Rockstar Games has announced that the Grand Theft Auto VI pre-orders will be available from June 25th on PS5 & Xbox Series XS. Rockstar Games also revealed the official cover art for Grand Theft Auto VI, which you can see below. At the moment, details around pricing has not been confirmed by Rockstar and we probably won’t know the price until next week.

GTA 6 had previously been set for launch on 26th May 2026, and while this was the first firm date that we had for launch from Take Two and Rockstar, it had come after the better part of a year of Take Two execs assuring that the game was going to launch in 2025. However it was GTA 6 delayed again to November 2026, with the confirmed release date now being November 19th.

Grand Theft Auto VI will take us all back to Vice City for Rockstar’s latest crime story, featuring Lucia, the series’ first female protagonist, who’s coming fresh out of prison, and Jason, who works with the local drugrunners after quitting the army.

The trailers have shown off the modern day setting in the fictionalised state of Leonida, with a handful of things like social media influence and excesses feeding into the atmosphere, though that won’t stop there being plenty of iconic classic cars and inspirations from the breadth of American culture in the South East of the country and Florida in particular. From packed beaches to going across the swamps on hover craft, and partying at the tops of skyscrapers, there’s also jokes thrown into the trailer about battling crocodiles in back garden swimming pools, “Floridaman” antics – Leonidaman in the game – and plenty more.

Source: Rockstar Games

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If you’re around my age, you remember back when gaming wasn’t indie or triple-A; it was just games. Things changed a lot for console players when Xbox Live Arcade appeared, and suddenly a whole host of new games started to creep into mainstream gaming. The early games in that program were a little janky, kind of cute, often cheaper, and just fun to play. It’s not often that you get that exact same feeling in 2026, and yet Bounty Brawl: Most Wanted manages that.

That’s both a good and bad thing, in my opinion. It’s good in that it’s a game that’s immensely easy to pick up and play, you’ll understand it straight away, and you can muck around with your mates. You have to go to different planets to hunt down bosses, and each level gives different modifiers, with them getting more intense as your run goes on, but you get stronger by getting upgrades. A lot of these are kind of run-of-the-mill, like move and attack speed, but each character has different unique buffs too.

The characters do all feel meaningfully different too, although they don’t tend to be complex. The main thing is that you can dodge, you can lasso (I’ll get to that), you have a basic attack, and you have a special attack. You can also dance, which is always good. Basic attacks range from things like charging up a big melee swing to shooting at something, and special attacks can have unique properties, like making claws swirl around you, or being chargeable if you have a special resource. Each character also has different weapons you can unlock, but they really don’t change much.

The lasso is pegged as being one of the big features, and while you do use it a lot, it also feels a little bit too limited. You use it to interact with the various stage hazards, like pulling up lightning rods or trying to stop trains to act as cover for you, and you can use it to deal damage to enemies if you can stun them, but that’s sort of it. There is movement with it, but it’s only in specific places, so it’s just a bit underwhelming.

I’m not really trying to complain about Bounty Brawl, because it is a fun time with friends, although it does also feel bad solo. It’s one of those games which feels like a time capsule to 20 years ago, and that brings me a bit of internal joy, but I also don’t know that that’s enough for how good games are now. There’s fun to be had here, and I think it’s likely a massive amount of fun with younger gamers in split screen, where I do think this game would shine, but otherwise, it’s fun, but not for long. If you don’t mind that, then grab it and enjoy the sheer nonsense of it all, find your favourite character, and summon some worms to help aid you in battle.

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Pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 went live in America last night, and as you’d expect, the console sold out quickly as people flocked to various retailers to secure one. Many were able to lock an order in, setting them up for a bright future of Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza. The rest, left suffering Switch-less.

This surge of pre-order attempts also resulted in a technical nightmare for various retailers, with tales of Switch 2s stuck in people’s checkout carts, unable to be bought. Issues with lenghthy queue times buying through Walmart, only for the console to be totally sold out once you get past said queue, and Best Buy opening Switch 2 pre-orders late adding to what was undoubtedly a hectic night of frantic online shopping.

