Integrity. Inteh-gritty. In-teh-grih-teh. That’s the word of the day when it comes to 2026 RuneScape, or at least it will be if the plans Jagex have just laid out work as intended. To be fair, pushing the big button that finally gets rid of those Treasure Hunter microtransactions folks vocally disliked is a good start.
The winter abates, the days begin to lengthen, the snowdrops creep forth from their burrows, and the raiders of ARC Raiders carry on raiding Arcs. Developers Embark have also done another round of interviews, in which they discuss plans for ARC Raiders updates in 2026, and in particular, address the question of whether to implement a player-trading menu and/or some kind of auction house feature. Right now, you can only officially barter with NPC merchants.
A bunch of alleged concept art for the Fable reboot has reportedly been unearthed via a developer’s portfolio, ahead of the RPG’s appearance at this week’s Xbox showcase. As of writing, there’s no indication as to what stage of developement the apparent game art could be from. However, if it’s genuine, it does seem to point towards a location from Fable 2 making a return in the reboot.
A mod providing VR support for Cyberpunk 2077 is no more, after CD Projekt issued a takedown notice they claim hinged on them not being happy that the mod’s creator had stuck it behind a paywall. In response, modder Luke Ross has accused the company of being all about making money.
Valve have made changes to Steam’s community awards system to discourage people from posting daft and angry posts in order to farm Steam points. You will, in fact, no longer be able to receive Steam points from other users when they give you awards. Adding insult to injury, there’s a new set of awards that are explicitly designed to spread goodwill. Filth!
As seen in The Maw, fluffy defence shooter Mochi-O is out today, and – judging from the Steam demo I’ve played – is an at least passingly entertaining MIRV explosion of gleeful nonsense. Landing somewhere between tower defence, Vampire Survivors, and Tamagotchi, it has you holding up a genetically engineered hamster-like creature up to a window and blasting waves of attackers with the mounted weapons systems hidden in his fur. Then, setting him down and giving him a good long scritch.
Bungie’s Marathon reboot now has what you have to hope will be its final release date, following a rocky development path featuring plagiarism scandals and indefinite delays. The futuristic shooter’s locked and loaded for March.
A first major update for Minecrafty block-build-and-basher Hytale arrived over the weekend, and it’s added in some extra danger. There are now dinosaurs running around in the underground jungles. These are work-in-progress dinos, so who knows what might happen if you end up earning their big lizard ire. Also, the in-game bedtime’s now half past seven.
Much in the same way that I started this year by telling my loved ones I would cut down my portion sizes in 2026 to attend to my ageing body, Zenimax Online Studios began the year by saying they would be releasing smaller updates for Elder Scrolls Online to refresh the MMO’s creakier content.
Both Edler Scrolls Online and I shall end 2026 leaner and able to climb stairs without our knees popping.
But, in announcing its move from Expansion-sized chapters released every 12 – 18 months to smaller Season updates released every three months, it wasn’t clear what this meant for new zones. Would the world of Tamriel stay locked at its current size, with additional areas being too large a thing to add in a Season update?
Former Assassin’s Creed series lead Marc-Alexis Côté is suing Ubisoft for damages, alleging that his abrupt October departure from the company after 20 years wasn’t a matter of personal choice, but a case of “constructive dismissal”. That, in non-legalese, means that the developer believes he was left with no choice but to resign, having been offered new roles he viewed as demotions amid a round of corporate musical chairs.