Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1106) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• DIGGITY
• ROCKS
• SLAPDASH
• SCRUBS
• SURPRISES
• RAIN
• DISSECT
• FLOORS
• BARBADOS
• COMMUNITY
• STUNS
• SPRINKLES
• SHOWERS
• WINGS
• DRIZZLE
• FRIENDS

NYT Connections today (game #1106) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: It's wet out there
• GREEN: That amazes me
• BLUE: Funny shows
• PURPLE: Slurry could be another

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1106) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: PRECIPITATION
• GREEN: BOWLS OVER 
• BLUE: NBC SITCOMS 
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH KINDS OF INSULTS

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1106) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #1106, are…

• YELLOW: PRECIPITATION DRIZZLE, RAIN, SHOWERS, SPRINKLES
• GREEN: BOWLS OVER FLOORS, ROCKS, STUNS, SURPRISES
• BLUE: NBC SITCOMS COMMUNITY, FRIENDS, SCRUBS, WINGS
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH KINDS OF INSULTS BARBADOS, DIGGITY, DISSECT, SLAPDASH

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: Perfect

Seeing tiles for FRIENDS, SCRUBS and COMMUNITY in the grid I immediately thought of the classic sitcoms.

Getting a fourth was hard, though — at first I thought ROCKS may have been a spin-off from 30 Rock that I had never heard of, but instead I took a gamble on WINGS. This airplane-based comedy never made it to the UK, but I have some vague memory of it featuring various characters from Cheers.

After this triumph the rest of the board was rather elementary — not that I spotted STARTING WITH INSULTS. Kudos if you saw those.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, June 20, game #1105)

• YELLOW: FEATURING SILENT AND PRONOUNCED "K"S JACKKNIFE, KNAPSACK, KNICKS, KNOCK-KNOCK
• GREEN: ENDORSE BACK, BOLSTER, CHAMPION, SUPPORT
• BLUE: KINDS OF CHAIRS BEANBAG, RECLINER, ROCKER, STOOL
• PURPLE: WORDS REPEATED IN HIT SONG TITLES JUMPIN', LOUIE, NEW YORK, REBEL

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1105) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• CHAMPION
• NEW YORK
• KNICKS
• JUMPIN'
• ROCKER
• KNAPSACK
• BEANBAG
• BOLSTER
• JACKKNIFE
• SUPPORT
• KNOCK-KNOCK
• LOUIE
• BACK
• STOOL
• REBEL
• RECLINER

NYT Connections today (game #1105) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: A letter you cannot hear
• GREEN: Get behind someone
• BLUE: Sit on these 
• PURPLE: So good they named them twice

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1105) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: FEATURING SILENT AND PRONOUNCED "K"S 
• GREEN: ENDORSE
• BLUE: KINDS OF CHAIRS 
• PURPLE: WORDS REPEATED IN HIT SONG TITLES 

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1105) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #1105, are…

• YELLOW: FEATURING SILENT AND PRONOUNCED "K"S JACKKNIFE, KNAPSACK, KNICKS, KNOCK-KNOCK
• GREEN: ENDORSE BACK, BOLSTER, CHAMPION, SUPPORT
• BLUE: KINDS OF CHAIRS BEANBAG, RECLINER, ROCKER, STOOL
• PURPLE: WORDS REPEATED IN HIT SONG TITLES JUMPIN', LOUIE, NEW YORK, REBEL

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 mistake

My mistake came when I was on the right track but thought BOLSTER was one of the KINDS OF CHAIR and BEANBAG was absolutely not. But then, anything can be a chair if you’re sitting on it.

After finally getting the blue group correct, I had doubts over WORDS REPEATED IN HIT SONG TITLES — LOUIE, NEW YORK, REBEL all seemed correct, but I gambled on JUMPIN’ as I’d completely forgotten about the Destiny’s Child song Jumpin’ Jumpin’; KNOCK-KNOCK almost tricked me, but I resisted.

The yellow group, meanwhile, was one I ignored thinking the silent Ks were too obvious. How will Connections get KNICKS into a game next?

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, June 19, game #1104)

• YELLOW: UMAMI-RICH FOODS MISO PASTE, PARMESAN, SOY SAUCE, VEGEMITE
• GREEN: THINGS A BEGINNER MIGHT LEARN ON THE PIANO CHOPSTICKS, FÜR ELISE, HEART AND SOUL, THE ENTERTAINER
• BLUE: STARTING WITH MAGAZINES FORTUNE COOKIE, PEOPLE PERSON, SPINDERELLA, TIME MACHINE
• PURPLE: ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "AGGREGATE" COINCIDENTALLY, DIM SUM, TEETOTAL, VISCOUNT

• Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 game director Chris Cross says the game will have "massive amounts of customization"
• The new Specialist class can be customized to become almost like a multiclass
• Cross says players can build a team that is just four medics

Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 will feature "massive amounts of customization" across all available classes, including the brand-new endgame Specialist class.

That's according to game director Chris Cross, who told TechRadar Gaming in an interview at Summer Game Fest 2026 that besides the new addition of four-player co-op, "there are so many different ways to put together" the highly customizable Specialist class, which also has its own progression system.

"Basically, you can end up with like really awesome multiclass," he said, adding as an example, "It's like a Marauder and a Gunslinger."

