During a recent interview with Christopher Dring of The Game Business, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick was asked a question about in-game advertising. Specifically, Chris asked, “Do you see an opportunity for advertising in the PC and Console space?”

“For free-to-play titles, yes,” he says. “For titles for which you’ve paid 70 or 80 bucks? No. We have some limited advertising inside games like NBA 2K because it fits with the vernacular. You want to see advertising in a stadium, because you would if you were there in real life. But that’s not a big economic contributor.”

Later adding, “It’s difficult for me to believe that we would want to have interstitial advertising in a game that someone paid 70 or 80 bucks for. It would seem unfair.”

Combing through their catalog, all recent releases like Borderlands 4, NBA 2K26, and WWE 2K26 all launched at the respective price of $69.99. In the past, it’s been ‘teased’ that the future of video games could reach $80, or even a $100 in the case of GTA VI.

Nintendo has started in on the $80 pricing with some of their first-party games, while companies like Microsoft announced Outer Worlds 2 would reach that price point before backing down due to backlash.

Given Strauss's comments, it seems GTA VI won’t be in the $100 bracket; it's likely to land in the $70 to $80 range. Potentially launching as their first $80 game.

I have no doubt that GTA VI will launch with several editions. We’ll likely see Deluxe, Premium, Collector’s, Legendary, Gansta, Vice City Vice, Heist Master, Wanted Level: Maximum, 6-Star Survivor, and so on and so forth. If there’s ever been an edition, Grand Theft Auto 6 will have it.

We know there will be millions of people willing to shell out more to have more when it comes to GTA. Whether it be single-player bonuses or multiplayer, if the Grand Theft Auto VI base edition launches for less than $100, plenty will still spend far more for the better in-game titles or cosmetics that the game launches with.

I think, given Strauss's comments, we'll see GTA VI launch at a price between $70 and $80, nowhere near the $100 we feared for the past year. As I said, plenty of you will buy the $100 edition anyway, even the $240 dollar version with fake gold chains.

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Kerbal Space Program 2 was released back in February of 2023, over three years ago. The successor to one of the more popular niche indie games ever created, the sequel should have been a slam dunk.

At least, that’s what Take-Two thought when they contracted Star Theory Games, whose storied pedigree included, checks notes, Monday Night Combat. A game so far removed from rocket science that I’m sure it had absolutely no bearing on what came next.

Once that failed, Take-Two and its publisher, Private Division, spun up another studio called Intercept Games. The new studio contained roughly a third of the developers from Star Theory Games. Confidence restored, surely it would definitely work this time.

It didn’t. To be fair, COVID-19 did happen, uprooting nearly every tech job in the industry, game developers very much included. The title was originally slated for 2020, and after years of delays and studio reshuffling, what finally arrived in 2023 was anything but interstellar.

Even bringing in Squad, the game’s original developer, couldn’t shield it from the immediate backlash over missing features, rampant (extraterrestrial) bugs, and abysmal performance. And that inclusion turned out to be something of a lie: Intercept Games had been barred from communicating with Squad until they wrapped up Kerbal Space Program 1 in 2021.

Hilariously, when the communication did occur, as noted in my piece from last year, Squad had no idea what to do.

A major update in December 2023 finally brought some life to the game, featuring content additions, performance updates, and more. But one small step for Kerbal was two giant leaps short, as Take Two would later shut down Intercept Games in mid 2024.

I originally touched on this story back in January of 2025, only a month or so after Take Two quietly sold the publisher, Private Division, and the Kerbal Space Program 2 to Annapurna. Back then, there hadn’t been a major content update in over a year, but some hope had been restored given the sale of the franchise.

I’m sad to report that since that time, the search for life has continued with nothing to show for it. Kerbal Space Program 2 has now gone two full years without an update, and Annapurna is still selling the game on Steam as “Early Access” for $50. Yes, $50 for an Early Access game!

Given the current state of Kerbal Space Program 2 and the lack of updates for two whole years, the fact that the game is still being sold feels illegal in some way, or at the very least, should be stopped by Steam. I understand that Early Access comes with caveats and may never reach full release.

However, the fact that it can still be sold on Steam without an actual update, or even a hint of an update after being sold off, is an entirely different matter. At that point, it’s false advertising to post the game as an Early Access title. Instead, it’s a “Never getting another update” title.

At the very least, the moniker of Early Access should be revoked. If a company has no public plans to release any update for two years, the title should be taken away.

This doesn’t mean I don’t hope that one day we can see Kerbal Space Program 2 given the love it deserves, but for the time being, it’s time to remove this thing so that people aren’t being sucked into the black hole of a gaming graveyard. You can’t continue to sell an Early Access game for $50 that you neither updated nor intend to update in the future.

Some would call that intergalactic highway robbery. Sorry, needed one more pun to make myself feel better.

What do you think about the whole Kerbal Space Program 2? Does it mean there should be some tighter restrictions on Steam's Early Access? Let us know below, I'm curious what others think about this.

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In an interview with The Game Business, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick covered a wide range of topics, including AI, Roblox, RAM shortages, and more.

But he was also asked about Xbox’s new CEO, Asha Sharma, who is stepping into the role following Phil Spencer’s retirement after a long tenure at Microsoft.

Zelnick had some encouraging words for the new Xbox lead, so here’s what he had to say.

In the interview, Christopher Dring asks Zelnick for his thoughts on Asha Sharma, noting that “she’s new to the industry. She’s not a gamer, and it’s triggered a conversation around whether those things are important for the role.”

Zelnick responds with clear encouragement for the new Xbox lead:

Perhaps refreshing for some to see such a candid and positive take on the situation, avoiding any drama, as we all know too well the gaming side of the internet blew up over concerns of Sharma not being a gamer, with many (non-Xbox fans, I might add) being quite unkind online.

Zelnick does go on to expand slightly, shifting toward his broader view of leadership:

"With all that said, look, our recipe for success around here is be the most creative, be the most innovative, be the most efficient, and you’d want to study the dynamics of the business… the individual you mentioned in fact has operated successfully in any number of different businesses… I can’t imagine she wouldn’t be examining the underlying dynamics of the business and then you know lean into them but at the end of the day what drives success in our business is making the best entertainment."

Well, that’s all that was said for now, and as I said, it’s nice for such a candid take, and I’m sure Sharma will appreciate the backing of Take Two’s CEO.

🎮 What are your thoughts on Zelnick's comments?

I’d argue it’s far too soon to judge Asha Sharma in her role at Xbox. However, her comments so far have been reassuring and have given me a bit of cautious optimism.

With that said, I’ll hand it over to you.

So let’s hear it. What are your thoughts on Zelnick’s comments about Asha Sharma? Are they too candid, or would you have preferred something a bit juicier?

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Google’s Genie 3 reveal sent a shockwave through the gaming industry this week, triggering a sudden dip in major gaming stocks as investors scrambled to make sense of what AI‑generated games could mean for the future. The tech looks impressive — but the market reaction might say more about investor anxiety than actual industry risk.

Gaming has always been a sort of bubble, so to speak. People within the bubble sometimes blow it up, and sometimes, seem to let the bubble collapse. However, like all bubbles, they can be popped from the outside as well. Right now, that’s exactly what’s happening across the gaming industry.

Only hours after Google’s Genie 3.0 was released, stocks across the gaming sphere began to plummet as retail investors who know little to nothing about actual game development panicked and sold before the inevitability of AI games takes over. But that’s just it, the release of Genie 3.0 is all but that, and if anything, it is just something cool to look at rather than any real threat.

Genie 3.0 can, as Google puts it, "Given a text prompt, Genie 3 can generate dynamic worlds that you can navigate in real time at 24 frames per second, retaining consistency for a few minutes at a resolution of 720p."

24 frames a second sounds super cinematic. Plus, 720p for a few minutes?! I'm sorry, but what exactly are we freaking out about here?

Google's Genie 3.0 is not the end of game development

Watching the trailer, it's clear that Genie 3.0 is a captivating tool with loads of potential that extends well beyond gaming. Real-time world generation that is both materialized and interactable in real-time.

What this means for the future of gaming is unknown, and that’s what seems to be terrifying investors the most. With a tool like this, can a single person go on to make the next Grand Theft Auto, Fallout, or Elder Scrolls game? Well, not yet, that's for sure.

But that’s the thing, that’s what horrifies investors at the moment, that these large companies will be undone by the simplicity that a tool like Genie 3.0 provides. They don’t see it as a tool they will use because gamers are too busy screaming at the top of their lungs over even the most realistic use cases for AI.

What’s a gaming company to do when gamers tell AI off, but investors become squemish over the existence of it to begin with? That’s a vice I would never want to be caught in, but that’s what companies like Take-Two, Tencent, Ubisoft (well, they have some other issues), and even Capcom.

Tencent and Take-Two both saw dips today, with Take-Two losing nearly 8% and over $ 3.5 billion in valuation. All of that while only being 10 months away from releasing what many consider to be the largest, most-hyped game in gaming history.

Hopefully, stocks like Sega are showing that this is just a frenzy for nothing, as Sega closed just a hair above where it started today, with a 0.65% increase. With this news coming on a Monday, we’ll have to wait over the weekend before we see any real movement again, but from gamers and the world alike, people are calling this what it is: panic.

Who wants to play a crappy version of a beloved classic? Gaming AI sucks. Even more so, let’s think about the media we already have, where AI has already gotten a lot better than what’s presented. Have people stopped watching human-made YouTube videos? Has the population stopped watching movies? Have people stopped playing games made by actual people?

Paul Tassi with Forbes commented on a clear 1:1 copy of Dark Souls 3, “Computer, make me a shitty Dark Souls.” He’s absolutely right. The only functioning “games” I’ve seen people make have been direct copies of IPs already in existence, as if people weren’t already teetering on the edge with copyright laws today.

NikTek said it best, “DDR5 RAM now costs 800$ and SSDs cost $400 just for people to generate seconds of playable AI slop that has a latency of 1 second.” He couldn’t be more right.

I sit here writing from my recently built gaming PC, literally days before RAM prices increased. While AI technology is cool and all, the idea that it will wholesale replace gaming in the immediate or near future is lunacy. This technology is nowhere near ready enough to take over the world of gaming, and even if it did get to that point, is that what people want?

Even if it is, is that truly viable? Look at the world’s RAM shortage. I don’t think that’s something that’s going to get solved overnight. We don’t have the capacity to suddenly run millions of AI games at once, which is why Google Genie 3.0 is limited.

Then there’s the issue of power. As AI models continue to improve in capability and output, we’ve had to increase the power required to run them. As time goes on, better AI means greater power usage for ever-decreasing returns. This isn’t sustainable.

All of this to say that these questions and many others I haven’t even touched will be at the forefront of conversations for years, if not decades to come. For right now, let’s settle down a little bit.

Genie 3 is clearly powerful, but whether it represents a genuine threat or just another AI‑fueled market wobble is far from settled. The gaming industry has weathered plenty of “disruptive” tech cycles before, and this one may end up being more hype than hazard. Still, the reaction shows just how sensitive investors have become to anything with an AI label.

What matters now is how developers, publishers, and players respond — because that will determine whether Genie 3 becomes a turning point or just another headline.

Google shows off Genie 3, and suddenly, investors act like the entire gaming industry is about to be replaced by AI overnight. Stocks dipped fast — but is this genuine concern or just another hype‑driven overreaction?

Curious where you stand. Is Genie 3 a real threat to traditional game development, or is Wall Street just chasing buzzwords again? Drop your thoughts below.

Regardless of the reason behind the takedowns, it's always a sad day when a video game gets delisted from a digital retailer. And soon, two — including the predecessor to one of Xbox's biggest new first-party 2025 titles — are being removed from a popular PC gaming storefront.

The games in question are Panache Digital Games' open-world survival title Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey and Obsidian Entertainment's narrative sci-fi RPG The Outer Worlds, the prequel to The Outer Worlds 2 — both of which were published by the former Take-Two Interactive subsidiary Private Division (the firm sold it in 2024).

The store they're being delisted from, meanwhile, is GOG, a game distribution platform on PC created by CD PROJEKT (best known for publishing The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077). GOG is a popular alternative to the Epic Games Store and Steam, especially with users applauding its lack of digital rights management (DRM) hooks.

Indeed, the GOG versions of games don't require a constant online connection (unless they're online games, of course) or an authentication of your purchased license to play. Because of this, they're considered to be incredibly valuable for game preservation and ensuring that we can play our beloved titles long after their servers and backend services shut down.

It's all the more unfortunate, then, that Ancestors and The Outer Worlds are leaving the GOG store soon. A team member at the retailer, king_kunat, announced the news on the GOG forums on Monday, confirming that both games will be delisted from the platform on December 15.

"Hey folks, I need to bring some unfortunate news: Both The Outer Worlds and Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey will be removed from the store on December 15th (I don't have an exact hour yet)," they wrote. "We've secured a discount for Ancestors, but couldn't do so for The Outer Worlds. This also includes all editions & add-ons for both games."

"As always, we'll try to bring them back," king_kunat added. It was later confirmed that the 2023 Spacer's Choice Edition of The Outer Worlds (that remasters its visuals and includes all of its DLC) will be delisted at the same time, as will the standalone versions of the expansions available.

The good news? Both Ancestors and The Outer Worlds will remain purchasable and accessible on Steam and Epic, and also on Xbox and PlayStation consoles, too. With The Outer Worlds specifically, fans can also play on the Xbox PC app and with an Xbox Game Pass subscription.

But even so, losing a DRM-free version of these games is tragic, and we don't even know why these delistings are coming. However, given that both games were published by Private Division, I assume it has something to do with Take-Two selling it to Haveli Investments last year and some sort of mix-up with its publishing rights as a result. Windows Central has reached out to Microsoft and Xbox — the current owner of Obsidian and The Outer Worlds franchise — to try and learn more.

I hope the GOG team is able to get both games back on the store at some point, but in the event that they can't, and that you want one or both of these titles without DRM? Make sure you buy them on the platform before December 15. The $39.99 Ancestors is discounted down to $7.99 on GOG, though sadly, The Outer Worlds is still at its normal $29.99 price, and the Spacer's Choice Edition is at its $59.99 MSRP as well.

Players looking forward to Rockstar Games' next open-world crime blockbuster will be waiting a fair bit longer. The developer shared on Thursday via X (formerly Twitter) that Grand Theft Auto 6 is being delayed to Nov. 22, 2026.

"We are sorry for adding additional time to what we realize has been a long wait, but these extra months will allow us to finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect and deserve," the developer statement reads.

Notably, this is the second time the game has been publicly delayed, with Grand Theft Auto 6 first being pushed out of Fall 2025 to May 26, 2026.

In a call accompanying the financial results of Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two Interactive, CEO Strauss Zelnick said the delay was driven by the desire to deliver as "perfect" a product as possible.

Grand Theft Auto 6 follows two protagonists, Lucia Caminos and Jason Duval, who struggle through the criminal underworld of Vice City (read: Miama) in the state of Leonida (read: Florida).

As one of the last major developers still eschewing day one Windows PC releases, Rockstar Games has previously confirmed that Grand Theft Auto 6 will be launching on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.

Other game developers will be taking note

With Grand Theft Auto 6 moving to a new date, a large number of game developers will be breathing huge sighs of relief, while others are inventing new forms of profanity not previously imagined.

I wouldn't be surprised if any smaller or mid-size games targetting the fall are going to be delayed into early 2027 at this point. There might even be discussions around larger games being moved around, or possibly launching earlier than intended if it's somehow possible.

