Guild Wars 2, ArenaNet's free-to-play MMORPG that first launched in 2012, is receiving its sixth expansion on October 28. Titled Visions of Eternity, it will have players setting sail for a mythical island, one where they'll be able to unlock a new beachside Homestead and more.

In Visions of Eternity, players will journey into the unknown to the fabled island of Castora, where they'll need to put a stop to a group of evildoers looking to use the island for their own nefarious ends.

On launch day, Visions of Eternity will add a swath of new features to the 13-year-old MMORPG, including two new maps to explore, new legendary weapons, updates to the Skimmer mount, new Homestead housing system features, and additional elite specializations for each profession to allow for more build possibilities.

A fantasy beach house is one great reason to travel to Castora. Players will turn an island shipwreck into their island getaway, and new Homestead features will make it so players can quickly and easily share their housing creations so that they can instantly be recreated by others (as long as they have the requisite decorations).

In this week's episode of The Game Informer Show, we discuss our Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 review and Activision's controversial decision to change THPS 4's long-standing structure. Later in the show, special guest Ash Parrish, video game reporter at The Verge, joins us to discuss last week's Xbox layoffs and studio closures, Summer Games Done Quick, and Missile Command Delta. 

The Game Informer Show is a weekly podcast covering the video game industry. Join us every Thursday for chats about your favorite titles – past and present – alongside Game Informer staff and special guests from around the industry.

Oblivion Remastered's latest update fixes an issue Elder Scrolls lore fans have been wondering about since the remaster's release, though the change isn't listed in the official patch notes.

Spoilers for Oblivion ahead. Those who have previously played the original Oblivion's Dark Brotherhood storyline will likely remember the intimidating door to the Dark Brotherhood's Cheydinhal sanctuary, which sports a relief depicting a woman (the Night Mother) raising a knife against her children. The Night Mother had five children she conceived with the god-like entity Sithis, which is backed up by the fact that inside the Night Mother's tomb in-game, there are skeletal remains of one adult and five children.

That, however, isn't what the Dark Brotherhood door in Oblivion Remastered looks like. Not only is it lacking the moody red lighting of the original, but it is actually lore-inaccurate as well. In the launch version of Oblivion Remastered, the door shows seven children instead of five.

A collection of Mario games received a surprise patch, but it mostly serves as a rude reminder that Nintendo stopped selling it over four years ago. The version 1.1.3 software update for Super Mario 3D All-Stars is specifically for its performance on Nintendo Switch 2, with the Nintendo support website saying that the update addresses "several issues" to "improve gameplay on Nintendo Switch 2."

The update notes do not detail what these issues were or how gameplay is improved when playing on Switch 2. 3D All-Stars also received an update on June 3, shortly before the Switch 2's launch, but Nintendo's website used identical language then, offering no specifics. 3D All-Stars is not on Nintendo's list of Switch 1 games that received Switch 2 enhancements via free updates.

An observer on Reddit who booted up 3D All-Stars after the Switch 2 update claims that it still runs at 1080p in docked mode, adding that the UI may have received a resolution upscale. Other users note that Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine still run at 30fps post-update.

Donkey Kong Bananza, the next Switch 2 exclusive from Nintendo, launches in just two days on Thursday, July 17, and ahead of its release, Nintendo has released a three-part interview series with the game's leads. That's how we learned you can skip locations and parts of the story in the game, and why Donkey Kong Bananza's destruction gameplay can be traced back to a Goomba with arms. It's also where we learned more about Nintendo's transition from developing Donkey Kong Bananza on Switch to Switch 2. 

When asked by the interviewer if Donkey Kong Bananza was planned as a Switch 2 game from the jump, producer Kenta Motokura explained that it began life as a Switch title, but was moved to Switch 2 around 2021 due to challenges the team (which also developed Super Mario Odyssey) ran into. Art director Daisuke Watanabe chimed in to add, "We first looked into how we could upgrade what we'd originally built for Switch to take advantage of Switch 2. 

It's one of the strangest and most public fallings out in recent games industry history. The leadership team of Subnautica studio Unknown Worlds were recently removed by owner and publisher Krafton, Inc., causing debate and speculation around employee bonuses tied to Subnautica 2's Early Access release.

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It’s a big day for Helldivers 2 fans. The sci-fi extraction shooter finally lets them plant flags anywhere they want, including on enemies. The morale boost from spreading the spirit of “mission accomplished” throughout the galaxy boosts weapon handling and defense for all players in the surrounding radius.…

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EA Sports has delivered several new mechanics and gameplay changes in College Football 26. However, one of the more noteworthy changes the developers implemented is called "No eyes, no pick," which relates to defenders needing to have their head turned around and facing the ball in order to intercept it. In the past, it seemed like defenders had eyes in their back of their heads and were able to pick off passes without even looking at the ball.

While this change is important, it's also crucial that you understand another mechanic to go along with it: swatting the ball. Now that your defenders need to actually face the ball to intercept it, swatting the ball is more vital than ever if you want to stop passes from being completed against your defense. You can find out how to swat the ball in College Football 26 in the guide below.

