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$50B Rural Health Transformation Program Needs More Transparency, Groups Say
By Arielle Zionts and KFF Health News HealthDay ReportersTHURSDAY, Sept. 3, 2026 (HealthDay News) — One year into its creation, a $50 billion federal program aimed at improving rural healthcare lacks transparency, which could make it difficult to protect against fraud, identify successful projects ...
Letter to the Editor
The University of Alabama continues to invite political interference into the work of UA. After the passage of House Bill 580 in April, University administration has rolled out voluntary compliance to this bill. It is voluntary because UA was explicitly exempt from this bill. The new policies require redundant and more time-intensive post-tenure reviews. New...
VA said electronic health record modernization would cost $10 billion
The Department of Veterans Affairs is nearly tripling the ceiling on its contract with Oracle to modernize the agency’s electronic health record system.
Seattle-based software maker cuts 117 jobs after acquiring another company
Qualtrics, a Seattle-based survey-software maker, is cutting 117 employees after acquiring another company in a multibillion-dollar deal.
Sony and Microsoft say they’re not obligated to pass U.S. tariff refunds to consumers, echoing Nintendo
Back in July, Sony executives told investors that the company expected to receive $508 million in refunds from the U.S. government, after tariffs that the PlayStation-maker paid were ruled mostly in 2025 were found to be illegal. “Most” of the refund would by recouped by Sony’s gaming division, its chief financial officer said. This week, Sony’s lawyers are arguing that the company is not legally obligated to pass those proceeds on to consumers who paid for recently price-hiked PlayStation consoles. That’s in the face of a lawsuit from gamers calling on them to do exactly that. “Paying fair market price for voluntarily purchased consumer goods is not a legally cognizable injury in fact,” the lawyers wrote in a legal motion filed on Monday, as they asked a judge in California’s Northern District to dismiss a potential class action lawsuit over the tariff refunds. Microsoft made a similar argument two weeks ahead of Sony’s lawyers, in a similar lawsuit brought by a gamer in federal court in Washington State. As Microsoft’s legal team put it on August 21, in their request for a dismissal of that lawsuit: “There is nothing unjust about Plaintiff purchasing an Xbox at an advertised price and getting exactly what he paid for—regardless of whatever theory he devised months later about Microsoft’s cost structure.” Both legal fights are set to go on for some time. How things got to this point U.S. tariffs impacting a wide range of imported goods, including game consoles, had kicked off in early 2025. In May 2025, Microsoft raised the price of its Xbox consoles, citing “market conditions and the rising cost of development.” They raised them again that September. In August of that year, Sony raised the price of PlayStation 5 consoles, citing “a challenging economic environment.” Sony later told investors that its tariff fees for the fall quarter were nearly $200 million. in February of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the 2025 tariffs illegal, prompting impacted companies to begin to request refunds. In turn, consumers began suing the likes of Sony and Microsoft to get what they said was their share. The gamers in the Microsoft and Sony lawsuits argue that the 2025 price hikes of PlayStation and Xbox consoles, which added $50 or more to their sticker price, were due to illegal tariffs and should now be returned to consumers. The Sony suit started in May, when a group of gamers sued in federal court in California, saying Sony Interactive Entertainment (PlayStation) would be unjustly enriching itself if it did not pass tariff refunds to its PS5 buyers. “Sony is poised to be paid twice for the same unlawful tariff burden: once by its customers (through elevated prices) and once by the U.S. government (through tariff refunds),” the gamers’ lawyers wrote at the time. They called for Sony to partially reimburse anyone who bought a PlayStation in the U.S. since August 1, 2025. The Microsoft suit, filed by gamer Trevor Hastings against the Xbox giant in July, made similar claims. The console makers push back In late July, Nintendo’s lawyers, facing a similar suit accusing them of double-dipping on tariffs and refunds, replied with arguments that previewed Microsoft’s and Sony’s: “Nintendo or one of its retailers set a price for each product, and consumers decided whether that price was worth paying,” they wrote. Sony has buttressed that Nintendo-style argument this week by saying that the gamers have failed to prove that tariffs were the reason for its August 2025 PS5 price hike. They call thatclaim “speculative and illogical.” Other factors, including “inflation, currency fluctuations, component costs, logistics, competitive dynamics, or demand,” could have played a role. (No, the Sony lawyers do not break down the costs and factors that officially triggered the price increases). Microsoft has also argued that there’s no proof in these lawsuits that tariffs drove all or some of the price increase, as it seeks to dismiss the tariff refund suit it’s facing: “Plaintiff provides no specific allegations that would establish