Gaming News — 2026-05-24#

Top Story#

IO Interactive was forced to drop a polished 13-minute opening gameplay slice of 007 First Light after physical copies of the stealth game leaked into the wild. Showcasing a younger James Bond doing his best Metal Gear impression in the rain, the footage gives us a gorgeous but unexpected look at the highly anticipated title just days before its official May 27 launch.

News & Reviews#

Rocket League to Receive First Game Engine Tune Up in 11 Years as Psyonix Teases Unreal Engine 6 Update · IGN Psyonix is finally moving Rocket League away from Unreal Engine 3, officially dropping a teaser for the game’s massive transition to Unreal Engine 6. Revealed at the Paris Major alongside a brand new Unreal Engine 6 logo, the update promises a massive visual facelift for arenas and potentially paves the way for extensive custom maps and user-generated content.

Star Citizen Officially Crosses the $1 Billion Funding Raised Barrier as $5,000 Spaceship You Can’t Fly In-Game Goes on Sale · IGN Fourteen years into its polarizing development, Star Citizen has surpassed a staggering $1 billion in crowdfunding. Cloud Imperium Games celebrated this monumental milestone by selling the Anvil Odin—a 752-meter battlecruiser that costs $5,000 in real cash and currently cannot even be flown in-game.

A Petition Calling on Sony to Greenlight Destiny 3 Has Over 120,000 Signatures Already — and It’s Rising Fast · IGN Following Bungie’s announcement that Destiny 2 support will officially end in June, a desperate fan petition begging Sony to greenlight Destiny 3 has rocketed past 120,000 signatures. Sadly, a sequel is highly unlikely given the ballooning costs of AAA development and reports of impending “significant” layoffs hitting Bungie.

Hands Over, a Horror Party Game, Announced for PC · IGN Developer Artdock is turning innocent childhood mini-games into absolute nightmare fuel with the announcement of Hands Over for PC. This multiplayer horror party game relies on simple mechanics and influence cards to build extreme tension, tasking players with surviving deadly twists on classic games while trying to sabotage their friends.

Karmine Corp Crowned Champions of Rocket League Paris Major · IGN The French esports titans Karmine Corp defended their home turf to win the 2026 RLCS Paris Major, defeating Saudi Arabian squad Twisted Minds 4-2. The victory secured them the biggest share of a $350,000 prize pool in front of a roaring hometown crowd of up to 25,000 fans at the La Défense arena.

Free Games & Deals#

It’s a fantastic weekend for hardware and Switch 2 deals, starting with the PowerColor Reaper Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics card dropping to $669.99 at Amazon—an absolute steal for a 4K, ray-tracing powerhouse. On the software side, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection has seen its first major discount down to $61.99 on PS5, while the highly anticipated physical edition of Star Fox for the Switch 2 is available for pre-order at $49.94. Budget hunters can also score the reliable Razer DeathAdder Essential Gaming Mouse for an incredibly low $13.79 right now.

Also Worth Knowing#

• How X-Men ’97 and Devil May Cry’s Studio Mir Became a Backbone of American Animation (IGN): South Korea’s Studio Mir continues to dominate global animation, heavily contributing to the massive Netflix success of Devil May Cry and X-Men ‘97.
• Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu Opened to an Estimated $165 Million at the Box Office (IGN): The first new Star Wars film since 2019 pulled in an estimated $165 million globally over its opening weekend, though it only slightly edged out Solo domestically.
• Idris Elba Says He Was Never in the Race to Play James Bond for New 007 Movie (IGN): Idris Elba has officially shut down ongoing 007 rumors, stating that Amazon MGM is looking for a younger actor and he was never in the running for the iconic spy role.
• Sebastian Stan Reveals He Plays “Many Roles” in The Batman: Part II (IGN): While promoting a new film at Cannes, Sebastian Stan teased his involvement in the upcoming Batman sequel, heavily implying he will portray both Harvey Dent and his villainous alter-ego, Two-Face.