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Splatoon Raiders Direct details enemies, weapons, tanks, customization, upgrades, and more
Nintendo released new information, footage, and screenshots for single-player action shooter Splatoon Raiders during a dedicated Nintendo Direct broadcast today, revealing details on the game’…
It's Xbox's turn (again), as console prices keep going up
Microsoft announced a price hike for the Xbox Series consoles today, the third in little over a year. Effective August 1, the Xbox Series S, which launched in 2020 for $300, will cost $500 in the U.S. The Xbox Series X, which launched in 2020 at $500, will go for $800. This follows a round of PlayStation 5 price increases from Sony this spring, and a slow-motion increase for Nintendo’s Switch 2, which will kick in in the U.S. in September. (Mind you, there were also eight video game industry price hikes in six months of 2025). The chart up top shows the sudden ascent of console prices over the past year, a sudden surge in an already unusual hardware generation. Prices had been flat for years, now “up” is the new “flat.” Game console prices used to go down across the length of a console generation, but not this time around. Microsoft’s explanation for the new price hike today: We hoped another price increase would not be necessary, and we have spent the last several months working with suppliers on options. Unfortunately, console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027. The entire consumer electronics industry is struggling with the current components crisis, but the effects are particularly hard on consoles. Unlike phones, computers, speakers, and other consumer devices, consoles are typically not sold at a profit, but instead for less than they cost to make. This is an issue well beyond game consoles. Apple announced price hikes on its computers and tablets today as well. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Item 2: Brutal Bungie cuts Bungie laid off “most” of its Destiny development team and some developers who worked on Marathon, the newest game from the struggling Sony-owned studio. A WARN notice issued by Sony to Washington State, where Bungie is based, tallied cuts impacting 292 workers, effective next month. That’s strictly for Bungie/Sony jobs in Washington and wouldn’t account for any elsewhere. The video I clipped below shows the redacted list of Bungie cuts filed to Washington State officials. As you’ll see, I had to scroll for a while… In a note emailed to PlayStation workers and published online, PlayStation game studios chief Hermen Hulst offered the following explanation for these latest cuts at Bungie: This is painful news, especially for talented colleagues whose roles have been eliminated. This decision was made only after extensive discussion and careful consideration, and I want to provide some context on how we arrived here. Over the past several months, together with Bungie leadership, we reviewed the studio’s long-term direction, development priorities, resource needs, and role within our broader portfolio strategy. We explored multiple alternatives before concluding that a reduction was necessary to align the studio’s resources with its current priorities and long-term goals. In 2022, Sony bought Bungie for $3.7 billion. The studio’s marquee game, the multiplayer live service shooter Destiny 2 was losing popularity at the time. Its next game Marathon, released earlier this year, has been well-reviewed but had a slow start. Bungie is renowned for making great shooter games, and Destiny fans have mourned the wind-down of Destiny 2. They’ve also expressed bewilderment over reports that Destiny 3 is not, per Bloomberg, immediately in the cards.
Family mourns man found dead in south Bexar County business as BCSO searches for shooter
Bexar County sheriff’s investigators say they have little information on a murder case that has left a big hole in the hearts of one family.
Exploring Heat’s search for shooters and what makes sense with roster, finances
A look at the Heat’s search for shooters to put around Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo
Doom Composer Bobby Prince Has Died
Bobby Prince, composer for Doom and other classic shooters, has died.
Marathon Has A New Problem: Players Have Too Much Loot
Bungie is trying to recalibrate the extraction shooter's economy before it's too late
High Tide VR near Bethany Beach offers different kind of entertainment
High Tide VR offers nine virtual escape room options, about a dozen action-shooter games and about five games geared toward 6- and 7-year-old kids.
Marvel Rivals - The Super Hero Team-based PVP Shooter
Play for free Now!! Get ready to Ignite the Battle with Marvel Rivals!
'The Only Way to Keep Bungie Alive Is to Support Marathon,' Ex-Destiny Community Manager Says
As Destiny 2 fans mourn the game's final update, Bungie's former community manager has blasted players fixated on comparing its player count with fledgling extraction shooter Marathon — and said that the company's current issues began long before its arrival, as well as Sony's acquisition.
Killer Bean Is A Very, Very Bad Game
Some cool ideas don't make this open-world action-shooter worth playing
Marvel Rivals - The Super Hero Team-based PVP Shooter
Play for free Now!! Get ready to Ignite the Battle with Marvel Rivals!
