Category: Rock, Paper, Shotgun

GDC have released their 2026 State of the Game Industry report, comprising survey results from thousands of quizzed developers on the craft and business of gamesmaking. As in the 2025 report, this year’s responses signal a growing discontent with generative AI tools, with opposing sentiments tipping into simple majority status for the first time: 52% now say GenAI is having a negative impact on the industry, up from 30% in 2025 and 18% in 2024.

Before we start celebrating the moral arc of the universe, this opinion-hardening appears to correlate with neither an overall decrease not increase in the adoption of GenAI tech. Asked if they or someone in their company used these tools, 52% said yes and 35% said no, both unchanged from their 2025 survey levels. However, optimistic views are becoming harder to come by, with the percentage of respondents who thought GenAI is having a positive impact dropping from 13% in 2025 to a mere 7% in 2026. Presumably that’s made up of Tim Sweeney, Larian’s Swen Vincke, half the people on my LinkedIn feed, and that one dentist out of ten who doubts toothpaste.

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Well, World of Warcraft developers Blizzard have decided to have a bit of extra fun with all the junk that’ll fill up the new player houses rolling out in full with March’s Midnight expansion. The MMO’s getting a prop hunt mode dubbed Decor Duel, designed to act as a “small diversion” from the whole Xal’atath-led void invasion business.

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If you’ve ever intrepidly looked up a Paradox game, seen a million DLC expansions on the Steam page, and fled screaming into the woods, rest assured that Paradox have you in their eye. It’s doubtful they’re going to change anything about their broad DLC strategy, mind, but they’re aware that some players may feel reluctant to purchase older Paradox games that have dozens of add-ons.

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Ahead of Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties‘ release on February 11th, devs RGG Studio have announced plans to put out a day one patch to fix visual issues spotted the remade beat-em-up’s demo. Specifically, there’s a section of the game’s version of downtown Okinawa by a river which players have pointed out to be garishly oversaturated compared to the original Yakuza 3 and its previous remaster.

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When I first played Crimson Desert I had trouble working out what it wanted to be – Spider-Man? The Witcher? Dynasty Warriors? Dragon’s Dogma? Jedi Academy? The first of three new talkthrough videos from developers Pearl Abyss has helped concentrate the game in my mind. This is a grittier medieval fantasy take on The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom, isn’t it! Those airborne ruins are a dead giveaway. All it’s missing is the elegance and feeling of completeness. OK, it doesn’t have a magic vehicle editor, either. That I know about. Without further ado, here’s the video.

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Hello you. Welcome to Quick Kits, a new series of PC hardware reviews for people who just want to know, with minimal preamble and probably zero bar charts, what a piece of gear is like to use. I’ll still be testing everything as if it were getting a full-length writeup, but shrink-raying the wordy parts should help us bring you more hardware advice, more often, and across a wider range of component and peripheral types.

I’ve got just the thing to get us started with, too: a three-month-old keyboard. You’re welcome.

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Stardew Valley creator Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone has emerged from the giant Easter egg in which he makes games to “debunk a few myths and false assumptions” about Haunted Chocolatier, his forthcoming sticky-fingered life sim. The good news is that he’s been “very productive” lately, though he admits that he “shouldn’t have announced the game so early”, which suggests we’ve a ways to go yet before the first proper Haunted Chocolatier trailer or info blowout.

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Sellers of revamped retro PC games and also newer PC games GOG have been accused of using AI-generated artwork to promote their store’s new year sale. Meanwhile, a job listing the Polish company have recently posted for a senior software engineer to work on their desktop app GOG Galaxy lists among the role’s responsibilities that they must “actively use and promote AI-assisted development tools”.

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“We want to put Runescape back on the map,” associate director of design Ryan Philpott says. But, reader, I need you to know the cost of this metaphorical cartography. Over the years, the Monty Python-infused medieval world of RuneScape has expanded in many directions. It’s gained new landmasses, professions, raids, and characters, but also many many many odder cosmetics. Some of them, like the delightful sharksuit, walk a distinctly non-medieval path.

Philpott says these are a problem. The meanie.

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Dune: Awakening has struggled a touch with its endgame pretty much since launch, but with the MMO’s next big update, Chapter 3, is promising to offer a revamp that you (yes, you! The person playing Dune: Awakening right now! Maybe!) have been after. A release date was also offered up for the big update, alongside some specifics on just what this new endgame might look like.

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