At Summer Game Fest this year, we were able to sit down with Grounded 2’s Senior Producer, Miles Winzeler to talk about the upcoming expansion, Into the Abyss, scheduled for release near the beginning of August.

While the developers were excited for fans to finally experience all the “Arise” update’s new content, they seemed particularly passionate about “Sortie.” Hardcore Gamer actually had the opportunity to discuss the update with Super Creative Co-Head and Chaos Zero Nightmare Game Director Kim Hyung Suk, so we’ll dig into all that later, but perhaps it’s best to discuss what exactly “Sortie” mode is first.

With all of that said, we are hopeful of what we played from Legacy of Atlantis. It was a small chunk of the experience, but having no hand holding and a lot to explore in the world, be it small subsections or puzzles spread throughout, made it feel like a real adventure. And this was just one area with one objective. Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis is shaping up to be one of Lara’s best adventures yet.

Stranger than Heaven has a lot going for it, coming from an incredibly talented studio, not to mention having some wild ideas thrown in. With that said, this is a very different type of game. It still retains some of the identity of the Yakuza games, but with its own surprisingly challenging spin on it. Combat is a highlight, but also one that will take some time to get used to.

This demo was more of a tutorial than anything, focusing on how to use flares, a little bit of puzzle solving and sneaking past the Xenomorph. It did a masterful job setting up what we could expect, as this was only a small, confined element of the larger picture, something that should have a lot more time in the oven, given Sega and Creative Assembly have yet to give a release window for the upcoming sequel. Regardless, from the small amount of time with the horror title, we are eagerly awaiting what they show next.

At Summer Games Fest 2026, we were able to sit down with some of the development team behind Aion 2, specifically the Director of Operations Daniel LaFuente, Executive Publishing Producer for Aion 2 Merv Lee Kwai, and Chief Business Officer Seung-Uk Baek.

Aion 2 seems to be the perfect blend of a hardcore MMORPG mixed with casual content, something a lot of games in the genre fail to capitalize on. LaFuente specified that the Korean development has received a large amount of feedback from the Korean audience “wanting more casual or horizontal content.” Lifestyle content looks to be putting an emphasis moving forward, alongside the beautifully crafted dungeon and raid content.

We were only able to get a small slice of what Saber Interactive has in store for Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival, and we were left with a desire for more. It’s a game that’s pushing the boundaries for sadistic horror experiences, focusing on graphic imagery and a story that has an intriguing premise.

The game looks and sounds great and the combat remains core. Flow State is a welcome addition, however, if going towards being a fighting game. The menu performance is abysmal and hopefully can be improved as it detracts from doing certain things. The Hall of Legends is a wonderful experience that needs to be implemented into other sports games. Everyone loves a good documentary. UFC 6 improves on the UFC experience over its predecessor and boasts everything that the fanbase could ask for.

One may think that there are fears involved, especially with a new way to race and some mixed reactions from not only the fanbase, but the drivers as well. In speaking with Steven Embling, the Senior Games Designer at Codemasters, he mentioned the changes created excitement for the development team to instill these new regulations. The racing is certainly more engaging in the game than it ever has been before, as you can check out our thoughts on it here.

While most trinkets offer some benefit, equipping the following provides immediate combat or survivability benefits, and when combined, can practically solve the game. They aren’t the best option in *all* circumstances, but leaving any of these on is almost never a bad play.

Crushed in Time is a clever adventure game that manages to provide a compelling meta narrative and use it well. The vibrant world of Holmes and Watson is constantly changing around in a way that pays homage to game development itself as well as the genre’s different possibilities without breaking from its physics-inspired “point-and-pinch” format.