Welcome to the post-Tokyo Game Show week, where video game news is streaming out of our ears and our only problem is not having enough hours in a day to play and absorb it all.
Here are the main talking points as we head into the final three months of 2025.
Short Beats
Great news for casual racing sim fans. A new Forza Horizon game has been announced and it may be the franchise’s most scenic instalment yet. The open-world car fest, which has straddled between arcade and realism since its inception, Forza Horizon 6 will be set in Japan.
Slated to hit Xbox and PC first before eventually making its way to (gasp) PlayStation, Forza has always been a big hit with the more casual racing game fans. Forza Horizon 5 was set in a fictionalised version of Mexico with varying terrains and racing conditions. Expect the same with Forza Horizon 6, but with even more scenic vistas and urban racing environments.
Powersliding through Shibuya Scramble, anyone? Count us in.
Speaking of Xbox, Team Green is in the doghouse this week after announcing revised fees and new tiers for its Game Pass subscriptions. Needless to say, perks previously accorded to users now cost almost double.
Unsurprisingly, fans aren’t happy. Many are already either stacking their current subscriptions before the new rates kick in, or cancelling altogether.
Not content with acquiring English Premier League clubs, bringing WWE to Jeddah and even hosting the Esports World Cup, the Saudi Public Investment Fund was recently reported to have acquired one of the largest video games publishers in the world, Electronic Arts for a staggering US$55 billion. That is equivalent to about 151,515,151 copies of EA Sports FC26.
Easily one of the coolest releases of 2025, the Lego Nintendo Gameboy is bound to bring back memories. Retailing at RM279, the set consists of 421 pieces and once completed, is almost a 1:1 replica of the original Gameboy portable gaming console. It even comes with two interchangeable ‘game cartridges’ of The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Land, plus three unique screens. One very resourceful builder even modded their set into an actual working Gameboy. Check it out here.
From one handheld to another, how about a taste of the real thing? The Asus ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X are now available for pre-order in Malaysia from Oct 3 at RM2,699 and RM4,299, respectively. Both ROG Xbox Ally handhelds will be available on shelves from all authorised Asus resellers from Oct 17 onwards.
Part of Asus’ official partnership with Microsoft, gamers can now enjoy a more seamless experience playing PC games while on the go. Here’s hoping for a longer-lasting battery and better heat management from the handheld. You can pre-order yours here.