How to swat the ball with defenders

Fortunately, the process of swatting the ball is fairly simple. The short answer is you swat the ball by pressing X on Xbox or Square on PS5. The issue with the mechanic is that it doesn't always seem to work. We'll explain a little more about that after you read about the general steps to swat the ball in CFB 26:

Christoper Nolan’s The Odyssey starring Tom Holland, Matt Damon, and a bunch of other big-name actors is set to hit theaters on July 17, 2026, aka a year from now. The movie is still filming as you read these words. And yet, Warner Bros. will soon start selling tickets for IMAX 70MM showings that will likely sell out…

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Cast your mind back, and you might recall Dead Island 2's eventual, near-decade-long journey to release. Well, a former exec overseeing the project has now spoken a little more on its troubled development, claiming its scrapped first iteration would have "killed the franchise".

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Candy Crush developer King is reportedly replacing laid off staff with AI tools they helped to build.

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8BitDo has revealed the successor to its popular Pro 2 Bluetooth Controller. Officially called the Pro 3 Bluetooth Gamepad, the upcoming controller retains the form factor of the Pro 2 while implementing some of the enhanced features found in the Ultimate 2 Bluetooth, such as TMR joysticks and trigger locks. It also has a few entirely new features not found on other 8BitDo controllers, including swappable magnetic face buttons and an extra pair of arcade-inspired ball-top stick caps.

Quick, get down! It's enhanced!

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Square Enix is finally confirming details about the Switch and Switch 2 versions of Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake and unfortunately, the news isn't exactly great: Square Enix has stated it will not be providing any update path, free or paid, between the different console releases, effectively treating each like its own thing.

First spotted by Wario64, Square confirmed the news in a FAQ posted to the official Japanese Dragon Quest site. The exact copy on the page reads, "No, there is no upgrade path currently available or planned. Please buy your copy for whichever system you would like to play it on." It also clarifies that the performance of Switch version of Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake will be capped on the Switch 2, meaning that if you want the (likely small) graphical edge, you're going to have to buy the newest version of the title.

The news has understandably upset a contingent of fans due to concerns and reservations surrounding Switch 2 key cards. The Switch 2 version of the Dragon Quest remakes comes on one of these game key cards, which have proven to be controversial since their widespread adoption on the new system, since they don't technically hold any game data on them. Instead, they basically grant a one-time permission to then download the game digitally. The Switch version comes on a traditional cartridge with the game files on it.

Rematch remains a powerhouse, bringing in a vast variety of competitive multiplayer gamers and football fans alike. Inevitably, as with all live-service titles, there's a hunger for new updates, with crossplay sitting comfortably as the feature in highest demand.

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What's next for God of War director Cory Barlog and game developer Sony Santa Monica? According to reporter Jason Schreier, Barlog's game is the developer's "next big thing," adding that progress is "going well."

Basically nothing is known about what the game is. Some have theorized that it is a new IP, but Schreier said that's not true. "It's not a new IP but it might feel like one. Maybe that's why people are confused," he said, adding that rumors that the project is sci-fi in nature are "nonsense."

Schreier went on to say that Resetera forum user Ashhong "knows what they are talking about." This person previously said Barlog's new game is "not a licensed game."

Sony Santa Monica's latest game was 2022's God of War Ragnarok, which Barlog worked on as the game's creative director after directing 2018's God of War. The studio didn't produce a trilogy to help avoid the Norse saga dragging out too long.

After Ragnarok was released, Barlog said Sony Santa Monica was "spread out on a lot of different things," suggesting the company might have had multiple games in the works. In 2021, it was reported that the studio was developing an open-world sci-fi new IP before it was reportedly canceled.

Nintendo’s next big Switch 2 exclusive, Donkey Kong Bananza, launches later this week and will finally deliver that big single-player binge-worthy game that the hybrid console currently lacks. When you finally get your hands on the new game, you’ll be destroying everything at 60FPS, and that’s because Nintendo…

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Wheels of Aurelia is a 2016 visual novel about a young woman on a road trip in 1970s Italy and the people she meets along the way, and it’s about to get delisted from the App Store. Developer Santa Ragione says Apple is doing that because the game hasn’t been updated in years, even though it’s feature-complete and…

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The ZeniMax Online Studios developer union has spoken out following significant cuts that impacted a vast number of staff at the studio, resulting in uncertain futures for many developers and the cancellation of unannounced MMO Blackbird.

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McDonald’s Pokémon collaborations are a scalper’s dream and a parent’s worst nightmare because they include limited edition cards in Happy Meals, and collecting the whole set will likely require multiple trips through the restaurant’s drive-thru. However, the next team-up between the fast food restaurant and The…

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With Donkey Kong Bananza just two days away from launching on the Switch 2, Nintendo has released a three-part interview series with the game's leads. That's how we learned you can skip locations and part of the story in Donkey Kong Bananza, thanks to the game's destruction gameplay. It's also how we learned the game's destruction gameplay can be traced back to a Goomba with arms in Super Mario Odyssey. 

