The Last of Us has caught our attention ever since the game’s launch on the PlayStation 3 in 2013, but the cordyceps-infested franchise has only continued to grow since then. While The Last of Us Part II came out on the PlayStation 4 in 2020, the first game’s remake launched on PlayStation 5 in 2021. The second part of the game is also getting the PS5 treatment, with a remastered version due out on January 19th, 2024.
The game series was only the beginning, though. The Last of Us has evolved into a hit TV series on HBO and its streaming service Max. After a successful first season starring Bella Ramsey as Ellie and Pedro Pascal as Joel, the show’s producers are working on a second season for 2025, and details have already emerged about its cast.
Follow along below for all the latest on The Last of Us franchise.
Housemarque, the PlayStation-owned studio that made the excellent sci-fi roguelike Returnal, has just announced its next game: Saros. The game will launch on PS5 in 2026.
Here’s a brief description of the game from its reveal trailer:
Set on the planet Carcosa under the threat of an ominous eclipse, take on the role of Arjun Devraj, a powerful Soltari Enforcer searching for answers on a lost off-world colony.
SAROS features permanent progression systems, where every death reshapes the world while offering new upgrades to overcome challenges. With a haunting story, deep third-person action, and a grounded performance by Rahul Kohli, SAROS presents the next evolution in Housemarque’s gameplay-first experience.
In a blog post, Housemarque’s Gregory Louden provided a tad more detail:
A key gameplay distinction between Saros and Returnal is permanent resources and progression making every death valuable. After every death you will face a changed world, but in Saros you will be able to choose and permanently upgrade your loadout from an evolving set of weapons and suit upgrades to “come back stronger” to overcome the challenges you face on Carcosa.
I’m personally very much looking forward Saros; Returnal is one of my favorite games ever, and I look forward to seeing what Housemarque brings to its next title.
Sony started out 2025 by sharing exactly what it has in store for the PlayStation 5 this year — or at least some of it. The company’s 40-minute-long State of Play event was missing big, expected names like Ghost of Yōtei and Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Instead, it was focused on smaller titles like Q-Games’ Dreams of Another and the next entry in the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise. We did get at least one big surprise with Saros, the next game from Returnal studio Housemarque.
If you missed it live, here are the highlights.
Overwatch 2 is getting quite the shakeup in 2025 as it faces growing competition from other online shooters. It starts with the season 15 update that’s coming on February 18th that’ll tease a new hero and introduce an in-game Perks system for existing ones, plus the return of the 6v6 competitive queues Blizzard tested late last year. There’s also the return of loot boxes and then, in April, a Counterstrike-like mode, two new characters, and a revamped ranked queue that lets you ban heroes and vote on maps.
Reintroducing loot boxes may be a polarizing move, as games that implement them have received backlash over the years for their predatory nature. Blizzard removed them from Overwatch a few years ago in favor of an in-game shop when it restructured its monetization model after going free-to-play. The company will responsibly publicize drop rates and is guaranteeing that you’ll receive an item of “Rare” rarity or better in each box, plus a guaranteed “Epic” after opening five and a “Legendary” after opening 20. We’re not sure whether you’ll still be able to purchase cosmetics directly from a rotating in-game shop, but you can earn loot boxes as part of weekly and event rewards, and you can get up to three guaranteed Legendary loot boxes in each seasonal battle pass.
Stadium is arguably the biggest change announced for Overwatch 2 so far. The new gameplay mode is a best-of-seven romp between two teams of five that’s akin to CounterStrike: Go or Valorant. You’ll earn currency each round, with rotating maps and objectives alternating between Control, Clash, and Push.
The cash goes toward upgrades for your hero that are unique to the mode, whether you’re unlocking an ability or upgrading it with enhanced potency or transformative effects that buff your offense and team utility. You can even choose between first-person or third-person POVs. It’s getting its own ranked queue, too, and launches with 14 heroes to start, with more planned to be added in future updates alongside a steady rollout of new maps.
Season 16 will also introduce Freja, a high-mobility character who can dash horizontally and jump vertically while wielding a dual-mode crossbow that enables both rapid-fire shooting and precision sniping. You’ll be able to play her for a bit during a trial weekend in Season 15. Blizzard is also teasing a new character for Season 18 named Aqua, appropriately named for his water-based abilities.
