As the blocky exploration game and creativity tool reaches its first decade, our games writer – and the father of someone on the autism spectrum – reflects on the impact it has had

It’s a long-observed fact that the phenomenon of the YouTube let’s play has benefits beyond just entertaining viewers and gradually introducing teenagers to neo

Yep, Microsoft's acquisition of Minecraft was a pretty good decision.

Rage 2 is the second Denuvo game to get a zero day crack this year, and others have been cracked within days.

With the minimum requirements for the basegame on Steam needing 30GB of free disk space, we can expect Iceborne, the game’s first major expansion, to be a pretty big deal. We already know that it will feature its own complete story, picking up after the events of the hugely-successful Monster Hunter: World with a brand-new arctic environment, as well as monsters to hunt, and armour and weapons to forge, within it.

Rockstar Games has released a major Red Dead Redemption 2 update today finally fixing the HDR implementation in the game. They did this by giving the players a choice between Cinematic and Game HDR. If you have previously played RDR 2, the game reportedly shipped with a broken HDR implementation. This was fine for some users but it required a lot of tweaks to get the correct color scheme. After the players complained, and almost seven months post-launch, the HDR option has been fixed with the addition of a new Game HDR.

Netflix may have big plans for video gaming, as the streamer has announced a panel at next month's E3 event. Known for phenomenally-successful original shows like Stranger Things, House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, this is relatively alien territory for Netflix, but it'd be unwise to underestimate them.

Mortal Kombat 11 is a brutal game. That’s what you come for — sensational, over-the-top violence that’s inventive and gratuitous on a level that doesn’t exist anywhere else. It can be shocking in its detail and funny in its execution, but it’s always arresting.

Dario Wünsch was feeling confident. The 28-year-old from Leipzig, Germany, was about to become the first professional gamer to take on the artificial intelligence program AlphaStar in the rapid-fire video game StarCraft II. Wünsch had been professionally playing StarCraft II, in which competitors command alien fleets vying for territory, for nearly a decade. No way could he lose this five-match challenge to a newly minted AI gamer.

The Last of Us 2 is easily one of the most anticipated new games of 2019 and beyond, so it's no wonder that every subsequent week has brought with it more speculation, gossip, and rumour about the title's potential release date. The upcoming PS4 game, according to a recent retailer leak, may be arriving as early as October 2019, which has since been corroborated by news that Naughty Dog has wrapped filming on the sequel and rumours that we'll be hearing more from Sony before E3 2019 is over, despite their absence from this year's show.

World of Warcraft fans who remember the original iteration of the game — or are ready to experience it for the first time — can jump in on August 27. World of Warcraft: Classic will be included for all World of Warcraft subscriptions. It’s set to roll out in stages that slowly introduce all of the appropriate raid content to allow for a similar endgame to the original progression of the game.

Call of Duty multiplayer has a reputation for being a meat grinder. You spawn into a match, get a kill or two before you die if you're good, then respawn, rinse, and repeat. It's been years since I played a Call of Duty game on consoles, so I'm out of practice and should be tender for the grinder, but I'm kicking ass.

The reports, rumors, leaks, and hints that Call of Duty 2019 is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 have been building the past couple of months to the point that it's almost a sure thing this year's installment on PS4, Xbox One, and PC will be a new entry in the classic and most popular Call of Duty sub-series. The latest development that supports this is the discovery that for the new installment in the shooter series, developer Infinity Ward has recruited former Modern Warfare developers from Respawn Entertainment and other studios.

Today Blizzard (finally) announced the launch date for World of Warcraft Classic! I can practically hear people requesting vacation time from work across the world. Region Time Date Americas (PDT) 3:00 p.m. August 26* Europe (CEST) 12:00 a.m. August 27 Taiwan (CST) 6:00 a.m. August 27 Korea (KST) 7:00 a.m.…

Mobius' crowdfunded space exploration game Outer Wilds is the latest title to have been snapped up by Epic for an exclusivity period with the Epic Games Store. In an update (thanks, ResetEra) to backers and investors who supported the game via Fig, the statement said that the team "welcomed helpful partnerships with Annapurna Interactive, XBox, and Epic" in order to "keep our small studio running long enough to ship the game at the level of quality that it is today".

A modder has taken control of Mortal Kombat 11's camera to peek behind its virtual curtain. YouTuber DennisNetwork began by uploading a series of videos that reveal the innards of some of Mortal Kombat 11's stages. In the video below we see the audience in the Tournament stage - and learn they have no legs. We also get up close with the arcade cabinets to see footage of the various Mortal Kombat games that normally plays out in the background in much greater detail.

If Monster Hunter World completely passed you by when it released last year, you can make up for lost time by trying it out in a free trial on PS4 right now. From now until May 20, PlayStation 4 owners are able to play through the opening parts of Capcom’s monstrously fun game.

Back at GDC, we learned that Devil May Cry 5 had sold over two million copies worldwide just two weeks after release. Early DMC5 player counts suggested that the game would be a hit, and sales numbers across all platforms backed that up – now Capcom has told investors these numbers are “successfully reinvigorating” the DMC brand.

Frostpunk just saw its one-year anniversary, and in that time it’s sold more than 1.4 million copies, far exceeding developer 11 bit Studio’s expectations. Now, the studio is thinking about what comes next for their game, which they’ve bolstered over the past 12 months with a steady stream of post-release content. While a sequel would certainly make sense, the studio has other ideas in mind, too—including a role-playing game set in the Frostpunk universe.

Two Point Studios has joined the Sega family. Sega Europe today announced that it has acquired the Farnham-based developer of Two Point Hospital. Two Point Hospital launched last August to impressive sales and positive reviews. It was the debut title from Two Point, which was founded in 2016 by Mark Webley, Gary Carr, and Ben Hymers.