Will Starfield 2.0 finally fix the game’s tedious and unintuitive fast-travel space exploration? How much of a bloodbath is it going to be at Warner Bros. Games once the Paramount deal closes? And how much longer is Atlus going to make fans wait before announcing Persona 6? It’s the latest edition of Morning Checkpoint, Kotaku‘s daily roundup of gaming news, rumors, and culture.
I’m back from a long and enlightening week at the 2026 GDC “Festival of Gaming.” It’s a weird time for the industry. Attendance was down a whopping 30 percent. No one knows what the future holds but interesting creators are still making fascinating games. I got to play a bunch of them and we’ll be sharing some thoughts and interviews throughout the week. In the mean time, I got a glimpse of what Gaming Copilot will be like on Xbox Series X/S.
Bethesda teases a full reveal of what’s next for Starfield
A PS5 port is reportedly coming in April, but media and influencers who aren’t still blacklisted by Bethesda for an article that came out over a decade ago recently visited the studio’s Maryland office for a sneak peek of the sci-fi RPG’s next update. Director Todd Howard has tried to manage expectations, saying it’s not a 2.0 reboot or anything, but I bet there’s still plenty of cool tweaks and hopefully some new story DLC coming to the 2023 blockbuster.
Composer Inon Zur recently told RPG Site that Howard is a visionary who “sees things that people will start to find out years later.” Bethesda once again dampened hype. “We ran this by Todd and he said his only visionary power is seeing running lanes in EA College Football 26,” the studio responded. “He appreciates all the passionate feedback on Starfield and we’ll have more to share next week.”
Fresh cuts are already underway at Warner Bros. Games
Developers across multiple disciplines announced they had been laid off from Gotham Knights studio Warner Bros. Montreal last week, Eurogamer reports. While these layoffs were likely planned prior to Paramount’s recent winning acquisition bid for Warner Bros., the company’s entire gaming division is likely to face some brutal budget math over the next year.
“We were in the books of Warner Bros., and the biggest cost centers are people in productions,” Ted Sarandon told Bloomberg earlier this month. “There’ll be cuts in excess of $16 billion. They are telling people who lend them the money that’s going to happen in 18 months or so.”
JRPG powerhouse Atlus is giving devs a 15-percent raise
Overtime hours are also being fixed at a max of 20 per week, down from 30. “We believe that in order to deliver inspiring experiences to our users, it is essential to foster the creativity and improve the productivity of each and every employee, and therefore, we consider investment in human resources to be indispensable,” the Persona studio wrote in a press release.
It continued, “Even amidst fluctuations in external factors such as rising prices, we will continue to support our employees in maintaining stable lives and create an environment where they can work with greater peace of mind. As one of these measures, we will revise our compensation system starting in April 2026.”
PS Pro is about to run a bunch of games much better
The new and improved version of PSSR is rolling out for some of the biggest PS5 games. Notable games supporting the updated feature, which aims to provide better upscaling resolution, are Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Alan Wake 2, the Silent Hill 2 remake, Monster Hunter Wilds, Nioh 3, and Crimson Desert. Probably still not worth buying a PS5 Pro yet, but a neat treat for those who already picked one up.
Assassin’s Creed Netflix show picks up Mission: Impossible actor
The production has revealed the following actors have joined: Noomi Rapace (Prometheus), Ramzy Bedia (Haunted Minds), Sean Harris (Mission: Impossible), and Corrado Invernizzi (Ford v. Ferrari). The only person I recognize is Harris, who played Solomon Lane opposite Tom Cruise across multiple MI entries. The show is pitched as a historical drama, but there’s no release date yet.
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