To celebrate, the franchise is discounted in the Steam Summer Sale, and you can get the original for 80 percent off. If you’re keen on the sequel, both the base game and Royal Edition are discounted by a whopping 60 percent. But that’s not the most interesting part.

Warhorse has also released a small new update which updates the credits, adds Steam Controller support and fixes a few bugs. Oh, and also adds a new quest based on Balatro. If you go to the Hangman’s Halter Tavern, a “peculiar” jester is hanging about, talking about some “strange new game.” What does this mean? You’ll have to find out first-hand.

Besides PC, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is available for Xbox Series X/S and PS5. It received extensive acclaim when it launched last year, and even netted a few nominations at the D.I.C.E Awards and BAFTA’s British Academy Games Awards (where it won the Best Narrative Award). Check out our review to learn more about the base game and what made it such a special experience.

After having spent 8 years at Warhorse Studios working on both Kingdom Come: Deliverance and its sequel, Glatz has now taken on the role of senior open world designer at CD Projekt RED. During his tenure at Warhorse, he had worked as a senior game designer and writer, and a lead level designer.

Interestingly, Glatz’s new role is similar to one that was mentioned back in December 2025 among a list of roles that CD Projekt RED had been hiring for. Other roles included Game Capture Lead, Lead VFX Artist, and Senior VFX Artist, among many others.

Since then, the studio hasn’t slowed down its efforts to hire new developers. In February, former cinematic animator on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Lucie Hennet, joined CD Projekt RED’s Warsaw-based studio, which is working on The Witcher 4.

“During my time at Sandfall Interactive, my main responsibilities included cleaning up and refining body and facial motion capture, as well as managing data from Xsense to UE5,” wrote Hennet about her qualifications. “I also provided support on the motion capture sessions and contributed to building the animation pipeline for the cinematics.”

December 2025 also saw Felix Pedulla jump over to CD Projekt RED from Larian after having worked at the Baldur’s Gate 3 developer as its senior cinematic designer. Pedulla is an industry veteran, and in the past has also worked at Crytek, having a hand in the creation of cinematics for titles that include Hunt: Showdown.

“After an incredible and frankly wild six-year ride with the amazing team at Larian Studios, a new chapter begins,” wrote Pedulla. “I’m so grateful for every chaotic, creative, and unforgettable moment we shared. We made some serious magic together, and I’ll forever cherish the lessons and memories. A huge thank you to all my incredible colleagues and friends I made.”

“As one adventure ends, another begins! I am absolutely thrilled to announce that I’m joining the legendary team at CD Projekt Red as a Senior Cinematic Designer! The opportunity to contribute to one of the most ambitious studios in the industry is a dream come true. Time to trade in my Baldur’s Gate dice for some Polish steel and get to work crafting some epic cutscenes.”

In the meantime, CD Projekt RED has continued to quietly work on its variety of projects. While it hasn’t yet confirmed a release date for The Witcher 4, co-CEO Michał Nowakowski has reaffirmed that there are plans to release the game, along with two sequels, within the span of six years.

“I do believe that further games should be delivered in a shorter period of time – as we had stated before, our plan still is to launch the whole trilogy within a six-year period, so yes, that would mean we would plan to have a shorter development time between The Witcher 4 and The Witcher 5, between The Witcher 5 and The Witcher 6 and so on,” he said on the subject of development times for CD Projekt’s games getting “shorter and more predictable” in their cadence.

Posting on the KingdomCome subreddit (with mods verifying their identity), “Max H” worked at the studio since July 2022 on the sequel and its DLC. His job was to translate “dialogues, quest logs, item names, and various other things, as well as some occasional marketing materials here and there” from Czech to English.

“Simply put, if you’ve ever played KCD2 in English, you’ve quite likely seen my work.”

However, on March 27th, his position became “obsolete” to “make the company more effective” and “save finances.” Warhorse Studios is seemingly pivoting towards AI for its translations, and while Max didn’t rule it out entirely, “I naively thought my work at WHS was valued enough that I might not be at immediate risk.”

As heartbreaking as it is, he wanted to get the word out about AI, especially as it relates to Warhorse (which generated more than its fair share of revenue off the success of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2). “The growing use of AI greatly affects people in the games industry and many others, and I thought you should know how much the company that makes the games you love value the work of their employees, not to mention the environment.”

Despite this, he asked that fans not harass anyone from the studio or review bomb its games. “That isn’t my intention at all. All I want is for people to be more informed about what’s going on in the games industry behind closed doors.”

