2026 has been a terrible year for Bungie. With Marathon failing to garner a major audience base, and Destiny 2 being all-but-shut-down, the future of this once iconic studio remains in flux. Adding to the confusion, Marathon’s Game Director Joseph Ziegler has now announced that he is departing the studio.

Taking to Twitter to make the announcement, Joseph Ziegler confirmed that he will be parting ways with Bungie, writing: “Friday 7/17, will be my last day at Bungie and I'll be passing the torch of Game Director to the very capable and amazing hands of Del Chafe III, who will guide the game forward alongside the Creative Director Julia Nardin. Both of them have been operating in a strong leadership capacity for the team and are ready to guide Marathon into the next chapter with an even better and brighter future.”

Unlike the recent retirement of industry veteran Glen Schofield, Ziegler appears to be staying in the games industry for now, adding: “As for me, I'll be heading to something new, somewhere else, and will update you on where and what soon. I just want to say a deeply heartfelt thank you to all of you for supporting me and Marathon in our windy mission to bring a dark and terrifying space survival frontier to your screen.”

The full post can be found HERE, and includes plenty of pleasantries towards Ziegler’s fellow Bungie developers.

For the uninitiated, Joseph Ziegler was brought in to help direct Marathon back in 2022, following the departure of Christopher Barrett. Formerly the director for Riot Games’ Valorant, Ziegler helped to push Marathon past the finish line – for better or for worse.

While the state of Marathon right now is far from perfect, the team do have quite a bit planned, most recently confirming that they will be bringing in some form of permanent PvE mode in the future.

Either way, the departure of Ziegler is a big deal, and marks another pivotal moment for this struggling live-service title. Hopefully the new management can help turn things around.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this latest departure? Is this good or bad news for Marathon in the long-term? Let us know down below.

Intel is making some big changes to its desktop gaming roadmap to deliver faster performance, with new hardware & software technologies. Intel Says They Want To Match AMD X3D CPUs By Changing Their Entire Gaming Desktop Strategy Over the Next Five Years In an interview with PCGameshardware, Robert Hallock has shared the plans of the client CPU team covering desktops, laptops, and handheld PC markets. Robert has been giving us some hints of their strategy over the past few weeks, and it looks like Intel is on the right path. A key change in Intel's desktop strategy came around after […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/intel-rewrites-five-year-desktop-gaming-roadmap-betting-on-software-big-time/

While everyone wants faster hardware, Intel says the answer lies in software optimization, and the P and E cores are almost identical in gaming performance. Robert Hallock Says E-Cores Don't Degrade Gaming Performance and PC Enthusiasts are "Underestimating" the Importance of Software Intel might not have been able to deliver X3D-equivalent performance in gaming with its latest Core Ultra 200 series, but it has gotten closer with the Plus variants. While still noticeably behind when it comes to the leading gaming performance, Intel blames this regression more on the "software" optimization than the hardware itself. In an interview with PC […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/intels-hallock-blames-software-not-silicon-for-gaming-gap-claims-30-performance-is-hiding-behind-poor-optimization/

Since as far back as 2006 there have been talks surrounding adapting Hideo Kojima’s iconic Metal Gear Solid franchise into film. In the two decades since, the project has suffered a ton of various setbacks, with the most recent claims coming in 2022 in which it was revealed that the project was stuck in limbo. It appears as though the MGS film is finally set to become a reality; albeit starting from scratch.

In an exclusive piece by the TheHollywoodReporter, the publication officially revealed that Sony Pictures have struck a deal with directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein to adapt the long-awaited Metal Gear Solid film.

Set to be released under Sony’s Columbia Pictures (and produced by the somewhat controversial Avi Arad), Lipovsky and Stein spoke on this latest announcement, stating:

“Metal Gear Solid was nothing short of a groundbreaking cinematic masterpiece that forever revolutionized video games. We are thrilled and honored to bring Hideo Kojima’s iconic characters and unforgettable world to life.”

For the uninitiated, Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein are perhaps best known for their work on the 2025 horror title Final Destination: Bloodlines – the first new entry in almost 15 years. Amassing a total of $317 million off of a $50 million budget, the pair have proven their chops.

As mentioned, the history of the Metal Gear Solid film can be traced all the way back to 2006 when it was first announced. Since then the project was cancelled, uncancelled and had half a dozen directors and actors interested in being involved.

After more than a decade of flux, the producers had settled on a writer (Jay Basu), director (Vogt-Roberts) and main lead (Oscar Isaac) – though this too has since been undone.

Given just how long Konami have been trying to bring Metal Gear Solid to the big screen, hopefully Lipovsky and Stein are finally the duo able to get the project past the finish line. It will be interesting to see who they decide to cast as the iconic Solid Snake.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Have you been waiting for the Metal Gear Solid film? Will this project finally actually come to fruition? Let us know your thoughts down below.

While the Assassin’s Creed franchise is in a bit of an odd spot currently, one of the most interesting upcoming entries in the series is AC: Hexe – a somewhat unique title rumoured to be set in 16th century Europe, featuring elements of witchcraft and possibly a fear system. Unfortunately, in the wake of the recent shake-ups at Ubisoft, Assassin’s Creed Hexe’s director ‘Clint Hocking’ has left the promising project.

As reported by the publication VGC, following the recent shake-up at Ubisoft (which included an overhaul to the Assassin’s Creed franchise team), long-time veteran Clint Hocking has been confirmed to have departed Ubisoft.

Announced by the newly-appointed AC franchise leadership team during an internal meeting, Ubisoft confirmed that Hexe has not been cancelled and that development will continue. Jean Guesdon (the director of AC Origins and the beloved Black Flag) is taking over as creative director.

Speaking to VGC on this latest change, a spokesperson for the company shared the following:

“We sincerely thank [Clint] for his vision, creative contributions, and dedication over the years, and we wish him the very best in his next chapter. Development on Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe continues with a seasoned team. The game will deliver something distinctive within the Assassin’s Creed franchise. We look forward to sharing more information in the future.”

Assassin’s Creed Hexe was first teased all the way back in 2022. With little-to-nothing seen from the project since – and now this latest spanner being thrown into the works – it will be interesting to see what becomes of the title.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this latest departure? Do you have faith in Assassin’s Creed Hexe? Let us know down below.