Copilot, Microsoft’s AI-powered assistant, has been a controversial feature for some, but it looks like it won’t be introduced to Xbox consoles anymore. Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma confirmed this pivot on X today, citing a need to “move faster, deepen our connection with the community, and address friction for both players and developers.”

In her post, Sharma states Copilot is also being dropped from mobile while announcing a leadership shake-up. "We promoted leaders who helped build Xbox, while also bringing in new voices to help push us forward. This balance is important as we get the business back on track," writes Sharma. "As part of this shift, you’ll see us begin to retire features that don’t align with where we’re headed. We will begin winding down Copilot on mobile and will stop development of Copilot on console.”

Xbox needs to move faster, deepen our connection with the community, and address friction for both players and developers.
Today, we promoted leaders who helped build Xbox, while also bringing in new voices to help push us forward. This balance is important as we get the business…

— Asha (@asha_shar) May 5, 2026

The response to this announcement has been positive, especially since some players worried that Sharma, who previously served as the president of Microsoft’s CoreAI product, would push for more AI integration in Xbox products. This move at least aligns with her previous statement addressing concerns about AI on Xbox, where she promised that “Games are and always will be art, crafted by humans, and created with the most innovative technology provided by us.”

Sharma took over as Xbox CEO following the departures of former Xbox heads Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond in February, and has pledged a commitment to “the return of Xbox” and to understanding the Xbox ecosystem and audience despite having no prior experience working in video games. In March, she revealed more details about codename Project Helix, the next Xbox console currently in development, stating it “will lead in performance and play your Xbox and PC games.”

Some game shows, like Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune, feel like they were born to be played at home, with consistent structures and easy-to-grasp rules; Game Changer, a show where not even the contestants know the rules before the game starts, is not one of them. Still, host Sam Reich wanted to transform his hit Dropout show into a board game for some time now, and with the launch of the Game Changer: Home Edition Kickstarter, it seems he and his team think they have finally cracked the case.

"We thought there might be an opportunity here," Reich tells me over a Zoom interview. "For like over a year, we were taking pitches from game designers. I had half a vision for what I wanted this to be, which was [...] this idea of like, a modular game with episodes inspired by the show. A game designer named Joshua Balvin came to me, shared that vision with me, went away, worked on some game design, [and] came back to us. We played them in the room with my writers and my producers. We were like, 'Oh my god, this really works.'"

Game Changer: Home Edition, if fully funded on Kickstarter (UPDATE, 12:41 PM ET: the campaign has already decimated its goal), will launch with three games inspired by episodes of the show: Name A Number, Bingo, and Sam Says. Reich describes it as "the only game where the game changes every round," where players can swap the order of the games each time they play. This maintains the show's varied nature, though the difference here is that everyone is on the same page. The surprise doesn't come from the rules themselves, but the subversive nature of the game's prompts.

On Game Changer, Reich acts as the host but also a game master of sorts, adjudicating the rules, assigning points, and guiding players through each round. I asked Reich if the team considered making a hosted version of the game, and he said no, though in a comedically self-deprecating way.

"As we were trying to dream up what Game Changer would be in home game form, my feeling was like, if we couldn't figure out the version of it that didn't have that person who was left out, I would feel sad for that person," he says. "Like, I am very content to be that person in the world of Dropout slash Game Changer, because I always feel like the least funny person on stage who should show their worth in that way. It's like, how I show my value. But, you know, depending on how you structure it: not necessarily a very fun or creative role. Like, at least in Dungeons and Dragons, the DM is the storyteller, right? But here, if you're not careful, that role becomes merely mechanical."

 

To Sam's point, his role as host means wearing different hats depending on the episode, and it's not necessarily a clean conversion to a board game. Some episodes of the show have simple rules, while others require more subterfuge, like those when the rules of a game are very slowly revealed. They're fun to watch, but harder to play, and therefore harder to host. It's important, then, for the games in Game Changer: Home Edition to be based on the episodes with cleaner premises.

"There are times, even in the most recent season, where Game Changer becomes a little bit more like performance art than true game," Reich says. "I actually think in the next season of the show, the one that's to air, we drive way back in the other direction, where it's like a very gamey game, game game. And you know, the show is based on novelty and variety, so we'll always, like, steer around a little bit and end up with some episodes that color outside the lines a little bit in any direction. But, like, [the games in Home Edition] are incredibly playable. There will not be ambiguity about winners and losers in Home Edition."

