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Halo: Campaign Evolved Cover Story + Xbox Game Studios In Trouble | The Game Informer Show
In this week's episode of The Game Informer Show, the crew dives into reports of several Xbox studios at risk of closure from Microsoft, including (but not limited to) Compulsion Games, Double Fine Productions, and Ninja Theory. After the 30-minute discussion, host Alex Van Aken and Brian Shea discuss the awkward timing of our new Halo: Campaign Evolved cover story before diving into exclusive details about Xbox's upcoming release. Finally, we round out Game Informer's weekly gaming podcast with a quick indie game recommendation: Meccha Chameleon, a hide-and-seek asymmetrical multiplayer title with an amazing texture painting tool for camouflaging yourself from hunters.
The Game Informer Show is a weekly podcast covering the video game industry. Join us every Friday for chats about video game reviews, news, and exclusive reveals alongside Game Informer staff and special guests from around the industry. Support the show by subscribing to our physical video game magazine!
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Listen to "Halo: Campaign Evolved Exclusive Details + Xbox Studios Reportedly In Trouble" on Spreaker.Follow our hosts online:
- Alex Van Aken (@itsVanAken)
- Marcus Stewart (@MarcusStewart7)
- Brian Shea (@BrianPShea)
Jump ahead using these timestamps:
- 00:00 – Intro
- 04:13 – Reports of Upcoming Xbox Game Studio Closures
- 29:45 – Ad Break
- 31:29 – Halo: Campaign Evolved Exclusive Cover Story Details
- 56:35 – Meccha Chameleon
The Video Games You Should Play This Weekend – June 19
Summer Game Fest was last week, and it was a hell of a week, but that was no reason for us to rest or catch our breath this week. Along with continuing to share details about our time at the show in Los Angeles, we also launched a new issue! Halo: Campaign Evolved is the cover game and we dove deep into the game and its newly added prequel levels, but we also have a big retrospective on the making of the first game. It's a good issue.
But it's the weekend so you want to relax and play some video games, right? And you need some help learning what kind of games are good and available to play, right? Well, we have all that, but first, take a look at some of the biggest stories of the week below.
- Cover Reveal – Halo: Campaign Evolved
- From Making Witcher 3 To The Blood Of Dawnwalker | Video Interview
- Why It's Called Final Fantasy VII Revelation Instead Of 'Resolve' Or Other Subtitles
- What Happened To Warren Spector And OtherSide’s System Shock 3?
- The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales Review - History Repeats Itself
- Grand Theft Auto VI Pre-Order Date And Cover Art Revealed
Steam Next Fest
Kyle Hilliard
Rather than one specific game, as we usually offer on this weekly list, allow us to point you to Steam Next Fest. The annual event elevates tons of free demos for upcoming games on Steam and there are lots of of good ones worth checking out. There are also plenty of demos for games we played and covered at Summer Game Fest, so you can get your hands on some of the games that we were the most excited about, like Blood Dungeon (seen above).
We've been exploring demos ourselves and have some suggestions at the link below.
Game Informer's Favorite Steam Next Fest Demos – Summer 2026 Edition
Valve has also kindly shared a list of the most-played Steam Next Fest demos, and you can check out that list below.
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales
Kyle Hilliard
Charles Harte reviewed The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales this week giving it a 7.75 and writing, "While it's not particularly exceptional or exciting, it is both adequate and effective. I doubt The Adventures of Elliot will replace Zelda in anyone's list of favorites, but across my roughly 25 hours, I was always glad to pick my Switch 2 back up and play some more."
The game was released yesterday, and I generally agree with Charles' sentiment that it is a solid if unspectacular game. I have been enjoying my time with it and was surprised by how much Zelda influence exists in the game. It lacks the clever and rewarding puzzles of Zelda, but the combat is simple and solid, and exploring the various dungeons and figuring out how to navigate them is enjoyable.
I will offer a tip, though – go into the game settings and turn the partner chattiness down to reticent. Trust me on this.
