Features archive

January 2026

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107 articles

January 31
- Moroccan pirate queen Sayyida al-Hurra was largely omitted from history books, but now she's in Civilization 7 thanks to a professor's curiosity and years of research
- Any remake of GTA 4 must preserve its minigames and misery
- Google's new AI 'world model' has seemingly spooked videogame investors, but it's hard to know what it will actually lead to
- I watched Markiplier play Iron Lung for 45 minutes before watching Markiplier star in the Iron Lung movie for 2+ hours. Which was better?
January 30
- I've already put 10 hours into this upcoming RPG's demo because it has the best combat I've seen outside a FromSoft game
January 29
- Little Woody is an adorable 2D puzzle game with a great short demo that you can check out now, but be warned: It'll leave you wanting more
- I tried to exercise in VR for an entire month, and I think I've finally been convinced to adopt the health-headset lifestyle
- A Pokémon-like gacha game should be such an obvious win that I'm shocked I can't find much to like about Aniimo
- The Monster Train 2 DLC is very good: the Railforged, a challenging new mode, and a mechanical spider factory
- PC Gamer magazine's new issue is on sale now: World of Warcraft: Midnight
January 28
- After playing Deadlock's new 'Oops, All Teamfights' mode, Highguard's kitchen-sink ruleset feels overwrought
- Finally, the FPS I keep asking for: Deep combat, classic modes, and an honest-to-god server browser
- RAMpocalypse be damned, I've tested a range of games to see if slow DDR5 will ruin my gaming experience
- Turns out the best way to succeed in this new mech vs kaiju roguelike deckbuilder is just to jump up and down on your enemies' heads like a 200 ton Mario
- Fallout Season 2 Episode 7 recap: 'Don't think of them as human beings, think of them as Americans'
- Trains are taking over the survival genre: there are a half-dozen survival base-builders on rails coming in 2026
January 27
- Maybe I should just buy Factorio? I'd like Arknights: Endfield a lot more if it would stop trying to be Genshin Impact and just let me build
- Highguard deserves a chance, so don't kill it out of spite
- 5 things you can do with the Area-51's Thunderbolt 5 port
- Fallout 76's new Burning Springs update is packed with locations inspired by Amazon's Fallout season 2, so you don't have to just play New Vegas to keep the good times going
- I'm tired of running the same Fortnite loadout—both SMGs and snipers need a major buff
- Highguard is fine when you don't have an internet in your ear telling you it's nasty
January 26
- Intel's new high-end mobile chip is an impressive game-cruncher, but I don't think proper gaming laptops should worry just yet
- Keyboard is king in this game where you have to type words to do anything—yes, that includes trying to open the settings or start the damn thing
- Panther Lake is simply begging to be stuffed inside a benchmark-crushing gaming handheld, but the price tag is likely to be brutal
- 13 years after the disappointment of Resident Evil 6, Capcom is finally fusing survival horror and all-out action again—and this time I think it worked
- I ditched my laptop charger for a day of travel, work and gaming with Intel's new Core Ultra Series 3 chip and still had 18% battery life left when I got home
- Fast, feisty, fabulous: I've benchmarked Intel's new Panther Lake processor and it's dragging gaming laptop performance out of integrated graphics
- I turned a human-hating mecha-hamster into the ultimate weapon of mass destruction who loves a pre-annihilation scritch
January 25
- I am a videogame music purist who cannot mute even the most diabolical tracks, help me
- From mugs to little trinkets, MadebyLottie is making my inner magpie sing with their ceramic gaming creations
January 24
- In defense of XCOM: Chimera Squad
- WoW's rough 2.0 transmog overhaul is mostly fixed, and I'm left wondering why Blizzard didn't just take the easy win
- From throwing bear traps with telekinesis to piledriving a zombie into a tree, this new roguelike is a brilliantly accessible gateway into the world of turn-based tactics
- This horror game built from the bones of an abandoned FPS server and an accidental ARPG might be one of the strangest puzzlers I've ever played
- It's hard to fault Highguard for giving the internet the silent treatment—wouldn't you?
January 23
- Fallout 4 feels like a brand new game now that it's forcing me to take naps, drink plenty of water, and not save scum
January 22
- CEO of Manor Lords publisher Hooded Horse wants it to be 'a positive influence and a great company for 100 plus years' by fighting AI and treating devs ethically
- The evolution of Alienware: how the Area-51 changed the game
- Cult of the Lamb's Woolhaven DLC is everything I could've wanted and more, with brilliant fights, lethal weather, and of course, heaps of cute little critters
- World of Warcraft's add-on changes aren't over: 'There will doubtless be some loopholes players find'
January 21
- My 5 favorite 'cozy' games that don't actually look like cozy games
- A quote that somehow feels like the final nail in the coffin of the console wars: 'We're able to honor the Halo legacy on PlayStation'
- Shockwaves, we miss you. Please come back to Fortnite
- 10 essential tips before diving into MIO: Memories in Orbit
- Fallout Season 2 Episode 6 recap: 'The people who set all this in motion'
- The best platformers on PC
January 20
- It's been 14 years since I played a 2D/3D hybrid puzzle game as clever as Cassette Boy
January 19
- One of my most anticipated games for 2026 is a little sandbox puzzle game that plays like the lovechild of Unpacking and PowerWash Simulator
- Five new Steam games you probably missed (January 19, 2026)
January 18
- Once and for all, which game has the best art?
January 17
- This Thief fan mission has you play a blind character trying to steal back their sight, and honestly that's probably the least weird thing about it
- The modern MMO's biggest enemy is difficulty, because pleasing everyone is basically impossible—and yet, they must