The game will also introduce four new elemental damage types, fire, cyro, electric, and piercing, as well as interchangeable weapon attachments, which can be used to combat the three "expanded" enemy factions, Xenomorphs, Pathogen horrors, and Security Synths, which will all have their own "weaknesses and strengths versus the different damage types."

Players can also build their fireteam however they like, with Cross confirming that squads can "take four medics in and they're not going to be the same."

"There's enough customization that you can take four medics in, and they'll all be different," he said, "It's mostly weapon synergy, damage synergy, ability synergy. It's funny, you would think that four medics are not as offensively capable, but actually, you can take a poison medic and drop off a med station that puts poison out; it's almost a cheat code, because almost everybody's running at overclocked help. It's totally awesome."

Cross added, "Basically, there's almost an infinite amount of ways to coordinate with your buds, on how you want to kit up as a group...You could customize to your heart's content."

Managing your loadout will also become more important as players reach greater difficulties because friendly fire will be turned on, which in turn makes coordination with their squad vital.

For this reason, Cross explained that the crouch ability "becomes very important in the higher difficulties."

"Crouch seems so trivial, but it's actually one of the more important things," he said. The director also hinted at Horde mode, which has been "revamped" since the first game, but is keeping some additional features secret for the time being.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is in development for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC.

• Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 director Chris Cross confirms that the sequel won't be a continuation of the first game
• He says the sequel is a "self-contained" story
• Cross reveals that Cold Iron worked closely with 20th Century Studios to ensure it matched the Alien lore

Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 creators Cold Iron Studios worked closely with 20th Century Studios to ensure the game respected the Alien franchise lore.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Summer Game Fest 2026, where we went hands-on with the upcoming co-operative shooter, game director Chris Cross discussed the game's story and confirmed that it won't be a continuation of its predecessor.

"It's its own story. It's self-contained," he said, but revealed that it "does feature return characters."

Cross went on to say that Cold Iron actually worked closely with 20th Century Studios to make sure that Fireteam Elite 2's story followed the Alien lore correctly.

"There's a linear mystery that you're uncovering as you're going here," he said, "and I will say that it is all like we worked very close[ly] with 20th Century to make sure that we were hitting the lore correctly and doing things in our story that are exciting for Alien fanatics."

The director also hinted at what players can expect, including a prologue mission that will introduce new and returning fans to the game, then four locations that the studio is calling "biomes" with different environmental features, such as a planet-side surface colony and a ship.

The game will also feature an underground area beneath the colony, where players will encounter something Cross wanted to simply describe as "Alien-esque"... which sounds creepy.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is in development for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC. It will also feature four-player co-op, which Cross explained was added because it was "highly-requested" and it "works better in a PVE game."

• Pico Park president Shintarou Shimazu says there were "pressures" making Sonic Pico Park
• He says Sega probably felt "risky" working with an indie company
• Shimazu adds that he thinks "it even took some guts"

Pico Park president Shintarou Shimazu has discussed the pressure of taking on Sega's beloved Sonic franchise to create its crossover indie game, Sonic Pico Park.

Speaking to TechRadar Gaming at Summer Game Fest 2026 following the game's official announcement, Shimazu explained that it seemed "risky" for the small indie company to take on such a huge IP, and even for Sega to agree.

Shimazu went on to say, "It would be a lie to say there's no pressure taking on this great IP from this massive corporation," but working with game director Shunsuke Miyake made the process easier because he and Miyake are both close in age and played very similar games to Sonic as children and grew up with the IP.

"Working with a huge company like Sega as a small indie developer, it's a little risky," Shimazu said. "I'm sure it even took some guts on the Sega side to say 'We're going to give you our character, and we expect you to do a great job.'

"But it was really being able to work with IIzuka-san [Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka] and say, 'You're not making [a] Sonic the Hedgehog game, you're making a Pico Park game, and we need to have Sonic inside of there to be like Sonic, but also be a Pico Park experience, so go out there and make a really great fun character, make a fun game, and use Sonic to have that great experience.'"

Sonic Pico Park is slated to release this year. In the same interview, Shimazu confirmed that players "don't need to be super hardcore to be at this one."

• Gears of War: E-Day creative director Matt Searcy says the game "makes a lot of sense" as an Xbox exclusive
• He confirms that The Coalition "never talked about this coming to PS5"
• Meanwhile, two developers for Halo: Campaign Evolved and Fable are "excited" about branching out to multiple platforms

Xbox games coming to other platforms has been an intriguing concept and process to witness from the outside. There have been ebbs and flows, reports of this and that, and recently an interesting move back to console exclusivity for two titles, as per that recent Xbox Games Showcase earlier in June.

We had the chance to speak to multiple Xbox Game Studios teams at an event adjacent to this year's Summer Game Fest 2026 after the showcase had streamed and found that there was a stark difference of opinion between some of the developers on being an Xbox exclusive or embracing being on multiple rival platforms.

For example, the Coalition creative director Matt Searcy believes making Gears of War: E-Day an Xbox exclusive was the best decision — something not all Xbox Game Studios teams are aligned on.

According to Searcy, it feels right in the case of Gears of War, and the studio never talked about it going to other platforms. "Well, we never talked about it going to PS5; it was announced as an [Xbox] exclusive," Searcy said. "I would say that Gears as an exclusive makes a ton of sense to me, thinking about how tightly [...] Gears has been tied to the Xbox brand [for] its entire life."

He went on to say that, "It's kind of an honor, and I think excitement to be like one of the best Xbox flagship titles. As a developer, of course, it's awesome to have people play our games, but we're Xbox fans."