Several major games slated to arrive in 2026 do not have release dates, including PlayStation Studios and Insomniac Games' Marvel's Wolverine, as well as multiple Xbox Game Studios titles such as Halo Studios' Halo: Campaign Evolved and Playground Games' Fable.

As Rockstar works toward a new date, the company is accused of violating labor rights

This also comes as Rockstar Games has recently been accused of union-busting, with the developer firing 30 to 40 employees that the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) says were discussing unionization in a Discord group chat.

Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two Interactive has backed the developer, saying that the employees were fired for "gross misconduct."

In a later statement, a Rockstar games spokesperson told Bloomberg that the terminated employees were leaking sensitive information.

“Last week, we took action against a small number of individuals who were found to be distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum, a violation of our company policies,” the spokesperson said. “This was in no way related to people’s right to join a union or engage in union activities.”

FAQ

Rockstar Games, developer of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6, is being accused of union-busting. A report from Bloomberg notes that Rockstar Games fired between 30 and 40 employees last week across the U.K. and Canada.

Per a comment from the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), the employees were all discussing unionization in a Discord group chat.

“Rockstar has just carried out one of the most blatant and ruthless acts of union busting in the history of the games industry,” says Alex Marshall, president of the IWGB. “This flagrant contempt for the law and for the lives of the workers who bring in their billions is an insult to their fans and the global industry.”

Rockstar Games' parent company, Take-Two Interactive, provided a comment to Bloomberg, saying that the firings were for "gross misconduct" only, adding that Take-Two supports Rockstar's actions.

On Tuesday, the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) commented on the situation, noting that the union stands in solidarity with IWGB.

After being delayed out of 2024, Grand Theft Auto 6 is currently slated to launch on May 26, 2026, across Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.

Unionization in the gaming industry is growing, but has a ways to go

Unionization efforts are slowly but steadily growing across the gaming industry, with several new unions forming across studios in North America, particularly at Microsoft-owned companies across the Xbox division.

Blizzard Entertainment in particular has seen a tremendous amount of organization, with unions forming across the World of Warcraft, Overwatch 2, Story and Franchise Development, Diablo, Battle.net, and Hearthstone teams.

Other major unions across other parts of Microsoft's gaming business include (but are not limited to) Activision QA, Bethesda Game Studios, ZeniMax Online Studios, and many others.

These teams are now working to ratify a contract. Some other unions under Microsoft, such as the ZeniMax QA team, have already worked out a contract.

FAQ

I’ve actually been enjoying Borderlands 4 after picking it up post-launch, but the game isn’t without its faults. Randy Pitchford is one of them. The game was released on September 12, 2025, and did well in sales. However, Pitchford struggled to keep quiet, stirring up controversy during launch week.

He told players to “refund” the game, suggested they “code their own engine,” and generally fueled frustration online. At one point, he even said, “Accept the reality of the relationship between their hardware and what software they are running is doing.” That’s a real quote — directed at players struggling to run the game on RTX 5090s, not just those meeting minimum specs.

Now, it seems Pitchford is back in the spotlight for another reason. In a recent Shacknews video about the making of Borderlands 4, he moved from talking about development to reflecting on gaming as a whole—and whether the industry has ever truly produced a masterpiece.

What Randy Pitchford actually said about gaming’s “Citizen Kane” moment

In the video, over an hour long with Shacknews and reported on by wccftech, several developers from Borderlands 4, including Randy Pitchford, sat down to talk about the making of the game. During the conversation, Pitchford discussed the massive investment that modern AAA games require. He described how it takes the collaboration of hundreds of people and comes with costs that now rival blockbuster movies.

Toward the end of the interview, Pitchford moved from talking about production to a broader reflection on the state of gaming as a whole. He closed with a statement that could spark heated discussions online, stating:

Pitchford makes it clear he’s talking about the gaming industry as a whole, not just Gearbox or Borderlands 4. His comment is both an acknowledgment of how far games have come and a claim that the industry’s defining artistic moment is still ahead.

Do gaming masterpieces already exist? Halo 3, Baldur’s Gate 3, and more might say yes

It does raise an interesting question: do gaming masterpieces already exist, or are we still waiting for that defining moment? I’m sure many would argue that we already have them, but what one person calls a masterpiece might not mean the same to someone else.

For me, it’s games like Halo 3 that stand out as true masterpieces, especially for how much they defined my childhood and shaped multiplayer gaming for a whole generation. For others, it might be Baldur’s Gate 3, which redefined what a CRPG could be and showed that deep, complex games can still become massive hits. Some people see Red Dead Redemption 2 as the gold standard of cinematic storytelling in games, even if it’s not quite my cup of tea. You could also look at The Witcher 3 for its vast, detailed open world and emotional narrative, or Elden Ring for how it brought challenging gameplay to a mainstream audience and became a cultural phenomenon.

What counts as a masterpiece in gaming is always going to be subjective. With so many different genres and ways to play, there probably won’t ever be a single, universally agreed-upon “Citizen Kane” of games — and maybe that’s a good thing.

Is Pitchford right — or just stirring the pot again?

This time around, it’s a lot more nuanced, and no one honest answer, and in some cases, there’ll be people who don’t even like Citizen Kane, but that doesn't mean it isn’t a masterpiece in its own right for its groundbreaking innovations at the time in 1941. It’s no secret that gaming seems to be constantly evolving with new games coming out all the time, and many being considered masterpieces now more than ever. It’s almost like a golden age, despite industry concerns and rising prices, there’s always a game that stands out among the crowd, breaking the norm that corporations keep chasing.

With that said, do you think gaming has had a single true masterpiece yet, or are we still waiting?

FAQ

Since its debut in 2009, Borderlands has been the cornerstone of the looter shooter genre, captivating millions with its frenetic gameplay and treasure-hunting allur. Other titles like Destiny, Warframe, Division 2, and many more take inspiration from the Gearbox series. Borderlands itself brings its own insight from the original looter series, Diablo.

Each Borderlands release arrives with a tidal wave of anticipation, fueled by quirky dialogue, memorable characters, and a passionate community crafting countless build guides to conquer the endgame.

Borderlands 4 is no exception, and its arrival is marked by a slew of positive reviews hitting the internet. With an elemental splash marked in every damage type, it looks like Gearbox hit the mark.

• XboxEra (100/100): "Not only is it the best Borderlands game, it’s one of my favorites ever in the open-world co-op looter shooter (or shlooter) genre.  A massive open world filled with a wide variety of excellent content, and unashamed use of all the best mechanics that recent other FPS titles have to offer, and a move away from 3’s meme-focused writing fixes nearly every issue I’ve ever had with the series. Of course, nothing is perfect, even if it is a masterpiece."
• Dualshockers(90/100): "If you already love the Borderlands franchise — even the third game — you’re guaranteed to love this newest addition to this chaotic and bombastic looter shooter. Borderlands 4 is undoubtedly my favorite Borderlands game to date. It is a culmination of everything that the franchise has learned thus far and then some."
• Game Informer (85/100): "Though many of the series’ core elements remain intact, Gearbox has refined and reconfigured them in such ways that Borderlands 4 rises beyond anything the series has accomplished to this point, making for a chaotic looter-shooter worthy of the series’ sterling early-2010s reputation. It’s simultaneously a poster child for excess and restraint, which sounds paradoxical, but for a series named for existing on the border of seemingly opposed concepts, it feels right at home."
• VGC (80/100): "Borderlands 4 is a great RPG shooter with rewarding, engrossing gameplay. Some of the set dressing, like the bland new characters and pointless grappling hook, take the shine off, but the sheer amount of fun we've had with the game can't be overlooked. Borderlands 4 reminds us exactly why we were such big fans of the original two games, and falls on its sword in learning the mistakes of 3."
• Gamespot (70/100): "All in all, if uncovering loot, crafting builds, and unleashing chaotic mayhem is what you're looking for, Borderlands 4 has you covered. It's the most mechanically sound Borderlands game to date, and the various Vault Hunters each present an entertaining opportunity to tackle the game in a different way. Just maybe find a good podcast or video essay to fill the moments between the shooting and looting."

That brings the current Metacritic score to 84.

If you missed it, we also have our own review, which comes in at around the current average. I personally gave it 4/5 stars.

"Borderlands 4 delivers the ultimate Vault Hunter experience, a dazzling gem where every system from gunplay to movement to loot shines with obsessive care. I'm struggling to find faults beyond some lackluster performance hiccups that don't really dampen the chaos. Honestly, writing this review pulls me away from blasting Slitters and chasing legendaries, and I'm dying to dive back into Kairos."

The main culprit of decline has been performance. Hounding away at my poor RTX 3080, Borderlands 4 is astonishingly bad when it comes to optimization. I'm currently achieving a general 60+ frames per second under medium settings at 1440p, with DLSS set to performance mode.

Here's my rig:

• GPU: Nvidia RTX 3080
• CPU: 5900X
• RAM: 32GB DDR4
• SSD: NVME 2.0

Borderlands 4 seems to be another case of building first, with optimization second. Something Tim Sweeney mentioned not too long ago.

"The main cause is the order of development. Many studios build for top-tier hardware first and leave optimization and low-spec testing for the end. Ideally, optimization should begin early—before full content build-out."

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, Black Myth: Wukong, and even Lords of the Fallen had performance issues. However, some goliaths like THE FINALS and Immortals of Avuem run just fine!

Hopefully, with time, Borderlands bounces back and refreshes the otherwise poor performance with some optimization buffs that will keep players' computers from dissolving into a messy pile of radiation goop.

Some of my other friends are facing similar issues, but regardless, they are still having a great time. So it really comes down to whether or not the minor pains of what seems to be AAA's "early access" are worth it to you or not. For me, they have been.

All of this is also without any mention as to how the console ports are performing, as no review codes were given for Xbox or PlayStation. If PC is anything to go by, it could be a nightmare, or perhaps, like with other recent multiplatform games, PC is the one left suffering.

What will you do? Have you already made your purchase? Or are you planning to wait? Let us know below or on social media. I'm curious what everyone else thinks of the reviews!

After years of waiting, the long-awaited sequel, Borderlands 4, is here. Hundreds, if not thousands, of hours have been spent toiling away at a controller. Starting back in the Xbox 360 days, I'd grind General Knoxx over and over again, never stopping for a moment until Borderlands 2 dropped.

I'm a Psycho when it comes to Borderlands (thanks for the joke, Kevin). While I don't necessarily obsess over min-maxing the best traits on every weapon, I definitely follow guides while also tinkering with my own builds here and there.

Every legendary drop leads to the question, "Does this fit my build?" If it doesn't, I ask, "Can I make a build for this weapon?"

This review was made possible thanks to a review code provided by 2K. The company did not see the contents of this review before publishing.

Guns and loot: Combat redefined

Look, Borderlands is known for multiple things, but we all know what the series is most known for, and that’s the weaponry. The shooty things that go boom in the Face (McShooty) of the enemy. The insane, adrenaline-fueled pump of blood we get from cranking bullet after bullet into the flesh, bone, and metal of enemies. Death be damned, they all go to meet their maker by the shine of your chosen weapon.

The guns in Borderlands 4 are an absolute blast, delivering that wild, trigger-happy chaos fans crave with zero letdown.

Tediore weapons, forever the bane of my existence, finally feel good in what might just be the greatest Borderlands yet. Those "chuck it and curse" guns, think a Little League right fielder with a noodle arm, have somehow become shockingly useful in this latest vault-hunting romp.

As I mentioned in my Borderlands 4 preview, players will no longer be carrying around dedicated grenades and rocket launchers. Instead, they now have access to the Ordnance slot. This acts as a cooldown ability, which can be slotted with items such as grenades, throwing knives, laser beams, rockets, and other similar items.

Legendary weaponry

Legendary weapons sit atop the Borderlands 4 arsenal, the shimmering reason we Vault Hunters live and breathe. That iconic chime when one drops? It’s pure magic, sparking Psycho-level screams from players, even those who can barely hear it, as we scramble for that golden or orange loot.

This really depends on your brightness and saturation levels.

So far, legendaries are just as good, if not even better than they’ve been in the past. While I’ve only managed to obtain a handful, what I’ve obtained has been mostly chef’s kiss.

One assault rifle dropped that also ran an underbarrel shotgun secondary. A kill with either would refill the other while granting 100% bonus damage on the swapped weapon. I’d charge in close, unloading buckshot into enemy faces, then quick-swap to my rifle for slick takedowns. Rinse, repeat, revel in the carnage. With damage galore and no reloads needed (unless I goofed and ran out of targets), the gunplay’s an absolute riot.

Only a few times was I left scratching my head, wondering what in the world that specific legendary did. Like one odd shotgun that shot snail-speed prismatic energy balls. Until I find the time to experiment more (and don’t have to sit down and write a damn review), I’ll be left wondering if it deserved a slot on my weapon wheel or not.

Get ready to move

Combat has also undergone a significant overhaul, largely due to its association with the new movement system. Sliding is back, but mixed with double-jump and default hovering, combat is as up and down as it is left to right.

I felt like an unhinged Tony Stark, soaring through battlegrounds, raining destruction on enemies with an arsenal of mayhem. Without any doubt, this movement system is the new standard for Borderlands—fluid, frantic, and absolutely joyful.

I don’t think I could ever go back!

The open world, though, has definitely screwed up some respawning mechanics. I don't know what it is, but there is a severe lack of checkpoints to be found in the game. While instanced zones are fine, other areas have a severe lack of respawn areas. I had multiple deaths where the run back to the action was a minute or more.

That's right, I died, then had to run well over a minute to get back to shooting the guys who killed me. This is exacerbated in the beginning when you don't have a vehicle, as legging it feels like a marathon to complete.

Story and humor: At appropriate levels

I won’t dive into any story-related spoilers. I think speaking of anything outside of what’s already public knowledge would be a massive disservice to the writing team at Gearbox. So, I’ll keep it simple.

Vault Hunters find themselves on Kairos, a planet ruled by an overlord named the Timekeeper. The planet was previously unseen, but thanks to the teleportation of the moon Elpis in Borderlands 3, the once-hidden rock was exposed, and now everyone can, in fact, see it.

You’re there to lead the resistance against the Timekeeper and restore the planet to the people. And maybe, just maybe, unlock a vault or four.

So, how’s the writing?

The writing is so much better

Borderlands 3, for all intents and purposes, was fairly cringe. I think a fair number of people share that sentiment. Dare I say, the majority even.

There were moments of grandeur, laughter, and outright awesomeness, but there was an overabundance of what felt like fart-level jokes. Like the kid who tried too hard at the lunch table, Borderlands 3 was the kid you spoke to because he had awesome toys to play with.

Borderlands 4, from everything I’ve touched so far, took that widely shared opinion to heart. At times, I found myself waiting for the bad punchline that would ruin an epic moment, or a joke that would go on for way too long, but it didn’t happen.

Instead, the writers at Gearbox have created a story that felt rather dark, but spattered with the humor we’ve come to love from the Borderlands series. Familiar characters you’ve fallen in love with over the years make their return in fashion that’s both sensibly awesome and humorous.

Sure, there are probably some jokes that people won’t find funny, or pivotal story points that others will find dull, but that goes for everything. Borderlands 4, it seems, has completely rewritten the script on what to expect from the series going forward.

The story isn't groundbreaking, nor was it forgettable, but it's one that felt right and was a natural progression of the narrative players have followed over the last 16 years of games.

