EA Cancels New Mass Effect, Pauses New Sims Game, And All The Other Big EA News That Just Happened

Jenna Ortega and Amy Adams star in this futuristic AI tale Klara and the Sun transforms compelling AI drama into one big joke

In Becastled, we noticed a problem that emerged as players became more familiar with the game. They would find a strategy that worked on almost any level, and once they did, there was much less reason to use different buildings, units, or approaches. When we started working on the Traits and Some Magic DLC, we wanted to change that.

Michael McWhertor is a New York-based journalist and editor with more than 20 years of experience covering games, industry events, technology, movies, and TV. A fan-favorite Lego Ideas set is becoming real

Sam Hill is a news writer at Polygon covering gaming and entertainment. He's a Portland, Oregon–based journalist known for covering gaming, the outdoors, national parks, tech, food, and internet culture. He has written for a range of publications including Outside Magazine, Boston Magazine, Vice, the Seattle Times and Digital Trends. Blizzard is letting everyone experience WoW: Forever for free today, but expect plenty of chaos

The Kotaku Slack is currently in shambles because the shortlist for the next James Bond actor has dropped and we all have big feelings about it. Deadline reports that there are at least three actors are in the final stages of being chosen to drive the implausibly tricked-out Aston Martin: Jack Lowden, Callum Turner, and Josh O’Connor. These three chaps: Jack Lowden, Callum Turner and Josh O’Connor are among the actors in the mix to be the next James Bond. They are currently doing final auditions. (Source: Deadline) pic.twitter.com/DRGHZuFv2f — DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 22, 2026 Jack Lowden is a Scottish actor best known for his recurring role in Slow Horses (an Apple TV show you really should be watching) and for being married to Saoirse Ronan. Callum Turner, a Brit, was unfortunately the leading man in the terminally unsexy “sex purge” movie One Night Only. Finally, Josh O’Connor was the Fleabag-worthy sad, sexy priest Father Jud Duplenticy in the latest Knives Out movie Wake Up Dead Man. He was also in The Crown, giving Prince Charles way too much credit for being actually attractive. Honestly, I’m unenthused, as are most of my Kotaku colleagues.

Multiple new reports claim that the budget for Gears of War: E-Day was $500 million. Both Kotaku and Chris Dring of The Game Business reported today, with Kotaku's report saying the number does not include marketing costs. Jez Corden of Windows Central added that the $500 million figure is not wrong, but his own sources aren't able to say definitively if that number covers the game's budget alone, or the game's budget plus additional costs related to running the development studio, The Coalition. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Bn4cMZamNA4 Whatever the case, the consensus seems to be that E-Day was an expensive game to produce, and the game's early sales results do not seem very impressive. The game reportedly sold 230,000 copies across Xbox and PC , but that doesn't tell the whole story since the game is included with Xbox Game Pass . Further data shows that the game reached nearly 2 million people out of the gate, and that number is sure to grow over time. Game Pass is a juggernaut for Microsoft and Xbox, with its recurring revenue from subscriptions generating almost $5 billion annually based on the latest data. A $500 million development budget for E-Day would represent 10% of t