Marvel Rivals - The Super Hero Team-based PVP Shooter
Play for free Now!! Get ready to Ignite the Battle with Marvel Rivals!
DMZ - New Intel on Call of Duty’s Extraction Shooter Experience
Today at #XBOXGamesShowcase, Activision and Infinity Ward revealed the first look at DMZ, the definitive Call of Duty extraction shooter experience. Learn more:
Walmart Lists Gears Of War: E-Day PS5 Ahead Of Xbox Showcase
The upcoming shooter is at the center of a battle over the future of Xbox exclusivity
Suspected shooter arrested after man found dead inside Pinellas Park business
A Clearwater man was arrested on Saturday in connection with a deadly shooting in Pinellas Park.
Arizona Sunshine announced for Nintendo Switch 2
Today, Vertigo Games announced that it’s working on Arizona Sunshine for Nintendo Switch 2. Launch timing will be provided at a later date. Arizona Sunshine is a third-person zombie apocalypse shooter. Online play and multiplayer splitscreen modes will both be supported. Further details can be found in the following overview: Sharpen your machete, reload your shotgun, and bring your friends....
Arizona Sunshine third-person shooter remake announced for PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, and PC
Vertigo Games has announced Arizona Sunshine, a fully flat-screen third-person shooter remake of the virtual reality game of the same name (now titled Arizona Sunshine VR). It will launch for PlayS…
Modern Warfare 4's DMZ Started As A Very Different Idea
Infinity Ward explains how DMZ evolved through years of iteration, beta feedback, and lessons from extraction shooters.
This New Game Wants To Change Cover Shooters Forever
Crossfire's adaptive cover system is amazing and could be a real game changer for the genre
Crossfire Is a Single Player PS5 Shooter with Soul from Ex-Naughty Dog Devs
Friends close, enemies closer
Alien: Isolation 2 announced for PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, and PC
Publisher SEGA and developer Creative Assembly have officially announced horror first-person shooter sequel Alien: Isolation 2 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, and PC (Steam). A release da…
Marathon's Big Free Season 2 Debut Plagued By Server Issues
Bungie's extraction shooter is facing outages on its biggest day since launch
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 invites you to "keep the receipts" as it fights to be a more "authentic", "grounded, and transparent" shooter experience
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's community team insists players can "keep the receipts" as it fights to remain "authentic to what Modern Warfare is".
Bungie Reportedly Considered Relaunching Destiny as 'Destiny Infinity' Before Deciding to Pull the Plug on Destiny 2
Bungie's issues with its storied sci-fi shooter, Destiny 2, began around the time of the last summer's Edge of Fate expansion, which reportedly underperformed. The decision to pull the plug was allegedly made "earlier this year" after it decided not to relaunch the franchise as "Destiny Infinity."
Rumor: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 coming to Nintendo Switch 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 will be appearing on Nintendo Switch 2, it’s claimed. The upcoming first-person shooter will be announced in the near future. Meanwhile, NateTheHate – who has a reliable track record – has indicated that this one is on the way to Nintendo Switch 2. One fan recently brought up how Modern Warfare 4 should be...
Bungie's Maligned Shooter Marathon Goes Free-to-Play for a Full Week on PS5
No PS Plus required
Spurs defense dominates Thunder, and Game 4 might have flipped the chess board of this series
San Antonio ditched the SGA double teams, shut off the shooters, and still held the MVP in check
Exclusive | San Diego mosque shooter walked out of mental health treatment center the day before massacre, police had prior warnings: sources
FuRyu announces survival third-person shooter ANOMALITH for PS5, Switch 2, and PC
Publisher FuRyu and developer Winning Entertainment Group (formerly Natsume Atari) have announced survival third-person shooter ANOMALITH for PlayStation 5, Switch 2, and PC (Steam). It will launch…
Mock Draft: Rockets Select Underrated Outside Shooter in Second Round
In ESPN's latest mock draft, the Houston Rockets select ACC standout shooter Matt Able.
Young Dolph Shooter Pleads Guilty, Concluding Rapper’s Murder Case
Cornelius Smith Jr., who previously admitted to shooting the rapper at a co-defendant's trial, sentenced to 20 years in prison
Marvel Rivals - The Super Hero Team-based PVP Shooter
Play for free Now!! Get ready to Ignite the Battle with Marvel Rivals!
Insta360’s new viewfinder turns the action cam into a retro shooter
Insta360 tries to capitalize on the tiny camera trend.
