Sandfall Interactive and Kepler Interactive have released Patch 1.2.3 for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and it nerfs Maelle, a party member who can deal absolutely massive amounts of damage with the right character build.
Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG, and each party member acquired over the course of the game has a set of abilities that offer up a distinct playstyle. Maelle's abilities center around switching between Offensive, Defensive, and Virtuose stances to maximize defense or damage. But a powerful late-game ability called Stendahl was a little too powerful, and with the right Pictos equipped, players can deal several million in damage using this ability.
On May 8, the developers admitted that they made Stendahl a little too powerful and would nerf it in the next patch. Now that the patch notes are here, Stendahl damage has been reduced by a whopping 40%. While that's a pretty massive nerf, Maelle's Medalum weapon now doubles all damage in Virtuose stance. This patch also brings improved widescreen support with it, and gets rid of a lot of areas where players could get stuck while exploring the world map.
Doom Eternal built upon the strong foundations that the series' 2016 reboot established, evolving the classic and frenetic first-person action by introducing a complex layer of strategy and quick decision-making. It was a change that, while popular, did alienate some players looking for something akin to its more straightforward predecessor, with its emphasis on consistent movement, resource juggling, and frequent weapon switching, all of which could detract from the core principles of gratuitous demon slaying. As a response to that, Doom: The Dark Ages doesn't retreat backwards, but instead threads the needle by reestablishing an engrossing power fantasy with simple but satisfying mechanics that push its combat into uncharted territory for the series.
Doom: The Dark Ages puts a big emphasis on standing your ground in a fight, rather than moving around it. To do this, you're permanently equipped with a shield that lets you parry enemy attacks and block incoming damage. It's a versatile tool that soaks up damage or redirects it with timely blocks and parries, giving you the ability to go toe-to-toe with far more enemies than before. In typical Doom fashion though, the best defense is often also an incredibly aggressive offense. Your shield is far more than a means to defend yourself--it's a weapon in every sense of the word. When you're not slicing a demon's head off with its chainsaw edges, you can bounce it between enemies or shatter armor that has been super-heated by your bullets. It's a great tool for closing distance, too, since it substitutes Eternal's air dash for a long-reaching shield bash that comes in handy across the larger battlefields. The shield locks onto distant targets and at the press of a button the Slayer launches towards enemies and obliterates them with devastating effect. For a series so hyper focused on its array of weaponry, it's curious to have the biggest change come in the form of a defensive addition. But with the variety the shield alone adds to the existing formula, it's an addition that will be difficult to move on from.
Doom: The Dark Ages
You'll still have to manage how you kill demons in order to keep your health and ammo topped up, but the importance of this has been de-emphasised when compared to Doom Eternal. Instead, that focus shifts towards a rhythm that arises from balancing parries and melee attacks in equal measure. You're given powerful attacks that you can deliver routinely with your fists and other melee weapons, all of which are tied to refresh timers that you can shorten by parrying incoming attacks. It's deeply satisfying to rush into the face of a towering demon with a shield bash, parry a string of attacks, and then deliver a flurry of your own in their dazed state. Each reverberating parry and subsequent crushing counter-attack pauses the action ever so slightly to emphasize the impact of your actions, giving each skirmish a crunchy feel that never gets old.
Nintendo updated its user agreement and privacy policy ahead of the Switch 2 launch next month, and while the company briefly listed a few of the changes in the email it sent out, one of the big changes might have escaped your notice. A new clause related specifically to "unauthorized use" and other keywords like "bypass" and "modify" in the US version of the email gives Nintendo the right to make your console "unusable" if it discovers that you've broken any of these rules.
As spotted by Game File's Stephen Totilo, the wording for the Licence for Digital Products section has been amended. "You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with the foregoing restrictions Nintendo may render the Nintendo Account Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part," the text reads. Here it is, in full:
Without limitation, you agree that you may not (a) publish, copy, modify, reverse engineer, lease, rent, decompile, disassemble, distribute, offer for sale, or create derivative works of any portion of the Nintendo Account Services; (b) bypass, modify, decrypt, defeat, tamper with, or otherwise circumvent any of the functions or protections of the Nintendo Account Services, including through the use of any hardware or software that would cause the Nintendo Account Services to operate other than in accordance with its documentation and intended use; (c) obtain, install or use any unauthorized copies of Nintendo Account Services; or (d) exploit the Nintendo Account Services in any manner other than to use them in accordance with the applicable documentation and intended use, in each case, without Nintendo’s written consent or express authorization, or unless otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law. You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with the foregoing restrictions Nintendo may render the Nintendo Account Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part.
In comparison (via Eurogamer), the clause is different for people with a UK Nintendo account, as it specifically states that "unauthorised use of a Digital Product may result in the Digital Product becoming unusable."
