Gaming · Aug 3, 2026
The PS5 Blackout: What It Is and What It Means
Sony ends physical PlayStation discs in 2028, the 'Don't Kill the Disc' petition passed 345,000 signatures, and fans plan a week-long August blackout.
Section · Games, engines, esports
Gaming
What is actually worth playing, the engines behind it, and the economics of a $200B pastime.
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The Disc-Pocalypse: Why Retail Game Sales Are Collapsing
US physical game revenue fell from about $11.5 billion in 2009 to $1.6 billion, and just 7 PlayStation games sold 100K discs in 2026. The retail disc is dying.
Gaming
GTA VI’s Disc-Free Launch: The Numbers That Shock
GTA VI’s box holds a download code, not a disc, and Newzoo counted $260 million in first-week digital preorders. The numbers behind an all-digital launch.
Gaming
Xbox Cloud Gaming Passes 1.7B Hours, Tests the Console
Xbox Cloud Gaming streamed 1.7 billion hours in 2025, up 45% year on year, yet consoles and smart TVs still take most of those hours. Here is the real split.
Gaming
The Switch 2's Port-Heavy Lineup: Where Are the New Originals?
Nintendo Switch 2's 2026 slate leans heavily on ports and remasters, from Oblivion to Elden Ring. With only a handful of new exclusives, players are asking where the originals are.
Gaming
Unity and Unreal's AI Shader Wars Heat Up
AI is reshaping game development, and shaders are the hardest unsolved frontier. Claude Fable 5 leads every game-dev benchmark, but no model is good at shader programming yet.
Gaming
The $70 Game Backlash: Publishers Rethink Pricing
GTA 6 hits $79.99 and Nintendo moves to $80, but experts say most developers should never price over $70. Mid-tier $40 games like Helldivers 2 and Clair Obscur are winning big.
Gaming
Game Preservation Law in the EU: What It Means
The EU rejected a mandatory game preservation law, citing copyright and IP rules. Instead it will push a voluntary code of conduct for sunsetting games. Here is what players get.
Gaming
The Mobile Gaming Subscription Wars: Netflix vs Xbox
Netflix bundles 80+ mobile games into every subscription, while Xbox explores cheaper Game Pass tiers and a possible Netflix bundle. The subscription wars are heating up.