And Roger
Marcus Stewart
I sang And Roger’s praises in my review last year, but with the game out on Switch 2 and mobile devices this week, a broader audience can (and should) experience this emotional narrative adventure. At the low cost of $4.99 (currently discounted to $3.49), you’re treated to an hour-long narrative adventure boasting clever mechanics about a frightened girl who finds a mysterious man in her home. I won’t say anything more about the plot, as the crux of the adventure is about figuring out what’s happening, but trust me when I say it’s a memorable and affecting journey you shouldn’t miss a second time around.
Tabletop pick – Dead Cells: The Rogue-Lite Board Game
Matt Miller
It's still relatively rare that tabletop game makers manage to successfully transition strong video game properties into great board games. One of the happy exceptions is Dead Cells, which manages to translate the fast action of the video game experience into an excellent 1- to 4-player cooperative board game that is incredibly fun to play and return to again and again.
The card-focused battles are great fun, offering intriguing tactical decisions about how to confront the many foes that lie in your path. And it's exciting to dive into different biomes as you navigate forward. But the real hook is the way many of the potential mutations/upgrade cards for your characters are locked and unavailable the first time you open the game. You only acquire access to those after repeated run-throughs of a play, offering ample reason for replay – just like in the video game. If you love Dead Cells or roguelites more generally, but you'd be interested in a larger cooperative experience to play with friends on game night, this one is a sure bet.
Shinobi: Art Of Vengeance Jumps To Switch 2 In September
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance was one of our favorite games of 2025, and while it’s already available on Switch, a native and improved Switch 2 version is coming this Fall.
Joe Musashi’s superb revenge quest leaps to Switch 2 on September 24, which has shaped up to be a busy day of big new releases. Regardless, the Switch 2 port boasts improved resolutions and will be available digitally and physically. The game will come in a Standard Edition and a Deluxe Edition that includes the Sega Villains Stage DLC, which adds boss fights against guest Sega characters such as Dr. Eggman and Like a Dragon's Goro Majima.
Developed by Streets of Rage 4 makers Lizard Cube, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance sees series hero Joe Musashi embark on a revenge quest following the destruction of his village. The game earned a 9.25 out of 10 review score from Game Informer and a spot on our Top 10 Games of 2025.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Is Getting The Brand New Day Suit.
With Spider-Man: Brand New Day set to hit theaters next month, Insomniac Games is celebrating the only way it can: by adding a new suit to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Naturally, the suit will be based on Spidey’s latest duds in the new film.
On July 28 – three days before the July 31 premiere of Brand New Day – a free update for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will add the "Fresh Start" suit from the film to the PlayStation 5 and PC versions of the game. It’s the first new Spidey suit to be added to the game since June 2024.
It’s nice to see Insomniac return to Spider-Man, if briefly, as the studio is currently preparing its next superhero game, Marvel’s Wolverine, for its September 15 launch. You can watch the latest trailer for that game here.
The Police’s Stewart Copeland Is Not Composing The New Spyro The Dragon Game But Says ‘No Harm, No Foul’
One of the coolest things about the Spyro the Dragon series is that several of its early games were composed by Stewart Copeland, co-founder and drummer of the iconic rock band The Police. Despite this, it looks like we won’t be hearing any tunes from Copeland in the recently announced Spyro: A Realm Beyond.
The Independent interviewed Copeland to discuss Copeland, an upcoming documentary about his life and career premiering at Raindance Film Festival this week, as well as other topics. During the chat, the famed musician confirmed to the outlet that he has no involvement in Spyro: A Realm Reborn, the first original Spyro game since 2008, revealed during the June 7 Xbox Games Showcase.
“It happens that way,” Copeland tells The Independent. “It's a new generation. They want a new generation of sound and everything… they’ve got to modernise it. No harm, no foul.”
Copeland created the soundtracks for the original Spyro the Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage, Spyro: Year of the Dragon, and Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly. His tracks were also remastered with his involvement for the Spyro: Reignited Trilogy, in which he also composed a new title track. You can watch him discuss his work composing Spyro the Dragon (and also play the game) in this classic PlayStation Underground featurette.
Spyro: A Realm Beyond is scheduled to launch in 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC.