SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " gta " 100 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
Sign in to save shuffle history.
Trump’s Medicaid cuts strip refugees and other legal immigrants of their health coverage
Advocates warn that without Medicaid, many people will delay care or rely on ERs, and that will further strain the health system. The administration claims the cuts help ensure immigrants can support themselves without burdening taxpayer-funded programs.
‘No offense to Zelda’ but GTA 6 and COD Modern Warfare 4 are ‘the two biggest games of the year’, Activision exec says
Modern Warfare 4 is out next week…
GTA 6 Could Finally Fix Gaming's Huge Drug Problem
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should
'I Don't Think We're Seeing It Here': GTA 6 Launch Trailer Not Using PS5's New QSSR Upscaler
"That's quite extravagant"
Group behind GTA 6 leaks threatens to release alleged full build of game including story mode
Warning reportedly states "Take-Two gets one way out: physical disks and a public apology"
GTA 6 Cyberleek update: Everything leaked so far, what might be next
We thought the leaks were done, but we were wrong.
GTA 6 Leaker Claims to Have Full Build, Threatens to Release It Unless Take-Two Apologizes
The notorious leaker known as Cyberleek is now threatening to release what is claimed to be a playable build of GTA 6 ahead of the game's November 19 launch. According to a post on the leaker's own website, the build supposedly includes the full story mode, playable through to the end credits....
Rockstar HR Questioned Over Discord 'Mole' And Sudden Timing Of GTA 6 Dev Firings In Latest Labor Tribunal Hearing
A junior Rockstar employee was leaking trade union activity to management
GTA 6 Leak Reveals Collector’s Map Reportedly Coming With Every Physical Copy
A new GTA 6 leak has revealed Rockstar Games is planning a collector's map coming with every physical copy of the game.
GTA 6 is Officially Eligible for The Game Awards 2026
We finally have confirmation about GTA 6's status and eligibility for The Game Awards 2026—the game is just about in for this year's show.
Rockstar Swears You Won’t Have To Wait Nearly A Decade For Its Next Game After GTA6
The wait between Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto 6 was just under a decade
GTA 6 Leaker Teases 'Playable Build' Launch, Doubles Down on Crypto Scheme
CyberLeek suggests it has a 200GB software build for Grand Theft Auto 6, which it will release if its meme coin reaches a $30 million market cap.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time Switch 2 pre-orders set Amazon record, dominating GTA 6
The Ocarina of Time remake and GTA 6 should overshadow all November competition. Yet physical Amazon sales of the Zelda title are moving at an unprecedented pace. Nintendo’s Switch 2 exclusive game has sold more than 100,000 copies in the last month alone.
GTA 6 Leak: Cyberleek's 24-Min Lucia Video [2026]
A new 24-minute GTA 6 gameplay leak from Cyberleek puts Lucia center stage. Here's what's confirmed, what's not, and Rockstar's response.
'GTA 6' Cyberleek release updates: What leaked, what's next
Maybe don't watch these videos on your work device.
Tax Relief on Losses Stimulates Business Risk-Taking, OECD Says
Countries that provide limited tax relief to loss-making companies risk stifling entrepreneurial risk-taking and the creation of new businesses, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said.
GameStop Is Selling Used PS5 Pros for $1499, Likely Due To GTA 6 Release
GameStop is selling used PS5 Pro consoles for up to $1,399.99, nearly $500 above Sony's current $899.99 MSRP.
Xbox denies reports it's acquired exclusive GTA 6 game-streaming rights, deflating hopes of playing it on PC
Xbox Cloud will not, in fact, be the only way to stream GTA 6 come November.
PS5 console jailbreak on latest 14.10 firmware shared before GTA 6 release date
PlayStation may have hoped it would take longer to compromise the current 14.10 firmware. However, a homebrew developer has found a way to exploit Sony's software. The PS5 console jailbreak could enable piracy of games like GTA 6 that require the update.
GTA 6: Rockstar Releases Brand New Official Screenshots Showing Off Stunning Reflections
Rockstar has released three brand new GTA 6 screenshots alongside its radio station reveal.
GTA 6 Fans Think Rockstar Games Is Shooting an Elaborate and Expensive Live-Action Trailer in Miami
Eagle-eyed Rockstar fans have noticed camera crews recording convoys of flashy GTA-themed cars in Miami, creating speculation over a new live-action trailer.
