Assassin's Creed Shadows launches on March 20, and now Ubisoft has announced precisely when people can get started by publishing the game's global releasing timing. Ubisoft also announced that pre-loading for Shadows is now underway on Xbox and will start soon for PS5 and PC.As you can see in the graphic below, Shadows unlocks on March 19 at 9 PM PT in Los Angeles, which works out to midnight ET in New York on March 20. You can see the full unlock times below.Assassin's Creed Shadows is almost hereAs for pre-loading, Xbox Series X|S users are already able to pre-load the game, while PC users can begin at 4 PM UTC on March 17. PS5 players can pre-load starting March 18 AM 12 AM local time.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

This isn't a mistake or a typo. Sony has released a new update for the PS3--not the PS4 or PS5--that "improves system performance." While that description is especially vague, it's possible the patch relates to renewing the Blu-ray player encryption key for the home console.On X, the Ask PlayStation account announced the new PS3 update and pointed players to the PlayStation website. Sony says 200MB must be available on the system's hard drive to download version 4.92. The company also then writes in bold about the Blu-ray player encryption key renewal to continue playing discs. The last console patch occurred just over a year ago on February 27, 2024, for version 4.91.PS3 system software update 4.92 is available now✨Please check our page for the latest system software features and how to update.💡PS3 system software updatehttps://t.co/3Tt3lrOT86 pic.twitter.com/Ym0sk2iOny — Ask PlayStation (@AskPlayStation) March 5, 2025 PS3 launched in Japan and North America in November 2006, followed by a European release in March 2007. Sony unveiled the PS3 at E3 in May 2006, showcasing titles like Metal Gear Solid 4 and Devil May Cry 4 at the event. That means the Sony system will turn 19 years old later this year. In 2012, a redesigned PS3 was released, and ultimately, Sony sold over 87 million units of the home console.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Developer Bad Guitar Studio has announced that it has delayed the PS5 and Xbox releases of Fragpunk due to technical difficulties, though the PC version will still launch tomorrow, March 6. A new release date for the console versions has not been revealed."During the console compliance testing process, we encountered unexpected technical challenges in optimization and adaption," the team said in a statement. "Rather than rushing the console release and providing a potentially poor user experience, we have made the difficult decision to delay the launch of the console versions to ensure that players receive a comparable experience to those on PC."As consolation, players will receive all rewards gained through engagement from the start of Season 1 until the console versions go live. These include in-game currency, cosmetics, and experience.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The first Battlefield Labs test, which gives players a chance to try the next Battlefield game, kicks off this week. That's according to a report from Insider Gaming, which said this playtest will let players try out "concepts and mechanics" when it begins on March 7.This is an extremely limited test, it seems, as only a small selection of players will get to take part and the test itself reportedly runs for only two hours. The test is taking place on PC, the report said.The Battlefield Labs tests are available by invitation only. Additionally, members are prohibited from recording or sharing footage, or even discussing the test at all. Of course, it's always possible some people choose to disregard these rules--time will tell.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

PlayStation has conducted another round of layoffs, this time impacting the Visual Arts team as well its Malaysian studios.Several now-former employees of PlayStation have taken to LinkedIn to share that they've been let go. The roles include lighting, material, environmental, and animation artists. A Naughty Dog alumnus, who's now at Nvidia, said that those laid off were integral to the development of Uncharted and The Last of Us.One of them was a senior project manager in Malaysia who worked on Concord and The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered. He said, "It was a tough start of the week for us at PlayStation Studios - Visual Arts. There was a wave of workforce reduction and unfortunately I'm no longer part of the brand."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The next film from Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo, The Electric State, is set to release on Netflix on March 14, and it'll be accompanied by a prequel video game. With the duo also set to direct Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, they were recently asked if they'd be interested in developing games for those films, something that the pair say they're potentially interested in, but they are currently prioritizing their other commitments. What makes this proposition interesting is that Fortnite creator Donald Mustard recently joined their media company AGBO--a partnership that the Russos say will allow them to tell new stories across transmedia projects."We would definitely be open to it," Joe Russo said to Variety. "Right now, what we're doing is creating new IP. At AGBO, we want to tell new stories. We want to tell new stories with new characters and new worlds that people haven't seen before. So Anthony and I