I guess I'm trying to say, thanks for not messing up this time, guys!

Open world: Done right

You hear games becoming open-world and think, “Wow, so cool, so fresh, yay!” Every game and its remastered sequels are becoming one form or another of an open world. Some become soulless creations of what once was, tightly knit games that have unraveled due to being shoehorned into an open-world schematic. I’m looking at you, Halo Infinite.

Borderlands has always been a semi-open-world experience. Separated by zones, Borderlands games have continuously become larger-scaled levels with each passing sequel.

Now, for the first time, we have a truly open world. Well, if you don’t count zone instances like Vaults, fortresses, and some other story-related areas. The main hub is now absolutely astonishingly massive, like, really massive. I spent the first 20 hours doing side missions and other content within the Fadefields and felt like that in itself was a decently sized area — it's the smallest of the three main zones!

The lush green clover of Fadefield is replaced by the grimacing hot desert-like Carcadia Burn. If you feel the need to cool off, you can head over to the Terminus Range, which sports an Ice-Age equivalent tundra.

All three main areas are, in themselves, places you can spend quite a bit of time working on not only the main story, but side missions, secret zones, and more. Within these ginormous maps are an equal number of activities to complete.

Players will be constantly rewarded wherever they choose to spend their time playing. Nothing is senseless, and everything feeds toward the progression of your character.

The first time I remembered hearing that you’d be rewarded for exploring areas you’d never think to otherwise go, I was greeted with a little collectible statue of the fan favorite Marcus Kincaid. Easy money.

This small attention to detail left me with a sense that the development team really tried to extend something, no matter where you look. Whether it was replayable activities that could land legendary loot, dynamic events, or some other item up for grabs, there’s a reason to check every corner, and with enthusiasm, too.

What comes as a result of this open world is something players may find troublesome

Performance drops: Not the legendary kind

I was ready to lambast Borderlands 4 for some of the worst performance I’ve seen from a AAA game. When I initially started reviewing it, the game was a choppy mess, especially in the open world.

Driving from one side of a zone to another was an abysmal, choppy experience as Unreal Engine 5 loaded the next area of the zone into memory (or whatever it was trying to do). At least, that was until the latest patch I and other reviewers received a couple of days ago.

I suspect the embargo time for the review is so close to launch that reviewers and content creators alike had time to test the patch. Maybe they should have kept the original launch date if that's the case. For the record, I conducted the entire review on Steam using specifications that almost mirror the recommended PC requirements outlined by Gearbox.

• GPU: Nvidia RTX 3080
• CPU: 5900X
• RAM: 32GB DDR4
• SSD: NVME 2.0

I’m one tier above the recommended 5800X CPU. So, I guess I’m the nearly perfect candidate for this ongoing performance debate. With the latest patch, which doesn’t include some of the other performance fixes coming with the day one update, I’ve had better results.

I still see some intermittent zone loading when riding across the open landscape, but it’s no longer hitching my computer to the point that I think the game is about to crash. I know that doesn’t sound like the pleasant benchmark to be going off of, but you don’t understand just how bad performance was in the beginning.

Needless to say, it's nothing that will cause chaos, agony, or pain to those running at recommended or higher specs. With my setup, I ran the entire game at 1440p with medium settings and DLSS set to performance. I could also use balanced mode, but often I found myself uncomfortably dipping below 50 frames per second.

With performance mode, I only saw dips below 60 during massive open-world segments or expansive cities. Borderlands seems to suffer from the same incredibly low performance drops that Dragon's Dogma 2 had in its population zones.

While it’s not nearly as bad, if you look in the wrong direction, like the middle of a city, I was dropping well below 50 frames per second again. That’s not ideal, but it’s something that has progressively improved since my review began.

What I fear for are the gamers trying to enter the space running on a 3060 or below. Those who haven’t upgraded for quite a few years. While the 3000 series came out in 2020, and the minimum GPU is a 2070, I can’t help but think players will need to push 1080p low if they hope to keep a stable 60 fps experience.

How that will be received by the general public is almost universally bad, and rightfully so. Even recommended specifications, which only achieve 60 fps at medium with DLSS performance mode, are cause for concern.

While Borderlands 4 looks leaps and bounds better than previous entries, you have to wonder if the cost of beauty and open world was perhaps too great. With that said, my performance metric has always been, “Am I having any less fun because of this?” It’s a simple question that surprisingly resonates with my otherwise performance-seeking ego.

With the latest patch, I can say I am still having a ton of fun playing. If I’m squinting my eyes at certain things, I can see DLSS performance mode creating some weird jagged edges, especially for any form of glint.

Other than that, I’m maintaining a steady frame rate and dropping body after body while grinning ear to ear over how awesome this game plays otherwise.

If you’re a performance fanatic, you may want to wait. However, if you’re okay with playing at medium 1440p resolution at the recommended specs. Borderlands 4 is a ton of fun and a pleasure to play through.

I'd also like to issue a warning, as it appears that no console codes were sent to reviews or content creators. When that's the case, it doesn't spell doom, but it's also not a great sign for what's to come to Xbox and PlayStation.

Endgame: The grind of Borderlands

So, how’s the grind?

Well, I’ll start off with the fact that I haven’t played through the entire endgame. I’ve only had the game for a little over a week. I’m not a psycho. I would be, but I have a wife, guys, alright?

What I have touched is brilliant. Borderlands 4 brings back the fan-favorite Ultimate Vault Hunter, spread out with extra layers thanks to the addition of challenges. Players can tackle these challenges to raise their difficulty, which in turn leads to better loot and more challenges.

Sprinkled across that are numerous Vaults, Mad Moxxi’s Encore mechanic, and a ton of activities to grind through. Not to mention the addition of weekly challenges that players can tackle as Gearbox releases them. This is the ultimate endgame of the entire series. I remember that when I finished Borderlands 3, I spent days one-shooting the same Vault boss over and over. Grinding away for the perfect loot.

With the sequel, there are way more things you can do that will fill that legendary grinding role. It’s actually astonishing just how much there is at launch for players to tackle. Every boss and activity you face can be redone through the Moxxi mechanic. Each entry will be equal to your level, so loot dropping will always be of value.

The cost of doing so is measly initially, as the value of the loot that drops will far exceed the cost to get in. Eridium becomes a premium currency as you enter Ultimate Vault Hunter mode. Players will need this to do the harder versions of these battles, but will be granted far better loot odds as a result.

On top of the promised free updates, weekly events, and more, players will spend far more time wondering what to grind next than they will be waiting for more content to come out. That’s a problem I haven’t had with Borderlands in a long time!

Borderlands 4: Should you buy it?

✅ You should buy this if...

• You like Borderlands at all
  • This is the definitive Borderlands experience. You won't be disappointed by the gameplay, nor the gameplay.
• You love endgame grinding
  • Borderlands 4 promises to keep players occupied for weeks, if not months between DLC releases.

❌ You should not buy this if...

• You're a stickler for performance

Borderlands 4 is the ultimate Vault Hunter playground, the gold standard for the series moving forward. Sure, performance can stifle the experience, and I’d kill for a Naughty Dog caliber story, but this game has me rabid for the grind, chasing bigger DPS numbers, perfecting min-max builds, and hyper-grinding.

Writing this review ate up precious time, leaving me bummed I’ll be half-zombie when I join my crew at launch. It’s just that damn good. I’m obsessed, and Borderlands fans will be blown away, assuming their rig can keep up.

Borderlands 4 releases on September 11, 2025 for Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5.

• Back to the top ⤴

One of the games canceled following the most recent round of Microsoft layoffs was Perfect Dark, a quasi-reboot of Rare's first-person shooter franchise that was being co-developed by The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics.

According to a report from Jason Schreier via Bloomberg on Tuesday, Perfect Dark was almost revived after being canceled, with Xbox and Crystal Dynamics owner Embracer Group reaching out to see if other publishers were interested in buying and finishing the game.

The report claims that a deal was nearly struck with Take-Two Interactive, but this deal eventually collapsed when all the parties involved were unable to figure out the exact long-term ownership of Perfect Dark.

As a result, Crystal Dynamics had its second round of layoffs this year.

Perfect Dark is a huge missed opportunity

The Initiative's reboot of Perfect Dark was first announced back in 2020 with a CGI teaser trailer. From there, concrete information was sparse for years, though reports indicated that the game's development was in trouble, with numerous staff leaving The Initiative over time.

In 2024, things seemed to finally be rounding a corner, with a gameplay trailer for Perfect Dark shown during the Xbox Games Showcase.

The footage showed agent Joanna Dark in pursuit of a target across a high-tech, futuristic version of Cairo, with stealth-oriented weapons and spy-style melee takedowns, while the level design and use of the environment seemed reminiscent of immersive sims.

No release date or window was announced, but there was a clear, consistent vision for a game that had me quite interested.

All of that was cut short in July, when we learned that (among many other game cancellations and teams being cut) The Initiative was being closed and work on Perfect Dark would cease.

What could have been

I'm admittedly curious about what the details would've been for this agreement, and I can't be too surprised that it didn't work out, even if it would've been fantastic for more people to not lose their jobs and have the chance to keep working on this game.

It's worth noting that Microsoft has allowed certain studios to spin out in the past, with Toys for Bob leaving Activision and almost immediately entering a publishing agreement for a new game with Xbox Game Studios.

Meanwhile, after initially being closed, Tango Gameworks was then revived and sold to Krafton alongside the Hi-Fi Rush IP. As a result, this team does live on, and is currently working on an unannounced action game that is likely Hi-Fi Rush 2.

Of course, the timing of this situation is also not lost on me, with Take-Two Interactive recently holding layoffs at BioShock developer Cloud Chamber, with more than 80 staff from the team being cut.

Former Blizzard Entertainment head of Diablo, Rod Fergusson, is now overseeing the studio as work continues on the next BioShock game. The game has also reportedly been delayed from its prior internal release window of late 2026 or early 2027. Still, it remains in development.

Take-Two Interactive also continues to allow Ken Levine and Ghost Story Games to work on Judas, a game that the company previously stated would be out before March 2025. There is no release date as yet, though a recent update did dive into more of the game systems and share new key art.

At the end of it all, I'll just echo my prior thoughts that this entire situation is disheartening to watch. Perfect Dark was my most-anticipated game from Xbox, now it's gone.

RIP (again), Perfect Dark.

We finally saw some signs of life for Judas this week, with developer Ghost Story Games sharing an update on the long-in-development project.

"We know, we know... we’ve been silent for a while. It takes a lot of time and energy to make marketing materials like trailers, and we’re trying to focus all our efforts on finishing Judas," says creative director Ken Levine.

Levine goes on to add that the team wants to share more about the game through blog posts focused on particular aspects of the upcoming title. The team also shared the game's new key art, which can be seen above.

Judas is a single-player first-person shooter, and according to Levine, a major feature of the game is "Villainy," where the player's actions determine who ends up being the main antagonist.

That's because Judas (the titular protagonist) has to interact with the so-called "Big 3," three different characters on board the collapsing starship. Each has different goals, and while you can try and befriend all of them, eventually someone will be left out. Ignore them, and these characters gain new abilities that are meant to threaten players and shake-up the status quo.

As an example, security chief Tom offers "Rent-a-Deputy" robots that can assist in combat. Annoy him, and these robots will turn hostile against you.

"The more dangerous and character-specific stuff will be kept a secret, for now," Levine says. "Eventually, you’ll have to make decisions about who you’re going to focus your energy on… and who you’ll wind up alienating."

"We want losing one of them to feel like losing a friend. We want to play with that dynamic, and we want that choice to be super hard. The Big 3 are all going to be competing for your favor and attention. They can bribe you, save you in battle, talk shit about the other characters, and share with you their darkest secrets. But eventually, you've got to decide who you trust and who you don't."

Judas has been in development for a long, long time

It's important to note that the last game helmed by Levine, BioShock Infinite, launched back in 2013. Shortly after its release, Levine announced he was closing down developer Irrational Games, taking a small handful of staff to found a studio under Take-Two Interactive, Ghost Story Games.

A report from Bloomberg in 2022 indicates that this game (then untitled) was originally slated to launch in 2017, but was subject to frequent delays as multiple employees quit due to Levine's management style.

In February 2023, Take-Two Interactive's financial results noted that Judas was expected to launch at some point by March 2025. As of Aug. 28, 2025, there's no release date, but it does seem like Judas is creeping closer and closer to arrival.

"While we wish we could give you an exact date today, we’re not quite ready to finalize that," Levine says.

"As you know, release dates have a way of slipping by, and we’d like to avoid having to change the date after we announce it. But we know Judas is not really a game until the players get their hands on it, and that’s a day everyone on the team is working toward."

Hopefully we won't be going too much longer before learning more, even if the game isn't releasing in 2025.

Personally, I'm still quite interested in the concepts being described here, and the game certainly sounds ambitious, but we'll have to wait and see how the full project pans out.

Whenever it eventually arrives, Judas will be available on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (Epic Games Store and Steam), and PlayStation 5.

I also have to mention that BioShock is still facing development hell even after Levine left it behind, with developer Cloud Chamber undergoing layoffs while former Diablo head at Blizzard Entertainment, Rod Fergusson, has taken charge as the new studio head on the next BioShock.

Following the shake-up in leadership and the report of layoffs hitting Cloud Chamber, Bloomberg reports on Wednesday that more than 80 people have been laid off from the studio. This is around one-third of the studio's workforce.

“While we’re excited about the foundational gameplay elements of the project, we’ve made the decision with studio leadership to rework certain aspects that are core to a BioShock game, and in doing so are reducing the size of the development team to focus on this work and give the game more time in development,” 2K Games president David Ismailer says to Bloomberg.

Per Bloomberg, the game is also being internally delayed, and will no longer be launching in late 2026 to early 2027 window it was previously targeting.

Original story:

It's time for another shake-up in the gaming industry, with Rod Fergusson taking over as studio head at Cloud Chamber, the Take-Two Interactive studio working on the next long-gestating BioShock game.

The news was first reported by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier on BlueSky, who also reported that Cloud Chamber is laying off an "unspecified" number of workers. Fergusson quickly confirmed his new role on BlueSky, sharing that he was now head of the BioShock Franchise.

"I’m deeply grateful for the work the studio has done so far, and I’m committed to building a BioShock game we’ll be proud of and that our players will love," Fergusson says.

Why is Fergusson joining Cloud Chamber now?

This news comes just weeks after a report from Schreier indicated that the next BioShock game was in trouble. Per Schreier, the game recently failed a publisher review, leading to an overhaul that saw the exit of the creative director. A planned remake of the original BioShock was also reportedly put on ice.

Take-Two Interactive first announced Cloud Chamber in 2020, revealing that at long last, the BioShock franchise was set to continue with a new entry. Since then, there's been absolutely nothing seen, with no official trailers or teasers for the game, which still does not technically have a name.

While Cloud Chamber was first officially revealed in 2020, Schreier's report notes that a fourth BioShock game has been in development under Take-Two Interactive for a decade.

Notably, Fergusson announced his exit from Blizzard Entertainment just a few days after the aforementioned report.

Not the first time around

This will now be the second time that Fergusson has joined a team struggling to ship a BioShock game. An experienced producer, Fergusson was brought into Irrational Games (now Ghost Story Games) in 2012 to help fight scope creep and make calls on what to cut in order to help creative director Ken Levine and the rest of the studio.

In 2013, BioShock Infinite shipped, having been in some stage of development for over five years prior. The game saw critical acclaim and commercial success, selling over 11 million copies in a year.

