Back in 2021, Abstraction was also noted as having worked with 343 Industries on the accessibility features for Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Its work in this department included expansion of localization options, support for color-blindness, and subtitle customization.

Rebs Gaming cites a pair of sources: a former developer and a current one on the project. According to the former developer, Abstraction’s work as a co-developer on Halo: Campaign Evolved allegedly began in Summer 2023. The current developer has noted that Abstraction’s work on the project involves level and technical design, including the development of entire missions.

The work is said to be quite extensive and includes concept design, polishing, creation of scripted events, and retuning of combat gameplay to account for new mechanics like sprint and 4-player co-op.

Interestingly, the video also brings up the relationship between Abstraction and Virtuos—a studio known for its support work, as well as its remasters and remakes. January 2025 saw it acquire Abstraction thanks to the latter’s expertise in co-development and engineering. However, December 2025 saw the latter split from Virtuos, once more becoming independently owned. Both companies have noted that they maintain a positive relationship.

This becomes relevant in this case thanks to Rebs Gaming’s current developer source, who noted that Virtuos is also involved in the development of Halo: Campaign Evolved to some degree. The developer also spoke about one of their responsibilities being to maintain effective collaboration between development partners, which is strongly hinted to be both Virtuos and Abstraction. To what degree Virtuos is involved, however, remains unknown for now.

Recent rumors have indicated that Halo: Campaign Evolved is on track to be released later this year. While one report from February indicated that Halo Studios and Microsoft might be aiming for a Summer release window, another one noted that it will likely come out before September.

Halo: Campaign Evolved is being developed for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, and will be the first entry in the entire Halo franchise to come out on one of Sony’s consoles. Along with the visual overhauls you would expect from a remake, it will also feature changes to levels, improved cinematics, and the inclusion of weapons that would show up much later in the franchise. The title won’t feature any competitive multiplayer, with the focus instead being on co-operative gameplay throughout the campaign.

For more details about Halo: Campaign Evolved, take a look at how Halo Studios wants to honor the franchise while also introducing it to an entirely new generation of gamers.

“We have no plans for additional DLCs or expansions. If anything changes, we will inform you all!” it said on Twitter in response to a fan asking about “When secret new DLC?” Unfortunately, it didn’t respond when told to “do the same with The Witcher account.”

Phantom Liberty has sold ten million copies as of May 2025 – an especially impressive milestone given that the base game crossed 35 million sales. CD Projekt RED has released multiple updates in recent years, working with Virtuos to add new features like CrystalCoat for customizing vehicle colors. You can even ride the subway, a feature that many lambasted for its absence from the title for years.

Unfortunately, those hankering for more will have to wait until the release of Project Orion, unofficially known as Cyberpunk 2, which doesn’t have a release window or date. It features a new city, which creator Mike Pondsmith likened to “Chicago gone wrong,” and could implement multiplayer, a feature originally meant for the first game before its disastrous launch.

Then again, maybe plans will change, and it will receive the same (alleged) treatment as The Witcher 3, whose new DLC is apparently out in May and connects to The Witcher 4.

Time will tell, but in the meantime, if you haven’t played Cyberpunk 2077, it’s now available on Game Pass alongside Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2.

The title is a ground-up remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, which was originally released on PS2 back in 2004. While it features enhanced visuals and gameplay that take advantage of modern-day hardware on PC and consoles, the storyline has been left untouched, with many of the original voice actors returning to play the game’s beloved characters once more.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater takes place in the 1960s. Protagonist Naked Snake has been tasked with extracting a defecting Soviet scientist, but as he gets close to the completion of his mission, finds himself betrayed by his long-time mentor, The Boss, and the fact that the Soviet Union has been working on a super weapon of its own, dubbed the Shagohod.

After being allowed a few days to recover from the injuries he sustained during the initial mission, Snake is once more sent into Soviet Russia to take down this super weapon. Along the way, he also has a secondary objective of taking down The Boss and her specialized super soldiers, known only as the Cobra Unit. The story is filled with several plot twists mixed in with over-the-top boss fights and intense stealth gameplay. For more details, take a look at our review, and check out our thoughts on how it acts as a love letter to action movies.

