Arkane Studios’ Blade project has been surrounded by uncertainty in recent months. The game did not reappear at this year's Xbox Games Showcase and with Microsoft set to announce another round of layoffs across the Xbox division soon, the lack of official news on Blade has led to concern that the game could be cancelled, or Arkane could be closed down. However, there are still signs of life for the Blade project.

A newly published Entertainment Weekly interview offers at least a small update on Blade. Although the piece went live in mid‑June, the interview itself took place back in May, and during that conversation Bethesda’s Todd Howard said he had seen Blade “just yesterday” and that Arkane is “doing a really great job”. Howard did not elaborate further, but his comments indicate that the project was still in active development very recently.

Howard primarily oversees Bethesda Game Studios, but he does occasionally check in on projects across Bethesda’s other studios. He was notably involved with MachineGames’ Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which launched to strong reviews in 2024, so his awareness of Blade isn’t unusual.

With that said, the broader situation remains unclear. Xbox and Arkane have not provided an official update since the game’s first teaser, which contained no gameplay or release window.

KitGuru Says: I hope development on Blade continues. Unfortunately, we still don't know the full breadth of Microsoft's cost-cutting plans for Xbox. So far, only Ninja Theory, Double Fine and Compulsion Games are confirmed to be involved but there are likely to be some cuts across Zenimax (Bethesda parent company) too.

In Entertainment Weekly's piece about the 25th anniversary of Xbox and the studio's push for Hollywood adaptations (including a Sea of Thieves movie), we also got a few more updates about some of the most interesting Xbox projects, including Kojima's OD, Bethesda's TES VI, and Arkane's Marvel's Blade. Let's start with The Elder Scrolls VI, which is definitely the biggest of these projects in terms of fanbase. Todd Howard, head of Bethesda Game Studios, acknowledged the pressure of having to "get it right", as well as the long wait since 2011's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. TES VI is our […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/kojima-od-horrors-limits-todd-howard-tes-vi-blade/

We were all a bit confused when we learned that Ninja Theory was on the chopping block at Xbox. The studio had only just revealed its next game at an Xbox Games Showcase earlier in the month. Now, it would seem that the trailer was only shown to try and attract a potential buyer for the company. 

According to Stephen Totilo of Game File, Microsoft already had its plan in place to shut down Ninja Theory when the new game was announced. The source claims that “the thinking was that the promise of a newly announced game would draw investor interest”.

Right now, it is unclear if Ninja Theory itself was aware of this plan, or if it was a move on the Xbox corporate side. It is also unclear if the strategy worked, but we can at least assume that Ninja Theory will keep the Hellblade IP if it does split off from Xbox.

The new Hellblade game, simply titled Senua, was set to be a new action-focused game in the series. While Hellblade 2 was well liked, it was highly linear and had fewer gameplay sequences than the original. Based on the teaser trailer alone, it looked like Senua would be a bit more like the original game rather than the sequel.

KitGuru Says: There has still been no official announcement on Ninja Theory yet, but it shouldn't take much longer for that to happen. The news about Compulsion and Double Fine has also leaked well in advance at this point. 

After hosting what many fans agreed was a solid Xbox Games Showcase earlier this month, Microsoft / Xbox have since found themselves surrounded by seemingly nothing but bad news. Alongside concerns of rising component costs, mixed messaging regarding console exclusives and more, insiders are now claiming that multiple Xbox studios could be on their way to being shut down soon including Arkane and Compulsion Games.

Following their recent summer games showcase, Microsoft have been talking quite a bit on the future of Xbox, referring to the next 100 days being a “reset” for the console maker while speaking candidly on some of the issues which the platform is facing.

In amongst all of this, multiple insiders have indicated that these changes could include a number of studio closures, with Mike Straw of Insider-Gaming claiming that both Arkane and Compulsion Games are “scared” and showing “real concern” that their studios could be shut down as part of these plans.

With regards to the latter, Kotaku’s Rebekah Valentine reported that Compulsion Games are indeed on the chopping block – although leadership at the studio is currently “in ‘negotiations’ with Microsoft over the studio’s fate”. Compulsion Games is of course known for their work on We Happy Few as well as the more recent South of Midnight.