Last year, the Alien franchise returned to video games with Alien: Rogue Incursion, a VR-only title that was available on PS5, Meta Quest 3, and PC. Now, Rogue Incursion is set to get a new, non-VR enhanced edition that's just a few months away.
Survios--the developer and publisher behind the game--has announced that Alien: Rogue Incursion - Part One: Evolved Edition will hit PC and PS5 on September 30. The new version will include "even deadlier xenomorphs and enhanced visuals."
A xenomorph appears in Alien: Rogue Incursion - Part One: Evolved Edition.
The game features a story that is set between Alien and Aliens, which puts players in control of former Colonial Marine Zula Hendricks. After surviving a previous encounter with the xenomorphs, Zula is dedicated to eradicating them and preventing the weaponization of the xenomorphs. The game follows Zula on a human colony, LV-354, after it has been overrun by the xenomorphs and facehuggers.
Nintendo recently updated its privacy policy to confirm that the company may "collect, monitor, and record" audio and video of users' chat sessions for the Switch 2's new GameChat feature. Despite this being a common practice, it spooked some fans, and now Nintendo has offered a clarification.
A spokesperson for Nintendo told GameSpot that Nintendo may review recordings of audio and video chats from GameChat, but only in a situation where a conversation has been reported.
"If someone experiences communication in GameChat for Nintendo Switch 2 not in line with the Community Guidelines, they can report it using the built-in reporting feature," Nintendo said.
Robert Francis Prevost, who just became Pope Leo XIV, is just like you and me: He plays video games.
His brother, John Prevost, told NBC Chicago that he and Robert recently played games like Wordle and Words with Friends to help take his mind off the decision about whether or not he would be elected the new pope. He didn't have to wait long, though, as Prevost was named the new pope on the second day of the conclave.
John also revealed that his brother just recently watched the 2024 movie Conclave, which tells the story of the appointment of a new pope.
Since 2015, Rochester, New York's Strong National Museum of Play has inducted games into its own World Video Game Hall of Fame. The list currently includes some of the best and most beloved titles of all time, including many of the obvious ones--like Super Mario Bros., Pac-Man, Pong, and The Sims--as well as some you might have overlooked like Barbie Fashion Designer and Colossal Cave Adventure.
We're rounding up all 40+ of the games that the museum has inducted into its World Video Game Hall of Fame since inductions began in 2015.
The new inductees for 2025 include GoldenEye 007 and Quake, among others--check out the gallery below to see them all.
But what does it take to make it into the World Video Game Hall of Fame? The Strong Museum says its inductees have "enjoyed popularity over a sustained period" and have exerted their influence on the video game industry or on popular culture and society in general. The winners are voted on by a panel of experts from the video game field.
Easily one of the most recognizable games ever, Tetris was developed by Alexey Pajitnov and first released in 1985. The game involves slotting differently shaped pieces into a grid. It's remarkably simple to understand and endlessly replayable. It's not surprising, then, that Tetris is by far the best-selling video game of all time.
Doom
Release date: 1993
Developer: id Software
Platform: PC
Inducted in 2015
1993's Doom was a pioneer in the FPS space and helped launch the careers of John Carmack and John Romero.
One of the earliest games ever, Pong involves bouncing a ball back and forth. It may sound dull by today's standards, but at the time it was mind blowing.
Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. obviously is deserving of a place in the World Video Game Hall of Fame. 1985's first entry was the one that started it all, establishing many of the norms of the platformer genre that continue to this day.
One of the first mainstream MMOs, Blizzard's World of Warcraft first released in 2004 on PC and has remained popular and lucrative for Blizzard to this day.
GTA 3
Release date: 2001
Platform: PS2
Developer: Rockstar
Inducted in 2016
GTA 3 was a big moment for the crime series, as it took the franchise into the 3D era. Few could have predicted just how much of a success the series would go on to become, not to mention the way in which it popularized open-world action games.
Nintendo's iconic RPG series dates back to the '80s, with the first installment arriving in 1986 before coming to the West in 1987. The RPG introduced the world to Link, Zelda, and Ganon, all of whom have remained mainstays in the series for nearly 30 years.
Developer: Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann, and Paul Dillenberger
Inducted in 2016
The first installment of The Oregon Trail was an educational text-based game, and the series would go on to spawn numerous sequels and many eager trips to the school library.
EA's The Sims series, designed by Will Wright and a team at Maxis, debuted in 2000 and is now one of EA's biggest hits. Players control a home of people and are tasked with keeping them healthy and thriving, and it turned out to be tons of fun and highly influential.
Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the most recognizable brands in gaming today, and the blue blur first started collecting rings and running very fast in 1991. Sonic is also remembered for being the catalyst for the original "console wars," and, for a time, made people question Nintendo's dominance. Sonic was an essential brand for Sega that helped the company thrive.