Director Yuji Korekado and producer Noriaki Okamura had spoken about working on the remake of Snake Eater back in December, and how it was a matter of “now or never” for the developers.

“Because the series has been around for a long time, we have a wide variety of fans,” said Korekado. “And we are conscious of being respectful to the previous games in the series. With this remake, we thought about how it would be best to bring the game to modern players, while respecting the thoughts and concepts of the original creator. However, if you reproduce the original work exactly as it is, some aspects can be difficult to play [for today’s gamers], so we adapted them.”

Okamura went on to discuss the state of the Metal Gear franchise after the departure of series creator Hideo Kojima back in 2015.

“With losing the original staff, it was challenging figuring out how to continue the series,” he explained. “We would start and stop talking about developing something new all the time. However, given our age, and how the number of developers with knowledge of the Metal Gear series was decreasing, we decided that if we didn’t resurrect the series now, it would become difficult to do so. Because it’s such an incredible series, I decided that now was the time.”

In the meantime, Konami has also confirmed that it has been working on a new set of remasters for the Metal Gear franchise, with the company having recently announced that Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 will be coming to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and the Switch 2 on August 27th. The collection will include Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

Currently available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, Oblivion Remastered is handled by Virtuos and Bethesda Game Studios. While retaining the Gamebryo core, its visuals have been significantly overhauled with Unreal Engine 5. The result is a gorgeous experience that retains many of the original’s quirks.

Quality-of-life changes abound for combat, progression, and more, ensuring a smoother experience. Of course, alongside the base game, you’re gaining access to all the DLC and expansions, including Knights of the Nine and The Shivering Isles. Pre-ordering the Deluxe Edition nets two additional armor and weapon sets for those who really want them.

Unfortunately, several new issues emerged on top of the remaining ones. Virtuos has released updates to address these, but judging by the recent “Mixed” reviews on Steam, there’s still work to be done. But who knows? Maybe the Switch 2 port will usher in changes and improvements. We’ll have to wait to be sure, but in the meantime, check out our review for the base experience.

Of course, the main difference is that it didn’t launch exclusively for Xbox to start. However, it’s interesting to note that the apparent playtime for about half of all PS5 players was about 15 hours. You have to wonder if performance issues and bugs got in the way.

Another notable Xbox-developed launch was Gears of War Reloaded. As an enhanced re-release of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, it reportedly sold 572,000 units on PS5. On Xbox, it managed to sell 202,000 while Steam racked up 73,000 sales. While this might seem surprising, Alinea estimates that it’s due to Game Pass cannibalizing sales, since 1.6 million players apparently accessed Reloaded through the subscription service.

There’s also the fact that Gears of War, especially the first game, has already been available on Xbox for so long. Meanwhile, this was many a PlayStation player’s first time experiencing the shooter. Whether this will motivate fans to experience Gears of War: E-Day, which is launching later this year, remains to be seen.

It is worth noting that, while many of the studios listed in the credits were likely teams specialising in supporting the development of major titles, others seem to be more specialised. Red Hot CG, for instance, is a development team that focuses primarily on the art assets that games need. The studio has credits across quite a few major releases, including Destiny 2, Horizon Forbidden West, Valorant, and even Starfield, among many others.

Keywords Studios, on the other hand, is a larger support studio that has several other listed studios under its overall banner, including GameSim and Smoking Gun Interactive.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond has been in development for quite some time. The title was originally unveiled all the way back in 2017. At the time, the title was noted as not being made with traditional Metroid Prime franchise developer Retro Studios. Rather, at the time, it was being made by Bandai Namco Studios based out of Japan and Singapore. Since then, however, quite a few things changed for the title, and its development had been confirmed as having been restarted under Retro Studios back in 2019.