As for the new Perks system, it promises to enhance all of the game’s heroes with two unique upgrades per match. Your first upgrade is a minor one that lets you choose one of two slight boosts, perhaps a slightly stronger passive or a reduced cooldown for a core ability. The second upgrade offers a more substantial play style shift designed to help turn the tides of battle — Torbjorn can choose between a stronger level three turret or the ability to mount it on a wall, for example.
These drastic changes are almost necessary for any service-based online arena shooter to stand out amidst growing competition, as evidenced by Fortnite recently receiving a similar mode as Epic Games continues experimenting. There are only so many players to go around, after all, especially with newcomer Marvel Rivals making a loud and very noticeable Namor-sized splash of late.
It’s still relatively early in the year, but 2025 has already been a pretty busy one for gaming announcements. Nintendo officially unveiled the next Switch (with more details on the way), Xbox had an impressive game-filled event, and now it’s Sony’s turn. The company is holding its semi-regular State of Play stream this afternoon, which will span 40 minutes.
Sony hasn’t detailed much of what we can expect, other than saying “the show celebrates a creative and unique selection of exciting games from studios around the world.” It will also be focused on games for the PS5, so VR fans are probably out of luck.
But even without official word on what will be there, there are some solid educated guesses we can make for what to expect. The samurai sequel Ghost of Yotei is arguably PlayStation’s biggest first-party exclusive for the year, so it’s likely to make an appearance. It also wouldn’t be out of the question to see games like Insomniac’s Wolverine and third-party titles like Death Stranding 2, Monster Hunter Wilds, and Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Less likely but still possible are the second trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI and the long-rumored remaster of FromSoftware’s Bloodborne.
The event itself takes place on February 12th at 2PM PT / 5PM ET | 11PM CET. It’ll be streaming live on both YouTube and Twitch, and in addition to the English broadcast, you can also watch in Japanese.
Sony has announced that it will hold a presentation to show off the next batch of upcoming Playstation games. The presentation will take place Wednesday, February 12th at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET. It’ll have a runtime of 40 minutes and feature, “creative and unique selection of exciting games from studios around the world.”
Last month, Nintendo held its own presentation to finally announce its next console, the Switch 2. Meanwhile Xbox held a more game-focused Developer Direct which included an announcement for Ninja Gaiden 4 as well as a stealth drop for the remaster of Ninja Gaiden II. Sony’s announcement comes just a few days removed from a huge PlayStation Network outage over the weekend, which resulted in subscribers getting a few extra days added to their accounts.
As for the event itself, we can reasonably expect an update on Ghosts of Yotei, the sequel to Sucker Punch Studios’ Ghosts of Tsushima that was announced at Sony’s September 2024 State of Play. Ubisoft might also make an appearance with Assassin’s Creed: Shadows which was delayed for a second time, pushing its new release date to March 20th. There might also be an update on Insomniac Games’ new Wolverine title which, outside of some details including a playable build getting leaked in a malicious hack, hasn’t had an official update since its reveal in 2021.
But it won’t be long now before we find out just what PlayStation has in store for the year.
Following the huge PlayStation Network (PSN) outage that ended yesterday, Sony is giving an automatic five extra days of service to PlayStation Plus subscribers, according to a post from the official Ask PlayStation support account on X.
“Network services have fully recovered from an operational issue,” the company wrote in the post. “We apologize for the inconvenience and thank the community for their patience.” Sony didn’t offer further specifics.
Network services have fully recovered from an operational issue. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank the community for their patience. All PlayStation Plus members will automatically receive an additional 5 days of service.
— Ask PlayStation (@AskPlayStation) February 9, 2025
The outage lasted about a full day, with the first indications of problems seemingly cropping up around 6PM ET Friday. Sony posted that service had been restored just before 7PM ET Saturday.
During the outage, players had issues with things like logging into accounts, visiting the PlayStation Store, or launching games. For my colleague, Jay Peters, the outage meant he couldn’t log into Fortnite or see his trophies, but his digital copy of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth launched like normal.
