The Twitch streamer Zarbex talks in his stream about how his girlfriend Julia has been engrossed in a specific place in Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen: the casino. There she gets a special Pokémon.
What has Zarbex’s girlfriend been doing for the last 2 days? Twitch streamer Zarbex mentioned in one of his streams (highlight on TikTok) that his girlfriend Julia has spent a lot of time on a specific game mechanic in Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen over the last 2 days.
In Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen, you have to go to a casino during the story, as Team Rocket’s secret hideout is located underneath it. However, you can also play at the slot machines. That’s what Zarbex’s girlfriend has been doing in recent days.
This is atypical for her, says Zarbex, as Julia normally cannot stand gambling in real life.
However, in the game, it’s not really gambling: it’s not based on luck but on actual skill, as you need to press the A-button at the right moment.
Start video
These are the 5 most relevant German streamers on Twitch in 2024, according to Google
10,000 coins for a Pokémon
What’s it all about? According to Zarbex, his girlfriend is so engrossed in the Pokémon casino because she wants 9,999 coins. With that, she can buy a Porygon.
Julia has learned the mechanic and thus easily obtained the desired number of coins: within 2 days, she managed to collect 10,000 coins, says the Twitch streamer.
Other Pokémon can also be bought with enough coins, such as a Dratini. Certain moves can also be purchased with the coins.
There are other ways to gather enough coins: You can simply buy them with Pokédollars. However, you need to farm Pokédollars, as 50 coins cost 1,000 Pokédollars.
In the 2000s, many series achieved a certain status in pop culture that still resonates today. MeinMMO editor Niko recently caught up with a crime series and can only recommend watching the 8 seasons before it disappears from Netflix.
Which series is it about? Everyone has heard of Lost, Breaking Bad, or The Walking Dead. Between 2000 and 2010, several series emerged that are still well-known and had a significant impact on the series landscape.
Among them is the crime series Dexter, which I recently caught up on Netflix. I didn’t know much about it, but the memes that resurfaced in 2025 piqued my interest. So I watched all 8 seasons and can tell you: Dexter is still worth it today.
Start video
Dexter – Trailer for Season 1 of the cult series
A Secret Serial Killer
What is Dexter about? Dexter Morgan, played by Michael C. Hall, is outwardly a blood spatter analyst for the police in Miami. In secret, however, he is a serial killer who follows his own code to only kill those who deserve it.
Throughout the 8 seasons of the original series, each season deals with a different serial killer and how Dexter becomes involved in these cases. Additionally, human drama and the emotional development of Dexter are included.
Even 13 years after the release of Season 8, Dexter is a watchable series, especially for those interested in how television was like back then.
What makes Dexter so good? The highlight is undoubtedly Dexter himself. Michael C. Hall portrays him well, creating a character that combines several traits:
To his victims, he is a monster who often relies on humor.
He often has to fake social interactions, making him seem approachable at times because he doesn’t always want to go to the club or eat with everyone.
Thanks to his many internal monologues, he is also a bit of an edgelord, who likes to throw out lines about his own darkness, reminding me of cliché teenage characters.
Dexter does not have the consistent quality of something like Breaking Bad, but there is no other series that is quite like Dexter. Episodes often feel a bit too long, and one constantly questions the decisions of the characters, but that is exactly what makes Dexter so entertaining. Back then, episodes had to be filled for the 1-hour television slot. The series employs dark humor, but even dramatic scenes can feel unintentionally funny.
But I also have to praise the cases. Especially the first 4 seasons feature exciting antagonists for Dexter, and the dynamics with the police work quite well. Seasons 5 to 7 become noticeably more absurd, but I was still able to enjoy it since Dexter never takes himself too seriously. This made it the perfect series for me for a long time, to unwind after work.
The big elephant in the room is, of course, Season 8. The ending is really bad, but like the endings of How I Met Your Mother or Game of Thrones, it doesn’t harm the overall work.
Also, it’s worth checking out the series for internet culture fans, as many well-known memes originate from this series.
Until when can I watch Dexter on Netflix? You have about 2 weeks left to catch up on Dexter on Netflix. The series will disappear from the streaming service on March 30. With 8 seasons, each containing 12 episodes that run just under 1 hour, you have quite a bit to catch up on.
If you happen to have a subscription to Paramount+, you can also watch Dexter: New Blood, Dexter: Original Sin, and Dexter: Revival there. Especially Revival is highly recommended.
MIR4 is one of the most popular MMORPGs on Steam. At the same time, the developers are already working on the 5th installment of the MMORPG series. However, the development is said to have been halted.
What kind of MMORPG is this? Not much is known about MIR5, but the series has quite a few features that can be expected in the fifth installment. The MMORPG is said to be developed in Unreal Engine 5 and to offer an open world in which players can take their place in one of the many production systems, away from typical battles.
MIR4 also offered the opportunity to earn real money through work done in the game. By using its own cryptocurrency, players could earn cents through a Play2Earn model. New in the fifth installment should be AI opponents that learn.
That players can spend their game time as craftsmen, in addition to fighting, is also the secret recipe for the title’s success. Fans can become true masters of their craft – but they also need others to obtain items. The social gameplay is driven by trade. MIR4 is the third largest MMORPG on Steam in March 2026.
Here you can watch a trailer for MIR4:
Start video
MIR4 introduces the new class The Darkist in the trailer
Development Halt on Part 5
What about the successor? Despite ambitious goals and a very successful predecessor, there is currently a development halt on the project, according to the Korean magazine MTN . According to the magazine, this is happening due to a “comprehensive project review.”
In the background, there are said to be “efforts to improve organizational efficiency and a partial restructuring within Wemade.” At the same time, there are reports that “a subsidiary is in financial trouble” (Source: 17173).
Is this the end of MIR? No, that is not to be expected. The MMORPG series is very successful and extremely popular in Asia. It is to be expected that the project will continue after the review.
However, it is still not possible to say whether and what changes will occur. Not much is known about MIR5 yet, which suggests an early development stage. So, everything is still open and can change until the MMORPG is released.
Sony will in the future refrain from PC versions of PS5 games. An expert believes that Valve could otherwise win the console war. With the Steam Machine, they have the right alternative to the console on offer.
According to an insider, Sony will in the future no longer bring PS5 games to PC. This marks a reversal of the strategy of recent months: during this time, several important titles such as God of War, Ghost of Tsushima, or Spider-Man were brought to PC.
The former head of the dissolved studio BluePoint, Peter Dalton, recently explained in a conversation that Sony might have good reasons for this. Because Valve could win the console war with its Steam Machine.
