Latest Multi-platform Game News &amp; Updates

🎮 The Team Behind Riftbound

Turns Out, The Team Behind Riftbound Is Shockingly Small

During last week's Gen Con, Riftbound, the League of Legends trading card game (TCG), boasted a massive presence. Fans were able to enter two different booths to get their hands on cards and exclusive merchandise, as well as meet some of the talent behind the game's creation and design. GameSpot was onsite for the show, and had the opportunity to interview Riftbound Game Director Dave Guskin, during which we learned that the team behind the popular TCG is significantly smaller that you might think. At the end of our time with Guskin, the longtime designer reflected on how the game isn't even a year old yet (referring to its English release in October of last year), saying, "It's been so wonderful to have the community grow around the game, and see what people love. I always say, our team is quite small compared to the player base. So we rely on that partnership between development and community to figure out what's awesome, what's not, and how to fix it". GameSpot's Jessica Cogswell, who conducted the interview, was intrigued by his mention of the team size. She went on to ask Guskin just how big the team actually is, and if Riftbound's creation was a concentrated effort or a case of a few team members with big ambitions. Gurskin confirmed it was the latter. "A little over two years ago, I want to say it was just me, my boss, and one analyst," Guskin said. "And we were just pitching the game to executives. We were like, 'Just give us a chance.' And they were like, 'Okay, you can have two more people.' So then we made the systems and we tested with players with just five people." As development ramped up, Guskin explained that Riot allowed a few more people to join the Riftbound team. Since then, the number has consistently grown, reaching what now feels like "huge growth," according to Guskin. "But it's still like less than 50 people across all functions of Riftbound, which is sort of crazy," he said. "I think we'll keep growing, which is awesome, but we've come at it from a very scrappy place. Like, 'Can make something really awesome for players, do it quickly, and do it without really having to do too much in the way of shooting for the moon, right?'" Guskin continued. "'Let's find something that we know players will love. Let's take stuff from Legends of Runeterra, from other strategy games at Riot, from the people who know how to make League of Legends champions in a different sort of game, and then get that out to players quickly, and then iterate.' So, I feel like it's been pretty crazy". Riftbound recently released its fourth expansion, Vendetta. Its biannual State of the Game updates are also continuing to roll out until August 5, in which they've laid out changes coming to the game's rules and card templates(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/riftbounds-card-templates-are-getting-a-big-overhaul-in-2027/), its roadmap for 2027(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/we-got-our-first-look-at-riftbounds-2027-release-lineup/), and more.

🎮 Riftbound Director Says TCG

Riftbound Director Says TCG Will Eventually Include All League Of Legends Champions

After launching in English late last year, Riftbound, Riot Games' League of Legends trading card game (TCG), has quickly grown into one of the most popular TCGs to date. The game had a big presence at this year's Gen Con, featuring not one but two large booths that fans could stop by to learn to play, meet some of their favorite creators, and buy convention-exclusive merch. During the show, GameSpot had the opportunity to sit down with Riftbound game director Dave Guskin to chat about some of the game's history and where we go from here. Talking about League of Legend's massive roster, GameSpot's Jessica Cogswell was curious is if adding new Legends to Riftbound was an intimidating task when pulling from the source material's over 170-characters. "No, it's so great! I love it," Guskin said. "I mean, the more things there are that players love and want to connect with, the better it is for us. I think for me, it's like, 'Man, how do we make sure we hit all of these so that the players who love a specific champion get to play that one.'' I think eventually we will hit all the champions in League of Legends. I think we'll probably revisit some, because we can find new ways to make a really cool Yasuo or a really cool Ahri that we didn't do before." Revisiting older Champions in Riftbound is something the team has already done, with Master Yi making his second playable appearance in the TCG with the game's third set, Unleashed. That version of Master Yi sports the new XP mechanic that fans of League of Legends will be familiar with. Guskin went on to discuss the team's process for selecting which characters will receive the cardboard treatment. When asked if they consider cards based on what people are playing the most in League of Legends, or if it's more centered around how well that character would work on as a card, he stated that both play a key role in the team's decision making. "It's a combination of, 'People love this from League of Legends, the PC game. We should try to acknowledge that and see if we can build something that really feels right.' Like Zed, he's like constantly making shadow copies of himself, right? So we thought, let's make a deck, and see if that works. And it was like, 'Oh, that's great.'" The team has a few fan-favorite Champions from League of Legends they want to add to Riftbound as soon as possible, Guskin confirmed, stating, "I don't want to give away too much, but I will say that there's some very popular champions we haven't done yet. I think there's like some cool relationships in the story that we can explore through sets. We just revealed--a couple days ago, I think--that our sixth set and our seventh set have a few champions that are beloved, like, Aurelion Sol." For more Riftbound news, Riot is currently rolling out their second biannual State of the Game updates, detailing changes to come in the future, shifts in organized play, and giving us our first look at the set release roadmap for 2027(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/we-got-our-first-look-at-riftbounds-2027-release-lineup/).