While there’s been extensive pushback against AI over the past several months – the backlash against Nvidia DLSS 5 is one example – it hasn’t stopped companies from pursuing it in some manner. Some games, like Horizon Steel Frontiers, use it extensively for coding and art. Meanwhile, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn uses it for prototypes and placeholders, with the developer assuring that they will be replaced with “100 percent” human-made assets.

How extensively Warhorse intends to dabble with the tech is unseen, but for now, you probably shouldn’t expect the best translations in its next game, whenever that will release.

Other notable releases for the first wave of Game Pass in March include Final Fantasy 3 and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, both out today on Ultimate, Premium and PC Game Pass. to a T, a new adventure from Katamari Damacy’s creator is next on March 4th, though it’s currently playable for Premium subscribers.

EA Sports F1 25 arrives on the same day for Ultimate and PC Game Pass, followed by Planet of Lana 2: Children of the Leaf on March 5th (which also marks the day of its launch on all platforms). And if you’re not keen on exploring Night City and becoming a legend as V, there’s also Construction Simulator, which drops for all three tiers on the same day.

For those who didn’t venture into Pharloom last September, Hollow Knight: Silksong will be available for Premium subscribers on March 12th. It’s followed by DreamWorks Gabby’s Dollhouse: Ready to Party on March 17th for all three tiers.

Of course, several titles will also be leaving the service on March 15th. Check them out below and finish them while they’re still available.

• Bratz Rhythm & Style (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Enter the Gungeon (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• F1 23 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• He is Coming (PC)
• Lightyear Frontier (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island (Cloud, Console, and PC)

“Dan has a new role. That’s the creation of the Kingdom Come movie,” said Frývaldský (via machine translation). “I’m sure people will wonder if this is some kind of breakup with Warhorse. No, on the contrary, Dan himself wanted to move on. He made three games that were a global success, and he has been wanting to try something different for a long time.”

Frývaldský went on to note that a film adaptation of Kingdom Come is a major milestone that Warhorse Studios as a whole wants to achieve. He also said that, while Vávra won’t be around in the offices much as part of his new role, he is still a member of the studio.

“Getting Kingdom Come to the screen or the screen in the next few years is another milestone that we want to achieve, and that is Dan’s new role,” he said. “You won’t see him in the office every day anymore, but in a broader sense, he is still part of Warhorse.”

As for progress on the movie’s production, Frývaldský has confirmed that a script has already been written, and Warhorse Studios is currently in talks with production companies.

“Anyone who has played Kingdom Come or even Mafia will know Dan’s handwriting and can expect a strong story again,” he said. “We would have to be blind if we didn’t realize how much our brand has grown. In fact, Dan Vávra’s new position could be called transmedia director. In any case, we see the film as a complement to our game creation, which can be extremely successful in its own right.”

Kingdom Come: Deliverance was originally released on PC, PS4 and Xbox One back in 2018. The title was considered a cult classic at the time, with many appreciating its detailed approach to world building and in-depth gameplay mechanics. Over time, the title would go on to become quite successful, which in turn would lead to the development of its sequel, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.

The story of Kingdom Come: Deliverance revolves around a young man named Henry, living in the village of Skalitz. While he lives a simple life as the son of a blacksmith, things take a dark turn when a sudden invasion ends up with the death of everyone he knows and loves. This fateful event leads Henry down the path to uncovering various conspiracies, while he also works hard to try and achieve his late father’s final request—to deliver a sword to Radzig Kobyla.

More recently, Kingdom Come: Deliverance got a current-gen upgrade to bring its visuals up to par to the capabilities of PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Among other things, it got upgraded visuals, smoother frame rates, and several performance enhancements. As for the sequel, it is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Check out our review for more details.

“Five million Henrys are now adventuring in Bohemia! Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has officially reached this massive milestone and it is all thanks to you. Our community is growing every single day and we couldn’t be more excited to have you with us. Thank you for making this journey unforgettable,” wrote the studio.

The previous milestone was hit just a few days after the release of the final planned expansion for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, dubbed Mysteria Ecclesiae. With the DLC marking the end of the game’s expansion pass, no new content has been announced for the game.

Following the release of Mysteria Ecclesiae, Warhorse Studios packaged the game and all of its expansions up to release it as Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 – Royal Edition. Priced at $79.99 on PC and $89.99 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, the Royal Edition is essentially the ultimate way to pick up the open-world RPG.

In the months since, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2‘s lead designer Prokop Jirsa revealed that the studio had to stand its ground against negative feedback during playtests. He noted that quite a bit of the feedback revolved around some of the more esoteric aspects of the RPG’s gameplay, and how the players felt quite weak at the beginning.