Even Geoff Keighly, founder and host of Summer Game Fest and The Game Awards, struggled with the masses. He posted his own experience on Twitter stating: “System was in my cart, then it wasn’t, then it was, wouldn’t let me pay, etc.” If Mr Video Games himself can’t get a pre-order locked in, what hope does the working Joe? It’s rough out there folks.

It’s safe to say that there’s been a lot of excitement around the Switch 2! Ever since the reveal showcase gave us our first real peek at the console, people have been fiending for it. Our own impressions of it were incredibly positive too, which means we’re also included in that excited category of course. The pre-orders for US gamers were delayed due to the wave of US tariffs and the resulting economic turmoil, which mean that Americans could do little during the Canadian and European order rush but salivate from afar.

Did you manage to get a Nintendo Switch 2? Let us know below!

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I love testing new apps on my iPhone. Every year, new apps get installed and removed, with very few sticking around for the long haul. Despite my habit of testing and switching apps regularly, some have stuck around, which is a testament to their quality. 

These are also the most used apps on my iPhone and the first ones I install whenever I set up a new iPhone from scratch. Here are 5 iPhone apps I cannot live without in 2026. 

Arc Search: browse smarter, not harder

Arc Search is a mobile browser that has completely changed how I search on iPhone. As soon as you launch the app, you’re greeted with a search bar and a keyboard, ready to go. I use the browser app on my iPhone for quick searches, which makes it perfect for that. 

The standout feature here is the built-in ad blocker. It automatically blocks trackers on any website, providing me with a clean browsing experience. 

Another feature I love is the Browse for Me. I type a query and hit Browse for Me, and Arc pulls the top results from the web and gives me a clean, summarized answer. Think of it as skipping dozens of tabs’ worth of reading in one shot. It works really well for things like sports stats, quick recipes, and travel recommendations.

The tab switcher is also a joy to use. Tabs appear in a card layout similar to the iOS app switcher, and you can swipe to close them just as easily. If you want a fast, smart browser that gets out of your way, Arc Search is the one to beat.

Get Arc Search

Craft: the notes app that keeps up with you

My life revolves around three note-taking apps. Apple Notes is for storing quick notes, Obsidian is for my knowledge-work notes, and Craft is for everything else. On my iPhone, I use Apple Notes and the Crafts app the most. 

What makes it stand out from other note-taking apps is how good it feels to use. The writing experience is smooth, the documents look great, and the app has enough depth to handle everything from quick daily notes to full project planning.

Craft lets you organize everything with folders, spaces, and tags, so you can create whatever structure works for you. You can also embed tasks directly in your documents, making it easier to keep your ideas and to-do list in the same place. 

The app also recently added a Kanban feature, making it perfect for tracking tasks in a project. I also love how the app looks. Its use of colors, templates, and fluid animations makes it a joy to use. 

Get Craft

Apple Reminders: the task manager hiding in plain sight

Most people skip Apple Reminders in favor of fancier apps, and I totally understand why. For a long time, I did the same. But Apple has quietly turned Reminders into one of the most capable task managers on the iPhone, and I’ve been using it as my daily driver for a while now.

You can create time-based and location-based reminders, and even message-based reminders that ping you when you’re texting a specific contact. Smart lists let you create custom views of your tasks using filters like tags, priority, and due date. 

You can also share reminder lists with others, add sub-tasks, attach photos, and even use Siri to add tasks with your voice. All of this, and it’s completely free. If you’re in the Apple ecosystem, you should definitely give this a try before paying for a third-party task manager. 

Pocket Casts: the best podcast app, full stop

I have tested most podcast apps on the App Store, including Apple’s own offering, and Pocket Casts is the only one I always come back to. It features a clean interface, excellent playback controls, and it syncs your listening progress and your queue across all your devices. 

The filters tab lets you create playlists based on your own rules, and you can even use Siri shortcuts with them. The discover section also does a solid job of helping you find new shows. 