An iconic arcade game from Taito and Atari, Space Invaders sees players blasting oncoming alien enemies before they eat you up. Like other arcade games of the time, it was easy to understand but challenging enough to swallow all your quarters.
1981's Donkey Kong not only introduced the world to a chest-beating gorilla who is not a donkey at all, but it also featured Mario in his first mainstream gaming appearance in this iconic arcade game. Donkey Kong is also partially responsible for the arcade boom.
FPS games on consoles are all the rage today, but that wasn't always the case. Following the success of games like GoldenEye, a little team called Bungie brought Halo: Combat Evolved to the original Xbox as a launch title in 2001, and the rest is history.
The very first Pokemon games, Red and Green, debuted in 1996 and few could have imagined the monster-catching game from Japan would become the sensation and commercial juggernaut it is today. Beyond the games, the Pokemon series has expanded into film and TV, and a mountain of merchandise.
Released in 1991, Street Fighter II helped propel arcade fighting games to new heights and set the stage for many more to come, like Mortal Kombat in 1992, Virtua Fighter in 1993, Tekken in 1994, and Super Smash Bros. in 1999.
Regarded as one of the best RPGs of all time, Final Fantasy VII first came on the scene in 1997 and influenced games forever. Despite being just one entry in a long-running franchise, it's seen numerous spin-offs, an animated movie, and is in the process of being remade into a trilogy of games, the first two of which--Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth--have both received much critical acclaim.
EA's first Madden game, 1988's John Madden Football for Apple II didn't launch the franchise into the stratosphere of success it's known for today, and many might have wondered if the series would continue. It did, and 1990's John Madden Football helped properly launch the franchise that continues to be a top-seller to this day.
Designed during the space race between the US and the Soviet Union, Spacewar was created by Steve Russell at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a DEC PDP-1 computer. It was revolutionary at the time and helped lay the groundwork for pretty much every game to come.
Core Design's 1996 action-adventure game Tomb Raider introduced the world to Lara Croft with a game involving puzzle-solving and platforming. It was inspired by Raisers of the Lost Ark and the game Prince of Persia but is best known as an early example of a female protagonist-led action game.
The text-based adventure game Colossal Cave Adventure had players typing prompts into the command console on a PDP-10 to see how their adventure might play out. William Crowther made the game to help connect with his daughter, and it was expanded upon in 1977 by Don Woods. Also of note, Crowther made the game working at Bolt, Beranek, and Newman, a company that created ARPANET, the predecessor to the internet.
The solitaire card game had been popular for hundreds of years, but in 1990, Wes Cherry programmed it for PC as a pack-in title for Windows 3.0. Needlessly to say, Microsoft Solitaire is iconic and has enjoyed a long life with many updates and new installments over the years. It was one of the first computer games that regular adults played, and they played it a lot.
Few games are more iconic and influential than 1992's Mortal Kombat, which debuted in arcades and has since spread to console, TV, and the big screens in the decades that followed. The game was known for its violence that prompted political action and was one of the key games that led to the formation of the ESRB.
1992's Super Mario Kart for the SNES was the very first Mario Kart game, and while its roster of characters, tracks, and items might seem paltry by today's standards, it was monumental at the time. The Mario Kart franchise has only grown in popularity over the years, with countless imitators also popping up over the last three-plus decades.
The web-based Flash game Bejeweled came onto the scene in 2001 and pioneered the "match-three" puzzle genre that is now extremely popular on mobile devices.
Ed Logg and Dona Bailey created Centipedia in 1981 for arcade machines. Players have a simple goal: shoot a cannon at a centipede that's zig-zagging around. A sequel, Millipede, came out in 1982 and was successful as well.
An early adventure game, King's Quest debuted in 1984 and had players taking on the role of a knight who must save a kingdom and ultimately become the king. It was notable in part for its more interactive levels than other games of the time.
An open-ended sandbox game created by Marks "Notch" Persson, Minecraft was officially released in 2011 (following a more limited release years earlier) and became a quick success. Minecraft was also one of the first examples of the "early access" release mode that is now very prominent in gaming. The game allows players to do pretty much anything they want, and this open endedness is part of the appeal. Microsoft bought the franchise and developer Mojang in 2014 for $2.5 billion.
image credit: Strong Museum YouTube
Animal Crossing
Release date: 2000
Platform: GameCube
Developer: Nintendo
Inducted in 2021
Nintendo's Animal Cross series enjoyed breakout success with 2020's Animal Cross: New Horizons, but the game that started it all (in the West at least; a Japan-only version launched earlier) was 2000's Animal Crossing for GameCube. You're a villager living on an island with anthropomorphic animals, and it's very cozy and zen.
In the first Microsoft Flight Simulator game, designed by developer Sublogic, players control a Cessna 182 and can fly across places like Los Angeles, NYC, Chicago, and Seattle. The game was hugely successful and paved the way for sequels leading up to the 2020 installment that allowed players to fly across the entire globe.