Start video
Valve presents the Steam Machine in the new trailer
Steam Machine could offer the best of both worlds and thus compete with the PS5
What does Dalton say? Dalton emphasizes in the conversation especially the console-like advantages of the upcoming Steam Machine. And that could become a problem for manufacturers like Sony: all the games of the PC platform coupled with the accessibility of a console. And that could become a problem for Sony if the company behind the PS5 continues to bring its games to PC (via frvr.com):
If Valve releases a new Steam console that offers a console-like experience while simultaneously giving players access to the entire PC game library, this could become a very attractive option. In this scenario, the Steam console could effectively offer the best of all worlds if Sony were to release all its games on PC simultaneously: the simplicity of a console with the full breadth of PC gaming.
(…)
It would be quite ironic if Valve, after decades of traditional console competition, ultimately wins the console war.
Basically, the Steam Machine comes with a few limitations, such as issues with certain anti-cheat systems on Linux. Nevertheless, the Steam Machine should be able to launch thousands of Steam games, including PS5 games released for PC.
The Steam Machine has been introduced. What exactly is this new device from Valve? MeinMMO has compiled the most important questions and answers for you and presents them here. You can read more about it here: Steam Machine: The most important questions and answers
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The Spotlight Hours in Pokémon GO are a popular event. However, there is currently a change affecting the event.
What is a Spotlight Hour? This is a small, 60-minute event that has taken place every Tuesday from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM. During this time, there was at least one Pokémon that appeared in large numbers in the game along with a bonus.
Attentive trainers may have noticed that this event has not taken place in recent weeks. And there is a reason for that.
Start video
Pokémon GO Fest 2026 comes with Mewtwo and Zeraora
New Season, Big Changes
Why are there no more Spotlight Hours? With the announcement of the new season Memories in Motion in Pokémon GO, the plan for weekly content has changed significantly. The Spotlight Hours are also affected.
While they always took place on Tuesdays from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM in previous seasons, Tuesday is now dedicated to showcases in the current season. Accordingly, the day of the week in the game is also referred to as “Showcase Tuesday”.
The Spotlight Hours have been eliminated and are currently no longer taking place in the form you knew. They now seem to appear as part of events, for example at the next big Electric Event, in the game.
However, according to the current knowledge, the bonus of the Spotlight Hour, which has made the event really strong, is missing.
Is this change permanent? Currently, it is assumed that the Spotlight Hours in the form you knew them in the past will not return in the current season. This runs until June 2, 2026, at 10:00 AM.
Whether they will come back in their old form in future seasons is not yet known. If there are any updates, we will of course report on it and adjust this article for you.
On March 5, 2026, the latest game from Bungie was released for Steam, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5: Marathon, an extraction shooter with a strong focus on PvP. The game has been the subject of lively discussions since then. Many gamers wonder if the success of Marathon will be enough to satisfy Sony, or if the shooter signals the end for the studio. MeinMMO editor Dariusz addresses this question.
Marathon is in a strange situation. There is a huge gap between the perception of the game on social networks like Reddit and X and player ratings on Steam.
On social media, Marathon is portrayed as one of the worst games of all time. A post on X claims, according to SteamDB, that Marathon has been returned over 500,000 times. However, SteamDB does not provide figures on refunds.
Even on Twitch, comments in various chats express how bad the game is – even though the streamer is obviously having fun. TheBurntPeanut therefore plays the game offline when he is not live on Twitch (via TikTok).
On Steam, however, the mood is largely positive. Out of 23,105 reviews, as many as 88% are positive. If you filter out players who have played less than an hour, it’s even 90% positive reviews.
Update: We have adjusted some figures to take into account the average global purchase price instead of the regional European purchase price – and while we were at it, we brought the sales figures up to date.
Marathon shows what Bungie’s biggest problem really is
The gap between the perceived mood and the ratings of actual players highlights the biggest problem with Marathon:
Bungie has lost the favor of its fans with Destiny 2.
Many long-time Destiny players have lost trust in Bungie. There are too many criticisms that the community simply cannot forget.
Monetization
Fostering FOMO (fear of missing out)
Recycling content
The so-called content vault – that is, content that has been removed from the game even though players paid for it.
And overall, the community feedback that has simply been ignored for too long.
Overall, it’s hard to imagine that Bungie will achieve financial success in the coming years – regardless of the quality of the respective product. The former fans of Bungie are so dissatisfied and frustrated that they – it seems currently – are negative towards everything Bungie is doing.
This discontent with Bungie is also reflected in our comments on MeinMMO. In my preview report on Marathon, I explained why the game is among the best shooters of 2026, according to me. Some MeinMMO readers see it differently, others don’t even give the game a chance due to their past with Bungie.
“I maintain my stance mentioned in the article: Bungie has lost my trust and will not get another cent from me. Generally, I will refrain from commenting on the gameplay, as I do not play it, but the criticized battle pass speaks volumes; Bungie-style – whoever still supports that and fails to learn from mistakes – is just plain foolish.”
The struggling Destiny 2 had been considered the studio’s main source of revenue, and Sony is likely to have some expectations for Marathon as well.
Forbes journalist Paul Tassi, who has close ties to Bungie, reported last year that Marathon would need to be one of the top 5 best-selling games in the USA in 2025 to be considered a “success” (via YouTube) – this was however before the shooter’s release was postponed.
Recently, there have also been rumors online that Marathon cost 250 million USD and needed 10 million sales to be considered a “hit”.
However, there has been no official statement from Sony or Bungie regarding the development costs or expected sales.
In an interview with YouTuber Skill Up, Marathon’s game director Joe Ziegler revealed that in 2025, slightly less than 300 developers were working on the shooter. He also stated that at that time, the game had been in development at Bungie for more than 4 years – and since then, another year has been added.
Let’s look at some numbers:
Average salary at Bungie
98,000 USD per year
Development duration
More than 5 years
Estimated salary costs over 5 years
70-110 million USD (About 147 million USD with a constant 300 employees)
The average salary at Bungie is said to be around 98,000 USD per year (source: salary.com). With 300 employees, this results in about 147 million USD in pure salary costs over 5 years. However, it is likely that not all 300 employees worked continuously on the shooter. It is quite possible that salary costs are actually between 70 and 110 million USD.
Additional costs for marketing and office maintenance as well as other infrastructure come on top. According to the information service zipdo, AAA games spend an average of around 25 million USD on marketing. This corresponds with other sources, which state that about 10-20% of the total budget goes for marketing.
The rumored 250 million USD for Marathon seems somewhat high compared to these numbers, but not unrealistic. It could also just as easily be 150-200 million USD.