“We had playtests where some players started a game, did something wrong, immediately got arrested, and gave negative feedback,” said Jirsa. “We had the strength to say, ‘Yes, that’s what we want.’” Jirsa went on to note that players feeling weak was an intentional design decision, since it would further improve the sense of accomplishments when they got stronger. “We want the player at the beginning to feel extremely weak,” he explained, “because then the validation of gaining strength feels earned.”

Jirsa also revealed that the success of FromSoftware’s games encouraged the studio by showing the world that players wouldn’t shy away from challenging games. “I honestly believe there’s big potential for original ideas that, if they were given a chance to be polished, could reach mainstream,” he said.

More recently, Warhorse Studios also seems to be working on bringing the original Kingdom Come: Deliverance to modern platforms. In January, a PlayStation Store listing for the RPG was spotted with “Updated for PlayStation 5” being noted in its description. Among the new features for the game are support for 4K displays and high-resolution textures, and improved frame rates. Warhorse Studios, however, hasn’t yet made any official announcement about current-gen enhancements, remasters or ports being in the works.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. For more details, check out our review of the base game, as well as its expansions – Brushes With Death, Legacy of the Forge, and Mysteria Ecclesiae.

Along with ARC Raiders, games like Battlefield 6, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Dispatch, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 were also among the top releases in the charts. Some older games could also be seen, with 2023’s Baldur’s Gate 3, 2020’s Cyberpunk 2077, and 2013’s Grand Theft Auto 5 also being represented, albeit with its Enhanced Edition release.

Valve has also seen continued success with the Steam Deck, with SteamDB ranking the handheld gaming PC as the second-best-selling Steam item, just under ARC Raiders. Check out the list below.

Embark Studios itself hasn’t revealed recent sales data for ARC Raiders, rumours from back in November indicated that it was close to hitting 7 million sales just a month after its release.

ARC Raiders art director Robert Sammelin had recently spoken about Embark Studios’ plans to support the extraction shooter for “the longest time.” In an interview from last month, he noted that the studio has a 10-year plan and that as long as players continue to engage with the title, support will continue.

“Our ambition is to keep this game alive for the longest time. It is a live game,” said Sammelin. “It’s something that we want to keep alive for the longest time possible, as long as players engage with it and have fun and see that it is evolving in a good way.”

The art director also spoke about how the community of ARC Raiders plays a vital role in the game’s evolution, since a major reason for the extraction shooter’s success hinges on how players interact with each other.

“I think games like this will evolve depending on community behaviours, feedback, and how we pick out the things we see people engage really well with. But also throw things into the mix that sort of afford new challenges and opportunities within the game,” he explained.

“I think there’s a wide range of routes that we can take with this, and time will tell how we sort of dig into it. But we for sure have a pretty long-standing plan of where we want to take it.”

As part of the studio’s plans to support ARC Raiders, the Cold Snap update was released last month, bringing with it a new Winter-themed weather condition which also affects gameplay by prompting players to seek shelter (or die trying). It also affects visibility and movement, making some surfaces much more challenging to traverse.

ARC Raiders is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. For more details, check out our review. Also check out our guide on all ARC machines and how you can beat them in battle.

Top ten best-sellers on Steam from December 23 to December 30:

1. ARC Raiders
2. Steam Deck
3. Battlefield 6
4. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
5. Baldur’s Gate 3
6. EA Sports FC 26
7. Dispatch
8. Cyberpunk 2077
9. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
10. Grand Theft Auto 5 Enhanced

Electronic Arts would also announce that it’s shutting down servers for Anthem, which is the first reminder in a while that it still exists. Microsoft’s Halo Infinite recently entered maintenance mode – a far cry from plans to become the initially promised “start of the next ten years of Halo.” Of course, even newer titles weren’t safe. Remedy’s FBC: Firebreak debuted disappointingly, resulting in heavy losses and the studio’s CEO stepping down.

Even on a smaller scale, games like Wildgate and Jump Space, despite launching with some positive buzz, have since fallen by the wayside in player counts. Granted, games like ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6 remain standouts; the former offered an excellent extraction shooter experience in a pretty barren market. Meanwhile, the latter marked the first mainline Battlefield title in years that fans actually enjoyed, despite its many warts (including a single-player campaign).

Titles like PEAK and R.E.P.O. went on to become massive co-op successes. There’s also Split Fiction, which showcased Hazelight’s talent in once again delivering a compelling co-op story with fun gameplay.