While Arkane Austin was shut down back in 2024, their main studio – Lyon – has continued to operate and are supposedly currently working on the much-anticipated ‘Marvel’s Blade’. For context, Arkane Lyon is/was the more tenured of the two halves, being responsible for the likes of Dishonored 2; Deathloop and, as mentioned, the upcoming Blade.

Whether these studio closures will come to be or not, we will have to wait and see. That said, there is no denying that Microsoft / Xbox is planning a ton of changes over the coming months.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Xbox under Asha Sharma’s leadership? Have you been looking forward to Marvel’s Blade? Let us know down below.

Update 15/06/2026: Kotaku's report (linked below) has been updated to claim that leadership at Compulsion is "in negotiations" with Microsoft over the studio's fate, though any details and decisions have not been shared. Original Story: Shortly after a report from Bloomberg claimed Xbox was planning more mass layoffs for the end of June 2026, a report from The Verge added that those layoffs could also include studio closures. Now, a new claim from Mike Straw, a reporter at Insider-Gaming, adds that at least two of the studios concerned for their safety are Compulsion Games in Montreal, makers of last year's […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/compulsion-games-arkane-lyon-xbox-studios-scared-of-being-shut-down/

Nintendo’s most recent General Direct saw the Switch 2 console maker announce a number of upcoming first-party titles including the likes of Switch Sports Resort and the rumoured Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake. Alongside this, the showcase also featured a plethora of 3rd party games which are coming over; including Stellar Blade; Devil May Cry 5; Lies of P and a bunch more.

From recent releases to generations-old titles, the latest Nintendo Direct saw a variety of publishers announce Switch ports of their games.

While there were of course a number of new surprises, a solid portion of the showcase was dedicated to said ports – the list of which includes:

• Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration (Available Now)
• Devil May Cry 5: Devil Hunter Edition (23rd of June)
• Lies of P: Complete Edition (6th of August)
• Kingdom Hearts I-III (8th of October)
• Metaphor: ReFantazio (12th of November)
• Stellar Blade (2026)

Compared to the Switch 1, it does seem as though we are getting ports of more recent games at a faster rate. Whether these titles will perform well on the Switch 2 however, we will have to wait and see.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What did you think of the Nintendo Direct? Were you satiated or disappointed? What 3rd party title would you like to see ported? Let us know down below.

One of the biggest announcements during Microsoft’s Xbox Games Showcase was the official unveiling of Senua – the 3rd entry in Ninja Theory’s Hellblade series. While a welcome surprise, many fans were then wondering what has become of the studio’s previously-teased Project Mara. Unfortunately, according to the team, they “took the decision to not work on that any further.”

Taking part in a lengthy interview via the Xbox Wire blog, Ninja Theory’s studio head Dom Matthews was asked about the upcoming Senua, their reasons for not going with the title Hellblade 3 and the renewed focus on combat and gameplay.

In amongst these discussions, Matthews took time to speak on Project Mara. For the uninitiated, this was pitched back in 2020 as a horror experience focused around “real-world and grounded representation of mental terror”. At the time, Ninja theory shared two teasers: one being a more traditional sneak peek and the other being a developer diary.

Unfortunately, Project Mara has since been scrapped, with Matthews confirming “with the fact that we have the entire team working on [Senua], I suspect some people might ask what’s happened to Project Mara […] I took the decision to not work on that any further.”

Matthews continued, “These decisions are never easy, but I did so to take the opportunity to have all of the talent and expertise in the studio, all 85 creatives, working together to realize the potential of what Senua can be.”

While a disappointing conclusion, hopefully this does mean that Senua will represent Ninja Theory’s best work in a decade (at the very least on the gameplay front).

KitGuru says: What did you think of Project Mara back when it was first announced? Are you disappointed in its cancellation? Do you have high hopes for Senua? Let us know down below.

