One of the biggest eyebrow raisers for the upcoming Resident Evil Requiem was the surname of its protagonist, Grace Ashcroft. That's because she's the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft, an investigative reporter and oft-forgotten character who last appeared in the equally overlooked Resident Evil Outbreak. For the many unfamiliar RE fans, this begs the question: Who the heck is Alyssa Ashcroft, and why has she suddenly become a big deal? To prepare for the next mainline Resident Evil game, we're going to answer this tantalizing question. 

Resident Evil Outbreak launched for the PlayStation 2 in North America on March 30, 2004. Set only a couple of days after the initial T-virus outbreak in Raccoon City, the game unfolds across five scenarios across different areas of the doomed city.  Outbreak features eight playable characters, including Alyssa Ascroft, along with an RCPD officer, a Vietnam War veteran, a bar waitress, and a surgeon, among others, fighting for survival against the infected. 

Join Marcus Stewart and Charles Harte for two hours today on Twitch and YouTube, starting at 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET as they journey through Outbreak for the first time. If you can't catch the broadcasts live, they'll be uploaded to the official Game Informer YouTube channel. 

Catch up on previous episodes below:

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8
Episode 9
Episode 10
Episode 11
Episode 12

We first learned about 2XKO as Project L back in 2019. The title was borne out of Riot Games' acquisition of Radiant Entertainment, which was in the process of developing Rising Thunder, a technically proficient yet approachable fighting game, back in 2016. We've known about 2XKO for years now, and the game has been playable as an early access release on PC since October, but we now have an idea of when we'll play it on consoles.

Riot Games has announced that 2XKO is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in January 2026. Season 1, which introduces a new champion and extended progression, will coincide with that launch across all platforms. During this time, players will gain access to unlocked content, including champions, skins, mastery rewards, and more, regardless of which platform you play on, with a catch-up mechanic to help console players earn content from the PC early access period. 

Season 1 brings with it Frame Perfect, a new competitive-themed skin that will see Riot donating a portion of the proceeds to directly support tournament organizers and help fund prize pools and production costs. Additionally, Riot unveiled the 2026 Competitive Series, which is a program built in direct partnership with tournament organizers across the globe. The 2026 Competitive Series will include 20 official Riot events, including 5 Majors. The first event kicks off on January 29.

It all begins when 2XKO arrives on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in January alongside the start of Season 1 across all platforms.

Nintendo’s latest console has only been in our hands for about six months, but it has been hugely successful. But more important than how it is selling is how many good games it already has. Along with the full Switch 1 library playable on the system, there are plenty of great native Switch 2 games, and more slated for the rest of the year. Below you will find a top 10 of our favorite Switch 2 games.

Please note that while the list below contains 10 entries, we aren’t ranking them. If a game has made it this far (and managed to stay here), it’s a must-play, period. As such, we’ll be listing entries in chronological release order. Also, with future updates, you’ll find a rundown of previous entries at the bottom of the list. While those titles have gotten bumped over time, they are still all great games in their own right and worth exploring if you’re already caught up on the latest hits.

Here are Game Informer’s picks for the top 10 games on Switch 2:

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

Release: June 5, 2025

Tears of the Kingdom is a masterpiece, as is the game that came before it, Breath of the Wild. Its open world is vast and interesting, making it embarrassingly easy to get lost in its adventure. If you happened to skip the previous Nintendo generation and want to play the best Nintendo has to offer, you can’t go wrong with either the Switch 2 upgraded versions of Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, but we’re giving the most recent of the two the edge thanks to the creativity afforded by Ultrahand. | Our Review

Mario Kart World

Release: June 5, 2025

It may be illegal to own a Nintendo console without a copy of its accompanying Mario Kart. Thankfully, the latest entry, which was available day one for the Switch 2, is a worthy entry into Mario’s racing canon. New abilities make it a blast to play alone or with others, and the open world offers fun distractions when you’d rather drive around alone. Throw in arguably the best Rainbow Road in the series, and you have a game that will undoubtedly endure for years to come. | Our Review