Despite the lack of ambiguity around winners, scoring in Game Changer: Home Edition isn't always cut and dry. For instance, Sam Says, a more complicated version of Simon Says, might lead to arguments over whether or not a player correctly followed (or ignored) an instruction. With that in mind, the board game comes with rules for these scenarios, allowing players to call each other out for "overly creative thinking," as Reich puts it.

He mentions that when he and some Dropout cast members played the game on an upcoming episode of Dropout's board game show Parlor Room, this ruling method came into play. "There is one moment [when we played] Name A Number where Brennan and Demi come up with a particularly creative answer to a prompt, and it ends with me chasing Demi out of the room and tackling him. Trying to tackle him. Trying unsuccessfully to tackle him."

Brennan Lee Mulligan yells, "I don't think I'm f---ing crazy" in a clip from the trailer for the upcoming season of Game Changer.

Reich also mentions that Smosh (a popular family of YouTube channels) also filmed some videos playing Game Changer: Home Edition, and it sounds like both videos will launch during this Kickstarter campaign.

The game is currently "80 percent" done, according to Reich, and the Kickstarter should take them across the finish line. While it's unsurprising to see him as the public face in this press circuit promoting the crowdfunding campaign, I asked him to clarify how much involvement he had in the board game's actual design. As Dropout's CEO, the host of two of its shows, and the producer of basically every other one, he's publicly very busy, but it sounds like he couldn't help but add another project to his plate.

"I am too in the weeds on absolutely everything," he says, joking but also not joking. "Help me. Please, for the love of God, help me."

Despite his joke about being overwhelmed, he goes on to explain just how Dropout plans to make this Kickstarter special. "As you could imagine, we can't run a Kickstarter campaign without that Kickstarter campaign being a game in and of itself," he says. To be honest, reader, I hadn't considered that at all. Reich continues, saying, "So now we're designing those games, and I'm also too involved in that process."

Sam Reich schemes in the dark in the trailer for season 8 of Game Changer.

I'll cut to the chase: the Game Changer: Home Edition Kickstarter won't have monetary stretch goals. "What if there were other things that people had to do in order to achieve those stretch goals?" Reich posits. "Like, some of them could some of them could be tangentially monetary or like, have to do with the extent to which the campaign is shared. But what if they were silly, and what if there were a lot of them?"

Day one will begin with "easy" things the community can do, but further goals will increase in complexity. Reich also insists that his team will stand by the specific requirements of each goal. " So like, if we don't get one donation from Antarctica," he says, trailing off and giving me a serious look. I ask if Antarctica is the peak of the stretch goals' difficulty. He replies with a low-pitched, drawn-out, "No."

At the time of writing, the game's Kickstarter has yet to launch, and I am endlessly curious to see what sorts of goals Reich and the team at Dropout come up with. I appreciate the crew's insistence on creativity, especially since it's so core to Game Changer's identity. According to Reich, the show's specific goals are "kind of a moving target," based on the season and the game is similar, but their broader priorities – humor and surprise – are shared. "The hope is really that this game can continue to feel like a spiritual extension of the show," he says, "And so it'll be fun to continue to answer that question."

EA Sports has fully lifted the curtain on its sixth entry in its long-running UFC franchise, UFC 6. Arriving on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S this June, UFC 6 advertises an increased emphasis on fighters' movement and striking authenticity. In addition we also learned that the standard edition will feature former middleweight and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira on the cover, while the Ultimate Edition features former featherweight and BMF champion Max Holloway.

Holloway, who is a huge gamer himself, views appearing on the cover as a huge honor. "It's huge, man, it's huge," Holloway tells Game Informer. "I've been played video games forever. I was a big Madden player, even though I like playing first-person shooters, but the Madden cover having all these athletes, as a kid, you'd be like, 'I wanna be on that video game!' And that time is here now, and it's just a blessing. It's unreal. It's unreal. What can you really say about it? I'm going to be on the [cover] of a video game, and a huge video game that does numbers, so I'm stoked, man. If you told 12-year-old me that he was gonna be on the cover of a video game, he probably would have given you a little attitude and said, "Yeah, I know!" [laughs] But to actually be here, it's just amazing."

