If the relentless anxiety of the real-world news cycle is getting you down, then why not grab a chair and join us for another rundown of what’s been happening in the gaming world this week?
Of course, some of the news out of the industry hasn’t exactly been positive this week either, so it might not be the most relaxing way to spend some time, but it’s not all doom and gloom!
Without further ado, let’s once again take a look at what’s been going on in the world of gaming over the past week.
Elden Ring has sold 30 million copies
FromSoftware’s open-world masterpiece Elden Ring reached 30 million copies sold this week, publisher Bandai Namco announced on social media.
That figure entirely refers to copies of the base game, and doesn’t include the hugely successful Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, although naturally, at least some of the people who make up that 30 million figure will also have bought the expansion.
Bandai Namco will surely be hoping that these figures can translate to sales success for the upcoming Elden Ring Nightreign as well, although we’ll have to wait and see whether that happens.
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers gets a release date
Chinese Soulslike action-RPG Wuchang: Fallen Feathers got itself a release date this week, and it won’t be long before you get to check the game out.
The game, which takes place in the ancient Chinese kingdom of Shu during the Ming dynasty, will be launching on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series on July 24th.
It’ll also be available on Game Pass on day one, although as usual, you’ll need to be signed up to the PC or Ultimate tiers to play it on the service if that’s where you want to check it out.
EA has been hit by more layoffs and a Titanfall game has apparently been cancelled
This week, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reported that EA has laid off around 300 to 400 employees, about 100 of which were working at Titanfall developer Respawn.
According to Schreier’s report, the layoffs were also accompanied by the cancellation of a project known internally as Project R7, which was an extraction shooter set in the world of Titanfall.
Of course, the game wasn’t officially announced, so it’s impossible to verify Schreier’s report either way, but Respawn and EA both confirmed the layoffs independently of one another.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows gets its first post-launch roadmap
Ubisoft revealed the first Assassin’s Creed Shadows post-launch roadmap this week, and it includes lots of gameplay improvements, new story stuff, and more.
As spotted by Eurogamer, the roadmap will include new story “drops” that will be entirely free for all players, adding new allies and activities plus “additional backstory” elements.
You can also look forward to new difficulty settings, New Game Plus, and a number of other changes that should be very pleasing indeed to fans of the Japan-set open-world action-RPG.
EA will “pause” development on rally games
EA announced this week that it will be “pausing” development on its rally franchises, including the likes of EA Sports WRC and Dirt.
Technically speaking, EA says the pause is just “for now”, but it’s not likely we’ll be seeing more rally racing games from the publisher for a while, unfortunately.
This also means the fate of developer Codemasters looks to be up in the air; the studio’s social media has been scrubbed clean, which suggests that a shutdown, or at the very least a significant downsizing, could be on the cards.
Evil Dead: The Game is being delisted
Asymmetrical horror multiplayer game Evil Dead: The Game is being delisted from digital storefronts, according to publisher Saber Interactive.
In a statement provided to Eurogamer, Saber says that it’s “begun the process of removing the game from digital storefronts”, but that those who already own the game will still be able to play it.
Unfortunately, however, if you don’t already have Evil Dead: The Game, you can no longer purchase it from certain stores, and it looks like those on which the game is technically still available will soon follow.
Xbox prices are going up
Just weeks after the furore surrounding Nintendo’s $80 games, Xbox has announced that it, too, will be raising the prices of some of its first-party offerings, as well as its Xbox hardware.
Starting from this holiday season, certain Xbox games will cost $80 (that’s probably £75 in UK money), while console costs will jump for most Xbox models as well.
The move comes as hardware sales for Xbox plummet, with rumours swirling that the next generation of Xbox consoles won’t be traditional consoles at all and will be closer to PCs in terms of functionality.
Grand Theft Auto 6 has been delayed to 2026
In perhaps one of the most shocking (and yet somehow still entirely expected) developments of the year so far, Rockstar and Take-Two announced this week that Grand Theft Auto 6 will be delayed until 2026.
In the announcement, the studios say they’re “sorry” that the game’s release will be “later than you expected”, but that the extra time is necessary to ensure that GTA 6 is “at the level of quality you expect and deserve”.
At the very least, there’s a small silver lining here; although GTA 6 has been delayed, we do at least know that it will be arriving on May 26th, 2026.
Epic changes its revenue model for developers
This one’s more of a win for developers than it is for consumers, although there’s a good chance that it’ll have a knock-on effect in that regard.
Epic announced this week that it will change its revenue model so that developers don’t have to pay anything on the first $1m they earn through the Epic Games Store, with the standard 88-12 model kicking in after that.
The announcement also came alongside news that a new Webshop system will allow developers to send customers away from traditional mobile payment methods and towards other payment platforms.
