๐ฅ Ubisoft Cuts 6 Games, Closes Two Studios, Goes All-In on AI
Ubisoft is cleaning house. The French publisher will cancel six games, delay seven more, and shut down two studios. They're calling it a push for "sustainable growth."
- Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake - Dead. After years of delays, it's officially canceled
- Ubisoft Stockholm and Halifax - Both shutting down
- AI Investment - Money going into "player-facing generative AI"
- Five "Creative Houses" - Development reorganized into focused teams
- Net Bookings - Revised down to around โฌ1.5 billion
The Prince of Persia remake was announced in 2020. It's been delayed so many times that cancellation felt almost inevitable. The shift toward AI and live-service games under five new "Creative Houses" is a bet that these will perform better than traditional releases. The studio closures mean layoffs, adding to gaming's rough job market in 2026.
๐บ Xbox Developer_Direct 2026 Live Today: Fable, Forza Horizon 6 & More
Microsoft's fourth Developer_Direct happens today. It's their first big AAA presentation of the year, timed to Xbox's 25th anniversary.
- Fable - First extended gameplay from Playground Games
- Forza Horizon 6 - Debut gameplay
- Beast of Reincarnation - Game Freak's new title gets a deep dive
- Mio: Memories in Orbit - Day-one Game Pass release
Fable has been in the works for years, and this is the first real look at gameplay. The Developer_Direct format means actual gameplay footage, not just cinematic trailers. That's the point of interest here.
๐ Esports World Cup 2026: $75 Million Prize Pool, Tickets On Sale
The Esports World Cup Foundation dropped the full game lineup, schedule, and prize pool: $75 million. Tickets went on sale today.
- Location - Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- Dates - July 6 to August 23, 2026
- Prize Pool - $75 million total
- Tickets - Available now
That's a lot of money. The seven-week event runs across multiple game titles. Saudi Arabia continues to throw cash at esports, and the prize pools keep getting bigger.
๐ฎ Switch 2 Gets FF7 Remake, Dynasty Warriors Origins & More Today
Big release day for Switch 2. Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade finally arrives on a Nintendo console.
- Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade - Also out on Xbox Series X/S
- Dynasty Warriors: Origins - Koei Tecmo's action series returns
- Arknights: Endfield - Hypergryph's open-world action RPG
- The Rumble Fish 2 - Switch 2 Edition - Classic fighter gets a port
FF7 Remake was PlayStation-exclusive for years. Now it's on Switch 2 and Xbox. The port shows what the Switch 2 can handle. Dynasty Warriors: Origins is getting better reviews than recent entries in the series.
โ๏ธ Netflix Wants You to Play Games on Your TV in 2026
Netflix is pushing cloud gaming to TVs. Co-CEO Greg Peters says they're going "cloud-first" in 2026, moving beyond just mobile games.
- Cloud-First - Built for TV streaming
- FIFA World Cup 2026 - A soccer game timed to the real tournament
- TV Integration - Play directly on smart TVs
- Subscription Model - Games included with Netflix
The World Cup timing makes sense for grabbing casual players. Cloud means no downloads. Whether subscribers actually use it is the question Netflix still needs to answer.
๐ค Players Keep Complaining About AI Art in Games
AI art in games isn't going away, but neither is the backlash. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 caught heat for using AI-generated concept art and textures. It's happening more across the industry.
- Concept Art - AI used for early visuals
- Textures - Some studios using AI as a cost-cutting measure
- Player Reaction - Mostly negative on social media
- Influencers - Content creators pushing back
Studios say AI speeds things up and saves money. Players don't like the perceived quality drop. Some smaller studios are now advertising "no AI" as a selling point. The back-and-forth will probably continue.
๐ฎ PlayStation Plus January: Resident Evil Village, Yakuza & More
Sony's PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium games for January 2026 are out. Some good picks this month.
- PS Plus Extra - Resident Evil Village, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
- PS Plus Extra - Darkest Dungeon 2, Art of Rally, The Exit 8
- PS Plus Premium - Ridge Racer (PS1 Classic)
- PS Plus Essential - Core Keeper, Epic Mickey Rebrushed, Need for Speed Unbound
Resident Evil Village is the big one. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth came out recently, so that's a quick turnaround to subscription. Worth checking if you skipped either at launch.
๐ฅ๏ธ Xbox Update: Now Works on ARM PCs, More Cloud Gaming TVs
Microsoft's January 2026 Xbox update adds support for ARM-based Windows 11 PCs and new cloud gaming features.
- ARM PC Support - Xbox app now runs on ARM Windows 11
- Game Save Sync Indicator - See when your saves are syncing to the cloud
- Hisense TVs - Xbox Cloud Gaming coming to select models
- V (VIDAA) TVs - Cloud gaming on more TV brands
If you have a Surface Pro or other ARM laptop, the Xbox app finally works. The TV partnerships continue Microsoft's push to put Xbox Cloud Gaming on everything with a screen.
๐ Epic Free Game: Rustler (Medieval GTA) Available Now
Rustler is free on the Epic Games Store. It's basically GTA but medieval, with horses instead of cars and swords instead of guns.
- Rustler - Available now
- Styx: Master of Shadows - Earlier this month
- Styx: Shards of Darkness - Earlier this month
- Bloons TD 6 - January 8
Epic has 295 million registered users now. Most of them just grab free games and don't buy anything. But the giveaways keep coming, and free is free.
๐ฎ Steam Deck Update Adds Switch 2 Controller Support
Valve pushed a stable update for Steam Deck that re-enables the Nintendo Switch 2 controller (wired) and adds support for the Razer Raiju V3 Pro.
- Switch 2 Controller - Wired support back
- Razer Raiju V3 Pro - Now compatible
- Accessibility - Various improvements
- Stability - Bug fixes
If you own both a Steam Deck and a Switch 2, you can use the Switch controller on your Deck. Valve keeps adding controller support for pretty much everything.
๐ Analysts: Switch 2 Might Hit $500 Later This Year
Market research firm Niko Partners thinks Nintendo will raise Switch 2 prices later in 2026. Manufacturing costs are up, partly because AI companies are buying up the same components.
- Current US Price - $449.99
- Current UK Price - ยฃ395.99
- Prediction - Nintendo might drop the base model, sell bundles only
- Expected Bundle Price - Around $499
Niko Partners says Nintendo could kill the standalone base model and only sell bundles at higher prices. Component shortages and AI demand for manufacturing capacity are pushing prices up across consumer electronics.