But even that Marathon has to recoup first.
Player numbers in decline, but sales figures are not a disaster
In the discourse surrounding Marathon, many talk about player numbers. The game is said to be a flop, and the numbers show it. The peak for Marathon only lies just below 88,000 concurrent players on Steam in the release week. Even now, there are only 26,000 players online on Valve’s gaming platform (as of March 10, 1:30 PM). The daily peak is currently usually between 65,000 and 80,000 players (via SteamDB).
These numbers certainly do not compare to the success of ARC Raiders. The competitor of Marathon still sees daily peaks of 170,000 to 250,000 concurrent players five months after release and has sold over 10 million copies.
Bungie and Sony have not yet released sales figures for Marathon. Analysis platforms like gamalytic and PlayTracker speak of 911,000-975,000 copies sold on Steam (as of March 13, 2026).
The player and sales figures of Marathon on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S are unknown. However, Bungie is usually much stronger represented on consoles than on Steam. The tracker “Charlemagne” created by the Destiny community impressively shows the player counts of Destiny 2 per platform.
On March 8, the overall distribution of Destiny players was as follows:
PlayStation: 78,520 (around 45%)
Xbox: 58,290 (around 33%)
Steam: 35,740 (around 20.37%)
The consoles made up 78% of the player counts for Destiny 2 on March 8. If we now speculate that the distribution for Marathon is similar, the shooter could have sold about 3,229,000 copies on consoles. The 911,000 sold units on Steam served as the basis for this calculation.
This would mean:
Marathon would exceed 4.1 million sales in the release week, and Bungie would have already earned 118 million euros with Marathon at an average global purchase price of 29 €. Deductions for taxes or platform fees to Steam etc. are not yet taken into account.
Note: The numbers remain purely speculative. Paul Tassi has learned from his sources that Marathon is currently being played the most on PC.
According to the market research company Alinea Analytics, ARC Raiders sold 2.5 million copies in the release week, with 69.2% of the players being on Steam. So Marathon might not be doing that badly compared to ARC Raiders, as the Steam figures currently suggest.
Concord shows what the worst-case scenario could be for Marathon and Bungie:
On failure, the game is taken offline first, then some time later the studio is closed.
This is a fate that several developers have recently shared. On March 12, the shutdown of Highguard follows, a hero shooter that was only released at the end of January and where the Chinese technology giant Tencent was the secret main financier. The shutdown comes just 45 days after the release.
So the question arises:
Is Marathon facing shutdown and what’s next for Bungie?
A report from IGN from 2023 states that Sony could dissolve Bungie’s current board if financial goals are not met and take full control.
If Sony is unhappy with Bungie’s financial success, this is likely what the next step would look like. After all, Sony paid 3.2 billion euros for the studio, so they will first try everything to get as much as possible out of it.
A closure of Bungie is currently unrealistic.
Conclusion: What lies ahead for Marathon and Bungie
If Sony aims for an early shutdown of Marathon, this will likely become evident in the next 3-6 weeks. This has been the recent timeframe in which such decisions have been made in the industry.
If the speculated figures of 4.1 million sales are accurate, Marathon will almost certainly survive in the coming weeks and months. The game has the potential to steadily gather more players over time, as the negative discourse settles a bit. ARC Raiders also gained a considerable number of players in the weeks following its release.
Bungie already has plans for future seasons and in-game events, which could also attract new players. In addition to game sales, there are revenues from skins and battle passes.
Nevertheless, the leadership at Bungie must show a keen interest in making Marathon a success. If the shooter surprisingly sells best on Steam against expectations, the numbers look worrying.
Then the takeover by Sony would likely be inevitable in the coming months.
Marathon is just beginning, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it is supplied with new content for at least a year. The takeover by Sony or even the closure of the studio is probably not imminent – but Bungie is not yet safe.
If you’re still undecided about whether Marathon might appeal to you, we’ve prepared a short check including a quiz for you. There you will find important information about the shooter and can find out if the game is interesting for you by answering 10 questions: Is Marathon worth it for you? A short check with quiz
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Looking for some distraction in gaming, MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus stumbled upon City Tales: Medieval Era. After just a few hours in the demo of the city-builder, he purchased the full version on Steam and immediately logged 10 hours of gameplay in the first few days… at the cost of sleep. It’s all due to a feature that construction games usually lack.
City-builders are often my retreat when I just want to game. They keep the mind alert through planning and organizing while having little pressure. Not for nothing is Against the Storm my absolute comfort game, even if it can be a bit more intense.
Now I have discovered City Tales: Medieval Era. The game has been available on Steam in its 1.0 release since January 29, 2026, and immediately reminded me of some games that captivated me in the past: Foundation, Banished, Manor Lords, or this creepy Anno with Cthulhu horror.
The game offers a free demo with about 2-3 hours of gameplay, not counting the freebuild mode. After I finished that, I couldn’t resist and bought City Tales for 22.99 euros (standard price).
Maybe that was a mistake, maybe it was the right decision, because I took the first opportunity to game into the early morning hours and only went to bed just before 6 AM. But the game is so enticing…
Start video
The trailer for the 1.0 release of City Tales: Medieval Era, the building game with companions
Building cities, but not alone
Basically, City Tales: Medieval Era consists of the same building blocks as most other city-building games:
The settlement starts with a town center.
Initial houses, lumberjacks, and gatherers provide basic supply.
Slowly, the city grows, new resources are unlocked, production chains become longer.
The citizens develop new needs to thrive.
The only difference from Anno and similar games is the “districts”: Like in Manor Lords, I draw the residential areas with borders, and my settlers then build them themselves. I only place supply and craft buildings when there is enough space available.
As a truly unique feature, City Tales offers companions that don’t just hang around advising me and babbling, but who actually perform tasks for me and bring a whole new dimension to the building game.
Companions like in an RPG, and they can even level up!
Companions are pretty much the core feature of City Tales. Each building needs a companion to function at all, meaning: If I build a lumberjack or a quarry, nothing happens there until I assign one of my companions to it.
If the person stays there long enough, the building becomes “autonomous” and can work independently. At the same time, my companion gains experience in the corresponding profession, which brings several advantages:
The better they are in a profession, the greater the bonuses when the companion is assigned to a corresponding building.
With higher levels in a skill, the companion can further upgrade the building and improve its production.
Finally, I can assign companions as “headmen” in a hamlet, building a kind of outpost that the companion manages – and all buildings there then receive their bonuses.
By having to (or being able to) plan who works when, where, and how much, it changes my options for production and the game’s dynamics. I don’t have a linear flow of resources but can adjust through my companions to meet current needs. And each of them has their own story.