Blizzard's real-time strategy game StarCraft series debuted in 1998. It wasn't the company's first RTS game, following the Warcraft series, but it advanced the formula by thrusting the action into the future where Terrans and Zergs are battling for supremacy. It's considered by many to be the standard by which RTS games are judged, and its multiplayer support became massively popular, particularly in South Korea, where it stood out as an esport. In addition to its PC release, StarCraft was ported to Nintendo 64 in 2000.
An educational title from Broderbund, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego had players utilizing an almanac to find her enemies scattered around the world. Its future installments leaned further into the education game space, and many millennials probably have strong recollections of this game from their youth.
Bemani and Konami's dance game Dance Dance Revolution debuted in Japanese arcades in 1998 and became a quick sensation. Players dance on a pressure-controlled mat and need to match their movements to prompts on the screen. The game remains popular in arcades but also has home releases featuring mats players lay down in their living rooms.
The first 3D Zelda game, Ocarina of Time is regarded by many to be the best Zelda game ever for its gameplay, story, and music. This game brought Link's adventure to literally a new dimension, and the series has only grown in popularity and prominence since.
The second Pac-Man game in the World Video Game Hall of Fame, Ms. Pac-Man is a sequel to 1980's Pac-Man for arcade. Players control Pac-Man's wife and must eat the dots and ghosts in their way. This sequel introduced more complexity to elements like the behavior of the ghosts, as well as the level design.
Developer: Sid Meier and Bruce Shelley at MicroProse
Inducted in 2022
Sid Meier's Civilization series debuted in 1991 and the 4X turn-based strategy game was a quick success. Sid Meier and Bruce Shelley designed the game, which involves leading a human civilization through the ages, at MicroProse.
Barbie had a big year in 2023! The Margot Robbie movie dominated the box office and the 1996 game Barbie Fashion Designer was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame. In the game, players can design outfits and dress their dolls up--and then use those in real-life via a printer function. The game is remembered for being one of the first extremely successful games marketed directly toward young girls, as the industry of the time largely focused on men and boys.
Before there was even much of a video game industry, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney created Computer Space, a futuristic-looking fiberglass arcade cabinet that had players guiding a spaceship against enemy saucers. Players got points for every enemy hit, and if the player had a higher score than the enemy saucers after 99 seconds, they got a free game.
Naughty Dog's post-apocalyptic The Last of Us series debuted in 2013 with a game regarded by many to be a masterpiece and an instant classic. Written and directed by Neil Druckmann, The Last of Us follows the story of Joel and Ellie trying to survive in an inhospitable world. The game was praised for its story, and in particular is remembered for its gripping opening sequence.
Wii Sports
Release date: 2006
Platform: Wii
Developer: Nintendo
Inducted in 2023
A pack-in game for the Wii in 2006, Wii Sports was the first introduction for many to the Wii's revolutionary motion controls. Players could swing their hand to replicate a tennis racket, thrust their hand forward to roll a bowling ball down an alley, or swing the Wii Remote like a golf club to smash a drive or putt the ball into the hole. The controls felt like magic and no doubt helped to catapult the Wii to its massive success.
One of the most iconic and recognizable video games ever, Asteroids, was initially released in 1979 in arcades. It became Atari's most successful coin-operated game at the time, and was later ported to numerous other consoles and devices, including the home version for Atari 2600.
Myst is a memorable puzzle game with fantastic visuals (for the time) that is fondly remembered to this day. It was a top-seller on PC, racking up more than 6 million sales over its lifetime. Strong Museum's Kristy Hisert said of the game, "Few other games can match Myst's ability to open imaginative worlds. It was a work of artistic genius that captured the imagination of an entire generation of computer game players, and its influence can be seen in many of today's open-world games."
Resident Evil, known as Biohazard in Japan, debuted in 1996 from game director Shinji Mikami and publisher Capcom. The series is now enormously successful and sprawling, spanning video games, film, and other transmedia extensions.
Strong Museum curator Lindsey Kurano said, "Resident Evil's combination of cheesy B-movie dialogue, engrossing gameplay, and chilling suspense made it a favorite of gamers searching for more mature video games, and it helped establish one of gaming’s most enduring franchises."
Ultima, a pioneering early RPG, was designed by Richard Garriott and made its debut all the way back in 1981. It spawned numerous sequels and is often cited by modern-day designers as an influence for them.
Strong Museum's Andrew Borman said, "The game, and the series it spawned, are legendary among role-playing game fans and game developers around the world."
Before The Sims, there was SimCity. Developer Maxis released SimCity back in 1989 and the city-building simulator was a huge hit. Who ever would have thought designing a city in a game could be so fun? SimCity spawned many sequels and later Maxis released The Sims, also to great success.