When asked about missing out on a potential player base and the effect it might have had on hypothetical multiplayer numbers, he went on to say that "we're not too concerned about the size of the audience."

While it's admirable, in a way, that such confidence and sense of ease was exuded by the devs in the face of a smaller player base than some of their contemporary Xbox studios are hoping to get, it does seem a bit of a shame when those other studios will get the games in front of millions more players.

This was clear when we spoke to two other Xbox Game Studio developers in Halo: Campaign Evolved executive producer Damon Conn, and Ralph Fulton, founder and GM of Fable studio, Playground Games. Unlike Searcy, both developers are eager to branch to multiple platforms and are truly excited by it, because it will allow them to reach a wider audience.

"We're excited to put the game [out] and to play it with as many different people as we can," Conn said. "With Halo Campaign Evolved, we have it coming out on more platforms than ever before, and we're going to meet the player where they are."

The executive producer is also looking forward to players trying out cross-play, which he calls "a win for us, just sharing the experience with as many people as possible."

"Halo has always been about coming together and shared experiences and socialising, and this is something that we're really excited about," Conn added.

Meanwhile, Fulton confirmed that he and the team at Playground Games are still committed to bringing Fable to PlayStation 5, alongside Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC, like Halo, and are incredibly excited at the prospect of reaching a larger number of people.

"For us, we look at this as an opportunity to get this game - [in a series] that has been out of circulation for some 15 years - in front of as many fans who want to play it as possible," Fulton said. "We're really excited with the number of people we can bring this game to."

Each game can of course be treated in isolation to some extent, but it is intriguing to see such a contrast and witness such opposing views within the Xbox Game Studios group itself.

Fable has been in development for a very long time, but will officially launch on February 23, 2027, while Halo: Campaign Evolved releases globally on July 28. Gears of War: E-Day arrives on October 6.

• Brand new GTA 6 footage has been released
• The footage shows Vice City at sunset, and fans think it looks "glorious"
• One fan says it "almost looks like real footage"

Rockstar Games has released a brand new look at Vice City in Grand Theft Auto 6.

In case you weren't around when the internet exploded yesterday, the studio finally announced that GTA 6 pre-orders will officially begin on June 25, although we still don't have a price.

The news arrived alongside the official cover art reveal trailer and an updated website featuring new artwork of GTA 6 protagonists Lucia and Jason, as well as a dynamic image on the landing page showcasing Vice City at sunset.

It looks pretty impressive, and the sprawling city looks highly detailed, with helicopters flying overhead and boats sailing across the waterfront.

While the footage is quite literally seconds long, it offers a sneak peek at what players will be able to freely explore when the game arrives later this year, and fans are eating up every single crumb.

"IT LOOKS GLORIOUS!!" said one fan on Reddit. "This is the most realistic and beautiful night shot of VC we have gotten so far. I swear it didn't look this good in previous media."

"Holy s***, this almost looks like real footage," another said.

The new video on the website from r/GTA6

Meanwhile, some fans are suggesting that the footage doesn't look "polished", with one user pointing out the missing ferris wheel reflection in the background.

"Damnit OP JUST DELAYED THE GAME," one fan joked in response, while another said, "Yep game is unplayable."

"It just shows the limitations still with this generation," a fan suggested, "maybe the next gen version will be able to have the reflections in the distance as well."

Others are concerned about how the game will perform on current-gen consoles, considering the graphical fidelity.

"Looks like the raytraced water cuts off at a distance. The pop will be disgusting," one user said.

Following the pre-order and cover reveal announcements, Rockstar also updated its icon and banner on social media to match the game's theme. Now it's pink and purple, instead of the classic yellow fans are familiar with.

GTA 6 will officially launch on November 19, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Series S. A PC release has not yet been announced.

• Upcoming crossover puzzle game Sonic Pico Park is intended to bring Sonic to a wider audience
• It's intended to be "very easy to pick up and play"
• "A lot of people are aware of Sonic the Hedgehog, and it's interesting because not a lot of those people are actually gamers," the head of Sonic Team explained

Announced at Summer Game Fest 2026, Sonic Pico Park is an upcoming crossover game that combines the casual puzzling of Pico Park with the platforming chaos of Sonic the Hedgehog.

A few days after the reveal, I chatted to Pico Park president Shintarou Shimazu and Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka about the unlikely pairing, which the developers hope will help bring the character to a wider audience.

"We said, 'Hey, we're really popular in China, but a lot of people in the West don't really know Pico Park. How can we make a game format that's going to really reach out to a broader audience of people?'" Shimazu reveals.

He explains that the original designer of Pico Park, Shunsuke Miyake, used to work at Sega. "Let's see if we can collaborate with Sonic, who's really strong in the West, and put them together and make something that everyone around the world is going to be really interested in playing," he said.

Iizuka went on to say that, in addition to appealing to complete Sonic newcomers, he hopes that Sonic Pico Park will resonate with fans of the character that might not enjoy the traditional platformer games.

"We have Sonic in movies, we have Sonic in Netflix animated shows, we have games coming out. There's lots of different ways that people can experience and enjoy Sonic," he explains.

"A lot of people are aware of Sonic the Hedgehog, and it's interesting because not a lot of those people are actually gamers, but they're experiencing Sonic. Sonic Pico Park is one of these games that we think is perfect for those non-gamers.

