PlayStation Archives

AppWizard

October 2, 2026

Dear former NFL head coach Mike Tomlin: Your 12-year Minecraft city is beautiful

Mike Tomlin served as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2007 to 2025, achieving a record of no losing seasons, 13 playoff appearances, eight division titles, and a Super Bowl victory. He began a Minecraft project in 2014, which took 12 years to complete, resulting in a detailed digital city. From 2014 to 2025, the Steelers' playoff win rate dropped to 25%, with only three playoff victories and nine consecutive years without a win. Tomlin's son, Mayce, humorously mentioned that his PlayStation would often be missing when he returned home, indicating Tomlin's focus on his creative project. Tomlin plans to release more content about the Minecraft city on his YouTube channel.

AppWizard

October 2, 2026

The most profitable free-to-play games on consoles and PCs are gradually losing market share, study shows

Newzoo's study on free-to-play games in 2025 reveals that revenue from this segment is shifting, with the top five grossing titles' share of total console revenue decreasing from 79% in 2021 to 72% in 2025, and from 68% to 65% on PC. Players spent approximately 30 billion hours on free-to-play games in the previous year, a decline of 2.9% from 2021. Roblox's playtime has more than doubled to nearly 10 billion hours, increasing its share from 3.3% to 7.9%. While free-to-play playtime on PC has grown, console playtime has declined. The number of gacha games has increased from three in 2021 to 17 in 2025, leading to a 92% rise in playtime on PC. Newzoo's research covers 37 major markets, excluding China and India, focusing on revenue data from the USA, UK, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy.

BetaBeacon

October 2, 2026

Thanks to fans, the original Halo just got an unofficial Windows, Linux, PS5, and Android port

Fans have unofficially ported the original Halo: Combat Evolved to several platforms, including Windows, Linux, Android, and PS5, featuring the full campaign and multiplayer with support for up to 128 players.

AppWizard

October 1, 2026

Did Mike Tomlin’s Minecraft obsession derail NFL coaching career?

Mike Tomlin, the former head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, has been building an expansive Minecraft city for over a decade, starting on PlayStation 3 as a way to bond with his children. He continued to develop this project through various console generations, ultimately reaching the PlayStation 5. During Tomlin's coaching tenure from 2007 to 2025, the Steelers had a playoff record of 5-3 in his first seven seasons, including two Super Bowl appearances, but struggled in the following 12 years with a 3-9 playoff record. Former NFL player T.J. Ward humorously suggested that Tomlin's dedication to Minecraft could have impacted his coaching performance, although he acknowledged that many factors influence playoff outcomes. Tomlin stepped down from coaching in January and may now have more time to complete his Minecraft city.

BetaBeacon

October 1, 2026

Sifu coming to iOS, Android on October 12

Sloclap announced the release of Sifu on iOS and Android on October 12, expanding the availability of the kung-fu third-person brawler to mobile platforms.

AppWizard

September 30, 2026

Google Play Cuts Game Fee to 15%, Day-One Rule [2026]

Starting September 30, 2026, Google will implement changes to the Android game distribution economics through the Google Play Games Level Up program, reducing the commission on game revenue exceeding million annually from 20% to 15%. Developers must launch their games on Android simultaneously with other platforms to qualify for this discount; otherwise, they will be ineligible for six months. The new fee structure includes a baseline rate cut to 10% on the first million and 20% on earnings above that, while the Level Up program allows qualifying titles to pay 15% on revenue beyond the first million. The rollout of the Level Up program will begin in Australia, the European Economic Area, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States on September 30, 2026, followed by South Korea on December 31, 2026, and the rest of the world on September 30, 2027. If a game launches on a non-Android platform first, it will face a six-month waiting period before qualifying for Level Up pricing. Existing games launched before September 30, 2026, are exempt from this penalty.

AppWizard

September 30, 2026

Minecraft Dungeons II, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve on Xbox X/S, PlayStation 5, Switch, PC: New Gameplay,

New video game releases this week include "Minecraft Dungeons II" on Tuesday and "Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve" on October 2. "Minecraft Dungeons II" allows players to explore a new dimension called the Sift, either solo or with up to three friends. "Ace Combat 8" features aerial combat in the alternate-universe Earth of Strangereal, where players defend against an invasion. Analysts predict that AI tools could significantly reduce game development costs, potentially unlocking billions in profits for developers. Global consumer spending on video games is projected to reach 0 billion this year, with billion reinvested in development. "Grand Theft Auto VI" is set for a November 2026 launch, having been in development since 2018.

BetaBeacon

September 29, 2026

This new emulator lets you play Switch games on your PlayStation 5

A Switch emulator called ProsperoEden is now available for jailbroken PS5, running several games at playable frame rates such as Cuphead and Hollow Knight at 60fps. The emulator is still in alpha but includes improvements in rendering, performance, game loading, and returning to the launcher. Users can set handheld or docked mode per game.

BetaBeacon

September 28, 2026

PS5 emulation is already making major progress

A new open-source PS5 emulator for PC called KytyPS5 has made waves by going in-game with various titles including Astro’s Playroom, Crash Bandicoot 4, Hitman: World of Assassination, Uncharted 4, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Silent Hill f, Silent Hill 2 Remake, and Tekken 8. Marvel's Wolverine has also been booted up on the emulator, although gameplay is not shown in a video posted online. Other modified versions of KytyPS5 have shown impressive results with Demon's Souls Remake running at 40-50fps and Silent Hill 2 Remake running on a PC with an integrated Radeon 840M GPU. The developers are making significant strides with the emulator, but it may still be several years before PS5 games can be emulated on Android devices.

AppWizard

September 28, 2026

PS5 emulator successfully runs six titles at a playable 60 FPS — PS5 emulation continues to gather momentum as developers improve shader translation and Vulkan support

Developers of SharpEmu, an experimental open-source PS5 emulator, have achieved playable frame rates of 60 FPS for six out of 55 tested PS5 titles. The six titles that reached this milestone are Dreaming Sarah, Void Terrarium, New Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja, Tetris Forever, Hoa, and Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered. This achievement coincides with the release of SharpEmu v0.0.4-release.2, which includes improvements such as enhanced SPIR-V shader translation and updated Vulkan API support. SharpEmu is compatible with Windows, Linux, and macOS, and utilizes Vulkan and MoltenVK for graphics API calls. The emulator leverages the PlayStation 5's AMD Zen 2 x86-64 CPU to execute console CPU instructions natively on PCs. Currently, only 12 of the 55 tested titles are in a game-ready state, with six playable at 60 FPS. SharpEmu is intended for research and educational purposes and does not include copyrighted system firmware or game data. Additionally, another emulator, KytyPS5, has run the PS5 version of GTA V at approximately 40 to 60 FPS, though it experienced crashes after the opening mission.