11 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Gaming

The Verge’s gaming section brings the latest video game news, reviews of the most exciting releases, and interviews with the industry’s biggest names. We cover everything from PlayStation and Xbox blockbusters, to quirky Nintendo games, to the cool indie gems on PC and Android that you might otherwise miss.

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Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Heart Machine’s Metroid-style action game is launching today on Nintendo Switch 2.

Possessor(s) was a bit of a slow burn for me when I reviewed it last year, but I’m glad I stuck with it.

In addition to Switch 2, it’s also available on PC and PS5, and the game has received a permanent price drop on all platforms to $9.99.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Steam now lets you manage downloads on remote devices.

It’s part of a big update Valve released for Steam. The update also includes gamepad improvements like a “low battery level toast” and a battery indicator in the header while you’re using wireless controllers. The Steam Deck got a big update with many of these improvements, too.

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Denuvo DRM reportedly “fully” bypassed or cracked.

The video game piracy community is claiming Denuvo’s anti-piracy software can now be cracked or bypassed on every title that uses it, as TechSpot and XDA report. Denuvo and 2K Games are reportedly pushing back already with a “14-day mandatory online check” for popular games like NBA 2K25 and 2K26.

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
Ayaneo is raising prices for most of its products due to the RAM shortage.

After suspending preorders for its $1,999 Next 2 handheld because the rising cost of storage made it too expensive to build, Ayaneo says it has been ”forced to increase prices across most product lines” as a result of the RAM shortage. It has also restocked several of its best selling handhelds including the Pocket DS, but in very limited quantities.

A person holding and playing a game on an Ayaneo console.
Image: Ayaneo
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Netflix has a new party game where you match GIFs with captions.

It looks very Jackbox-like — though if you want to play some actual Jackbox games on Netflix, that’s an option, too.

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
Dbrand has a better angle for turning the Switch 2 Joy-Cons into a gamepad.

Unlike the grip that Nintendo bundles with its latest console, Dbrand’s $19.95 Joy-Lock Controller Holder lets you adjust the angle of the Switch 2’s Joy-Cons using a ratcheting mechanism. You can also add a pair of beefier grips for an additional $19.95, and enhance the thumbsticks with a pair of stick-on textured caps for $9.95.

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Dbrand’s Joy-Lock Controller Holder shown with and without Switch 2 Joy-Cons attached.
For around $50 you can turn the Switch 2’s Joy-Cons into a comfortable controller that’s cheaper than Nintendo’s Switch 2 Pro controller.
Image: Dbrand
Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
A GPU with more memory? In this economy?

Nvidia is launching a 12GB version of its RTX 5070 laptop GPU, to go along with the existing 8GB configuration. Nvidia’s blog post explains how this will actually help supply during the RAM shortage:

In order to maximize memory availability, we are releasing the GeForce RTX 5070 Laptop GPU 12GB configuration with 24Gb G7 memory. This gives our partners access to an additional pool of memory to complement the 16Gb G7 supply that currently ships with most GeForce GPUs. The 12GB configuration will exist alongside the current 8GB configuration, and allows our partners to bring a broader range of GeForce RTX 5070 laptops to consumers.

Behold the crown jewel of outrageous gaming laptops

8

Verge Score

The $5,500 dual-screen Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo is ‘who is this for’ incarnate. But it slaps.

Antonio G. Di Benedetto
Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
It’s a lovely morning in the village, and you are a chaotic robot.

Tiny Delivery is a cozy adventure game by indie developer Sinica that has big Untitled Goose Game vibes. Instead of an evil bird, you play a small robot courier “with a big job and questionable methods,” according to the Steam listing, with a release window set for Q3 - Q4 2026.

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Our Steam Controller AMA for subscribers is starting soon!

If you have any burning questions about Valve’s new gamepad after reading our reviews, Cameron Faulkner and I will be responding in the comments of this article starting at 3PM ET.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Valve tells IGN that it’s “hard at work” on the next Steam Deck.

There’s still no word on when it will be out, though. And with Valve still working on getting the Steam Controller out the door next week and shipping the Steam Frame and Steam Machine sometime this year, we could be waiting a while for a Steam Deck 2.

Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
Lose the new Steam Controller? You can ring it like a phone.

Every controller should have this, right? With most pads, you’d be lucky to even vibrate them at a distance — but TIL that official Nintendo Switch 2 pads do this too.