"It's going to be very easy to pick up and play, and have a lot of fun with, and it's good to get them to experience Sonic if they just watched the movies, but haven't played the games."

"You don't need to be super hardcore to be good at this one," Shimazu says. "A lot of people can play and enjoy the experience. They designed the game for even up to eight people to be playing all at the same time, whether you have eight people in the room, or you're going online."

Sonic Pico Park is expected to release later this year.

• Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 game director Chris Cross says the sequel will have four-player co-op because it was "highly requested" and it "just feels better"
• Cross says four players also comes with "challenges"
• Balancing the "attention economy" is "basically a constant challenge for us"

Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 game director Chris Cross has explained why Cold Iron Studios decided to make the sequel four-player co-op, but acknowledged that it came with some obstacles during development.

Speaking in an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Summer Game Fest 2026, Cross said one of the "challenges" of making the jump to four-player was balancing the "attention economy" and the multitude of assets and effects on screen at the same time.

"There's four times the amount of things that you need to put on screen," he said, "like more enemies and such, because if everybody focuses fires on something, it'll melt, [so] managing enough targets and distractions for the team is basically a constant challenge for us."

Fireteam Elite was two-player, but when asked why the team decided on making the successor four-player instead of three-player, as you would typically find in other online co-op shooters, Cross revealed that it was for two reasons. One, it was "highly requested" by fans, and two, "four works better in a PVE game because you can do two and two."

"You can have even more combinatory-like abilities, mixing and matching, but also it kind of harkens back to like four-player split screen, right? Like it feels good to have co-op before."

Cross continued, saying, "The thing for us, though, is if you go three and one person splits off, they would end up being a liability. Whereas, [with four players] you can do two and two now. But another thing, though, is the three-person sort of convention I kind of felt like came from battle royale games, like trios [in] Apex Legends, Fortnite, etc.

"It feels like a good, a good mix for a solitary unit, but I just like four, [it] just feels better... A four-person rifle team feels good having four slots with five classes and a possible six. The opportunities that mix and match are so much greater than just three."

Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 doesn't have a release date yet, but it will launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC.

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1104) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• TIME MACHINE
• TEETOTAL
• DIM SUM
• SOY SAUCE
• SPINDERELLA
• FORTUNE COOKIE
• VEGEMITE
• VISCOUNT
• CHOPSTICKS
• MISO PASTE
• PEOPLE PERSON
• HEART AND SOUL
• COINCIDENTALLY
• THE
• ENTERTAINER
• PARMESAN
• FÜR ELISE

NYT Connections today (game #1104) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Strong tastes
• GREEN: Key starters
• BLUE: Reading material at the front
• PURPLE: Add it up at the end

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1104) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: UMAMI-RICH FOODS
• GREEN: THINGS A BEGINNER MIGHT LEARN ON THE PIANO
• BLUE: STARTING WITH MAGAZINES
• PURPLE: ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "AGGREGATE"

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1104) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #1104, are…

• YELLOW: UMAMI-RICH FOODS MISO PASTE, PARMESAN, SOY SAUCE, VEGEMITE
• GREEN: THINGS A BEGINNER MIGHT LEARN ON THE PIANO CHOPSTICKS, FÜR ELISE, HEART AND SOUL, THE ENTERTAINER
• BLUE: STARTING WITH MAGAZINES FORTUNE COOKIE, PEOPLE PERSON, SPINDERELLA, TIME MACHINE
• PURPLE: ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "AGGREGATE" COINCIDENTALLY, DIM SUM, TEETOTAL, VISCOUNT

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I just about managed to avoid threading all the Chinese food items into a group (DIM SUM, FORTUNE COOKIE, CHOPSTICKS, SOY SAUCE) after thinking that MISO PASTE, VEGEMITE and SOY SAUCE must be linked. I was thinking of fermentation rather than unami, which is how I came to add PARMESAN.

My past life working in publishing — including at a subsidiary of Time — helped me to see STARTING WITH MAGAZINES. All four are quite rare in that they are still thriving; most of the titles I worked for no longer exist.

Finally, with eight tiles left I was able to pull off a mistake-free game after spotting tally, sum, total and count at the end of ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR “AGGREGATE”.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Thursday, June 18, game #1103)

• YELLOW: FITNESS CLASS TYPES AEROBICS, BARRE, BOOTCAMP, PILATES
• GREEN: DEMEANOR ATTITUDE, BEARING, CARRIAGE, PRESENCE
• BLUE: PEACE ACTIVISTS GANDHI, KING, MANDELA, TUTU
• PURPLE: TOOLS MINUS LAST TWO LETTERS HAMM, JIGS, PLIE, WREN

• Valve has pushed out SteamOS 3.8 as a stable release
• It contains "initial support for upcoming Steam Machine hardware"
• This groundwork being laid suggests the Steam Machine is close now, and that's backed up by a bunch of other rumors of late

It seems the Steam Machine really could be on the brink of arriving, as the ground is now officially prepared for the device in SteamOS.

Valve announced the debut of SteamOS 3.8, which has the following line in the release notes: "Initial support for upcoming Steam Machine hardware."

In other words, the foundational support for the Steam Machine is now in the full, stable release of SteamOS, which is obviously one of the final steps toward the device hitting shelves.

And this move comes on top of a bunch of other clues that Valve is about to launch the compact gaming PC. For starters, we know the release is set for the summer, as Valve has told us itself, which means a June launch is possible (it's either that, or July or August).