However, the past year, perhaps more than others, has reinforced the importance of single-player games.

Despite selling PS5 consoles by the tens of millions, Sony outright promised a major triple-A single-player title each year because – surprise – it’s a major selling point for the console. Thankfully, it delivered with not one but two incredible titles: Kojima Productions’ Death Stranding 2 and Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Yōtei. Both games were building off already established titans, and yet, they managed to exceed expectations.

Death Stranding 2 confirmed that Hideo Kojima’s signature brand of quirkiness/madness when it comes to storytelling was still intact. However, it also improved on so many other fundamental aspects from the original, including the world design, gunplay, stealth, and pacing. Meanwhile, Ghost of Yōtei, while retaining the same combat fundamentals, spiced it up with new additions like multiple weapon types, disarming, and throwing weapons. Its open world also received excessive praise, as activities were naturally laid out and seamlessly connected in ways that made it feel alive.

Then again, it wasn’t just Sony that realized it had to return to what brought it to the dance. Konami released not one but two well-received and successful titles in its long-running franchises – Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and Silent Hill f. It also reaffirmed its commitment to the long-term future of both series, whether it’s the desire to remake more Metal Gear Solid games or its announcement of a Silent Hill 1 remake from Bloober Team.

Of course, some of the other highly rated games of the year have been single-player titles. Clair Obscur took the industry by storm, and even if there are arguments about how “indie” it really is, it’s received universal praise for its combat, storytelling and world. The fact that it received the most nominations in The Game Awards history and won more than its fair share is just the cherry on top.

However, it’s not alone when it comes to other nominees, which are also predominantly single-player, like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, which is packed with memorable quests, personable characters, and tons of ways to role-play your version of Henry. It’s still unbelievable how the development team effectively beat Bethesda at its own game in terms of attention to detail, reactivity and fidelity with fewer resources. Of course, for those who wanted something more light-hearted, there’s Donkey Kong Bananza, a magical 3D platforming experience from the Super Mario Odyssey team, which mixes the traditional collect-a-thon gameplay loop with the absolute freedom to destroy everything.

And the crazy thing is that these don’t even represent a fraction of the best single-player games this year. You have indie efforts like Blue Prince, which is unlike anything seen before – a rogue-like puzzler where you arrange the layout of a house from a selection of rooms to reach the mythical 46th room. Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight: Silksong arrived more than six years after its initial announcement and blew away expectations. It was so highly anticipated that almost every digital storefront crashed as soon as it was available to purchase.

That’s not even accounting for the likes of Hades 2, Sektori, Keep Driving, Marvel Cosmic Invasion, Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo, StarVaders, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, Sword of the Sea, Ender Magnolia, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, Absolum, the Drifter, Ball x Pit, Bionic Bay, Look Outside – the list goes on. Even if you sat down and only tried to play through all the incredible titles released this year, you would have more than enough to sustain you through 2026.

However, that won’t be necessary. In a twist that no one saw coming, the most anticipated games of next year are – you guessed it – single-player titles. Grand Theft Auto 6 is leading the charge, and that’s all because of its story mode, since we know nothing about how it will handle GTA Online. Resident Evil Requiem crossed one million wishlists just weeks after its announcement, and looks poised to be the biggest game in the franchise by far. Marvel’s Wolverine is, well, a Wolverine title in every sense of the word. Based on Insomniac’s success with Spider-Man and immaculate track record, you can bet it’s going to be another huge success. You also can’t forget Saros, Housemarque’s follow-up to Returnal, which looks to expand upon it in all the right ways while maintaining its creepy environmental and enemy designs.

Heck, even Microsoft’s single-player offerings in 2026 look good with Fable, Gears of War: E-Day, and Forza Horizon 6 to look forward to. We’ll wait and see how Halo: Campaign Evolved fares, but if nothing else, it looks very good.

Compare this to future live-service multiplayer offerings like, say, Fairgame$, which has no buzz or intrigue. Heck, rumors claim that it may even be cancelled before launch. Sony hasn’t outright backed out of such titles, but it’s definitely much more careful after sustaining heavy losses.

It’s not like the business model has no future whatsoever. Where Winds Meet is technically a live-service game, but it offers a massive single-player component that’s only going to get bigger. Ananta has generated buzz for essentially being “Anime GTA”.

However, while publishers still seek to delve into the live-service space for that sweet recurring revenue from microtransactions, it’s single-player games that continue to drive the industry forward in terms of storytelling, immersion and gameplay. And customers are responding in kind – a recent survey by Ampere Analysis revealed that the majority of players in Japan, the UK and the United States preferred single-player games over multiplayer (though younger players skewed more towards the latter).