Before his brief but important time at Irrational Games, Fergusson worked at Epic Games with Xbox on the Gears of War franchise.

Since then, Fergusson has worked across a number of properties, including rejoining Microsoft to once again work on Gears of War, leading the team at Xbox Game Studios' The Coalition as the studio shipped Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, Gears of War 4, and Gears 5 in 2015, 2016, and 2019, respectively.

In 2020, Fergusson joined Blizzard Entertainment, becoming the head of the Diablo franchise, where he helped ship Diablo 4 in 2023. The game was praised critically, reaching $666 million in revenue after five days.

Blizzard Entertainment would then be bought by Microsoft (alongside the rest of Activision Blizzard King) in a deal that finalized October 2023.

BioShock is important for Take-Two Interactive to get right

While Take-Two Interactive's biggest games are naturally its Rockstar-developed titles like the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6, BioShock is important. The BioShock games are renowned for their narrative-driven gameplay, and it's been over 12 years since the last new game launched.

That's an extremely long time. Optimistically, this fourth BioShock title is skipping almost two console generations!

I don't envy the team at Cloud Chamber facing this challenge (and my thoughts are with those affected by the reported layoffs) but I am hopeful that Fergusson's experience will allow this team to ship the game without further serious development setbacks.

Gaming-related costs are hitting an all-time high, with both the price of hardware and software seeing equal gains. Games that were once $60 are now $70, and in some cases $80. To make matters worse, the final cost of one upcoming game may cost even more than the once-unthinkable $80 video game price.

In an interview with Variety, they asked Take-Two Interactive CEO and chairman Strauss Zelnick how much their upcoming title, Grand Theft Auto VI, was going to cost. In response, Strauss said, "So now that announcement will come from Rockstar in due time. Our goal always is to deliver more value than what we charge, so we've had variable pricing at the company forever."

The question becomes, what is Grand Theft Auto VI worth? If the game does launch at the base price of $100, does that mean Take-Two thinks the value of GTA VI is $150? Maybe even $200?

Continuing on, he hinted at more than one GTA VI edition launching in May, "As you know, the approach of the industry is to launch at a premium price, sometimes with special editions, and over time, typically to reduce the price to enhance the overall size of the market."

He continued, "We do the very same thing. I think, probably more than most, we're highly focused on making sure that the experience is great, not just because the game itself is great, but also because consumers have paid a fair price for it."

This news comes on the heels of Microsoft recently backing down from their first $80 game, The Outer Worlds 2, where they originally announced the new price point. Now, the game will retail for $70 after numerous fan complaints.

For many, myself included, if there was a game to break the $70 to $80 price barrier, The Outer Worlds 2 was not it. Granted, I look forward to whatever Obsidian delivers, but their games are generally smaller, focused RPGs that are offered in neatly packed narratives.

When you think of a game that could potentially break that barrier, right or wrong, Grand Theft Auto VI is obviously the safest bet. What other games come to mind when you consider titles worth that amount of money? The answer to many, including myself, is that no game is truly worth that base cost.

Sure, in a world of $130 premium editions, the cost of $100 to some doesn't seem like a lot, but that $130 has always been a choice. When the base price of a game comes in at something like $100, the choice players once had to pay less is suddenly gone. Pay up or be left out.

I'm trying to imagine the scenario that I'm sure will play out in the households of millions of gamers from the ages of 15 to 17, all begging their parents to buy them a copy of Grand Theft Auto VI. Don't at me about the age; you and I both know kids will play this.

Will kids get away with asking for a $100 video game? Is this the era where parents will start saying no? Time will tell, and this could all be for naught, as it's still entirely possible that Grand Theft Auto VI launches at $60. I know, I'm hilarious. My wife tells me the same thing.

GTA VI still on track for May 2026 release

When speaking with CNBC, Strauss was more confident than ever that Grand Theft Auto VI would be released in May of 2026. "My level of conviction is very, very high, obviously." After the hundred or so polls I've seen on social media, I'm curious if this will calm the general sentiment that GTA VI will be delayed again.

Amongst fan accounts, I see tons of them living under the presumption that the title will ultimately be delayed. Even I'm doubtful, primarily because the longer we wait for Grand Theft Auto VI, the more mythical the game becomes in my head. The expectations for Rockstar's latest entry literally could not be any higher.

With analysts forecasting a billion-dollar haul faster than you can jack a Banshee, Take-Two's eyeing GTA VI like it's a vault full of cash in a bank heist. Missing that date could cause damage to their bottom line, oh dear!

Keeping shareholders happy is their top priority, shortly behind actually living up to the hype of the largest and most broadcasted title in the history of gaming. Given the fact that this is a largely professional Rockstar Games studio, they're very aware of whether or not they'll hit that deadline.

Plenty of thought went into the initial delay, and that May 2026 is a very accurate date for them to hit. Take-Two's head honcho is confident in his guys, so I should start being just as assured. Are we really 9 months away from playing Grand Theft Auto VI? I think we are!

Circling back to the original question, how much will the game cost when it launches in 2026?

Preorders will likely be coming soon, possibly by the end of this year. Given the number of copies that are likely to go off the shelves (yes, people still buy physical), Grand Theft Auto VI might be the most significant release for physical retailers in years, if ever again.

Take-Two will need to give these retailers plenty of time to stock their shelves with the millions of copies that will sell come day one!

What do you think the price of Grand Theft Auto VI will be? Would you pay $100 for it? Let us know below or on social media. I'm curious to see what the general consensus is, especially if split by generation.

SAG-AFTRA video game actors accepted a new 2025 agreement, the union shared on Wednesday. With this agreement, the video games actors' strike is officially over, with this conclusion coming almost a year after the strike first began back in July 2024.

The strike came after the union was unable to reach an agreement with a bargaining unit for many of the companies producing some of the biggest games in the world, including Activision, Electronic Arts, Insomniac Games, and others.

Under the new agreement, performers are getting 15.17% increased compensation, with further 3% increases set to follow on November 25, November 2026, and November 2027.

Crucially, the new agreement also provides increased protections surrounding AI, with consent and disclosure requirements for any AI replicas, as well as giving actors the ability to suspend the consent of generating new material from.

"All of us at SAG-AFTRA would like to extend our deepest appreciation to the video game performers and allies who endured a great deal of sacrifice throughout the 11-month strike," said SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.

"Now that the agreement is ratified, video game performers will be able to enjoy meaningful gains and important A.I. protections, which we will continue to build on as uses of this technology settle and evolve.”

The threat of AI was explicitly noted as the main reason for the strike, with companies behind games like Apex Legends, Call of Duty, and others initially unwilling to meet terms surrounding using AI replicas.

Many companies are exploring methods to use AI in games. Earlier in 2025, an experiment from Sony-owned PlayStation leaked, in which engineers from PlayStation's Advanced Technology Group used LLMs (large language models) to power a model for Horizon Forbidden West protagonist Aloy that would then respond to questions.

Ashly Burch, the performance actress for Aloy, responded to the experiment, saying that "I just imagine a video like this coming out that does have someone's performance attached to it, that does have someone's voice or face or movement. And the possibility that if we lose this fight, that person would have no recourse. They wouldn't have any protections, any way to fight back."

Burch noted at the time that Guerrilla Games (the lead studio behind the Horizon titles) had contacted her to assure her that her performance wasn't used in training the model, and that the experiment didn't reflect anything currently in development at the studio.

If you've been following the news cycle as of late, you might have noticed the President and CEO of Gearbox Software, Randy Pitchford, come out telling players that "real fans" would find a way to buy Borderlands 4 if the price hit $80. As you can imagine, that didn't go over well with many people.

In better news (Don't worry, it gets bad again), Randy Pitchford has announced that Borderlands 4 will not be receiving a price increase to $80 like some other titles in the industry. Instead, the standard price will launch at $69.99.

What's hidden underneath the standard price is the increase that the other editions saw instead. The Deluxe Edition will cost $99.99, instead of the Borderlands 3 launch price of $79.99, while the Super Deluxe Edition has rocketed to $129.99, up from $99.99.

Below are the differences given in each edition.

If you're looking for complete breakdowns of what each component entails, check out their website. It's a mixture of cosmetic and DLC items available for each edition.

Is this the new pricing method Take-Two will be taking when it comes to their other upcoming games like Grand Theft Auto VI (More like Take-More)? A standard price with their higher-end editions reaching pricing heights that match the original cost of the Halo 3: Legendary Edition?

Look, I understand the cost of gaming is on the rise. Tariffs, wages, development costs, everything, and the kitchen sink are to blame for these prices reaching stupid heights, but can we chill for a moment?

I can't fathom paying $130 for some of these special editions as of late. That's more than the price of two games just a few years ago. Heck, as of today, you can get Dune: Awakening, The Alters, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for less than the price of that Super Deluxe Pricey Edition for Borderlands 4.

To add insult to injury, they also announced a $150 collector's variation called the Echo-4 Bundle, which includes a nifty statue, poster items, a necklace, and SHIFT codes, but not the actual game.

That's right, they're launching a collector's edition that comes with in-game codes but not the actual game itself. Which means the actual price is $220, if you want to play the game, too.

You can't make this up anymore. This is now the future of gaming, and I hate it.

What do you think about the Borderlands 4 pricing? Do you think these prices are fair, or are you tired of the continuous price increases? Mark your answers above, and let us know below or on social media!

Borderlands 4 is on the way this September, and gamers are a little worried about its potential price. The founder of Gearbox and current CEO of Gearbox Entertainment, Randy Pitchford, has come out to defend the possible pricing of Borderlands 4, in a way that might just come across as tone deaf.

Last week, a user by the name of Oldgoldsot wrote, "Randy, this game better not be 80 dollars. Don't take that risk, a lot of gamers aren't gonna pay 80 dollars and feed this notion of constant increase of the price tag. You are the CEO; you have some say in the price when it comes to your publisher."

To which Randy replied, "A) Not my call. B) If you're a real fan, you'll find a way to make it happen. My local game store had Starflight for Sega Genesis for $80 in 1991 when I was just out of high school working minimum wage at an ice cream parlor in Pismo Beach, and I found a way to make it happen."

That's right, if you're a real fan, you'll find a way to make it happen. While I'm not the CEO of any company, coming up with words like that is not the way to garner the praise of fans. Randy gonna Randy, I guess.

In an economy that has seen game pricing fluctuate frequently due to tariffs, layoffs, and other factors, choosing to tell anyone to go figure it out if you want it might be one of the most thoughtless responses I've ever read or heard. Like, Randy, stop at "Not my call," and then add something close to, "We'll do everything we can to make sure whatever price the publisher decides coincides with the content in-game," or something like that.

Huh, if all you need is common sense maybe I would be a decent CEO.

Keep in mind, there's no actual price being confirmed here. This is only a response to what the price may come to be. We'll have to wait and see.

At the end of the day, Randy is right about not being able to control the pricing. That decision comes down to Take-Two, which has long been rumored to be looking at a $100 price tag for Grand Theft Auto 6. With the latest delay, maybe they'll look to recover some profits with an $80 price tag on Borderlands 4.

What do you think about Randy's comments? Let us know below or on social media. I'm curious about how others feel about his remarks.

Just days ago, Rockstar Games relieved the blood pressure of roughly half the world's game developers, while raising the other half with the news that Grand Theft Auto 6 was delayed to May 26, 2026.

Rockstar Games let loose again on Tuesday, suddenly dropping the second official trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6, which you can check out above.

Grand Theft Auto 6 follows two protagonists, Jason and Lucia, who are making a name for themselves in Vice City, highlight of the state of Leonida, which are of course thinly-veiled representations of Miami and Florida in the U.S.

According to the trailer description, Jason and Lucia find themselves in trouble when a supposed "easy score" goes wrong, setting the stage for disaster as they try to survive.

Rockstar's official website also lists numerous additional details on the game, including supporting characters like Raul, a bank robber.

While it was originally slated to launch later in Fall 2025, Rockstar Games made the decision to push the next entry in its juggernaut open world series to 2026, a decision reportedly made in order to ensure the development team avoids serious crunch.

Rockstar's parent company Take-Two Interactive saw its stock dip on news of the delay, with CEO Strauss Zelnick assuring investors that the company had full confidence in the developers.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is slated to launch on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, with no Windows PC version coming just yet.

Traditionally, Rockstar Games is one of the few major developers that aggressively targets console launches first, bringing its games to console platforms before later having a PC port, which is what happened with 2013's Grand Theft Auto 5 and 2018's Red Dead Redemption 2.

As the wildly unpopular announcement of Rockstar Games delaying Grand Theft Auto VI from 2025 until mid-2026 came earlier this morning, shares for Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), its parent company, fell by 10% in pre-market trading (via FT).

At the time of writing, Take Two stock rests at -8.92% and almost appeared to be crawling steadily upwards before that, offsetting some of the shocking drop, but it didn't last. The decision wasn't a surprise to the parties involved, as evidenced by Take-Two's press release that came alongside Rockstar Games' announcement, and its CEO offered some reassurance.

Grand Theft Auto VI was originally revealed with its first trailer on December 4, 2023, and developers at Rockstar Games targeted a vague "2025" release window, which moved closer to a plan for the Fall of 2025.

Now, the blockbuster sequel, perhaps one of the most anticipated games of all time, has been pushed back to May 26, 2026, at the earliest.

Take-Two financial results are incoming

Take-Two references the incredible hype around the game in its press statement, but seems to remain confident that the game will be a success:

“While we take the movement of our titles seriously and appreciate the vast and deep global anticipation for Grand Theft Auto VI, we remain steadfast in our commitment to excellence."

How much this delay could affect the publisher and, in turn, development teams at Rockstar Games in terms of a dollar value isn't certain, but Take-Two"plans to report its financial results for the fourth quarter and Fiscal 2025, after the market close on Thursday, May 15, 2025", so that will be the earliest opportunity to hear more on the financial effects.

Either way, gaming audiences are expressing a mix of emotions across social media after hearing the news of the GTA 6 delay. Personally, I'm not sure that the game could possibly live up to the immense immersion that its die-hard fans have come to expect, and I'm not particularly excited for Grand Theft Auto 6.

Maybe some extra time in the oven will help build some extra content to appeal to me, but I can't imagine this delay was a popular move behind the scenes at Take-Two. At least other developers in the industry can sigh a relief for their titles launching in late 2025.. but probably not those who Take-Two also owns.

I'll be watching for Take-Two's financial results later this month.

Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto 6 is still scheduled to launch at some point in Fall 2025, according to the latest comments from Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick.

As part of the company's Q3 2025 financial results, Zelnick reiterated the Fall 2025 release window for Grand Theft Auto 6, though he didn't provide any other details on the timing of the game's launch.

“Looking ahead, this calendar year is shaping up to be one of the strongest ever for Take-Two, as we plan to launch Sid Meier’s Civilization VII on February 11th, Mafia: The Old Country in the Summer, Grand Theft Auto VI in the Fall, and Borderlands 4," Zelnick says. "We continue to invest prudently in our development pipeline and remain confident in Zynga’s potential to create new mobile forever franchises as demonstrated by their ongoing success with Match Factory."

Take-Two Interactive's financial results also confirmed that Grand Theft Auto 5 has sold over 210 million copies, continuing to firmly cement its position as the second best-selling game of all time. Meanwhile, Rockstar's other tentpole Red Dead Redemption 2 has crossed 70 million copies sold.

