007, the mission is simple: boot up Steam, select program file "007 First Light," and select Play. But please note that you will need 32 GB of RAM to meet the recommended specs for this operation. After delaying 007 First Light from its original March release date to May 27 last month, developer IO Interactive has revealed the PC specs and system requirements needed to run the game. Hopefully, you have the RAM to run it. 

Unfortunately, the specs revealed today are only for 1080p/30 FPS (minimum hardware requirements) and 1080p/60 FPS (recommended hardware requirements), so there's no word on what kind of PC you'll need to play the game at, say, 1440p or 4K or even an FPS rate higher than 60. Nonetheless, you can find the requirements below: 

Click to enlarge

Minimum PC Hardware Requirements

• Performance Target: 1080p at 30 FPS
• Processor: Intel Core I5 9500K, AMD Ryzen 5 3500
• Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX 1660, AMD RX 5700, Intel Discrete GPU Equivalent
• RAM: 16 GB
• Video RAM: 8 GB
• Storage: 80 GB minimum
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10/11, 64-bit

Recommended PC Hardware Requirements

• Performance Target: 1080p at 60 FPS
• Processor: Intel Core I5 13500, AMD Ryzen 5 7600
• Graphics Card: Nvidia RTX 3060 TI, AMD RX 6700 XT, Intel Discrete GPU Equivalent
• RAM: 32 GB
• Video RAM: 12 GB
• Storage: 80 GB minimum
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10/11, 64-bit

007 First Light launches on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC on May 27. 

In the meantime, check out this trailer spotlighting Lenny Kravitz's villainous Bawma, and then check out the Bond car 007 will be driving in the game. After that, read this preview to learn why watching a behind-closed-doors demo of 007 First Light quelled my biggest worry about the game. 

Former Naughty Dog president Evan Wells has been selected as the latest inductee into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) Hall of Fame. His induction will take place during the 29th annual D.I.C.E. Awards on February 12.

A 30+ year veteran of the video game industry, Wells began his career as a designer on ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron. He later moved to Crystal Dynamics to work as a programmer on Gex and then as lead designer on Gex: Enter the Gecko.

Wells joined Naughty Dog in 1998 and worked as a lead designer and director on titles such as Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Crash Team Racing, and the Jak and Daxter trilogy. Wells would ascend to becoming co-president of Naughty Dog in 2004, helping guide the studio as it developed its critically acclaimed Uncharted and The Last of Us franchises.  Wells became the studio's sole president in 2017. Additionally, Wells served as an executive producer for both franchises' on-screen adaptations: the 2022 film Uncharted and HBO's The Last of Us TV series. 

In 2020, The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann was promoted to co-president of Naughty Dog to run the studio alongside Wells. This dual leadership lasted until Wells retired from Naughty Dog in 2023. 

“Naughty Dog was able to create some truly incredible games and leave a lasting mark on the industry because of Evan’s unwavering leadership and the trust he placed in all of us,” said Neil Druckmann, Naughty Dog studio head & head of creative, in a press release. “I know I speak for many across the industry when I congratulate Evan on this well-deserved recognition. It’s a profound honor to present him with this Hall of Fame induction.”

Previous inductees into the AIAS Hall of Fame include Ted Price (2025), Koji Kondo (2024), Tim Schafer (2022), Ed Boon (2021), Connie Booth (2020), Bonnie Ross (2019), Todd Howard (2017), Hideo Kojima (2016), Leslie Benzies (2014), Dan and Sam Houser (2014), and Tim Sweeney (2012). The D.I.C.E. Awards will be held at the Aria Resort in Las Vegas. 

We spoke to Evan Wells and Neil Druckmann in 2021 about Naughty Dog's history, which you can read here.  

Today marks 2026's first new batch of Game Pass games, and while there have certainly been more exciting lineups, there's still a few games here worth looking forward to. Today, you can play the enhanced edition of Little Nightmares, which gives a graphical boost to the 2017 puzzle platformer as well as Brews & Bastards, a twin-stick dungeon crawler starring a cast of drunken heroes.

Tomorrow, Game Pass Premium subscribers will also gain access to a handful of titles that were previously locked to the Ultimate tier, including Atomfall, Lost in Random, Rematch, and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine - Master Crafted Edition. The following week introduces some more heavy hitters: Star Wars Outlaws makes its debut exclusively for Ultimate subscribers, while Resident Evil Village becomes available to Premium members a few weeks before its sequel drops. You can see the full list, as well as a lineup of the games leaving this month, below.