When asked by the interviewer about the origins of Bananza's destruction mechanics, one of the game's directors, Wataru Tanaka, explained the team (which also developed Super Mario Odyssey) had already been researching smashing mechanics before development on Bananza began. "Shortly after Super Mario Odyssey was released, we started running technical experiments with the idea of, 'What kind of game do you get if everything in the environment is destructible?'" 

That's when producer Kenta Motokura chimed in to add, "We even tried sticking arms on a Goomba." 

Microsoft has announced the next batch of games being added to Xbox Game Pass for the rest of July.

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Some Switch 1 games have quietly started running much better on Switch 2. Others have gotten free upgrades or patches to help improve performance or fix backwards compatibility issues. The latest of those is Super Mario 3D All-Stars, a collection of three classics that Nintendo doesn’t even sell anymore because, well,…

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The Outlast Trials Season 4, Project Diarchy, begins today, introducing a new trial environment and a fresh killer to stalk players. The season adds a twisted new Prime Asset in the form of conjoined twins Otto and Arora Kress. 

These wealthy lovers work as one, quite literally, to hunt players down using a combination of a chainsaw and a 360-degree vision scope to spot players wherever they hide. You can catch a glimpse of them in action in the launch trailer below. 

The Kress Twins occupy the new shopping mall trial environment, which houses a new Story Trial called Kill the Politician (guess the objective). Season 4 also adds two new MK-Challenges – Get Out the Vote and Sentence the Persecuted – along with a revamped Rebirth system offering two paths: original Rebirth (solo play) and Communal (team play), and a new Deluxe Catalog of cosmetic items. 

The Outlast Trials is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. 

With Nintendo's next Switch 2 exclusive game, Donkey Kong Bananza, just two days away from launch, the company has released a three-part interview series about the game's development. In the final section of the series, one of Bananza's directors, Kazuya Takahashi, said players can skip locations and parts of the story in the game, thanks to its unique destruction gameplay. 

"There's a lot of leeway in terms of progression in this game," Takahashi said when asked about any final words he might have to close out the interview. "For example, locations or parts of the story you can skip without suffering any consequences. When the game progresses in a way we hadn't intended, we call it a 'sequence break' in development terminology. Typically, in game development, restrictions are put in place to prevent this from happening, but since this game is all about destruction, we wanted people to play freely." 

Life-size plushies are a well-established feature of Pokémon merchandise. This year has seen pre-orders open for a colossal Gardevoir cuddly, alongside a range of Eeveelutions that are bigger than your pet dog. But when it comes to the non-soft toys, the size tends to be far more modest. Until now, that is. Sideshow,…

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Nintendo has pushed out another Switch 2 system update with typically minimal patch notes. But as delightful as the company's endless quest for "stability improvements" undoubtedly are, users have also starting spotting some undocumented backward compatibility improvements affecting the previously broken likes of Portal 2.

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Anonymous sources within the mobile developer King have said that staff who have been laid off as part of Microsoft's recent round of redundancies will be replaced by the AI tools that they helped to train.

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When it was announced that Persona 5: The Phantom X would be accelerating its story content rollout for the West to catch up to China, which has had the game for over a year, players were wary. As a gacha game with timed events and currency, The Phantom X is a game in which narrative developments and their associated…

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I recently ripped out my Steam Deck’s SSD and enthusiastically slapped in a WD Black SN770M 2TB mini SSD, and it's easily the smartest thing I’ve done with it that didn’t involve tinkering around in desktop mode.

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Tales Of The Shire: A The Lord Of The Rings Game is finally coming out this month, offering terrifyingly cosy Hobbitiness to us bumbling Bilbos. Its system requirements have just dropped, and they're pretty reasonable.

In fact, its needs are so modest and homely that I'm wondering whether you might be able to run it on a Hobbit, provided you could find one in real life and staple some Nvidia - or AMD- branded plastic into the surface of its flesh. It's ok, I'm sure Gandalf has a magic stapler that doesn't produce excruciating pain if you fire it directly into a person.

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Steam’s “Fests” are an almost weekly event now, growing ever more niche as the behemothic game store tries to think up another category to highlight. Now that the Steam Summer Sale is over, the board is cleared for another fest, and this time it’s Automation. Which is to say, all those factory-based games that you…

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At Develop:Brighton last week, Remedy's Sam Lake reflected on three decades of game development, sharing the inner workings of his role as one of the studio's creative directors, why collaboration and teamwork is key, and how games are the best outlet for exploring deep, intricate narratives.

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One of the biggest Nintendo Switch piracy sites around has been taken down by the FBI as “part of a law enforcement operation” on Thursday. Nsw2u was one of the better-known repositories for Switch ROMs online, allowing people to play games on hacked Switches or emulators on PC without legally purchasing the games…

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