Marvel Rivals - The Super Hero Team-based PVP Shooter
Play for free Now!! Get ready to Ignite the Battle with Marvel Rivals!
Marvel Rivals - The Super Hero Team-based PVP Shooter
Play for free Now!! Get ready to Ignite the Battle with Marvel Rivals!
Vintage Disney-like shooter Mouse P.I. For Hire has sold so well its publisher has made all invested money back
The Troy Baker-starring cartoon noir shooter Mouse P.I. for Hire has shifted roughly 730k copies since its release in April, across PS5, Xbox, Switch 2 and PC.L
Explosive co-op shooter Aliens: Fireteam Elite gets a sequel, and it's coming soon
It's official: Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 will release later this year.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 announced for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC
Publisher Daybreak Game Company and developer Cold Iron Studios have announced cooperative third-person shooter sequel Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC (Steam, Epic G…
BioShock Infinite 'Wasted A Lot Of Time And Money' On Dead Ends
The next game in the steampunk horror shooter franchise is taking a long time
Ubisoft's Mark Rubin Discusses Possibility of XDefiant Returning
XDefiant could end up as the one that got away, and the game's executive producer has opened up on whether the Ubisoft shooter could return.
The politics of Trump's ballroom
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — President Trump was about a half-hour into his second speech of the day, musing about the danger he faced last week at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. “Saturday night, it was good for one thing. People are loving my ballroom now,” Trump told a crowd last night. “That’s the only thing. They love my ballroom.” Ever since he was hustled off stage at the Washington Hilton last week, after an attempted shooter breached the dinner’s security perimeter and sent guests diving to the floor, the president has argued that the incident is proof for why his White House ballroom is needed. Only his planned $400 million, 90,000-square-foot project, Trump has reasoned, can keep a president truly safe at major events. It’s true that a bunch of GOP lawmakers have jumped on board with new legislation and words of support for Trump’s project. House Speaker Mike Johnson, Sen. Rand Paul and other prominent Republicans went on TV to talk about the need for a ballroom. But as we reported at The Washington Post this week, “people” aren’t really changing their minds on Trump’s ballroom. A new Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found that most Americans still oppose the ballroom project: 56 percent against it versus 28 percent in favor. The numbers are the same as a poll from last year, the Post’s polling whiz Scott Clement found. Other new polls have found similar margins, too. “I’m just not a giant fan, especially of extravagance,” one independent voter told me. “I mean, in the era we’re in right now, given how much people are struggling, it just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me to spend $400 million on a ballroom.” How we got here The Washington Post has followed Trump’s ballroom project very closely. (My colleague Jonathan Edwards may have written the most total words of any reporter about the project; I may be second.) The project exploded as a national issue after Trump tore down the White House’s East Wing after initially promising not to touch it.1 Historic preservationists sued, and about a month ago, a federal judge ordered a halt to ballroom construction.2 The only way the ballroom could proceed, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled, was if Congress explicitly authorized Trump’s plans. (An appeals court has stayed Leon’s order for now.) The judge’s ruling raised an obvious question: would Congress authorize the project? Keep in mind, “authorization” doesn’t mean that Congress needs to necessarily fund the planned $400 million project; they could just sign off on the private donations that Trump has solicited to pay for the ballroom.3 But GOP lawmakers really didn’t want to talk about the ballroom, we reported at The Post just a few weeks ago. One major reason was the ballroom’s bad polling — not a small detail with many of their own midterm elections looming. The White House Correspondents’ Dinner incident, and Trump’s advocacy, may have changed the political conversation around the ballroom. As this week’s polling shows, it doesn’t seem to have affected the fundamental questions surrounding the project. To put it another way, voters still say that cost-of-living concerns are top-of-mind heading into the midterms. Some Republican and independent voters have told me that they see the ballroom as a vanity project that will help Trump but do nothing for their own lives. It might not help Republicans that Trump has dismissed some of the cost-of-living concerns. He’s described “affordability” as a buzzword manufactured by Democrats whose policies helped cause inflation. “They’ve got one good line of bullshit,” Trump said in his first speech yesterday, delivered at a Florida retirement community known as The Villages. Thanks for reading Dan Diamond's newsletter! Subscribe for free to stay up-to-date on my work. Subscribe Speaking of Trump’s speeches… I’m down in Florida because it’s my “duty week” as a White House reporter — basically, I follow the president wherever he goes. (And then hand the baton off to one of my Washington Post colleagues next week.) As part of my duty week, I’ve