any pricing differential attributable to tariffs or suggest any possibility that Microsoft applied then or could recreate now any dollar-for-dollar calculation of tariff-related pricing—any more than it could any other market factor that affects pricing.” To further skewer the gamer side’s argument in its case, Sony’s lawyers have pointed to what might be a surprising defense: yet another PlayStation 5 price hike from this past spring, after the tariffs were ruled illegal. “If the original price increase were attributable to tariffs, SIE [Sony Interactive Entertainment, aka PlayStation] would have had no reason to raise prices again after the Supreme Court invalidated the IEEPA tariffs.” … “If tariffs were the cause of the price increases, one would expect SIE to lower prices once the tariffs were eliminated—not raise them again. Instead, the timeline confirms that the pricing of PlayStation consoles includes a diverse and dynamic set of input costs.” Judges have not yet ruled on the arguments made by Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo. Last week, Panic, the company behind the small, yellow Playdate handheld said it would be passing its tariff refunds on to consumers. It is the only gaming hardware maker to have made such a pledge. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my reporting, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Item 2: A reporter’s second Second Life Wagner James Au, who from 2003-2006 was paid by San Francisco-based tech company Linden Lab to be a full-time journalist embedded in their virtual world Second Life, is returning to the company. This time, he’ll be an editorial advisor and business development specialist, he tells Game File. The new role will involve trying to share the stories of people inhabiting Second Life’s ongoing online world with reporters and by extension the public. Au plans to continue to also chronicle some of that through his long-running blog New World Notes. I’ve known Au since the mid-2000s and featured him in a 2007 article for the Columbia Journalism Review about reporters like him opening up virtual news outlets within Second Life. As I wrote at the time: On April 22, 2003, writing as Hamlet Linden for the New World Notes blog on Second Life’s Web site, Au introduced himself. “For the next few months, Linden Lab has invited me to set aside my journalist cap, and instead, don the digital beanie of their in-house virtual correspondent.” He wasn’t paid to keep it positive. He wrote about builders and eccentrics, but then in August of that year, he reported on a tax revolt against Linden Lab (a complaint about the fees it charges users who build stuff) led by a resident whose avatar was a big cat. Second Life has always been less of a video game and more of a virtual world where people can live, hang out, make art, sell virtual items and flirt. Back in 2007, Au described touring it as “sort of like underwater lucid dreaming.” For the past two decades, Au has maintained New World Notes as an independent publication. But he said he’s been drawn back to Second Life and Linden Lab as a place to directly work. The virtual world has around 650,000 monthly active users, he said, “which is actually about what it was during the hype wave.” Au says he’s still finding rich stories in Second Life, the kind that keep him interested 20 years into the beat: “Over the last few months for instance, I wrote about an SL creator in Venezuela whose apartment was destroyed by the earthquakes, so the global SL community rallied to get him back on his feet,” he told me. “Then there’s the woman from a Middle Eastern country who explored her lesbian sexuality in SL, then earned enough from her virtual jewelry to escape her abusive family situation and country.” Au wants to beckon more reporters to give Second Life another look. He argues that it is often ahead of internet trends, noting, for example, an early backlash in the community against AI-made art. Now the platform is drawing curiosity from more of the user-generated content community who’ve grown up with the likes of Roblox, according to Au. “Second Life was too early during its hype wave in 2005-2010, but it now feels right for a new wave of interest,” he told me.
The universe has plenty of hydrogen. So why is star formation collapsing?
Star formation across the universe has fallen dramatically over the past 4.5 billion years, but astronomers have uncovered a surprising twist: the supply of neutral hydrogen, a key ingredient for making stars, has barely declined. Using China’s FAST radio telescope and data from roughly 2.5 million galaxies observed by DESI, researchers found that star formation was about 2.5 times higher 4.5 billion years ago, while neutral hydrogen levels were only about 1.4 times higher.
Large data center project in Weld County clears its first hurdle
Global AI's 35-megawatt data center project on a former Kodak campus in Weld County won planning commission support Tuesday, advancing a project the company says could grow into a potential $2 billion to $20 billion investment.
Lack of child care still a key need for WV businesses while state slowrolls lawmakers' bill
West Virginia’s business leaders continue to beat the drum that the state is woefully short on affordable childcare spots. They say it is one of the reasons the state continues to have the nation’s worst workforce participation of a little more than 50%.