and Donald are working together to build out new worlds. And we have three that we're currently working on that the intention is, for every world we build to have the scale and depth of a 'Star Wars' universe, but in a different genre. And then we'll build materials around those new worlds. We'll tell stories in different ways using different media in those worlds."While the Avengers have been in several video games over the decades, the last high-profile one published by Square Enix didn't reach the lofty heights that the company envisioned for the IP. Marvel's Avengers was released back in September 2020, and after the initial hype died down, the game quickly bled players as it was criticized for its anemic content and heavy focus on microtransactions. Support for the game was eventually pulled in late 2023 and it was digitally discontinued that year.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Preorder bonuses for Bungie's upcoming first-person extraction shooter, Marathon, have reportedly appeared on the backend of the game's Steam page.Users of the SteamDB Discord server were the first to notice what appeared to be varying editions of the game (including possible preorder versions of the game and additional DLC) popping up on Steam's backend. They then shared this info on the /r/GamingLeaksAndRumors subreddit. According to the datamining fans who uncovered the info, it appears that these preorder bonuses may also include free Marathon-themed skins that players can use to dress up their Guardian in Bungie's other live-service title, Destiny 2.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Usually, the thought of police going undercover brings to mind Hollywood-esque stakeouts where authorities utilize binoculars in cars. But in Brazil, the cops went undercover for Sao Paulo Carnival celebrations by dressing up as Mario and Luigi to arrest alleged thieves.Sao Paulo Gov. Tarcisio de Freitas shared a video on X of three officers--two outfitted as the Super Mario Bros., with the other supposedly being Yoshi--placing a suspect in the back of a police vehicle. The short clip also has Super Mario World music playing as a soundtrack. Additionally, the AP reports that the Brazilian police force cosplayed as Power Rangers to arrest multiple people for pickpocketing as well as recover stolen smartphones.DEPOIS DOS POWER RANGERS, CHEGOU A VEZ DO SUPER MARIO! Nossos heróis da Polícia Civil estão infiltrados pelos bloquinhos de rua e, desta vez, foi a vez do Mario, o Luigi e o Yoshi prenderem mais um bandido interessado apenas em roubar celulares e estragar a festa de quem estava… pic.twitter.com/49fHakAYfe — Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas (@tarcisiogdf) March 4, 2025 The AP adds that last year a similar strategy was executed by Brazil's cops, as they try to blunt criminals from taking phones and money from attendees of the Sao Paulo Carnival. The event ran from Friday, February 28, to yesterday, March 4 (Fat Tuesday).Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

NordVPN is running a limited-time discount that saves you 70% on its two-year subscription plans. Four different plans are available for NordVPN--Basic, Plus, Complete, and Prime. Each one is more expensive than the last, but all four are currently on sale. You’ll get the best deal when signing up for its most expensive package, Prime, which is down to $201.36 for 24 months (normally $743.76 per 24 months), but even the standard Basic plan is a great deal at just $81.36 for 24 months (was $278.16). As a bonus, signing up for a two-year deal on the Plus or Complete plans will get you an additional six months for free via an emailed coupon code. Opt for the Prime plan, and this gets bumped to one year. You can use the code to extend your plan or gift it to a friend and get them some free added privacy or a way to access the catalog of other countries’ streaming services. See deal at NordVPN Here's a closer look at the costs of each two-year plan:Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Launched in 2017, Xbox Game Pass is something of a paradigm shift in the world of video games. For a monthly fee, members get access to a collection of games--including new releases from Microsoft--and as long as they stay subscribed, they can play those games as much as they want. That is, unless a title leaves the Game Pass catalog--and that's a regular occurrence, especially for titles from third-party companies. Whereas Microsoft's own games rarely get removed from Game Pass, third-party games regularly rotate out of the catalog.But why does Game Pass lose games? After 17 games were removed from the Game Pass library in February 2025, some might be wondering why.No set reasonThere is no one set reason, and when Microsoft announces games that are joining Game Pass, it never says how long they'll stick around for. But the most common explanation is the same rationale for titles leaving Netflix or any other subscription service: a developer/publisher signed a contract with Microsoft for a set period of time, like one year, which was the case for Persona 5 Tactica. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has stressed that the company makes all kinds of different deals to get companies to bring their games to Game Pass.