All the way back in 2019, Microsoft kicked off the announcements for this current generation with a teaser for Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. Finally launching many years later in 2024, the sequel was met with a somewhat mixed reception owing to its relative lack of gameplay. The team at Ninja Theory seem to have taken this feedback to heart, officially unveiling ‘Senua’ alongside what appears to be tons more gameplay opportunities.

Making the surprise announcement during Microsoft’s recent Xbox Games Showcase, Ninja Theory officially showed off Senua.

The 3rd entry in the studio’s Hellblade series, this upcoming 2027 title is described as “a new action-adventure set in the Hellblade universe” in which “Senua, a Celtic warrior, is trapped between life and death in a fractured vision of purgatory. She must fight to reach the afterlife and reunite with those she loved and lost, battling forces that threaten everything she believes in.”

While it is too early to tell, the trailer shared does seem to show off plenty more gameplay opportunities when compared to the previous entries, including moments of stealth, more free-flowing combat and what appears to be dynamic enemy placements.

This matches previous rumours from earlier this year, in which it was claimed that a new Hellblade game was in development with a focus on being “a bit more interactive than Hellblade 1 and 2.”

Of course, we will have to wait for a bit more of a concrete look at gameplay before coming to any conclusions, but it seems as though Ninja Theory have taken feedback from Senua’s Saga and will be doubling down on gameplay for this upcoming entry.

Senua officially comes to Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and Steam sometime in 2027.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What did you think of the Xbox Games Showcase? Were you expecting a new Hellblade game to be announced? Did Hellblade 2’s visuals-first approach bother you? Let us know down below.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the Xbox Games Showcase 2026 was the unveiling of Senua, an action/adventure game centered on the protagonist of the Hellblade series. In an Xbox Wire blog post, Ninja Theory says the game follows on from Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, but it is intentionally a different kind of experience and should not be treated as Hellblade III. Unlike the previous two Hellblade titles, this is an out-and-out action/adventure. The studio's goal is to keep the intimate storytelling, high production values, and emotional tone that defined Hellblade, while expanding the scope into a broader action-adventure framework. That means deeper […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/ninja-theory-senua-action-adventure-hellblade-ii/

Shift Up has revealed Stellar Blade: Blood Rain at Summer Game Fest 2026. The new game is a direct sequel to the original, but it will star a new protagonist with a new combat style. 

The debut trailer features a new protagonist named Evie. Based on the gameplay, Evie really likes to beat down enemies with her fists, aided by a pair of powered gauntlets. This is a pretty big change over the original, which was still largely melee-based, but we were armed with a sword for the entire experience.

According to Shift Up, the game is currently in the early stages of production. General Director Kim Hyung-tae stated that the team is focusing efforts on evolving the action and world-building to deliver a brand-new experience for fans.

Unlike the first entry, which launched as a PlayStation 5 exclusive published by Sony, Shift Up will handle publishing duties completely in-house for the sequel. As such, it's expected that the game will have simultaneous multi-platform releases across PC and consoles.

KitGuru says: Did you play the original Stellar Blade when it came to PC? Are you looking forward to the sequel? 

ACER unveils one of the first gaming handhelds featuring Intel's top-end Arc G3 Extreme chip, the Predator Atlas 8. ACER's Predator Atlas 8 Gaming Handheld Looks Impressive, Now We Wait For Its Performance & Pricing With the introduction of the Intel Arc G3 series, many handheld makers are quickly adopting the fastest Intel SoCs for their upcoming handhelds. Popular manufacturer Acer has just unveiled its latest gaming handheld based on the same chip, and it is named Predator Atlas 8. The company has been making handhelds mostly on the AMD chips up until now, but it looks like more and […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/acer-predator-atlas-8-gaming-handheld-pairs-14-core-arc-g3-extreme-8-inch-120hz-80whr/

It has been a while since this release, but we received an SSD in the mail today that deserves a quick look: the XPG Mars 980 Blade by ADATA. This 1TB SSD stands out because we can’t remember the last time we had a drive of this capacity in hand, let alone reviewed one. Times …

The post XPG Mars 980 Blade Gen 5 1TB SSD Review appeared first on The SSD Review.