spent a few days covering the White House’s reaction to Saturday’s attempted shooting, including officials’ review of the security protocols to protect the president. Trump was restrained in the wake of the incident, addressing the nation from the White House briefing room about the need for peaceful dialogue and trying to lower the temperature. But he’s clearly been itching to get back out of the White House, and I was curious to hear how his Florida speeches would go. And — to my ears — it was an unburdened Trump. Not the one we saw Saturday night in the White House briefing room, but the one we witnessed on the campaign trail in 2024. Loose, dropping profanities, mocking everyone, including members of his team. “We have a man here who knows more about Medicaid, Medicare, medical crap than any human being. Where’s Dr. Oz? Where the hell are you, stand up,” Trump said, referring to Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “It’s the most boring trip I’ve ever made. He’s telling me about Medicare, Medicaid. All I want to do is take care of you, I don’t care. I said, ‘You work out the details.’” I wrote up the speech, as Trump headed to West Palm Beach to deliver more remarks a few hours later. The White House didn’t like my story. Their rapid-response team called it the work of a “total loser”4 and “a miserable TDS-ridden moron.” You can be the judge of whether it’s a fair story or the product of someone afflicted with “TDS.” (The White House’s shorthand for “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”) I’ve pasted the story below with a gift link, meaning that you don’t need to be a Washington Post subscriber to read it. It might prompt you for an email address, though. Meanwhile, I’ll be down in Florida for the rest of the weekend, covering the president. It’s TBD whether those stories will be deemed TDS-afflicted, too. 1 Jonathan details the past six months of ballroom fallout, reactions and the implications for executive authority here. I also had a great time talking about Trump’s ballroom and other projects with Australia’s ABC News Daily on a podcast this week. 2 The judge allowed underground construction and national security-related work to continue. But that hasn’t been enough for Trump, who says the ballroom itself is essential for his protection. 3 The ballroom donors include companies like Palantir, Google and Amazon. For transparency, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post, where I work. No one has ever interfered with our team’s coverage of the ballroom or our mentions of Amazon or Bezos, and if that changed, I’d speak out. 4 To be fair, I’ve spent the morning working on stories and writing this Substack post rather than enjoying the beautiful Florida weather. So they may be onto something about who’s winning and who’s losing.
Reverse Collapse: F announced for PS5, Xbox Series, PC, iOS, and Android
Publisher Sunborn Network Technology and in-house developer MICA Team have announced Reverse Collapse: F, a science-fiction cooperative third-person shooter. It will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox …
Political violence in the social media age
Authorities are trying to look for clues to what radicalized the suspected shooter
Press gala shooter / Political violence / Iran war price tag
Saturday’s attack at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner was the third assassination attempt on President Trump.Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR National Security Correspondent Greg Myre and NPR Justice Correspondent Ryan Lucas about what the attack says about the state of political violence in the U.S. and the debate over whether the Secret Service was ready to protect Trump and those around him. Email the show at sourcesandmethods@npr.orgNPR+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org.
Saros Guide: 12 Tips To Know Before Playing
Housemarque’s roguelike shooter can be a test of resilience or a pretty breezy third-person shooter
4:LOOP details cube-shaped ‘Scanner’ boss
Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment and developer Bad Robot Games has released new information for cooperative third-person shooter 4:LOOP introducing the game’s ominous cube-shaped R…
Suspected shooter’s 2024 social media posts show shift to political rage: ‘That’s when you see a very distinct turn’
Suspected shooter’s social media posts show shift from video games to political rage
Cole Allen, the suspect charged in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting, compared President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler in social media posts.
Alleged Trump Shooter's Steam Game Pulled From Sale
A wealth of incredibly unfunny reviews were added over the weekend until the game was yoinked
Grievance Propelled Gala Attack Suspect Across Country, Authorities Say
A man who has worked as a tutor and graduated from the California Institute of Technology is being held by authorities in connection with the armed attack at the White House correspondents’ dinner.
Alleged White House Correspondents' Dinner shooter set to appear in federal court
The suspected gunman will face charges, including assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.
Donald Trump calls '60 Minutes' host Norah O'Donnell 'disgraceful' for quoting alleged shooter's manifesto
Donald Trump lashed out at '60 Minutes' host Norah O'Donnell after she quoted the alleged Correspondents' Dinner gunman calling him a 'rapist' and 'pedophile' in his manifesto: 'You should be ashamed.'
