The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante is currently free on Steam, and it's yours to keep if you collect by next Thursday. This promotes the news that follow-up The Life and Suffering of Prince Jerian launches on Monday. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/300595/

In the aftermath of the XBOX shakeup, Bethesda updates us on its franchises. Starfield lives, work continues on The Elders Scrolls VI, and Fallout plans include Fallout 5, Fallout 76 DLC, and Remasters of both Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/300573/

As its Summer Sale gets underway, the Epic Games Store also rolls out its weekly giveaway. Windows games Echo Generation: Midnight Edition and Luto are each free to keep as long as you collect by next week, when Foretales will become the new freebie. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/300524/

An unconfirmed report says that Obsidian Entertainment has laid off about a quarter of its staff due to the XBOX cuts. Word is the developer is cancelling an unannounced Avowed sequel and will begin developing a new Fallout game. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/300250/

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced sets sail (and sale) tomorrow. To help prepare we have a roundup of reviews of this remake of 2013's Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/300235/

DOOM: The Dark Ages - Revelations is now available for PC and consoles, adding new content to DOOM: The Dark Ages. Sadly, this comes amid layoffs at id Software, developer of the first-person shooter and this new expansion. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/300181/

Various reports discuss the impact of today's layoff news from XBOX. While there are no changes announced yet for Blizzard, there are indications of deep cuts at ZeniMax and Obsidian, and a rumor that a majority of id Software was let go. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/300158/

Microsoft announces deep cuts at XBOX. Today it laid off 1600 staff with another 1600 cuts expected by the end of 2027. Compulsion and Double Fine are now independent, Ninja Theory and Undead Labs are sold, and Arkane is conducting a consultation about its future. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/300136/

GOG.com is handing out free copies of Nexus: The Jupiter Incident, a starship tactics game for Windows set in space, where no one can hear you streatigize. This is yours to keep if you collect over the weekend. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/300091/

Relic Entertainment announces Company of Heroes 3: Final Stand, a standalone Company of Heroes game coming to Windows PC on July 29th. This will take the World War II tactics series in a new direction, promising wave-based roguelite gameplay. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/300072/

River City Girls 2 and I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream are now free on the Epic Games Store as its weekly giveaways. They're for keeps if you snag them by next week when the store will give away free copies of Nova Lands and Tattoo Tycoon. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/300054/

A report on Bloomberg seems to close the book on the Early Access launch of Subnautica 2, which involved firings and lawsuits. CEO Ted Gill is (re)departing, and KRAFTON will pay out "significantly more" in bonuses to more staff than previously planned. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/300006/

Microsoft is no longer publishing Project Fantasy, an online RPG in the works at IO Interactive. The developer says it will have to lay off staff as a result, but remains "100% committed" to the project. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/299980/

The Stop Killing Games bill did not make it out of committee in the California Senate, failing on a 4-3 vote. The movement's organizers outline plans to bring this fight to other State legislatures. It is also recruiting those interested in joining the cause. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/299962/

The Steam Summer Sale is now underway, offering discounts on thousands of games between how and July 9th. You can also earn free stickers for your profile just for looking through your discovery queue. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/299810/

RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 and Voidwrought are free on the Epic Games Store as weekly giveaways. These are for keeps if you snag them before next Thursday when new freebies will arrive. These are revealed as River City Girls 2 and I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/299794/

A post on X by former id designer Sandy Peterson praises Quake, but says the game "ruined id Software." This inspired interesting retrospectives from John Romero, American McGee, and John Carmack, who discusses decisions he looks back on as mistakes. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/299765/

Valve is now accepting reservations for its new Steam Machines, which start at $1,049. Signups between now and Thursday will be randomized to keep things fair and orderly, and each household can only receive one unit to deter scalping. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/299667/

Inside Games Daily looks at the possibility Richard "Lord British" Garriott will regain the copyright for the Ultima RPG series. It was sold to EA in 1992, and may qualify for a clause in the Copyright act covering 35+ year old properties. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/299609/

Outer space grand strategy game Stellaris is free to play this weekend on Steam. There's also the chance to sample the complete versions of four other PC games until Monday. These are Two Point Museum, MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, Dead by Daylight, and Speedball. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/299591/

Ross Scott of the Stop Killing/Destroying Games movement follows up on the European Commission's recent decision to not legislate game preservation. Ross explains the process, expressing optimism that a vote may come to the European Parliament in October. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/299570/

A post on Reddit shares a presentation from Epic outlining priorities for updating the Epic Games Store over the next 12 months. Plans include the addition of third-party patch notes, player profiles, user-written reviews, and more. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/299546/

Windows games Citizen Sleeper and ROBOBEAT are now available for free as this week's giveaways on the Epic Games Store. These are for keeps if you snag them by next Thursday, when the new giveaways will be RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Complete Edition and Voidwrought. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/299519/

PLAYERUNKNOWN Productions has made Prologue: Go Wayback! free to own following the end of development on the roguelike survival game. Those who purchased it during Early Access are now entitled to refunds. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/299493

Following hearings on the topic, the European Commission says it "cannot propose a legal obligation to keep video games playable." It does say it will work on a code of conduct for the industry and on raising awareness of consumer rights. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/299414/