Falcons President Jimmy Fries on the business of hockey's return to Fresno
Falcons president Jimmy Fries talks partnerships, ticket sales and rebuilding the brand ahead of the team's Oct. 9 return to Downtown Fresno.
Gov. Greg Abbott doubles down on rare fight for Medicaid
Abbott’s spokesman reiterated that Texas is not doing anything wrong that would disqualify hospitals from receiving nearly $10 billion in Medicaid funding annually.
Billy Ray Cyrus reacts to daughter Miley dropping their last name
Billy Ray Cyrus celebrated his daughter Miley’s choice to go mononymous, saying that she is joining the ranks of iconic musicians like Elvis and Cher.
Philly's Academy of Natural Sciences museum is closing. Here's what to see while you can
The Academy’s museum is known for its unique exhibits, education and firsts in the Philly area. We listed some highlights about the first institution of natural history in America.
Lucas Museum among L.A.’s boldest, most contradictory buildings
Synthetic yet organic, populist yet elitist, the $1 billion Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is full of contradictions. Highlights include an extraordinary park, cascading waterfall, structural feats and unique vantages. But the galleries leave much to be desired.
How New York Times Reporters Traced Dark Money in Politics
About $1 billion in anonymous contributions is coursing through midterm races across the country. Figuring out where the funds are coming from is no easy task.
Burnham pressed on economy at first PMQs as UK borrowing costs rise
Burnham said he had already cut taxes, including VAT on energy bills and hospitality business rates.
Introducing: The H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Tourbillon Skeleton Ceramic Alpine Limited Edition
The two brands extend their partnership with a new take on the Streamliner.
Introducing: H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Tourbillon Skeleton Ceramic Alpine Limited Edition
The new H. Moser & Cie. x Alpine Motorsports watch comes in anthracite grey ceramic, with a fully openworked movement in Alpine blue.
A Ceramic Makeover For The H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Tourbillon Skeleton
Learn about the innovative H. Moser & Cie. Ceramic Streamliner Tourbillon Skeleton Alpine Limited Edition and its stunning details.
Tiger Woods Strikes Plea Deal In DUI Case—Loses License For 5 Years, Avoids Jail
Billionaire golfer Tiger Woods will lose his driver’s license for five years after accepting a plea deal that reduced his driving under the influence charge to reckless driving.
How will Stan Kroenke impact the Angels? We asked reporters who have covered his other teams
Los Angeles Angels fans rejoiced on Tuesday after news broke that longtime owner Arte Moreno was selling the team for $4 billion to Stan Kroenke, whose Kroenke Sports and Entertainment owns a collection of franchises across multiple leagues. Under the group’s umbrella, Kroenke owns the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, NBA’s Denver Nuggets, NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and Arsenal in the English Premier League. He also owns MLS’ Colorado Rapids and the National Lacrosse League’s Colorado Mammoth. Each of those teams has won at least one league title during Kroenke’s ownership tenure. So what...
DeSantis throws support behind Donalds after contentious Republican primary
DeSantis made sure an event billed as a Florida GOP unity gathering was a celebration of his time as governor.
Employer healthcare costs are expected to jump again. Workers could feel it
As healthcare costs keep climbing, workers could face higher bills, fewer choices and changes to their health benefits.
Defeated by physics
The Pentagon's $3.2 billion bet on space-based boost-phase missile defense ignores basic orbital dynamics, offering no real protection while fueling a costly, destabilizing arms race in space.
We've spent billions searching for dark matter and still haven't found it. Why are scientists obsessed with finding something they can't see? | BBC Sky at Night Magazine
If dark matter is invisible and can't be detected, why are scientists spending so much time and money searching for it?
Sen. Cotton: College sports bill has support; ‘rules of the road’ needed
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said Tuesday (Sept. 1) that he believes the Senate could pass a college sports “name image and likeness” bill. He made the comments while visiting...
$21+ Billion Business Process Management Market Outlook 2026-2035 | AI and Automation Drive the Next Wave of BPM Growth
Opportunities center on cloud and low-code BPM, AI/ML and RPA-driven automation, industry-specific platforms, compliance tools, customer-centric workflows, and services that integrate modern solutions with legacy systems. Business Process Management Market Business Process Management Market Dublin, Sept. 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Business Process Management Market, Till 2035: Distribution by Type of Component, Type of Deployment, Type of Functionality, Type of Industry, and Geographical
Chevron expands Venezuela position, to invest $7 billion in next five years
Chevron said on Wednesday it had agreed with Venezuela on updated terms for its joint ventures in the country and plans to invest more than $7 billion over the next five years, targeting production of about 600,000 bpd.