Released at the peak of the arcade craze, Defender is a horizontally scrolling space shooter designed by Eugene Jarvis. The game was an enormous success and spawned numerous ports for home consoles.
One of the most iconic video games ever, GoldenEye 007 was released in 1997 for the Nintendo 64. Based on the 1995 movie GoldenEye, the video game featured a memorable story mode and split-screen multiplayer for up to four players. It was said to be the No. 3 best-selling N64 game ever, only behind Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64.
Building off the success of Doom, id Software's Quake was released in 1996 for PC, before coming to consoles in the following years. The game's popular multiplayer mode, in particular, helped Quake truly take off just as home internet access was ramping up.
Released in 1996, Bandai Namco's Tamagotchi is based on the idea that a toy can come to life. Tamagotchi devices were simple, featuring just three buttons and a small LCD screen. Users had to care for pets from hatching to adulthood.
A free DLC bundle has arrived for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone. This pack of freebies is available for both PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass subscribers to claim.
The Call of Duty: Warzone Bonus Pack 2 is a bundle of 14 free items that can be claimed for use across both Black Ops 6 and Warzone. This pack includes the Dune Wraith operator skin for Westpoint and the Machetero operator skin for Niran, as well as other additional cosmetics items and double XP tokens.
The item shop in Deadlock will look significantly different the next time you log in to Valve's third-person MOBA. The developer has overhauled the shop, adding new items, icons, costs, and more. Despite the patch notes saying that the major update is "coming soon," it's already live in-game.
Item slots were previously tied to specific tree types, but they will now be universal. Item-specific slots being replaced with universal slots removes the problem of some heroes feeling weaker due to needing up to six items of a particular kind to efficiently launch a counterattack after falling behind. Formerly, you had the ability to unlock four flex slots which served the same purpose. With the total slot count being reduced from 16 to 12, we can assume these flex slots are no longer available for unlock.
The new item shop interface
There are "many" new items being added to the store according to the patch notes, and all item icons have got new artwork which makes the items and their purpose more easily identifiable.
Fortnite's first-ever Star Wars season brought with it one of the biggest meta shifts in the game's history by tossing out almost the entire loot pool and replacing it with Star Wars weapons. The only items left over from Chapter 6 Season 2 are standard healing items and shockwave grenades--in other words, things that never go away. Otherwise, it's a whole new ballgame out there.
The biggest surprise, however, is not really the guns themselves, but the lack of quick movement items. In Season 2, we had the Kneecapper and two different types of rockets that we could use to squirrel our way out of all sorts of dire situations. Escape was always possible with that loot pool. But those days are very much over.
For the Star Wars season, shockwave grenades are now the lone common movement item. You can train with a hologram character to get a lightsaber that will allow you to sprint a little bit faster, but this is something only a handful of players will have the chance to do each round of battle royale. You can also use Slap Juice to give yourself unlimited sprint for a short period, which works well in conjunction with the lightsaber, but Slap doesn't make you move any faster on its own. So no, you're not whining without cause--this season is a lot slower paced than Season 2 was.
The second day of Fanatical's Bundlefest Spring 2025 is here, and today's new bundle deal is the Slitherine Strategy Bundle, which gets you up to 10 PC strategy games for just $15. Like previous Bundlefests, Fanatical is releasing new bundles daily during the event, but Bundlefest Spring 2025 will last longer than before, running from Wednesday, May 7, through Friday, May 16. The first new bundle launched was a new edition of Fanatical's recurring Killer Bundle, which gets you five roguelike action games for $5. The next new bundle is scheduled to go live on Friday, May 9, at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET. You can check out the full details on both bundles released so far below, and be sure to check back tomorrow for the next deal.
It's worth noting that while Bundlefest Spring 2025 only lasts through Friday, May 16, the new bundles launched during the event will be available for several more weeks after. We've made sure to list when each bundle deal expires below.
Are you wondering about all the alien creatures in Revenge of the Savage Planet? Dozens of these lifeforms found in various worlds can be caught. Doing so even nets you some amazing upgrades, though you need to put a lot of effort when thoroughly exploring areas. Our guide has all the details you need to help you in your playthrough.
All alien creatures that you can capture in Revenge of the Savage Planet - Alien fauna guide
There are 36 alien lifeforms/fauna that you can capture in the game. This is done by using the Proton Whip. Simply hold down the button to lasso and pull a target closer to you. If you don't move or take damage during this process, a vortex will spawn and funnel in the creature. Note that in some cases, you might need to stun a target first by hitting their weak spot.
In any case, captured alien animals reappear in the pens in your habitat. From there, you can use the computer in your base to research their biology. Doing so nets you various unlocks, including new gadgets/abilities and color palettes for outfits.
