BREAKING: Zenimax Online Studios leaders, including studio head, exiting as part of Xbox cuts Studio veterans promoted to take over More context at the link: www.gamefile.news/p/zenimax-on...

One hell of a chart... Via @superjoost.bsky.social superjoost.substack.com/p/ubisoft-an...

REVIEW: Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced isn't a pirate remake It's a sequel rooted in the events of 2096, where past AC adventures are re-experienced and used as propaganda or samizdat That's right. I'm reviewing the latest AC by reviewing its "modern day" www.gamefile.news/p/assassins-...

Also in this, how Ubisoft changed the way it describes the potential risk involving the prices of its games A game might falter because of... ... (how they phrased it in 2025) "overpricing" ... (how they phrased it in 2026) "a pricing strategy that may or not devalue the content”

NEW: Ubisoft's annual report to investors has some interesting changes - A new worry about games coming out too late - Drops mocked claim that microtransactions make games "more fun" - Avg worker pay down 4% - Portion of workers under 30 falls below 20% More here: www.gamefile.news/p/ubisoft-20...

This extraordinary post from Microsoft's head of comms appears to be in reference to an Xbox lay-off narrative by Fox News and others that does not appear to be grounded in reality

The cuts at id Software go shockingly deep and will fundamentally change the studio, sources tell Kotaku. "The institutional knowledge is just not there," they claime... https://kotaku.com/the-cuts-at-doom-maker-id-software-go-shockingly-deep-i-dont-see-how-they-make-a-game-with-that-team-2000713860

Maryland info is now out (wasn’t yesterday when I asked for it) MD - Zenimax Online Studios eliminating 213 jobs; Zenimax Media (Bethesda, not sure anyone else) another 166

BREAKING: Obsidian Entertainment is making a big pivot as part of the Xbox restructuring. It has laid off a quarter of its staff, canceled a planned sequel to Avowed, and is now beginning work on a new Fallout game, according to people familiar with the plans www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

NEW: I obtained layoff notices tallying Xbox cuts in Texas and California TX - Zenimax (id, Bethesda) eliminating 158 roles, including 1 director of engine tech, 4 gameplay designers CA - Obsidian cutting 52 roles including 2 art directors More at the link: www.gamefile.news/p/xbox-cuts-...

PSA: If you're playing Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, do not leave any Templar Hunt sidequest chains unfinished. It produced a glitch that cost me five hours of playing time. The game's really fun and some of the new bits are interesting in unexpected ways. But my write-up is delayed!

I elaborated on a couple of Xbox topics for Game File readers (in the reader chat). Figured I'd post them here, too, for those interested. Re: the two studio sales and the Roblox/Minecraft comparisons...

Microsoft's big E3 2018 new studio reveal is a shot of a bygone era - Then-new studio Initiative shut in 2025 - Undead Labs / Ninja theory now spinning off to new owner/owners - Compulsion returned to management DoubleFine, acquired in 2019, also back to management Playground remains

Microsoft's new gaming cuts, some 3,200 jobs impacted through June 2027, follow cuts of over 2,500 in 2024 and scores in 2025 A brutal sequence of events The latest round, under Xbox's new CEO, spins out smaller studios and slashes Xbox platform team www.gamefile.news/p/xbox-to-cu...

Would be hilarious if, in 2027, studios find a way to release incomplete versions of games they can't finish for years, just to get into the print-run loophole Doubt Sony would allow that, of course. But, you know, just release the next five Assassin's Creeds as placeholders in Dec '27, for example

NEW: Sony's private message to publisher/dev partners about discs also cited a consumer "shift" But it included more explicit confirmation that, after Jan 2028, partners "will still be able to place re-orders for existing PlayStation disc games” More in item 2 www.gamefile.news/i/204901261/...

Earlier this year, Epic sued a former contractor, blaming him for leaking several unannounced Fortnite collaborations. They've settled the lawsuit, with the contractor vowing to leak nothing more. That story leads today's stuffed Game File: www.gamefile.news/p/epic-leake...

For those of you with physical PS4, PS5 discs, what's the most recent one you have that says "Manufactured in the USA" (or any other country besides Austria)? Look in the fine print on the front of the disc, right near the edge.

You finally get your chance to ask Capcom managers a question at the annual Capcom shareholders meeting. Your question is: How can I ask a question via the internet ahead of the next meting? (Time was better spent by the person asking about the CEO's winery)

No plans for a big Capcom theme park, Capcom says

Let's see what kinds of new threads players are starting over on the Xbox Player's Voice forum today... feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/for...

I don't have a Rhythm Heaven Groove review to share, but I do have a video I shot a month ago when I played Groove's wonderful multiplayer cake-eating game. (I'm the green-haired character called Mama) Thank goodness the Marios and Zeldas help fun madness like this youtube.com/watch?v=y3xb9OHVbLE

In 2016, less than 3 of every 10 PS4 game purchases were made digitally. By this year, it was nearly 8 of 10 for PS4/PS5 That shift likely showed Sony it could do this, drop the cost of making/shipping discs, improve its software profit margins a bit, potentially de-emphasize a next-gen disc drive

NEW: Sony to end production of discs for all new PlayStation games (first and third party) as of January 2028 Full news and analysis at the link: www.gamefile.news/p/sony-drops...