While Stellar Blade began life as a PlayStation exclusive IP, the studio at Shift Up has been working towards making the game multiplatform for quite some time. Now for the sequel, Shift Up has confirmed plans to self-publish, rather than renew its deal with Sony. 

As part of an earnings report this month, Shift Up confirmed that development on the next Stellar Blade game has begun and that moving forward, the studio will “transition to a first-party service model”.

The aim of this transition is to get to a point where Shift Up can ship its future games across multiple platforms at launch. That should mean that Stellar Blade 2 lands on PC on day-one, and the sequel may end up appearing on Xbox and Nintendo Switch consoles as well.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Did any of you play Stellar Blade when it landed on PS5 or PC? Do you think the sequel should be a day-one game on Steam? 

While the studio has existed for quite some time, SHIFT UP got its big break back in 2024 when they released the PS5 console exclusive Stellar Blade – a PlayStation published action-adventure title which feels like a mix of NieR: Automata and Devil May Cry. In the wake of its success, the team announced that a sequel to Stellar Blade was in the works. Though we have yet to see anything from the project, SHIFT UP have now confirmed a number of details pertaining to this much-anticipated follow-up.

Making the announcement as part of the company’s latest fiscal earnings report, studio SHIFT UP offered updates on a number of their in-development projects.

Of course, Stellar Blade is perhaps the most well-known, with the team revealing that the sequel is “progressing smoothly, on track to meet our targeted quality standard.”

While the first game was published by PlayStation, Stellar Blade’s sequel will instead be self-published, with SHIFT UP claiming that this “will allow us to lead marketing strategies that fully reflect the distinctive identity of the Stellar Blade IP.”

In terms of when to expect this upcoming title, the team did not offer any concrete dates. That said, they did confirm that “details” surrounding the much-anticipated sequel will “be revealed within the year” and so hopefully we will learn more sooner rather than later.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you looking forward to Stellar Blade 2? How do you think it will improve on the original? Let us know down below.

Noctua has released 3D CAD models for its entire fan lineup to the public, providing a valuable resource for engineers, case designers, and PC enthusiasts. These models are designed to provide highly accurate data on external dimensions and mounting points, enabling creators to integrate Noctua fans into custom projects.

However, the company has explicitly clarified that these files are not intended for functional reproduction or 3D printing. While users are free to print the models for physical prototyping or visualisation, the internal geometry, specifically the impeller design, has been intentionally modified. These subtle changes ensure that a 3D-printed replica cannot match the airflow or acoustic performance of an authentic Noctua product. This alteration serves as a safeguard against reverse engineering and cloning, protecting Noctua's intellectual property.

By releasing these assets, Noctua remains a rarity in the hardware industry, where vendors typically keep CAD data strictly proprietary. The move supports the “maker” community and professional system builders by providing the tools needed for mechanical integration, provided they use genuine Noctua fans for final assembly. This balance between transparency and intellectual property protection allows for a cleaner design workflow without compromising the brand's engineering secrets.

KitGuru says: Even if they aren't quite to the full spec of an authentic Noctua fan, it would still be interesting to see how a few of these would perform. 

Recently, we saw an increased amount of activity from brand new studio UNBOUND – a team founded by industry legend Shinji Mikami of Resident Evil fame. While details surrounding Mikami’s new endeavour remain light, studio SHIFT UP (the team behind the excellent Stellar Blade) have officially announced that they have acquired the studio as part of a brand new partnership.

Making the surprise announcement via a teaser video (and expanded upon via a press release), SHIFT UP CEO Hyung-Tae Kim revealed that they have “completed the acquisition of Japanese game developer UNBOUND Inc. by acquiring all of its shares.”

While talk surrounding studio acquisitions in today’s day and age does come with some concern (especially with publishers being so trigger-happy to shut down studios), a partnership between SHIFT UP and UNBOUND could serve to benefit both companies.

As mentioned, SHIFT UP is known best for having created the PlayStation 5 exclusive Stellar Blade, however the team have also seen long-term success through a number of their gacha endeavours (most notably the Nikke series).