Valve’s new Steam Controller is as good as I hoped

It’s not perfect, but I’m buying one anyway.

Jay Peters
Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
The Time Frog Color is a watch-sized Game Boy Color that plays tiny carts.

Instead of taking the easy route with an emulator, Chris Hackmann, the modder behind the excellent Frog Boy Color, created a watch-sized Game Boy Color using the handheld’s original CPU. It also plays games through custom tiny cartridges and features a tiny D-pad on the side along with other button controls.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Our first look at Alien: Isolation’s sequel.

In 2024 Creative Assembly announced a followup to the only game that has ever made me genuinely freeze in fear. A year and half later, yesterday’s “Alien day” (4/26, get it?) brought us a brief first look. We don’t see much, but it looks like this time we might be going planetside.

Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
The critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV is coming to the Switch 2.

Square Enix just announced a bunch of news for its MMO, including an expansion called Evercold, an Evangelion crossover, and a port for Nintendo’s new console in August. The Switch 2 version will get a month-long (free) early access period, though it sounds like it will have its own separate subscription.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Baldur’s Gate 3 books are coming soon.

The main highlight is a prequel novel, Baldur’s Gate 3: Astarion, by T. Kingfisher, coming September 29th, plus a notebook, coloring book, and a cookbook, which are all coming out this year.

Publisher Random House Worlds says it plans for the initiative to continue with more titles next year.

The cover of Baldur’s Gate 3: Astarion.
Image: Random House Worlds
Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Video game movies have become a battlefield.

If we’re getting a Call of Duty movie, I guess it only makes sense that we get a Battlefield one as well. According to the Hollywood Reporter, EA’s shooter series is being adapted into a film with longtime Mission Impossible director Chrisopher McQuarrie at the helm, and Michael B. Jordan attached as star.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
“I want to make the right decision, not the fastest decision.”

That’s new Xbox boss Asha Sharma to Game File’s Stephen Totilo, when asked if there is a timeline for making a decision about how Xbox might change its approach to exclusivity.

Totilo interviewed Sharma and chief content officer Matt Booty following their “We Are Xbox” memo published on Thursday.

Saros is pure action nirvana

Returnal developer Housemarque is back with a PS5 exclusive that delivers a euphoric, trance-inducing experience.

Lewis Gordon
Tom Warren
Tom Warren
This is Microsoft’s new Xbox logo.

Microsoft has scrapped Microsoft Gaming in favor of Xbox today, and it’s also starting to roll out a new Xbox logo. The new logo started appearing on Microsoft’s campus this week, just in time for Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s all-hands meeting earlier today. The new Xbox logo has a more glassy look, and I understand Microsoft has also been using this new design for some of its internal Project Helix materials.

Image: Microsoft
Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Are you ready, kids?

Ubisoft just officially unveiled its Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag remake, and you’ll be able to live out your Jack Sparrow fantasies pretty soon: it’s launching on July 9th. Here’s a gameplay trailer for a little more detail.

Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Somehow Yoshi got even more adorable.

There’s just something impossibly charming about the storybook art style of the upcoming Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, but if you’re curious how the Switch 2 game actually plays, Nintendo just dropped a six-minute-long overview trailer. The only thing missing is Donald Glover.

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
8BitDo’s Xbox-themed keyboard gets a matching numpad.

Nearly a year-and-a-half after launching its bright green Retro 87 Mechanical Keyboard - Xbox Edition, 8BitDo has announced a matching version of its wireless numpad/calculator. Even the 8BitDo Retro 18 Mechanical Numpad - Xbox Edition’s LCD display is green, and you can preorder it now for $44.99 with shipping starting on May 6th.

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

<em>The numpad is officially licensed and compatible with Windows and Android devices.</em>
<em>Battery life is estimated to be up to 160 hours of use, depending on whether you use Bluetooth or 2.4GHz connectivity.</em>
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The numpad is officially licensed and compatible with Windows and Android devices.
Image: 8BitDo
Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
We found Microsoft’s amicus brief about the Xbox mobile game store.

Microsoft’s new gaming boss said the “idea” isn’t dead, pointing onlookers to a legal brief it filed in a case. That case is Epic v. Google, and the brief is an argument that Judge Donato should stay the course and force Google to carry stores like Microsoft’s. There, Microsoft claims it’s put “significant efforts” behind “new consumer offerings” for Android.