A long-awaited Capcom PS5 action adventure game has a new release date, but it’s good news for a change. Though it’s still releasing in April 2026, Pragmata will now be available a full week early, and the change won’t affect existing PS Store preorders.
PS5 action adventure game Pragmata gets new release date of April 17, 2026
Pragmata will now release on Friday, April 17. Unlike PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 preorders will be automatically canceled, with Capcom advising players to preorder again.
All physical and digital editions of Pragmata will come with “early bird” in-game bonuses that may become available for purchase at a later date. Bonuses include Hugh’s “Neo Bushido” outfit and Diana’s “Neo Kunoichi” outfit.
Physical edition bonuses will be available until initial stock runs out. Those who plan to purchase Pragmata digitally will need to place an order by 11:59 p.m. local time on April 23 if they want the preorder bonuses.
Check out a new trailer below:
Pragmata is described as “an all-new science-fiction action adventure with its own unique hacking twist.” “It is the near future, and protagonists Hugh and his android companion Diana must work together as they make their way through the cold lunar research station,” says Capcom.
Right off the back of the iPhone 17e, new iPads and MacBook Airs, Apple also announced a keenly priced new laptop. The MacBook Neo is a multi-colored low-cost Mac ($599), running on an iPhone chipset with most but not all of the hardware features you find on the MacBook Air and Pro. All models of the MacBook Neo ship with an extremely scant 8GB of RAM, which might be the main productivity bottleneck for demanding tasks.
The Neo has a 13-inch Retina display, a 1080p webcam, two USB-C ports, a headphone jack and optional Touch ID, if you're willing to pay a little more. A lot has been said about whether this is Apple marching to the beat of its own drum again, in a year of RAM shortages and AI obsessions. This is a direct attack on cheap Windows laptops and underperforming Chromebooks. Tempted? Check out our initial impressions from Apple's event earlier this week, right here. Oh, and for everything Apple announced – we've pulled all the news together here.
There's no flagship Nothing Phone 4 this year, but the company has put a lot of effort into making its A-series almost flagship, including a notable design pivot with the Phone 4a Pro. The transparent back is now aluminum, and the trademark Nothing aesthetic has been boxed into the camera unit. It looks more grown-up, perhaps, but a little less fun? That said, the egregious camera bump on the Nothing 3a Pro last year is no more. Both 4a phones are sleek slabs of smartphones. The company has also substantially upgraded the devices, with better cameras, more batteryand improved screens. Only the 4a Pro will be coming to the US later this month.
While MWC 2026 offered us plenty of Chinese smartphones ready to wow us, established player Samsung managed to surprise us with its S26 Ultra the week before. Sure, it doesn't have a ton of major improvements, but it brings subtle upgrades across the board, along with a standout new display for anyone who cares about privacy.
The Privacy Display is the standout new feature – one we've never seen before on a smartphone. When you turn the Privacy Display on and view the phone from less than head-on, everything fades to black, like those privacy-sticker screen protectors, but at the hardware level.
The S26 ultra can even selectively activate Privacy Display under specific situations, turning on when you get notifications or open certain apps (like for banking or authenticators). The phone can also enable the feature when you need to enter a PIN, pattern, or password, though this is only for system-level prompts, such as your lock screen.
The UK government is working on a controversial data bill that would allow AI companies like Google and OpenAI to train their models on copyrighted materials without consent. However, following a two month consultation, it looks like passage of the law will be delayed. "Copyright is going to be kicked down the road," a person with knowledge of the matter told The Financial Times.
Responses by stakeholders during the consultation period weren't favorable to any of the government's proposed ideas for use of copyrighted materials, the FT's sources said. There's no expectation now that an AI bill will be part of the King's Speech set for May this year.
As a result, Ministers have decided to go back to the drawing board and spend more time exploring other options. The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee called on the government to develop a licensing-first regime "underpinned by robust transparency that safeguards creators' livelihoods while supporting sustainable AI growth."
The UK parliament's preferred position on the bill (also argued by tech giants like Google) has been that copyright holders need to formally opt-out if they don't want their materials used to train AI models. However, publishers, filmmakers, musicians and others have said that this would be impractical and an existential threat to the UK's creative industries.
The House of Lords took the side of artists and introduced an amendment that would require tech companies to disclose which copyright-protected works were used to train AI models. That addition, however, was blocked by the UK's House of Commons in May last year.
The UK's majority Labour government — already under fire for its handling of the economy — has taken hits from publishers, musicians, authors and other creative groups over the proposed law. Elton John called the government "absolute losers" while Paul McCartney said that AI has its uses but "it shouldn't rip creative people off." McCartney and others artists were part of a "silent album" meant to show the impact of IP theft by AI.
Baroness Beeban Kidron from the House of Lords has also ripped the government over the AI bill. "Creators do not deny the creative and economic value of AI, but we do deny the assertion that we should have to build AI for free with our work, and then rent it back from those who stole it," she said last year. "It's astonishing that a Labour government would abandon the labor force of an entire section."
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Sony has confirmed PS5 Pro PSSR 2.0 support for a long-awaited action adventure game that’s out very soon. After a six-year wait, Crimson Desert will be out on March 19, and Pearl Abyss has promised that a gorgeous world awaits players.