Pretty big story hitting Game File soon

PREVIEW: Single-player-focused Splatoon Raiders is a colorful game about an upgradable arsenal of wild weapons, gadgets, hordes of enemies and some exploration In other words, it plays like a new Ratchet & Clank. Not what I expected; definitely something I missed www.gamefile.news/p/splatoon-r...

A heaping pile of horseshit. All this bigotry aimed at an 11-year old trans girl who just wanted to run track and was denied the opportunity despite the team otherwise making no cuts

I went to the old Daily News Building in Manhattan several weeks ago for a meeting. You might recognize the lobby from the 1978 Superman movie, where it was used to depict the Daily Planet. No super-heroes this time. Just me!

As I reported in Game File, 1666: Amsterdam, the new game led by the lead creator of Assassin's Creed, was going to be Xbox-published, before MS cut funding That means, in recent years, Xbox was backing games from him, the Romeros, and Kojma. Not every game pans out, but quite a set of partners

NEW: In the upcoming game 1666: Amsterdam, you’re a witch in 1666 who has a cat. The cat is also a man you play in 1999. In '99, his cat is the witch
 I spoke to Patrice Desilets (PoP Sands of Time, Assassin’s Creed) about the 15-year struggle to make a wild game www.gamefile.news/p/1666-amste...

Game console prices were flat most of this generation, and then went up.... then went up some more I charted XboxSeries/PS5/Switch 2 prices in the newest Game File www.gamefile.news/p/console-pr...

This is the list of jobs cut at Bungie in the state of Washington today. I had to scroll through a lot... Item 2 of today's Game File: www.gamefile.news/i/203624241/...

292 people laid off from Bungie in the state of Washington, where the studio is based. Effective July 9.

Did some morning news today

While interviewing Fumito Ueda in Los Angeles earlier this month, I couldn’t resist asking him a fun question about one of his previous games: Which colossus was your favorite?

The upcoming racing game Star Wars Galactic Racer has a roguelite campaign inspired by Hades and Slay the Spire I asked Game File readers for a good pun and someone suggested Slay the Empire, which I think is better than Rogue(Squadron)Like Got a better one? www.gamefile.news/i/203322538/...

2013: GTA V launches for $60, with $80 and $150 special/collectors editions 2026: GTA VI launches for $80, with a $100 special edition www.gamefile.news/p/gta-vi-80-...

hmmm. could be?

Anyone recognize this face on the GTA VI $100 bill? (I don't, but it's early!)

NEW: I played Netflix/Night School's new video game. It's a streamed first-person suspense game where your real phone is a flashlight and virtual phone for texts/calls Netflix thinks time keeps many non-gamers from gaming. So this one can be finished in a sitting www.gamefile.news/p/netflix-pr...

A few days before I spoke to Fumito Ueda, I played some of The Last Guardian and was reminded of how slowly the characters in his games move. I told him I liked that but wondered if he felt pressure to speed things up, given the pace most other games use. He does not, he said. 1/2

NEW: If I'm interviewing a game designer in a tent near a giant robot head based on his game, then I'm going to ask if he can step outside and talk about the colossal cranium Thankfully, Fumito Ueda was willing www.gamefile.news/p/fumito-ued...

No new Game File today. It's a holiday here in the U.S. (happy Juneteenth!), the kids are between the end of school and the start of camp, and I could use a catch-up day Please prepare yourselves for a surplus of newsletters next week. I recently interviewed people and, well, they said some things!

So for this Juneteenth, I went back and updated my feature on the need to incorporate more Blackness into your gaming perspective, more relevant now than when I wrote it years ago. Check it out on @pcmag.com www.pcmag.com/opinions/cel...

When you have a million games in a history-spanning franchise, it can be fun when they connect. Here’s a note from the antagonist featured in the new ending that was added to Assassins Creed Shadows this week. (Don’t read it if you don’t want to be spoiled!)

2025: "Additionally, Sony plans to continue its efforts to deploy its first-party titles to multiple platforms such as PC, and to create films and television shows…" vs. 2026: "Additionally, Sony plans to continue its efforts to create films and television shows…"

NEW: Sony's new annual report has some interesting bits about PlayStation - Overall headcount up for the first time since 2023 - Plans for AI at PlayStation Also notable was a line from the 2025 report cut from 2026's: No more mention of bringing games to PC www.gamefile.news/p/sony-annua...

c…c….c….combo breaker! 🏍️

Absolutely floored that Rockstar put a helicopter in the upper left corner of the GTA VI box art (the collage of older boxarts is via reddit: www.reddit.com/r/GTA/commen...)

Writing about Xbox, two images came to mind: 1) a set of headshots of Microsoft's "Gaming Leadership Team" circa the Activision Blizzard deal. Half of that team is now gone 2) a collage of studios from that time, many now gone, slashed or on the chopping block www.gamefile.news/p/xbox-studi...