Details emerge of alleged shooter at White House correspondents' dinner
The alleged gunman has been identified as Cole Allen, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Trump evacuated as shooter opens fire at Washington gala
One officer was shot at close range but not critically injured, Trump said
Shooter opened fire inside hotel where Trump was attending dinner, law enforcement official says
President Trump evacuated after security incident at White House correspondents dinner.
North Side hospital on lockdown after reports of shooter wounded officers
Chicago police had not confirmed a shooting at Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital, 5140 N. California Ave., but hospital officials confirmed that the facility was on lockdown.
Officers reportedly injured in shooting at Swedish Hospital in Lincoln Square
Police were en route to what may be an active shooter situation.
PS5 Exclusive Shooter Gets Stellar Reviews, Is GOTY Contender
A brand new PlayStation 5 exclusive shooter is out next week, and has gotten some stellar reviews, making it an early GOTY contender.
Overwatch Is Making Good On A Decade-Old Promise
The hero shooter’s reboot is getting one thing right
‘Halo’ Is Reportedly Threatening To Make An Extraction Shooter
According to a new report, some form of a Halo extraction shooter may be in the works after a previous battle royale was cancelled.
Marathon On Sale For The First Time Amid Free-To-Play Debate
Bungie's shooter is going to need fresh players sooner or later
Splatoon Raiders gets summer Switch 2 release date, as well as a Deep Cut amiibo to add to your collection
Nintendo has announced a release date for its single-player focused action shooter, Splatoon Raiders.
Steph Curry is testing Fitbit's screenless Whoop competitor
The NBA's greatest shooter has been not-so-subtly showing off the potential Whoop killer.
"It's been an interesting year": the jailed creator of Fortune's Run has passed parole and is back working on her Deus Ex-style FPS
One of the most promising retro immersive shooters on Steam is back in active development, following its creator's release from prison.
Kentucky needs to add some shooters from the transfer portal
The Kentucky Wildcats are still working to add talent from the transfer portal, but they badly need to get some shooters.
EXCLUSIVE - PlayStation's Fairgames is Also Preparing To Enter the Extraction Market
Haven Studios' upcoming multiplayer game, 'Fairgames', sounds like essentially just another extraction shooter.
Why I’m embracing the latest uncool thing in gaming
‘Unc’ is meant to disparage older players who favour slow-paced shooters and epic narrative games, but the industry should make games for all generations
Marvel Rivals - The Super Hero Team-based PVP Shooter
Play for free Now!! Get ready to Ignite the Battle with Marvel Rivals!
"The most fun I've had in the last week playing" - Marathon players react to the mid-season update, and its new friendly-first features
Marathon players react to the new C.A.R.R.I features added to the game, which promote a more friendly approach to the otherwise ruthless extraction shooter.
Marvel Rivals - The Super Hero Team-based PVP Shooter
Play for free Now!! Get ready to Ignite the Battle with Marvel Rivals!
Blackmagic Design announces Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF 100G
Blackmagic Design today announced Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF 100G, a new model in the URSA Cine family with 100G Ethernet for high-frame-rate SMPTE-2110 live production output up to 440 fps. Building on the digital film features of the URSA Cine 12K LF, including the large format RGBW 36x24mm sensor, the new model adds dramatically faster … Continued
Epic Games Reportedly Developing Extraction Shooter Starring Disney Characters
Bloomberg reports that Epic Games is currently developing a Disney-themed extraction shooter as part of the studios' $1.5 billion partnership.
Review: Pragmata (Switch 2) - A Dazzling Puzzle-Shooter Driven By A Heartfelt Friendship
Hack the Moon!
This week in PC games: sci-fi shooter Pragmata, 2.5D platformer Replaced, and the most wishlisted game on Steam compete with illuminated manuscripts
All the biggest and most interesting PC games out this week, inlcuding pirate sandbox Windrose, sci-fi adventure Pragmata, and 2.5D platformer Replaced.
'Tarkov in Space' Revealed as Fragmentary Order, a Sci-Fi 'Combat Simulator'
Rant Gaming has unveiled Fragmentary Order, a new first-person shooter that many have dubbed Escape from Tarkov in space.
Epic set to release Arc Raiders-like extraction shooter with Disney characters by the end of the year
Epic Games will allegedly release an Arc Raiders-like shooter later this year.
“As of January 2026… Drew Murray is now working on the StarCraft shooter” — this report could be the clearest sign yet that the project is moving forward
Fresh insight into Blizzard’s StarCraft shooter suggests experienced talent is being assembled, with Drew Murray of the now closed The Initiative joining as associative design director.