GTA 6 Official Rating Revealed
The official rating for Grand Theft Auto 6 is now available, revealing interesting details about the upcoming game.
GTA 6 Leaker Posts Grainy Footage Of Lucia Skydiving Naked To Sell Crypto
Cyberleek is more Lucia 'nudes' if $Cyberleek coin keeps going up
Rockstar Explains How It Actually Makes A Game Like GTA 6
Working on one chunk at a time, for years and years and years, apparently
It Looks Like GTA 6's Beer Brands Are About to Become Real
It appears that Rockstar may be preparing to sell beer brands from GTA 6 in real life.
Sensor Tower data shows the yawning gap between GTA 6 and everything else
In terms of preorder numbers, Rockstar's game is 148% head of 2022's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 at this point from launch
We Got GTA V Running On Web Browser Before GTA 6
PlayGTA5.com briefly allowed users to play GTA V in a web browser, requiring only 700 MB to start before being taken down, possibly by Rockstar.
GTA 6 Leaker Threatens Rockstar With Doomsday Scenario If Meme Coin Hits $30 Million
Cyberleeks is back and asking for more money
‘It’s Going To Solidify as One of the Greatest Games in History’ – Developers, Players, and Analysts Reveal How GTA 5 Took Over the World
Could GTA 6 be as big as its predecessor? We take a look at how GTA 5 became one of the biggest games in history, selling over 230m copies and being played by millions of people every week for over a decade.
‘GTA 6’ Leaker Won’t Release Game Build After Players Crash His Cryptocoin
The 'GTA 6' leaker, Cyberleek, is taking his ball and going home after his cryptocoin crashes, and misses a milestone that would have released the game build.
The GTA VI Rush Is Drying Up New PS5 Pro Stock, and GameStop Now Wants $1,399 for Used Units
Used PS5 Pro units now cost more than new ones at GameStop: $1399 for Digital, twice the console's 2024 launch price, with GTA VI weeks away.
GTA VI not yet gold: Rockstar explains the final push before launch
Grand Theft Auto VI has yet to go gold ahead of its scheduled November 19, 2026 launch, with Rockstar developers telling Bloomberg that final fixes and refinements remain underway. The report examines how the game’s complex, interconnected systems have shaped development, though ongoing work does not itself signal another delay.
GTA 6 squeaks into eligibility for The Game Awards 2026 by the smallest of margins - but can it break Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's record number of wins?
Grand Theft Auto 6 releases 19th November and The Game Awards cut-off is 20th November. It's a close call. But will GTA 6 win?
Shrek 2 Remastered Reveal Trailer Parodies GTA 6, Sets November Release Date
Shrek 2 Remastered is real, and its release date is less than a month away.
Sounds Like GTA 6 Will Be Full of Details Like Red Dead's Infamous Horse Balls
A decade of silence, finally broken
DC Lawmakers Focus on Business, Wealth Taxes in Budget Hearing
DC lawmakers held a marathon hearing Friday to debate different revenue raisers to fill a projected $700 million budget gap next year, but most focused on measures to implement a business activity tax and wealth tax.
Sony Issues New PS5 Firmware Update as Jailbreak Race Heats Up Ahead of GTA 6 Release
Sony has issued a new PlayStation 5 firmware update amid the homebrew community's ongoing effort to jailbreak the console.
GTA 6 devs tried "not to jump on the bandwagon" of passing trends and instead created their "own slanted, overblown versions"
Grand Theft Auto 6 developers knew development would take "years and years," so avoiding trends was important in making the game "feel vital" come launch.
'GTA 6' could cause $1 billion sick day as 1.5 million estimated to skip work: reports
When “Grand Theft Auto 6" drops next month, millions of Americans are planning a trip to Vice City that reports claim could cost the US economy a staggering $1 billion in lost productivity in just one day.
GTA VI Radio Stations to be Hosted by Lana Del Rey, Bad Bunny, Robyn
Also: RaiNao along with Lana Del Rey's husband
13 Years Ago, Rockstar Suffered a Leak Worse Than GTA 6
Before unauthorized clips of GTA 6 scandalized fans, GTA 5 made video game leak history for Rockstar and Sony
GTA 6 Launch Trailer Analysis: Has a Long-Standing Tech Issue Been Fixed?
And is there any hint of Sony's new QSSR upscaler?
