Just two days after the disastrous release of Total War: Shogun 2 - Complete Edition, Sega says it is removing the game from sale and putting the original back until it gets things sorted out.

WHAT HAPPENED:

• In September, Sega announced a remaster of Total War: Shogun 2, set to launch just a month later. Sean Martin, PC Gamer's number one shogunner, was very excited.
• In October, Shogun Sean took the remastered version for a test run and was not entirely impressed: "Any reason to return to Shogun 2 in 2026 is something to be celebrated, but I just wish Complete Edition felt more extensive and essential versus leaving so much undone."
• The next day, Shogun 2 Complete Edition launched on Steam, and it was ugly: Thousands of negative user reviews spurred by old bugs, ignored quality of life complaints, and maybe worst of all, accusations—thus far unconfirmed—of undisclosed generative AI use.
• Adding insult to injury, before the Compete Edition launched, Sega pulled the original from sale.

Which brings us to now: After two days of silence, Sega has finally made a move: It says "the current experience is not where it needs to be," and is thus "working with platform holders to remove the game from sale and to reinstate the original game while we investigate the issues."

Anyone who purchased Shogun 2 - Complete Edition will still have access to it, but how (or if) Sega will enable them to go back to playing the original version wasn't clarified.

Pulling Shogun 2 - Complete Edition from sale and restoring the original is obviously the right move, and today's message promises improvements to the game to bring it more in-line with expectations, so hopefully we'll see some of the more glaring bugs and QoL issues resolved.

But all of this is still a very bad look for Creative Assembly, which has had something of an up-and-down history with its games and players over the years. It's a particular shame coming so soon after the company's successful launch of the Lords of the End Times expansion for Total War: Warhammer, which has been widely praised.

The announcement of Total War: Warhammer 40k also has a lot of RTS fans, and WH40K sickos, very excited, and nonsense like this really takes the wind out of those sails: If Shogun 2 - Complete Edition allowed out the door in this condition, how are fans supposed to expect better in the future?

A few fans have also pointed out that in 2024, Sega's Aegis-CWA union accused the company of outsourcing Q&A and some localization services, resulting in the layoffs of 61 people.

As I write this, Shogun 2 - Complete Edition remains available for purchase on Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store—Sega has not specified when it will be removed. It has also not yet responded to the accusations of gen AI usage in Shogun 2 - Complete Edition—I've reached out to ask about that and will update if I receive a reply.

Epic Games has just overhauled its launcher using generative AI, unveiling a new "vibe coded" version meant to be faster than Valve's Steam – but, spoiler alert… it's seemingly not so quick, after all.

Although Epic publicly called out Steam, claiming its launcher is now "faster than the other guy" (with Valve's launcher being the other guy here, if that's not obvious), fans are proving the company wrong – and, hey, why not?

After all, Epic Games did also instruct us to "test it out" for ourselves should we not believe its claims. And, as it turns out, a new Steam update dropped just one day before Epic's controversial assertion.

You'll find the full details over on Steam itself, where one little note in particular stands out: "Improved Steam Client startup performance." In other words, the Steam launcher boots up more quickly than it did before – and boy, does it.

So much more, in fact, that it beats the so-called improved Epic launcher and its AI-powered foundation.

A user on X records their screen to prove it, amusingly writing, "they didn't even take 24 hours to eat them alive."

Yes, "they" is Steam and "them" is Epic there – and it's undeniably hilarious. The clip shows Steam opening in five seconds, which is a solid five seconds less than Epic claimed it takes.

I decided to test this myself, too, opening both Steam and Epic, and I'm happy to report that it all checks out. Valve did beat Epic Games to the punch here with its Steam update, and others online are finding the same.

A separate post sees another user test the speed, for example. They, too, declare that "Epic's claim is WRONG" and Steam launches in five seconds.

It's not the only exciting thing about Valve's patch, either. There are various gorgeous Big Picture Mode changes, improvements to everything from layout to the in-game overlay, and plenty more.

It's a hefty update that deserves more attention than the Epic comparisons it's getting – but hey, they are funny… and, apparently, valid.

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Destiny 2 and Star Wars Jedi star Debra Wilson says she prefers playing characters who aren't modeled after her, and questioned why Marvel's Wolverine developer, Insomniac, made Callisto use her likeness.

Despite a film and TV career dating back to 1992, Debra Wilson has become one of the most prolific video game actors of all time in the last decade. While she did have roles in the likes of Metal Gear Solid 4 and Halo 3, Wilson has been in a huge number of games as of late – 10 in 2019 alone and a further 27 games since 2023 – including major roles in Death Stranding 2 and most recently Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve.

Speaking on a June 2026 episode of Hyperfixated with Joseph Shepherd (which has since resurfaced on social media), Wilson was asked by the host why so many characters she plays feature her likeness. She explains, "The game designers do that. I don't do that," recalling that this was the case with Star Wars Jedi's Cere Junda, Marvel's Wolverine's Callisto, and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's Amanda Waller – the latter of which she notes, "I am so grateful that I've played Amanda Waller from the Suicide Squad in three different iterations and only one of them looked like me."

Wilson adds, "I honestly love games where they don't look like me at all," and asks, "If it just looks like me, then how do you get a chance to really escape into a character?" For her recent role in Marvel's Wolverine, Wilson notes that Callisto "is a known character in the world of X-Men" and thinks, "Why make it look like me when there are so many iterations?"

Wilson also notes that she's been cast as "European character with foreign accents," saying "I love doing those characters." She adds that when she returns to do pickup lines "I go back in to do that to look at them and see me, and not see me," explaining "I look at it, and again, feel me in that: I am in there like I'm really in there."

I realize the irony of saying this as a Hideo Kojima fan – with Death Stranding filled with actors' likenesses, including Wilson – but I totally agree. I think there is an element of bespoke character design that is lost when something like Marvel's Wolverine uses Troy Baker's face for Mister Sinister, and it almost feels like the AAA game trend of trying to be films, when some of the most iconic game characters of all time look nothing like their actors at all.

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Dune: Awakening developer Funcom is pivoting to focus on its two ongoing online projects, Conan Exiles and the more recent survival MMO based on Frank Herbert's universe – a pivot that means reshuffling the team and, unfortunately, layoffs.

The news comes from GamesIndustry.biz alongside a direct statement from Funcom CEO Rui Casais, who says he's stepping down at the end of 2026 after 11 years as studio lead. Chief product officer Scott Junior will step into his role – but that's not the only change in the books for the team.

"Dune: Awakening has been the biggest project we have ever undertaken, requiring many years of significant development resources across our studios," Casais says. "Moving from full production into long-term post-launch development and operations requires a different organization."

In other words, layoffs.

"While we would have wanted everyone who helped build Dune: Awakening to continue with us, we cannot sustain the size and structure required during peak development as we move into this next phase."

As for how much of the team these layoffs will affect… Well, that remains uncertain.

Casais concludes, "My focus now is ensuring the process is as supportive as possible for everyone affected, and to treat our colleagues with the respect and transparency they deserve."

It's undeniably difficult news to take in, especially when considering how Dune: Awakening just saw the arrival of its single-player mode and console release – it's not a "dead" or dying game by any means, but I suppose that's not enough.

It's not the first round of layoffs Funcom developers have faced, either. Last October, the team lost "cherished colleagues" following a similar statement to GamesIndustry.biz.

Those previous redundancies also accompanied words on how Dune: Awakening "has already shown incredible potential" and was "the biggest release we've had in our 32-year long history of making great games."

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