Game News Round-Up - 10th July 2026

Sources:

• Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has been named as an advisor to the US Federal Reserve for Productivity and Jobs: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/xbox-ceo-asha-sharma-named-as-adviser-to-us-federal-reserve-on-jobs-and-productivity/
• Fired Marathon director Christopher Barrett says he’s settled a lawsuit with Sony and has been inserted into the credits: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/fired-marathon-director-says-hes-settled-a-lawsuit-with-sony-and-been-inserted-into-the-credits/
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 Ports have been released for PS4/5: https://www.ign.com/articles/call-of-duty-black-ops-1-and-2-ports-out-now-on-ps5-but-they-come-at-a-high-cost
• Ubisoft has laid off 51 employees at Ubisoft Barcelona following the release of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced: https://insider-gaming.com/assassins-creed-black-flag-resynced-layoffs/
• No Rest For The Wicked Has Sold Over 2 Million Units: https://app2top.com/news/sales-of-no-rest-for-the-wicked-have-exceeded-2-million-copies-294729.html

Game News Round-Up - 9th July 2026

Sources:

• Nintendo confirms Switch 1 sales aren’t yet ending outside of Europe: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/nintendo-confirms-switch-1-sales-arent-yet-ending-outside-of-europe/
• Mario Kart Tour to shut down in September 2026: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/mario-kart-tour-to-shut-down-in-september-2026
• Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis to Shut Down On October 6th: https://www.crunchyroll.com/news/latest/2026/7/8/final-fantasy-7-ever-crisis-to-shut-down-this-october
• New Nintendo Switch Online Games Now Available: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/wario-land-and-three-more-game-boy-classics-hit-nintendo-switch-online-today/
• Build a Rocket Boy staff to protest upcoming "all-expenses-paid" fan event: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/build-a-rocket-boy-staff-to-protest-upcoming-all-expenses-paid-fan-event
• Obisidan pauses work on Avowed sequel to work on new Fallout game helmed by Josh Sawyer (Project Director of Fallout: New Vegas): https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/obsidian-cancels-avowed-2-to-focus-on-new-fallout/

Game News Round-Up - 8th July 2026

Sources:

• Marvel Rivals Season 9 Announced. Dubbed "The Mystery of Thebes", the season introduces new characters Jubliee and The Hood alongside reworks to Black Widow and the Team-Up feature. Season begins July 10th: https://insider-gaming.com/jubilee-black-widow-rework-confirmed-to-headline-marvel-rivals-season-9/
• Apex Legends x Cyberpunk crossover event announced. Event includes Cyberpunk skins, two Cyberware mods (Sandavistan and Blackwall Breah) alongside the Skippy gun. Event starts July 14th: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/cyberpunk-edgerunners-lucy-finds-herself-in-yet-another-crossover-this-time-in-an-upcoming-apex-legends-event
• Unturned developer Smartly Dressed Games has released the source code and project files for Unturned on Github: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/304930/view/679628250084807263
• Xbox Game Pass July Update: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/new-games-and-updates-coming-to-xbox-game-pass-in-july-2026/
• Supercell starts developer grants program for African studios. The equity-free grants can range from $20,000 to $200,000: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/supercell-starts-developer-grants-program-for-studios-across-africa
• IO Interactive regains full ownership of Project Fantasy following end of Xbox deal, shuts down Istanbul studio and lays off unknown amount of developers "to find a new balance": https://www.eurogamer.net/io-interactive-regains-control-project-fantasy

Game News Round-Up - 7th July 2026

Sources:

• A World Of Warcraft Plague Killed Players And Filled Inns With Nasty Contagious Goo: https://kotaku.com/world-of-warcraft-wow-corrupted-blood-withering-contagion-spreading-infection-2000712838
• EVE Online's cross-platform game engine framework is now fully open source: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/production/eve-online-s-cross-platform-game-engine-framework-is-now-fully-open-source
• Nintendo of Europe will stop selling the Nintendo Switch fom "mid-February 2027": https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/nintendo-will-stop-selling-the-nintendo-switch-in-2027/
• Microsoft is laying off 4,800 employees, and more than 30 percent of the job losses are in the company’s Xbox division: https://www.theverge.com/news/961546/xbox-layoffs-studio-sales-2026
• Xbox wanted 77M Game Pass subscribers by 2026. Today, it has less than half that (30 million): https://www.polygon.com/xbox-game-pass-subscriber-numbers-30-million/
• Ingress developer Niantic Spatial shuttering New Zealand office: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/ingress-developer-niantic-spatial-shuttering-new-zealand-office

Game News Round-Up - 6th July 2026

Sources:

• Danganronpa 2x2 delayed to "early" 2027: https://www.eurogamer.net/danganronpa-2x2-delayed-2027
• Epic Games has settled their court case against former contractor Hayden Cohen accused of leaking Fortnite collaborations: https://www.eurogamer.net/epic-games-fortnite-settles-leaker-contractor-lawsuit
• Summer Games Done Quick 2026 has begun: https://crowd.gamesdonequick.com/
• Bethesda Officially Shuts Down The Elder Scrolls: Blades After Nearly Six Years of Service: https://otakukart.com/bethesda-officially-shuts-down-the-elder-scrolls-blades-after-nearly-six-years-of-service/
• Cyberpunk 2077 has sold 40 million copies (as of 3rd July 2026): https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/cyberpunk-2077-has-sold-40-million-copies/
• Meccha Chameleon tops another milestone, selling 15 million copies in less than 30 days: https://www.eurogamer.net/meccha-chameleon-15-million-sales
• Enginefall developer Red Rover Interactive has laid off an undisclosed number of employees across its offices in Newcastle, UK, and Oslo, Norway: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/enginefall-developer-red-rover-interactive-is-making-layoffs

Game News Round-Up - 3rd July 2026

Sources:

• CEO of Professor Layton studio Level-5, Akihiro Hino, says staff get big pay rises for correctly answering quizzes about its games: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/ceo-of-professor-layton-studio-level-5-says-staff-get-big-pay-rises-for-correctly-answering-quizzes-about-its-games/
• Updates to Final Fantasy 7 Revelation's Epic Game Store Backend point to 9 DLCs, pre-order bonuses, Premium Edition, a Digital Contents pack, and a story expansion pass: https://insider-gaming.com/final-fantasy-7-revelation-story-expansion-pass-spotted-in-store-listing-leak/
• 11 Games Leaving Xbox Game Pass in July: https://insider-gaming.com/xbox-game-pass-removing-11-games-in-july-2026/
• Sega Europe veteran COO Jurgen Post steps down with Rovio's Alex Pelletier-Normand taking his place: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/sega-europe-vet-post-steps-down-as-west-studios-coo-rovios-pelletier-normand-taking-his-place
• Kepler Interactive acquires stake in indie publisher Oro Interactive from venture capital firm: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/kepler-interactive-acquires-stake-in-indie-publisher-oro-interactive-from-venture-capital-firm

Game News Round-Up - 2nd July 2026

Sources:

• Physical disc production ending in January 2028 for new games releasing on PlayStation consoles: https://blog.playstation.com/2026/07/01/physical-disc-production-ending-in-january-2028-for-new-games-releasing-on-playstation-consoles/
• PlayStation Store for PS3 & PS Vita Closing Down: https://blog.playstation.com/2026/07/01/an-update-on-playstation-store-for-ps3-and-ps-vita/
• Persona is getting the live-action show treatment at Netflix, Star Trek: Picard and 9-1-1 writer Christopher Monfette attached as showrunner: https://www.eurogamer.net/persona-live-action-netflix-show-announced
• Godot to ban (almost all) AI coding contributions. Godot will still allow AI assistance like 'code completion, regex, or find and replace.': https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/godot-to-ban-almost-all-ai-coding-contributions
• July’s three PlayStation Plus Essential monthly games are Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, For The King II and CrossCode: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/julys-three-playstation-plus-free-essential-monthly-games-include-call-of-duty-modern-warfare-3/
• 2K co-founder Christoph Hartmann joins Ubisoft to lead Creative House 2, which focuses on Tom Clancy titles: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/2k-co-founder-christoph-hartmann-joins-ubisoft-to-lead-creative-house-2-which-focuses-on-tom-clancy-titles/
• Subnautica 2 studio Unknown Worlds' CEO resigns as Krafton has settled its lawsuit with the former leadership team of Subnautica 2 developer, Unknown Worlds, and agreed to pay the $250 million disputed bonus: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/subnautica-2-studio-unknown-worlds-ceo-resigns-as-krafton-agrees-to-pay-250m-bonus
• Xbox is reportedly working on a way to let players turn their disc copies of Xbox Series X and Xbox One games into digital versions: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/xbox-is-reportedly-planning-a-way-for-players-to-convert-their-discs-into-digital-copies/

Game News Round-Up - 1st July 2026

Sources:

• California Protect Our Games Act fails in committee: https://www.ign.com/articles/esa-claims-private-minecraft-servers-are-illegal-and-piracy-in-stop-killing-games-hearing
• Layoffs at IO Interactive as Project Fantasy Ends 'Relationship with External Partner': https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/io-interactive-facing-layoffs-as-it-cuts-ties-with-project-fantasy-partner-believed-to-be-xbox/
• NBCUniversal may enter video game business after Comcast split: https://www.reuters.com/world/nbcuniversal-may-enter-video-game-business-after-comcast-split-sources-say-2026-06-29/

Game News Round-Up - 30th June 2026

Sources:

• The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth hits a new concurrent player record on Steam 12 years after it was released (almost 131k players, previous peak was 70,701 in Apirl 2021): https://www.eurogamer.net/the-binding-of-isaac-rebirth-steam-player-peak-2026
• Supermassive Games CEO Robert Henrysson has stepped down: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/the-ceo-of-the-dark-pictures-and-until-dawn-studio-supermassive-games-has-stepped-down/
• RAM manufacturers have been sued for allegedly fixing prices and supply, leading to increased costs: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/ram-manufacturers-have-been-sued-for-allegedly-fixing-prices-and-supply-leading-to-increased-costs/
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II has sold over 6 million copies: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1771300/view/702145613257508971?l=english

Game News Round-Up - 29th June 2026

Sources:

• Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ Season 2 anime releases this winter: https://kotaku.com/cyberpunk-edgerunners-returns-to-netflix-this-fall-2000711261
• Phasmophobia delays highly-anticipated 1.0 launch to 2027 as it "prioritises quality over speed": https://www.eurogamer.net/phasmophobia-version-1-launch-delayed
• Sony is deleting over 550 purchased Studio Canal movies and TV shows from PS5 users’ digital libraries: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/sony-is-deleting-over-550-purchased-movies-from-ps5-users-digital-libraries/
• Keywords has laid off 128 employees in San Francisco: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/keywords-has-laid-off-128-employees-in-san-francisco
• Italy's 34BigThings, developers behind Carmageddon Rogue Shift and RedOut, spins out from Embracer Group: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/italys-34bigthings-spins-out-from-embracer-group
• Viral hide-and-seek indie hit Meccha Chameleon sells 10m copies in just 16 days: https://www.eurogamer.net/meccha-chameleon-10-million-sales
• Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hideaki Nishino says PlayStation is not giving up on live service games: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/playstations-ceo-says-its-not-giving-up-on-live-service-games/
• CD Projekt is rebranding as CD Projekt Red Spółka Akcyjna. The parent company, CD Projekt Red, is remaining as CD Projekt Red: https://www.eurogamer.net/cd-projekt-rebrands-as-cd-projekt-red