Indigenous Groups Are Exempt From Medicaid Work Rules, But Native Hawaiians Aren’t
Native Hawaiians will have to comply with the new work requirements in President Donald Trump’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act, despite facing significant obstacles to employment and healthcare.
Delaware signs maternal health bill requiring hospital discharge plans
Delaware lawmakers and maternal health advocates gathered at Josie’s Grace in Newark to celebrate the ceremonial signing of legislation designed to strengthen protections for pregnant patients experiencing labor symptoms.
“Ruined Mike Trout’s Entire Career” – Fans React After Angels Star Gives Verdict on Arte Moreno’s $4 Billion Sale To Rams Owner
Three-time AL MVP Mike Trout sounded optimistic about the Angels’ ownership changing hands in a reported deal worth $4 billion. Kroenke Sports and Entertainment has a deal in principle to purchase a controlling majority stake in the ballclub from Arte Moreno.
More than half of Premier League clubs break transfer records
More than half of the Premier League's clubs have broken their transfer records in a summer window featuring four of the top flight's five most expensive ever deals. After England internationals Elliot Anderson and Morgan Rogers joined Manchester City for £116 million ($157 million) and Chelsea for £117 million respectively, the final two days of the window brought an even bigger pair of deals as summer spending pushed beyond last season's record of £3 billion, with the final figure yet to be co
More than $1B in tariff refunds are in limbo. Here's why.
The U.S. has processed more than $106 billion in tariff refunds, but small businesses report rising costs and plan price increases related to shifting policies on tariffs.
Honda tells suppliers to cut costs in $9 billion push to fend off China, documents show
Japan's Honda aims to cut more than $9 billion in costs over the next four years and has instructed suppliers to drastically reduce their prices, according to internal documents and one person familiar with the matter.
Bill Simmons under review by Massachusetts authorities after admitting to proxy sports betting
Simmons, the founder of The Ringer, said Tuesday that it was a “lesson learned” after FanDuel voided his wagers.
South Korea science ministry seeks record $21.6 billion budget
S. Korea's science ministry proposed a record 29.6 trillion won budget for 2027, with major increases for AI models and computing infrastructure.
California lawmakers kill wildfire bill after utility complaints
Legislation that would have helped wildfire victims receive compensation more quickly, but that utilities said didn’t do enough to reduce their financial risks, died in Sacramento after the Assembly declined to vote on it.
Massie seeks signatures to force vote on second Epstein files bill
Massie is once again using a legislative maneuver called a "discharge petition"
Greg Dortch Breaks Silence After Shocking Lions Release
Former Detroit Lions wide receiver Greg Dortch admitted his surprising release caught him off guard after he landed with the Buffalo Bills practice squad.
House passes stop-gap bill that pauses changes to federal science grant-making process
The proposed change, which would have given control of science funding to appointed bureaucrats, was criticized widely by the scientific community
Josh Allen follows wife Hailee Steinfeld into entertainment, launches 'Out of Pocket Studios'
The Buffalo Bills quarterback is expanding his off-field ambitions with a new production company while preparing for his ninth NFL season
Kroenke to buy baseball's Los Angeles Angels: statement
US billionaire Stan Kroenke on Tuesday agreed terms to buy the Los Angeles Angels baseball team, adding to his sports franchise empire that already includes the NFL's Los Angeles Rams and the English Premier League's Arsenal.The Angels play in Anaheim, a city near Los Angeles, and were previously owned by the Walt Disney Company.
Stan Kroenke buys controlling stake in MLB's Los Angeles Angels
Kroenke Sports and Entertainment was valued at more than $26 billion in CNBC's most recent list of the world's most valuable sports empire.
Walk in Central Park with Bill Ritter in CaringKind, ABC7 brain health campaign
The watershed moment of the campaign will happen on Saturday, Oct. 17, at CaringKind's 38th annual Alzheimer's Walk & Brain Health Day in Central Park.