GTA 6 Reviews Will Be Released Before Launch
Insider Gaming has learned that Grand Theft Auto 6's reviews will be released ahead of the game's release. Get the full story here.
'GTA 6' Fandom Is Officially Shook After The Nude Jason Leak
A massive GTA 6 leak highlighting nudity sparks conspiracy theories about nude gameplay, cheats, and first-person mode
GTA 6 leaker CyberLeek is now reportedly threatening to release a full, playable build of the game
GTA 6 leaker CyberLeek has reportedly threatened to release a complete playable build, and wants Take-Two to release the game physically.
How well have past GOTY winners sold?
We’re less than two months away from 2026’s The Game Awards, and what a year it’s been for fantastic games, including Resident Evil Requiem, Forza Horizon 6, Slay the Spire II, the Blood of Dawnwalker, and Control Resonant – just to name a few. So as we approach the end of the year, we thought we’d look back on our estimates for the GOTY winners of the past four years. In terms of revenue, Elden Ring (2022 winner), Baldur’s Gate 3 (2023), Astro Bot (2024), and Expedition 33 (2025) have generated a combined $3.8B via 73M copies sold: Let’s have a look, then. Elden Ring has generated $2B in revenue Elden Ring is a phenomenon in every sense. It’s sold a whopping 36.4M copies across Steam (50%), PS5 (35%), and Xbox (15% across console and PC). Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Elden Ring also just passed an astronomical milestone: $2B in revenue. While PlayStation and Xbox account for half of Elden Ring’s copies sold across these three platforms, they account for 57.5% of revenue. This – as ever – is due to regional pricing and the higher relative share of PC gamers in lower-priced markets. For example, around 17.4% of Elden Ring’s Steam copies sold were in China, where the game costs about 26% less than the price in the States. There’s an … interesting narrative going around these days that console gamers are only interested in ball-and-gun games and have the patience for little else. Well, Elden Ring’s impressive sales prove that is simply not true, and across all platforms. What’s more, over 9.8M people have played Elden Ring for over 100 hours, with nearly 3.5M people getting all of the achievements and trophies. For reference, 10.9% of Elden Ring’s PlayStation players have the platinum trophy, while 10.5% of players on Steam and 3.9% of Xbox players unlocked all the achievements. Git gud, Xbox players! Of the 1.5M people who played Elden Ring on PlayStation last month, 4% also played Dark Souls 3 last month, 4% played Bloodborne, and 3% played Sekiro. There’s those Soulsborne diehards for you. By many accounts, including my own, Elden Ring is one of the best games of all time. It’s an evergreen seller that will continue to be a cash cow for Bandai and FromSoftware for years to come. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Elden Ring has sold another 2M copies across Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox this year, generating almost $110M. This means it’s outperforming many of this year’s high-profile releases. Even Elden Ring’s standalone run-based PvE spinoff, 2025’s Nightreign, has sold 7.8M copies and generated $282M in revenue. Baldur’s Gate 3 is another billion-dollar-plus banger Another cross-platform phenomenon is Baldur’s Gate 3, which has sold 23.2M copies and generated over $1.2B in revenue. About 18.7M of these copies (80.6%) are via Steam, 2.9M via PS5 (12.7%), and 1.6M (6.8%) via Xbox. Around 1.3M folks on Steam bought BG3 before it hit 1.0. The PlayStation version launched about a month after the PC 1.0 release, while the Xbox version came four months later due to technical issues around developing local co-op on the Series S. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Across platforms, Baldur’s Gate 3’s monthly active users have never dropped below 2M, including 2.2M MAUs last month (68.5% on Steam, 21.9% on PS5, and 9.6% on Xbox). And it still regularly brings in 280K to 400K players every day: About 1% of BG3’s Steam player base has played for over 500 hours! That’s a little under 200K people. Astro Bot is also an evergreen seller, albeit a more niche, family one Astro Bot, 2024’s winner, has now sold 4.7M copies and generated $291M in revenue. The budget, including marketing, is almost certainly under $100M, given the small Japan-based core team and three-year dev timeline. You can really see why the tides are changing toward less expensive hubs. Astro Bot is the only first-party winner on this list, but follows other first-party winners of The Last of Us Part II (2020’s winner), God of War (2018), and Breath of the Wild (2017). Around 46.6% of Astro Bot’s copies sold have been physical, which is far higher than the typical game. This makes