During the conference call accompanying the earnings, Take-Two Interactive also revealed that preorders for Civilization VII reached a record for the franchise. Overall, Take-Two Interactive saw $1.37 billion in net bookings for the quarter.

The world watches, holding its breath

To say the world wants to know when Grand Theft Auto 6 will arrive would be a titanic understatement. The entire gaming industry is currently curious, as the launch of this game will be an iceberg for every other company to steer clear of. Whenever I talk with developers and publishing staff right now, the question that inevitably comes up is "So, do you think Grand Theft Auto really makes it out this year?"

When I was discussing trends for gaming in 2025 at the start of the year, I noted that Grand Theft Auto 6 was one of the only games that could peel players away from the existing "black hole" titles, as well as being a game that can get last-generation players still using a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One to actually buy new gaming hardware. Grand Theft Auto 6 releasing this year (or not) will have massive ramifications in every possible way.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is currently planned to launch on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.

What you need to know

• Take-Two Interactive, owner of Rockstar Games and 2K Games, has sold its Private Division publishing label.
• Private Division previously published games like Obsidian's The Outer Worlds and Moon Studios' No Rest for the Wicked.
• The buyer for Private Division is currently unknown, though sources have confirmed to Windows Central that it wasn't Microsoft.
• Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says the sale happened because the company is interested in making "big hits" like Grand Theft Auto.

Another game publishing label has changed hands, and this time, what's most notable is what we don't know about it.

Take-Two Interactive confirms that it has sold Private Division, a publisher that the company (which also owns Rockstar Games, 2K Games, and Zynga) previously held in order to work on smaller titles alongside mostly-independent studios. The buyer is currently unknown, though Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick tells GamesIndustry.biz that the purchaser will be known "relatively soon."

One party that can be ruled out is Microsoft, with Windows Central's sources confirming that the Xbox platform holder is not behind the deal. The unknown buyer holds the rights to most of Private Division's catalogue, including the upcoming Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game, though Take-Two is continuing to support Moon Studios' No Rest for the Wicked.

Private Division previously partnered with Obsidian Entertainment for The Outer Worlds, though the game ended up launching in 2019, well after Obsidian was acquired by Microsoft in 2018 and added to Xbox Game Studios. Private Division still holds the publishing rights to the first game in The Outer Worlds franchise, but the sequel is being published by Xbox.

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Building bigger blockbusters

Take-Two Interactive was rumored to be interested in selling off Private Division earlier in the year after the company shuttered Intercept Games and Roll7, the two internal studios under the Private Division label. The reason, per Zelnick, is that the company is interested in big hits like Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto franchise.

"We're really best at these big AAA experiences. We have the biggest intellectual properties in the interactive entertainment business, some of the biggest intellectual properties in the overall entertainment business and to make sequels to existing beloved franchises as well as to create new hit intellectual properties is our mission," Zelnick tells GamesIndustry.biz.

"The team of Private Division did a great job supporting independent developers and, almost to a one, every project they supported did well. However, the scale of those projects was, candidly, on the smaller side, and we're in the business of making great big hits."

Looking ahead, Take-Two Interactive plans to launch Grand Theft Auto 6 in Fall 2025, a title that's widely expected to be an utter commercial juggernaut on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 consoles. Grand Theft Auto 5, which first launched all the way back in 2013 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, has crossed 205 million copies sold, firmly cementing it as the second best-selling game of all time behind Minecraft.

What you need to know

• Red Dead Redemption first launched all the way back in 2010 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
• The game is playable on Xbox Series X|S consoles through backward compatibility, and it was ported to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in 2023. 
• Red Dead Redemption is finally coming to Windows PC on Oct. 29, 2024. 
• This new version includes the Undead Nightmare expansion, and also includes support for PC features like 144hz, adjustable draw distance, and more.

It's finally happening. 

Red Dead Redemption is heading to Windows PC on October 29, developer Rockstar Games shared on Tuesday. This long-awaited port, crafted in collaboration with support studio Double Eleven, includes the Undead Nightmare expansion, which is fitting for how close it's launching to Halloween. 

This port of Red Dead Redemption also offers support for specific PC features like 144hz, ultrawide monitors, adjustable shadows and draw distance, AMD FSR, NVIDIA DLSS 3.7, frame generation, and more. It'll be available across Steam, the Epic Games Store, and the Rockstar Store. You can check out the reveal trailer for the port below:

A story of the dying Wild West, Red Dead Redemption stars former outlaw John Marston, who is enlisted to take down the last fugitives of the Van der Linde gang. Red Dead Redemption is set after the events of its 2018 sequel, Red Dead Redemption 2, which was brought to PC in 2020.

Red Dead Redemption has had a long road to get here, with the game first launching all the way back in 2010 across Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles through backward compatibility, Rockstar Games brought a port to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch last year. 

Looking ahead, Rockstar Games is currently slated to launch the widely-anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 in Fall 2025. That game will be launching on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, with no PC version currently announced. Following the studio's prior work, the PC version will likely launch in 2026 or 2027.

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What you need to know

• Take-Two Interactive previously confirmed that it would be laying off 5% of its total workforce. 
• As part of this decision, two studios are being closed: Intercept Games in Seattle and Roll7 in the U.K.
• Intercept Games was working on updates for Kerbal Space Program 2, while Roll7 developed Ollie Ollie World and Rollerdrome.
• Take-Two Interactive is currently in the process of acquiring Gearbox Software in a $460 million deal.

We've got additional context on the reach of a recent layoff announcement. 

Take-Two Interactive — the parent company of 2K Games, Rockstar Games, Private Division, and Zynga — previously confirmed that it would be laying off hundreds of staff, or about 5% of its total global workforce. Now, a report from Bloomberg ON Wednesday indicates that as part of these layoffs, Take-Two Interactive is closing two studios: Intercept Games in Seattle, Washington in the U.S, and Roll7 in the U.K.

Intercept Games was founded in 2020 as a studio under Private Division to develop Kerbal Space Program 2, with large chunks of staff who worked on the original Kerbal Space Program. Meanwhile, Roll7 was founded in 2008 and acquired by Private Division in 2021. Roll7 has developed a number of games such as Ollie Ollie World and, more recently, Rollerdrome. 

Bloomberg has verified an internal notice to staff regarding the closure of Roll7, while a public notice indicates that Take-Two Interactive is shuttering an office in Seattle and laying off 70 employees, descriptions that fit with Intercept Games.

Bloomberg notes that other staff under Private Division have also been affected by the previously-announced cuts. Take-Two Interactive is currently in the middle of acquiring Borderlands developer Gearbox in a deal worth $460 million.

What else has Private Division done?

First put together in 2017, Private Division is essentially the publishing wing for smaller projects at Take-Two Interactive. The publisher primarily partners with independent studios to work on games, such as with Obsidian Entertainment on The Outer Worlds, a deal that was reached prior to Microsoft's acquisition of Obsidian Entertainment in November 2018. 

Kerbal Space Program 2 from the now-defunct Intercept Games is in early access, making it unclear if the game will be finished. Meanwhile, Private Division has also partnered with Ori developer Moon Studios to work on No Rest for the Wicked, an action role-playing game currently available on Windows PC via early access. 

Private Division also recently lost one publishing contract, as the team is no longer handling the publishing of Yellow Brick Games' debut title Eternal Strands, which is instead being self-published.

Analysis: Trouble for Private Division

It's not difficult to see that a large chunk of the layoffs at Take-Two Interactive are affecting Private Division projects. These cuts end internal development at the publishing wing, and, depressingly, I won't be surprised to see further consolidation heavily limit any games published after the existing crop. 

From Embracer Group and Riot Games to Microsoft and Sony, this has been a brutal year for cuts in the gaming industry so far. My sympathies are with everyone affected by this latest round of layoffs, and I hope everyone finds new jobs soon. 

If you haven't played it yet and are interested in seeing Roll7's last project, Rollerdrome is available on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5. It's also included in Xbox Game Pass.

What you need to know

• Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games, Private Division, Zynga, and 2K Games, is laying off 5% of its staff. 
• This move affects hundreds of workers, and will also see multiple games canceled. 
• It's not clear right now which studios and teams are being most affected by the cuts. 
• Take-Two Interactive is in the process of purchasing Gearbox Entertainment for $460 million.

It's a day in the year that is 2024, and that means more layoffs in the gaming industry. 

Take-Two Interactive shared on Tuesday that it plans to lay off 5% of its total workforce, per Bloomberg. This move will cut hundreds of employees and some upcoming games canceled. It's not entirely clear at this time which teams will be affected by the cuts or which projects are being canceled. 

Take-Two Interactive is the parent company of multiple gaming divisions, including Rockstar Games — the developers of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption — and 2K Games, which includes teams suck as Cloud Chamber, Firaxis, and Ghost Story Games. Take-Two Interactive also holds mobile gaming teams at Zynga, and also operates the Private Division publishing label for partnering with independent studios.

As of the end of 2023, Take-Two Interactive employed nearly 9,000 development staff plus additional workers across its various divisions, meaning the cuts will likely affect somewhere around 500 to 600 employees.

How will this affect Take-Two Interactive and its games?

Grand Theft Auto 6, which is slated to launch at some point in 2025 across Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, is obviously not one of the games canceled as part of this move. While it's possible some staff at Rockstar Games could be affected by the cuts, the studio is essentially a one-project publisher, and Grand Theft Auto 6 is so integral to Take-Two's overall strategy that the idea it would be canceled is ludicrous.

As of February 2024, Take-Two Interactive claimed it had dozens of upcoming titles. Of these games, 17 were "immersive core" experiences, such as Judas, which is being developed by Ghost Story Games and coming to Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5 in 2025. Seven upcoming titles were from Private Division, and we now know that the publishing label lost a project in the form of Yellow Brick Games' Eternal Strands, which is now being self-published.

Take-Two also had four upcoming "mid-core" titles, which are meant to be around the scope of something like LEGO 2K Drive. The company also had six "new iterations of existing games" on the way, meaning new ports or remasters of already-released titles. Finally, there were 18 mobile games in development. 

Take-Two Interactive is also in the process of purchasing Borderlands developer Gearbox Entertainment for $460 million, which is confirmed to be working on a new Borderlands game. 

Analysis: Good lord

We've had more layoffs that can be accurately counted this year, with massive cuts from across Embracer Group and Riot Games to Microsoft and Sony. Now, despite having one of the biggest games in the history of the medium on the way for next year, hundreds of employees at Take-Two Interactive will be laid off in the coming months. I hope everyone affected can get back on their feet sooner rather than later.

With that in mind, my first guess at this time is that some mobile games got cut or consolidated. Even for the mobile market, having 18 upcoming games in a two-year time span is a lot. I also wouldn't be surprised to see more unannounced games canceled from Private Division. 

What you need to know

• Embracer Group purchased Gearbox Software for $1.3 billion back in 2021.
• Embracer Group is now selling most of Gearbox to Take-Two Interactive, parent company of 2K Games, for $460 million.
• Gearbox Software retains the rights to the Borderlands, Homeworld, and Risk of Rain franchises.
• Embracer Group is retaining the publishing rights to the Remnant franchise, as well as support studio Lost Boys Interactive.

Update, March 28, 2024:

As part of this sale, we've learned that most or all of the Gearbox Publishing department is being laid off across the next couple of months. The exact number of affected employees isn't known at this time, but it includes PR managers, legal department members, brand managers, graphic artists, and more.

Original story:

Embracer Group is continuing to melt down, selling off another large chunk of the company. 

Borderlands developer Gearbox Software is being sold to Take-Two Interactive for $460 million, per a press release. Gearbox — which was originally purchased by Embracer Group in a deal worth $1.3 billion back in 2021 — will retain most of its development studios and the rights to Borderlands, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, Homeworld, Risk of Rain, Duke Nukem, and Brothers in Arms. Gearbox is also confirmed to be working on at least one new game in the Borderlands franchise.

Embracer Group is retaining the Gearbox San Francisco publishing department, including the publishing rights to the Remnant franchise. Embracer Group is also keeping support studio Lost Boys Interactive, which had a significant number of cuts a few weeks ago. 

”As a significant long-term Embracer Group shareholder, I believe in the strategy for the Embracer Group going forward and am completely convinced that this transaction is the best possible scenario and an obvious net positive arrangement for Embracer Group, for Take-Two and, of course, for Gearbox Entertainment," says Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford.

"My primary interest is always Gearbox, including our talent and our customers. I want to personally ensure fans of our games that this arrangement will ensure that the experiences we have in development at Gearbox will be the best it can possibly be."

Embracer Group's fire sale continues

Following a failed $2 billion investment deal with Saudi-owned Savvy Games Group, Embracer Group has been in full meltdown mode, closing studios like Volition, cancelling games like a new Deus Ex, and laying off staff across numerous other teams. 

The company recently sold off Saber Interactive for $450 million, a deal that sees Saber continue working on games like Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake.

Analysis: Probably the best-case scenario

With Embracer Group embracing a death spiral approach to company management, Gearbox going almost anywhere else makes sense. Take-Two Interactive makes an extra layer of sense, as its 2K Games subsidiary retains the publishing rights to Borderlands, the crown jewel of Gearbox franchises and some of the best Xbox games available. The confirmation that the team is working on a new Borderlands game isn't shocking, but it's also good to know.

It's also good to see that Gearbox is keeping most of its other IP, especially Risk of Rain and Homeworld 3. 

With Saber Interactive and Gearbox gone, Embracer has received a cash injection at the cost of some of its most valuable studios and IP. There's still a lot left, but I can't help but wonder who will be next at this point. 

Personally, I'm expecting to see Xbox or Amazon to pick up Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal at some point in the next twelve months, as well as the Tomb Raider and Deus Ex IP. 

What you need to know

• The first trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6 is here. 
• The trailer was originally set to arrive tomorrow, but due to leaks, Rockstar Games launched it early. 
• The trailer confirms the game's Miami-inspired setting in the fictional state of Leonida, with every possible Florida reference and stereotype imaginable. 
• Grand Theft Auto 6 is coming at some point in 2025.

One of the biggest games in history is on the way. 

While Rockstar Games previously planned to reveal Grand Theft Auto 6 with a trailer on Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. ET, a heavily-watermarked version leaked, prompting the developer to release the official trailer a bit early. You can check out the trailer below:

“Grand Theft Auto VI continues our efforts to push the limits of what’s possible in highly immersive, story-driven open-world experiences,” said Sam Houser, founder of Rockstar Games, via a press release. “We’re thrilled to be able to share this new vision with players everywhere.”

The press release also notes that Grand Theft Auto 6 is coming to Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 consoles. Curiously, it does not mention Windows PC, indicating that the game may only come to PC with a later port, similar to Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto 5. 

Where is Grand Theft Auto 6 taking place?

As was shared in prior reports, Grand Theft Auto 6 is taking place in Vice City, a thinly-veiled version of Miami, Florida in the USA. That means more alligators, bikinis, and outrageous headlines per square mile than anywhere else on the planet. 

The game has a duo of protagonists in something of a "Bonnie and Clyde" setup, including the first-ever female protagonist in the franchise. 

When in 2025 will Grand Theft Auto 6 launch?

While the vague release window of 2025 could mean anything, we can infer some things about exactly when this game is slated to arrive. Earlier in the year, Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive shared some projections for fiscal year 2025. For Take-Two, that runs from April 2024 through March 2025. These projections included net bookings projections of $8 billion for the year, around $2.5 billion higher than the prior year. 