After the PlayStation Network experienced a global outage that lasted for nearly a day, Sony says it will compensate PlayStation Plus subscribers by giving them an extra five days of service. The outage seems to have lasted from Friday evening until Saturday evening in the United States, with many PlayStation owners reporting difficulty loading their […]
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Sony's PlayStation Network went down on Friday, starting a daylong outage that outraged gamers, disrupted the digital economy surrounding the system, and knocked Sony's stock.
"PSN has been restored. You should be able to access online features without any problems now," a PlayStation account posted on X late Saturday afternoon. "Sorry for the inconvenience!"
Representatives for PlayStation did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
At the time of publication, the PlayStation's server status page indicates service has been restored to the network — about 24 hours after the initial disruption started.
Some users were still reporting issues on social media when PlayStation's server status showed the problems had resolved, though reports of disruption on sites like DownDetector had largely subsided. While the exact economic impact of the outage remains unclear, the PlayStation Network has an estimated 116 million monthly users, according to the company's estimates from September 30, 2024.
Users were prevented from playing and purchasing games online for a full day, disrupting the digital economy that has grown around the top-selling gaming system in the US.
Sony's stock dipped in after-hours trading as news of the outage circulated, falling nearly 2% at publication time.
The outage drew ire from diehard gamers, who chronicled their disappointment in posts on Reddit and X, as well as snark from corporate entities responding to the news.
"Well, I'm tired of waiting. Off to buy a STEAM deck. Guess my Playstation is no longer my main system," one Reddit user wrote.
Krispy Kreme posted on X an offer to displaced gamers for a free glazed doughnut on Friday evening, writing: "Calling all gamers: this play station still works."
"Bet y'all want physical copies now," GameStop's official account posted as a joke after the outage had dragged on over 14 hours.
PlayStation Network (PSN) has finally recovered from an outage that lasted for almost a day.
“PSN has been restored,” Sony says in a post from its @AskPlayStation X account. “You should be able to access online features without any problems now.” The post also points to Sony’s PSN status page and concludes by saying “Sorry for the inconvenience!”
PSN has been restored. You should be able to access online features without any problems now. For more details: https://t.co/NJX2xGusZM
— Ask PlayStation (@AskPlayStation) February 8, 2025
Sorry for the inconvenience!
The outage began Friday evening, and account management, gaming and social, PlayStation Video, PlayStation Store, and the PlayStation Direct website were all dealing with issues, the status page said at the time. For gaming specifically, Sony said that “you might have difficulty launching games, apps, or network features.”
Around when I first published this article at 7:28PM ET on Friday, a colleague wasn’t able to load their purchased digital games or see their friends, trophies, or even their online status on their PS5. At about 11:45PM ET that night, I tried to play Fortnite on my PS5, but the game showed an error message and wouldn’t let me log in. I was able to start my digital copy of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, however.
Sony’s status website said that the issues started at 7PM ET, but Downdetector showed user reports starting to come in about an hour earlier at around 6PM ET. At the peak, Downdetector showed a bit fewer than 70,000 reports of problems.
Sony didn’t reply to requests for comment.
PSN had an outage that lasted for around eight hours back in October. It dealt with a partial outage in May, too.
Update, February 8th: Sony says services have been restored.
Sony can be somewhat stingy about offering discounts on first-party accessories like the PlayStation Portal, which is why the latest PlayStation sale is worth checking out. Now through February 19th, PlayStation Plus members can buy two PlayStation 5 accessories and get 20 percent off purchases over $100. If you aren’t a PS Plus member, you can still save if you sign up for a subscription, which starts at $9.99 a month.
The ongoing promo applies to any accessory listed on this landing page marked with Sony’s “Deal” badge, which includes the PlayStation Portal ($199.99), the Sony DualSense Edge ($199.99), and a handful of items that rarely receive discounts. The sale also includes a handful of cheaper accessories you can add to bring the cost down on the pricey gadgets, such as the DualSense Charging Station ($29.99), Link USB adapters ($24.99), a Media Remote ($29.99), and various console covers ($54.99).
In case you need a refresher, the PlayStation Portal is a handheld device with a crisp, eight-inch 1080p LCD display you can use to stream games from your PS5 over Wi-Fi or the cloud. It’s a nice, all-in-one device that supports DualSense haptics, so you can take advantage of adaptive triggers and tilt controls. That said, while it’s great for playing PS5 games around the house, we wouldn’t recommend it for titles with a lot of latency, including online shooters and fighting games. Sony’s remote player also doesn’t work with any old pair of Bluetooth headphones either, so you’ll need to either dig up your wired headphones or pick up Sony’s Pulse Explore earbuds or Pulse Elite headset (which are also included in the sale).