The ongoing shakeup at Xbox continues, as Studio Head Craig Duncan and Chief of Staff Louise O'Connor are leaving. There are also reports of studios negotiating for independence amid the threat of closure, including Double Fine Studios and Ninja Theory. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/299382/

A 10th anniversary presentation for Dead by Daylight lays out extensive plans for the asymmetric multiplayer survival/horror game. The roadmap includes new killers, a new survivor, a new mall map, a new zombie mode, a graphics upgrade, and more. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/299355/

Get Warhammer 40K Speed Freeks for Windows and The Ouroboros King for Windows and macOS are now free on the Epic Games Store as its weekly giveaways. They're for keeps if you snag them by next Thursday when Citizen Sleeper and ROBOBEAT launch as the new freebies. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/299219/

Season 3 of Battlefield 6 | REDSEC is now underway, adding new maps and modes to this multiplayer arm of the military first-person shooter. This comes with a free trial for everyone to sample between now and next Monday. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/299110/

Firefly Studios announces Stronghold 4, a new installment in the long-running siege warfare series coming later this year. If this is of interest, stay tuned for the playable demo, which is expected on June 23rd. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/299054/

Atari announces Thief: The Dark Project Remastered, saying the stealth classic is getting a KEX Engine makeover from developer Nightdive Studios. This promises overhauled graphics and all the content from the original from 1998 and its add-ons. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/299024/

Creative Assembly announces Alien Isolation 2, a new installment in the survival/horror series. This is one of a bunch of new game announcements from today's Summer Game Fest. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/298969/

Rogue Waters for Windows and macOS and Songs of Conquest for Windows are now free giveaways on the Epic Games Store. These are for keeps if you collect them over the next week. After that The Ouroboros King and Warhammer 40K: Speed Freeks will be the next freebies. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/298917/

Tour de France 2026 is now available for PC and consoles as the latest installment in this bicycle racing simulation from Nacon and Cyanide Studios. This adds a bunch of new features like the addition of weather conditions, including rain. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/298891/

Season 2 has launched in Marathon, Bungie's extraction shooter. Along with the new content this brings, a free trial is now underway on PC and consoles, allowing everyone to try the game out for a full week. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/298817/

NVIDIA announces RTX Spark, a new ARM-based SOC coming this autumn. Featuring a petaflop of AI processing, this promises to "reinvent Windows PCs" with native AI, support for 1440p gaming, and "all-day battery life and premium displays" on slim Windows laptops. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/298730/

Microsoft announces a delay to the Fable reboot, saying this is now due in February 2027 after previously being expected this fall. This is to avoid conflicts with other releases, including Grand Theft Auto VI. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/298668/

Mina the Hollower is now available for PC and consoles, offering a new action/adventure from Shovel Knight developer Yacht Games. A roundup of reviews shows this arrives to widespread critical acclaim. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/298652/

IO Interactive reveals the initial sales success of 007 First Light, its James Bond origin game. It launched yesterday, and word is it sold 1.5 million copies in the first 24 hours. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/298624/

The Epic Games Store is handing out free copies of LONESTAR and Calico as its regular Thursday giveaways. You have a week to snag them and they're yours to keep. For now, next week's giveaways are listed as two mystery games. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/298592/

Activision and Infinity Ward announce Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, saying the new installment in the military shooter series will arrive on PC and consoles on October 23rd. This is set on the Korean Peninsula following an invasion of South Korea by North Korea. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/298591/

Valve announces OLED Steam Decks are back in stock. The bad news is a $240 price increase on the 512GB model and a $300 jump for the 1TB model. Unsurprisingly, the hikes are attributed to "rising memory and storage costs." More: www.bluesnews.com/s/298564/

007 First Light is now available for PC and consoles, kicking off IO Interactive's third-person action/adventure depicting the early days of James Bond. We have a roundup of reviews from all over. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/298534/

Crowdfunding of space games Star Citizen/Squadron 42 has has surged past the $1 billion mark. Release of Squadron 42 is scheduled for this year, and word is the single-player game is "imminently closer to launch." More: www.bluesnews.com/s/298451/

Riot Games follows up on reports about its anti-cheat software, clearly stating it does not have the capability to "brick" hardware. Word is it works by stopping PCs from accessing external cheat hardware when playing Valorant. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/298391/

Take-Two Interactive's latest financial reporting shows results for Fiscal Year 2026. This includes word that the eagerly anticipated console release of Grand Theft Auto VI is still on track for November 19th. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/298337

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered and Down in Bermuda are now free on the Epic Games Store as its weekly giveaways. They're for keeps if you collect them over the next seven days before two mystery games arrive as next week's freebies. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/298310/

Forza Horizon 6 has raced out for PC and consoles following a premium Early Access prelaunch. The Windows edition is on Steam as a Standard, Premium, or Deluxe Edition. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/298217/

QuakeCon announces that original id Software founders John Carmack, John Romero, Tom Hall, and Adrian Carmack will attend QuakeCon 2026 in August. This marks the 30th anniversary of the original QuakCon, which came just a couple of months after the launch of Quake. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/298123/

Fenris Creations announces a new Cradle of War expansion will launch next month in EVE Online, the outer space MMORPG. This will add new military campaigns to the game, as well as a new starter area to nurture new players. More: www.bluesnews.com/s/298107/