It also offers a generous free tier. If you listen to podcasts regularly, Pocket Casts is worth every penny.

Get Pocket Casts

Delta: your childhood game console, on your iPhone

If you grew up playing Nintendo games, you are going to love this one. Delta is a free game emulator on the App Store that supports NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS games. It’s polished, well-maintained, and incredibly easy to use.

You get save states, fast forward, cheat code support, and the option to connect a game controller for a proper gaming experience. Delta is perfect for people like me who sneak in a quick game while waiting for a coffee order or standing in a queue. And for those stolen moments, it delivers more fun than any other gaming app on the iPhone.

Get Delta

I love all these apps on my iPhone, and if you have never tried them before, you should definitely check them out. Also, if you haven’t read it, check out my favorite Mac utilities article to discover some awesome apps for your Mac.

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Another year, another Geoff Fest. While the showcases may have been rolling in thick and fast this week, tonight is when Summer Game Fest 2026 officially gets underway with its big Opening Showcase.

The event is set to begin in just a few minutes, streamed live from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. This year’s show promises “two hours of announcements, surprises and more,” according to host Geoff Keighley, so let’s hope that there’s some Switch-relevant stuff in there too.

Here’s the exact time that the event will get underway in your region:

• North America: 2pm PDT / 3pm MDT / 4pm CDT / 5pm EDT
• UK/Ire: 10pm BST
• Europe: 11pm CEST / 12am (Sat) EEST
• Asia/Oceania: 6am (Sat) JST / 5am (Sat) AWST / 7am (Sat) AEST

As for what will make an appearance at the show… we’re still not completely sure. Geoff has teased Dead By Daylight, Guild Wars 2, Star Wars Zero Company and Fortnite news over on X (most of which isn’t applicable to Switch), but we’re sure there will be some surprises thrown in along the way.

We’ll be hosting the whole show right here on Nintendo Life. So, if you want to watch along with us, then get comfy, grab some snacks, and let’s settle in for the next two hours.

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I blast out of Tokyo, off into the countryside. At first, the roads run alongside waterlogged rice paddies, through flat and open country. Soon, though, I hit the coastal highway which winds its way over deep blue sea and past fishing villages. Carving north, I navigate snaking passes straight out of Initial D and slide upwards through their narrow switchbacks. Then, as I climb, everything opens up again.

Wide alpine roads sweep past green hills offering a spectacular view of Tokyo far to the south, the snow-capped peaks to the north, and Mount Fuji sitting stoically to the west. For a moment, it reminds me of the fabled alpine spaghetti you can find if you tour central Europe’s most breathtaking regions. Continuing my ascent, I soon hit snowy ski trails, steep stretches encased in permafrost and banked by looming snowdrifts.

Heading back south, down the western side of the country this time, I find myself twisting and turning alongside rivers and a huge waterfall. As the land begins to flatten out, more rice paddies come into view, this time interspersed with vibrant fields that radiate yellows, reds, and purples. I zoom through rural hamlets dripping with traditional Japanese architecture that in some cases looks to have been frozen in time since the Sengoku period. I come round past a giant stadium, then tunnel-blast down the coast past a rocket launch facility. Tokyo looms close by now, its trademark tower and skyscrapers welcoming me back as I cruise into its expressway arteries and slink down the alleyways that serve as its veins.

An open-world driving game lives and dies, to a large extent, by its world. Forza Horizon 6’s is an all-timer. A sprawling, diverse love letter that makes the most of the sheer variety of scenery Japan offers and neatly packages it all into a landscape that’s wonderful to drive through in any car. After the initial wow-factor of Horizon 5’s Mexico dissolved into a rather bland mass of green, browns, and beiges, I’d hoped that Japan would be the perfect four-seasons-in-a-day climate to make for a setting as visually stimulating after 100 hours as Horizon 4’s UK was. I’m not quite at that point yet, but it certainly feels so far that I’m unlikely to be wrong. If Horizon Mexico is an all-inclusive beachside resort that could get a bit tiresome once you’ve spent plenty of time lounging about in the sun, Horizon Japan is one of those mythical month-long cross-country odysseys from which you return with more lovely photos than you can fit on your hard drive.