Epic is reportedly building an extraction shooter for Disney
Epic Games is reportedly working on an extraction shooter with Disney characters it plans to release in November.
FBI used iPhone notification data to retrieve deleted Signal messages
The FBI was able to recover deleted Signal messages from an iPhone by extracting data stored in the device’s notification database.
Marathon Reportedly Had a Budget of Over $200 Million — and While the Pressure Is on Bungie to Gain More Players, It Is Not Facing an Imminent, Concord-Style Shutdown
A new report has claimed Marathon’s budget is over $200 million, and while player numbers have fallen significantly since launch, Bungie’s extraction shooter is allegedly not facing an imminent shutdown.
Road to Vostok's hot start on Steam has "secured the entire production budget" the Finnish survival shooter needs for "years to come", dev says
Road to Vostok, a Finnish survival shooter, has already secured the budget it needs for years to come following an early access release, its developer says.
Sci-Fi Extraction Shooter Lasted Three Weeks Before Announcing Shutdown
Live-Service game The Cube, Save Us is closing in one month
PS5 Remaster of Unique Shooter Out Today on PS Store
A classic RPG shooter gets a PS5 release on the PlayStation Store today since its original launch over 20 years ago.
Family of suspected Raymond shooter says he struggled with mental health
Kodey Masse said the man involved Saturday was not the brother he knew.
Marathon review: Bungie’s extraction shooter is a brutal beauty
Marathon, the first non-Destiny game from Bungie in more than a decade, is equal parts frustration and elation, writes our reviewer.
Krafton shutters free-to-play PUBG spin-off after two months, in line with policy of using Early Access to "quickly validate a game’s potential"
Company abandons top-down shooter after two months of declining player counts, despite franchise delivering record revenues
Marvel Rivals - The Super Hero Team-based PVP Shooter
Play for free Now!! Get ready to Ignite the Battle with Marvel Rivals!
Marvel Rivals - The Super Hero Team-based PVP Shooter
Play for free Now!! Get ready to Ignite the Battle with Marvel Rivals!
PlayStation Closes Shooter Studio Formed By Former Call Of Duty Lead
Dark Outlaw Games grew out of the ashes of another failed Sony project
Marathon has sold 1.2M copies across Steam, PS5, and Xbox
Alinea Analytics estimates show that Marathon has generated gross revenues of $55M via 1.2M copies sold on Steam, PS5, and Xbox: Looking at the split between Steam, PS5, and Xbox, Steam is clearly the main platform for Marathon, accounting for a little under 70% of the audience (800K copies sold). Meanwhile, PS5 takes about 19% (217K) and Xbox (including console, PC, and cloud) accounts for a bit over 11% or 133K. Marathon is technically a first-party Sony title, so seeing the home console struggle to break 20% of the volume is a notable data point for the ongoing platform-agnostic debate. PlayStation Studios online games will almost certainly continue being multiplatform (despite Sony reportedly pulling back on PC releases). Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe As for Marathon, the consensus among hardcore players who pushed through the awkward onboarding phase – myself included – is that it’s fantastic. The gunplay, aesthetic, and presentation are among the best in the shooter genre. A great game doesn’t always equal an immediate hit, though, as shown by our estimates. Things are looking lukewarm right now. But this might be one of those marathon-not-a-sprint situations. Had to, didn’t I? Why wasn’t Marathon a hit on the same level as Arc Raiders? One topic that came up in a lot of conversations at GDC this year was why Marathon hasn’t hit the same stratosphere as Arc Raiders. On paper, they’re both extraction shooters, and Marathon has the Bungie pedigree – the house that built the gold standard for gunplay in Halo and Destiny. Marathon’s neon-futuristic aesthetic also distinguishes itself from the gritty realism of Tarkov or the post-apocalyptic hope of ARC Raiders. But vibes can only get you so far for first impressions if the onboarding feels like a brick wall. Marathon is a sweaty PvP-focused experience with a first-time user experience and UI that I can only describe as dreadful. Players are dropped into a complex ecosystem where the UI, though visually striking, is functionally uninformative, forcing users to manually hover over nondescript, identical icons just to identify basic gear or weapon mods. This lack of clarity is compounded by punishing mechanics like a severe heat gauge for movement and a scarcity of vital resources, all without a clear tutorial or a low-stakes mode to learn the ropes. Most people – even top streamers and veteran shooter players – have no idea what’s going on in Marathon at first. Arc is on the complete other end of the spectrum. As we covered here and here, Arc Raiders offers a more collaborative, approachable loop