The DualSense Edge, meanwhile, offers impressive software integration with the PS5, allowing you to customize settings like stick sensitivity and rear button controls for up to four profiles. The pro-grade wireless gamepad also boasts all of the same features and haptics found on Sony’s standard DualSense Wireless Controller, along with adjustable hair triggers, swappable stick tops, function shortcuts, and two styles of rear buttons.
Will Sony ever release a remake or remaster of Bloodborne, the Dark Souls successor that became one of our favorite games of 2015? Even Sony’s former games chief isn’t sure — but that isn’t stopping Sony’s copyright enforcers from shutting down fun in the meanwhile. Last week, it axed the 60fps mod that let the game finally run smoothly, and now it’s killed the fan-made “Bloodborne PSX” demake that reimagined Bloodborne as a block game for the original 1995 PlayStation.
It’s been over three years since Lilith “b0tster” Walther released her homage to early PlayStation games, and it’s only now that Sony is taking it down — or rather MarkScan, the enforcer that slapped the game with a copyright takedown notice that has now taken over its itch.io page.
Here’s a copy of the copyright takedown notice for posterity; it claims that Walther is engaging in “digital piracy.”
It’s not surprising that Sony wouldn’t want Walther to promote her work using its copyrighted names, and the company’s almost certainly within its rights to wait a few years before doing so. What’s surprising is that Sony needed an enforcer in the first place; Walther was happy to change her other “Bloodborne Kart” game to “Nightmare Kart” after Sony simply reached out and asked her.
But maybe that’s because MarkScan is playing whack-a-mole on Sony’s behalf. MarkScan was also the one behind the Bloodborne 60fps mod takedown, says mod creator Lance McDonald, and it also took down one of Walther’s YouTube videos about Bloodborne PSX with a copyright claim.
MarkScan has previously made headlines for taking down World Cup sites that weren’t even streaming the World Cup, and asking Google to remove some of Sony’s own websites on Sony’s behalf.
MarkScan submits millions upon millions of URL takedown requests on behalf of Sony, Amazon, Netflix, Crunchyroll, Novi Digital Entertainment and more, according to a Google transparency report; Google winds up removing around 47 percent of them.
Why go after these videos now? That’s what I’d like to know. Sony did get our hopes up by putting Bloodborne at the very end of its 30th Anniversary thank-you video in December with the words “It’s about persistence” — could it be a coded message to fans that they need to keep on waiting?
Here’s hoping this isn’t the beginning of a “demake” purge, as they’re a delightful and creative way to remix games; I doubt they substantially reduce the demand for true remakes.
Microsoft is bringing its storied real-time strategy series Age of Empires to the PlayStation 5, starting with Age of Mythology: Retold and its Immortal Pillars expansion pack, both launching on March 4th. Microsoft is continuing to evolve the Xbox platform with cloud gaming that works on almost any device, and bringing more of its biggest franchises to competitors’ systems.
Microsoft will also launch Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on the PS5 later this Spring. The games will include content parity across platforms plus cross-play support. The company previously dropped big news that Forza Horizon 5 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle are also headed to PS5 this Spring, and the jaw-dropping Doom: The Dark Ages announced last month will make its way to the PS5 this Summer. The Age of Empires franchise is another heavy hitter for Microsoft to share beyond the PC; the company says the games brought in 10 million players last year, growing to 60 million players worldwide.
Preorders for Age of Mythology: Retold are open, and those who order now on PS5 will get two exclusive Blessings for the Arena of the Gods mode. You can also get the Premium Edition for 5-day early access starting February 27th, and it includes access to the Immortal Pillars expansion “and much more.”
Sid Meier developed the first Civilization game in 1991 and has contributed to every iteration since. When I visited Firaxis Games last year, I saw that the company maintains the very computer Meier used to develop the game, which can still be booted up and played. Walking through the halls of the studio, I saw not only the legacy of its games but its employees, too, some of whom have children who work or worked at Firaxis, including Meierâs own son. Itâs no wonder, then, that Civilization VII is a game about legacy and all the ways it leaves a mark on history and contributes to the future.