House passes funding bill to avoid shutdown before midterms
Continuing resolution to approve government spending until 11 December passes 370-48 and will now go to Trump
WATCH LIVE: House passes short-term spending bill, staving off another fund fight during midterms
House passes short-term funding bill to avoid a shutdown before the election
The Senate had already overwhelmingly approved the measure
House sends government funding bill to Trump to avert shutdown ahead of midterms
The House passed a bill on Tuesday to extend government funding to December 11, clearing a path to avert a shutdown ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.
Delta Fest returns to Jackson with focus on Deep South’s $270 billion boom
Delta Fest returns to Downtown Jackson for three days of discussions, networking and performances focused on economic growth across the Deep South.
Nestle Inks $1 Billion Deal to Sell Health-Supplements Brands to Private Equity Firm
Nestle will sell its mainstream vitamins, supplements and minerals business to Yellow Wood Partners, the latest move to tighten its portfolio and focus on core categories.
Nestle Inks $1 Billion Deal to Sell Health-Supplements Brands to Private Equity Firm
Nestle will sell its mainstream vitamins, supplements and minerals business to Yellow Wood Partners, the latest move to tighten its portfolio and focus on core categories.
Should California backfill science funding Trump cut? Voters could decide in 2028
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. A California science bond measure to counter the Trump administration’s research cuts is back from the dead after state lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom reached a deal last week to place the $7.5 billion request to voters on the March 2028 ballot. Senate […]
Nestle to divest mainstream supplements business for $1 billion
Nestle said on Tuesday it has agreed to divest its mainstream vitamins, minerals and supplements business to U.S.-based Yellow Wood Partners for $1 billion.
Nestle to divest mainstream supplements business for $1 billion
Nestle on Tuesday agreed to divest Holistic Health platform, its mainstream vitamins, minerals and supplements (VMS) business, to private equity firm Yellow Wood Partners for $1 billion, according to a statement from the two companies.
AfterQuery Becomes YC’s Fastest Unicorn At $3.2 Billion
Twenty three year-old Spencer Mateega pivoted his YC startup into the fastest unicorn in the accelerator’s history, fueling AI's shift toward human reasoning data.
gamescom 2026’s Steam wishlist winners
gamescom wrapped up last weekend, and it was bloody fantastic. It really felt like the industry had a spring in its step again. The show itself was BUZZING, with 368K attendees (+3% over last year), maxed-out exhibit space, and Opening Night Live pulling over 78M online views (+7.5%). Let’s have a look at the games at the event that brought in the most new Steam wishlists between August 23 and 30. One quick thing before we start, and stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but wishlists are NOT a barometer for launch sales (they’re bookmarks, not baskets is what we always say over here at Alinea). With that aside, wishlists are a nice gauge of hype, so let’s dive in. Witche(r)s and Warlocks take the top two spots The biggest game of the event (by new wishlists, anyways) wasn’t a game at all. It was an expansion. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s upcoming expansion, Songs of the Past, nabbed 451K Steam wishlists by the end of the weekend. It’s a big example of something we bang on about constantly: proven IP with built-in fandom is the most powerful force in this market. But said IP can also ripple into other external success stories (more on that later!). Anyway, Songs of the Past debuted at Opening Night Live, and it’s the first Witcher 3 expansion in over a decade, landing next year after a full Witcher 3 remaster (free for existing owners!) arrives next month. The Witcher 3 has sold around 66M copies, and I’ll be one of those owners jumping back in to refresh myself on the core game (like there isn’t enough to play!), then play the expansion next year. This is all part of CDPR’s plan. The studio is clearly whetting everyone’s appetite for The Witcher 4 in 2028 via a classic bridge strategy. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Releasing a free 4K remaster next month – followed by a proper expansion in 2027 – keeps IP top-of-mind across a huge gap between content (games-wise, anyway). It kind of echoes Capcom’s evergreen catalogue strategy. And outsourcing co-development to Fool’s Theory (a studio led by trusted Witcher 3 veterans) keeps CDPR’s internal headcount focused on The Witcher 4. #2 by wishlists between Aug 23 and 30 went to another giant IP: Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons, published by Wizards of the Coast and developed by Invoke Studios (a team of ex-Far Cry, Watch Dogs, and Splinter Cell devs). It’s due to launch in 2027, and it looks brilliant so far. It’s a dark-fantasy open world with third-person spell-slinging. It’s a very Witcher-ish aesthetic. As you might expect, 48% of Warlock’s Steam wishlisters have played Baldur’s Gate 3, and 46% have played The Witcher 3. One to watch. For sure! Mash-ups: Anime GTA (!?) and a city-builder for kids (and adults) Ananta took #3 with 302K new wishlists. It’s an open-world game that looks like GTA and Persona had a baby. It was published by NetEase, developed by Naked Rain, and got a trailer at Opening Night Live. I got hands-on at the show, and it wears its influences openly; there’s literal web-slinging (very Spider-Man) and a LOAD of mini-games (Like a Dragon). It’s free-to-play and out in January. For Ananta, Naked Rain is taking the free-to-play, cosmetics-only route. That’s certainly a choice for a single-player open-world game. Without gacha mechanics driving high ARPU, Ananta is betting purely on top-of-funnel reach and long-term retention. This puts pressure on skin appeal when there’s no multiplayer lobby to flex in (although, co-op is reportedly coming later). Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Then there’s Lego Skylines (273K wishlists between Aug 23 and 30), which does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a cosy Lego twist on the city-builder genre, as shallow or as deep as you fancy (five min quick sesh or ten-hour no-lifer session; latter for me). There’s some family-friendly stuff in there like couch co-op, which is only really viable on console. Iceflake Studios, which Paradox acquired back in 2020 is developing this one. So Paradox is probably looking for a family-friendly onramp to its rad Cities: Skylines games. The overlap there is plain, with 33% of Lego Skylines wishlisters having played Cities: Skylines and 16% Skylines II. There’s no doubt plenty of parents here (and uncles, ahem) planning to indoctrinate the next gen of city-builders. I’ll definitely be playing with my youngest nephew. This one could be big and educational. I’m very curious to see more. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Mature IP, new and old, rounds out the list As for the rest of the list of gamescom games by new wishlists between Aug 23 and 30: Heroes of Might & Magic III Remake got 189K new wishlists. It remakes the iconic 1999 turn-based-strategy classic in full 3D and 4K. It follows this year’s Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era (~1.8M copies sold, as per our estimates), and around a quarter of the III Remake wishlisters have played Olden Era, including 7% of them this month. Wardogs – a $40 PvP shooter – added another 146K to an already massive pile (nearly 1.6M total). It’s published by Team17 and made by Bulkhead. It plays somewhere between the tactical squad stuff of … Squad and the all-out-chaos battlefield of … Battlefield. It’s up to 100 players, and it’s out in about 10 days. It’s already pre-sold over 500K copies on Steam ($16.6M), boosted by a pre-order-only beta. It sold another 70K copies during gamescom, too. Afterworld managed 121K new wishlists. It’s a Paradox-made post-apocalyptic grand-strategy game, and it was announced at the show. It’s a departure from Paradox’s usual historical stuff, and the studio’s first new setting in over a decade. The Paradox purists are into it, with over half its wishlisters having played Hearts of Iron IV (19% this month) and 41% Crusader Kings III (17% this month). Metro 2039 got 110K during the show, tunnelling its total past 1.3M. Nearly 40% of wishlisters have played 2020’s Metro Exodus, the previous mainline title in the series. The Metro novels are Russian, dev 4A Games is Ukrainian, and it’s set in Moscow, so it’s unsurprising that – after the US (17.3% of wishlisters) – the next two countries are Russia (12.7%) and Ukraine (10.0%). The Blood of the Dawnwalker drew in (the blood of) 108K new wishlisters, now totalling an impressive 1.7M (at a $70 price point, though). It’s an open-world dark-fantasy action-RPG set in 14th-century Europe (with vampires!), made by some former Witcher devs at Rebel Wolves. Again, it shows. Over half of Blood of the Dawnwalker’s wishlisters have played The Witcher 3, and its #2 market is Poland, home of Rebel Wolves. That’s that hometown-hero effect we keep banging on about again! And Blood of the Dawnwalker plays very well, by the way. While it looks like a Witcher clone on the surface, it actually brings a lot to the table mechanics-wise. I love the whole time-as-a-currency spin on RPG gameplay. It gives the game a different, refreshing pace. Essentially, you start Blood of the Dawnwalker with a pool of 480 action points spread across 30 days and 30 nights. As for how the game performs, we’ll be posting some numbers next week, so hit subscribe below to get that in your inbox when it’s ready. Subscribe The Witcher’s legacy ripples Make no mistake: on a high level, this was The Witcher‘s gamescom. The #1 game by wishlisters was a Witcher 3 DLC. Warlock is clearly Witcher-inspired – as