Ars Technica Gaming

1. Panic passes Trump tariff refunds back to the Playdate customers who paid them

   "It just felt like the right thing to do."

2. Xbox’s new disc-to-digital program gives physical games a digital future

   "Most" Xbox One and Series X games are compatible; discs will still work after being claimed.

3. New bootloader lets you take the "Meta" out of the original Meta Quest

   Privilege escalation attack grants "full control" and freedom from Meta's servers/apps.

4. Ars Live recap: How can we stop publishers from killing their own games?

   The Stop Killing Games movement faces an uphill battle.

5. Live now: Ross Scott discusses the Stop Killing Games movement

   Our discussion takes place live on August 11 at 2:30 pm ET.

6. Developer Cold Iron Studios shuts down cloud version of $60 game with no refunds

   A reminder of the perils of digital ownership.

7. Valve slowly expands SteamOS support on non-Valve hardware

   New update includes improvements for the Intel-based MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ among others.

8. New official 30th anniversary Quake mission pack adds new maps and mechanics

   19 new maps continue the story from MachineGames' other campaign additions.

9. Sony acknowledges backlash, “cautiously” moves ahead with end of PlayStation discs

   Sony doesn't think the move will hurt it financially.

10. Pathogenic review: Damn, it feels good to be a virus

    The hot new roguelite twin-stick shooter lives up to the hype.

11. Just because a game is on disc doesn’t mean it will work in the future

    DoesItPlay tracks the many "physical" games that don't work without the Internet.

12. New AMD Linux patch boosts low-end gaming performance on Steam Deck

    Improved efficiency in EPP mode leads to ~32% jump in "1% low" frame rates.

13. Sony's decision to ditch discs was practically inevitable, data shows

    Circana numbers show US gamers overwhelmingly voting with their wallets.

14. Microsoft brings original Xbox backward compatibility to Windows PCs

    First four compatible titles can be run with an 11-year-old graphics card.

15. Sales of Valve's Steam Deck crater after recent price hike

    Analysis of bestseller charts shows an 80 percent dip from 2025's sales rate.

16. RIP bargain bin: The price impact of Sony's disc-free PlayStation plan

    Used discs are often cheaper than even deep digital discounts.

17. Hundreds rally at Bethesda HQ to protest Xbox layoffs, and Ars was there

    Union wants to halt a "perpetual cycle" of layoffs, get back to contract bargaining.

18. Hackers quickly prove that Neo Geo Doom ports are not "impossible"

    Clever coding and graphical compromises get a classic game on more classic hardware.

19. Valve's new Steam Machine verification system is silent on these Steam Deck-busters

    Dozens of titles too taxing for Steam Deck are still unrated for the new hardware.

20. Bethesda, id Software reportedly hit hard by Microsoft layoffs

    As much as 50 percent of some teams affected by reductions, and more could be coming.