Civilization VII is a strategy game in which you shepherd a country or people plucked from throughout world history through the ages of time. As their leader, often a famous ruler or notable historical figure, your job is to grow your empire to become the preeminent society of the world either through conquest, commerce, culture, or scientific advancement. As time progresses, you must make choices and take actions for your civilization that determine how it develops into a world power. You must acquire resources, choose systems of government and social policy, research technologies to impr …
A popular Bloodborne framerate mod is no longer available thanks to a DMCA takedown request from Sony. Australia-based Twitch streamer Lance McDonald first developed the mod back in 2020 before making it available to download in 2021. Lance announced today in a post on X that Sony Interactive Entertainment asked them to remove download links for the patch.
The hack’s sole purpose was to get Bloodborne running at a smoother 60 fps with improved frame pacing. FromSoftware originally released Bloodborne back in 2015 for the PlayStation 4, and the game has always been locked at 30 fps with occasional stuttering from inconsistent pacing (the 30 frames within each second were not always on-screen for equal amounts of time). The beloved game’s graphical limitations have persisted even on the PS4 Pro and while playing it via backwards compatibility on the PlayStation 5.
On February 21st, 2021, I created and released a patch for Bloodborne which makes the game run at 60fps. Today I received a DMCA takedown notification on behalf of Sony Interactive Entertainment asking that I remove links to the patch I posted on the internet, so I've now done so
— Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon) January 31, 2025
Lance’s mod has received its share of testing and praise from the “Soulsbourne” community that covet FromSoftware games but wish their technical and graphical chops were more cutting-edge. This includes being spotlighted by creators like Digital Foundry, who interviewed McDonald about his hack back in 2020, used his mod to make a 4K / 60 fps representation on PS5 using AI upscaling, and recently published a Bloodborne PS4 emulation video that really juices up the performance and has an extra-spicy video thumbnail aimed squarely at Sony.
For years, the most rabid of Bloodborne fans have been quick to jump at any Bloodborne-related news as a potential clue to an upcoming, long-awaited remake. And in this case, it only takes a short scroll of McDonald’s replies on his post to see people speculating that this takedown means Sony must be nearing some kind of announcement in time for the 10-year anniversary of Bloodborne’s release. Or, perhaps, Sony is just taking a page from Nintendo’s playbook.
Forza Horizon 5 is the next Xbox Game Studios title making the jump to PlayStation. The open-world racing game is launching on PS5 this spring and will include the same content as what’s available in its Xbox and PC versions, according to a blog post. If you want to play the game online with your friends, crossplay between PS5, Xbox consoles, and PC will be available.
Forza Horizon 5 will also be getting a new content update on all platforms called Horizon Realms. “Realms will give players the chance to explore a curated collection of some of the community’s favorite previously released Evolving Worlds, alongside some other surprises,” developer Playground Games said in the post.
The game originally launched on Xbox and PC in 2021, and my former colleague Sam Byford called it the “best Forza Horizon yet.” I also had a great time playing it as a portable game, meaning it could be a lot of fun on a PlayStation Portal.
Bungie and LucasFilms are bringing Star Wars armor sets and other items into the Destiny universe, so you can dress your Guardian like a stormtrooper. As part of Destiny 2: Heresy, Act I, which launches next week, you’ll be able to access outfits, accessories, and emotes that come straight out of the Star Wars universe into the Eververse. The news came as a “one more thing” surprise during the Destiny 2: Heresy Act I developer livestream on Twitch yesterday.
The Star Wars armor sets will include a death trooper-inspired Covert Rangers set for Hunters, a Royal Protector set for Warlocks, inspired by the red-cloaked Imperial Guards, and a classic stormtrooper Shock Enforcer set for Titans. There’s also a new Ghost shell that looks like the second Death Star. Sadly, there isn’t any mention of lightsabers in this announcement. However, Bungie does promise a new Sparrow, ship, and a finisher.
Star Wars items will launch day one with Heresy on February 2nd. Destiny has had other collaborations in the past, including ones with Fortnite, Mass Effect, Assassins Creed, The Witcher, and others. Heresy is the third episode in Destiny 2 and is the final epilogue of the Light and Darkness saga.