The title once more puts players in the armour of Samus Aran who is stuck on the planet Viewros and must fight for survival against a variety of foes, including rival bounty hunter Sylux. Keeping to series tradition, the first-person gameplay of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond offers a heavy mix of exploration, platforming, puzzle solving, and action. To aid players, Samus is once more equipped with the ability to scan objects in the environment which can then help her unravel the overall story of the title.

The newest entry in the Metroid Prime franchise is also bringing with it some new features, like psychic powers that can be used throughout the game. Along with this, Samus will also have access to the Vi-0-La bike to travel around the game’s various environments.

Releasing on both Switch and Switch 2, the version of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond on the more recent console will feature quite a few unique features, like the ability to use the Joy-Con 2 controller as a mouse, more closely mimicking the gameplay of traditional PC-based shooters.

For more details about Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, here are 15 things you need to know. Also check out what has changed since Metroid Prime 3.

Studios credited with work on Metroid Prime 4: Beyond:

• Retro Studios
• Next Level Games
• Virtuos
• Territory Studio
• Waterproof
• Keywords Studios
• Liquid Development
• Volta
• AMC Studio
• GameSim
• Smoking Gun Interactive
• Forge Studios
• Red Hot CG
• Original Force
• Devoted Studios
• Room 8 Studio
• Next Gen Dreams
• Mock Science
• Cup of Tea
• Formosa Interactive
• House of Moves

“Because the series has been around for a long time, we have a wide variety of fans,” said Korekado. “And we are conscious of being respectful to the previous games in the series. With this remake, we thought about how it would be best to bring the game to modern players, while respecting the thoughts and concepts of the original creator. However, if you reproduce the original work exactly as it is, some aspects can be difficult to play [for today’s gamers], so we adapted them.”

Okamura also discussed the circumstances of Metal Gear series creator Hideo Kojima’s departure from Konami back in 2015, and how this departure also affected the company’s plans to continue with the Metal Gear franchise. He spoke about trying to figure the next steps for the series out without the original staff, as well as the fact that a remake of one of the classics in the franchise was a now-or-never thing to do because of the number of developers with knowledge of the franchise was going down.

“With losing the original staff, it was challenging figuring out how to continue the series,” Okamura explained. “We would start and stop talking about developing something new all the time. However, given our age, and how the number of developers with knowledge of the Metal Gear series was decreasing, we decided that if we didn’t resurrect the series now, it would become difficult to do so. Because it’s such an incredible series, I decided that now was the time.”

As for the future of the Metal Gear franchise, Okamura spoke about not quite being sure about what’s going to happen. While Konami and the development team behind Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater might be trying to figure out what to do next, Okamura is personally “quite hopeful about a remake of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots,” since the title has essentially been stuck on the PS3 since its 2008 launch.

“The hardware back then demanded quite a specialised approach to achieve 3D performance with the technology available at the time, and Metal Gear Solid 4 ended up with some rather peculiar code too,” said Okamura. “Bringing it forward now would be quite a challenge, wouldn’t it?”

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater was released on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S back in August. The title has been quite praised, and you can check out more details in our review.

While that raised a lot of questions about whether a studio’s loyalties lie with its investors or players, those conversations failed to account for one factor: CD Projekt Red is a studio that doesn’t give up, and is known to create experiences that are labors of love.

The studio set up a redemption arc for its game that has transformed it into something else and made it even better with DLC that built on its strengths in all the right ways. Five years later, Cyberpunk 2077 stands as a testament to its creator’s ambitions and is a fine open world RPG for its players to dive into.

But what brought that transformation around? Join us and find out.

Setting Up The Story

Although it can be easy to see CD Projekt Red as a faultless party in Cyberpunk’s initial failure, that would be ignoring the studio’s penchant for hyping up its games in ways that fail to capture what’s actually on offer. It’s a tendency that saw the studio face a fair bit of backlash for its promotion of The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt.