Split into nine different regions, each with their own cute regional mascots (who appear as smashable collectibles by the roadside), Horizon 6’s Japan is rounded out by endgame festival hangout Legend Island and The Estate. The latter’s a rural house next to a sizable chunk of open grassland, which you’re free to turn into a private racetrack or other custom motorsport destination via the building mechanics Playground have introduced with this entry. Tokyo City, the game’s version of the Japanese capital, takes up an entire region of the map. It’s naturally trimmed down a lot compared to its real life inspiration, but it’s sprawling enough to make a big step up on Horizon 4’s Edinburgh. As with that city, though, I’ve found its expressways and docks mainly serve as a nice change when you’re not roaming where any Horizon truly shines: open country roads and trails.

I’ve always found the relentless hype-filled chatter and enthusiasm of Horizon characters a bit grating, so it’s been a bit surprising that some of the most fun I’ve had in Horizon 6 has been in its day trips. These are short, cruising tours of each region, during which an NPC guide tells you a bit about the area and the cars they’ve picked for the run, before you do one of the game’s speedy or jumpy stunts to cap things off. I can take or leave the facts, but simply reminding you to slow down once in a while and take in the surroundings benefits Horizon 6 greatly. These and the other tourism-focused missions, including the likes of delivering food around Tokyo in a kei truck and joining the drift club, come under one of the two trees the game’s events and activities are split into.

There’s the less neon-soaked and glow stick-wielding side, Discover Japan, which hosts the likes of regional mascot smashing, street races, and touge driving in addition to these missions. Naturally, there’s also the Horizon festival, which has you work your way up through levels of access-granting wristbands via the usual combo of racing and stuntage, with showcase events (including a race against a giant, stompy mech) punctuating the grind. Alternating your focus between the two goes a long way to helping things stay fresh, with Discover Japan also dishing out the barn find hunts which see you track down long-lost wrecks and restore them to glory.

While most of these activities are tried and tested Horizon staples by this point, I did find the new touge races disappointing. They work like your standard Horizon street race, but limited to two cars and staged on a windy point-to-point run at night. That’s fine, but it lacks any extra twists like the winner being determined by the fastest time or closest following distance across two runs, with strict rules prohibiting car-to-car contact or pedestrian traffic to dodge. These were the wrinkles that helped make Race Driver: GRID’s depiction of touge stand out from the crowd, and an opportunity to pull off something just as memorable here has been missed.

It’s a shame, because Playground have packed so much else into their version of Japan that helps make it feel distinct to, and more alive than, previous entries’ open worlds. For those cruising in free roam, there are new aftermarket and treasure cars to find, with the former being rides parked in certain places you can buy at a discount from their regular price. That means building up your car collection feels more natural than retreating to a menu screen with regularity to scroll through showroom or auction house grids, something now often reserved for moments when you want to buy a specific ride. For those in motoring groups, there are car meets like Shuto Expressway’s famous Daikoku parking area where you can gather to show off your rides, as well as short time attack tracks around the map that you can compete for fastest times on without leaving the open world.

Given all of that and the wonderful map, it’s rather puzzling that another strand of new Horizon 6 additions work to actively take you out of the Japanese landscape the devs have expertly crafted. While I was sceptical of whether I’d dig The Estate, the Horizon 6 player home which doubles as a settlement building valley, out of the gate, I underestimated how Playground’s decision bring in customisable garages alongside it would impact my enjoyment of chilling out in the racer’s many purchasable abodes. First, though, The Estate. As a settlement building zone, it feels rather undercooked compared to the slickly executed mechanics and polished creations that dominate the world outside of its building bubble.