Furthermore, the Steam Machine has been spotted in various guises online recently, notably a Vulkan conformance test, and there have been Geekbench leaks too (as highlighted by VideoCardz), along with suggestions that reviewers have the PC already.

Elsewhere in SteamOS 3.8, Valve has provided a raft of fixes, including numerous general stability tweaks alongside game performance and stability improvements via an updated GPU driver.

There's also a very welcome upgrade to KDE Plasma version 6.4.3 with Wayland support, which should improve the performance in Desktop Mode considerably on the Steam Deck (as well as bolster support for external displays, including VRR).

Away from the Steam Deck, we have a couple of key changes, with Valve introducing "improved compatibility with recent Intel and AMD platforms", meaning SteamOS will be slicker on rival handhelds, including those with Intel chips.

Valve also promises "greatly improved video memory management" for discrete GPUs, and this will, of course, benefit the Steam Machine (which sports a semi-custom AMD RDNA 3 discrete GPU with 8GB of VRAM).

Analysis: a mainstream machine or niche appeal?

Adding all these clues up, the expectation is that the Steam Machine is planned for a launch very soon – barring any last-minute hiccups. Furthermore, a June launch would be good to hit, as it'd mean that the device would just sneak in for Valve's planned release timeframe of the first half of 2026.

Also, I think the sooner the launch comes, the better, as it doesn't seem like the pressure from the RAM and component crisis on the PC market is going to ease anytime soon. In fact, matters are likely to get worse based on the vibe that's been prevalent this month. That includes Nvidia's CEO dropping one giant pessimistic cloud (no pun intended) in saying that he expects the RAM crisis to last for "quite a few years". There's precious little hope of a recovery from pricing woes anytime soon based on what we've been hearing most recently.

The main worry about the Steam Machine remains its price, of course, and Valve hasn't given us any real indication of where that might fall – save for the fact that the company won't be subsidizing the hardware to drive adoption (which was hardly comforting to learn).

Expectations have been for an MSRP of $1,000 or more for the base model – recently, an analyst floated the idea of a $1,200 launch price in the US. The problem then is that this makes it very challenging to push the Steam Machine as a mainstream device to take over living rooms around the globe, when such pricing will consign the compact PC to a much more niche appeal.

Mind you, we shouldn't jump the pricing gun, so to speak, and maybe the outlay for the Steam Machine won't be quite as painful as the internet is imagining. However, in the current climate of everything getting considerably more expensive – and you can add Apple's Macs to that list as of today – it's difficult to remain positive on potential hardware costs.

• 007 First Light game director Hakan Abrak says the game was always planned as an origin story
• He says the team pitched to MGM and had ideas for a young Bond story that was a "non-negotiable"
• He adds that there were weekly feedback meetings, but IO was always in charge of the story

IO Interactive has confirmed that 007 First Light was always intended to be a young James Bond story, and it collaborated frequently with the franchise owner, Amazon MGM Studios.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at an event adjacent to Summer Game Fest 2026, game director Hakan Abrak discussed the conceptual phase of the game and confirmed that First Light was "always supposed to be a young Bond story," and the pitching process to MGM and Bond IP co-owners Barbara Broccolo and Michael G. Wilson was "massively intimidating."

Abrak recalled the pitching process being in a room decked in old books from James Bond novelist Ian Fleming, a grand piano, and "the atmosphere of history was so thick you could just cut through it."

When he and other IO team members went in to pitch, he remembered the MGM heads came into the room and were "completely silent" before telling the developers to go ahead and pitch.

"We pitch the story, we pitch our approach, and why this would be different from other Bond games," Abrak said. "[They were] very silent, and then Barbara just says, after a while, stonefaced just says, 'I quite like it,' and then the room just erupted right after; [they said] 'These guys are so cool, like they didn't really get it, I was like keeping my cool and whatnot, but deep inside I was like 'phew' that was something."

The game director did note that he thought IO's initial pitch was "a bit ballsy" and the team had lots of ideas of introducing aspects from Ian Fleming novels, like James Bond's scar, and create a young coming-of-age story "where it's not like he has figured everything out."

Abrak said the team didn't want to recreate a "perfect digital version of Daniel Craig, I love Daniel Craig, but it just wanted to make something that feels original."

"More importantly, what we also told them was that we want to go for the gamers, we want to create a Bond for the gamers," he said, explaining that some young gamers might not have a familiar attachment to Bond like the older generation.

"We [wanted] to take that risk and introduce a fresh Bond for the gamers," he said, "We want to make a Bond for the gamers, not the gamification of a movie. It's difficult [to go there] with non-negotiables, but this was a non-negotiable for us. If we did this, we needed to get this freedom for this approach. So, this was very, very clear from the get-go."

While IO had creative control over the story, Abrak said there was input from MGM, as well as several sessions of casting before Patrick Gibson was cast as Bond. The team also had weekly meetings with Eon Productions, the British film production company that primarily produced the Bond film series.

"Although the story was written by IO and delivered by us, we got a lot of feedback," he said. "I think we had some affinity, and we had something to start with, like with the Danish dark humor, dry humor, but getting the British humor right, there [was] still some way to go.

"It's been massively helpful, and we're really into it, and I think for the younger generation of Eon creators that we had meetings with, and the artwork from the movies, which [was] attached to it as well, it was very, very exciting for them to get to do, because they were actually making a new one [Bond] from the ground up.

