And so we find ourselves at the conclusion of another week, and it’s the first full week of 2026, so things in And so we find ourselves at the conclusion of another week, and it’s the first full week of 2026, so things in the gaming world are very much settling down and returning to normal.
As we’ve discussed before, the post-Game Awards period can be a little quiet, but if you know where to dig (and we always do!), you’ll find something that’s worth talking about.
That’s what we’ve done for you today, so pull up your favourite chair, grab a drink, and let’s take a look at the world of gaming over the last seven days or so!
It looks like Arc Raiders has sold 12 million copies
According to analytics firm Alinea, it looks like extraction shooter Arc Raiders may have just passed the 12 million sales mark, which is very impressive indeed.
The extraction shooter reportedly passed seven million copies sold on Steam alone last weekend, which means it’s picked up another five million for itself on other platforms.
Alinea says Arc Raiders sold 250,000 copies on Boxing Day this year, so it seems that many were looking for ways to spend the money they were gifted over Christmas. There are worse ways, after all!
Final Fantasy IX’s character artist leaves Square Enix
Toshiyuki Itahana, the man responsible for the character art in Square Enix’s beloved Final Fantasy IX, left the publisher this week, citing a desire to become a freelance artist.
In his note to fans, Itahana said that upon reflecting on Final Fantasy IX’s 25th anniversary (which passed last year), he decided it was time to seek pastures new.
He isn’t retiring, though; Itahana says he hopes to continue creating art for games on a freelance basis, so hopefully, we’ll see his work in something else soon.
Xbox Game Pass’ first wave of January games has been revealed
If you’re still a subscriber to Xbox Game Pass, you’re in for quite the haul this week, it seems, although the waters have been muddied a little by the tier shake-up Microsoft introduced late last year.
Games like Brews & Bastards, Little Nightmares: Enhanced Edition, and the Pixel Remaster version of celebrated JRPG classic Final Fantasy are all joining the service in January, so rejoice!
As the month moves on, you can also look forward to Star Wars Outlaws, Resident Evil Village, and handcrafted Metroidvania Mio: Memories in Orbit if you’re signed up to the service.
Sony wants AI to help you get unstuck from games
This week, it emerged that Sony has filed a patent for an AI system that will use a “ghost” to help you get unstuck if you happen to hit a dead end in a game.
The system, known as Ghost Player, would include two different modes: Guide Mode and Complete Mode. The former would show a player how to achieve something while the latter would simply achieve it for them.
We have to admit we find it rather difficult to understand the point of this system; most modern Sony games are already falling over themselves to be as easy as possible, it seems to us.
007 First Light’s PC specs are here
We now know what kind of a PC you’re going to need if you want to run 007 First Light, thanks to new specs released by IO Interactive this week.
It’s a pretty permissive set of specs; you’re not going to need too beefy a machine if you want to run the game at 1080p and 60fps, but strangely, there’s no listing for anything above that.
Presumably, you are going to need quite the PC if you want to play 007 First Light at 1440p or 4K with a decent frame rate, but if you’re still rocking 1080p, you should be OK.
The Tomb Raider series has revealed more of its cast
Do you want to know who’s playing Lara’s butler Winston in Amazon’s upcoming Tomb Raider series? How about her fast-talking assistant Zip?
Well, thanks to a post by Amazon this week, we’ve learned more about the show’s cast list, and it’s got lots of stars, although still no release date, unfortunately.
The cast includes the likes of Sigourney Weaver, Celia Imrie, and Jason Isaacs, so it’s bound to be an entertaining watch with talent like that on board.
Nintendo is releasing new Joy-Con 2 colours
Are you tired of your Joy-Con 2 colours? Do you want to give your Switch 2 a little more pep? Well, Nintendo might well have the solution for you.
New Joy-Con 2 colours are being released in February, giving the Switch 2 a lift in the form of new light green and light purple designs.
Sadly, the colours won’t apply to the actual face of the controllers, so you’ll still be looking at black Joy-Con 2s when you’re admiring your console, but hey, it’s a start!
An Xbox Developer Direct is coming this month
Xbox is set to reveal more details about the games it’s got on its upcoming slate later this month, as the company has revealed an Xbox Developer Direct presentation for January 22nd.
The show will focus on the triple threat of Playground Games’ Fable, open-world racer Forza Horizon 6, and action RPG Beast of Reincarnation, the latter created by Pokemon’s Game Freak.
Xbox hasn’t made any mention of surprises or other games being shown off during the show, but we’d be surprised if there weren’t at least one or two unexpected treats.
Phasmophobia’s Kinetic Games is getting into publishing
Kinetic Games, the studio behind Phasmophobia, announced this week that it’s opened up an indie publishing label to help developers get their games out there.
The aptly-named Kinetic Publishing will focus on developers who have a “clear vision for their title” and who are “12-18 months from release”, so you’ll likely only hear from games that are pretty much certain to launch.
The first game on Kinetic Publishing’s slate hasn’t been announced yet, so we’ll have to wait to see what the studio has up its sleeve for its debut in publishing.
