Steam Week in Review: spammy, AI-generated capsule art is a pox, and it makes browsing Steam less fun

Every Monday morning I scroll through the previous week’s new games on Steam. I’ve always enjoyed doing this. It can surface niche gems I might otherwise not have found, and it’s also useful for detecting new trends in their infancy. But if I’m perfectly honest, the reason I’ve always loved to browse through Steam’s raw…

5 Mario Kart World habits players should stop doing immediately

Mario Kart World’s been out for over a year, and brought with it new game modes, unique character costumes, customization options and, of course, an enormous, interconnected map. If all this new content was a bit daunting to you, you may not have realized some of your racing habits might be holding you back from…

Order Of The Sinking Star’s Biggest Villain Is Its Own Creator

The first thing you will see in the Next Fest demo for Order of the Sinking Star is a menu prompt. The current build uses computer-generated voice overs as placeholders, likely AI judging by the demo’s Steam page disclosure. You are given two options, one to leave them on or one for “No Clankers!” It’ll…

Lucky Block Rush codes (June 2026)

If you’re looking to make each swing of the training dummy go a little further, you’ll want to redeem these new Lucky Block Rush codes. Good for free cash, strength, and the odd boost potion you’ll find in your inventory, you’ll save a lot of time with these. And that’s saying something given its largely…

Why These Two Very Different Games Are Getting Rave Reviews And Attention Right Now

In case you missed it, Mixtape and Subnautica 2 are picking up strong momentum, each capturing attention for different reasons and contributing to a broader wave of conversation across the gaming landscape. Both are available on XBOX Game Pass Ultimate, with Subnautica 2 currently in Game Preview. Mixtape has emerged as one of the standout…

In The Zone – Our Favourite Sonic The Hedgehog Levels, Music & Memories

Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo Life Sonic the Hedgehog is one of gaming’s most enduring characters. He’s been through multiple eras and designs over the course of a 35-year career, starring in a huge number of games, and branching out from his bread-and-butter platformers with spin-offs in many other gaming genres. And he’s not going…

Former Unreal Engine ‘lead evangelist’ Sjoerd De Jong leaves Epic Games, says the industry is reaching a ‘pivotal’ moment that he must ‘come to terms with’

Sjoerd De Jong, an Unreal Engine expert from its early days who joined Epic Games full-time in 2014—first as “lead evangelist” and most recently as the senior director of an unannounced project—has left the company, he revealed last week in a LinkedIn post. “After 27 years of Unreal Engine, and 12 years at Epic Games…

Founding Xbox Staff Says Original Skepticisms Are Coming True

Laura Fryer was one of the first members of Microsoft Games Studios back in the ‘90s. There she served as producer on games like Crimson Skies. As Microsoft pushed internal teams towards the Xbox, she became one of the founding members, though with concerns about the software-focused company entering the hardware market. Now that Xbox…

Launch a Wheel codes (June 2026)

When you’re out of ways to boost your strength without wearing down your fingers with repeated clicks, it’s time to redeem new Launch a Wheel codes. Typically good for Luck/Power potions, fruits, vegetables, and just about any kind of free egg you can think of, they’re well worth keeping an eye on. Based on a…

Pokémon show’s first poster gives A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms vibes

On the first day of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Aardman and The Pokémon Company updated us on Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu and shared the first poster for the stop-motion animated series. Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu was first announced in 2024 and got its first teaser…