As a result, while it's not confirmed that Grand Theft Auto 6 will be launching early in 2025, it certainly seems likely given that Take-Two expects to make far more money than usual in the aforementioned period of time. All of this doesn't change that the game could be delayed even further, as multiple prior Rockstar Games titles have been delayed well past their original intended release year. 

Analysis: A solid look for a game that's not close

Obviously it's just a 90-second trailer, but from the teaser we've got, the tone certainly seems accurate for Florida. I'm curious about possible gameplay improvements and exactly how the duo-protagonist setup will work, but what I've seen so far has me optimistic. Now the wait begins...

What you need to know

• Take-Two Interactive shared its financial results for the Q2 FY24 period ending Sep. 30, 2023. 
• The publisher reported $1.44 billion in net bookings, down 4% year-over-year. 
• Grand Theft Auto 5 has now sold approximately 190 million copies, up around 5 million from the prior quarter.
• A trailer for the next Grand Theft Auto game is coming in early December. 

Another financial results season means even more copies of Grand Theft Auto 5 have been sold. 

Publisher Take-Two Interactive reported $1.44 billion in net bookings for the second quarter in fiscal year 2024, ending Sep. 30, 2023. Grand Theft Auto 5 has reached "approximately" 190 million copies sold, while Red Dead Redemption 2 is at 57 million copies sold. This also comes as Rockstar Games has confirmed that a trailer for the next Grand Theft Auto game is coming in early December. 

AI at Take-Two Interactive?

Speaking on the earnings call accompanying the financial results, CEO Strauss Zelnick was asked about the use of AI in game development. Zelnick noted that he could easily see advantages like having "menial work" reduced, adding that while the company will take advantage of AI advancements, he fully expects competitors to also utilize the technology.

Will there be a GTA movie? 

Zelnick was also asked about the potential for future films based on Take-Two Interactive properties in the wake of the recent announcement that Nintendo will be working on a live-action film based on The Legend of Zelda. Zelnick noted that two films are in development using Take-Two's intellectual property, with the Borderlands film at Lionsgate and a BioShock film in development at Netflix. 

Despite this, Zelnick was cautious around any future announcements, noting that films carry a high degree of risk and citing the Barbie movie — a global hit that's made $1.4 billion at the box office — only expected to create around $115 million in revenue for Mattel. 

Analysis: All eyes on VI

While Take-Two Interactive has plenty of other projects in the works — Judas, the next game from Ghost Story Games and BioShock creator Ken Levine, is especially notable — it's clear as crystal that the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 is the next big beat for this company, and we'll know more of what to expect when the trailer is released in December. 

What you need to know

• Grand Theft Auto 6 is the long-awaited next entry in the gargantuan Grand Theft Auto franchise.
• Initially rumored by a report, Rockstar Games officially confirmed an upcoming reveal of Grand Theft Auto 6, with a trailer coming in early December.
• The announcement comes as part of a 25th-anniversary celebration for the company.

UPDATE Nov. 8 @ 08:30 AM ET: Rockstar Games has taken to X (Twitter) to confirm the upcoming reveal of Grand Theft Auto 6 with plans to debut its first trailer in early December.

One of the most-anticipated games in history is being officially revealed soon. 

It was initially according to a report from Jason Schreier at Bloomberg, who shared on Tuesday that developer Rockstar Games planned to officially unveil Grand Theft Auto 6 "as early as this week," with a trailer for the game coming in December. 

Rockstar Games first officially confirmed that its studios were working on a new Grand Theft Auto game back in February 2022. The prior entry in the franchise, Grand Theft Auto 5, released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2013, with ports to Windows PC, Xbox One and PS4 following in 2014. 

In 2022, Rockstar Games released a remaster of Grand Theft Auto 5 for Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, bringing new performance options and enhanced visuals to the game. 

How big will Grand Theft Auto 6 be?

Grand Theft Auto 5 has sold million of copies every year like clockwork, reaching over 185 million copies sold as of 2023, making it the second best-selling game of all time behind Mojang and Xbox's Minecraft, which currently sits at over 300 million copies sold. It's extremely safe to say that Grand Theft Auto 6 will be an absolutely massive game and a financial juggernaut for Rockstar's parent company, publisher Take-Two Interactive.

Back in May 2023, Take-Two Interactive noted it was preparing for a massive fiscal year, expecting over $8 billion in net bookings in fiscal year 2025, or around $3.5 billion more than in fiscal year 2024. Fiscal year 2025 runs from April 2024 through March 2025, indicating the company expects something in that timeframe to perform ludicrously well. 

A massive game with massive leaks

Quite a bit has already leaked about this game. Prior Bloomberg reports indicated that Rockstar Games would have a duo of protagonists in Grand Theft Auto 6, including a woman, for the first time in the developer's history. 

The company also suffered a massive security breach in September 2022, with a "network intrusion" causing several files to leak. These files contained unfinished animations and early gameplay footage from Grand Theft Auto 6. Two teenagers have been prosecuted as a result of this leak after they tried to ransom off some of the files.

Analysis: Here comes the thunder

I could make some observations about how big this game would be, but they'd come with an obvious nature around the same tone as saying the sky is often blue. This game is going to be monstrous, to the point it'll dominate news cycles for massive periods of time. I'm not the biggest Grand Theft Auto fan, but I hope everyone gets what they want, as I'm not sure any game in history has had to live up to this kind of hype. 

Rockstar Games is one of the last third-party developers that still prioritizes the console experience before releasing a game on Windows PC, but at the very least I expect Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 versions of the game to be confirmed.

What you need to know

• During the FTC vs. Microsoft hearing, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer explained that prior to the Activision Blizzard deal, Microsoft looked at buying Zynga. 
• Zynga is a mobile developer and publisher responsible for numerous games such as the Farmville franchise. 
• Spencer explains that ultimately, the deal didn't work out because Microsoft needed something bigger. 
• Zynga was purchased by Take-Two Interactive for $12.7 billion in 2022.

More and more information continues to pour out of the FTC vs. Microsoft Corp hearing, which is in its second day. 

During the hearing, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer testified to Microsoft counsel that prior to reaching a deal to acquire Activision Blizzard, Microsoft tried buying Zynga. 

Zynga is a developer and publisher responsible for a number of mobile gaming franchises, such as Farmville and Zynga Poker. Ultimately, the purchase didn't work out, with Microsoft evidently wanting even bigger mobile games to help break into that market.

"We have a lot of respect for the people at Zynga and what they've built, but we thought we needed to have something that was even bigger than what Zynga was," Spencer says.

Zynga was ultimately acquired by Take-Two Interactive for $12.7 billion in 2022. Spencer previously spoke at length about Microsoft's desire to build an Xbox mobile store that could help Xbox challenge the "duopoly" held by Apple and Google.

Microsoft currently maintains an extremely limited presence in mobile gaming, with one developer, Alpha Dog Games under Bethesda Softworks, dedicated to making mobile games. Alpha Dog Games' first title under Bethesda, Mighty Doom, launched earlier in 2023. 

Windows Central's take

This isn't too surprising. Microsoft Gaming executives have repeatedly emphasized how much they want to use Activision Blizzard for mobile gaming, and prior to that, looking at a company like Zynga certainly makes sense. 

What you need to know

• Take-Two Interactive is the publishing house responsible for games like Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto, and NBA 2K. 
• A successful quarterly earnings report sent $TTWO stock surging yesterday, on hints that Grand Theft Auto 6 is on the horizon. 
• During the call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick was asked to comment on the Xbox-Activision merger, and offered some support for the deal. 

Yesterday, Take-Two Interactive offered its quarterly earnings report, and investors seemed to enjoy what they heard. 

Take-Two hinted heavily that Grand Theft Auto 6 could be on the horizon, sending the stock on an upwards trajectory. Take-Two was also buoyed by strong results for its sports games like NBA 2K, while signaling that its 2024-25 financial year should be a strong one for the company. 

During the investor's call (via IGN), Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick reiterated some previous comments he'd made about Microsoft's massive deal with Activision-Blizzard, which is tied up in regulatory battles in the United Kingdom and United States. 

"What's good for [Xbox] is also good for the industry," Zelnick said, emphasizing that the firm had been vocally supportive of the deal for some time. Zelnick also discussed Xbox Cloud Gaming and cloud gaming in general — which has become a focal point in regulatory "concerns" over whether or not Microsoft's merger with the Call of Duty maker should go ahead. Zelnick described Xbox Game Pass and cloud gaming as a distribution mechanism, rather than a separate business model. His stance echoes the European Commission, which just approved Microsoft's Activision merger, on the basis that cloud is simply a small part of the wider gaming ecosystem of which Microsoft is not a dominant player. "I think it's important never to confuse a distribution technology with a business model. I would love to believe that streaming our titles would massively expand the marketplace. I'm not sure there's any reason to believe that."

In recent years, Take-Two has increasingly mirrored Activision-Blizzard's service-game model, with Grand Theft Auto Online remaining one of the world's most popular online games. Take-Two also has strong mobile gaming chops since its acquisition of Zynga, which enjoys a large share of online casino games and casual social games, with titles like FarmVille. 

Take-Two likely sees the Activision deal as a way to grow Xbox and thus make PlayStation and Microsoft more competitive in the console space. Right now, PlayStation's dominance means it can demand better deals on content, reducing competition for content acquisition and thus reducing the power publishers have to negotiate favorable deals for themselves. A stronger Microsoft would level the playing field in this area somewhat, which is just one reason why players like EA and Take-Two have largely been supportive of the deal. 

What you need to know

• Take-Two Interactive shared its financial results for FY23 Q4 ending March 31, 2023. 
• Grand Theft Auto 5 has now sold over 180 million copies. 
• Take-Two Interactive is expecting fiscal year 2025 (which runs from April 2024 to March 2025) to be a massive period for the company, with several big game launches.

While there's nothing official, there's some interesting tidbits in the latest financial results from publisher Take-Two Interactive. 

As the company shared details on FY23 Q4's financial results, Take-Two Interactive also provided guidance two years in advance, noting that the company is expecting to launch several games in fiscal year 2025 — for Take-Two, that runs from April 2024 through March 2025 — and achieving a massive $8 billion in net bookings. 

This might provide a hint as to when the company is expecting to launch the widely-anticipated GTA 6 from Rockstar Games, which it previously acknowledged is in active development. For context, fiscal year 2024 is expected to merely achieve around $5.5 billion in net books, with the company having just hit $5.2 billion in net bookings for fiscal year 2023. 

Speaking on the conference call accompanying the earnings, CEO Strauss Zelnick said that Take-Two Interactive is "very confident" in the coming slate of games, while acknowledging how unusual it is to give guidance two years in advance. Take-Two Interactive also shared that several unannounced internal games have been cancelled due to not meeting needed standards.

Take-Two Interactive saw $1.4 billion in net revenue for the quarter, with $926 million in operating expenses, the latter of which was increased by integration of the recently-acquired mobile publisher Zynga. For specific games, Grand Theft Auto 5 has now reached 180 million copies sold, while Red Dead Redemption 2 is up to 53 million copies sold.

Windows Central's take

Obviously nothing is concrete, but I just don't see how Take-Two is aiming for $8 billion without having new Grand Theft Auto title involved. Even launching several other big games from internal studios at 2K and Private Division doesn't seem like it would be enough. There's also the question mark of where Judas from Ken Levine and Ghost Story Games will land.

Time will tell!

An unlikely sequel is on the way. New Tales from the Borderlands is the sequel to the 2014 to 2015 narrative adventure from 2K Games and Telltale Games, Tales from the Borderlands. The original Tales from the Borderlands followed a motley group of misfits outside of the usual range of Vault Hunters, and now it appears the sequel will as well. 

A lot has changed in the Borderlands universe since we first got a narrative-focused game in Tales from the Borderlands, which actually ended up being one of the best Xbox games for story-first players and fans of Borderlands alike. This means that it'll be interesting to see how this entry further shakes things up. Here's everything you need to know about New Tales from the Borderlands.

What is New Tales from the Borderlands?

Like its predecessor, New Tales from the Borderlands is a narrative-focused game, meaning that it's quite different from usual entries in the Borderlands franchise. Unlike its predecessor, New Tales from the Borderlands is not being developed by Telltale Games. Instead, it is a game being developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games. 

Most Borderlands games are first-person "looter shooters" where the goal is to constantly collect better guns and other gear and shooting and smashing through thousands of enemies. Tales from the Borderlands was a big exception to this rule, being instead a "choose your own adventure" game in the vein of other Telltale Games projects like The Wolf Among Us. 

Players explore their surroundings, make dialogue decisions, and complete quick-time events, with the story branching and responding to the choices and comments that players have made. Like the prior game, New Tales from the Borderlands is divided into five episodes making up the game. Unlike its predecessor however, New Tales from the Borderlands will not be launching one episode at a time. Instead, every episode is included in the game from day one. 

This was a major issue with Tales from the Borderlands, as well as other Telltale Games' projects. While the first episode of Tales from the Borderlands launched in November 2014, the story wouldn't be complete until the arrival of Episode 5 in October 2015, almost a year later. On average, players were generally kept waiting for two to three months for each new episode to arrive, something that players won't have to worry about with New Tales from the Borderlands. 

When the original Telltale Games closed in 2018, it seemed like Tales from the Borderlands would forever remain without any sequels. Things changed when 2K Games acquired the rights to Tales from the Borderlands in February 2021, then went on to announce New Tales from the Borderlands in April 2022. The Telltale Games brand has been revived and is working on new projects, including The Wolf Among Us 2, but does not have any involvement in New Tales from the Borderlands.

New Tales from the Borderlands: Trailers

During Opening Night Live at Gamescom 2022, 2K Games and Gearbox officially unveiled the first trailer for New Tales from the Borderlands, which you can check out below.

New Tales from the Borderlands: Characters

Borderlands games always feature a new cast of characters, with the protagonists of the prior games showing up as recurring characters. Despite being a very different style of game, that same pattern holds true here with New Tales from the Borderlands. 

Thanks to a listing of New Tales from the Borderlands going live early before the planned full reveal of the game, we got some details on New Tales from the Borderlands ahead of the first trailer. New Tales from the Borderlands features three playable main characters: Anu, Octavio, and Fran. Meanwhile, the supporting cast will be made up of a mixture of new and returning characters from across all walks of life in the Borderlands universe.

Anu is described as being an "altruistic scientist" who is accompanied by her "streetwise" brother Octavio. Rounding out the trio of protagonists is Fran the Frogurt-slinger. These three will have to deal with massive threats, and player choices will determine just how successful they are.

The story is set on the planet Promethea, which was previously introduced as a major location in Borderlands 3, which saw the Atlas corporation — under the leadership of Tales from the Borderlands protagonist Rhys — fighting off an invasion from Maliwan, a rival corporation. While Atlas was successful in defeating the invaders, the planet is described as being the home of a perpetual war. 

New Tales from the Borderlands: Preorders

Preorders for New Tales from the Borderlands initially went live (seemingly by mistake) on Aug. 17, 2022, before being pulled down after a couple of hours. That was still enough time for us to check out some interesting details regarding what's available in the game. Preorders for the game then went live again when it was officially revealed during Opening Night Live at Gamescom 2022.

Preorders for New Tales from the Borderlands and New Tales from the Borderlands Deluxe Edition — the former is launching at $40, the latter is launching at $50 —  will include the Adventure Capital Pack, which grants players cosmetics for the three aforementioned main characters, as well as a "FL4K Vaultlander" collectible and 10,000 in-game credits. New Tales from the Borderlands will be available physically as well as digitally. 