My village in the demo, still quite small and at the beginning. Also visible: One of my companions.This is what my city looked like at the end of the first run.My first “hamlet”, still a bit chaotic.The second hamlet, this time with a lot more planning.The dialogues are sometimes very entertaining. Absurd! Ridiculous!
Just one more quest…
The entire game guides me through a story with quests. These are often simple tasks like: collect wood, paper, gold, or build this and that building. My advisor then tells me the story of how I, as the child of a ruler, govern the land and the difficulties involved.
Now, my companions also have such quests, and each of them reveals more about the respective companion’s journey, their personality, desires, dreams, and fears. I know something like this from games like Pathfinder and Baldur’s Gate, but not from a city-building game.
In the end, I found myself facing the “problem” of just wanting to finish one more quest. But this led to new building opportunities that I had to try out… which again led to new quests.
City Tales breaks away from much that is just annoying in Anno and co.
The biggest advantage of the game is not the excellent companion system, but the removal of annoying and outdated features that always bother me in other city-building games.
In City Tales, I don’t need warehouses. Every resource and product can be stored in unlimited quantities, and I don’t need a building, suppliers, or collectors. Everything is global and always available, like in an RTS.
Additionally, I don’t even have to constantly have everything in stock. In other games, houses regress when they suddenly run out of beer or bread. City Tales eliminates such needs. I only need resources for building and upgrades, not for maintaining the status quo.
This way, City Tales takes a lot of pressure off a game that is meant to be relaxing, as I don’t have to constantly build new farms just because I want to slightly expand my city. Above all, the entire economy doesn’t suddenly collapse just because I overlooked that sausage is becoming a scarcity.
Is that realistic? No. Does it have to be? Not really, because here, realism is sacrificed for the sake of fun, and that’s exactly what games are for.
After about 12 hours, I completed the story for the first time and will probably start anew 2-3 times to play other maps and make different decisions (yes, those exist here too). The last game in the genre that captivated me like this was Fata Deum, which, despite some flaws in early access, is continuously improving: A new building game on Steam makes me a god and gives me what no game has achieved in 20 years
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Season 3, the production team of the anime Jujutsu Kaisen takes more risks than before. As the animators have more time than in Season 2, the fans’ assessment is significantly better. One episode is even a very special exception.
What makes this episode so special? Fans of Jujutsu Kaisen are quite astonished, as Episode 8 of Season 3, which aired just recently, had only one key animator. Kouki Fujimoto was given the necessary time and creative freedom to animate the episode almost single-handedly.
Fujimoto was responsible for the entire motion sequence and the acting of the characters in the core scenes. This is seen as a huge vote of confidence, as normally several key animators work on an episode.
For this episode, he reportedly took a total of 11 months (read more on Reddit), which seems realistic given the effort for a 20-minute episode.
He wasn’t completely alone: there were also so-called second key animators who cleaned up his drawings and finalized details like hair and clothing. But Fujimoto at least created the dynamics and rough drafts for the most important key frames.
Start video
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 – Trailer for the upcoming Arc “The Culling Game”
Only one key animator is a big highlight
How does it usually work? Typically, around 10-20 key animators work on an anime episode. In the first season of Jujutsu Kaisen, the number often stood at about 15 animators, which is a good framework for the elaborate battles.
In Season 2, it looked different. Here, the production team was under enormous time pressure, and in one episode, often 30 to over 50 key animators worked on an episode. On Sakuga Booru, you can take a closer look at which animators were responsible for which scene, if interested.
Which episode is it about? The episode revolves around the emotional backstory of Hiromi Higuruma, who worked as a defense attorney in a courtroom before the current events.
Although in Japan 99.9% of criminal proceedings end with a conviction, he repeatedly takes on hopeless cases. Yet even with his clients, where the evidence is extremely thin, a conviction is rendered.
This conviction completely shatters Higuruma’s faith in the justice system and humanity in the courtroom. One can see the absolute despair in the defender and how his inherent curse technique awakens.
What do fans say about it? Fans on Reddit celebrate the animator for his incredible work. Many believe that Fujimoto is incredibly talented and that it is simply inhuman that he accomplished such a feat in such a short time.
Moreover, Fujimoto has also worked on other projects on the side. But the hard work seems to have paid off, as the episode is rated 9.1 out of 10 on IMDb. Thus, it lands in the upper midfield of the episodes aired so far.
The former Overwatch head breaks his silence. Now we know why Kaplan left – and how badly he was treated.
Most older Blizzard fans will likely still remember Jeff Kaplan. He was a long-time developer on World of Warcraft, but later also the Game Director of Overwatch. He gained cult status in the community for several reasons.
However, in 2021 he left Blizzard and thus also Overwatch. For a long time, there was speculation about what the reason was, and even longer Jeff Kaplan was silent. Now he has given an interview to PC Gamer magazine and talked about what was really going on with Overwatch and Blizzard.
Start video
Overwatch shows 5 new heroes in Season 1: Conquest in the gameplay trailer
The downfall of Overwatch
In the interview, Jeff Kaplan confirmed what most outsiders had long suspected. The downfall of Overwatch was likely due to the introduction of the Overwatch League. This was a league where investors could buy into with their teams.
The implied promise was that the league would generate profits that could even exceed the NFL. This promise was completely utopian and led to developers – who had nothing to do with the planning of the Overwatch League – having to allocate more and more resources towards the league in the end. Kaplan said:
And so all our plans [for Overwatch content] were basically thrown out the window. We weren’t working on new world events anymore, we weren’t really working on Overwatch 2 anymore, we were just treading water.
That the investors’ expectations for the league were not met only exacerbated the problem. Because now the developers had to allocate even more resources to create content for the league – such as skins for teams, new mechanics like a spectator camera, and so on.
More and more resources were spent on the league and not on what made Overwatch so successful in its early years: consistent, new game content.
Jeff Kaplan was the face of Overwatch for many years – and extremely popular.
Blunt threats from the boss
Perhaps the most significant experience for Jeff Kaplan was a conversation he had with a CFO of Blizzard. He was summoned to the CFO’s office and told to take a seat.
He mentioned a date that was in 2020 and then extended it to 2021. He said: ‘Overwatch must at least make this much in 2020 and every subsequent year the sum X.’ And then he added: ‘If you do not reach this amount, we will lay off 1,000 people and that will be your fault.’ And that was the biggest ‘F-you’ moment I’ve ever had in my career, it felt surreal to be in that position.
Or, to put it directly: If Overwatch did not earn a certain sum X, then 1,000 people would have to be laid off, and that would be – from the CFO’s perspective – solely Jeff Kaplan’s fault.
