Guillermo del Toro is asking for a slightly more forgiving Dead Cells, checkpoints and all, 'for the elderly players'

Dead Cells and Guillermo del Toro screenshots
(Image credit: Motion Twin | Kojima Productions)

I drip-feed roguelikes into my gaming schedule: one too many total resets and my brain could break beyond repair. I always knew this wasn't an unusual approach but I didn't ever think it would be an opinion I'd share with one of my favourite filmmakers, Guillermo del Toro. But the world is a strange place.

Meta is still flinging the equivalent of a small country's annual GDP down the Reality Labs money pit each and every quarter

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., wears Orion augmented reality (AR) glasses during the Meta Connect event in Menlo Park, California, US, on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. Meta Platforms Inc. debuted its first pair of augmented reality glasses, devices that show a combined view of the digital and physical worlds, a key step in Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg's goal of one day offering a hands-free alternative to the smartphone.
(Image credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Meta's second quarter earnings are in, reporting revenue of $60.80 billion. That's another record-breaking year-on-year increase of about 28%, though shares are reportedly down by about 10%. Funny, that. Now, time to take a look at how the company's famous money-hole, its VR and AR division, Reality Labs, is doing while I take a big sip of my coffee…

The most important sci-fi movie of the century is about to leave Netflix

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Published Jul 30, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT

And it's never been more relevant

ex machina Image: DNA Films

It’s tough to picture it now, but AI used to be the stuff of science fiction. Ever since the ‘60s, the topic has been fertile ground for inspiration, resulting in memorable creations, from the evil HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey to the pity-inducing replicants of Blade Runner. While these movies remain classics, we’re in an era of AI that might reshape the way the technology is depicted in fiction. Instead of visualizing it as something far off and ripe for exploring, we’re encountering it in our daily lives. Your opinions on AI may vary, but one thing is clear: It’s a far less sexy topic than what was promised.

Arc Raiders rats are cheating the matchmaking system by throwing themselves in front of friendly fire

Embark has been on a bit of a matchmaking kick recently. It announced some weeks ago that Arc Raiders would be getting a more thorough system which takes into account specific player behaviour across solo, duo, and trio lobbies as well as a more nuanced look at self-defence. Both are solid updates to the game in theory, but in practice it's become clear that you just can't balance for assholes.

Final Fantasy 7 remake director says he hopes Revelation will get 'some kind of physical edition' despite the industry and Sony's 'shift away' from discs

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation - Vincent Valentine holding a gun with fiery explosions in the background
(Image credit: Square Enix)

Final Fantasy 7: Revelation is on the horizon, but there's a looming shadow—Sony's recent mandate that there'll be no disks in the publisher and console developer's future, a move that's been controversial, to say the least. It had multiple developers, including the minds behind Clair Obscur Expedition 33, mourning the loss of physical copies.

"Our business did not grow with our audience": post-layoffs, Xbox execs are trying to sell a gaming division bounce back by summer 2027

As latest financial report shows revenue was down compared to year

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma.
Image credit: Microsoft

Efforts by those now running Xbox to convince onlookers that the gaming division of Microsoft is now in a better place to start hauling in the ever-growing money numbers those overseeing it crave have continued alongside Microsoft first financial report since this month's mass layoffs. Both Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and her boss Satya Nadella have declared they're looking for the division to be growing financially again by about this time next year.

'The Maw' skulls and terminal locations in Halo Campaign Evolved

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Published Jul 29, 2026, 4:32 PM EDT

The final mission

Master Chief hanging from the edge of the Pillar of Autumn in Halo: Campaign Evolved. Image: Halo Studios/Xbox Game Studios via Polygon

Much like every other mission in Halo: Campaign Evolved, there are three skulls and one terminal to find in "The Maw," which is the final mission of the main campaign, excluding the three bonus levels that are new to Campaign Evolved. After abandoning the now-infected Captain Keyes in the aptly named "Keyes," it's up to Master Chief and Cortana to end things once and for all.

'It Wasn't Quite What We Wanted' — Tom Holland and Zendaya 'Hated' an Early Cut of Spider-Man: Brand New Day

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: Jul 29, 2026 8:19pm UTC

Tom Holland has revealed that he, Zendaya, and Jacob Batalon "hated" an early cut of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Skyrim username mixup sent innocent man to prison for 18 months

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Published Jul 29, 2026, 4:18 PM EDT

For years, no one noticed a username discrepancy

A character in a horned helmet walks through a village in Skyrim Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks

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Latest Palworld patch keeps Victor & Shadowbeak from accidentally teleporting out of existence, prevents Panthalus from breaking everything

Panthalus, a godly whale Pal in Palworld.
(Image credit: Pocketpair)

While its 1.0 launch has delivered impressive and continued success to the tune of a few million additional players, Palworld is still a bit squirrelly—particularly when it comes to bosses, who have presented some frustrating bugginess for multiplayer users.