As in Fallout 4’s settlement mode, or any racing game with a custom track builder, you’ve got a decent, if very generic-looking, selection of blocks and decor with which to assemble whatever you want. Go around deleting big bushes and trees. Stick some track pieces down. Don’t forget to turn on the auto-snapping so you avoid facing an impossible task in lining edges up. Put a few buildings next to the track. Then, spend hours searching to see if there’s a button which can get rid of the grass that’s clipping through everything you’ve placed which isn’t elevated or layered a certain distance off the ground.

Realise, after sampling some of the small drift tracks Playground devs themselves have made, that such a button doesn’t seem to exist, so every new road has to go up a ramp the moment it leaves the paved route leading into the one-pre-built estate house, and everything beyond that also has to be built atop a patchwork of support pieces. Build a little track of your own that’s a decent diversion, but nowhere near as satisfying to look at as the test tracks built into the proper map, which are all perfectly satisfying to lap. Try to build a high speed oval, but struggle to get the banked turns to clip together properly without forming unintended bumps or elevation changes. Leave because you’d much prefer to be driving along roads laid by the pros and gazing at Japan’s beautifully detailed vistas. That’s where I’m at with it. My stance might change if, once the game’s out, tricks like Fallout 4’s infamous rug glitch are quickly unearthed and pave the way for builds that can come anywhere close to rivalling the beauty of the base map. At the least, I’ve no doubt the likes of backyard Spas and Silverstones will abound.

Though not suffering from any grass clipping, the custom garages which serve as every home’s car tweaking zone bear similar hangups to The Estate. Placing items on top of each other without any floatiness or clippiness is a pitched battle with finicky height controls. You need to leave a tonne of space around your main ride’s parking spot so that you can wander around taking a look at it in the game’s Forzavista mode, which rather limits the potential for creative or unorthodox layouts. Being able to place up to three display cars that’ll be visible at all times is neat, but they’re about the only props that feel unique. In terms of decor, those looking to build the likes of a licensed shrine to prancing horses around their Ferrari collection are out of luck, as is anyone looking to deck their place out like a tuning station full of ads for real-world aftermarket parts. Or Japanese souvenirs that aren’t just a generic gate or wall you’ve dragged in from a limited selection of rural objects.

There’s an entire section of garage gear and another of decor, but only one instance of each item, with hardly any colour or pattern variants. The result is that it’s quite tough for each garage not to end up feeling fairly bland, which is a crime when Playground have put just as much effort as always into ensuring the exterior of each house offers a contrasting aesthetic pulling at a different strand of Japanese architecture. The best you can get at the moment is a pale imitation of the professionally-assembled slices of picturesque Japanese landscape which exist in abundance beyond your garage door. Or a sleek, but relatively characterless, GTA Online-style arrangement of generic sofas and TVs around your motors and tools.

The Estate is, at least, very easy to ignore if it’s not up your alley. You’ll see one of these custom garages every time you load into the game, even if you can quickly peel out of it to go do some actual racing. To be fair, this is the first time the studio have tried delivering this sort of abode customisation, and it could well be something that fits a lot more snugly in future Forzas with a bit of iteration and refinement. For now, though, it’s a weak spot.

That said, unlike the circumstances currently surrounding Playground owners Microsoft – that certainly will be a dealbreaker for some when it comes to buying Horizon 6 – the niggles I’ve outlined aren’t egregious enough to stop the game from continuing the series’ roost atop the PC racing genre. This sixth entry’s been well-honed into the ideal crowd-pleasing racer, blending a beautiful open world with driving that offers arcade accessibility and has enough mechanical depth to its rides that it can at least dip its toes in the sim waters if you turn the aids off or decide to tinker with setups.

The car roster, while as heavy on familiar holdovers as Horizon games always are, has plenty of quirky new Japanese faces to take for a spin, plus the latest models from all the major brands it stocks. It’s true no matter whether you’re pounding around in a Mercedes-AMG One as I was in the intro, pulling up at Daikoku in a Nissan S-Cargo, or drifting a modified Impreza down a mountain. Unless you’re a seasoned petrolhead looking for something to satisfy a particular niche, Horizon 6 is the new king of the road.

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