sense for a couple of reasons: There’s a large family audience for this one, and physical boxes are an item to wrap when giving Astro as a gift. Astro has collector value for the PlayStation core (this is nostalgia-fueled platformer celebrating PlayStation’s history) Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Astro is another one of those games that continues selling over time, regularly selling more than 100K a month. It’s sold around 1M more copies this year ($60M in revenue) and is a popular title with families. We can see this using the Alinea platform’s MAU crossover tool: Astro Bot’s top #2, #3, and #4 games by crossover in any given month this year are Minecraft, Fortnite, and Roblox – without fail. The #1 title every month, though, is Astro’s Playroom, a pack-in with all PS5 consoles. For every month this year, between 20% and 30% of Astro Bot players also played Astro’s Playroom that month. So the free pack-in is a noice funnel for converting players to a full paid product. Expedition 33 sells 8.7M despite Game Pass cannibalisation Finally, we have last year’s winner – Expedition 33. The turn-based-RPG banger has generated $366M via 8.7M copies sold, with 58.8% on Steam, 35.7% on PS5, and 5.5% on Xbox. Xbox’s share of copies sold is this low due to Expedition 33 launching on Game Pass, where 4.3M people across console and PC accessed the game. A little under 700K Xbox players used their subscription to play Expedition 33 this year. That said, the game’s 1.5-year Game Pass deal ended last week on October 16, and we’re already beginning to see a positive trend on Expedition 33’s copies sold via Xbox (but the jury’s still out!). There’s understandably a lot of French pride behind this one, as France is the game’s #3 market on both Steam and PlayStation. Vive la France! One thing that stood out to me is that the GOTY winners aren’t $300M Hollywood productions made in the US. They’re mostly mid-budget studios outside the traditional AAA cost centres. Lots to think about there. Also, good games sell well; who’d have thunk it!? And there’s a whole load of them this year, with GTA 6 still to come, too. GTA just made the cutoff point for the VGAs this year. What a coincidence! Loading... Cool links and other stuff Our physical games newsletter from Tuesday was picked up by GameSpot, Eurogamer, TweakTown, and a bunch of others. We’re offering a free trial of our platform for games companies. Send us a message here, or reply right here on Substack/email, and we’ll set you up. Next week, we’ve got some exciting news regarding the future of our newsletter, so stay tuned! The last word Reply to this email – or reach out here – if you have any feedback for the newsletter – or want to request a game for us to cover. Want to see why these companies (and many others) are subscribed to Alinea? Get a free platform trial! [Alinea Analytics boasts the most accurate PC and console estimates in the business. Game makers use our platform to understand their audience, keep an eye on the competition, monitor sales trends, and spot new opportunities. We equip game studios and financial institutions with accurate data and the confidence to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Want to talk about all things games market data? We’d love to chat!]
Rockstar Mods Real Life Vehicles to Look Like GTA 6 Cars Before Driving Them Through Miami
Rockstar’s wild marketing push for GTA 6 is well underway, with the latest seeing modded cars cruising around Miami.
GTA 6 Is Reportedly Coming To PC In Early 2027
That would be a much smaller port time than GTA 5.
GTA 6 Features “Significantly Narrower” Roads Than GTA 5; Devs Wanted Weapons System to Be More Like Red Dead Redemption 2
Vehicle chases are often a big part of any Grand Theft Auto game, and if you find it easy to drive around pedestrians and other vehicles in GTA 5, that…
Rockstar, Does GTA 6's Jason Show Full Hog Or Not?
I know I’ll see him naked, but just how naked?
GTA 6 Platform Poll: 36% of DF Viewers to Play on PS5 Pro after 30,000 Votes
With only one in five planning to play on Xbox - and thousands of comments in favour of PC.
GTA 5 Made Playable in Browser as AI-Generated Game Chaos Continues
Grand Theft Auto 5 was made playable in a browser before it was pulled offline, amid an explosion of AI-fueled games across the internet.
Damn, This GTA 6 Screenshot Looks So Good People Don't Believe It's Real
But look closer and it's clear this isn't magic
GTA 6 Gets A Nudity Pass That Indies Don't For One Weird Reason
Talk about double standards
Halle Berry’s daughter defends mom amid ex Olivier Martinez’s child abuse claims
Halle Berry’s 18-year-old daughter is defending her mom against the Oscar winner’s ex-husband Olivier Martinez, who claims Berry physically abused their 13-year-old son.