Ice Cream Man uses generative AI, director Eli Roth confirms

After speaking with Polygon, Eli Roth clarified that generative AI appears in a small portion of a few scenes in Ice Cream Man.

Borderlands Movie Director Discusses The Mega-Flop And What Went Wrong

The 2024 Borderlands movie had a cast full of big names, including multiple Oscar winners, and was based on a popular franchise with countless fans. But the film was a critical and commercial disaster. So what happened? Director Eli Roth told Variety(https://variety.com/2026/film/news/eli-roth-studio-notes-shrinking-residuals-ice-cream-man-borderlands-1236827569/) said that the film, which cost a mighty $120 million to produce, was pared back to something that did not line up with his original vision. He said he wants to make things that are "left of center" because this worked for him in the past. However, "As things grow bigger, studios just naturally become more risk averse," he said. The report said studio executives wanted Borderlands to have a PG-13 rating, and asked for changes to get it. In the end, the finished version of Borderlands was "something that belonged to nobody," Roth said. !(https://www.gamespot.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/BLMovie-Large-1.jpeg?w=636) Cate Blanchett in Borderlands. “It’s not a kids’ movie, but it’s trying to appeal to everybody. It’s for gamers, but it doesn’t have the violence the gamers want because it can’t be that extreme because it costs too much. You just wind up with a movie that’s neither fish nor fowl," he said. Roth was not the only director on Borderlands, as Deadpool's Tim Miller came in for the reshoots(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/deadpool-director-to-film-borderlands-movie-reshoots/1100-6510399/). The Borderlands movie starred Cate Blanchett as Lilith and Jack Black as the voice of Claptrap. The film also featured Kevin Hart (Roland), Edgar Ramirez (Atlas), Ariana Greenblatt (Tiny Tina), Florian Munteanu (Kreig), Janina Gavankar (Knoxx), Jamie Lee Curtis (Tannis), and Olivier Richters (Krom). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjtVXWa3tWI Roth previously directed Cabin Fever, Hostel, and Knock Knock, while he starred in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. His latest movie is Ice Cream Man, which tells a story of an ice cream truck driver who comes to town, selling kids ice cream that turns them into murderers. The movie, which releases on August 7, is not getting good reviews, but he says it represents the kind of movie he wants to make, unobstructed from studio influence. He raised the movie's $5.5 million budget and is releasing Ice Cream Man via his own production company, The Horror Section. He said the movie only needs to make about $6 million-$8 million theatrically to turn a profit, in part because he expects it to make about as much when it's released at home. “Novelists who write stories own the underlying rights, but filmmakers who write a screenplay don’t own the underlying rights, and that always felt like an imbalance to me,” Roth said. “Stephen King owns all of his creations. Why should I create something and then give away ownership?”

🟩 Xbox, Multi-platform

What time does the Gears of War E-Day early access multiplayer beta start in your time zone?

The Gears of War: E-Day early access multiplayer beta starts on Thursday, Aug. 6. Here's what time it starts and when it ends.

📱 Mobile, Multi-platform

Koei Tecmo is putting out an “AI chat RPG” based on the Atelier Ryza series, and it sounds bleak

Koei Tecmo has partnered with a generative AI startup to create an AI chat RPG that lets you talk with Ryza from the Atelier Ryza series.

🎮 Koei Tecmo

🍄 Nintendo Switch, Multi-platform

Sega's '90s-era Fire Emblem Competitor Was Years Ahead of Its Time

Tactical RPGs have gotten way more popular since Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and it's time other developers took note

🎮 Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway 2🎮 streaming

Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway 2 gets new trailer, streaming release date

Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe is coming out on Netflix later in August.

Spider-Man Brand New Day cameo could be the MCU's next spider hero

Tom Holland has spoken about wanting to pass the Spider-Man torch, and Brand New Day may have given us a clue as to who the MCU's next spider hero is.

🎮 Spider-Man

All Phantom Targets Player Project challenges and rewards in Arc Raiders

The Phantom Targets Player Project in Arc Raiders brings along new challenges and rewards. Here's the best way to complete them.