Donkey Kong Bananza

Release: July 17, 2025

Donkey Kong is no stranger to starring in his own games, but Bananza is the biggest and most bombastic adventure the ape has ever experienced. Diving deeper and deeper into the world is rewarding, and the ability to destroy just about everything never gets old. Bananza simply has that secret, undefinable sauce that Nintendo is so good at creating, where playing the game is just a joyful experience. We highly encourage players to see the game to the end, as the conclusion is the ecstatic highlight of the whole experience. | Our Review

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Release: September 4, 2025

The wait for Hollow Knight’s sequel was long, but worthwhile. Silksong is the result of a talented developer deciding that its planned DLC is worthy of being a much larger, full game, and it took the time to bring it to fruition. When we finally got the game in September, we found an incredibly challenging but undeniably rewarding adventure brimming with secrets. The Switch 2 version is particularly nice with high frame rates and, of course, the Switch 2’s portability. | Our Review

Hades II

Release: September 25, 2025

We awarded Hades II the rare 10/10 Game Informer review score, a distinction we don’t take lightly, for good reason. The Hades follow-up from developer Supergiant takes what was so successful about the original game, and iterates on all of its elements for a new adventure with a new protagonist who has all-new abilities and motivations. Playing as Melinoë is a blast, the game looks beautiful, and it sounds even better. | Our Review

Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles

Release: September 30, 2025

Final Fantasy Tactics has always been a fantastic game and is often cited as the best spin-off of the franchise. The remake (or maybe it’s a remaster – the definition is muddy) proves that the original’s ingenious design holds up after all these years, and the new additions, though sparingly included, are worthwhile. It may not be the first time Final Fantasy Tactics has been portable (its PSP port and the Game Boy Advance follow-ups are also very good), but we’re grateful to have an updated version of this classic on Nintendo’s platform. | Our Review

Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Release: October 16, 2025

There is a reason Pokémon is literally the most successful intellectual property of all time. While Scarlet & Violet offer something closer to a traditional Pokémon experience and runs great on Switch 2, Legends: Z-A successfully infuses more action and freedom into the historically turn-based series. | Our Review

Ball x Pit

Release: October 28, 2025

A common refrain among Ball x Pit players is frustration. The game isn’t annoying or unfair – it’s just very difficult to stop playing. It is a member of the burgeoning genre of games taking clear inspiration from Vampire Survivors. In it, you play a modern take on the classic arcade game, Breakout, where bouncing balls eliminate enemies as you progress upward. It’s an incredibly replayable and engaging system that is buoyed further by the loop of building out a town between runs. | Our Review

Kirby Air Riders

Release: November 20, 2025

In 2003, Super Smash Bros. and Kirby creator Masahiro Sakurai released a racing game for GameCube that became a bit of a cult classic. Its one-button racing mechanics were odd, but compelling, but we never imagined it would receive a sequel. Now, in 2025, on Nintendo’s latest console, Kirby Air Riders is here, and it is full of the Sakurai action, chaos, and charm that have come to define his engaging style. We may not have a native Switch 2 Smash Bros. yet, but Kirby Air Riders has the style and tone of the fighting game, but in a different genre. | Our Review

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

Release: December 4, 2025

The wait for Metroid Prime 4 was long, but the resulting experience is more than worthwhile. It does not radically reimagine what has worked about series since the original Metroid Prime, but it delivers what we wanted from a Metroid Prime experience. Whether you're a longtime fan or starting here, you are in for a classic search-action experience absolutely dripping with alien atmosphere. | Our Review

For more lists about the best games on other platforms, check out our lists of the top 10 games on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch.

Other games up for consideration:

• Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster
• Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
• Pokémon Scarlet & Violet*
• Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds

*This is a Switch 1 game, but the improvements from playing it on Switch 2 are so radical, that is worth a recommendation.

Warner Bros. Discovery has been shopping around for a new owner the past few months, and this morning, they entered negotiations with a new winner; Netflix won over Paramount and Comcast. The deal, which combines cash and stock, will see the Stranger Things streaming service acquire Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion, while Discovery Global will spin off into a separate, independent company before the acquisition. Warner Bros. owns many major media brands, such as HBO and DC,  as well as Warner Bros. Games, a publisher that owns several major game developers. While this part of the deal was previously unclear, Game Developer has confirmed that this division will be acquired by Netflix as well.