What’s Coming to Xbox Game Pass

Brews & Bastards (Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Cloud) – Today
Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass

Little Nightmares Enhanced Edition (Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Cloud) – Today
Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass

Atomfall (Console, PC, and Cloud) – January 7 | Our Review
Game Pass Premium

Lost in Random: The Eternal Die (Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Cloud) – January 7 
Game Pass Premium

Rematch (Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Cloud) – January 7
Game Pass Premium

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition (Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Cloud) – January 7
Game Pass Premium

Final Fantasy – (Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Cloud) – January 8
Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass

Star Wars Outlaws (Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Cloud) – January 13 | Our Review
Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass

My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery (Console, PC, and Cloud) – January 15
Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass

Resident Evil Village (Console, PC, and Cloud) – January 20 | Our Review
Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass

MIO: Memories in Orbit (Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Cloud) – January 20
Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass

What’s Leaving Xbox Game Pass on April 15

• Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn
• Neon White
• Road 96
• The Ascent
• The Grinch Christmas Adventures

Square Enix has released the opening cinematic for Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, the remake of the 2000 RPG set to launch next month. If that doesn’t whet your appetite, a demo for the game is also launching on Wednesday, January 7.

This free demo will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Switch, and Steam. Progress from the demo can be transferred to the full game when it arrives on February 5, and that data will also unlock an exclusive outfit for Maribel called the “Day Off Dress."

The game’s opening cinematic shows off the beautiful visuals and soundtrack. You’ll even spot a familiar scene that served as the cover image for our Dragon Quest VII Reimagined magazine issue. In fact, with the game so close to launch, you can catch up on all of our deep-dive features for the game, such as this video breaking down the game’s doll aesthetic. You can also read our interview with producer Takeshi Ichikawa and director Masato Yagi about how they approached creating the remake.

Subscribers (sign up here to become one!) can read our full Dragon Quest VII Reimagined cover story and our complete retrospective on the entire Dragon Quest series, featuring creator Yuji Horii. 

Reviewed on: PC
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC
Publisher: 11 Bit Studios
Developer: The Outer Zone
Release: December 9, 2025 (PC), February 19, 2026 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch)
Rating: Teen

Death Howl is a turn-based, grid-based Soulslike deckbuilder, but despite this dizzyingly long chain of subgenres, the game comes together well, with a tight, satisfying gameplay loop. Its themes of grief are well-handled, its sidequests are unique and challenging, and it continued to introduce fun new mechanics even dozens of hours into my 45-hour playthrough.

Ro, Death Howl’s protagonist, journeys into the spirit world after a tragic accident separates her from her son. In her quest to get him back, she seeks help from the land’s four great spirits to reach the summit of the howling mountain. Along the way, she encounters a variety of quirky, surreal spirits, most of which she has to defeat in combat. The story of journeying into the land of the dead has been told many times throughout human history, and while Death Howl’s structure isn’t particularly novel, its execution is. Its muted color palette; dark, brooding soundtrack; and distinct monster designs establish a singular aesthetic identity I couldn’t get enough of.

The vast majority of Death Howl is its brutal combat. While invoking From Software’s Dark Souls as an inspiration has been commonplace for nearly a decade, Death Howl more than earns the comparison. Defeating enemies earns titular death howls, which are used to unlock new cards or abilities. Every combat encounter has the potential to be deadly, and with limited checkpoints, it takes skill to conserve your health across several battles. Equally challenging are the massive, grotesque bosses, each with irregular body shapes and environments that make each face-off memorable.

Across four realms, you’ll assemble an arsenal of cards that do damage, inflict status conditions, or even summon allies. Perhaps Death Howl’s cleverest trick is nerfing cards by increasing their costs outside their home realms, making your favorite deck in one area completely unviable in the next. Each realm is built around a different mechanic, like discarding or taking damage, with isolated skill trees as well. There’s also the overwhelm feature, which differs by realm and can provide vital boosts by repeating a realm’s favored action over time. A realm built around movement, for instance, rewards you for playing as many cards as possible by giving Ro the ability to charge up a massive blast of damage. I like that the realm system encourages the player to experiment, while also keeping their relative power low enough that the world always feels dangerous.

Death Howl’s sidequests are also stellar. Each occurs when Ro encounters a spirit in need of something, and the quest begins when she’s granted a specific quest card. These disable fast travel and can’t be removed from your deck unless you want to abandon the quest. Each has a quest-specific mechanic that can either help or hinder you; my favorite quest granted me a card that heals me – something you can usually only do situationally – and had me clear out a whole area without resting to heal at a checkpoint. I loved tackling these bespoke situations, and the rewards are always worth it.

In the opening hours, I didn’t love Death Howl. I found combat frustrating until I took a step back and focused on grinding death howls on the skill tree, which gives the player a substantial power boost and helps to focus their decisions during battle. Not only did my experience vastly improve, but I was amazed to find that I fell in love with the gameplay again and again with each realm’s new mechanics. Even the final area is uniquely rewarding, not only because it brings the story to a satisfying conclusion, but because it allows me to feel that sense of discovery one last time.

Death Howl is cohesive and well-crafted. The game’s dour tone complements its surreal art style and soundtrack. Its myriad genres coalesce into consistently engaging combat and tactics. But most of all, across story and gameplay, Ro’s journey taught me to embrace obstacles to overcome them. Having reached its end, it’s a journey I’m glad to have taken.

Score: 8.75

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