GTA 6, layoffs, and a Kingdom Hearts verdict headline a busy day

Rockstar's story lead has addressed why Jason's ex-military background in GTA 6 wasn't intended as a political statement, while a separate piece argues the game could meaningfully tackle how drugs are handled in open-world design — keeping the long-awaited title squarely in the conversation. Separately, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi says dropping PS5 exclusivity was 'inevitable', a candid acknowledgment of where platform deals in the industry are heading.

The layoff picture darkened again, with Supermassive, Ninja Theory, and The Coalition all named in an industry layoff watch, accompanied by a warning from Warhorse. On a related note, Ubisoft's boss described Watch Dogs as important to the company's future while making clear no new entries are coming anytime soon — a holding pattern that says plenty about the publisher's current footing. RuneScape developer Jagex pulled a trailer after a six-fingered knight sparked generative AI allegations, the kind of scrutiny studios are increasingly facing.

Nintendo announced another Switch 2 hardware bundle and released the Hello, Peach! and Hello, Luigi! apps for Switch and mobile. Reviews for the Kingdom Hearts collection on Switch 2 are now in. Monster Hunter Rise crossed 20 million global sales, a milestone for Capcom's entry-point title in the series, and Frostpunk is finally making its way to the platform as well.