Gaming News — 2026-06-23#

Top Story#

Valve is officially defending the hefty $1,049 starting price tag for its newly launched Steam Machine console, flat-out refusing to sell the hardware at a loss like traditional console manufacturers. This bold move comes amid rising component costs and signals Valve’s steadfast commitment to an open PC gaming ecosystem, rather than locking players into a closed platform to recoup hardware losses.

News & Reviews#

Fallout Season 3 Goes to Snowy Colorado · IGN Bethesda’s Todd Howard confirmed that the highly anticipated third season of the Fallout TV series will explore post-apocalyptic Colorado, a snowy region never before seen in the mainline video games. With filming kicking off this month in Los Angeles, fans can expect significant and surprising expansions to the official franchise canon.

Lords of the Fallen 2 Delayed to 2027 · IGN CI Games has officially pushed Lords of the Fallen 2 out of its Fall 2026 release window, delaying the dark fantasy RPG to early 2027. The delay gives the development team time to integrate feedback from Souls-like veterans and strategically helps the game dodge a notoriously crowded holiday release calendar.

Bungie Rejected a Destiny Dating Sim · IGN In a wild piece of trivia, former Bungie developers revealed they repeatedly pitched a Destiny dating simulator inspired by Dream Daddy. Despite a dedicated pitch deck with projected metrics from romance game designers, leadership gave a “very hard no,” feeling the player base wasn’t interested in romance or silliness.

Destiny 2’s Heartbreaking End · IGN The gaming community is still reeling after Sony pulled the plug on Destiny 2 support, an abrupt end that even caught much of Bungie’s staff by surprise. Rival developers at Digital Extremes expressed their heartbreak over the news, noting that the live-service space is much healthier with healthy competition and that “no one is celebrating” the loss of such a towering franchise.

Marathon Unveils New PvE Mode · IGN Looking to win over skeptical players, Bungie’s extraction shooter Marathon is launching an experimental new PvE mode called “Vault Breaker” on July 21st. Players will infiltrate the Cryo Archive to extract “Vault Data” for unique progression upgrades, giving players a lower-risk way to explore raid-like endgame maps ahead of Season 3’s launch on September 22nd.

Star Wars: Galactic Racer Preview · IGN Lucasfilm’s collaboration with Burnout veterans at Fuse Games is shaping up to be an absolute blast. Star Wars: Galactic Racer perfectly combines lightning-fast arcade racing, aggressive takedowns, and an unforgiving roguelite loop, making it the brilliant spiritual successor to Episode 1: Racer we’ve been waiting for.

Free Games & Deals#

Amazon Prime Day 2026 is showering us with incredible deals this week, making it the perfect time to clear out your gaming wishlist. Standout game discounts include the incredible Metroid Prime 4: Beyond down to $29.99 for Switch, and Resident Evil Requiem hitting a new low of $56 across all platforms. On the hardware front, Amazon Resale is dodging Sony’s recent price hikes by offering “Used - Like New” PS5 Slim Disc Editions for $499.61 and the massive PS5 Pro for $695.45. Nintendo fans can also score a vital 256GB Switch 2 memory card for just $39.99.

Also Worth Knowing#

Marvel’s Wolverine Actor Confirms Role in GTA 6 (IGN): Actor Brett Gipson, who plays Sabretooth in Insomniac’s Marvel’s Wolverine, has updated his resume to confirm he is playing a character named Ellis in Rockstar’s highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6.
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 Preview (IGN): The upcoming fighting sequel jumps forward to Age 1000 and introduces “Soul Switch,” a fantastic new mechanic that lets your custom character transform into legendary fighters mid-battle.
The Last of Us Part 2 Multiplayer Lives On (IGN): A dedicated PC modder is building a fully fleshed-out PvP multiplayer mode for The Last of Us Part 2, stepping up to fill the void left by Naughty Dog and aiming for a September launch.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Free Update (IGN): Darktide just dropped a massive free update featuring new shielded Vanguard enemies and expanded Expeditions content alongside the release of the $11.99 Skitarii class DLC.
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy Preview (IGN): Resonance takes the survival series to ancient Greece with a new, highly athletic protagonist, ditching full-blown stealth for a much deeper focus on slick action-adventure combat