In gaming news for this week, GameStop gets played in the stock market, while games likeCyberpunk 2077are now allegedly playable in the latest Tesla automobile. Game Rant has compiled some of the biggest gaming news stories from this past week together into a concise post for fans and enthusiasts to stay up to date on the most important events in the industry per week. Highlighting the most relevant stories, this list is not inherently and totally objective, and will not contain every news story this week. Rather, this is intended for gaming fans who want a quick rundown on the largest/most impactful stories that occurred in the last week in games.
This week’sroundup of gaming newsis certainly busy, with tons of different stories coming out ranging from exciting, to disappointing, to downright strange. Obviously the GameStop “Stonks” and r/wallstreetbets saga has been the center of attention this week. G4 announces its most iconic shows are set to return next summer. Upcoming PS5 exclusiveReturnalhas been delayed, though not very far. Naughty Dog’sThe Last of Us 2reaches another impressive milestone as one of the most critically acclaimed video games of all time. For some reason, Hideki Kamiya wants fans to “forget” aboutBayonetta 3. All that and more in this week’s recap of the biggest gaming news.
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GameStop, ‘Stonks,’ and r/wallstreetbets Playing the Stock Market
One of the biggest gaming news events didn’t necessarily involve games, but the GameStop retailer itself. This week, after a collective ofactivists under the r/wallstreetbets subreddit invested into GameStop, resulting in the struggling gaming company’s share price soaring several hundred percent. The entire short-selling ploy was orchestrated from that Reddit forum, with many claiming they were gaining many thousands of dollars in market profit.
Currently, many of the investors from that subreddit are refusing to sell, with the goal of jeopardizing the hedge fund investors who were originally short-selling GameStop stock to make a profit at the company’s expense. Now many hedge funds like Melvin Capital have closed out their short positions after incurring massive losses. Even as of this writing, many members of the community to express “don’t sell” sentimentsas GameStop’s share price continues to fluctuate.
G4’s Iconic Shows, Attack of the Show and X-Play, Return This Summer
The unexpected return of G4 is finally starting to make headway in 2021, as the network announces two iconic shows are making a return. BothAttack of the ShowandX-Playwill be returning to the revived G4 networkthis summer. Many have taken the trailer’s “the legends return” phrasing as a potential hint of the original cast returning to the shows as well.
Some of the industry’s most iconic personalities, like Olivia Munn and and Adam Sessler, rose to fame because of the original G4 network and these iconic shows. This reunion was very much hinted at during G4’s holiday special, but alsonew faces like Austin Creed will be joining the new G4 networkas well.
Upcoming next-gen PS5 Exclusive Returnal Has Been Delayed a Month
UpcomingHousemarque PS5-exclusiveReturnalhas officially been delayed, though not by very much. Originally intended to release on March 19,Returnal’s release date has been pushed back to June 24, 2025. According to an official statement from PlayStation, the game was pushed back “in order to give the team extra time to continue to polish the game to the level of quality players expect from Housemarque.”
Returnalis the Groundhog Day-fueled space thriller and roguelike made by the developers ofResogunon PS4. Alongside its next-gen aesthetic and gameplay mechanics, the exclusive is also being fully optimized to take advantage of the PS5’s DualSense haptic feedback andimpressive loading speeds from the console’s custom SSD.
Resident Evil Village Actor Jeanette Maus Has Passed Away
Unfortunately, one of the actors behind theforthcoming release ofResident Evil Villagehas passed away. Announced on Twitter by Capcom, 39-year-old Jeanette Maus died on Jun 18, 2025, due to complications with colon cancer that she had been battling for several months. Maus is survived by her fiancé Dusty Warren.
Maus was the actor behind many characters inVillage, though primarily known for her role as one of the witches (daughters of House Dimitrescu) that terrorizes Ethan throughout the mansion.Resident Evil Villageis planned to release on June 12, 2025.
Hades Sweeps the 2021 New York Game Awards
The 10th annual New York Game Awards were held this week, once again highlighting the many great games that released in 2020. Co-hosted by Reggie Fils-Aime and Harold Goldberg, founder of the New York Videogame Critics Circle, nominees were up for 13 categories of awards.Hadesin particular did very well at the New York Game Awards, taking home a total of five wins:
The Last of Us 2 Has Become One of the Most-Awarded Games of All Time
Ironically, despite the crunch criticisms weighed against Naughty Dog’s work,The Last of Us 2has become one of the most critically-acclaimed video gamesof all time. As pointed out by a Reddit user, who compiled all of the awards the game has received,The Last of Us 2has received 261 Game of the Year awards from various media outlets. This may come as no surprise to some, asThe Last of Us 2similarly swept Geoff Keighley’s The Game Awards last year as well.
Xbox Game Pass Reaches Significant Subscriber Milestone
Additionally, Microsoft also noted some additional milestones; including 100 million Xbox Live monthly active users, $2 billion in revenue from third party content in its latest financial quarter, as well as having one of the most successful Xbox launches in Microsoft’s history.
RELATED:5 Great Classic Games on Xbox Game Pass
Scavengers Studio’s Creative Director Suspended After Allegations of Abuse
Following several gruesome abuse allegations of “belittling, screaming at, groping” fellow developers,Scavengers Studio’s creative director has been suspendedpending an investigation. Nine anonymous developers and staff from the studio reached out to Rebekah Valentine of Gamesindustry.biz, detailing horrible acts on behalf of the Montreal Studio’s director Simon Darveau.
Nearly every one of the nine anonymous staff described a working environment akin to “boys' club,” a common reoccurrence in game development. This comes as deeply shockingcompared to the studio’s latest gameSeason, which is completely at odds with what the working culture is described as.
Hideki Kamiya, In Jest, Asks Fans to ‘Forget’ about Bayonetta 3
After years have gone by since the announcement ofBayonetta 3, it seems the game is still much farther away than anticipated. According to an interview with VGC, series creator Hideki Kamiya seemed to elude to the third game maybe being announced too early. Kamiya even went as far as to say “maybe we should all reset and forget aboutBayonetta 3,” granted as a joke. Kamiya recently also mentioned that Platinum Games would be providing an update onBayonetta 3at some point this year.
Sonic the Hedgehog Voice Actor Steps Down From Titular Role
After many years of taking on and reprising the role of the titular character,Roger Craig Smith will no longer be the actor behindSonic the Hedgehog. Announced by the actor himself, alongside the officialSonic the HedgehogTwitter account, Roger is stepping down from the role after over a decade. Roger Craig Smith was the voice of Sonic in most mainlineSonicgames since 2010, as well as spin-offs likeTeam Sonic Racingand the character’s inclusion inSuper Smash Bros.
