The video game industry has lately had to face a difficult truth: hardware and software prices are going up.

In the last year, Ubisoft, Take-Two, Xbox, and Sony all formally announced a bump in game prices from $60 to $70, and other AAA publishers such as Activision Blizzard, EA, Square Enix, and Warner Bros. have quietly followed suit with games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Final

  Read More

2022 was the kind of year where it was easy to forget just how much happened. This is especially true when it comes to video games, with the industry hit with so many twists and turns that it’s tough to keep track. There’s the ongoing labor movement, the massive consolidation of studios and publishers, the continued rise of subscription services, the blurring line between games and other entertainment, and the occasional leak of the next

  Read More

Already we can count more than 100 major video game releases expected in 2023, from highly anticipated RPGs like Starfield and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, to new, mainline entries in series like Final Fantasy and Street Fighter, and the long-awaited return of franchises like Diablo and Pikmin.

While video game release dates are constantly in flux, Polygon’s guide to the video games coming out in 2023 will be regularly updated

  Read More

Each year brings fresh, competing demands on our attention. For many companies, holding a person’s attention for the length of a film or a book is no longer sufficient. The profit imperative demands a greater sacrifice. Enter video games, which are second only to social media in their ability to assume residence in our daily routines.

The business models are distinct, of course: Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram seek to engage us long enough to harvest

  Read More

There is some debate among researchers and health care practitioners that gaming can become a true addiction, but according to the World Health Organization, “gaming disorder” can “result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning.”

The over-the-top experiences and rewards built into video games can stimulate our brains to release dopamine. Dopamine, the powerful “feel good” neurotransmitter, motivates us to seek more of these pleasurable activities.

  Read More

LONDON — Backstage at the Royal Festival Hall, one of London’s grandest classical music venues, James Buckle, the bass trombonist for the Philharmonia Orchestra, braced himself to do something he’d never done before: play the familiar opening of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.

Trombone players usually spend most of the symphony waiting in silence at the back of the orchestra, ignored by the audience, only getting the chance to play in the piece’s final, euphoric movement

  Read More

Fans of video games should pay heed to the fate of big Hollywood studios — which first ceded creative control to Chinese censors in pursuit of box-office gold and then found themselves floundering when China largely closed its borders to Hollywood products — as China’s government-allied businesses acquire a larger stake in the global gaming industry.

It makes sense that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its business affiliates would set their sights on video

  Read More

Importantly, you must play It Takes Two with a second person, whether it’s someone who’s in the room with you or a friend playing online. So I was extremely appreciative when my partner, a person with a healthy relationship to entertainment media who generally avoids video games (with the notable exception of Untitled Goose Game), agreed to play with me. After borrowing a friend’s PlayStation 5, we set out to investigate whether it was,

  Read More

Despite numerous delays, the fall video game release schedule still holds plenty of promise. Highly anticipated action games are set to arrive alongside deeply engrossing visual novels; turn-based strategy games are looking to avoid a sophomore slump; gods are still trying to be good dads. With such a wide swath of genres to choose from, it’s a daunting time to keep up with video games.

So, we’re here to help you sort through big-budget AAA

  Read More
A space-suited figure brandishes a leering, sentient gun at a cowering foe.

Image: Squanch Games

Look, I would really rather not be a hater. It’s nice to like things. It makes life simpler, and we can all be happy together. Plus, humor is a highly subjective thing; what’s funny to you may not be funny to me. But, woof, man. The latest trailer for High on Life had me cringe so hard, my soul withered away from my body.

The premise of Rick and Morty creator

  Read More