Personally, I could be the least bothered to remember anything noteworthy that happened in Destiny 2 this year, but meeting Monoco and traveling to confront the Paintress at her Monolith? Trekking across the mountains of Mexico and taking in the sights? Whatever the heck was going on with Hinako in the OtherWorld? All these moments will probably stay with me forever, and deservedly so.

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.

“I’m no fan of AI generated art, but anyway, it’s time to face reality,” wrote Vávra. “AI is here to stay with us. As frightening as it may be, that’s the way it is. Personally, it scares me the most in the music because you can’t even recognise AI there anymore.”

Vávra went on to discuss the potential use cases of generative AI-based tools that could be used to take out some of the more tedious parts of game development, especially when it comes to creating content that doesn’t really matter all that much in the grand scheme of things.

“On the other hand, you know what I hate most about making games? The fact that it takes 7 years and 300 people and tens of millions of dollars to make. And the fact that Tom had to spend 500 hours in the studio recording completely generic heckling and generic bars,” he wrote.

“If AI can help me make an epic game in a year with a smaller team like in the old days, I’m all for it. That game will still have an art director, writers, programmers, graphic designers, but they won’t have to do the tiresome and boring tasks, they’ll have to focus on the essentials. I have ideas for lots of games, but I’m fifty years old and so far it’s taken me seven years on average to make one game. If AI helps me realize those ideas faster, I’m all for it.”

He also discussed how generative AI could be used for writing, especially for things that aren’t story-critical but still help with a game’s worldbuilding. While developers already have technology like 11labs that allows them to lay out scripts and knowledge bases for NPCs, he asks “wouldn’t it be nice if you could ask ANYONE ANYTHING in an RPG?”

“For non-story stuff, this is an absolutely revolutionary development from a player’s point of view,” Vávra wrote. “And you can’t record it with an actor because it has INFINITE variations. But what you can record are cutscenes and story dialogue. You don’t need an Oscar level performance when ordering a sausage in a pub or when asking how to get to the castle.”

Vávra went on to compare resisting the proliferation of generative AI to resisting the use of sewing machines in the textile industry, or going back to riding horses well after cars and planes have become common. He closes out his lengthy post by noting that, while generative AI “may mean the demise of humanity, nobody knows now, but it may also mean that ANYONE, at a fraction of the cost, will be able to implement virtually any grand idea.”

“We had playtests where some players started a game, did something wrong, immediately got arrested, and gave negative feedback,” said Jirsa. “We had the strength to say, ‘Yes, that’s what we want.'” He went on to note that the studio wanted players to feel weak when they first start their journey in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. This, he said, also helped bolster the feeling of accomplishment since players would have to work at getting stronger.

“We want the player at the beginning to feel extremely weak,” he explained, “because then the validation of gaining strength feels earned.”

While many studios might find it difficult to stand their ground against negative feedback during playtests, the success that Warhorse Studios had seen with the original Kingdom Come: Deliverance from back in 2018 helped its confidence in this regard. This, Jirsa said, was “even though there were many discussions [asking] ‘Are we really going the right way? Are we really into these survival elements, do we really want to take everything from the player at the beginning? Even their place to sleep?”

This idea to let players engage with difficult games was inspired by FromSoftware’s games like Dark Souls and Elden Ring, which Jirsa noted played a big role in making what would have otherwise been niche games get mainstream appeal. “I honestly believe there’s big potential for original ideas that, if they were given a chance to be polished, could reach mainstream,” Jirsa said.

The studio has since proven that it has been justified in presenting these tough challenges to players. It announced back in November that Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 had sold 4 million copies following the release of the final DLC of the game’s season pass, Mysteria Ecclesiae. Taking to social media, Warhorse Studios thanked players for their support.

“We can’t thank you enough for helping us reach this incredible milestone,” wrote the studio. “Every one of you – players, fans, modders, creators, and long-time supporters – made this possible.”

Alongside the release of Mysteria Ecclesiae, Warhorse Studios also launched Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 – Royal Edition, which includes the base game, as well as all four DLCs, including the three story DLCs Brushes With Death, Legacy of the Forge, and Mysteria Ecclesiae. Along with this, other smaller DLCs like The Lion’s Crest and Gallant Huntsman’s Kit are also included.

For more on Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, check out our review. The title is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Also check out our review of its newest DLC, Mysteria Ecclesiae, where we gave it a score of 8 out of 10.