Marvel Rivals’ New Hero Looks Like He Walked Straight Out Of Chainsaw Man

Marvel Rivals(https://www.gamespot.com/games/marvel-rivals/) has consistently expanded its roster(https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/marvel-rivals-characters-every-superhero-and-supervillain/2900-5216/) ever since it went live, and for Season 9.5: The Mystery of Thebes, a sinister underworld figure is being added to the live-service game. Voiced by WWE star Damian Priest--AKA Luis Berrios--The Hood is bringing some demonic energy to Marvel Rivals and some Chainsaw Man vibes. https://youtu.be/YMweqIzyB7s Stepping into the Vanguard role, The Hood balances mobster energy with demonic powerhouse skills. He can easily switch between his human and demon forms, as he lays down suppressing fire with his pistols, summons protective shields, and lob orbs of dark magic that debuff enemies. But it's his Ultimate Ability that might make anime fans do a double-take, as when he fully transforms into a demon, The Hood looks like he just stepped out of the pages of the Chainsaw Man manga, as he has a strong resemblance to the Gun Devil from that series. As a fully-realized Gun Demon, The Hood essentially becomes a walking arsenal of guns that can easily pierce through the defenses of enemies. Here's what he looks like after he has transformed: !(https://www.gamespot.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Hood-Gun-Demon.jpg?w=636) The Hood's Gun Demon transformation And here's what the Gun Devil(https://chainsaw-man.fandom.com/wiki/GunDevil) looks like, from Chainsaw Man: !(https://www.gamespot.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Gun-Devil.jpg?w=636) The Gun Devil from Chainsaw Man That's a pretty strong comparison, but I'm guessing that Marvel Rivals developer NetEase is paying homage to Chainsaw Man, which is a hugely popular manga and anime series. Mercifully, The Hood isn't nearly as powerful as the Gun Devil when he's in this state, as the demonic entity was essentially a force of ballistic nature with its wide array of powers, instantly killing everything around him within a vast range. One of its infamous feats includes firing a bullet through the heart of every living being within 1,000 meters, if they were born within nine specific months of the year--anyone born in April, July, or October was safe from its wrath. In addition to that anime influence, Marvel Rivals Summer Festival kicks off on August 13 and will see a brand-new wave of swimsuit special costumes(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/all-swimsuit-skins-in-marvel-rivals-2026-summer-festival-event/) and cosmetics added to the game. NetEase has also announced that Marvel Rivals will be taking up less space when Season 9.5 launches, as a massive texture compression overhaul will see the game shrink by up to 40GB on PC, and it'll be 15GB smaller on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Marvel Rivals Characters: Every Superhero And Supervillain Revealed So Far !4280243-marvelrivals(20).jpg(https://www.gamespot.com/wp-content/uploads/original/1601/16018044/4280243-marvelrivals(20).jpg?w=636) !4338952-marvelrivals0016marvelrivalsclosebeta20240724110259.jpg(https://www.gamespot.com/wp-content/uploads/original/1601/16018044/4338952-marvelrivals0016marvelrivalsclosebeta20240724110259.jpg?w=636) !4338951-marvelrivals0014marvelrivalsclosebeta20240724110341.jpg(https://www.gamespot.com/wp-content/uploads/original/1601/16018044/4338951-marvelrivals0014marvelrivalsclosebeta20240724110341.jpg?w=636) !4338950-marvelrivals0007marvelrivalsclosebeta20240724105641.jpg(https://www.gamespot.com/wp-content/uploads/original/1601/16018044/4338950-marvelrivals0007marvelrivalsclosebeta20240724105641.jpg?w=636) !4338949-marvelrivals0020marvelrivalsclosebeta20240724110108.jpg(https://www.gamespot.com/wp-content/uploads/original/1601/16018044/4338949-marvelrivals0020marvelrivalsclosebeta20240724110108.jpg?w=636) !4338948-marvelrivals0004marvelrivalsclosebeta20240724105847.jpg(https://www.gamespot.com/wp-content/uploads/original/1601/16018044/4338948-marvelrivals0004marvelrivalsclosebeta20240724105847.jpg?w=636) !4338947-marvelrivals0005marvelrivalsclosebeta20240724105816.jpg(https://www.gamespot.com/wp-content/uploads/original/1601/16018044/4338947-marvelrivals0005marvelrivalsclosebeta20240724105816.jpg?w=636) View Images(https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/marvel-rivals-characters-every-superhero-and-supervillain/2900-5216/)