Holloway's cover art captures one of the most iconic moments in a career full of iconic moments: the immediate aftermath of his horn-beating knockout of Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 in 2024. Moments like that – the iconic moves – are an emphasis of UFC 6, as fighters are differentiated from one another through their individual movement and Signature Strikes. This is accomplished through markerless motion capture, which allows for mo-cap without mo-cap suits, and the next generation of Sapien Technology. A new Real-Time Contact system featuring new rag-doll physics helps further the level of realism in the Octagon.

As for new modes, players can step into the shoes of legendary UFC fighters in Hall of Legends, or tell their own story with The Legacy. EA Sports touts immersive storytelling that makes fights feel personal. "EA Sports UFC 6 delivers a deeper, more dynamic fight experience," lead producer Nate McDonald said in a press release. "Ever element is designed to reflect the individuality of real fighters. Our goal is to capture the sport as faithfully as possible and bring players closer to the Octagon than ever before."

UFC 6 arrives on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on June 19. For our thoughts on UFC 5, which came out in 2023, head here.

Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: Warner Bros. Games
Developer: TT Games
Release: May 22, 2026 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC), 2026 (Switch 2)
Rating: Everyone 10+

Two weeks ago, WB Games flew me out to LA to play two hours of Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight. As a long-time fan of the series (and a diehard Lego fan in general), I've been nothing short of ravenous to get my hands on it. Now that I have, I'm eagerly looking forward to the final release, especially since I gained a much clearer view of what this game actually is.

First, a disclaimer: I played Legacy of the Dark Knight in a beautifully designed event space decorated with actual props from Batman films, and WB Games paid for flights and lodging for the trip. Add in my childhood nostalgia, and there will certainly be some unconscious bias in this report; still, I'll aim to keep my impressions as objective as possible.

Batman and Robin pose on a rooftop in a shot reminiscent of the intro to Batman: The Animated Series.

My gameplay demo began in a relatively early level. The story, which follows Batman's journey from orphan to full-fledged leader of the Bat Family, combines notable sequences from across the character's storied history in film, TV, and games. We're shown a brief cinematic explaining that, prior to the gameplay we're about to experience, Batman trained with the League of Shadows, à la Batman Begins. Now that he's home in Gotham, he's hunting down Carmine Falcone, but since the notorious crime boss also appears in 2022's The Batman, the visuals have shifted, and we're entering a version of the Iceberg Lounge based on that movie. Oddly, The Penguin is notably absent from the club he's typically associated with. 

If this first slice of the game tells me anything, it's that, despite modern tweaks, Legacy of the Dark Knight is a Lego game through and through. Twin bouncers at the lounge's entrance insist that this is a fish market, slapping Wayne in the face with a flounder. Later on, Batman and Jim Gordon dive deeper into the club and find an elaborate ball pit/bouncy house area. And after stumbling onto a dance floor, Batman insists the duo has to "blend in," triggering a QTE dance sequence. Batman literally says, "This is how Batman begins… to dance!" It's absolutely ridiculous, and I absolutely love it.

Jim Gordon and Batman, who are about to bust a move.

At the same time, the gameplay is thankfully modernized. Taking cues from Arkham games, Batman can grapple up ledges, counter punches, and stealthily take down foes. Combat feels especially great, and while it's definitely a pared-down version of Rocksteady's formula, it's just complex enough to stay engaging. When I saw the option to press triangle to counter an attack, my muscle memory kicked in, and I felt right at home.

To reach Falcone, I solve simple puzzles, smash Lego objects to build new contraptions, and take out dozens of henchmen. At one point, I'm faced with tilting poles I need to stabilize to walk on, and while Batman has his trusty batarang, it can't stop the machine: I need Jim Gordon's help.

I was just as surprised as Batman to discover a ball pit in the Iceberg Lounge.

Curiously, the police officer wields a pink goo-shooting gun that can clog gears and leaky pipes, and it solves the problem here in no time, allowing me to progress deeper into the club. Each character in the game has their own gadgets, Gordon included, though the team clearly had to get the most creative with him. Still, he's fun to play as, and other than his gadgets, he can do the same things as Batman, including grappling to higher ground and performing stealth takedowns.

