Polygon.com - Gaming News

Blood Message gameplay preview reveals an action game on par with God of War

Tomas Franzese — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 22:30:20 GMT

God of War Laufey, the next grand action game from Sony Santa Monica, was one of Summer Game Fest season’s biggest reveals. At this point, that studio (and PlayStation as a whole) has a reputation for making some of the most cinematic third-person action games out there: Ghost of Yōtei, God of War Ragnarök, and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 are smash hits from just the past few years. But PlayStation is about to get some serious competition in the space, as I recently learned from going hands-on with a new game called Blood Message.

Worst possible people could be put in charge of Elden Ring studio

Patricia Hernandez — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 18:45:26 GMT

If FromSoftware's games are known for something, it's friction. Games like Dark Souls are punishing, obtuse, and sometimes outright unfair. Elden Ring broke into the mainstream and was a massive success, yet it's easy to imagine an executive looking at those numbers and seeing nothing but missed opportunities. What if the studio's games were more user-friendly? What if FromSoftware found more ways to monetize their games?

RPG Maker users could lose years of important history as official forums shut down

Elijah Gonzalez — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 18:40:49 GMT

For decades, RPG Maker has been essential software for many game developers, leading to the creation of fan-favorites like Omori, Lisa, Yume Nikki, Fear and Hunger, Corpse Party, and many more. Unfortunately, it looks like one of the platform's largest repositories of information is being deleted — by its own studio no less.

You need to hear this Valve vet's rant on why TF2 could never be made by AI

Patricia Hernandez — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 16:17:58 GMT

It's not a revelation to hear that a system built to regurgitate what already exists may, in fact, have trouble coming up with something truly original. When a legendary game developer argues that a genre-defining game could never be made by artificial intelligence, it's still worth pulling up a chair.

Crimson Desert's new patch lets you recruit even more pet companions

Elijah Gonzalez — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 16:08:58 GMT

Crimson Desert has a lot going on, including the ability to recruit animal buddies. The game’s latest update, patch 1.11, has doubled down on being a pet sim: After completing certain challenges, players will now be able to register up to 100 pets, with up to 50 allowed in camp at a time. That’s a lot of little guys. The update also gives baby wyverns a dedicated map icon.

Stuntman: Hollywood is a brilliant idea, with an uneven execution

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 15:00:20 GMT

The execution, based on playing Stuntman: Hollywood at Summer Game Fest this past week, is a little less exciting. But there's a strong idea at the heart of Saber's new Stuntman, and I hope they pull this trick off.

Erosion preview: the best thing to happen to roguelikes since Hades

Tomas Franzese — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 15:00:20 GMT

Nearly six years after its 1.0 release, Supergiant Games’ Hades still stands as one of the most innovative narrative-driven roguelikes ever released. While the genre had historically minimized bespoke narratives, leaving storytelling to emergent moments, Hades proved you could piece together a compelling story across repeated runs to create an unforgettable narrative.

How to play the Modern Warfare 4 campaign one week early

Ford James — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 13:53:47 GMT

The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 campaign ventures to a region never seen in the franchise before: South Korea. You play as Private Park, a "young South Korean soldier facing live combat for the first time alongside his squad," as per the official Call of Duty blog post.

Zelda's Great Deku Tree Lego set is retiring and nearly sold out

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 20:51:36 GMT

Lego's 2024 2,500-piece set based on The Legend of Zelda's Deku Tree is about to retire. So if you've been sitting on the fence about dropping $300 on the brick-based recreation of Nintendo's famous talking tree, here's some extra motivation: the Great Deku Tree 2-in-1 set is largely sold out, and finding one is about to become much, much harder, especially as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time fever intensifies.

Expedition 33 Fangamer merch understands the game on a molecular level

Patricia Hernandez — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 18:45:13 GMT

We're probably years away from playing Sandfall Interactive's follow-up to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Until then, we've got to settle for merchandise. Luckily, the new Expedition 33 collection understands the game on a molecular level.