When Rockstar Needed To Delay GTA 6 Again, Take-Two's CEO Replied: 'Please Tell Me You're Kidding'
Strauss Zelnick eventually understood why it needed more time and provided it
With GTA 6's Dating System Incoming, a Surprising Percentage of Adults Think Investing in a Video Game Relationship Is Cheating
With GTA 6's Dating System Incoming, a Surprising Percentage of Adults Think Investing in a Video Game Relationship Is Cheating.
Xbox is struggling for stock so bad that it's encouraging lapsed users to trade-in their dormant consoles ahead of GTA 6
The console stock situation is so dire now that Microsoft is targeting lapsed users with second, dormant Xbox consoles to recommend trading-in. The RAM crisis continues.
GTA 6 leaker shows off the game's ending in new video as they indicate the leaks may have come to an end
Cyberleak is back with another GTA 6 leak they say shows the game's ending.
GTA 6 Developer Rockstar Insists Its Next Game Won't Take Another 8 Years to Make
Rockstar has promised that its next game following GTA 6 won’t take as long to come out, although it failed to hint at what it might be.
GTA 6 Official Rating Revealed
The official rating for Grand Theft Auto 6 is now available, revealing interesting details about the upcoming game.
‘GTA 6’ Leaker To Release The Entire Game Build If Rockstar Doesn’t Meet Demands
'GTA 6' has endured leaks for almost two months now, but things are escalated as Cyberleeks now say they will release the full game build if demands aren't met.
GTA 6: Can you cheat on someone with a video game character?
Grand Theft Auto VI lets you build and nurture a romantic relationship but some say dates with a fictional character are a step too far.
GTA 6 Digital Preorders Already Topped 6 Million and $594 Million, With PlayStation Accounting for 74%, Sensor Tower Estimates
Analyst firm Sensor Tower estimates that GTA 6 already sold six million digital copies, eclipsing any other game in the past six years.
GTA 6 Will Make The Game Awards Cutoff Date for Eligibility by the Skin of Its Teeth, Confirming It Has a Chance at 2026 Game of the Year
GTA 6 is officially in with a chance of winning the 2026 Game of the Year award at this year’s The Game Awards, after the show confirmed the cutoff date for eligibility.
GTA 6 Leaker Cyberleek Says Their Reveals Stop Here, for Now
Cyberleek shared another announcement.
GTA 6 Launch Trailer Arrives - More Than A Month Ahead of Launch
With a banging soundtrack from Justice.
Opinion | The science behind leaf peeping
A psychophysiologist explains why fall colors really do help our minds
Grand Theft Auto 6 launch trailer suddenly drops, showing a saucy shower scene, a tense police chase, and high-flying heists
Rockstar Games has released the launch trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6 today, which is a showcase of the hijinx players can expect come the 19th November.
Cyberleek GTA 6 Leak: Naked Lucia, $15K ATM [2026]
A new GTA 6 leak attributed to Cyberleek shows naked Lucia at an ATM with a $15,000 limit, then parachuting off a roof. Here is what is confirmed.
Massive GTA 6 Leak Reveals Story Spoilers, Action, And Jason In The Nude
The lengthy portion of the game features cutscenes, dirt bike racing, and...Jason's winky
GTA VI leaks continue with a lengthy (and very nude) gameplay video
Somehow, Cyberleek returned with more GTA VI footage.
GTA 6 Preorders Are Up to $11 Off If You Follow These 3 Simple Steps (Today Only)
Follow three simple steps, and you can save $11 off Grand Theft Auto 6, today only.
"No Offense To Zelda" - Activision Exec Says Call Of Duty: MW4 And GTA 6 Are The Two Biggest Games Of The Year
How to p*** off Nintendo fans in four words
Latest 'Grand Theft Auto VI' Leak Features 25 Minutes of Gameplay and Jason's Concealed Weapon
Spicy!
