4 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Games Archive

Archives for July 2026

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Valve released the CAD files for the Steam Machine.

Can’t wait to see what people make using them. Hopefully some cool front plates?

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Go read this report from a rally opposing the Xbox layoffs.

Aftermath wrote about a rally on Wednesday at ZeniMax’s office in Rockville, MD. ZeniMax, which oversees studios like Bethesda, was hit with 379 cuts in the state of Maryland as part of the broader Xbox layoffs.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
How well does the Steam Machine work if it’s running Windows?

ETA PRIME tries to answer that question (while we’re revisiting our initial rating) with some benchmarking courtesy of the Windows drivers Valve released earlier this month. As Videocardz points out, on this unit with 64GB of RAM, the results were pretty close across the three games tested, with SteamOS winning in 1080p across Cyberpunk 2077, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Horizon Zero Dawn, but Windows moving a couple of frames per second ahead at 4K rendering.

Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
A new Netflix game fore you.

The streamer announced its next TV game, called straightforwardly Netflix Minigolf, which is described as pinball meets minigolf, and features courses based on shows like Stranger Things and Squid Game. It launches on July 28th, and follows other recent experiments like the interactive horror game Unhinged.

A screenshot from the video game Netflix Minigolf.
Image: Netflix
Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
Mechanism’s desk stand turns your handheld into a tiny desktop.

CNC aluminum arms, built-in cord keeper, folds down for travel, adjustable tension, Allen wrench storage in the steel base. The best part is you can mount multiple extra items to its parallel arms using Mechanism’s other bits. $39 for the stand on July 17th.

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1/6Images: Mechanism
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
More details about the Xbox layoffs at ZeniMax Media in Maryland.

379 positions were cut in the state, according to a WARN notice obtained by Game Developer’s Chris Kerr. The cuts include major layoffs in Rockville, where the Bethesda Game Studios HQ is located.

Game File reported on the changes as well, including senior leadership departures at Zenimax Online Studios.

Update: Added Game File’s report.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
The Duskbloods, FromSoftware’s Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, is getting a network test in August.

Applications open on July 22nd at 10AM ET, and you’ll need to have a Switch 2 and an active Nintendo Switch Online membership to participate. Applications will be accepted in “the order that they are received,” so if you want a chance to try it, be ready on this page that day.

Selections will be announced on August 7th at 9AM ET. The test will run at specific times from August 21st through August 23rd.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
On CFB 27 and #PlayDontPay.

On Pablo Torre Finds Out, comedian Dan Soder talks about the backlash that pushed EA to remove microtransaction paywalls it had added to single-player modes.

We’ll see how long that holds, but as the crew of Shutdown Fullcast points out, EA could sell things people want, like a SWAC addition, or what I want: a Pony Excess DLC pack that lets me recruit Eric Dickerson with cash and cars.

TC Sottek
TC Sottek
MMOs are so back!

I love that we’ve got dueling MMO stories on The Verge this week. First, from Kallie, about the EverQuest revival: a wild comeback for one of the biggest and most important MMOs ever. Then, from Andrew, about the world’s tiniest MMO, called PointlessQuest. Are the quests endless or pointless? You decide.

The tiniest MMOThe tiniest MMO
Andrew Webster