Given that SHIFT UP is a relatively small and new publisher, such an acquisition – serving more as a partnership – could benefit both teams massively. Unfortunately, we still know very little regarding Mikami’s next project, with the only details shared so far being that it is “developing original PC and console-based IPs targeting the global market”. Here’s to hoping that this latest acquisition proves to be a net-positive across the board.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this announcement? Is SHIFT UP a good home for Mikami and co? Let us know your thoughts down below.

Nintendo just put out a rather major software update for the Switch 2. For the first time since launch, Switch 2 players can now force Switch 1 games to operate in their ‘docked' mode while using the Switch 2 in handheld mode, greatly improving the resolution and performance of hundreds of games. 

The latest Switch 2 firmware update adds a new ‘Handheld Mode Boost' feature to the settings menu. When this option is enabled, games released for the Switch 1 being played in handheld or tabletop mode on the newer console will run at the game's ‘docked' settings. The exact results of this toggle will vary from game to game but for the most part, it should allow many sub-HD games on the Switch to actually run at close to 1080p resolution on the Switch 2.

A number of older games will immediately benefit from this. When I first saw this update, I immediately booted up Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and was pleased to find that the game no longer runs at sub-540p resolutions and looks much sharper than before, even without a specific Switch 2 patch.

Unfortunately, Nintendo has not gone as far as Microsoft with an ‘FPS Boost' option, so 30FPS titles still run at their original frame rate targets, but at the very least, many games will now look sharper in handheld mode on the Switch 2.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: This is one of those features that I really wanted to see at launch, but at least it still arrived within the console's first year on the market. 

One of Nintendo’s primary strategies with the Switch 2 so far has been to offer upgrades for their last-gen titles – some of which have been free while others cost up to $20 for an upgrade. Sentiment surrounding these Switch 2 editions have been varied, but it appears as though backlash towards their most recent release (Xenoblade Chronicles X) has led Nintendo to begin offering refunds to displeased fans.

In a welcome surprise, Nintendo quietly launched a Switch 2 Edition of Xenoblade Chronicles X last week. Originally released for the Wii U, the title received a relatively basic Switch 1 port quite late into its life and so fans were hoping to see the title get a proper Switch 2 upgrade.

Unfortunately, despite the promise that the title would run at up to 4K60fps on Switch 2 when docked and 1080p 60fps in handheld, many users have expressed their disappointment with the upgrade, comparing it unfavourably to visual clarity achieved when playing the game on a Wii U emulator.

While far from the Switch 2’s most basic Switch 2 Edition, it seems Nintendo might actually be listening to feedback somewhat, with some displeased users claiming that they were able to get refunds after contacting Nintendo support.

Nintendo typically does not offer refunds in this way, and so the fact that users were able to is interesting. Whether the console maker will opt to patch Xenoblade Chronicles X on Switch 2 in the future with additional enhancements however, we will have to wait and see – but don’t expect anything substantial if it does happen.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Nintendo’s Switch 2 Edition upgrades? Which ones have been worth it and which ones feel a bit money-grabby? Let us know your thoughts down below.

Back when the Switch 2 first launched, dataminers had discovered code within Xenoblade Chronicles X that suggested a Switch 2 update was on the way. Nintendo stayed quiet for many months but today, the Switch 2 Edition of the game quietly dropped. 

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, the most recent game in the series to end up on the Nintendo Switch platform, now has an official Switch 2 version. The new version of the game offers higher resolution gameplay, as well as 60FPS performance.

In docked mode, the game will run at up to 4K/60FPS, while in handheld, it will run at the Switch 2's native 1080p resolution, again at 60FPS, a huge improvement over the previous Switch 1 and Wii U versions of the game.

Unfortunately, Nintendo has not yet revealed any plans to update the other Xenoblade Chronicles games for the Switch 2. Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 would all benefit greatly from a resolution bump and a frame rate boost on the newer console, as they can all reach sub-HD resolutions in handheld and docked mode in their current form, resulting in a very blurry image.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: I've been waiting to play through the full series again on Switch 2, but the updates are unfortunately arriving very slowly. Now with Xenoblade Chronicles X out of the way, I hope we won't have to wait too much longer for the remaining games to get updates.