Ubisoft plans cuts at German studios, adding to wave of workforce reductions
Ubisoft is planning to reduce its workforce in Germany, where it operates a trio of studios, by about 100 workers, Game File has learned. The company wants to offer employees buyouts to, should enough people accept, avoid having to lay anyone off. “In Germany, we initiated discussions with the Works Council last week regarding a proposed voluntary departure plan across Ubisoft Dusseldorf, Ubisoft Berlin & Ubisoft Mainz,” a company rep told Game File. A “works council” is a union-like group representing employees. “The voluntary plan is the primary measure being proposed to support the intended organizational changes,” the Ubisoft rep added. The company declined to confirm the scale of the potential headcount cut. Of the impacted studios, Mainz might be the best known to the public. It leads development of the Anno series and shipped the well-reviewed strategy game Anno 117: Pax Romana in November 2025. Berlin and Dusseldorf operate as support studios within Ubisoft’s creative network. Berlin recently supported the development of Rainbow Six Siege and the Rayman Legends Retold remake. Dusseldorf also contributed to those projects, as well as The Settlers and Ubisoft-branded escape rooms. Dusseldorf is the biggest of the three studios, with some 400+ workers, compared to just over 100 at the other two, a source familiar with the reductions and the teams told Game File. More than half of these new reductions of about 100 people are expected to happen at Dusseldorf. The planned cuts were announced at a town hall for the German studios on Tuesday of last week. In an email follow-up, the studio group’s managing director, Benedikt Grindel, said the cuts were intended to “best position our German studios for the future... with a clearer focus on their role, capabilities and organizational setup needed for the work ahead.” The email was an echo of the past. In January 2025, Grindel had emailed the Ubisoft developers in his region (or studio “zone”) to explain that a round of 185 cuts at the time, including about 65 at Dusseldorf, were “essential to improve our operational efficiency and ensure the long-term sustainability of our studios, the zone and the company.” A half-decade of continued job cuts Ubisoft has been aggressively cutting its headcount for years. At the end of September 2022, it had 20,729 workers. By the end of March 2026, that total was down to 16,590. Studio management is trying to trim costs as it grapples with a changing industry and a drought of releases, let alone hits. The company announced earlier this year that it had reduced its costs since 2022 by “nearly €325 million” ($362m) and planned to lower them through 2028 by another €180 million ($200m). In June the company said it was closing down its Winnipeg and Belgrade studios and cutting roles in its Barcelona team. Even commercial and creative success hasn’t spared studios from this ongoing company-wide contraction. As Game File was nailing down details around the proposed cuts in Germany, Ubisoft management was informing workers of cuts in its Singapore studio, which shipped a hit remake of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag this past July. Some 70 positions in Singapore are being eliminated “to align the studio with upcoming production needs,” per a company rep’s statement to Game File. In early 2024, a large team in the Singapore studio launched the multiplayer pirate game Skull & Bones. It performed poorly but has been supported with regular content updates since. Many of Ubisoft’s studios around the world are heavily subsidized via regional grants and tax breaks. Singapore had been among them for years, but received no such local assistance in the 12 months ending this past March. News of the Singapore cuts broke today alongside word that Ubisoft is also proposing the closure of RedLynx, pending negotiations with officials. The Finnish studio behind the motorbike series Trials was founded in 2000 and sold to Ubisoft in 2011. As reported by VGC (and corroborated by Game File), Ubisoft management told employees it could not come up with a new, sustainable assignment for RedLynx. The 2025 workforce at Ubisoft Dusseldorf were straight-up cuts. This time, Ubisoft is hoping the reductions at its trio of German studios will largely come from workers taking a payout to leave. The company offered such voluntary dismissals at its Massive Entertainment studio (The Division) a year ago. For the German studios’ buyouts this time around, Ubisoft and the Works Council had discussed a formula that’d pay a worker’s monthly salary multiplied by 1.5 and by the number of years they’ve worked at the company, according to Game File sources. The formula is still subject to negotiations with the Works Council and has not yet been part of an official offer to workers. It could be adjusted up or down, and it could be supplemented with additional bonuses. Asked about the floated payout formula, a Ubisoft rep told Game File, “The terms of a potential voluntary departure program remain subject to negotiation with employee representatives. No final agreement has been reached, and we won’t comment on specific proposals while discussions are ongoing.” Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Item 2: Epic’s AI adventures Epic Games (Fortnite, the Unreal engine) is all-in on using AI to try to transform the way it makes video games and game-making tools. It’s leaders appear to be undeterred by any resistance among gamers and some game developers around generative AI—and instead emboldened by advances, particularly in AI-assisted programming. A recap of the last three days: On Monday, Bloomberg reported that Epic management told workers last week that development of an upcoming game combining Star Wars and Marvel characters would be “AI first.” Employees would be expected to use AI models such as Claude to code the game. A manager told Epic’s developers there would be “[n]o more hand-written code” and that art for the game would be “generated with full AI workflows,” per the outlet. Just ahead of that story running, Epic founder Tim Sweeney tweeted: “We have a huge pivot underway here at Epic, moving developers around to retool for maximum AI acceleration. The aim isn’t to do the same stuff with fewer people, but to enable everyone here to build MORE and BETTER stuff, and to bring the benefits to all teams using Unreal.” In a follow-up, Sweeney predicted that most game development processes would be at least three times faster a year from now than they were in January 2026, thanks to AI. To a person on X who told him he was failing to read the room, Sweeney said: “Much of the room wants it to be 2016 again, but it’s not. Our job, as the provider of tools and technology to much of the industry, is to design for the present that is and the future that will soon be.” On Wednesday, Epic announced it was releasing a faster launcher for its Epic Games Store marketplace. It did so by stating in a blog post as clear as could be that the launcher is an AI-enabled, vibe-coded project: Programming is hard. So, instead of doing that, we vibe coded a new Epic Games Launcher that’s way faster and more responsive than the current one, and has a new look. Programming is hard? That was unexpected phrasing from a company founded by a legendarily great programmer. Back in 2011, Sweeney told me that he’d picked up programming quickly as a kid and rejoiced at the power it gave him. “I could look at any program that anybody else had written and, with enough effort, build something cooler.” Item 3: The Xbox Labs experiment (and one of the people behind it) Microsoft’s Xbox division, which is flooding the zone with announcements lately, yesterday revealed a new internal tech-tinkering team called Xbox Labs. In the words of Xbox boss Asha Sharma Labs is “a small group of game makers, engineers and scientists whose job is to turn emerging ideas into things our players and developers can experience.” Conventional wisdom coming out of the announcement is that Labs is a team that’ll focus on ideas driven by generative AI. In her announcement, Sharma cited some of the dizzying achievements in tech and gaming over the past month as AI agents and other AI tools have been deployed to swiftly figure out how popular games work, then rebuild them and mix them up. She mentioned seeing ”games rapidly decompiled and rebuilt to run on hardware they were never originally designed to support” and said “[p]erhaps more surprisingly, we’ve seen many of the biggest games in the world have been remixed into the source code of another.” (Minecraft plus Elden Ring, for example, or Fortnite + Super Monkey Ball + Overwatch + Diablo + others.) Sharma also cited the work of Windows PC games being ported to run in browsers, a seeming reference to a recent AI-assisted fan port of Halo. Or perhaps Call of Duty or GTA. Sharma didn’t use the specific term “AI” in her memo, but she came close, citing AI “agents” and their potential for game-making tools that Labs could help craft: I think XBOX has an important role to play here. Coding became the first major workload for agents because they can write, run, and test software. Games share many of those same properties, and people spend more than 72 billion hours a year playing XBOX games, roughly five times the estimated time spent writing code worldwide. We’ve spent 25 years learning how to make great games, and I want our game makers to help shape what these new technologies make possible. As we learn, we’ll share the tools we build with developers across the industry, just as we always have. When I asked an Xbox rep if Labs was an AI-centric team, they said genAI was not the focus, describing it as having a broader mandate for using new tech in new ways in gaming. As an example, they pointed to Xbox’s recently launched disc-to-digital gaming usage rights program. Microsoft didn’t specifically name anyone involved full-time in Xbox Labs yesterday, but on social media and LinkedIn, I spotted Adrian Mato IDing himself as leading the creatio of tools at Labs and talking up the launch. Mato first caught my attention in late September, when he said on X that he was “starting to build a new team at Xbox focused on products and tools for how games get built and distributed as agentic tools become more capable.” At the time, he framed AI-based tools as a supplement to traditional game dev tools. “I don’t think we need to replace them,” he said. Since then, he’s publicly shown interest in AI and in games. He’s recently spent some of his X feed marveling at the power of AI agents and praising the lighting in the latest Gears of War. Following the Labs announcement yesterday, he enthused about the Xbox Labs’ stylish landing page. He wrote: “We built some fun tools to art-direct shaders in real time, experimented with interactive ASCII art, and sprinkled in lots of tiny details. “Move your mouse to leave a colorful trail that reveals the original footage, or interact with the video to trigger bursts of particles. “A lot of love went into making it all feel just right. “More to come”
"Nintendo Didn't Swerve" - Product Growth Expert Comments On Zelda Vs. GTA 6
Let battle commence
New PS5 Update Is Out Now, And Sony May Be Tightening Security Before GTA 6
Is there more to this new PS5 firmware update than just improved stability?
