Rumor has it that Xbox is mulling over a potential solution to assist players who have amassed large collections of physical copies of their games over the past couple of console generations. The solution? Use those discs to create digital licenses, allowing them to enjoy their libraries, and perhaps even let their friends in on the fun.

Tom Warren, reporting on the situation for The Verge, claims that the feature is already in testing at Xbox, and that it’s probably going to work with discs for the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, subject to specific conditions. Xbox 360 and OG Xbox users appear to be out of luck, though.

If that’s true, Xbox players might have a small reason to cheer, while Sony will have to consider a similar solution if it aims to stay in the fight when the PS6 and Project Helix mark a new chapter in the console wars. Well, we’re not picking any sides other than the one that ensures our games remain our own, but time will tell just how this physical games kerfuffle pans out.

Well, the two icons are coming together to celebrate a decade of being solid entertainers in their own right with a crossover event that sees some of your favorites from The Division 2 stepping into the Dead by Daylight universe, bringing cosmetics, trophies, and more to the table. The event is going to span a couple of weeks, ending on July 14th.

The free content includes The Deathslinger and The Huntress skins, alongside a couple of backpack trophies for you to pick up, while the premium content includes The Oni, The Trapper, backpack trophies, and exotic caches for you to collect. It’s been a rather busy time for Dead by Daylight, what with the recent addition of Jason Voorhees and a feature film in the works. Meanwhile, The Division 2 confirmed Year 8 earlier this year, much to the delight of its fans.

You can see the new characters in action in the trailer below. It’s rather short, but it’s still worth a watch for the new additions, nonetheless.

Referring to details that he was told during the First Playable industry event in Italy, Jorjani recalls being told about the current Game Pass deal involving developers and publishers getting “the rug pulled out from under them.” Noting that he doesn’t think this to be the end of Game Pass by any means, Jorjani said that Xbox leadership is likely trying to figure things out for now.

“I was at a trade show in Italy, had some nice lunches, some nice dinners with industry colleagues, and word on the street was that loads of people who were in the frame for Game Pass deals, i.e., you know, nothing was inked yet, but the deals were in advanced discussions. Everybody got the rug pulled out from under them,” recalled Jorjani.

“What does that mean? I mean, I think what that means is that I don’t think Game Pass is over. I mean, given that, the new incoming leadership have talked a lot about Game Pass and talked about…”

“I think they’re figuring it out. That’s my read anyway. But yeah, for the time being, it seems like Game Pass deal. Like we just did one at Kaboodle earlier in the year, and I get the feeling that it might have been one of the last ones that did.”

Game Pass has been a source of issues for Xbox since the company announced price hikes last year. While it announced earlier this year that it was lowering the prices at the expense of not bringing Call of Duty titles to the service on launch day, a report by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier indicates that the upcoming layoffs across the division might have been inadvertently fuelled by its need to populate the subscription service.

In a video, Schreier discussed how studios like Compulsion Games and Double Fine were encouraged to develop small-scale games that would help make Game Pass feel like a more attractive service. However, with Xbox’s more recent moves, he said that Microsoft is now essentially punishing studios simply for following orders.

“A lot of these studios made plenty of their own mistakes, but in a lot of ways they’re being punished today for following orders,” Schreier said. “For listening to what they were told a few years ago. And that is just a shame, and what is going to happen is pretty brutal. The word bloodbath has been thrown around among people I talk to who know about what’s going to happen. It’s going to be bad.”

The subscription service has also faced criticism from Moon Studios head Thomas Mahler, who said that it could have worked out well if Microsoft didn’t “slop out mediocre content like a factory.”

Sidetrack Games has just come out with an announcement on Steam, confirming that the popular heist-based co-op stealth title is getting an engine upgrade that will modernize it for current-gen hardware and make everything it has to offer even better in the process. It’s been a while, but you might remember that we found a lot to like about this one back in the day, and the news that it’s getting a fresh lease of life is definitely welcome.

What will the upgrade entail? Well, it includes support for 64-bit systems, for starters. Aside from that, it’s leaving DirectX 9 behind in favor of DirectX 11, reducing the file size to around 32 GB whilst improving load times on SSDs, bringing 6-character lobby codes, and more changes that Sidetrack’s staying mum about until June 30th.

That’s because it’s hosting an open beta on Steam till the end of July to iron out potential bugs and ensure that the game does what it does best without any unforeseen problems. If only that had been the case with its sequel, but it is what it is. We must say that the timing on this one is pretty great, as the wait for more information isn’t too long. Expect to hear more from us about this one pretty soon.

The news comes from a report by Game File, which has drawn on information from a notice to the Washington State Employment Security Department from Sony. Of course, that number doesn’t account for employees from locations outside of Washington, but it’s quite a grim situation, affecting people across various teams, like art, technical departments, audio and sound, engineering, production, integrated support, and system design.

Several impacted employees were folks working on Destiny 2, thanks to a recent statement from Herman Hulst himself, while rumors of Justin Truman stepping down are becoming increasingly true. Additionally, there is speculation that Jason Jones, one of the studio’s co-founders, might also be impacted, since one of the reported layoffs is the company’s Chief Vision Officer. Jones is known for keeping a low profile, but he did appear in a video promoting Destiny 2, where the title is attributed to him.

We’re keeping a close eye on this one, and as much as we hate to be the bearers of bad news, you can be sure that we’ll tell you more as soon as possible. Of course, Marathon, despite also suffering some layoffs, will continue, with its next major update planned for July 21st and Season 3 hitting on September 22nd.