"It was a collaboration; they were very much involved, but it was always IO, doing the story, doing the characters and things, and then getting feedback and working closely."

007 First Light is out now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC. A Nintendo Switch 2 version is slated to launch sometime this year.

• Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka says that working on the franchise is "a lot of pressure"
• He thinks he is "going to continue to enjoy making Sonic games" for the foreseeable future
• The comments come as the franchise celebrates its 35th anniversary

At Summer Game Fest 2026, I had the chance to chat with Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka in a wide-ranging interview that touches on everything from the newly revealed Sonic Pico Park to his thoughts on the current position of the franchise as a whole.

Right now the blue blur is celebrating its 35th anniversary, which kicked off in January this year, and the series is in a very good spot. The most recent games, racing spinoff Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and the Sonic X Shadow Generations remake, were very well received, and Iizuka seems driven to keep the quality up for the sake of the series' most devoted fans.

"When I started making Sonic games over 30-plus years ago, I didn't really think about [the community]. We were just making games, but the longer I was working on Sonic, and the more games we made, the more we heard from fans who really appreciated the content, who really wanted to know what's coming next," he said.

"We had games like Sonic Generations, which was a game that parents and children could play together, because we had that early group of Sonic fans who were now grown up, and they had children of their own," he added.

"Even now we have a wide range of not only adults playing Sonic games, but we also have children playing Sonic games. We have a huge audience of people who are enjoying the content, which I really appreciate, but it's also a lot of pressure because I don't want to betray them. I don't want to make something that people are not going to feel is true to Sonic."

A big milestone

Iizuka has been working on Sonic games for decades, so I ask how spending such a long time with one series has shaped him and whether he sees himself moving on to anything else.

"It's strange when you say things like that, because when you think about it, I've been making Sonic games and been with Sonic longer than I've been with my own children," he replies.

"I really enjoy getting to be creative for such a great character, and bringing this content to so many great people. And moving forward, I'm going to continue to enjoy making Sonic games."

He added that he 'of course' sees Sonic almost like his own child as well. "Please imagine your child on the screen," he jokes. "I'm really proud."

For the latest on the 35th anniversary celebrations, you can tune in to a special birthday livestream on June 23, 2026 at 9:30 AM PT via the official Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube channel.

• The last-gen version of Grand Theft Auto 5 can now be upgraded to the current-gen for free
• Players on PS4 and Xbox One can now upgrade their game to the PS5 and Xbox Series X and Series S versions
• The upgrade has been made free ahead of the next GTA Online update

Grand Theft Auto 5 fans still playing the last-gen version can now upgrade to current-gen, free of charge.

Rockstar Games announced the upgrade in a new blog post, confirming that those with a copy of the PlayStation 4 or digital Xbox One version of GTA 5 can upgrade to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S versions for free, ahead of the next GTA Online update.

This means players will save roughly $40 compared to if they were to purchase the game for the first time on current-gen.

"Beginning tomorrow, those who own any PS4 version or the digital Xbox One version of Grand Theft Auto 5 will be able to upgrade to the PS5 or Xbox Series X|S versions at no additional cost, and experience the best versions of GTA 5 and GTA Online ahead of the launch of The Kortz Center Heist," the studio said.

"GTA 5 and GTA Online on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S feature vast technical improvements, easy migration of your Story Mode and Online progress, and new features including Hao’s Special Works high-performance vehicles and upgrades, Career Progress rewards, and much more."

These features have already been available for PC for some time, along with additional PC-only features like ambient occlusion, global illumination, ray-traced shadows and reflections, as well as Nvidia DLSS 3, AMD FSR1, and FSR3 support.

In case you missed it, Rockstar has also officially confirmed that pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto 6 will begin later this month on June 25.

The long-awaited announcement comes from a new trailer, where the studio revealed the game's official cover art and shared new artwork fans can use as their desktop wallpaper.

While we finally know when fans can secure their copies ahead of the game's November 19 launch, there's still no word on how much GTA 6 will cost. However, we'll know within the next seven days.

GTA 6 will be available for PS5 and Xbox Series X and Series S at launch, with no PC version announced just yet.

• Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-orders will begin later this month
• Rockstar Games shared the game's cover art and confirmed that preorders begin on June 25
• There are still no price details yet

Rockstar Games has officially confirmed that preorders for Grand Theft Auto 6 will begin later this month.

The long-awaited announcement comes from the official cover art reveal trailer, in which the studio said that GTA 6 preorders will begin on June 25 on digital storefronts and at other select retailers.

"Add Grand Theft Auto 6 to your wishlist today on the PlayStation Store or Microsoft Store to get alerted when pre-orders are live," Rockstar said in a blog post.

This also means Rockstar has confirmed that the game won't be coming to PC at launch, and will only be available for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S.

While we finally know when fans can secure their copies ahead of the game's November 19 launch, there's still no word on how much GTA 6 will cost.

Prices are sure to be revealed within the next seven days. Many believe the game could cost as much as $100, but analysts have suggested that a $70 price would generate more money for Rockstar.

Following a six-month delay, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick suggested that GTA 6 is more than a year behind schedule.

He was also recently asked why the game has taken so long to come out, he explained: "The team at Rockstar really does seek to do something that’s never been done before. That’s really hard, and it takes a long time."

