Gaming News — Week of 2026-04-11 to 2026-04-17#

Story of the Week#

Microsoft is seemingly preparing for a massive shakeup to its Game Pass strategy, driven by new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s internal memo stating the service has “become too expensive” for players. Rumors suggest Xbox leadership is not only exploring a cheaper subscription tier exclusively for first-party titles, but is also considering pulling day-one releases for behemoths like this year’s Call of Duty to offset costs. This potential overhaul represents a seismic shift for the industry’s most prominent subscription service as Microsoft scrambles to find a sustainable path forward following recent price hikes.

Gaming News — Week of 2026-05-08 to 2026-05-15#

Story of the Week#

Playground Games’ Forza Horizon 6 experienced an absolute rollercoaster of a week, surviving a disastrous 155GB unencrypted Steam preload leak to ultimately debut as a critical and commercial masterpiece. Set in a stunning, highly credible recreation of Japan, the open-world racer scored a flawless 10/10 and smashed series records with over 172,000 concurrent players on Steam during its premium early access period.

Gaming News — 2026-04-15#

Top Story#

Pearl Abyss’s open-world adventure Crimson Desert is an absolute smash hit, crossing 5 million copies sold less than a month after its March 19 launch. The massive milestone is well-deserved, with the game even earning high praise from The Witcher 3 director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, who commended it for delivering a “quite fresh” departure from standard triple-A RPGs.

News & Reviews#

Marathon Overhauls Gameplay to Encourage Friendly Encounters · IGN Bungie dropped patch 1.0.6 for its extraction shooter Marathon, introducing a new C.A.R.R.I. system that rewards players with “CyberAcme Commendations” for extracting alongside strangers. The community reaction is surprisingly wholesome, with players actively reviving enemies and sharing loot rather than immediately shooting each other. This update also brought sweeping changes to weapons, equipment, and Shells, making the notoriously brutal game slightly more approachable for newcomers.

Gaming News — 2026-05-07#

Top Story#

Nintendo shadow-dropped the reveal of a ground-up Switch 2 remake of Star Fox 64 and detailed a new pricing policy that sets the digital version at $49.99 and physical at $59.99. It’s a surprisingly affordable entry for the upcoming console, though fans and even the original franchise creator are already offering mixed reactions to the game’s art direction and the fact that this is the fourth time Nintendo has remade or reimagined the exact same story.

Gaming News — 2026-05-11#

Top Story#

Nintendo officially announced a massive $50 price hike for the upcoming Switch 2, bringing the console to $499.99 in the U.S. amid rising component costs. To soften the blow and maintain momentum with frustrated investors, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa confirmed multiple unannounced Switch 2 games are slated to be revealed and released in the second half of this fiscal year.

News & Reviews#

Forza Horizon 6 Suffers Disastrous Leak as Steam Preload Files Are Made Available Without Encryption Microsoft dropped the ball big time, accidentally pushing an unencrypted Steam preload for Forza Horizon 6 that leaked 155GB of game files online. This massive blunder resulted in the hotly anticipated racer hitting piracy and streaming sites well ahead of its May 15 early access date.