where players often work together toward shared goals. And the objectives are instantly clear. To many players, this contrast only emphasised Marathon’s issues, especially during the testing period. Players understand the Arc Raiders loop within 30 minutes, while Marathon acts as a massive filter, chewing up newcomers and spitting them out before they can experience the depth of Bungie’s signature gunplay. What I’m getting at here is that the poor first-time user experience of Marathon’s Server Slam likely stifled launch sales, while the opposite was true for Arc. Let’s look at the pre-launch copies sold for each game during their respective Server Slams (launch-aligned) : Looking at the trajectory: Arc Raiders saw a massive 80% jump in copies sold during its three-day Server Slam (day -13 to -11). Players jumped in, realised the water was fine, and immediately opened their wallets. Marathon, meanwhile, saw a 49% increase in the four days following its Slam (Day -7 to -3). At the time of each game’s respective launch, Arc Raiders had nearly double the Steam footprint of Marathon – and word of mouth only continued to grow. Bungie could have had more time to fix the onboarding process had the beta happened earlier. But Marathon launched three days after the beta finished. These factors limited the launch sales quite a bit, I reckon. Marathon has found a niche audience, though Despite the friction-heavy start, the data suggests that those who survived Marathon’s onboarding are loving life. We’ve been tracking cross-platform DAUs, and while there’s the expected post-launch leakage, many players are sticking with it. After peaking at 478K total DAUs on its first Saturday, Marathon has settled into a respectable rhythm, holding 345K DAUs as of yesterday and averaging 380K DAUs across the weekend. Steam continues to do the heavy lifting here, consistently accounting for the lion’s share of the daily players. Players have been putting in the hours, too: On Steam, Marathon’s average playtime has climbed to 27.8 hours, significantly outpacing the console averages on PS5 (16.5h) and Xbox (17.3h). Even more telling than the averages: 22% of the Steam audience has surged past the 50-hour mark, and nearly 7% have already logged over 100 hours. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe This data suggests that once the Bungie magic clicks, it hooks players deeper than the average extraction shooter. There’s also started to be a shift in the game’s discourse. Marathon launched as one of those games that’s cool to hate. But as Marathon’s 100-hour club grows, we’re seeing conversations around its mechanical merit outweigh the negativity. Several high-profile creators, who were initially vocal critics, have spent the last week coming around on the mechanical depth of the endgame. It’s a subtle but positive signal; the hate train is losing steam, and a new narrative about the game is emerging. Bungie faithfuls unite Another interesting metric in Marathon’s first few weeks is who, exactly, is playing. Bungie leans heavily on its prestige as the “makers of Halo and Destiny,” in its marketing, and that message has clearly hit the mark. On Steam, the gravity (hammer) of Bungie’s previous work is unavoidable. A staggering 78.2% of Marathon players also played Destiny 2. The trend carries across other platforms, with 74.2% of PS5 players and 82.7% of Xbox players also having played Destiny 2. The Halo legacy lives on, it seems. More on that in a bit. While Destiny 2 went free to play, these numbers still represent a high-intent migration of a fanbase that trusts Bungie’s specific brand of kinetic gunplay and cryptic world-building. The Xbox data adds another layer of legacy. About 85.7% of Marathon players on Xbox have played Halo Infinite, while over half of the Steam audience has spent time in Halo Infinite and 36.1% in the Master Chief Collection (a paid collection of the old Bungie-made legacy games). Interestingly, we see a 55.9% overlap with ARC Raiders on Steam. Overlap is even higher there on PlayStation (60.5%) and Xbox (66.5%). And there’s also significant crossover with Helldivers 2 on all platforms, too. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe Bungie has found some of its fans with Marathon, and the challenge now is keeping this engaged in a high-stakes PvP environment when they’ve spent the last decade primarily enjoying the power fantasies of PvE. On that note… Go the full 26 miles? Or cut and run? Time for some could’ve, should’ve, would’ve. These things would have improved Marathon’s performance at launch: A more robust onboarding process, perhaps in the form of a short single-player/PvE campaign. We know Bungie fans love this stuff. A traditional arena-based mode akin to Destiny’s Crucible could have been a bridge for the cautious players who’d have been otherwise deterred by the Server Slam. It’s also a great palate cleanser after getting merked. Introducing a dedicated PvE environment would have similarly diversified the conversation and lowered the barrier for the Bungie faithful who found the pure PvP extraction loop too abrasive. PvE is safer than PvP these days. There’s an argument that a thin PvE mode would have just felt like a budget Destiny, potentially hurting the brand more. But given how dire the FTUE is, I think it would have been a net positive. Any kind of tutorialised loop that demystifies the stakes, really. While there is merit in a studio sticking firmly to a singular creative vision, and going all in on the hardcore extraction loop. Less forgiving is the technical reality is that the user interface and first-time user experience (FTUE) were not at a commercial standard for launch. