Reception to the new 'Fallout' season is good, but the audience just ain't there on a week-by-week basis.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premiered on HBO last night, but it doesn't exactly say when it's set in Game of Thrones history. Plus, do you want to know who Egg is?

Never underestimate human ingenuity. Just when you think nothing else can be discovered, someone will come out of the woodwork to show you just how wrong you are. I've found that this has happened a lot in Arc Raiders, as players keep surprising me with how creative they can get when killing arcs and other raiders.

When the deadline mine was first introduced into Arc Raiders, it created new opportunities for players to take out large arcs like Rocketeers or Bastions in one hit, provided they could get close enough to actually attach the mine first. But now players are taking it one step further, and attaching not only deadline mines to arcs but also fireworks with them.

"I thought it would be possible, so I tried" were the words uttered by an ingenious Arc Raiders player. Alongside is a clip showing just how they managed to snap hook onto the back of a Rocketeer before attaching a box of fireworks to it. Only for the Rocketeer to fly off and then put on a little fireworks show over the ruins of Buried City.

"After this video, I repeated it on Spaceport night raid," the player continues. "I put two fireworks, set them off and flew on it. It was so much better at night, but I forgot to record it. When I jumped down, I found two solo guys watching it together." I bet it was certainly a sight to behold.

Arc Raiders players have also managed to get a fireworks box on something as small as a Wasp. Turning the little killing machine into a pretty little killing machine. Although I'm not sure the juice is worth the squeeze on this one, as it doesn't look quite as spectacular as it would on the back of a Rocketeer.

Will this be something I try? Absolutely. Will it be something I can pull off? Probably not. I don't even have a snap hook blueprint yet, so I'm treating what stock I do have with some care. But if by some miracle I do manage to get on the back of a Rocketeer and plant a fireworks box on it, everyone will hear about it.

Arc Raiders Field Depots: Where to find 'em
Arc Raiders Field Crates: How to use 'em
Arc Raiders Greasing Her Palms: Cartographer
Arc Raiders A Reveal in Ruins: Buried City pharmacies
Arc Raiders The Root of the Matter: Room with a view
Arc Raiders Armored Transports: Loot patrol cars
Arc Raiders best skills: Survive the surface
Arc Raiders Expeditions: Retire your Raider

If I asked you to name your favorite anime end credits sequence, there's probably one or two that immediately spring to mind, whether it's because of a certain art style or catchy piece of music.

Previously, I would go to bat for Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood's series of iconic EDs, but a new contender has emerged: Frieren season 2's ending 'The Story of Us', sung by Milet with illustrations by artist Mimei Auome.

Using only coloring pencils, Auome brings to life Frieren's journey in stunning fashion. It gets even more impressive once you see Auome's painstaking illustrations for each scene, which they have since posted on their official Twitter account. See for yourself below.

『葬送のフリーレン』第2期ノンクレジットED映像公開🪄 ♪EDテーマ：「The Story of Us」miletYouTube▼https://t.co/m1BMKlzlJT#frieren #milet@milet_music pic.twitter.com/0zLW1XLKKcJanuary 16, 2026

https://t.co/oY44O5Nr3O pic.twitter.com/HVrtitc0THJanuary 18, 2026

pic.twitter.com/7IUCQJQB8uJanuary 19, 2026

With the proliferation of AI in anime continuing to rear its ugly head, 'The Story of Us' feels like the perfect counter-argument to why art needs a human touch. Better still, it elevates Frieren season 2 even further with its short love story between Himmel and Frieren, replete with vivid color and emotion.

Last year saw multiple AI controversies erupt in the anime industry. Several AI English dubs were removed from Prime Video after fan outcry, while short film Twins Hinahima – made almost entirely using AI – debuted last March.

After OpenAI launched its Sora 2 video generation software, the backlash mounted up after its use of iconic anime characters. That led to Japanese parliament member Akihisa Shiozaki stating on his social media that "Japan bears a responsibility to take the lead on making rules (related to AI and copyright infringement), precisely because we are a country that has captivated the world with the creative power of anime, games, and music."

For more, check out our guides on new anime and the Frieren season 2 release schedule.

When you think of MMOs, your mind immediately wanders towards high fantasy. World of Warcraft. Final Fantasy 14 (clue's in the name there). Guild Wars 2. There's something about fantastical worlds that makes them perfect for massive online videogames. But I'm sick of seeing thick brick dungeons and high-flying dragons. While I never really jelled with Destiny, I've always wondered what a true sci-fi MMO could look like. Imagine a dingy Night City-esque universe with its suburbs and underground tunnels. That's what Project Blackbird, an ambitious creation from Elder Scrolls Online developer Zenimax, was meant to be.

Read the full story on PCGamesN: Footage of ESO dev's canceled cyberpunk MMO has leaked online, and it's got serious Ghostrunner and Mirror's Edge vibes

With sales of its consoles falling, Xbox has started looking at other sources of raising its revenues. According to Windows Central, one of these sources looks like it will be through advertising to players using Xbox Cloud Gaming. The publication has noted that Xbox Cloud Gaming players have recently started seeing a splash screen notifying them that “1 hour of ad supported playtime per session” will be allowed.

The Verge’s Tom Warren has further corroborated this, noting that this notification has nothing to do with Xbox Game Pass. Rather, it will be a new ad-supported free version of Xbox Cloud Gaming. Currently, Xbox Cloud Gaming can only be accessed if you have an active subscription to Xbox Game Pass. The ad-supported tier seems to be a new way for Microsoft to bolster its revenue from the Xbox division.

While Microsoft itself hasn’t yet confirmed that ads are being rolled out to Xbox Cloud Gaming through any official announcement, it had spoken about the idea last year. According to Windows Central, the company had said that it would display advertisements on Xbox Cloud Gaming for those who may have purchased games to play through the service but didn’t have a Game Pass subscription.

Xbox Cloud Gaming, along with other cloud-based gaming platforms like Nvidia’s GeForce Now have a chance of coming back into fashion despite Google’s disastrous attempt with Stadia having left a bad taste in many players’ mouths. Thanks to the recent memory shortages leading to gaming hardware becoming gradually more difficult to acquire, players might start looking for a way to experience their games without having to worry about how much a new set of RAM sticks will cost for their gaming PCs, or how many more price hikes the Xbox Series X/S has gone through since last year.

The service and Microsoft’s plans to expand its user base likely stems from the company hedging its bets with its future console releases. The fact that a new Xbox console is in the works, while still the subject of rumours, should come as no surprise. Xbox president Sarah Bond even went as far as confirming that there is more Xbox hardware coming, describing it as being “very premium” and “very high-end”.

As part of an interview about the launch of the ROG Xbox Ally X and Xbox Ally handheld gaming PCs, Bond spoke about the next-generation console, and the idea that gamers may have moved beyond the idea of console-exclusive games.

“The biggest games in the world are available everywhere,” she continued. “You look at Call of Duty, you look at Minecraft, you look at Fortnite, you look at Roblox. That’s actually what’s really driving community in gaming. That’s where people gather. The idea of locking it to one store or one device is antiquated for most people. You want to be able to play with your friends anywhere, regardless of what they’re on. And we’re really leaning into that with [the ROG Xbox Ally] because it just opens up another way for you to play. As does cloud, as does PC, as do the consoles that we all own and have in our living rooms.”

looks like ad-supported Xbox Cloud Gaming is coming soon 👀 pic.twitter.com/c8hAERrVB9

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) January 17, 2026

this is nothing to do with Game Pass

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) January 17, 2026

no this is free version of Xbox Cloud Gaming that won’t be tied to Game Pass

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) January 17, 2026