On that note, while I appreciate its inclusion, stealth was the weakest element in the parts I played of Legacy of the Dark Knight. There's no crouch button – characters merely hunch over when near unsuspecting enemies – and unless enemies were lined up and facing away from me (which did happen a few times), I was caught very quickly. Being seen and exiting stealth isn't much of a setback, so it's not that my experience was frustrating; I just wish the level was better crafted around the mechanic. I suspect it would work better in stages with more vertical designs, where Batman could drop in, knock a guy out, and retreat to the rafters, but I didn't get to experience any areas like that. 

Batman lurks on a tightrope in the Iceberg Lounge.

Eventually, I reach Falcone, interrupting a meeting he's having with the Red Hood. Unlike other scenes, this isn't in any of the live-action movies; it instead combines several of them. Selina Kyle brings Falcone drinks, like in The Batman, but the Red Hood is a version of Jack Napier, from Batman (1989), speaking to Falcone as if he's Napier's movie boss, Carl Grissom. As Red Hood leaves, he declares, "This town deserves a better class of criminal," which is a line from The Dark Knight. As relatively uneventful as the scene is, it's a great example of how Legacy of the Dark Knight emulsifies its influences together into a new yet recognizable take on Batman's lore.

Red Hood ultimately turns on Falcone, sending Red Hood-branded goons in to fight Falcone's men, leaving Batman and Gordon to chase Falcone as he flees the building. At this point, I bump the difficulty up to Dark Knight, the game's hardest mode, to see how tough it can get. It adds more enemies, increases the ratio of enemies armed with melee weapons and shields, and limits players to four hearts. I don't die, but I play a little carelessly and do come close. I suspect it will be the go-to difficulty for most adults who choose to play the game, as I intend to do the same.

Batman and Gordon catch Falcone, and I'm switched over to a new save file, slightly later in the game. As chapter three begins, a montage shows how Gotham is changing: Batman is getting stronger and more seasoned, knocking out minor enemies like Condiment King and Kite Man; Jim Gordon is promoted; Harvey Dent wakes up bandaged in a hospital; and Dick Grayson flips on stage at the circus with his parents. Batman, now wearing his suit from Batman & Robin, meets Catwoman on a rooftop – they seem to already know each other, and he invites her to go to the circus with him.

Batman and Catwoman, mid-heist.

Catwoman convinces Bruce to make a pitstop (it's a heist, which turns out to be a test from Sofia Falcone), and I get a minute to test her abilities. Catwoman's gadgets are especially fun. Her iconic whip spins enemies around and is generally more useful in combat, but the real star is her ability "Call Kitty." It summons a cat with a laser pointer, and the feline can crawl through small spaces, distract enemies, and even has a dedicated "meow" button. Adorable.

The duo makes their way to the circus to see the Flying Graysons, but bad news: Two-Face is there, and he's holding the crowd hostage with a massive bomb. This scene is a clear reference to Batman Forever, with Catwoman taking over the role of Nicole Kidman's Chase Meridian. She bows out just as the chaos starts, and Batman appears in the middle of the tent alongside a young Dick Grayson (who, spoiler alert, is about to become Robin). This level's confined nature makes it feel more like a traditional Lego game, pulling me between pretty straightforward combat and puzzle-platforming segments.

Batman and Dick Grayson, probably watching as Two-Face says something unhinged.

Robin, whom I'm getting to try out for the first time, wields dual batons and feels mechanically distinct from Batman. His birdarangs have roughly the same effect as batarangs in their current form, but each has a distinct upgrade tree. Robin can (eventually) swing his staff at returning birdarangs to bat them back at enemies, and a later upgrade makes foes face the opposite direction, which is especially good if they're armed.

Robin also has a cable launcher, which functions like a combination of Batman's line launcher and Robin's zip kick in the Arkham games. He can launch himself towards a foe, use it to create tightropes to solve puzzles, or tether enemies to nearby objects, the ground, or even other enemies to deal damage. The tightrope function comes in handy most often in this segment of gameplay, as Two-Face presents the soon-to-be dynamic duo with a series of platforming puzzles.

I defeat Two-Face, thanks to the help of Dick's parents, and it seems like all is well in the world. That is, until Dick starts playing with a batarang – he tells Batman to reach out in case he ever needs a sidekick, but then Dick accidentally throws the batarang right at the cables holding his parents aloft. They plummet to the ground… but land on a hot dog cart, unscathed. In an odd moment, Dick says, "I think I'm probably fired," and Batman agrees, deciding to take Dick under his wing. Dick then moves into Wayne Manor, leaving his parents behind. I'd be lying if I said I had any strong feelings over this change – in the context of a lighthearted game like this, it doesn't really matter whether Dick's parents are around – but it certainly stands out as the strangest alteration Legacy of the Dark Knight makes to Batman lore.