• Rockstar Games has released a new Grand Theft Auto 6 teaser
• It reveals the game's cover art
• We also now know the pre-order date

Rockstar Games has released a new Grand Theft Auto 6 teaser, but it's perhaps not the kind that you might have expected.

Rather than showing us new GTA 6 gameplay, the video gives us our first look at the game's official cover art and, in my eyes, it's pretty slick. The design follows the same general style as the Grand Theft Auto 5 cover, with lots of little panels containing character vignettes.

It features dual protagonists Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos in a prominent position, surrounded by iconography inspired by the Vice City setting and traditional GTA staples. There are plenty of guns, of course, alongside Florida animals such as a flamingo and an alligator.

You can see the cover art for yourself in the full clip below.

The cover art isn't exactly breaking any series conventions, but in my opinion it looks pretty great. I feel like the pink and purple hues really captures those almost tropical Vice City vibes. It looks pleasantly retro, but also appropriately modern and slick.

Are you a fan of the newly revealed cover? You can share your thoughts in the poll below.

If you're a big fan of the look, Rockstar Games has already posted a high resolution version of the graphic to its website so that you can download it to use as a desktop or phone wallpaper.

The website also offers a square version of the cover art, which might provide our first look at how the game's icon will appear on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X and Series S menus.

The trailer, which only lasts for just over 30 seconds, ends with an official pre-order date reveal. We now know that they will start on June 25, 2026 "on digital storefronts and at other select retailers."

Unfortunately, there's no sign of a price anywhere, so it looks like we'll only learn that info when pre-orders officially begin next week.

The reveal comes just days after Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick once again confirmed that GTA 6 will release on November 19, 2026. He said that the wait has been so long because the team at Rockstar "seek to do something that’s never been done before."

Speaking with CNBC's Jim Cramer earlier this year, Zelnick confirmed that there are "marketing beats coming this summer" to promote GTA 6. "We don't spend money on marketing until we're pretty close to release," he said at the time.

This cover art reveal presumably signals the start of final marketing efforts as we near release, so I would keep your eyes peeled for further trailers and news soon.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is set to release on November 19, 2026 for PS5 and Xbox Series X and Series S.

• IO Interactive says 007 First Light's upcoming story expansion is "awesome"
• The principal level designer Mattias Engström says fans are "starting to expect" post-launch content from IO Interactive games
• Lead environment artist Hilde Sunde says the positive reception has "been amazing"

IO Interactive has teased 007 First Light's upcoming post-launch content following the game's "unreal" reception.

Speaking with TechRadar Gaming at Summer Game Fest 2026 following the announcement of a brand-new story expansion, principal level designer Mattias Engström and lead environment artist Hilde Sunde discussed working on IO games long after their release, such as Hitman 3 and, in this case, First Light.

According to Engström, getting to create new content for players is "very cool because it's very rewarding for our players," and is something IO is now well known for, unlike other studios that ship their game with no further content updates.

"It doesn't just stop," he said, "it's not the one and done, right? So, adding more content for our fans is very cool. I think it's also something you're starting to expect from IOI, right?"

"It's kind of in our DNA to do that type of stuff and also keeping the players happy," Sunde added. "In Bond, we also have a lot of replayability. So, if you play through it one time, you could do it very differently the next time and try different ways and play it again."

"Also, IO is a pretty big company," continued Engström. "We can have people moving around and going to other projects, and some people who may not have worked on Bond before can get going and bring in fresh new ideas and whatnot."

Engström went on to tease the post-launch content, saying it will be "awesome" and "we want the players to come back, and we want to create more content."

007 First Light was a success with critics and players alike, selling 1.5 million within its first 24 hours before hitting 2.7 million copies worldwide in its first week across all platforms.

Sunde recalled the emotional response she and the team had when the reviews came in, touching on what it was like to hear the reception after working on First Light for six years out of the game's seven-year development cycle.

"A lot of blood, sweat, and tears have gone into this," the developer said. "We really wanted to nail the Bond fantasy and get everything right, and right up until release, when you have worked on a game for that long ride, and you're gonna ship something that is very dear to I think [Bond] fans, you really want to get it right.

"And then when we got the reviews in, there people were crying, we were hugging each other, we were like it was unreal. I was in shock. I'm still in shock. I mean, I knew the game was good, but you're not prepared for it. It just feels so good for everybody who has worked so hard on this at IOI and all the other people we have collaborated with on this.

"It's just been amazing. I still don't believe it. I'm pitching my arm."

007 First Light is out now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC. A Nintendo Switch 2 version is slated to launch sometime this year.

• An automotive company will have a company-wide shutdown on November 19, 2026, due to employees taking time off for GTA 6
• Burger Motorsports states its normal services may face delays on GTA 6's launch date
• There are still no signs of a potential delay from Rockstar Games

Rockstar Games has gamers anxiously waiting in anticipation for one of the biggest games of all time, with GTA 6 waiting in the pipeline for a November 19 launch — and one non-gaming company has already made plans ahead of it.

An automotive parts and tuning company, Burger Motorsports, has released an internal notice stating that it will hold a temporary 'company-wide operational pause' on November 19, as several team members won't be available once GTA 6 launches.

It notes that several departments of the company, such as customer support, shipping, social media, and order processing, may experience delays, while all is expected to return to normal seemingly after the launch date, where it has stated 'once employees have completed their initial exploration, finished at least one mission, and returned to reality.'