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Funko has a new set of Mortal Kombat collectibles on the way, and if you consider Mortal Kombat 11 to be the best game in the series, then you'll want to get over here and check these out. Three Funko Pop figures will be released on May 16, and the line includes Princess Kitana, Scorpion, and Sub-Zero, all decked out in their Mortal Kombat 11 threads. Each figure will be priced at $13.We also know that Kung Lao will be part of this line, but images for this figure haven't been revealed yet. We'll update the post as soon as we more assets to share of Funko's take on the hat-wielding Shaolin monk. Kitana $13 Like other Funko Pops, each collectible here mixes game-accurate designs with the signature bobblehead of this line. Princess Kitana is dressed in her best combat activewear and she's equipped with her two fans, which appear to have seen some combat judging by the amount of blood on them. Preorder at Amazon Scorpion $13 The Scorpion figure mixes the ninja influences of the character with his trademark yellow color scheme, and you're getting his kunai linked to a burning chain for when you want to replicate several iconic catchphrases. Preorder at Amazon Sub-Zero $13 Lastly, the Sub-Zero Funko Pop takes a different approach as you're getting an icy version of the famed Lin Kuei grandmaster. This is essentially a figure with a glacier-blue finish, and for an extra, he's armed with an ice-spear. All the other Sub-Zero signature design elements are also present, from his ninja mask down to the scar over his eye that he has had since Mortal Kombat 3. Preorder at Amazon If you don't feel like waiting until May, you can grab a few Funko Pops based on Mortal Kombat 1 and the 2021 movie. Sub-Zero, Scorpion, and Liu Kang's video game counterparts have gotten the Funko makeover, while Cole Young and Sonya Blade represent the cinematic side of the franchise. There's a very cute--but expensive--version of Raiden, that imagines him as a blocky brawler who would look right at home on an NES version of Mortal Kombat, if it existed.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The Last of Us Season 2 premieres this April, and now we've learned a little more about it. In an interview, showrunner Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin discussed the show's depature from the game's story, revealed more actors who will appear in Season 2, and talked about how many more seasons there could be.Druckmann told Variety that Season 2 will contain a number of changes to the story as compared to The Last of Us: Part II, and while viewers are sure to voice their opinions, Druckmann said he feels confident in his creative choices."I love the changes that we've made," he said. "It's a different version of that story, but its DNA is in there. Maybe more than excited, I'm really curious what their reaction will be."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Lego quietly began the process of retiring its Atari 2600 building set late last year. Fast forward to March, and the nostalgic 2,532-piece display model is now sold out at all major retailers except for one. Over at Amazon, you can get the Atari 2600 for its regular $240 MSRP. Like other retailers, Amazon ran out of units last year, but sometimes the retailer randomly restocks retired Lego sets. This is one of those cases. See at Amazon Considering that the Lego Atari received numerous $50 to $100 discounts throughout its two-plus year lifecycle, the $240 price may sound a bit high. That said, resellers on Amazon and Walmart have recently started listing the retired set for upwards of $300. There's a chance that $240 will sound like a deal in the coming months.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Ballistic Moon, the studio behind the PC and PS5 remake of Until Dawn released last year, is now "effectively closed" after failing to find a publisher for its next game.A new report from Insider Gaming reveals that only the studio founders and a handful of others potentially remain employed there at this point. The studio reportedly couldn't find funding for its next game, and Sony didn't give the studio any support for future work on the Until Dawn franchise. Ballistic Moon has yet to comment on this situation.Ballistic Moon is a U.K. developer founded in 2020 by industry veterans from studios like EA and Supermassive Games. So far, Ballistic Moon's only game is 2024's remake of Until Dawn, which brought the beloved PS4 choose-your-own-adventure horror adventure game to Unreal Engine 5. It featured a recomposed musical score, changed the gameplay camera to a third-person perspective rather than a fixed-camera one, and added a post-credit scene teasing a sequel. It received a lukewarm reception compared to the original.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Interested in trying out the newest co-op adventure from Hazelight Studios but want to keep it cost-friendly? Fortunately, Split Fiction makes it extremely easy to save money and still enjoy what GameSpot has named one of the best games of 2025 so far, earning a rare 10 in our Split Fiction review.Hazelight Studios and EA have recently revealed information about how Split Fiction's Friend's Pass and cross-play between different platforms work. Turns out, it's both easy to set up and a good deal.Similar to Hazelight's previous co-op games like It Takes Two and A Way Out, Split Fiction is a mandatory co-op game. Thankfully, however, all three of these games offer a Friend's Pass. This allows players who buy the game to connect with someone who doesn't have a copy, and play through it in its entirety. But this time, Split Fiction's version has some expanded features that weren't in those previous games, such as cross-platform play and a free demo.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com