This Week in Gaming: Big Companies Want In, Prices Go Up, and AI Keeps Growing

A simple look at everything that happened in gaming this week (June 24–30, 2026)

This was a big week for gaming news.

• A huge media company is thinking about making games.
• Xbox is getting more expensive.
• Nintendo just had a record-breaking year.
• And AI is showing up everywhere — from training robots to changing how people buy games.

Let’s go through it all, one story at a time.

A Hollywood Giant Wants to Make Video Games

NBCUniversal just split away from Comcast, and now it’s looking for new ways to grow. One of the top ideas on its list? Making video games

This makes sense. NBCUniversal owns huge movie and TV brands like Jurassic World, Fast & Furious, Shrek, Despicable Me, and How to Train Your Dragon.

None of these have ever gotten a big, modern video game. If NBCUniversal builds its own game studio, it could turn all these movies into real games instead of just licensing them out to other companies.

There’s also talk that Netflix might want to team up. Netflix already makes shows and movies based on games like BioShock and Assassin’s Creed. A partnership between Netflix and NBCUniversal could be a huge deal for how movies and games connect in the future.

Nothing is confirmed yet. But when a company this big starts looking at games, it shows just how important gaming has become — bigger than movies and music combined in terms of money made each year.

Xbox Prices Are Going Up Again

Starting August 1, Microsoft is raising Xbox prices around the world. Some consoles will cost $100 more, and others $150 more. The 2 TB model is being removed completely.

Why? Microsoft says the parts inside consoles — like memory chips — have gotten much more expensive. A big reason is that AI companies are buying huge amounts of these same chips for their computer servers. That’s pushing prices up for everyone, including gamers.

This isn’t just an Xbox problem. Sony has raised PlayStation prices in some countries too. And PC parts are getting pricier as well. To help soften the blow, Xbox is offering payment plans, trade-in deals, and discounts on refurbished consoles.

The bigger message here: gaming hardware is no longer getting cheaper over time the way it used to. It’s becoming a real cost people have to plan for.

Sony Hints at a Pricier PlayStation 6

Sony hasn’t shown the PlayStation 6 yet, but it already gave a hint about pricing. The company said it does not want to sell future consoles at a big loss just to get more people to buy them — something companies used to do in the past.

Sony said it wants people to “understand the value” of what they’re paying for. In plain words: the PS6 might cost more than older PlayStations did at launch. With computer chips and parts getting more expensive, a higher price for next-gen hardware seems likely.

Nintendo Switch 2 Is Having an Amazing First Year

While other companies raise prices, Nintendo is celebrating big sales numbers.

The Switch 2 sold almost 6 million units in the U.S. in its first year. That makes it the second-fastest-selling game console in U.S. history — only beaten by the original Game Boy Advance.

Why is it doing so well? Nintendo doesn’t try to compete on raw power like Sony or Microsoft. Instead, it leans on:

• Games you can’t play anywhere else, like Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon
• A console you can take anywhere
• Games the whole family can play together

Even with a price increase planned for later this year, Nintendo’s strong games and loyal fans are keeping the momentum going.

A New Star Wars Game Just Launched

Today, Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains launched on basically every platform — PS5, Xbox, both Switch consoles, PC, and GeForce Now.

It’s a digital version of Monopoly, but with a Star Wars twist. Players pick a hero or villain team, and each character has special powers that change how the game plays.

It’s not a giant action game, but it shows that Disney is still happy to let Star Wars show up in all kinds of games, not just the big blockbuster ones.

Is EA Bringing Back Ultima?

Gamers spotted something interesting: Electronic Arts just filed new trademarks for Ultima, one of the oldest and most important role-playing game series ever made.

Created in the early 1980s by Richard Garriott, Ultima helped invent ideas that RPGs still use today — open worlds, player choices that matter, and party-based adventures.

Filing a trademark doesn’t always mean a new game is coming. Sometimes companies just renew names to keep ownership. But several new filings at once usually means something is being planned.

With games like Baldur’s Gate 3 proving people still love deep RPGs, now would be a smart time for EA to bring Ultima back.

GTA 6 Might Have Its Own Social Media

New rumors from store listings in Brazil suggest GTA 6 will include a fake social media app inside the game. Players could scroll through viral videos, follow made-up influencers, and even find secret missions hidden in posts.

GTA games have always made fun of real-life culture — TV, politics, and the internet. A built-in social media system would let Rockstar poke fun at today’s influencer and viral video culture in a much deeper way than before.

Nothing is confirmed by Rockstar yet, but it fits perfectly with how detailed their game worlds usually are.

New Chips Are Changing Handheld Gaming

Handheld gaming PCs — like the Steam Deck and ASUS ROG Ally — have become a huge market.