Dr. Pamela Isley, AKA Poison Ivy, is definitely about to beat Batman and Robin in the upcoming fight.

The final level I play is a battle against Poison Ivy, which takes place not long after the Two-Face encounter. The intro cutscene is inspired by Batman & Robin, but this Robin is seemingly younger than Chris O'Donnell's live-action portrayal, so when Ivy puckers at the camera and mentions her lips are full of venom, Batman just says, "That's really inappropriate, Dr. Isley."

The following boss battle is the least interesting content of my playtime, but I do appreciate the efforts to keep the fight varied. There are two phases, a wide variety of attacks to dodge, and quick puzzles that call players to use one of Batman's or Robin's gadgets. The mission marks the conclusion of the game's third chapter, and ends with a tease that The Dark Knight Rises-era Bane and Mr. Freeze are about to begin "Operation Deep Freeze." Based on the context, I expect the story to combine elements from The Dark Knight Rises and Batman & Robin, and I am incredibly curious to see how they approach that crossover.

My last half hour with the game is spent exploring the Batcave and open-world Gotham, and both are highlights. The Batcave is huge and customizable. There are collectibles hidden throughout its several massive rooms. In addition to the option to alter the Bat symbol that hangs over the main area (I could alter the colors and pick one of five bat designs), you can swap out the furniture at a number of designated areas. Decorations range from simple options, like gadget displays and a bench press, to more extreme options like a hologram ring or a rock-climbing wall. It's rare, even in movies and TV, for Batman to actually spend more than a minute or two in his iconic hideout, so I'm looking forward to familiarizing myself with every nook and cranny with this Lego version.

Finally, there's Gotham City, where comparisons to the Batman: Arkham series have the most merit. Just the act of gliding through the city, hearing a nearby crime, and beating up some Two-Face goons made me nostalgic for my time in Rocksteady's games. Even then, this version of Gotham feels more alive than most other video game depictions. The streets are full of pedestrians and civilians driving cars, buildings are plastered with references and humorous billboards, and the whole map is varied and interesting, with lots of distinct architecture and verticality.

With four islands to explore and a map chock-full of side content and collectibles (yes, that includes Riddler challenges), there's no shortage of things to do. You can also summon a suite of vehicles at the touch of a button, and while they're not quite as varied as the game's 100 suits, there are cars, bikes, and Batmobiles from every era of the series' history. I didn't spend nearly as much time in Gotham as I wanted to, and when Legacy of the Dark Knight drops later this month, I see myself spending quite a long time prowling its rooftops and alleyways.

I've thought about playing Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight literally every day since coming home from my preview event. I'm excited to explore the world and chip away at the skill tree, but I'm mainly curious to see how they tie all the Batman stories together. Lego games work for me because they're designed by genuine fans of the stories they adapt, and this is, so far, one of the best examples yet. As a fan myself, it's nice to not only see one of my favorite characters lovingly adapted but to feel seen in the way the developers choose to depict him. When Legacy of the Dark Knight drops later this month, I plan to be first in line.

The Season 3 DLC character roster for Tekken 8 was first revealed in February, and we learned that Kunimitsu, Bob, and Roger Jr. are joining the roster this year. The first gameplay showcase for Kunimitsu premiered today, showing off the ninja in action while announcing an early June release date.

Kunimitsu is a Tekken OG, debuting in the original game and appearing in Tekken 2 before disappearing from mainline entries, and was instead relegated to the non-canon Tekken Tag Tournament series. However, her daughter took the mantle starting with Tekken 7 (unofficially referred to as Kunimitsu II) and she will return in Tekken 8. A gameplay trailer shows the fox-masked kunoichi in action, and if you enjoy ninjutsu-based combat, Kunimitsu is right up your alley. 

Players can purchase Kunimitsu starting on June 1, likely for $7.99 as with every DLC fighter, though she’ll be playable in early access on May 27. Owners of the Season 3 Pass will have immediate access to Kunimitsu.

For more on Tekken 8, check out our review.