New Tales from the Borderlands Deluxe Edition also includes a copy of the original game, so if you never played the first Tales from the Borderlands, you can get both games by preordering this version.

New Tales from the Borderlands is a multi-platform game, so it'll be available across Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC, PS5, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.

New Tales from the Borderlands: Release date

According to the initial leaked listing for the game, New Tales from the Borderlands is scheduled to launch on Oct. 21, 2022. This was then backed up with the game's official trailer and reveal during Gamescom, which confirmed the release date. The game was originally announced as launching sometime in 2022, with no specific release date beyond that information.

Recently, many games have been delayed frequently and unexpectedly due to the general state of game development last couple of years. As such, we'll have to wait and see whether New Tales from the Borderlands makes it on time or whether the developers at Gearbox Software will need a bit longer to finish polishing the experience.

What you need to know

• Marvel's Midnight Suns is an upcoming strategy superhero game from Firaxis Games and 2K Games. 
• Marvel's Midnight Suns is being delayed again, with the Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PS5 versions set to arrive sometime before April 2023.
• The last-generation versions of the game are being delayed even further, and do not currently have a release window.

The wait Marvel's Midnight Suns just got a little longer, though it's currently unclear exactly when this superhero take on turn-based strategy will now be arriving.

As part of parent company Take-Two Interactive's financial results for the Q1 2023 period, 2K Games confirmed that Marvel's Midnight Suns will now be launching at some point before March 31, 2023. On the conference call accompanying the earnings release, Take-Two Interactive confirmed this delay period is specifically for the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, and PS5 versions of Marvel's Midnight Suns. 

The last-generation versions on Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch were also delayed, but these versions do not have a new release window. The game was previously delayed from March to October 2022, in order to allow the developers to have more time for polishing the experience.

Developed by the same team behind the XCOM franchise, Marvel's Midnight Suns is a turn-based game that tasks players with building a team to stop Lilith, queen of demons. Additionally, players can create their own custom hero known as The Hunter, who is the one bringing the heroes together.

Take-Two Interactive also shared updates on other game franchises in its portfolio, with Grand Theft Auto 5 selling almost five million copies in its last quarter, reaching nearly 170 million copies sold. Work is continuing on the next entry in the series, which will likely be titled Grand Theft Auto 6. Meanwhile, Red Dead Redemption 2 has reached over 45 million copies sold.

What you need to know

• According to a report from Bloomberg, Rockstar Games has improved its workplace culture during the development of Grand Theft Auto 6. 
• The company is reportedly hiring more producers to avoid crunch, while not allowing "frat-boy" or abusive behaviors. 
• Grand Theft Auto 6 will also reportedly feature a pair of protagonists, including a Latina woman, with the story inspired by Bonnie and Clyde.

Rockstar Games is now a much healthier place to work, with the company taking steps to be more inclusive and cut down on crunch, according to a new report.

Per Bloomberg, Rockstar Games has taken steps to reduce the amount of crunch allowed at the company, including hiring more producers and changes to the design department. As a result, it's now reportedly a better place to work, though these changes — combined with effects from the pandemic — mean that progress on Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6) has been slower than some staff expected, with some estimating it's still at least two years away.

Rockstar Games is also reportedly trying to be a more inclusive company, being careful about the tone of the game, being careful to avoid jokes that "punch down" on minorities. Additionally, GTA 6 will reportedly feature a female protagonist, a Latina woman that is one of two playable characters, with the story taking after the famous criminals Bonnie and Clyde.

Rockstar Games' previous titles have been massive blockbusters, with Grand Theft Auto 5 — a game that first released in 2013 — going on to sell over 165 million copies as of May 2022, making it the second best-selling game of all time behind Mojang Studios' Minecraft. Meanwhile, the 2018 western Red Dead Redemption 2 has sold over 44 million copies. 

What you need to know

• Take-Two Interactive shared its fiscal results for Q4 2022.
• As usual, Grand Theft Auto 5 has sold another five million copies, crossing 165 million copies sold.
• While not giving sales figures, Take-Two Interactive says Tiny Tina's Wonderlands "exceeded expecations."
• Take-Two Interactive plans to launch multiple games like The Quarry and Marvel's Midnight Suns in the coming fiscal year.

Publisher Take-Two Interactive is continuing to rake in success from Rockstar Games, but the company is looking to launch a broad range of games in the future.

As Take-Two Interactive shared in its Q4 2022 fiscal results, the company reported net bookings of $3.41 billion. Grand Theft Auto 5 crossed 165 million copies sold, empowered by the launch of an Xbox Series X|S and PS5 port in March 2022.

This is up from 160 million copies sold in the previous quarter, continuing the clockwork-esque sales of Rockstar Games' juggernaut title. Meanwhile, Rockstar Games' more recent title, the western adventure, Red Dead Redemption 2, is at 44 million sold.

While Take-Two Interactive didn't share sales figures for Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, CEO Strauss Zelnick noted in a conference call accompanying the financial results that the game "exceeded expectations" and that 30% of players had not previously played a Borderlands game.

Looking ahead, Take-Two Interactive plans to publish multiple games in fiscal 2023, including Supermassive Games' horror title The Quarry, a new Tales from the Borderlands game, and Marvel's Midnight Suns from Firaxis Games. The former is slated to arrive on June 10, 2022, while the latter has a Fall 2022 release window. In the more immediate future, the publisher is expecting to close its acquisition of Zynga on May 23, 2022. At he purchase is one of the largest video game acquisitions of all time, second only to Microsoft's pending purchase of Activision Blizzard for almost $69 billion.

Even further ahead, Take-Two Interactive plans to launch 69 games by fiscal 2025. The company is officially working on the next Grand Theft Auto game, which is likely Grand Theft Auto 6. The publisher also signed a deal with Remedy Entertainment to work on a remake of Max Payne and Max Payne 2.

What you need to know

• BioShock is a critically acclaimed game franchise developed by studios under Take-Two Interactive and 2K Games.
• Take-Two Interactive and 2K Games are working on a BioShock movie in partnership with Netflix.
• The last game in the series, BioShock Infinite, launched in 2013.
• A new game is currently in development at Cloud Chamber, a studio under 2K Games.

A BioShock movie is in development, Netflix shared on Tuesday. This movie is being developed as a collaboration between publisher Take-Two Interactive, 2K Games, and Netflix, described as being a film adaption of the BioShock franchise.

The phrasing is ambigious enough that it's not currently clear whether this film would be going over the events of the first BioShock, or if instead it'll attempt to adapt the events of multiple games. No writers or directors for the project have been revealed as of yet.

Take-Two Interactive and 2K Games are currently working on the next entry in the franchise, with a new BioShock game being developed by Cloud Chamber, an internal studio founded specifically for the new game. The first BioShock launched in 2007 to critical acclaim, followed by BioShock 2 in 2010 and BioShock Infinite in 2013.

Following the shutdown of BioShock Infinite developer Irrational Games, creative director Ken Levine has been working on a new game at Ghost Story Games, another internal studio at Take-Two Interactive. This game has reportedly languished in development hell, with delays and reboots attributed to Levine's management style.

Grand Theft Auto 6, or GTA 6, is still years off at best but given the popularity of the franchise, it's no wonder that eager fans are already hungry for any information.

The last GTA title, Grand Theft Auto 5, has sold over 160 million copies, making it one of the most successful games of all time. However, it came out in 2013, so it makes sense that players are expecting a new entry soon. Rockstar Games is officially working on the next entry in the franchise, but little is known right now beyond speculation. Even so, with how very little we know right now, we can make some educated guesses thanks to some rumors from reputable sources that are leaking, giving us a glimpse of what to expect from GTA 6.

When is the release date for GTA 6?

Right now, there's no telling when the release of GTA 6 will be. Tom Henderson and Jason Schreier, a reputable industry insider and journalist respectively, have both indicated that the game is likely several years away, with a possible 2025 window.

What is GTA 6?

GTA 6 is the abbreviated name of the next Grand Theft Auto game, which will almost certainly be named Grand Theft Auto 6. Rockstar Games officially announced that development on the game was happening in February 2022, though of course it has been in development for years before that soft reveal.

Rockstar Games has developed some of the best Xbox games available, with the studio's most recent original game, the 2018 Western epic Red Dead Redemption 2, selling over 40 million copies since launch.

Past Grand Theft Auto games have been third-person games with a huge emphasis on building an empire of crime and allowing players to do different jobs and pull heists in a massive, open-world sandbox setting. The Xbox One, PS4, and PC ports of Grand Theft Auto 5 introduced new features, including a first-person mode as well, something we'd expect to see stay in the next game, especially since this first-person mode carried over into the aforementioned Red Dead Redemption 2.

Where is the GTA 6 map located?

Nothing has officially been announced yet, but we've got an idea of where GTA 6 is taking place. According to well-known Battlefield leaker Henderson, GTA 6 will be set in a modern day Vice City, a city that is based on Miami and the setting for the 2002 title Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Schreier from Bloomberg notes that this information lines up with what he has heard, with VGC's sources also backing this up.

Is GTA 6 an MMO?

We don't know, but there will probably be some MMO-type elements. Henderson has indicated that the map will evolve and change over time, in line with how the map of Fortnite has radically changed across various updates. This is also in line with GTA Online, which has added new areas throughout various content updates and expansions across its long lifespan.

With that in mind, it's unlikely the game will be a "true" MMO and will almost certainly allow players to enjoy the game by themselves if they want, as Rockstar Games has a long history of providing blockbuster singleplayer experiences.

Who are the GTA 6 characters?

We don't know who the main protagonist(s) of GTA 6 will be yet. Some Rockstar Games opt for a single main character, while Grand Theft Auto 5 allowed players to alternate between three different leads: Franklin Clinton, Michael De Santa and Trevor Philips. It's possible we could get just one main character again like past games, or multiple protagonists like in Grand Theft Auto 5. We'll have to wait and see what Rockstar opts to do here.

Will GTA 6 connect to the new version of Grand Theft Auto 5?

Rockstar Games is publishing a new version of Grand Theft Auto 5 for the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PS5. It was originally scheduled to launch on Nov. 11, 2021, but was since delayed to March 15, 2022, with Rockstar Games announcing the delay during the September 2021 PlayStation Showcase.

This version of the game comes with 4K and 60 FPS modes, alongside faster loading by tapping into the consoles' ultra-fast internal SSDs, alongside other features such as using the PS5 DualSense haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. There will also be a standalone version of GTA Online that's free for PS5 owners to keep if they redeem it within the first three months.

It's possible that Rockstar Games is using this port to explore features of the newest consoles and that different features will be carried over into GTA 6, but this is only speculation.

What platforms is GTA 6 coming to?

Given how far out this game is and taking into account the patterns of past Rockstar Games, GTA 6 is almost certainly coming to the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PS5. A PC version will also absolutely happen, but Rockstar may choose to port the game to PC sometime after the initial console launch, as this is something of a pattern for the developer, with the company waiting and porting both Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 to PC around a year after the console versions.

What you need to know

• Take-Two Interactive shared its Q3 2022 financial results.
• Grand Theft Auto 5 has now sold over 160 million copies since it launched in 2013.
• Rockstar Games is working on the next Grand Theft Auto game.

Take-Two Interactive shared its Q3 2022 financial results on Tuesday, as the company reported net revenue of $903.3 million. There were also several updates on game sales over previous quarters. One particular highlight was for Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption 2, which is up to nearly 43 million copies sold.

Another Rockstar Games title, Grand Theft Auto 5, is over 160 million copies sold, up from 155 million in the prior quarter, meaning the game has consistently sold five million copies per quarter for the last few years. An enhanced edition of Grand Theft Auto 5 for Xbox Series X|S and PS5 is slated to launch on March 15, 2022.

Speaking on the issues reported with GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick noted that "many" of the issues facing the game had been fixed, with the company continuing to focus on quality releases in the future.

Looking ahead, Take-Two Interactive is looking to launch Tiny Tina's Wonderlands and Marvel's Midnight Suns in March 2022 and Fall 2022, respectively. The company also expects that 69% of console games sold will be digital, up from 64% last year. Take-Two Interactive is also working to close its acquisition of Zynga, with the combined business giving Take-Two Interactive a new breadth of access in mobile gaming.

Moving out of the year, Rockstar Games is officially working on the next Grand Theft Auto game, which is likely Grand Theft Auto 6. The game does not currently have a release date or release window.

What you need to know

• Rockstar Games is officially working on the next big Grand Theft Auto game.
• The last mainline entry in the series, Grand Theft Auto 5, launched in 2013 for Xbox 360 and PS3.
• Eockstar Games' last big title was Red Dead Redemption 2, which released in 2018.

Rockstar Games officially confirms it is working on a new Grand Theft Auto game. While details are currently scarce, the developer has put rumors to rest, with confirmation that a new entry in the long-running franchise is on the way.

"Many of you have been asking about a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series," Rockstar Games shared on Twitter. "With every new project, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we've previously delivered. We're pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the series is underway."

There's no title or release date at the moment, but it's pretty likely that it'll be called Grand Theft Auto 6. Reports currently indicate that the game might launch in 2024 or 2025, but we'll have to wait for further confirmation.

The news comes alongside a release date and a bevy of detailed improvements for Grand Theft Auto 5 on Xbox Series X, S and PS5. The newly enhanced version of Grand Theft Auto 5 has 4K and 60 FPS options on current-generation consoles, alongside the ability to port save date over.

Grand Theft Auto is one of the most lucrative series in gaming, with Grand Theft Auto 5 selling over 155 million copies so far, in addition to microtransation revenue garnered through GTA Online.

Rockstar Games recently launched another remaster, GTA Definitive Edition, which bundled together three older titles in the franchise: GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas. The remaster was poorly received due to numerous bugs, glitches, poor textures and other issues.

What you need to know

• Ghost Story Games is a small studio under Take-Two Interactive, led by BioShock director Ken Levine.
• According to a report, mismanagement of the studio under Levine has led to repeated delays of the team's next game.
• Current and former employees allege that Levine can be difficult to work with and is prone to lashing out at individuals.

A report from Bloomberg indicates that the next game from BioShock director Ken Levine and his team at Ghost Story Games is facing a troubled development cycle. The studio reportedly began development in 2014, with several delays and complete reboots due to how frequently the game's direction changes under Levine.

Ghost Story Games is a smaller studio of around 30 people, with the the team reportedly working on an immersive sim, a game that was meant to use "Narrative Legos," per a much-repeated GDC talk from Levine. Employees allege that "The ideas and ambitions were great" but the scale of the game wasn't feasible with a small team in time for the original Fall 2017 release window.

Employees speaking to Bloomberg also allege that Levine can become moody, singling out employees and lashing out. While the team reportedly does not have to crunch in order to meet a specific target, the game's launch window continues to change as Levine frequently changes his mind about specific elements or even large parts of the overall direction. One employee notes that the game is in a better shape now and could launch within another two years.

Levine previously directed both the original BioShock and BioShock Infinite with Irrational Games, known in 2007 as 2K Boston. After the launch of BioShock Infinite, most of the staff were laid off, with Levine choosing to start Ghost Story Games to focus on game development with a smaller team.

What you need to know

• During Take-Two Interactive's latest financial results, the company shared that an unnannounced game was canceled, costing $53 million.
• According to a new report, this canceled game was codenamed Volt, a new IP being developed by Hangar 13.
• It's not yet clear if there will be layoffs at the studio.