Note 1: For our Revenge of the Savage Planet alien creatures guide, we've listed only those that can be captured with the lasso and, thus, researched via your computer. We did not include the following:
Tiny critters - Critters--e.g. Mantis, Kiwi Slug, and others--tend to die immediately when you hit them with your whip or when you step on them.
Bosses, space whales, and dangerous plants - They cannot be captured.
Underwater creatures - You can't use your whip underwater.
Enemies found in Interstellar Enigma shrines - These are hybrid variants of regular enemies. You can scan them, but the whip lasso won't work on them. That said, the "item rewards" you obtain at the end of each trial need to be researched.
Note 2: Some animals have habitats in multiple worlds/biomes, though we've listed them on the planet where we first encountered them.
Alien creatures that you can capture in Stellaris Prime
These are the fauna that you can lasso and catch in Stellaris Prime:
Raccocco
Alpha Raccocco
Mito Slime - Shoot it once to make it split up into duplicates. Then, spray water on it with your Power Hose. You can capture it while it's partially glowing.
Slitherfly
Brainard
Trickle
Beetle - Its weak spot is its rear end.
Fecal Beetle - It has the same weak spot in its rear end, but you have to destroy its poop carapace using your whip.
Hognork - Shoot its upper palate inside its mouth to stun it. This beast unlocks the grappling hook function of your Proton Whip.
Alien creatures that you can capture in Xephyr
There are more Revenge of the Savage Planet alien creatures that you can capture on desert world of Xephyr:
Scorpio Puffer/Electro-Scorpion
Puffer Fox
Bonefly
Desert Eraffe
Curadora
Grab Grub - Pulls you in using its tongue, though you can shoot its mouth to stun it.
Vaperon - Its left leg is its weak spot.
Alpha Vaperon - Similar to the Vaperon, though it can also spin around. Researching its biology allows you to slap projectiles away.
Alien creatures that you can capture in Zenithian Rift
These animals in the Zenithian Rift can be sent over to your habitat:
Lavacon
Icicon
Detonaton
Rolly Polly - You can stun a Rolly Polly by striking it until it hits a wall.
Simian Puffer/Puffer Monkey
Toxwin - It has a weak spot on its belly.
Alpha Toxwin - A tougher variant of the Toxwin. Researching it is one of the requirements to unlock the Toxic Deshocker--i.e. poison gas immunity.
Crusher - It has a weak spot on its tail.
Armored Crusher - Similar to the regular Crusher, but you need to perform a Stomp Boost attack to destroy its carapace.
Alien creatures that you can capture in Quasadron IX
You can catch nearly a dozen Revenge of the Savage Planet alien fauna in Quasadron IX:
Eraffe
Arffalo
Bumblar
Sluggator - It will pull you just like the Grab Grub, though its weak spot is on its head.
Alpha Sluggator - A tougher version of the Sluggator. It unlocks the Blight Bomb Stabilizer upgrade. You're going to need it if you want to fully repair the Javelin.
Common Striped Puffer
Lurid Striped Puffer
Tatushkey
Babutt - Its weak spot is on its back.
Wardrill - Its weak spot is, surprisingly enough, its butt.
Rewards from capturing alien fauna
As mentioned earlier, various animals unlock upgrades and abilities when researched. The vast majority, however, unlock color palettes for your outfits. Once you've researched all 36, you'll obtain the last color palette, too.
The Transformers franchise has been around for decades now, and while the original 1984 animated series was the gateway into the franchise, many fans still have a strong fondness for the comic books that followed in its wake. If you've been looking to revisit the vintage pages of The Transformers or read the iconic series for the first time, you can preorder a pair of colossal comic compendiums at Amazon. The budget-friendly paperbacks are 1,208 pages each, and together they collect the entire 80-issue run.
Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson has commented on what impact, if any, there might be on the video game industry due to growing concerns about the global economy due to tariffs and other factors.
As part of EA's latest investor briefing, Wilson said he's personally witnessed many "twists and turns in the macro environment" in his 25 years with EA. In that time, he's learned that EA and its core franchises have remained "incredibly resilient through macro-challenging times."
The reason for this, Wilson said, is that he believes "entertainment is a fundamental human need."
The solo developer behind Schedule 1 has released the drug-dealing simulator's latest patch notes. Version 0.3.5 introduces a purchasable jukebox as well as the new storage unit property. If you're hyper efficient like me, making as many of the Schedule 1 recipes as quickly as possible, you'll have encountered a lack of storage multiple times in your playthrough. You can only squeeze a finite number of shelves into your normal property, after all.
The storage unit property will be located at the north end of the overpass next to the casino, and costs $5,000 to purchase from Ray's Realty. This makes it an easy get for anyone in the early few hours of the game, since it's one of the cheapest properties to own.