The inclusion of Warner Bros. Games is ignored in the initial press release (the only games mentioned are Squid Game and Game of Thrones), and Game Developer reports that a conference call held this morning only briefly suggested the game publisher would be a part of the deal. Game Developer's Chris Kerr writes, "Warner Bros. Games was briefly referenced during a conference call held this morning, when the Mortal Kombat logo was shown on a 'Business Overview' slide to highlight Warner Bros.' wider game and consumer product exploits—but that blink-and-you'll-miss-it-moment was largely it." In a later call with a representative of Warner Bros. Discovery, however, Game Developer confirmed that the Warner Bros. Games division would be a part of Netflix's deal.

Hogwarts Legacy, Mortal Kombat, and the Batman: Arkham series are just a few of the game series Netflix will own.

Warner Bros. Games owns several major gaming studios. There's Netherrealm Studios (known for Mortal Kombat), Avalanche (developers of Hogwarts Legacy), Rocksteady (known for the Arkham series and the recent Suicide Squad game), and TT Games (known for the licensed Lego games, like Lego Star Wars and Lego Batman). There are also several WB Games studios, most notably WB Montréal, which developed Batman: Arkham Origins and Gotham Knights.

Netflix has attempted to break into the gaming scene in recent years, offering a wide range of mobile games as a part of a Netflix subscription, including apps like Cut the Rope, indie hits like Dead Cells, and even Rockstar ports like Red Dead Redemption and GTA: San Andreas. Netflix has also acquired several game studios, like Oxenfree developer Night School Studios. Netflix is currently collaborating with Life is Strange creators Don't Nod on a mysterious game adaptation of a "major IP". Still, it's unclear how far these efforts have gotten them, and adding major console developers to its portfolio could make a huge difference.

It will likely be a while before we see the results of this merger; the transaction process is lengthy and is estimated to last 12-18 months. This also assumes antitrust regulatory bodies don't get involved to slow the process, and with a deal of this size, it would not be surprising. The last deal we covered on this scale was Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which fought a major legal battle but ultimately succeeded. The jury is still out, however, on whether that merger was good for consumers or employees, as Microsoft has since laid off thousands of employees, closed several major studios, and raised the prices of its consoles and subscription service.

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, whose credits span TV and films like Memoirs of a Geisha, The Man in the High Castle, and 1995’s Mortal Kombat, died yesterday due to complications from a stroke, Deadline reports. He was 75.

Tagawa’s acting career spanned over four decades, with film credits including The Last Emperor, Rising Sun, Memoirs of a Geisha, Planet of the Apes (2000), Balls of Fury, 47 Ronin, and Kubo and the Two Strings. In television, he appeared in series including MacGyver, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Wars: Rebels, and most notably as Nobusuke Tagomi in Amazon Prime’s The Man in the High Castle. Tagawa’s final role was as Master Eiji in the 2023 Netflix animated series Blue Samurai.  

For video game fans, Tagawa was best known for portraying Shang Tsung in the first live-action Mortal Kombat film. His performance as the villainous sorcerer, which featured now-famous lines like "Your soul is mine!" and "It has begun!", became so beloved that he would reprise the role in various adaptations, such as the 2013 web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy. Tagawa also appeared as Shang Tsung, voice and likeness, in Mortal Kombat 11’s Aftermath story expansion and the mobile action RPG Mortal Kombat: Onslaught.

Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon shared his condolences on X, writing,

We lost a legend today. 

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa played Shang Tsung in the 1995 Mortal Kombat film and sadly passed away at age 75. We had the privilege of his portrayal on the first MK film but also as an amazing voice actor in the Mortal Kombat 11 game.

Cary was one of a kind. He combined danger, swagger and athleticism to his roles and will always be remembered as the man who first brought Shang Tsung to life on film.

Rest in Peace. Your soul is eternal.

While closely tied to Shang Tsung, Tagawa had also portrayed another iconic fighting game villain. He played Heihachi Mishima in the live-action movie Tekken, which was released in the US in 2011, and its 2014 sequel, Tekken 2: Kazuya’s Revenge. Tagawa had voice credits in other video games: World of Warcraft: Legion, Batman: Rise of Sun Tzu, and Soldier Boyz. 

As reported by Deadline, Tagawa's family confirmed he died Thursday, surrounded by his children.