As someone who has worked on a lot of games, created many games, you come into meetings like this, and there are people saying ‘Fortnite has 1,400 people working on it. So if we just hire 1,400 people and make [Overwatch] Free2Play, then we will also make that much money, right?‘
I had thought I would never work for another employer than Blizzard, I loved it, it was a part of who I was and I literally thought I would retire from this company. I never thought that day would come – but it did. Fortunately for Blizzard, that CFO is no longer there.
After Kaplan’s departure, Overwatch noticeably fell apart. Overwatch 2 was eventually released after many months of stagnation in Overwatch 1, but the biggest promise, a PvE campaign, was postponed indefinitely and ultimately completely broken.
Overwatch’s reputation was ruined, along with unpopular changes, such as the switch from a 6v6 to a 5v5 system, the successor was a disaster and generated negative headlines endlessly. It took years for Overwatch 2 to recover – it only really succeeded last year.
Currently, Overwatch (they have removed the ‘2’ from the name) is doing fairly well. Although the PvE mode was never delivered, the developers have become quite good at satisfying the fans. Especially the “Stadium” game mode has brought a whole new way to play Overwatch. But, even though this is good news, one can’t help but wonder where Overwatch could be today if Jeff Kaplan hadn’t been treated so unbelievably poorly.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Although Crimson Desert will be released on March 19, 2026, for PC, Xbox, and PS5, buyers are alreadywaving around the physical version of the open-world adventure by Pearl Abyss.
Wait, who has their version of Crimson Desert? In the past few hours, several screenshots have surfaced showing happy players with their physical versions of Crimson Desert.
Agreeable-Ad-699 writes here on Reddit: “It’s finally here!! I’ve never been this excited about a video game.” The screenshot shows the sealed PS5 version of Crimson Desert.
Germanico025 shows on his screenshot on Reddit the PS5 disc and writes above: “I hope it’s good.” In another post on Reddit, he shows the front and back of the cover.
Kanzlermacher seems to be standing in a warehouse on his picture on Reddit, where a pallet of Deluxe Editions of Crimson Desert is being unpacked.
Here is the freshly released launch trailer for Crimson Desert:
Start video
Crimson Desert: Launch trailer shows new bosses, dragon action and the storming of a moving train
In the now-dominating digital market, this is easy to implement: The barriers for downloading, installing, and starting the game only open when the developers want them to (sometimes even at different times, for example, when pre-downloads are possible).
It’s a different story in physical retail. In order for them to deliver or ship the ordered copies of the game to their customers on time, they need to be delivered well in advance.
Often, the plastic cases with the discs end up in the stores’ warehouses days before the launch, from where they are ideally forwarded to customers in advance – to ensure that pre-orders can start right on time on release day.
Germanico025 writes in a second post on Reddit that he received a message from his local shop that the game is now available, and he took advantage of the opportunity and picked up his copy in the store.
Recommended editorial content
At this point you will find external content from Reddit that complements the article.
I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms.
Read more about our privacy policy.
Does this actually offer an advantage? It always depends on the game in question. For all online and multiplayer games, it is pointless to receive the disc long before release, as the servers typically go live only from the announced date onwards.
For games that can be enjoyed offline, it depends on whether the game is completely on the accompanying disc and whether the game needs to briefly connect to the provider’s online services at launch (which often only happens at release) or not.
What about Crimson Desert? The packaging of the PS5 version of Crimson Desert states that the game requires an internet connection. Therefore, part of the community is quite sure that the open-world game will need an update or an internet activation before it can actually be played.
New_Cockroach_505 writes on Reddit: “I’m pretty sure they can’t play it yet. It requires an additional download, and the game is not live yet.”
There hasn’t been any clear feedback from the early owners of the physical version of Crimson Desert yet. In the latest post from Germanico025 on Reddit, he states that he is currently installing the game. However, that was already 6 hours ago.
Therefore, we asked our PR contact and received quick feedback: The installation of the physical versions is restricted. No pre-order customer can start before the launch.
What do I need to know about Crimson Desert? The open-world action-adventure from the makers of Black Desert will be released on March 19, 2026, for PC, PS5, and Xbox. You can expect a pure single-player experience with a wonderfully old-school Buy2Play payment model (buy once, play everything, no microtransactions), a huge world, and plenty of content.
In the game, you play as a mercenary named Kliff, who fights to reclaim his lost homeland in the world of Pywel. Later on, you will also gain access to 2 more playable characters: the swift fighter Damiane and the giant Oongka. You can find all further details in our extensive overview of Crimson Desert.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The European servers of Path of Exile are having problems again. While the developers spent a lot of money last year to better protect the servers from attacks, players are now experiencing lags and high ping again.
Update March 13, 2026, 10:10 AM: Community Manager Natalia_GGG has once again spoken out on Reddit. There she explains what the current issues are:
Since the introduction of 3.28, many players have experienced repeated disconnections from our game servers. This is the result of some very persistent and targeted DDoS attacks aimed at our game backend.
While we do not want to disclose specific details that could assist the attackers, we want to assure you that this is a top priority for our server team, and we are in constant contact with our server providers, who have taken measures to counter these attacks. Although we have already seen some improvements due to these countermeasures, the problem will only be considered resolved when these disconnections have completely ceased.
We apologize for the disruption and will try to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.
You can find the original message here:
What is the status of the servers of Path of Exile? Fresh for the new season of Path of Exile, which started on March 6, 2026, the server problems on the EU servers have returned. Players felt the peak of lags on the evening of March 11. At this point, the ARPG delivered a ping of over 800 to the players, making it unplayable.
Accordingly frustrated were the fans on Reddit, who have already gotten used to the situation. User Cute_Activity7527 posted under the title “EU patient lives! Pulse stable.” his 800 ping along with a graph showing the significant lag spikes.
Also, Reddit user SaudiHaramco complains: “Currently unplayable… This has been the case almost every afternoon for the past few leagues. At night or in the morning it runs smoothly… Ridiculous.” In the past, there have been strong server problems, especially at the start of the season, but that is not only due to the many players.
Here you can see something:
Start video
Path of Exile shows new league “Mirage” in trailer – brings changes for the endgame
DDoS attacks strain the servers
Where do the server problems come from? The server problems of Path of Exile usually do not arise solely from the players who are playing in large numbers on the servers of the ARPG. In a past conversation with the developers of Grinding Gear Games, they revealed that the servers are constantly fighting against so-called DDoS attacks.