Buy the Schedule 1 storage unit from Ray's Realty
The storage unit, called Stash and Dash, allows for one worker and one loading bay, meaning you can have important ingredients or materials delivered to it. It's a limited space, but in the early game it's got plenty of room for several grow setups, and more shelves--perfect to stash all of your Schedule 1 money on, if you so desire.
With the rise in popularity and prominence of free-to-play games like Fortnite, CS: GO, PUBG, and others, games are reaching astounding player counts and tallying huge amounts of play time. But in terms of sales numbers for paid games, what are the best-selling games of all time? Here in this gallery we are running through the top 10 best-selling games of all time based on the latest publicly available data.
This list does not include free-to-play games, which is why you won't see juggernauts like Fortnite, Rocket League, Dota 2, and CS: GO on the list, among others. Those games have no doubt reached many, many more people and are probably best compared against other free-to-play games.
The list does, however, include sales of pack-in games for hardware bundles–and that is an important distinction. For example, Wii Sports sold about 83 million copies thanks in part to it being bundled with the Wii. The original Super Mario Bros. was a pack-in game as well for the NES.
With these caveats out of the way, let's dive into the Top 10 best-selling games ever. We're betting you can probably guess a few of these!
We will continue to update this list over time as GTA 5 inevitably continues to sell more and more copies.
10: Super Mario Bros. -- 50 million (pack-in sales included)
The original Super Mario Bros. for NES, released in 1985, is the first game on this list with a reported 50 million copies sold. This was not Mario's first appearance in a video game, but Super Mario Bros. remains beloved and its huge success helped propel the Mario franchise forward. The levels, the music, the enemies--it's all iconic. Numerous Mario games would follow, the latest of which is Super Mario Bros. Wonder, which releases in October 2023 for Nintendo Switch.
9. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt -- 50 million
CD Projekt Red's The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt grew the franchise to new heights, with the latest release selling 50 million copies across all platforms. Released in 2015, The Witcher 3 was a hit right out of the gate and has continued to grow and grow and grow. The game is regularly discounted to low, low prices, but that doesn't take anything away from the fact it put up gigantic sales figures. Something else that helped Witcher 3 sales was the debut of the Netflix TV series. The entire Witcher series has sold 75 million units, and with Witcher 3 taking up 50 million of those, it's the biggest of the group.
After The Witcher on Netflix premiered in 2020, Witcher 3 sales rose by 500%. CD Projekt Red released Cyberpunk 2077 next, and while it got off to a poor start in terms of player reception, things have since turned around and the game is doing great. The Witcher 4 is the next game in the main Witcher series, and it's in development now using Unreal Engine 5.
6. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim -- 60 million
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released back in 2011. It was a very successful release from Bethesda Game Studios at launch, and it has continued to sell well in the years that followed. In fact, the game's ubiquity has become a meme. It's been ported to pretty much every platform you can think of, and game director Todd Howard has explained why. "If you want us to stop releasing it, stop buying it," Howard joked in 2018. In an interview in 2023, Howard revealed that the game had reached 60 million copies sold, making it one of the top 10 best-selling games ever. Next up for Howard and Bethesda is something new--the RPG Starfield. But after that, Howard and the team will make The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5.
7. Red Dead Redemption II -- 70 million
Rockstar has two games inside the list of the top 10 best-selling games of all time, and the first is the 2018 western Red Dead Redemption II, with 70 million copies sold. A prequel to 2010's Red Dead Redemption that fans waited nearly a decade for, Red Dead Redemption II goes back in time and explains some of the events leading up to Red Dead Redemption. The game is set in a sprawling open world in the 1899 American West. The game's online mode, Red Dead Online, didn't take off in the way that GTA Online did, but the game overall still managed to put up big numbers
6. PUBG -- 75 million
PUBG: Battlegrounds, or PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds as it was originally known, is now a free-to-play game. But before the change in business model, the game tallied an impressive 75 million copies sold across PC and console. The game, which is based on an Arma mod, was released in 2017 and remains one of the leading battle royale games on the market. It's now also available with a dedicated version for mobile devices. At one point, there were plans to create a PUBG connected universe that would expand far and wide into the horror space with the game The Callisto Protocol, but those plans were scaled back.
5. Mario Kart 8 + Deluxe -- 76.66 million (pack-in sales included)
The Mario Kart series is one of the biggest and best-known in all of gaming, and Mario Kart 8 is the best-selling of them all. The game originally launched on Wii U, where it sold 8.46 million copies (a substantial number, considering the Wii U itself only sold 13.5 million units). But the game really got a jolt in sales when it came to Switch via Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. On Switch, the game has sold an astounding 68.20 million copies to bring its total to 75.81 million. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is featured in Nintendo's annual Black Friday bundle, so of course its sales figures are boosted by being a pack-in title. Nintendo has expanded upon Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with dozens of DLC tracks that players can buy via the Booster Pass. Mario Kart World is the next entry in the series, and it's coming to Switch 2 at launch.