Sony's Multi-Million Dollar GTA 6 PS5 Marketing Strategy Is Already Working
"I’m most definitely playing on a PS5"
'There's No One Person That Has This Whole Thing in Their Head' — GTA 6 Devs Had Freedom to Add Cool Features Just Like RDR2's Horse Balls
Rockstar Games gave the GTA 6 developers so much freedom to add cool details that not even the studio's top executives are aware of everything in the game.
"That was not received well at Nintendo" - as GTA 6 and Zelda are lampooned by Saturday Night Live, former employees recall Elon Musk Wario skit controversy
As American comedy series Saturday Night Live airs a sketch lampooning the November showdown between Grand Theft Auto 6…
Inside the Making of GTA 6: Rockstar North Reveals How a Decade of Innovation and New Systems Are Shaping the Most Anticipated Game in History
The in-depth interview with Rockstar North's Rob Nelson in full, as he played through 30 minutes of the game ahead of the Netflix reveal.
‘Boy Meets World’ star Matthew Lawrence recalls ‘dysfunction’ on ‘Girl Meets World’
‘Boy Meets World’ star Matthew Lawrence spoke to EW about the ‘dysfunction’ on the ‘Girl Meets World’ set, and his ‘strange’ experience guest-starring on the spinoff.
Dan Houser Reveals How 9/11 Changed GTA Forever
25 years later, Dan Houser recalls how GTA’s iconic cover art style only exists because of 9/11.
GTA VI Writers Sidestep Trump and MAGA, as Rockstar’s Rupert Humphries Says Florida Satire Targets Conspiracy Theories Instead
Rockstar said there won't be any references to specific trends or persons in GTA VI, as the game focuses on stuff like conspiracy theories.
GTA 6 is so detailed no single Rockstar employee has seen it all - which is exactly how we got shrinking horse testicles in Red Dead Redemption 2
The infamous Red Dead Redemption 2 horse testicles were an unplanned feature because Rockstar staff apparently work autonomously, which bodes well for GTA 6.
Xbox has secured exclusive GTA 6 streaming rights
The streaming rights come in November, when Microsoft is opening up access to Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Group threatens to leak ‘full’ GTA 6 build if physical plans aren’t reversed
The ‘Cyberleek’ is threatening its biggest Grand Theft Auto 6 leak yet, if its demands aren’t met…
Fans Are Calling GTA 6's Latest Trailer A Blurry 'Downgrade'
God forbid someone in Rockstar Games' marketing department decided to add a little artistic flair to a trailer
GTA 6 leaker announces end of leaks, cancels full game release
The anonymous GTA 6 leaker has abandoned its $30 million cryptocurrency demand. Cyberleek claims it has access to the game's ending and could still release story spoilers.
GTA 6 Standard Edition vs. Ultimate Edition: Which Version Is the Better Deal?
Rockstar offers two ways to experience GTA 6; here's how to choose which one is for you.
'GTA 6' at Risk as PS5 Hackers Officially Claim Major New Breakthrough
Fans are hoping GTA 6 will be playable on PC soon, but PS5 jailbreak hackers still face hurdles
'GTA 6' Leaker Posts Nude Lucia Video With Threats of Releasing Game Early
Amid threats against Rockstar, Cyberleek is promising GTA 6 fans nude Lucia gameplay in 4k if the leaker's meme coin reaches a market cap milestone
Rockstar says its next game after Grand Theft Auto 6 won’t take another eight years to make
The engine, tools and team built during GTA 6 will make the next project “go more sideways than upwards”…
GTA VI will run better on Xbox Series X than on the base PS5.
A technical analysis of the hardware specifications of current gaming platforms indicates that the anticipated crime action game Grand Theft Auto VI...
Cyberleek drops new NSFW Lucia videos, threatens to release GTA 6 in full
Only about a month until the game is out.
7 Major New GTA 6 Details Officially Revealed by Rockstar
A new Bloomberg report dives deep into the biggest game of the decade