Whether the problems this time are also due to an attack of this kind has not yet been confirmed. However, Community Manager Natalia_GGG has already commented on the lags.
What does the community manager say? In a statement on Reddit, Natalia_GGG confirms the lags on the server. At the same time, she explains that some initial improvements have already been made. The developers are therefore still in talks with the server providers and will work together to try to mitigate the problems until a solution has been found.
In response to her statement, some users express frustration. The fact that the EU servers are repeatedly plagued by lags at the start of the season has now become a meme in the community. This has gone so far that many players prefer to play on the American servers, which, despite a higher ping, at least run smoothly.
Even in Season 2 of the Netflix series One Piece, there are several Easter eggs and characters that appear too early. This is all possible because the author Eiichiro Oda gives his blessing.
Attention: There are slight spoilers regarding a character who is relevant in the anime and manga long after the events of the series.
Which characters are meant? Already in the first episode of One Piece, there are 2 characters that actually appear over 10 years later in the manga or anime. We have already reported on Sabo. He appears in the very first episode on Netflix, although he is only later seen in a flashback and in a Coliseum battle in the original source material.
Also, Bartolomeo, with whom Luffy talks for so long, actually appears for the first time in this Coliseum. He is the biggest fan of the Straw Hat Pirates and has decorated his room with posters of the members. Accordingly, he behaves when he meets the Straw Hats, as they are his biggest idols.
In several interviews, both the production team and the actress Emily Rudd, who plays Nami in the series, reveal why the characters actually appear so early.
Start video
Netflix shows in the new trailer for One Piece the many new villains of Season 2
Easter Eggs need official OK
Why do they appear so early? The story writer of One Piece reveals in an interview on YouTube that Bartolomeo appears so early only so that Luffy has a conversation partner. Logue Town from Episode 1 should be a bustling place, but the Straw Hats would still feel strange here due to lack of connections.
To alleviate this feeling, the producers included Bartolomeo earlier than in the manga and anime. He already shows himself in the anime as a big fan of Luffy and follows him everywhere. He even puts his arm around his shoulder, which will probably be a big fan moment for him.
Emily Rudd also reported about Sabo’s appearance, saying she couldn’t believe it and supposedly screamed when she saw the script for Episode 1. But there is a good reason for this, as she reveals in the video on YouTube:
I was screaming because I couldn’t believe we were allowed to do that. Obviously, Mr. Oda said it was okay and permitted. For everything that is not officially from the original arc, we must ask him for permission. All the little Easter eggs and characters you see long in advance require his okay.
The two characters are also officially present in the manga in Logue Town, but are introduced much later and were only added to the crowd in flashbacks. Thus, they may not officially be seen directly in the manga at this point, but with the context in mind, Oda probably gave his okay.
MeinMMO editor Nikolas Hernes thought that Pokopia is just an Animal Crossing with Pokémon, but he was surprised after a short time. It reminds him of Planet of the Apes and offers an exciting story.
When Pokémon Pokopia was first announced, I was quite indifferent. Cozy games are generally not my thing and Pokémon probably wouldn’t have changed that. Until the release on March 5, 2026, new images, trailers, or information were released.
Slowly, my interest grew, especially because Pokopia had visually interesting ideas. For MeinMMO, I took a look at the game and was thrilled, mainly because of the story. It has the best story in the series because it reminds me of Planet of the Apes.
Start video
With Pokémon Pokopia, Nintendo mixes two of its most popular franchises for the Switch
A World Like in Planet of the Apes
In Pokopia, there seem to be no humans. Their remains can be seen in the ruins, but even the Pokémon do not really know where the humans have gone. As Ditto, you try to rebuild habitats and places while bringing the environment back to life with various Pokémon.
The game already tells a story visually. You can see ruins of Pokémon centers, abandoned buildings, but also broken bridges. Nature has reclaimed a lot, and the overgrowth of plants shows that the humans must have been gone for a while.
This visual detail reminds me of Planet of the Apes: New Kingdom from 2024. There, too, nature and the apes have taken back the Earth and formed their own communities. This is also happening in Pokopia. You create your own societies with Pokémon residents in various areas, each with their own speech patterns and personalities.
The hustle and bustle of Pokémon brings the habitats to life
Movies like Planet of the Apes or Flow are among the most exciting post-apocalypses for me because they do not place humans at the center and portray the path of nature. This is visually cooler than showing deserts or an empty wasteland.
This is cool in principle and a good example of visual storytelling, but there are also text pieces that can be found in the world. Normally, I find such things in games a lame solution for world-building, but in Pokopia, it fits quite well.
The texts are usually short and tell little snippets about the town. For example, you learn about a Picochilla and find an image of it in another ruin. There is also talk of evacuations, which shows the drama without explicitly addressing it. As a player, I have to figure it out for myself and can piece together my own interpretation from a puzzle.
Unlike the other Pokémon games, the story is not spoon-fed to me; I can explore it myself and theoretically ignore it.
However, what I particularly like about Pokopia compared to Planet of the Apes is the hope and good mood that always accompany the Pokémon.
No Matter How Bad the Ruins Are, There is Always Hope
If you want to read something into Pokopia, you can see implications of climate change or environmental pollution. As Ditto, together with your Pokémon, you restore everything, sometimes even manipulate the weather.
It would be easy to tell a sad story here, but Pokopia remains positive at all times. Sure, Pokémon is usually positive, but in the context of the habitats you rebuild and the ruins you repair, an atmosphere of hope is created without portraying humans as something evil.
The Pokémon miss the humans and create something of their own based on their former trainers. This is different from Planet of the Apes, which fundamentally separates itself from humans.
Pokopia shows that not everything is lost, no matter how broken or abandoned something is. You can restore it, even without blatant drama, as long as you maintain hope and work together.
Elder Scrolls Online is currently preparing for its first season in 2026 and is not only revamping its payment model but also expanding its versions.
What is changing with ESO versions? With the release of Update 49, it was already known that the long-paid DLCs “Orsinium”, “Imperial City”, “Thieves Guild”, and “Dark Brotherhood” are now included in the base game of Elder Scrolls Online.
Those who spend around 20 euros on the MMORPG on Steam or have it sleeping in their collection in the standard version will now gain access to the following content:
ESO base game
Choose your side in the War of the Three Banners and push back the invading Daedric forces in a war-torn setting during Tamriel’s Second Era.
24 unique areas
Discover how vast Tamriel is: from the mushroom forests of Morrowind to the deserts of Hammerfell.
Morrowind
Dive into the cultic homeland of the Dark Elves and offer your help to the legendary warrior-poet god Vivec.