Frankly, it's difficult to tell whether this is simply a joke with the company playing into the hype of gaming's biggest release in 2026, or if it genuinely intends to effectively push a company-wide shutdown — and if it's the latter, it shouldn't be a big surprise.

It goes without saying that GTA 6's launch is essentially a world-stopping moment, particularly for game enthusiasts, and it's no surprise that plenty of employees have already set their sights on November 19 as an off day. Regardless of whether this is indeed a joke, it wouldn't be a far-fetch to suggest that other companies could follow suit.

Fortunately, as it stands, GTA 6 is still very much locked in for launch on November 19, with Take-Two Interactive's CEO, Strauss Zelnick, recently reaffirming the date, and rumors from a reliable insider, Nate The Hate, stating the game will arrive in November, unless something 'unexpected and catastrophically' goes wrong.

It's certainly been a very long wait for GTA 6 to arrive, not only stemming from a long 13-year wait after GTA 5's release, but also since GTA 6's official 2022 announcement. We can only hope there aren't any more planned delays at this stage.

• Actor Alastair Mackenzie says the scene in which his character, Q, teaches Bond to tie a bow tie was a "key moment"
• He says it was a "very little special relationship moment"
• Mackenzie adds that the stories like that of 007 First Light are all about "humanity"

The actors behind 007 First Light's supporting cast have revealed the most memorable moments between their characters and James Bond.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at an event adjacent to Summer Game Fest 2026, the cast of IO Interactive's Bond game, including Alastair Mackenzie, Priyanga Burford, Lennie James, and Noémie Nakai, sat down to discuss the filming process and how they brought their characters to life.

First Light is a cinematic action-adventure game and a prequel origin story for Bond, so there are plenty of moments where he interacts and grows his relationships with the cast.

Mackenzie, who plays Q, recalls the scene in Vietnam where Bond is struggling to tie his own bow tie before heading off on his mission, and Q helps him in an almost paternal way. It's a lovely moment, and one the actor himself found the most memorable.

"I had to teach him how to tie a bow tie, which I mean, I don't know if you ever tried, but it's impossible," Mackenzie said. "It's a really nice moment between Bond and Q, where he presents him with his tie, and he doesn't know what the f*** to do, so he teaches him how to tie [it]. So that was a little key for me; that's very, very little special relationship moment."

Burford, who plays M, also touched on a "beautiful" moment with reluctant allies Bond and John Greenway early on in the story that demonstrated Bond's character development.

"For me, there was one [scene] where Bond is really angry with Greenway, and he wants to kick the whole thing down and finish it," she said. "And there's a beautiful bit where it's sort of teaching someone how to handle their emotions and how to regulate and step out of an emotional state as a young person might do; someone impulsive who gives in to their anger and looks at the situation from a bit of a wider perspective.

"Instead of getting angry, what can this guy teach you? What do you want them to pick and try and think about it that way. And that, for me, was a good clue about what this dynamic was, and [what] M's approach was."

Mackenzie added that these stories are all about "humanity" and something he believes isn't shown very often in gaming.

"These are all human interactions that make this game," he said. "There's a sort of visceral nature to it, where you're connecting on a human level, which I think doesn't happen in every game, does it? I mean, it's not something that is normal in gaming stories."

007 First Light is out now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC. A Nintendo Switch 2 version is expected to launch later this year.

• The 007 First Light cast have shared their Bond movie recommendations
• Lennie James picked On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and thinks George Lazenby "nailed Bond"
• Priyanga Burford thinks players should watch Skyfall after finishing the game because "You get the beginning and the beginning of the end"

The cast of 007 First Light has shared their personal picks for which Bond movies players should watch as a companion to the game.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at an event adjacent to Summer Game Fest 2026, where actors Alastair Mackenzie, Priyanga Burford, Lennie James, and Noémie Nakai, along with game director Martin Emborg, discussed IO Interactive's newest release, they were asked to recommend what Bond movies they'd recommend to players to watch before, after, or alongside First Light.

"That's kind of like saying, what's your favorite Bond movie, isn't it?" joked Q actor Mackenzie, before James, who plays John Greenway, decided on the 1969 flick starring George Lazenby, On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

"It's old school, but weirdly, even though he only did it once, I think Lazenby nailed Bond in that, until Daniel [Craig], actually, it was a unique telling of a Bond adventure."

Burford, the actress behind M, went with Skyfall, one of the most popular films in Craig's 007 series.

"I'm going to go really obvious and say play the game, and then watch Skyfall. You get the beginning and the beginning of the end," she said.

Emborg agreed with Burford's recommendation, but said, "There's something really interesting in watching No Time to Die, and then playing this game."

"I really like the contrast of [what] he says in Skyfall: 'Well, everyone needs a hobby. Well, what's yours? Resurrection.' And so there's something meeting Bond at the very end, and then seeing him step out of the ocean, a young man. I think there's something quite moving."

Mackenzie added that he "loved every Bond movie" growing up, "even the ones that we look back on now, say they aren't great." However, he loves The Man with the Golden Gun for its locations.

"All of that kind of affected my entire life, really," he said. "I'm thinking, I sort of identify that as being paradise."

Emborg continued, saying it's a difficult question because there are 25 movies and compared it to deciding one's favorite type of music or deciding how you feel depending on the occasion.

"It is really like, what do you feel like today? It's like, what's your favorite type of music? It's like that depends. Did I just break up with someone? That's going to change it."

007 First Light is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC. A Nintendo Switch 2 version will launch later this year.