Yes, seriously. Pocketpair communications director and publishing manager Bucky recently shared on Twitter that he’s “Losing my mind trying to make nice patch notes for Palworld 1.0…who’d have thought that, *checks notes*, 27 PDF pages of changes and additions would be hard to make neat.”

While it’s probably possible to better summarize all this, meaning fewer pages, that shouldn’t diminish the sheer amount of content or new systems coming with 1.0. Pocketpair already confirmed that it’s the game’s biggest update yet, and we’ve caught a glimpse of what may be the new region with its floating islands.

It also encouraged fans who’ve already made tons of progress to make a new character. There won’t be any data wipes, but it seems that the journey to the World Tree has some new surprises in store.

Palworld 1.0 will be available for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, and PC when it launches in two weeks. Don’t worry, though – it’s not the end of updates by a long shot, as Pocketpair is committed to post-launch support (just not like, say, No Man’s Sky).

This includes the base game and Monster Hunter World: Iceborne Master Edition, which also includes the expansion. As of March 31st, the action RPG hit 29.60 million units sold – the fact that it sold an additional 400,000 since then means it still has legs. Of course, Iceborne alone is no slouch, selling 16 million units as of last March.

These sales figures are all the more notable when considering Monster Hunter Wilds. Despite an explosive start, selling over 10 million units in its first month, sales have slowed to a crawl. On many occasions, Wilds couldn’t even beat Monster Hunter Rise in quarterly sales, and currently sits at 11.40 million units sold as of March 31st.

There’s still hope for a resurgence, with Ascendance, its massive paid expansion, launching next year. Alongside a new locale, the Skybound Eyrie, with its interconnected floating isles, it introduces Master Rank quests, new equipment and the Boost Bracer to augment attacks.

Elder Dragons are apparently the center of attention this time around, and you can expect to hunt the likes of Kushala Daora and Lao Shan Lung. Stay tuned for more details and reveals in the coming months.

Before succeeding previous CEO Pete Parsons, Truman has worn many hats on Destiny 2, serving as a development lead and a gameplay experience director before becoming chief development officer. However, his experience with the company stretches even further back as he worked on Halo: Reach and then the original Destiny.

Truman became studio head in August 2025, which means he spent less than a year in the role. With PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst noting that “most” of the Destiny team facing layoffs, it’s probably a given that someone with such a huge background in the series would leave.

The question now is who will step into the role, and whether PlayStation will be much more heavily involved. Hulst already hinted at Marathon being a larger focus, though that team is apparently incubating other exciting projects. At this point, there isn’t much else to do but wait for more details.

As for Marathon, its next big update arrives on July 21st, adding a PvE version of Cryo Archive called Vault Breaker. The team also announced that Season 3 would go live on September 22nd and add a new Runner Shell and overhaul the Perimeter map with new encounters and whatnot.

According to Hulst, the decision was made “only after extensive discussion and careful consideration.” “Over the past several months, together with Bungie leadership, we reviewed the studio’s long-term direction, development priorities, resource needs, and role within our broader portfolio strategy. We explored multiple alternatives before concluding that a reduction was necessary to align the studio’s resources with its current priorities and long-term goals.”

Praising the franchise as a whole, he noted that Bungie would begin a “new journey” after the recent final content update for Destiny 2. Whether that means a new project or something else remains to be seen. According to reports before this announcement, Destiny 3 is not in development.

As for Marathon, Sony considers it an “important part of our portfolio,” and Hulst says it will “continue to support the team as they build on the strong foundation established in Season 1 and 2, and as they work on incubation efforts for future projects.” The latter is seemingly “too early to discuss”, but the company is “encouraged by the creativity and opportunities that lie ahead.” Potential spin-offs or something else entirely? It would certainly be an interesting option to explore, especially since the extraction shooter hasn’t exactly been setting the charts on fire or hitting record player counts, at least on Steam.

Regarding those facing layoffs, Hulst said, “We are providing transition support and, where possible, working to identify opportunities across SIE and our global network of studios.” This is similar to what happened in June 2024 when 155 roles from Bungie were integrated into PlayStation, resulting in new studios like teamLFG.

We may only know the extent of layoffs in the coming months, so stay tuned, but based on previous reports, they’re looking to be “significant.”

“As the leaders of Bungie, past and present, we recognize Destiny 2 fell short of expectations these past several years. Following our final content update to Destiny 2, and with our future projects still in early incubation, we unfortunately could not continue operating at our previous size,” it stated.

While aware of the “profound impact” this would have on those laid off, leadership noted that the changes “are necessary to best position the studio now and for the future.” Further details will be revealed at an unknown date.

Bungie didn’t divulge the number of layoffs, but Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier claims that they’re “significant.” Other reports allege that 50 percent of the studio will face layoffs, which would bring its apparent size of 850 employees as of June 2024 down to roughly 425, if not lower.

Keep in mind that the current headcount is after mass layoffs following the disappointing performance of Destiny 2: The Final Shape. Of course, these reported reductions are far from confirmed, but as it stands, expect major changes at the studio going forward.

And for those hoping that Destiny 3 could help its fortunes, reports indicate that it’s not in production. Destiny 2’s servers will remain available for the time being, but while Monument of Triumph has provided more than enough to keep fans satisfied for the time being, there won’t be any major fixes or changes for the foreseeable future. As always, stay tuned for further updates and details on the studio in the coming months.