Good morning!

Look, I know there’s a lot going on, but trust me, this week’s gaming chaos is worth your attention. Star Citizen is imploding mid-warp after hitting $800 million in crowdfunding (yes, you read that right). Bungie’s Marathon is sprinting straight into disaster, and somehow Doom is now fighting Linux users instead of demons.

Meanwhile, Rockstar's still selling GTA 5 like it just launched yesterday, and Twitch is doing what Twitch does, blessing us with numbers no one asked for but we all pretend to understand.

In this edition, we’ve got:

• Star Citizen’s $800M meltdown

• Bungie’s flaming Marathon AMA

• Twitch's trending games and a very awkward Doom DRM story

Keep reading, it's juicy.

Here’s everything you need to know this week in the world of gaming.

TOP STORY

💥 Star Citizen's $800 Million Meltdown

If you caught my recent video on this whole Star Citizen mess (and signed up through it), then hey, you already got the hot tea in your inbox. But if not? Buckle up, it’s time to break down the most expensive midlife crisis in gaming history.

Quick Context for the Uninitiated:

Star Citizen is the never-ending sci-fi mega game that’s raised over $800 million from players since 2012. It technically exists, you can download it, fly ships, explore planets, attend in-game funerals (yes, really). The tech is impressive. The promises? Even more so.

But now... the community, yes, even the big-spending whales, is turning on it.

The TL;DR Breakdown

• They’ve started selling in-game performance mods (called “AI blades”) that make your ship better... but only if you pay for them with real-world money.

• You can’t earn them in-game. Not now, and maybe not for a long time.

• These “blades” can auto-aim turrets, boost speed, and basically make your ship straight-up better than someone else’s, even if they earned it through gameplay.

• This isn't just cosmetics. It's pay-to-win, plain and simple.

• They’re also selling bomb racks, armor, racing kits, and more, all with stat-altering perks. All behind little paywalls that add up fast.

And let’s not forget that some ships cost $1,500+. One guy even bought a $15,000 bundle, comes with 66 ships and 105 items. Because why not yeet your net worth into digital space?

The Ship That Broke the Star Camel's Back: The Idris

This massive warship, long-promised and hyped, is now being released early. It needs 12+ people to run all its turrets, can carry tanks, and looks absolutely sick. But here’s the kicker:

To actually make it viable, you’ll need those AI blades... which are only available as paid add-ons. So you buy the ship for $1,500 and then… surprise! Gotta cough up even more to make it usable.

Cool.

Let me know what you think of it below 👇

Why Is This Happening Now?

Because, despite pulling in hundreds of millions, Star Citizen is burning cash like a drunk space pirate on payday.

Their 2023 financials (released this May) show ballooning expenses across dev, marketing, salaries, the whole nine parsecs. And revenue? Not keeping up. It’s a sinking capital ship, and the devs are clearly scrambling.

Now, they’re trying to rush Squadron 42, the long-teased singleplayer campaign, out the door to keep the lights on. But until that miracle lands, they’re squeezing the current player base for every dollar possible.

The Sad Punchline?

They’re doing all of this because they’re desperate.

And when developers get desperate, they start selling the game itself piece by piece.

Unless they pull a miracle out of hyperspace and backtrack fast, Star Citizen’s long-promised dream might crash land into the same pit where your money disappeared.

🎥 Want the full breakdown? Check out my video below 👇

LATEST NEWS

GENERAL

• Dawn of War is back, baby. Shinier, meaner, and ready to melt your GPU in true grimdark fashion. It’s the same “cleanse, purge, kill” classic you love, just finally optimized for something made after 2004. 👇

• Doom: The Dark Ages is out here slaying demons AND Linux users. If you dared to troubleshoot on Proton, Denuvo thinks you’re running a pirate ship and locks you out of playing Doom. Imagine paying full price to get gatekept by your own game, nice. (404media)

• GTA 5 is out here selling 5 million copies every quarter like it’s still 2013. Meanwhile, Red Dead 2 is winning the long game and Rockstar's just printing money. At this point, GTA 6 could drop with a potato launcher and still break records. (GamesRadar)

QUICK LINKS

• Lego Bionicle fan game Masks of Power shut down after eight years in development.

• Bungie runs an hour-long Marathon "PlayMA" with zero gameplay footage while scrubbing the art for plagiarism as the game's art director offers a "personal apology" to the artist whose work was lifted.

• Nintendo apologizes and admits Switch 2 won’t support VRR in docked mode despite earlier claims.

• Ex Dragon Age writer says Baldur's Gate 3 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 prove publishers wrong on how successful RPGs can be "when the game is good".

• Labor dispute erupts over AI-voiced Darth Vader in Fortnite.

• If you think The Witcher 4 making Ciri the protagonist is "woke," then "read the damn books

• Former Bethesda studio lead explains Creation Engine will "inevitably" need to change one day, but switching to Unreal could sacrifice modding as we know it.

• ‘Stellar Blade’ Sequel Confirmed, Possibly Coming In 2026.

• Stellar Blade devs confirm PS5 players will get the PC version's new boss fight and 25 extra costumes in a "free update" as the action-RPG escapes console exclusivity next month.

LATEST VIDEO

🚨 Marathon Is Melting Down in Real Time

Remember when Marathon was supposed to be Bungie’s next big thing? Yeah... about that. What we’ve got now is less "next-gen shooter" and more slow-motion implosion, complete with art theft drama, zero gameplay at press events, and the kind of leadership decisions that make you want to stare directly into the sun.

Bungie’s devs are sleep-deprived, the AMA was held without actual gameplay (good plan), and morale?
Free-falling harder than Marathon’s Twitch numbers.

Oh, and that sleek art style everyone liked? Turns out... parts of it weren’t exactly original. Yikes.

Sony spent $3.7 billion acquiring Bungie, and this might be them speedrunning a write-off just to avoid paying out those juicy executive stock bonuses. It’s giving: petty billion-dollar revenge plot, and I respect it.

TL;DR: Bungie tried to "let it cook." The kitchen's on fire. The neighborhood’s on fire.

WHAT’S TRENDING?

MOST POPULAR:

The Twitch throne is still firmly held by Just Chatting, pulling in 59.3M hours watched this week (📈 +3.3%). The usual suspects follow closely behind, though League of Legends took a slight dip.

🥇 Just Chatting – 59,280,271 hours watched (📈 +3.3%)
🥈 Counter-Strike – 22,914,208 hours watched (📈 +50.1%)
🥉 Grand Theft Auto V – 20,053,742 hours watched (📈 +4.0%)
🎯 League of Legends – 16,722,068 hours watched (📉 -13.3%)
🌀 VALORANT – 13,346,886 hours watched (📈 +9.4%)

TRENDING:

These games are exploding right now,Counter-Strike is leading the pack with a massive spike, while a certain demon-slaying title is clawing its way into the spotlight.

🔥 Counter-Strike – +8.08M hours (📈 +50.1%)
🧱 Minecraft – +1.94M hours (📈 +33.5%)
🗣 Just Chatting – +1.59M hours (📈 +3.3%)
🎯 VALORANT – +1.36M hours (📈 +9.4%)
🔫 DOOM: The Dark Ages – +1.13M hours (📈 +11.9%)