Warden as a class
Utilize the power of nature’s wrath as a Warden and command mighty beasts.
Imperial City
Explore the heart of Cyrodiil in this expansive PvP/PvE area, which is now overrun by Daedra.
Orsinium
Travel through the Wrothgar mountains and enter the Orc capital Orsinium, where ancient dangers await you.
Thieves Guild
Fight the Iron Wheel’s troops and help the Thieves Guild regain its former glory.
Dark Brotherhood
Become the newest member of the infamous Dark Brotherhood and carve a bloody path through Tamriel.
Players who enjoy ESO through Xbox Game Pass Essential or PlayStation Plus Extra (or Premium) have access to all the contents of this new standard version.
Important: All future playable content for ESO (such as new quests, zones, features, dungeons, etc.) will be free for every owner of the ESO main game starting from the launch of “Season Zero”.
Start video
Microsoft brings Elder Scrolls Online to the big stage with colorful trailer
Content for thousands of hours at full price
And what about the Deluxe version? This version of ESO, costing nearly 60 euros, includes not only all the content of the standard version but also the following:
the chapters Summerset, Elsweyr, Greymoor, Blackwood, High Isle, Necrom, and Gold Road
the Seasons of the Worm cult from 2025
the features Jewelry crafting, Necromancer class, Antiquities, Companions, Legacy tales, and Arcanist class
the mount “Skullcrusher Coast Durzog”, the companion “Stone Eagle”, and a Ray of Meridia’s Light (cosmetic bonus effect)
You can alternatively obtain access to the chapters and the content of the season from 2025 through the optional ESO Plus subscription. You can check what the subscription currently offers in detail on the official overview page by Zenimax.
When does the new season start? “Season Zero: Morning Light and Evening Light” officially starts on April 2, 2026, and runs until July 8, 2026. With the start of the season, the new Battle Pass named “Tamriel Scrolls” also begins. This will reward you for everything you do in Tamriel, with free and paid reward paths.
Another new reward system called Gold Coast Bazaar, on the other hand, is set to go live on March 25, 2026, just under a week before the season. It is a new in-game shop where you pay with earned or Battle Pass earned trading bars.
As part of the season, the developers are also undertaking another experiment: from April 29 to June 17, the first event area opens with the Night Market. There you can expect challenging PvE challenges that you should preferably approach as part of a strong group. What else is planned for 2026 can be found here: The Elder Scrolls Online revamps its payment model again in 2026 and introduces unusual experiments
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Pokémon GO a new event has been announced. And it can bring you a whopping 11 rare Shinys – under one condition.
What kind of event is it? The new event is called Fashion Raid Day. It takes place on Saturday, April 4, 2026, from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. You have only 3 hours to participate in the event.
As the name suggests, this short event revolves around fashion and costumed monsters. A total of 11 will be present on Raid Day. And they also bring an increased chance of appearing as Shiny.
Start video
Pokémon GO Fest 2026 comes with Mewtwo and Zeraora
Complete raids, keep your fingers crossed, repeat
Which monsters are they? On Fashion Raid Day, you can find and challenge the following costumed monsters in raids:
Butterfree
Diglett
Dragonite
Wooper
Sneasel
Kirlia
Absol
Shinx
Croagunk
Blitzle
Minccino
As mentioned, all raid monsters also have an increased chance of appearing as Shiny. If you want to obtain them, you should make use of the 3 hours to raid effectively.
What bonuses are there in the event? The event is rounded off with suitable bonuses. You can receive up to 6 free raid passes from gyms. Since you can only hold one free raid pass at a time, you must use it before picking up the next pass from the gym by spinning the gym’s disc.
The remote raid limit will also be increased around the event. From Saturday, April 4, 2026, at 2:00 AM, to Sunday, April 5, 2026, at 5:00 AM, the limit is increased to 20 remote raids per day.
For $4.99 (about 5 €), you can also purchase a ticket for the event. Here are the following contents waiting for you:
up to 14 raid passes from gyms
increased chance of XL special candies through raids
Which monsters are particularly worth it? If you are a collector and are looking for rare monsters, then all Pokémon might be relevant for you. The costumed variants of the monsters are generally already rarer in the game. Obtaining them as Shiny is correspondingly difficult.
If you are more focused on strong monsters, then you should concentrate on Dragonite, Sneasel and Kirlia. Dragonite remains a good dragon attacker to this day. Kirlia can evolve into Gardevoir and thus become a strong fairy attacker.
Sneasel can evolve into Weavile. This gives you a good attacker that you can use for both the dark and ice types.
The Fashion Raid Day is still a bit away. But until then, you will find events, rotating raid bosses, and Dynamax monsters in Pokémon GO. If you want to know what they are and when they are active in the game, feel free to check out our overview with all events in March 2026 in Pokémon GO.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The DC universe has some powerful villains who not only threaten the world and the universe but can also defeat the strong Superman. MeinMMO presents 7 of them.
How was this list created? We looked at which villains from the DC universe have the abilities to defeat Superman. We focus on the power and abilities of the villains.
For this list, we ignore special variants of Superman and concentrate on the classic version and his abilities. So we do not consider alternatives like Superman Prime or Cosmic Armor Superman.
Superman – Trailer for the new film of the well-known superhero from DC
Mister Mxyzptlk
Mister Mxyzptlk in the Superman: Animated Series (Image source: DC on YouTube)
First appearance: 1944 in the comic Superman No. 30
Even though Mister Mxyzptlk looks like a harmless guy, he is one of the most powerful beings in the DC universe. He is a type of goblin from the 5th dimension, another dimension that exists apart from our space and time.
He is an immortal being who can perceive everything in the universe, and for whom the laws of physics do not apply. His power is based on magic, one of Superman’s greatest weaknesses, and it is so powerful that he cannot actually be defeated. However, he has a weakness: if he says his name backwards, he disappears into the 5th dimension.
Mister Mxyzptlk is actually a harmless being who enjoys annoying Superman and has no goals like conquering the universe. At the same time, he is impulsive and can plunge the whole universe into chaos with little effort.
The community of Crimson Desert agrees: More important than the main quest is everything that happens around it. Now, players reveal what side activities they are most looking forward to.
Everyone probably knows the following feeling: After finishing the tutorial, you land somewhere in a city or camp and can decide for yourself what to do. Skyrim became known for players having already explored the entire game world before embarking on the main quest.
While the developers of Crimson Desert may plan for players to continue with the well-crafted main story, fans of Crimson Desert have something entirely different in mind.