is Blood of the Dawnwalker, which was made by ex-Witcher devs. There was a lot of other cool stuff on the floor that we’ll no doubt be covering in subsequent newsletters, though! As always, wishlists went through the roof for sequels, remakes, DLC, and licensed IP. As always, though, these wishlists will likely convert to about 5% to 10% of launch-day buyers, with the probable exception of The Witcher DLC – the exception that proves the rule. Either way, we’ve got a nice, diverse list here – one that is very Witcher-y, Paradox-y, and – if you’re a fan of great games on Steam – a bloody good list. We even got a bunch of new IP to get excited for. Great gamescom! Even if we are still processing that unfathomable number of mini Kölsch beers! One more thing: GTA 6 broke the internet (again) Move aside, Spider-Man and The Odyssey (I love you both, really). But the decade’s defining entertainment zeitgeist is round the corner. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that Rockstar dropped an extended look at GTA 6 last week. It was INSANE, the most impressed I’ve ever been by a showcase like this. You can see the budget seeping through every second of the extended look, and this level of game is unobtainable for any other publisher. Everyone’s going nuts, and rightly so. GTA 6 is out in holiday 2026, and it’ll be the biggest entertainment release ever, full stop. For those without a PS5 or Xbox Series console, a $500-$900 console is a big ask in this economy, but GTA will pull a lot of last-generation-console fence sitters over the current-gen fence either way: The autumn timing puts GTA 6 on (digital) shelves for the holidays, meaning a PS5 or Xbox (let’s be honest, mostly the former) will be on many a Christmas and Hanukkah list. Demand will outweigh the struggling supply, though, and PS5 Pros are already sold out and being sold at a markup via scalpers. Every console that isn’t on a shelf is a sale deferred or lost, and worse, it hands scalpers the margin. GTA has cultural clout that reaches everyone. It’s been a mainstream fixture since 2001’s GTA III and its clout has only grown exponentially since then. There’s a touchpoint for every generation alive. The FOMO-word-of-mouth double punch does the rest. Loading... It’ll reactivate the lockdown cohort, the millions who picked up gaming in 2020-21 and churned. GTA 6 will bring them back. Remember when College Football 25 brought a bunch of US gamers to current-gen consoles? GTA will do that globally. Once they’re back (or upgraded), and all GTA’d out, the fresh current-gen-console folks will check out the rest of the current-gen catalogue they missed. GTA Online, if not free to play, will also lead to a boost for PS+ and Xbox Game Pass, another boost for the ecosystem players. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Even some of the smug PCMR 60FPS crew won’t be able to resist their FOMO and will bite the bullet on a console to play this one early (then double dip). The consoles cost the same as a decent stick of RAM these days anyway lmao… Don’t get me wrong, though. GTA 6 is no silver bullet for the mature console market, but it does prime the current gen for a couple of strong swan-song years. And it’ll also give the consoles more users from which to maximise ARPU. ‘’We are in the latter half of the lifetime cycle of [the PS5],’’ said Sony President and CEO Hiroki Totoki in a Wall Street Journal interview. ‘’That means we do not need to aggressively sell the console today; rather than that, we are focusing on the current revenue from the current user base.’’ The biggest, best premium games always arrive late in a console cycle, so getting more players aboard now, ahead of that content storm (the new current-gen-only Call of Duty included), is a clear win for the platforms. On the Netflix thing, though: let’s all chill out a bit, like. Half my LinkedIn feed was going bonkers treating the reveal debuting on Netflix like it’s the future of entertainment. It wasn’t. It was a six-hour head start, and Netflix left that detail out of the “first-of-its-kind partnership” press release. The extended look hit Netflix at 3pm ET on 27 August, then went up on YouTube and Rockstar’s site for everyone six hours later. And it was all over social immediately, anyways. This reveal was going to reach an untold number of people whether it debuted on Netflix, YouTube, a Times Square screen, or a group chat. The last trailer did nearly half a billion views in a day with no gatekeeper at all. Netflix just stood next to that audience for six hours, borrowing it. It’s was a tidy deal for Netflix, sure. But every outlet on earth was breaking the thing down frame by frame by the evening anyway. Anyway. I’m hype. And we’ll be covering some GTA numbers on the newsletter soon. So hit subscribe below to get that in your inbox when it’s ready! Subscribe 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. [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!]
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