But what was wrong? A couple of trailers for the game showed off graphics that looked absolutely phenomenal. Watching Geralt take on a platoon of Nilfgardian soldiers, or take on a Bruxa at an abandoned shack in those trailers, gave the impression of a title whose graphics didn’t seem possible on gaming hardware at the time.

That’s because they weren’t. While the third addition to the studio’s Witcher franchise was quite a good looking title, it didn’t come close to what was shown in trailers, at least on the graphical front. In CDPR’s defence, the themes and narrative depth that the trailers showcased were very much on board, but it did rankle to see the studio make bold claims it clearly had no intention of meeting.

It was a similar story for Cyberpunk. Promotional materials showed off a dystopian city chock full of things to do, its visual splendor being a great selling point to anyone looking to upgrade to a next-gen machine. Several people, this writer included, did so with the hope of playing the best possible version of the game at launch. But that wasn’t to be.

Furthermore, it does pay to touch upon the fact that the game’s developers were keen on delaying Cyberpunk’s launch, seeking more time to iron out its kinks and present the experience they had always envisioned for the game. Multiple delays caused a lot of frustration among players, and CDPR was on the backfoot.

Ultimately, corporate interests took precedence over creative ones, and the game’s launch went on as planned, with a lot of cut content that included a train system, a fully explorable Arasaka space station, expanded character creation options, the third-person POV, and so much more. As we move on to what worked and what didn’t in the game itself, let’s just remember that CDPR was already on thin ice with its players, and their ire was perhaps well-earned.

It’s now time to dive into how Cyberpunk 2077 turned things around.

Strengths Hidden By Glaring Weaknesses

It’s prudent to remember that the game had a lot going for it even in its buggy mess of a launch state. This is a story that is CDPR at its finest, taking you across Night City in a desperate quest to save your life and your mind from the consequences of a botched, high-stakes heist. It’s compelling stuff, letting you see the story through the eyes of your character in an adventure that tackles some very complex themes.

It helps that Keanu Reeves lent his voice and likeness to Johnny Silverhand, bringing him to life in a way that had me rooting for his particular brand of anarchy and choosing to let him walk away into a digital sunset in one of the game’s endings. It also helped that those endings, and the story behind them, were crafted in collaboration with Mike Pondsmith in a very creative agreement between him and CDPR.

This meant that Johnny was joined by a cast of characters who stood out from the crowds in Night City’s streets, while the world was so full of incredibly detailed life that it was hard not to ignore the main story altogether in pursuit of a new mystery or questline. A combat system that was an absolute treat, with great variety in weapons, gear, and builds, was also a plus point.

But the game’s performance, both on the visual and graphical fronts, proved to be its undoing. Bugs that are now well-documented marred the experience on the PS4 and Xbox One versions, while the PS5 version fared no better. Things were so bad that CDPR even expressed a willingness to issue refunds, although reports of players unable to get those processed took a further toll on the studio’s reputation. Sony even pulled Cyberpunk 2077, easily among the most anticipated games of the year, off its PlayStation storefront thanks to the poor quality of the game at launch.

It was indeed disappointing to see CDPR lose so much ground after many years of building a reputation as a studio that kept its players in mind when it developed its games, making each one look and feel special as they were played through. But Cyberpunk was unplayable, and the studio needed to think fast.

A Swift and Sure-Footed Response

It’s here that Cyberpunk 2077’s redemption arc begins, not too long after its launch. CDPR was quick to step in and own the issues that were plaguing the game, resolving to have them sorted out and make it the experience it was intended to be. However, the studio would have to face no less than four lawsuits from investors, which it later settled, a showcase of just how badly it had lost the faith of the world at large.

But things turned around, and the studio managed to get the game up to scratch for the PS5 by June 2021, and the entire gaming world was then ready to fall under its spell. Subsequent updates have worked well to iron out kinks in an almost systematic fashion, while new additions to the gameplay loop have drawn a lot of praise over the game’s life cycle.

