GameRant

Here's a small story with a big industry implication. Three Xbox titles, Creepy Tale, Creepy Tale 2, and StrikeForce Kitty, have been hard delisted and removed from the libraries of players who already purchased them, reportedly stemming from a royalties dispute between the developer and its publisher. Players who still have the games installed can keep playing, but they can no longer redownload them, and there's no clear path to a return. These are small indie titles, so the number of affected buyers is limited, but the precedent is not: a completed purchase was undone by a business disagreement the customer had no part in. As the industry moves toward digital-only hardware, this is the question worth sitting with. If a storefront can quietly remove something you paid for, what does ownership actually mean, and who is responsible for protecting it? Full story: https://lnkd.in/g9WnSZ-Q

In our latest exclusive interview, we sat down with Beast of Reincarnation director Kota Furushima to unpack an unexpected creative touchstone for 株式会社ゲームフリーク（GAME FREAK inc.）'s upcoming action RPG. While the game has drawn frequent comparisons to Sekiro and NieR: Automata, Furushima points instead to Ridley Scott's classic Blade Runner as the work that shaped his thinking, praising its world-building and its way of "mixing reality in fiction." That influence surfaces most intriguingly in the game's Golems, robotic shells housing transferred human consciousness that raise the same enduring question Blade Runner posed: what actually makes us human? Read the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/gNEJCwRv

Ten years on, #PokemonGO is still writing new chapters, and Anthony Taormina was in New York to see the franchise deliver on a promise it made at launch. To mark the game's 10th anniversary and GO Fest Global 2026, developer Scopely Explore staged a Times Square takeover where more than 1,000 players battled Mega Mewtwo Y together in a "Unity Raid," the game's early trailer playing out across the district's massive billboards in real time. It was a striking example of a mobile title turning a decade-old marketing vision into a genuine live event. Just as notable was the studio's candor about the game's rocky moments, from launch-day server crashes to the infamous first GO Fest, and how those lessons now shape its roadmap. Looking ahead, Scopely Explore framed the next decade around three pillars: community, core memories, and multi-generational play, a reminder that Pokemon GO's staying power comes as much from the connections it creates as the Pokemon it features. Read our full on-the-ground feature: https://lnkd.in/gzbk7pe8

GameRant is #hiring! 📣 We are expanding our gaming and entertainment segments and are looking for passionate and experienced writers to join our team! Here's what we're looking for: - Gaming Features & Lists Contributors - Mobile Gaming Specialists - Gaming Streamer & Creator Specialists For more information about our available opportunities, and to submit an application, visit: https://lnkd.in/eFFWAzTk 🎮 #freelance #gaming #writers #anime

GameRant went hands-on with Beast of Reincarnation, and it may represent the most significant creative swing of 株式会社ゲームフリーク（GAME FREAK inc.）'s career outside of Pokemon. In our two-hour preview, the combat emerged as the standout: a parry-and-posture system in the vein of Sekiro, deepened by Koo, a canine companion whose quasi-turn-based "Blooming Arts" abilities layer real strategy on top of the real-time action. It is a design that meaningfully differentiates the game from its soulslike peers rather than simply imitating them. Set in a post-apocalyptic Japan where humanity survives inside robotic Golems, the world carries clear NieR and Stellar Blade influences. Our preview notes the narrative still reads a little familiar at this early stage, but the mechanical foundation is exceptionally strong, and the studio's ambition is evident throughout. Full hands-on-preview: https://lnkd.in/gjPkP2H5

GameRant went hands-on with Beast of Reincarnation and sat down with Game Director Kota Furushima for an exclusive interview about 株式会社ゲームフリーク（GAME FREAK inc.）'s boldest step beyond Pokemon yet. The "one-person, one-dog" action RPG pairs protagonist Emma's real-time swordplay with command-based abilities from her canine companion, Koo, a design Furushima describes as blending real-time action with turn-based-style tactics to reflect the bond between the two. Set in a post-apocalyptic Japan two millennia in the future, Beast of Reincarnation launches August 4 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. https://lnkd.in/gaGMRPJN

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is the best Assassin's Creed in years. Ubisoft Singapore has delivered a standout. Rather than a simple nostalgia play, Resynced reads as a thoughtful modernization of the beloved 2013 original. The headline change is a full combat overhaul that removes Hidden Blade combat in favor of kicks, trips, and takedowns, finally aligning gameplay with Edward Kenway's identity as an opportunistic pirate rather than a traditional Assassin. New Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet side quests, additional naval officers, and a fresh endgame chapter all feel like natural extensions of the source material rather than bolted-on additions. As a template for future franchise remakes it sets a high bar. Read Joshua Duckworth's full review: https://lnkd.in/ghp-364S

How much would you pay to keep a piece of PlayStation history? With Sony Interactive Entertainment winding down the PS3 and PS Vita digital storefronts over the next year, a significant slice of PlayStation history is about to become much harder to access, and much more expensive to own. Roughly 20 classic PS1 titles are only purchasable through those closing stores or as original discs on the resale market, where prices have climbed sharply. The Misadventures of Tron Bonne now runs around $272.50 and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment about $259.99, with cult favorites like Xenogears, Vagrant Story, and Parasite Eve close behind. It is a clear example of why game preservation continues to be such an important conversation for the industry. Once these storefronts close, the digital route disappears, leaving collectors to compete over a shrinking pool of physical copies.

Anthony Taormina went hands-on with The Blood of Dawnwalker, the debut RPG from Rebel Wolves, a studio founded by former developers behind The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077. After several hours with it, our takeaway is that the game reads as a genuine evolution of the narrative-driven RPG, not just a Witcher homage. Players take on Coen, a reluctant vampire given 30 days and nights to save his family, and that time system is the standout: every quest carries a real cost, so the story bends around the choices each player makes rather than funneling everyone toward the same handful of endings. It lands as a legitimate Game of the Year contender ahead of its September 3 release. Read our full hands-on impressions: https://lnkd.in/gD2RrebF

Former PlayStation boss shawn layden has offered a candid read on Sony's decision to end physical disc production, and what it may signal for the PlayStation 6. Speaking to Eurogamer, Layden framed the move as a "straight spreadsheet decision" driven by the widening gap between digital and disc sales, rather than nostalgia or the second-hand market. Having spent three decades at Sony, he noted the company weighed removing the disc drive for years, waiting until global broadband could support a download-first experience for most customers. He believes the industry may have now reached that tipping point. The bigger implication: if PlayStation fully commits to an all-digital PS6, it could accelerate the rest of the industry, Xbox included, toward the same shift, marking one of the clearest signs yet that the physical media era is winding down. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gw7aEKid