4. Wii Sports -- 82.9 million
The original Wii Sports was a pack-in game for the Nintendo Wii, and as such, it sold a lot of copies. Surely, its pack-in status helped it sell more than it might otherwise have. How many copies did it sell? 82.9 million by Nintendo's latest count. The game was many people's first introduction to the Wii's innovative motion controls. It really did feel incredible to swing the Wii Remote and see that swing translated on screen for a tennis shot or whipping a bowling ball down the alley. A sequel, Wii Sports Resort, was released in 2009 with more games like frisbee and basketball. A successor followed for the Nintendo Switch in the form of the very creatively named Nintendo Switch Sports.
3. GTA 5 -- 210 million
It was only a matter of time before Grand Theft Auto V showed up on this list. Rockstar's celebrated open-world action game was released all the way back in 2013 but has been selling millions of copies every few months, bringing its total to 210 million+ and counting. The game originally launched on Xbox 360 and PS3 before coming to Xbox One, PS4, and PC, and then later with updated graphics and features to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Beyond sales alone, the game brings in money from its uber-popular GTA Online multiplayer mode. And 195 million doesn't even count all the people who might have played GTA 5 when it was available on Xbox Game Pass. In terms of dollars, it is the most successful entertainment product of all time. Unsurprisingly, Rockstar is now developing a new GTA game. GTA 6 is in development and will release in Fall 2025.
2. Minecraft -- 300 million
Of course Minecraft is on this list. It's the No. 2 best-selling game of all time. As of 2023, the game had sold more than 300 million copies, according to franchise owner Microsoft. According to the company, a copy of the game has been sold in just about every country and territory in the world, and that includes Antarctica and Vatican City. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson, who would go on to sell the game and his stake in developer Mojang to Microsoft in 2014 for $2.5 billion. Microsoft has never released a Minecraft 2, but has expanded the series in the form of other games like Minecraft Dungeons and Minecraft Legends. A film starring Jason Momoa, Jack Black, Kate McKinnon, and Jennifer Coolidge is now in the works.
1. Tetris -- 520 million (pack-in sales included)
According to the official Tetris website, the iconic puzzle game has exceeded 520 million in sales over its lifetime, with "billions" of sessions played online every year. The 520 million surely includes combined sales of the many different versions of the year released over the years.
The game is a cultural phenomenon, as pretty much anyone of a certain age would know what you're talking about when you mention Tetris. It's also become common parlance, of sorts, as people might often refer to "playing Tetris" when loading up a car with many items that might seem difficult to fit. The game was created by Alexey Pajitnov, an engineer from Soviet Russia. It wasn't until game designer and entrepreneur Henk Rogers discovered the game at a Las Vegas tradeshow in 1988 that the game really picked up steam, though. Rogers got the rights from Pajitnov and licensed the game to Nintendo, which released the game as a pack-in for the Nintendo Game Boy. This led to 35 million copies being sold for Game Boy alone, and the game has remained popular ever since, having been released on pretty much every platform under the sun. A movie about the origins of Tetris starring Taron Egerton was released in 2023.
It might be 8 years old*, but Mario Kart 8 Deluxe continues to sell like it's a brand-new game for Switch. Case in point: The racing game sold 6.23 million copies for Nintendo's last fiscal year (April 1, 2024-March 31, 2025). That brings lifetime sales of the title to 68.20 million units.
For comparison's sake, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold more than two newer Switch releases combined for Nintendo's last fiscal year--The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. The former saw the Hylian princess as the protagonist and sold 4.09 million copies since launching in September. Meanwhile, the Mario RPG remake has sold 2.10 million units after arriving almost a year ago on May 23, 2024.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is Nintendo's best-selling game of all time, if Wii Sports isn't treated as a standalone game. That minigame collection that focused on motion controls, though, was packed in with Wii hardware in all major markets outside of Japan. The next-closest Switch games in sales rankings are Animal Crossing: New Horizons at 47.82 million copies and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate at 36.24 million units.
Nintendo has appointed Japanese designer Kazuhiko Hachiya to its board of directors. You might not know him by name, but Hachiya is known for his ambitious products, like a flying machine inspired by the works of Miyazaki and his own take on a real version of the hoverboard from the movie Back to the Future.
Hachiya created the "OpenSky" project that led to the creation of a motor glider based on the Mowe plane from the Miyazaki anime Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Hachiya succeeded in creating a glider version of the aircraft and a jet-powered version. Take a look at the plane for yourself in the video below.
Grand Theft Auto 6's new trailer reached 475 million views since its release on Tuesday, Rockstar Games has confirmed. The company confirmed this to The Hollywood Reporter, saying it's the biggest debut for a trailer for anything ever, surpassing the 365 million views that Deadpool & Wolverine clocked in its first 24 hours.
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