Cyberpunk 2077 was now a complete, solid, and well-performing experience, and now that its players could actually play it and discover just how ambitious it really was at the time, it began to soar. CDPR worked as quickly as Night City’s MaxTac, bringing its flagship title up to scratch and earning back the good graces of the gaming world in the process.

But the best was yet to come. Phantom Liberty came along, and it was an experience that we’d argue showcases the true depth of the Cyberpunk 2077 experience in many ways. The new additions it brought to the game felt like they were what perfected versions of the launch release’s best weapons would have felt like, while there was now even more build variety and ways to enjoy the gameplay loop.

But its story, starring Idris Elba in a very memorable role, was the star of the show. It focused the action on a single, very intriguing corner of Night City, raising the stakes quite high while also bringing subtle alterations to endings in the base game based on your choices. It was excellent, and a riveting adventure set against the backdrop of events in the base game while also integrating its own narrative with what was already in place with almost poetic elegance.

There have been subsequent updates, each bringing something of value to add to the game, with the latest September 2025 patch perfecting issues with the Auto Drive system added in the January update, and resolving bugs with Photo Mode and a few quests. CDPR has done well to keep the game alive over the years, but with Cyberpunk 2 looming large in its future alongside a new Witcher title, one cannot help but wonder if it has learned from its mistakes.

A World Beyond Night City

The recent technical showcase of The Witcher 4 had us wondering if CDPR was repeating the mistakes of its past. The stunning visuals on display as Ciri engaged with the locals of a very populated Kovir, coupled with the game’s announcement trailer, have us wondering if those are indeed what the final product is going to look like.

But with gaming hardware where it is today, they are indeed possible and perhaps even par for the course today. If the studio sustains the narrative quality and the intricate design it weaves into its open worlds, its next few titles might do much better than Cyberpunk 2077 when they eventually make it to our screens.

But until then, this mainstay in modern gaming would do well to remember how fickle fame can be, and that it’s probably better to launch a near-perfect game later than intended than to launch a messy one as scheduled. Here’s to hoping that the studio behind some of modern gaming’s finest titles is now on a path to further glory, free from the shackles of a turbulent few 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.

While you might credit word of mouth, especially since recent reviews on Steam hit a 94 percent “Very Positive” rating, there is another reason: The Nintendo Switch 2. Cyberpunk 2077 released on it last June with the Ultimate Edition, which also includes Phantom Liberty. It also packed gyro aiming, touchscreen commands for the UI, mouse support, and cross-progression.

You can check out our review for Cyberpunk 2077 on the Switch 2 here. CD Projekt RED, in collaboration with Virtuos, has since released update 2.3, adding AutoDrive, new vehicles, and more. Head here for more details.

The main development team is busy on Project Orion, the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, which entered pre-production last May. Don’t go expecting a launch anytime soon, as CDPR co-CEO Michał Nowakowski believes it could take “four to five” years to develop.

Thus far, all we know is that it has a new city, which creator Mike Pondsmith described as “Chicago gone wrong.” Night City is still standing, for better or worse, but it remains to be seen if players will explore it.

Ampere’s sample covered 42 titles shipped between Jan 2024 and Sept 2025 (15 remakes, 27 remasters) and found that the average consumer spend on a remake was 2.2 times that of a remaster. A notable outlier on the remaster side was The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, which peaked at about $180 million in consumer spend and seven million monthly active users across PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam.

Two recent examples that further support this claim are Konami’s Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and Silent Hill 2. After crossing 2 million in its first few months, Konami recently touted 2.5 million shipments and digital sales for the latter roughly a year on – evidence that premium horror remakes can keep momentum beyond launch spikes.

Meanwhile, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater illustrates how modern remakes can sell more than nostalgia: new tech (UE5), revised controls, and feature updates aim to re-present a classic with contemporary expectations. It sold over one million copies on its launch day alone.

Bottom line: Players aren’t just buying memories, they’re buying modern experiences built on old blueprints. When a remake rewrites the feel, not just the resolution, it earns time spent and dollars that a remaster typically can’t.