Here you can watch the trailer for Crimson Desert:
Start video
Crimson Desert: Trailer shows powerful graphics engine of the open-world RPG
Everything but the main quest
What do players want to accomplish? Instead of the main quest, players first want to venture out and explore the open game world. At least that’s what the top comment under a post on Reddit reveals. Here, user TheForbiddenLands explains what his first goal is: “Wander across the map to the other side with the mini-map turned off, under-leveled, getting lost and creating my own adventure for the next hundred hours before I even touch the MainQuest.”
Reddit user Razcsi, on the other hand, is first looking for a four-legged friend. His first target is, according to his comment on Reddit, to pick up a cat right away. The developers had already shown this feature in a video, and it also works with farm animals like pigs.
But the faction of fighters is also speaking up on Reddit. Among them is Test88Heavy, who wants to overwhelm the next enemy and test the combat system. He focuses especially on the wrestling moves that the character can learn.
What about faction gameplay? An important gameplay factor is the development of your own faction. Some players have recognized this and hope to gain advantages by quickly leveling up their faction and base on Reddit.
Others simply want to expand their base out of enjoyment for base building. This includes OSRSRapture, who asks on Reddit why not more RPGs allow base customization. After all, he really enjoys this kind of activity.
In WoW: Midnight fishing is stressful because there are also fights. But you can easily turn them off with a trick.
Many people in WoW don’t care about fishing. It’s literally just staring at a progress bar and the need to click once a fish is on the hook – so it’s pretty boring.
Start video
WoW Cinematic with Liadrin: Everything Holy
But many enjoy fishing. They find it meditative and calming while simultaneously collecting important resources needed for guilds or raids – for feasts and the strongest buff food, for example. Many also just watch a series, listen to a podcast, or let music wash over them.
However, the usually relaxed fishing can become a source of stress in Midnight because fishing can trigger fights.
Which fish is the problem? It’s the Blood Hunter. This fish simply does not accept being caught. As soon as you pull it out of the water, a second Blood Hunter appears as an enemy that attacks you immediately. If you defeat the fish, you also get it as loot. But many fish because they don’t want to fight, making such a fish ambush unnecessarily exhausting.
Recommended editorial content
At this point you will find external content from Reddit that complements the article.
I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms.
Read more about our privacy policy.
This not only interrupts your fishing but also makes the relaxing activity of fishing stressful – suddenly you have to fight and concentrate again, even though you just wanted to casually collect fish.
Little trick ends sudden fish ambushes
However, there is a trick that ensures you will never be attacked by Blood Hunters. You just need to sit while fishing. When your character is sitting, no additional Blood Hunter is summoned when fishing for one, and the attack is thus avoided.
Just sit while fishing – and it’s relaxed (sitting on the water must be learned separately).
Why does this work? This is because summoning the Blood Hunter is essentially a “spell” cast by your character. However, this ability is not triggered because it only works while standing. Therefore, when fishing for a Blood Hunter, you also get the error message “You must be standing to do that.”
With this trick, while you might miss an additional Blood Hunter while fishing, you can comfortably continue to catch your fish without ever getting involved in a fight.
The Attorney General is taking action against loot boxes in Valve’s games such as Counter-Strike 2, Team Fortress, or Dota 2, as they allegedly violate New York’s gambling laws. The Attorney General claims that Valve has made billions of dollars by allowing children and adults alike to gamble illegally for valuable virtual prizes.
The agency has filed a lawsuit “to stop Valve’s illegal activities and protect New Yorkers,” as the loot boxes are said to be addictive and harmful as well as illegal.
Start video
Counter-Strike 2: Valve once again impresses with the launch trailer
On March 11, 2026, Valve responded to the lawsuit on Steam. The company addresses some demands made by the Attorney General and explains why it finds them unacceptable.
Valve talks about efforts to avert the lawsuit
This is what Valve says regarding the lawsuit: Valve explains that the New York Attorney General first reached out in early 2023. In response, Valve made efforts to educate the Attorney General about loot boxes and virtual items.
They presented to the Attorney General:
…that this type of box is widespread in games, not only in video games but also in the physical world – for example in the form of collectible card games like Pokémon TCG or Magic: The Gathering.
…that players do not have to open boxes to play Valve games and that most of them would not open boxes at all.
Additionally, Valve disclosed to the Attorney General all efforts to suspend accounts using Valve game items on gambling sites and reported on Valve’s measures to combat fraud and theft of user items.
Valve also emphasizes in the statement that they have already suspended over a million Steam accounts that were abused by third parties in connection with gambling, fraud, and theft.
“Would have meant the introduction of invasive technologies for every user worldwide”
These are Valve’s concerns: In the second half of the statement, Valve addresses concerns regarding some demands from the New York Attorney General:
The Attorney General is demanding, for example, that items should not be transferable. However, Valve refuses to take away the players’ right to transferability as it allows users to sell or trade unwanted items for something else.
Furthermore, Valve states that there was a proposal to collect additional information about each player in case someone anonymized their location (e.g., via VPN) in New York. According to Valve, this would have meant the introduction of invasive technologies for every user worldwide.
According to Valve, the Attorney General also requested to collect more personal data from users to conduct additional age verification. Valve counters that most users from New York, however, use payment methods that already have built-in age verification.
Valve rejects these demands, as they only want to collect information that is necessary for business operations and legal compliance.
In Diablo 4 today, the new Season 12 starts. However, it brings server problems. Here you will find all the latest information about queue times and server status.
Wednesday, 11.03.2026
19:15
Some players were already in the game but got kicked out again or struggled with lags and rubber-banding.
19:10
On social networks, players report various issues. Some seem to be stuck in queues of up to 20 minutes, others in endless loading screens.
19:00
Currently, you receive the message that you are logging into the game. However, it appears that you cannot proceed, so you cannot play yet.
There is also currently a message on Battle.net that there are crashes and that they are investigating this:
18:45
Good evening and welcome to our live ticker for Season 12 of Diablo 4. We will keep you updated here as soon as there are news about the servers and queues. So feel free to check back often and bookmark this page.
On March 11, 2026, Season 12 of Diablo 4 was supposed to start. However, currently, many players are reporting server problems and queues that do not end.
In the trailer, you can see the new content at a glance:
Start video
Diablo 4 shows new content from Season 12, the Season of Slaughter, in the trailer
This is what Season 12 brings to Diablo 4: With Season 12, new content comes to Diablo 4. The new season is called “Season of Slaughter” and is all about slaughtering. Literally, everything revolves around bloody mayhem. For example, you can transform into the iconic Butcher and boost your killstreaks with monster kills. You can find all the information about Season 12 in our overview: Diablo 4 Season 12 – everything about start, release date, and the PTR
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
