Analysis

The very best video game and entertainment analysis from Polygon's team of experts.

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A close-up of Marathon's thief, with a purple lit visor in front of her eyes
Critics have decided they love Marathon, which means it’s on its way to The Game Awards

A GOTY nomination is a long shot, but the multiplayer category is Bungie’s to lose

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An image of what looks like multiple Fortnite theme parks around a center beam of light.
The Fortnite layoffs are another consequence of gaming giving into big tech’s fads

It’s exhausting, isn’t it?

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A man on horseback rides through a huge, spectacular fantasy mountain vista in Crimson Desert
The rise of the ‘outsider AAA’ studio

A new breed of reactionary studio from outside gaming's traditional heartlands wants a piece of the blockbuster pie

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Joker against a red background in a piece of Persona 5 promotional art
C'mon Atlus — Where the heck is Persona 6?

With Persona 4 no-showing the Xbox event, it’s not clear what Atlus has planned for 2026

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Screenshot of Rumi, Zoey, Mira from KPop Demon Hunters. Rumi sits on the back of a car, arms outstretched, across a golden background.
KPop Demon Hunters' directors stand to make an absolute fortune from the sequel

A rare case of the creatives winning big

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Dwayne Johnson as The Foundation in Fortnite
Epic layoffs are a bad sign, analyst says: 'If Fortnite can't make it, what chance do other games have?'

Circana's Mat Piscatella reads the writing on the wall

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pikachu fainted in the Pokémon anime
GameStop keeps increasing prices for Pokémon cards, and it's getting out of control

For certain releases, fans can expect to pay 50% or more over the MSRP

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A close up of a Switch 2 with the Joy-Con 2 detaching
Report says Nintendo is cutting Switch 2 production, but let's not panic yet

Investors are worried after a weak holiday season, but there are other factors at play

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snakebite (1)
Slay the Spire 2 fans can't decide if this is the worst card in the game

Snakebite, in this economy??

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Two runners in Marathon running through the grass.
Less than a month after launch, Marathon has done the impossible

The extraction shooter is one heck of a conversation starter

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An image from Critical Role featuring the Schemers table.
Brennan Lee Mulligan reveals the surprisingly personal inspiration behind Critical Role Campaign 4

The concept for this adventure dates back to the DM's college years

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Resident Evil Requiem's Grace running with NVIDIA DLSS 5
The race for next-gen graphics went off a cliff this week

Between Crimson Desert and DLSS5, gaming’s tech future is called into question

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candy land food network show set
Candy Land’s creator is the kindest one-hit wonder of all time

Eleanor Abbott set out to help sick kids pass the time and accidentally created one of the greatest board games ever

key art for Minecraft
The story of Minecraft is one of the saddest in gaming history

Notch never followed up his miracle creation. Neither did Tetris’ Alexey Pajitnov. How come only one of them could live with it?

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Slay the Spire 2 key art
Slay the Spire 2 fans are turning on the game for the silliest possible reason

Adjustments to popular decks and buffs to enemy bosses have Steam fans up in arms

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Klyff from Crimson Desert sat on a rock next to a stream.
Crimson Desert just lost its GOTY chances unless it completely upends history

A Game Awards nomination is just about possible thanks to one particular precedent

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Bouncer header
25 years ago, an ambitious PS2 flop paved the way for Kingdom Hearts

With big shorts, lots of belts, and tribal tattoos, The Bouncer is peak ‘00s Square

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Super Mario's head on a red background
The Switch 2's era of dominance is finally here

With Pokemon Pokopia, the Switch 2 finally has a system seller -- but that's not all

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Kliff performs a spell on a path in Crimson Desert on Windows PC but not PS5 or Xbox because those versions haven't been playable in time for the review embargo
We still don't know what Crimson Desert is like on PS5 and Xbox

We were only offered access to the Windows PC version of the game

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Artwork from spider-man the animated series
Spider-Man: Brand New Day sure looks like it’s adapting a classic '90s cartoon story

‘Intriguing,’ says Dr. Michael Morbius

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