Crimson Desert PS5 Pro PSSR2 support confirmed, but players remain skeptical
According to a hands-on report on the PS Blog, Crimson Desert’s “heavy use” of PS5 Pro’s High CPU Frequency Mode ensures that players move around and view the world seamlessly. The report includes some video clips, and the game does look pretty stunning.
Crimson Desert uses Geometry Shader Oversubscription and NGG Culling to maintain detail on the PS5 Pro, and thanks to PSSR2, players can expect 4K resolutions at higher frame rates, with ray tracing making everything appear more natural and realistic.
It all sounds great so far, but unfortunately, Pearl Abyss hasn’t provided review codes for Crimson Desert’s console versions. Since the game is only being reviewed on PC, players continue to express skepticism, prompting a response from PR representative Will Powers.
We're not hiding anything, and I'm sick of having to repeat myself.
I've repeated 100s of times that we'll reveal things ahead of launch to give people adequate time to still preorder the game for themselves. We're saying this openly… Let us cook? Please and thank you. /rant https://t.co/9O67ZQJFne
Pearl Abyss also allegedly told a reviewer that it had sent console copies of Crimson Desert to Digital Foundry for a proper technical analysis across all platforms ahead of launch.
Konami continues its recent streak of wins by stealth-dropping a free PS5 console exclusive game on the PS Store that players seem to be enjoying. Don’t want to fork out $70 for Sony’s MLB The Show series? Try eBaseball: Pro Spirit, a free entry in Konami’s Professional Baseball Spirits franchise.
PS5 players pleasantly surprised by Konami’s new free game, eBaseball: Pro Spirit
eBaseball: Pro Spirit is free to play, so you don’t need a PS Plus subscription to play offline. However, you do need a membership to play with up to two players online. Additionally, you can cloud stream the game with a Premium subscription.
That said, online play is optional, so if you don’t want to pay for anything, you don’t have to.
eBaseball: Pro Spirit is “powered by the next-generation baseball engine, the eBaseball Engine,” says Konami. “Every movement and sound inside the stadium is brought to life with remarkable realism. From the flight of the ball and the players’ intense actions to the eruption of the crowd, every moment is recreated with impact.”
Early response from players has been positive. At the time of this writing, the game holds almost 4/5 stars based on 90 verified votes on the PS Store. Its Steam version holds a positive rating after 30 votes.
eBaseball: Pro Spirit’s Xbox launch hasn’t been announced.
Epic Games’ courtroom battle with Google is over, but it’s reportedly going to affect how its CEO can speak about the tech giant for years for years to come. According to The Verge, part of the settlement terms Epic had signed has a clause stating that Epic and Sweeney will have to speak positively about Google’s competitiveness and app store operations going forward. “Epic believes that the Google and Android platform, with the changes in this term sheet, are procompetitive and a model for app store / platform operations, and will make good faith efforts to advocate for the same,” the clause reportedly reads.
Further, The Verge says the settlement terms between the companies will expire five years after Google is done rolling out changes to its service fees. Since Google expects to finish implementing changes worldwide by September 30, 2027, Sweeney can’t speak negatively about the company until after September 30, 2032.
Sweeney is one of the most vocal critic of how Apple and Google operate their app stores, which had led to several lawsuits between the companies. He once called both Apple and Google “gangster-style businesses” that will “always continue” to be engaged in illegal practices and just pay the fine afterwards. Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Google in 2020, accusing it of illegal monopoly on app distribution and in-app billing services for Android devices. In 2023, Google lost the lawsuit. It then lost its appeal two years later, before the companies reached a settlement in November 2025. On March 4 this year, Google officially scrapped the 30 percent cut it takes from Play Store transactions, lowering it to 20 percent and even to 15 percent in some cases.
In response to the Google’s decision, Epic Games is bringing back Fortnite to the Play Store worldwide. “Google is opening up Android all the way with robust support for competing stores, competing payments, and a better deal for all developers. So, we've settled all of our disputes worldwide. THANKS GOOGLE!” Sweeney posted on X. Based on the clause in their settlement, future statements from the CEO about Google will need to carry a similar tone, in the next few years at least.
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The PS Store has dropped a free PS5 demo for an upcoming remake of a popular PS2 game that’s out very soon. Last September, Koei Tecmo took players by surprise with the announcement of Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake, and now, PS5 players can try the game for free ahead of launch.
Try Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake PS5 demo for free, no PS Plus required
Fatal Frame II’s free demo is available in the PS Store in all regions. The game is PS5 Pro enhanced, and the demo lets you enjoy the beginning of the game.
Save data can be carried over to the full game when it launches on March 12. Do note that this is a limited-time demo, so if you’re interested in Fatal Frame II Remake, it’s best to try it out now.
It’s all single-player, so no PS Plus subscription is required. However, if you’re a Premium member, you can cloud stream the demo.
“This demo is cut from part of the full game, but some specifications may differ from the final product,” Koei Tecmo warns. “To transfer save data to the full game, you must update to the latest version in advance.”
As for what the game is all about, Fatal Frame II follows the story of sisters Mio and Mayu Amakura, who end up in a mysterious village full of vengeful spirits.
