Video games, esports, gaming industry, and interactive entertainment
In what could be its most significant gameplay shift in years, Counter-Strike 2 now discards all remaining ammunition when you reload, forcing players to weigh the cost of swapping magazines.
Tom Whitfield 
Marathon's ranked mode arriving this weekend is unusually complex, forcing developer Bungie to create a maths test to help players understand how the holotag scoring system works.
Zara Mitchell 
Australia's online safety rules expanded this week, banning under-16s from Twitch and requiring age verification for gaming content. But experts warn the regulations may do more harm than good.
Jake Nguyen 
Digital Foundry's Richard Leadbetter acknowledged the team should have taken more time before publishing their initial assessment of Nvidia's DLSS 5 technology, which has faced intense backlash from the gaming community over altered character faces.
Mitchell Tan 
Dead by Daylight's latest chapter ditches the traditional new killer release in favour of a comprehensive rework, cultural crossover, and new map.
Tanya Birch 
Crystal Dynamics announced another 20 job cuts on 18 March, marking the fourth round of layoffs within 12 months. The studio says both announced Tomb Raider games will proceed unaffected.
Fatima Al-Rashid 
Aspyr Media has denied using generative AI to create new Tomb Raider outfits, but faces escalating community anger over a patch that introduced dozens of bugs and separated the update team from the original developers.
Aisha Khoury 
Cities: Skylines 2's creator has admitted betting heavily on untested Unity technology was a mistake that hampered the game's performance.
Tom Whitfield 
A team of dedicated modders is working to recreate the entire 1998 Baldur's Gate within Baldur's Gate 3's engine. The Return to Candlekeep demo is now playable.
Megan Torres 
Pearl Abyss' ambitious open-world fantasy game Crimson Desert launches with stunning visuals and complex mechanics, but early reviews highlight frustrating design choices and narrative missteps.
Jake Nguyen 
Pokemon Pokopia's cashless economy offers a window into how younger players imagine a world beyond money-driven systems.
Andrew Marsh 
Amazon's latest layoffs have hit Lost Ark's community team, raising fresh questions about the publisher's long-term support for a game that once peaked at 1.3 million concurrent players.
Tom Whitfield 
As Pearl Abyss' hotly anticipated open-world RPG finally arrives, the gaming calendar fills with major releases and studio announcements competing for player attention.
Tom Whitfield 
EA Sports FC 26 has become the first major sports game to offer high contrast mode in competitive multiplayer, earning industry recognition for accessibility innovation that challenges long-held assumptions.
Jake Nguyen 
Nintendo has made Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness available on Switch 2 through its Nintendo Switch Online subscription service, ending decades of scarcity for one of the franchise's most elusive titles.
Sophia Vargas Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 2 arrives March 19 with new mobility items and weapons, but excitement remains tempered by Epic's controversial V-Bucks price increase and reduced battle pass rewards.
Megan Torres 
Take-Two Interactive's CEO Strauss Zelnick rules out interstitial advertising in games priced at $70-$80, citing fairness to players, though his statement leaves room for subtle in-world brand placement.
Sarah Cheng 
Double Fine's Kiln launches April 23 across multiple platforms, including day one availability on Xbox Game Pass. The pottery party brawler challenges teams to sculpt ceramic warriors and smash their opponents' creations.
Tom Whitfield 
The ESA Foundation's annual Nite to Unite fundraiser brought in $1.15 million to support scholarships for aspiring game developers and recognised initiatives using games for education and social change.
Zara Mitchell 
Starbreeze Entertainment has partnered with Vice Studios to develop film and television adaptations of its Payday franchise, despite the latest game instalment struggling to retain players.
Ella Sullivan