January 16
- Forbidden Solitaire warns us to uninstall it 'before it's too late,' but I played the demo anyway and now I want more
- Foxhole, the war MMO with months-long battles fought by thousands of real players, is evolving once again with planes, bombers, and paratroopers
- I don't know why everyone's suddenly making games inspired by Spore, but this roguelike twin-stick shooter might be the best attempt yet at realising the lost potential of the cell stage
- Yakuza Kiwami 3's new expansion basically turns it into a breakneck roguelite dungeon crawl, complete with random drops and goofy sidekicks
January 15
- Bethesda's former Elder Scrolls loremaster on why he left, Starfield's 'communication breakdowns', and how he wanted The Elder Scrolls 6 'to be The Empire Strikes Back'
- 'I consider it a millennial shooter': The FPS dev making hit shooters by leaning into '2007-core'
January 14
- Hytale vs Minecraft: 5 key differences you should know about
- The Best of CES 2026
- The Elder Scrolls Online's director says doing the same-old yearly patch cycle wasn't 'going to cut it' if the MMO developer 'wanted to have a shot at reaching that 30-year mark'
- This roguelike deckbuilder may look like edutainment, but its maths-based battles are surprisingly tense and strategic
- I was getting a bit bored of the traditional life sim routine, but it turns out I just needed more hobbies which Heartopia is happy to provide
- As an awkward sitter, you may need a more dynamic ergonomic chair
- Fallout Season 2 Episode 5 recap: 'Another player at the table'
- Hytale's developer warned us the adventure sandbox 'isn't good yet,' but it already feels pretty good to me
January 13
- Cozy Caravan is a feast of little cooking minigames and collectathon fetch quests
- Blizzard has big plans for World of Warcraft's player housing, and you won't have to wait long to see what's next: 'This is a system that we're not just setting up to last for the launch of Midnight, but for years to come'
- Wrestling the Steam 'Goliath,' pulling a Nightdive, and seeing off vulture capital: GOG chats the risks and opportunities of its future as a company without CD Projekt
- CES 2026 might have been a damp squib in many areas but not when it comes to gaming monitors
- I've put Nvidia's new DLSS 4.5 to the test: Here's how to enable it yourself and whether you should
- If I could change one thing in Arc Raiders this year, I'd abolish late spawns
January 12
- The sound of this one specific bird from Age of Empires keeps haunting me through pop songs, movies, and across other games
- Five new Steam games you probably missed (January 12, 2026)
January 11
- Sonic the Hedgehog is everywhere when it comes to merch, but finally some more underrated characters are getting airtime thanks to Steady Hands
- Divinity: Original Sin 2's brilliant armor system is one of a kind in RPGs, and I'm bummed we'll apparently never see it again
January 10
- Luto is an underappreciated 2025 horror gem with the perfect mixture of Stanley Parable narration and P.T. ambience
January 9
- Valve spent 2025 ripping apart Deadlock and putting it back together, and it delivered better live service than most live service games
- My Arc Raiders 2026 wishlist consists of new mobs, modes, and map conditions
- 9 big things Steam needs to improve in 2026
- I've just found a new cutesy Balatro, but instead of a deck of cards you get to tend to a garden and harvest flowers
- Seems like everyone forgot the 'Consumer' part of the Consumer Electronics Show this year
January 8
- Who asked for this? PC gamers left wondering after AI takes center stage at CES 2026
- Life sims are in a slump and the only way out is becoming strategy games again
January 7
- Arc Raiders' contentious 'aggression-based matchmaking' isn't just smart, but absolutely necessary
- Every videogame movie and TV show coming out in 2026 (and beyond)
- Do I regret yeeting my blueprints and loot-filled stash into Arc Raiders Expedition? No, it actually made the game fun again
- Between bots calling themselves 'Mecha-Hitler' and 95% of businesses realising they don't know the point of AI, 2025 was the year the tech lost its shine even for the most blinkered execs
- The demo of Flock Around has made me realise I don't have the skills to be a wildlife photographer, but I'd certainly give it my best shot
- Fallout Season 2 Episode 4 recap: 'More matching jackets'
- It's not weird to want a generative AI disclosure on games
January 6
- What games did you play over the holidays?
- Rockstar still hasn't offered a convincing reason for firing over 30 GTA 6 developers
January 5
- I don't care that there are no big new games in January because all I need now is Ball x Pit, the most underrated roguelike pinball game that I could spend all 744 hours of the month playing
- In 2025, Monster Hunter fell prey to profit
- Playing Code Vein 2 made me wonder why more soulslikes don't have guns, even if I could do with a bit less anime melodrama
January 4
- 'Fine, I'll do it myself': Cybertsu had never seen a King of All Cosmos cosplay, so decided to pull off one of the most elaborate headpiece designs, and it's the best I've ever seen
January 2
- The PC game releases we're most excited about in January
- Forget what you heard, there's plenty of PC hardware to be excited about in 2026
- 30 hidden gems from 2025 to grab before the Steam Winter Sale ends
- Kill the algorithm in your head: Let's set up RSS readers and get news we actually want in 2026
- The city builders of 2026 will let us build in some wild places, including a Pokémon-style world filled with collectible creatures
- PC Gamer magazine's new issue is on sale now: Fallout Special
January 1
- CES 2026: From new Intel chips to far too much AI, here's everything we expect to see
- 2025 was the year friendslop reigned, and so many low-cost ways to have fun with your pals couldn't have come at a better time
- I'm brave enough to say it: Linux is good now, and if you want to feel like you actually own your PC, make 2026 the year of Linux on (your) desktop