burba, executive producer on the MMORPG Susan Kath, studio game director Rich Lambert, and production director Ala Diaz are leaving.

According to the report, Burba, Kath, Lambert, and Diaz have notified the remaining employees at ZeniMax Online Studios that the company will be transitioning to a new leadership team. This new team will be comprised of veterans of the studio who are being promoted and will be put together “over the next few months”.

“We will remain in place during the transition period to help ensure a smooth handoff,” they said.

WARN notices from last week had revealed that 213 employees of ZeniMax Online Studios are being let go as part of sweeping layoffs across Xbox. A 2025 report had indicated that the company had a workforce of over 300 employees, and these job cuts are believed to have resulted in a headcount of between 100 and 150 remaining workers.

Indications that ZeniMax Online Studios had been hit particularly hard by layoffs first came about when community manager Jessica Folsom announced that the studio would need to reassess its content roadmap for The Elder Scrolls Online, especially since the MMORPG is now using a seasonal model.

“Looking beyond Season One, the roadmaps we previously shared will be shifting. We want to take the time to evaluate the work in front of us and then lock down an updated schedule. While we’d love to share concrete details today, stepping back to get our plans straight will let us come back to you with a clear timeline.”

More recently, former senior encounter designer Morgan Goin said that the studio won’t be able to sustain the content development and release cadence that players might have been used to in the past. She also recalled being “blindsided” when being told about the layoffs. “We knew something was going to happen to somebody, but not who or how much,” she explained.

According to another report, ZeniMax Online Studios was doing quite well, with revenue brought in by The Elder Scrolls Online not only sustaining the studio itself but also meeting Xbox’s imposed metrics.

“All of the information that was ever visible to us out of those numbers meetings—out of the monthly staff meetings—were that we were doing fine,” explained an anonymous employee. “You know, we’re paying for ourselves. […] We were improving on the metrics [Microsoft] wanted us to improve on.”

Former content designer Andrew Young also took to social media to discuss layoffs hitting the studio and said that the people who lost their jobs “deserved much better” due to the work they had put into developing the MMORPG.

For more about Xbox’s layoffs, which have affected around 1,600 employees so far, check out our report.

According to Alinea Analytics’ Rhys Elliott, the DLC packs’ revenue is reportedly quite small compared to the remake. Resynced is estimated to have sold 701,000 copies on the storefront, earning about $35.1 million in revenue, but the DLC adds nearly $1 million on top. The Map Pack has proven the most popular choice with a 6.34 percent attach rate, which makes sense given that it’s only $5.

Otherwise, Black Flag Resynced has proven more successful than Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Aside from higher peak concurrent players, its day one revenue is allegedly 2.35 times higher. That’s despite retailing for $60, $10 cheaper than Shadows at launch.

For more details, check out our review, where we scored it a 9 out of 10. You can also read Ubisoft’s response to the backlash against the DLC, noting that they’re completely optional and not necessary to enjoy the base game.

However, according to Game Developer, a former id Software employee has said that the studio’s statement is “stretching reality to breaking point” with its statement. They went on to talk about how the “majority” of the team that worked on DOOM: The Dark Ages’ Revelations expansion had been laid off. Along with this, they noted that most of the people working on id Tech have also been let go.

“They’ve just gotten rid of all the people who could ever fix, maintain, or change [id Tech], so it’s most likely going to end up in the in the trash can. That’s where I just come back to: It completely feels like success is detached from your ability to keep a job, and I think that’s basically provable,” they said.

“[…] There were five members of the VFX team, including the lead [that were laid off]. Our technical art and design part department now only has its lead. That’s it. All other four of the members of the team were let go. The institutional knowledge [that has been lost] on the id Tech side is immense. […] I cannot imagine a path forward where they make another game in id Tech.”

The employee went on to say that layoffs had hit around 90 percent of the design team at id Software. The team was responsible for AI and gameplay in the studio’s titles. Among the casualties was also “employee number 13”, who had been with id Software since the studio’s early days with John Carmack and John Romero at the helm.

As for id Software’s statement, the company noted that its headcount is roughly the same size as it was during the development of DOOM (2016). “We have always had a flat studio where everyone is a maker, and we will remain true to that philosophy moving forward,” it said.

“We are focused on supporting each other and the team members impacted. We’re going to keep building the great games and tech that have defined us for the past 35 years, and we’re looking forward to seeing you at QuakeCon this August.”

Reports have indicated that, despite the extensive layoffs at id Software, Xbox plans to continue using the studio’s proprietary in-house game engine – id Tech. This likely comes down to the fact that studios like MachineGames have also been using various iterations of the engine; Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, for example, was built using a fork of id Tech 7, dubbed Motor.

Other reports have indicated that work on a new DOOM project has already begun at id Software despite its recent layoffs, with the title being in its early stages of development. However, the studio itself hasn’t yet made any official announcement about this.

Of course, there will apparently be Deluxe and Collector’s Editions at $89.99 and $119.99, respectively, along with an Expansion Pack and Booster Pack. Pre-orders seemingly net a bonus quest while the expansion reportedly ventures to Würzburg, where players uncover a “dark trial within the deep forests of Taubertal,” and must recover a “powerful Isu-linked artifact” before the witch hunters. There was some confusion because the location was previously reported as the main setting, but it’s seemingly linked to Nuremberg.

In terms of gameplay, they reaffirmed reports that movement is fluid but also “more advanced than ever before.” Despite the alleged removal of magic – which is still featured in some “shape or form” (perhaps in the aforementioned artifact) – it’s seemingly still a linear game with a “large-scale” map featuring “multiple villages,” sizable forests and “much more.”

While reiterating previous claims that it’s about the German Witch Trials with Anika as the protagonist, they also allege that graphically, Hexe “is dark and a lot better than Shadows.” “They have taken the negatives from Shadows and turned it into a masterpiece designed to bring your attention. When Ubisoft said it was dark, it is.” Apparently, a mid to high-tier PC is ideal for the “best quality.”

Interestingly, it seems that the publisher has yet to lock down a release date. Months after Insider Gaming reported the team targeting June 2027, the leaker claims this is still the case but “most likely a placeholder.” “At any given point this may change so don’t think this will stick.”

If it does, then an announcement sometime this year, if not early next year, wouldn’t be impossible. After all, Ubisoft announced Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced months before its launch. Stay tuned for updates in the meantime.

The news, as reported by the National Hockey League, doesn’t come as a surprise, though, considering Celebrini’s immense popularity as a young player who has risen to fame and fortune. He’s the youngest face to ever grace the franchise’s cover, in fact, and achieved the feat by being a very valuable addition to the San Jose Sharks in addition to being the second-highest scorer for Canada in the IIHF World Championship. He’s also had a stint at the Olympics, where he guided Canada to a silver medal with five goals and ten points over six games.

Celebrini has also been nominated for a bunch of prestigious awards, including, but not limited to, the International Ice Hockey Federation’s Male Player of the Year for the 2025-26 season, as well as for the 2026 ESPY Awards’ Best NHL Player and Best Breakthrough Athlete categories. Well, let’s hope he’s as powerful as his real-life persona when we take control of him in the game.

There’s a trailer in the works that’s dropping on July 16, 2026, and you can be sure we’re going to bring it to you, alongside other details, as soon as it does.