Now Intel has released a new chip made just for them, called the Arc G3 Extreme. Early tests show it offers strong gaming performance while still saving battery life.

This chip is showing up in new devices like the MSI Claw 8, and early reviews are very positive. Until now, AMD has mostly controlled this market. Intel is trying to change that.

A New Company Wants to Challenge NVIDIA

A startup called Bolt Graphics says it’s building a new kind of graphics chip that can compete with NVIDIA — both for gaming and for AI work.

NVIDIA currently dominates this space, so this is a bold goal. No physical chips exist yet, and real products are still a while away. But more competition in this space could eventually mean better prices and faster innovation for gamers.

A Law to Protect Old Games Just Failed — For Now

A bill in California, known as the “Protect Our Games” bill, did not pass a recent Senate vote. The bill would have forced game companies to keep games playable even after they shut down the servers.

This issue matters because more and more games depend on online servers to work. When a company shuts those servers down, the game can become completely unplayable — even for people who paid full price for it.

The campaign behind this bill, called Stop Killing Games, says it isn’t giving up. They plan to come back with more support and funding to try again.

A similar effort in Europe was also turned down as a legal requirement, with companies instead being asked to follow voluntary rules instead of an actual law.

Sony Lays Off Workers in Bellevue

Sony has announced layoffs at one of its studios in Bellevue, Washington — an area connected to the Destiny game studio, Bungie.

This is part of a larger pattern across the gaming industry, where companies are cutting jobs because of rising costs to make big games, slower growth after the pandemic, and pressure to make more profit.

It’s a hard reminder that even big, successful studios aren’t safe from budget cuts.

AI Is Now Big in Gaming — In More Ways Than One

This week had two major AI stories.

First, a company called General Intuition raised $320 million, valuing the company at $2.3 billion. Their goal is to train AI using video game data — like how players move, make choices, and react under pressure.

They even showed a robot learning to walk through an office using the same AI model that plays video games. The idea is that games are great “practice grounds” for teaching AI real-world skills.

Second, new research shows that telling players a game used AI to help make it might actually hurt sales. Games that openly mention using AI got fewer reviews and lower ratings than similar games that didn’t mention it.

Many players connect AI use with cheap, lazy, or rushed games. This doesn’t mean all AI use is bad — AI used for things like coding or translation is viewed much better than AI-made art or AI voices. But it shows people care a lot about real human creativity in the games they buy.

Gaming Is for (Almost) Everyone Now

A new study found that about 80% of Australians play video games. That includes people of every age — even two-thirds of people over 65.

Researchers are using this moment, during school holidays, to remind parents to talk with their kids about online safety, screen time, and privacy settings.

Another piece of research pushed back on an old stereotype: adults who play games a lot online are not lazy or anti-social. Scientists found that why someone plays matters more than how much they play. People who play to relax or connect with others show healthier patterns than people who play mainly to win.

London Wants to Be the World’s Esports Capital

London’s mayor announced a plan to turn the city into a global hub for esports. The plan includes building new arenas, bringing in international tournaments, and partnering with publishers and schools.

Other cities like Paris and Riyadh are chasing the same goal, so the competition for esports fame is heating up.

Chinese Games Are Going Global

Game studios in China are gaining more attention worldwide. Instead of copying Western games, many are now telling stories based on Chinese myths, history, and folklore — combined with high-quality graphics that can compete with the biggest Western titles.

This trend shows that great stories from anywhere in the world can succeed globally, not just stories made in the U.S. or Europe.

Small Wins Worth Knowing

A few smaller stories also stood out this week:

• Dragon’s Dogma 2 is getting a big new expansion called Dark Arisen, launching October 9, with a new icy region and new dungeons.
• Thrifty Business, a cozy thrift-shop simulation game from a small studio, shared an honest video about how their game is doing — refreshing in a world full of vague company statements.

• Don’t Starve: The Board Game is coming to Russia, with pre-orders opening this fall.
• A big video game movie hit Netflix this week after making nearly €430 million in theaters, showing just how profitable game-to-movie adaptations have become.
• The Oregon Trail, one of the first-ever educational games from 1971, got renewed attention this week as a reminder of how learning and fun have always gone hand in hand in gaming.

What It All Means

Put all these stories together, and a clear picture forms: gaming is getting bigger, more expensive, and more connected to AI than ever before. Big media companies want in. Hardware makers are raising prices. AI is both helping and hurting the industry at the same time. And players are pushing back, fighting for the right to keep the games they paid for.

At the same time, stories like Nintendo’s huge sales numbers and the rise of cozy indie games prove that great ideas and strong communities still win, no matter what else is changing.

Gaming isn’t just entertainment anymore — it’s business, technology, culture, and even education, all rolled into one. And if this week is any sign, the rest of 2026 is going to be just as eventful.

What story stood out to you the most this week? Let me know in the comments.

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