Developer Hangar 13's new IP, codenamed Volt, has been canceled, per a report from Bloomberg. Hangar 13 is a studio under Take-Two Interactive that previously worked on Mafia 3 and Mafia: Definitive Edition. When Take-Two Interactive shared its financial results for Q2 2022, the company noted that an unannounced game was canceled, incurring a $53 million cost.

This new IP was previously reported as being "Cthulhu meets Saints Row." Bloomberg notes that it isn't currently clear if there will be layoffs at the studio as a result of this cancellation. The game was reportedly in development since 2017, with issues arising due to project reboots and the pandemic. The next steps for the studio are reportedly being discussed on Thursday.

Publisher Take-Two Interactive maintains a large slate of upcoming games, including the GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition, which is set to launch on Nov. 11, 2021. A new enhanced port of GTA 5 for current-generation consoles and PC is set to be available in March 2022. Meanwhile, Firaxis-developed superhero strategy game Marvel's Midnight Suns was delayed, and is now launching sometime in the second half of 2022.

What you need to know

• Marvel's Midnight Suns is a strategy game from Firaxis that was slated to launch in March 2022.
• The game is being delayed to the second half of 2022, Take-Two Interactive confirmed as part of its latest financial results.
• Take-Two Interactive also shared that Grand Theft Auto 5 has sold over 155 million copies.

Marvel's Midnight Suns, a strategy game being developed by XCOM developer Firaxis, is delayed to the second half of 2022, Take-Two Interactive shared as part of its Q2 2022 financial results. The game was previously scheduled to arrive in March 2022 but will now be part of Take-Two Interactive's Q3 or Q4 lineup.

A seperate statement from the developers of the game on Twitter indicated that the delay was made in order to create an "unforgettable adventure" and taking the time needed to make that happen.

Meanwhile, Take-Two Interactive provided a sales update on several of its titles, confirming that GTA 5 is now at over 155 million copies sold, up another five million since the last quarter. A current-generation version of GTA 5 for Xbox Series X|S and PS5 is in development and is slated to launch in March 2022. GTA 5 consistently sells five million copies per quarter, strong performance considering GTA 6 is likely still years away.

Rockstar Games is also launching an upcoming remaster compilation, the GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition, on Nov. 11, 2021. Fellow Rockstar Games title Red Dead Redemption 2 is now at 39 million copies sold, up a million copies from the prior quarter.

Overall, Take-Two Interactive reported net bookings of $984.9 million for the quarter.

What you need to know

• Take-Two Interactive shared its Q1 2022 fiscal quarter financial results.
• As part of these results, Take-Two revealed that Grand Theft Auto 5 crossed 150 million copies sold.
• A new version of Grand Theft Auto 5 is currently in development for Xbox Series X|S and PS5.

Take-Two Interactive reported its financial results for the first fiscal quarter of 2022 on Monday. Notably, the report contained an update on the sales of some of Rockstar Games' massive titles. Grand Theft Auto 5 sales crossed 150 million units sold, up five million from 145 million sold last quarter and up 10 million from Take Two's Q3 2021 results. Rockstar Games' western adventure Red Dead Redemption 2 is also up a million copies sold since the prior quarter, reaching 38 million copies sold.

With Grand Theft Auto 6 still likely years away, these continued sales for Rockstar Games still aren't likely to slow down, with an updated re-release of Grand Theft Auto 5 slated for November 11, 2021. This version will contain various improvements specifically for the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PS5.

Take-Two Interactive reported better than expected financial results for Q1 2022, which the company says was primarily driven by the continued success of Grand Theft Auto Online and Borderlands 3, the latter of which has now reached over 13 million copies sold.

During the accompanying conference call, CEO Strauss Zelnick also spoke on diversity, stating that committing to a diverse workplace is not a single day's work but instead a culture created over time. Take-Two Interactive also confirmed that two unannounced "immersive core" games were delayed to later in fiscal year 2022.

What you need to know

• Take-Two revealed in its latest earnings call that it plans to release over 60 games in the next three years.
• The company also said that the Grand Theft Auto series has passed 345 million units sold, with GTA V making up 145 million of that number.
• Take-Two's upcoming releases are spread throughout its immersive core series, independent, mobile, mid-core, and new iterations of previously released titles.

Shortly after announcing that GTA V will hit Xbox Series X this November, Rockstar parent company Take-Two held its fourth quarter earnings call today where it revealed how well the Grand Theft Auto series has sold and how many upcoming games we can look forward to.

As it turns out, Take-Two has a lot of games in the pipeline across its studios (via ZhugeEX). Between now until the end of Take-Two's fiscal year in 2024, it plans to release over 60 games, many of which are "immersive core," according to the company, likely coming to Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. The rest make up mobile, independent, mid-core, and new iterations of previously released titles.

It's unclear what most of these releases will be, but you can safely bet on your annual sports games alongside a potential BioShock that 2K Games is cooking up and a title coming from Gearbox. As for GTA 6, it's unlikely to release within a year. However, it's not out of the realm of possibility it could hit store shelves sometime before 2024.

In some other interesting sales news, Take-Two revealed how well its blockbuster series have done. Grand Theft Auto has sold in a total of 345 million copies, 145 million of which are from GTA V alone. Red Dead Redemption 2 has passed 37 million sales, Borderlands 3 has sold in about 13 million, and the BioShock series crossed 37 million. Take-Two has plenty of successful series on its hands considering these numbers.

Take-Two makes some of the best Xbox games out there, and we could be adding more to that list in the near future. With E3 less than a month away, we'll see just what Take-Two has up its sleeves for us.

What you need to know

• Take-Two Interactive shared its Q3 2021 financial results.
• Grand Theft Auto 5 has now sold over 140 million copies.
• Red Dead Redemption 2 has sold over 36 million copies.

Take-Two Interactive reported its Q3 2021 financial results today, with net revenue at $860.9 million, down from $930.1 million in Q3 2020, year-over-year. Highlighting its titles is the ongoing juggernaut of Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto V, which has crossed 140 million copies sold, up from 135 million copies sold in Q1 2021.

CEO Strauss Zelnick noted that Grand Theft Auto 5 sold more copies in 2020 than any other year except in its release year of 2013. A current-generation version of Grand Theft Auto 5 is still slated to arrive for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PS5 sometime in the second half of 2021. Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption 2 was also confirmed to have sold over 36 million copies so far.

Speaking on the merger between Embracer Group and Gearbox Software, Take-Two Interactive stated that its publishing relationship for the Borderlands franchise will continue.

NBA 2K21 has sold over 8 million copies, up from 5 million in the past quarter. For more on the company's recent earnings, you can take a look at Take-Two Interactive's Q2 2021 financial results.

Xbox Series X/S

Main

• Xbox Series X: Everything we know
• Best games coming to Xbox Series X/S
• List of Xbox Series X specs
• What is the Xbox Series X release date?
• How much does Xbox Series X cost?
• Why you can't preorder Xbox Series X yet
• Best Xbox Series X Headsets

What you need to know

• Take-Two Interactive looked to acquire Codemasters but was outbid by EA.
• Take-Two Interactive announced today that it is letting its offer on Codemasters lapse.
• This means EA can acquire Codemasters without interference.

Back in November 2020, Take-Two Interactive looked to acquire racing publisher Codemasters with a $973 million bid in cash and stock. This deal was then upset by EA announcing a $1.2 billion bid on Codemasters, which Take-Two Interactive has now responded to. Per a press release, Take-Two Interactive intends to lapse its offer for acquiring Codemasters. This means there will be no counter-bid.

Take-Two Interactive appears to still be interested in purchasing gaming companies however, as the press release states that the company "will continue to pursue selectively organic and inorganic opportunities," with inorganic growth obviously referring to acquisition. Take-Two Interactive subsidiary Rockstar Games recently acquired Ruffian Games and rebranded it as Rockstar Dundee.

With Take-Two Interactive withdrawing, EA will likely complete its acquisition of Codemasters without issue. The video game industry is seeing a huge amount of market consolidation and acquisitions, with Microsoft acquiring ZeniMax Media and AT&T temporarily looking to sell WB Games.

Codemasters is a publisher and developer with a long history making racing games. Codemasters' latest title, Dirt 5, launched alongside the newest generation of consoles, the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PS5 with 120 frames-per-second support.

Xbox Series X/S

Main

• Xbox Series X: Everything we know
• Best games coming to Xbox Series X/S
• List of Xbox Series X specs
• What is the Xbox Series X release date?
• How much does Xbox Series X cost?
• Why you can't preorder Xbox Series X yet
• Best Xbox Series X Headsets

What you need to know

• Take-Two Interactive is a major publisher of titles like 2K Games and Rockstar Games.
• Codemasters is a U.K. developer and publisher known for racing titles like the Dirt franchise.
• Take-Two Interactive is looking to acquire Codemasters for $973 million.
• A full offer has to be made by December 4, 2020.

Update, November 10, 2020 (9:12 a.m ET): The deal has been agreed upon, for a total value of $994 milllion in both cash and Take-Two Interactive stock. The deal will close sometime in 2021.

Codemasters is one of the oldest U.K. game developers and publishers, first founded in 1986. Now, it appears that publisher Take-Two Interactive is looking to acquire Codemasters for $973 million. The press release notes that Take-Two Interactive would be paying roughly $1.58 per share in cash, with an additional rough $4.82 per share in Take-Two stock.

Take-Two has until December 4, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. ET to finalize the offer and terms. Take-Two's latest financials indicate the company is expecting to make $3 billion by the end of the year. Earlier in 2020, Take-Two confirmed that it had acquired Scottish developer Ruffian Games, which has been renamed Rockstar Dundee and integrated into Rockstar Games.

With the Rockstar Games, Private Division and 2K Games divisions under Take-Two, the publisher is clearly looking to step into the world of racing titles with the possible acquisition of Codemasters. Codemasters has hundreds of staff and has worked on major racing franchises like Dirt and F1, with the upcoming Dirt 5 a launch title for the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PS5.

Update, November 10, 2020 (9:12 a.m ET) — Deal agreed upon

Take Two Interactive and Codemasters came to an agreement for a deal worth $994 million in both cash and Take-Two stock. Take-Two Interactive will be acquiring Codemasters, with the deal closing sometime in 2021.

Xbox Series X/S

Main

• Xbox Series X: Everything we know
• Best games coming to Xbox Series X/S
• List of Xbox Series X specs
• What is the Xbox Series X release date?
• How much does Xbox Series X cost?
• Why you can't preorder Xbox Series X yet
• Best Xbox Series X Headsets

What you need to know

• Take-Two Interactive has reported is Q2 financial results for fiscal year 2021.
• The company now expects to make $3 billion by the end of the year.
• Digital sales grew 14% for the quarter to $791.7 million, accounting for 83% of sales.

Take-Two Interactive continues to see surging sales according the Q2 financial results for fiscal year 2021 released today.

"Our positive momentum continued in the fiscal second quarter with operating results that significantly exceeded our expectations," Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said in a press release. "Our terrific results were highlighted by the outperformance of NBA 2K, PGA TOUR 2K21, and the Mafia: Definitive Editions and Mafia: Trilogy, reflecting our ability to deliver consistently the highest quality entertainment experiences to consumers."

Total sales and services sold during the quarter grew to $957.5 million, compared to $950.5 million during the same time last year. The largest contributors to those numbers were NBA 2K21 and 2K20, Grand Theft Auto Online, and Grand Theft Auto V.

While gamers might be frustrated by subscriptions and microtransactions, the financial report shows why they remain a vital part of Take-Two's strategy. Spending on virtual currency, add-on content, and in-game purchases increased 56% in Q2, accounting for 59% of the company's net revenue. The NBA and Grand Theft Auto games also led these transactions.

The company has updated its financial forcast for the year and expects to earn $3 billion. That will likely be helped by the purchase of games for the next-gen consoles releasing later this month.

What you need to know

• Ruffian Games is a Scottish studio best-known for developing Crackdown 2.
• Per a new report, Ruffian Games has been acquired by Take-Two Interactive, parent company of Rockstar Games.
• Ruffian Games has also been rebranded as Rockstar Dundee.

Update, October 14 (11:13 ET): Rockstar Games confirmed today that it has acquired and rebranded Ruffian Games as Rockstar Dundee.

According to TheGamer, Take-Two Interactive has acquired Ruffian Games, the developers of Crackdown 2. A Companies House listing points to the appointment of Take-Two Interactive as having control in the company, as well as rebranding the studio from Ruffian Games to Rockstar Dundee.

Ruffian Games is located in Dundee, Scotland and is previously best-known for developing Crackdown 2. The studio also assisted on projects like Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Crackdown 3. Several developers who previously worked on the Grand Theft Auto franchise currently work at Ruffian, so the acquisition makes sense. Rockstar North is also located in Scotland, while Ruffian has been hiring for developers to work on a project with Rockstar since 2019.

This acquisition brings the Rockstar Games division of Take-Two Interactive to 10 studios. Right now, we know Rockstar is working on a next-generation version of Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PS5, which is set to release in the second half of 2021. Grand Theft Auto V has sold over 135 million copies as of August 2020.

Update, June 15 (11:13 pm ET) — Rockstar Games is growing

The acquisition has been confirmed and Ruffian Games has joined Rockstar Games and been renamed Rockstar Dundee. The 40-person team will be assisting the rest of Rockstar Games on future projects.

"We are thrilled to have Ruffian join the Rockstar Games family," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "The Ruffian team are a talented addition to Rockstar's global studios, and we look forward to working together on future projects."

Xbox Series X/S

Main

• Xbox Series X: Everything we know
• Best games coming to Xbox Series X/S
• List of Xbox Series X specs
• What is the Xbox Series X release date?
• How much does Xbox Series X cost?
• Why you can't preorder Xbox Series X yet
• Best Xbox Series X Headsets

What you need to know

• Take-Two Interactive has posted its financial results for Q1 of financial year 2021.
• Grand Theft Auto V has now sold almost 135 million copies.
• Borderlands 3 has crossed 10.5 million copies sold.

Take-Two Interactive has shared its Q1 results for the 2021 fiscal year. Net bookings for the quarter totalled $996.2 million, which is up 136% year-over-year. Game sales remain strong overall as reported by GamesIndustry.biz, with Grand Theft Auto V reaching almost 135 million copies sold, up from 130 million sold in Q4 of fiscal year 2020.

Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online are coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X in the second half of 2021. Another Rockstar title, Red Dead Redemption 2, has now sold over 32 million copies. Meanwhile, NBA 2K20 has sold over 14 million copies since launching in August 2019. Borderlands 3 has reached 10.5 million copies sold, up slightly from 10 million sold last quarter. Obsidian Entertainment's The Outer Worlds has crossed 2.8 million copies sold.

Sales numbers were not given for Private Division-published Disintegration but Take-Two CEO Zelnick Strauss told GamesIndustry.biz that they were "a bit disappointing." Looking ahead, Private Division has signed deals with League of Geeks, Roll7 and Moon Studios, though the first of these games is not expected to launch until Take-Two's fiscal year 2022.

Take-Two is also raising its expectations of net bookings for the fiscal year to be between $2.8 billion and $2.9 billion, with digital sales of console games accounting for 68% of copies sold.

Xbox Series X/S

Main

• Xbox Series X: Everything we know
• Best games coming to Xbox Series X/S
• List of Xbox Series X specs
• What is the Xbox Series X release date?
• How much does Xbox Series X cost?
• Why you can't preorder Xbox Series X yet
• Best Xbox Series X Headsets