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe In a landscape where player time is oversaturated and the most contested currency, a flawed FTUE is a critical failure point. But it’s not all doom and gloom, as Marathon has an incredible, unique gameplay loop, suggesting that financial success is still attainable if Bungie can pivot effectively. Bungie and PlayStation now face a difficult strategic crossroads, though – one within a challenging games market. They could: Double down on Marathon with a long-term Rainbow Six Siege- or No Man’s Sky-style recovery plan, which is something I heard Last Stand Media’s Chris Maldonado mention last week. While this could be a sunk-cost fallacy in action, it could eventually yield the audience the game’s mechanical depth deserves. Shift focus toward the inevitable Destiny 3 or another project, mitigating the escalating opportunity cost and cutting their losses, so to speak. Doing both is an expensive proposition, given the high overhead and burn rate of operating out of Bellevue, Washington. With Sony recently demonstrating a lower threshold for underperforming studios and projects, the margin for error has vanished. Whatever happens, the next six months will determine whether Marathon becomes a cornerstone of Sony’s live-service portfolio or a cautionary tale of vision exceeding accessibility. I’m hoping it’s the former, because Marathon rocks. As always, hit subscribe to get updates on Marathon and other relevant games. Subscribe Want to get your hands on our data for yourself – for free? We’re offering a free trial of our platform for games companies. Send us a message here, or reply to this email, and we’ll set you up. The last word Reply to this email – or reach out here – if you have any feedback for the newsletter – or want to request a game for us to cover. [Alinea Analytics boasts the most accurate PC and console estimates in the business. Game makers use our platform to understand their audience, keep an eye on the competition, monitor sales trends, and spot new opportunities. We equip game studios and financial institutions with accurate data and the confidence to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Want to talk about all things games market data? We’d love to chat!]
Waterfront staple Shooters brings new life to Flats entertainment district
Shooters became a hotspot in the Flats during Cleveland nightlife's heydey period before the 2000's.
Waterfront staple Shooters brings new life to Flats entertainment district
Shooters became a hotspot in the Flats during Cleveland nightlife's heydey period before the 2000's.
Marvel Rivals - The Super Hero Team-based PVP Shooter
Play for free Now!! Get ready to Ignite the Battle with Marvel Rivals!
Shooters in the Flats reopens Wednesday, new menu, more entertainment
Shooters in the Flats is reopening Wednesday under new owners. Doors open to the public at 4 p.m.
Marvel Rivals - The Super Hero Team-based PVP Shooter
Play for free Now!! Get ready to Ignite the Battle with Marvel Rivals!
One of Marathon's best tricks? It dodges the "Blorko" problem that doomed Concord and Highguard
To many shooters - from Concord to Highguard - have fallen into the trap of needing you to care about unfamiliar characters. Bungie's Marathon dodges it deftly.
Slay the Spire 2 Dev Never Thought It Would Actually Pass Marathon in Steam Concurrents, Says Congratulations Post ‘Seems a Bit Meaner Than Intended’
Some might have thought Bungie’s Marathon was going to be the big launch on Steam this week, but it turns out Slay the Spire 2 has quadrupled Bungie's extraction shooter in terms of concurrent player numbers on Valve's PC gaming platform.
Marvel Rivals - The Super Hero Team-based PVP Shooter
Play for free Now!! Get ready to Ignite the Battle with Marvel Rivals!
Marvel Rivals - The Super Hero Team-based PVP Shooter
Play for free Now!! Get ready to Ignite the Battle with Marvel Rivals!
Bungie asks sites to delay Marathon reviews, with release date Steam player count below 100K
Gamers may have to form their own opinions about whether Marathon was worth the wait. Although not mandatory, Bungie has asked websites to postpone reviews, leaving Metacritic blank. Naysayers think the unremarkable Marathon Steam player count reflects a lack of confidence in the shooter.