With the holiday season approaching, things are starting to pick up in the gaming world. And with that means the news is coming in hot and heavy every week. With that, though, means there’s like some gaming news you might have missed this week. Luckily, Insider Gaming is here to catch you up on some of the biggest stories of the week along with some that may have flown under the radar.
There was a new Splinter Cell in development, but Ubisoft reportedly turned it into xDefiant, and we have a firm window on the Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Remake release. On the awards front, The Game Awards announced their nominees for 2025, and the 43rd Annual Golden Joystick Awards were held this week.
Elsewhere, Concord has been shut down a second time and Hytale is back after being bought out by its creator, Hypixel. All these stories and more in your Insider Gaming weekly recap.
The Gaming News You Missed
Below you’ll find some of the biggest stories of the week along with other stories that flew under the radar that you should know. If there’s anything else you think should be included, let us know in the comments. You can also talk about the news and more in the official Insider Gaming Discord.
A New Splinter Cell Was in Development, But Ubisoft Canceled It
Ubisoft was working on a new entry in the Splinter Cell franchise, but Ubisoft decided to cancel it before it was ever announced.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, AdHoc Studio co-founder Nick Herman spoke about how Dispatch came to be and an interesting situation that led to the studio’s formation.
Herman was hired in 2017 by Ubisoft, along two other AdHoc cofounders Pierre Shorette and Dennis Lenart, and moved to work in Ubisoft’s San Francisco office. Upon arrival, they were put on the new Splinter Cell project.
EXCLUSIVE: Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Remake Set to Launch Before March 31
The Assassin’s Creed Black Flag remake is one of the most talked-about games within the Ubisoft machine, but until now, it hasn’t been formally acknowledged by the company. However, Insider Gaming has covered the game extensively over the past 18 months and has now learned that it’s set to launch before March 31, 2026.
This exclusive news comes as Ubisoft publishes the delayed financial update deck that was pushed back and went hand-in-hand with a halt on trading, fueling speculation about the company’s future.
There’s even a specific window fans should expect to see the game.
Xbox Doubles Down on Next-Gen Console and Calls It a ‘Powerful Experience’
In a recent video published by Fortune, Xbox President Sarah Bond spoke about the next-generation Xbox console, which has long been a point of debate and contention amongst gamers. Some believe Xbox is getting out of hardware, while die-hard fans are fully preparing to stump up the cash for whatever comes next.
Sarah Bond insists that the next Xbox will offer a ‘powerful experience’ that will be portable and accessible across multiple platforms, going with players ‘everywhere they go’.
Golden Joystick Awards 2025 – All Award Winners
On November 20, the Golden Joystick Awards 2025 took place in London, and there was no shortage of awards to be given out to the various winners this year.
It’s the 43nd-Annual edition of the Golden Joystick Awards, and it featured 24 awards and dozens of games both large and small sharing the stage for the show. Nearly all of the awards are voted on by the fans with just four being decided by a panel of critics and creators. Those four awards are: Streamers’ Choice, Breakthrough, Critics’ Choice, and Lifetime Achievement.
Check out the full list of award nominees and winners.
The Game Awards 2025—All Award Nominees
The nominees for The Game Awards 2025 have been announced. For more than a decade, the show, hosted by Geoff Keighley, celebrates the year’s best games and highlights the future of the industry. With 2025 being as great a year for game releases, there were already some tight competition. Now, we know just what stood out for outlets and the judges.
All of the categories were voted on by a panel of judges from various outlets. The winners are mostly chosen by that group, but fans can vote for their favorites on the site as well. However, the biggest category that’s fully fan-voted is Player’s Voice. Nominations for the category will be announced at a later date. Last year, Astro Bot won Game of the Year, with Metaphor: ReFantazio and Balatro winning several awards as well.
Check out the full list of 2025’s nominees.
Battlefield 6 Breaks Franchise Sales Record
In what may sound obvious at this point, Electronic Arts (EA) has found itself a hit with Battlefield 6. In the latest United States (US) sales report from Circana, Battlefield 6 has it a major sales record for the franchise.
According to the data provided, Battlefield 6 is the best-selling game in series history. It’s sales alone in October not only made it the best-selling game of both the month and year, but also saw it surpass the lifetime sales of Battlefield 1. Up until this year, Battlefield 1 had been the highest-selling game every for Battlefield.
But that’s not all.
Hytale Is Back After Being Reacquired By Hypixel Studios
Hypixel Studios is back, and they have brought an old friend along with it. On Monday, founder Simon Collins-Laflamme announced that they had reacquired the rights to sandbox game Hytale from Riot Games.
The news comes roughly five months since it was announced that the game was being shut down.
Concord Has Effectively Been Shut Down By Sony For A Second Time
Concord has gone down in infamy as an all-time Sony and PlayStation blunder. It’s also understandable that the company wants to sweep the game’s existence under the rug, which is why Sony has presumably and swiftly issued DMCAs notices to gameplay videos of a fan-inspired Concord reboot, causing access to the game to be halted.
Now, a community effort to resurrect the game has been met with strong action.
Star Citizen Hits 13 Years of Development & Nearly $900 Million In Funding, And It’s Still In Alpha
The long road to Star Citizen’s full release looks to be continuing, as it’s been 13 years since the game was announced. We’ve checked back in from time to time, and the latest update is that Star Citizen is still in alpha, and it’s swiftly closing in on $900 million of crowd-funded money.
Say what you want, yes, but Star Citizen actually looks like a quality game. On the other hand, it probably should do when it’s had the development time that many multi-game franchises get and enough money to fund several Hollywood-level movies. Cloud Imperium Games’ Star Citizen could end up being one of the most fascinating games of our time.
Resident Evil Requiem Producer Addresses Leon Kennedy Rumors
In an interview with stevivor, Resident Evil Requiem producer Masato Kumazawa opened up on the upcoming sequel.
It should be noted that Kumazawa’s responses were translated via an interpreter. While we don’t discredit the translator, there’s always the possibility that something was lost in translation. But when asked about the future of Leon Kennedy and the rumors that he might be in Resident Evil Requiem, Kumazawa had a simple response…
The Weekly Gaming News Recap
While this is some of the gaming news you may have missed, there’s still plenty of news across the games industry. To catch up on all of the latest news you need to know, check out Insider Gaming’s news archives.
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Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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