The Main Events of the Weekend (June 7-8)

Microsoft, in partnership with ASUS, unveiled the first portable console under the Xbox brand, the head of Sonic Team stated that leaks could lead to disrupted licensing deals, Lies of P broke its own online record on Steam thanks to the release of an expansion — here are the main events in the gaming industry over the past weekend.

Lies of P: Overture

• At the Xbox Games Showcase presentation, Microsoft’s gaming division revealed the portable console ROG Xbox Ally, developed in collaboration with ASUS. The device will have two versions: a less powerful one (with an AMD Ryzen Z2 A processor) and a more powerful one (with an AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor). According to the corporation, ROG Xbox Ally will be able to run games from Battle.net and “other leading PC stores,” and they added in a conversation with the media that owners of the portable console will have access to all games playable on Windows PCs. The console will also support the Game Pass subscription. Sales for the ROG Xbox Ally are planned for late 2025.
• Game leaks can significantly complicate publishers' work, believes Takashi Iizuka, head of Sonic Team. In an interview with VGC, he explained that publishers strive to keep everything under control to ultimately draw as much attention as possible to the game and generate maximum interest. Iizuka understands that gamers want to learn everything about the game right away, but leaks can deprive them of part of the content. For example, character cameos from famous franchises or other licensed content. As Iizuka noted, license owners can terminate a deal if rumors about it leak online.
• IO Interactive announced that the audience for the Hitman: World of Assassination collection, containing content from the last three series installments, has exceeded 80 million people. The company noted that the majority of gamers acquired it for free during various giveaways. Sales of the collection were much lower, at 25 million copies.
• The Polish studio Questline boasted that the role-playing action game Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon sold 450,000 copies. Recall that the game was released on May 23, 2025, for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series. Before that, it was in early access for two years.
• The release of the story expansion Overture for Lies of P and a major update helped the game set a new peak online record on Steam. On Sunday, June 8, the number of simultaneous users on Valve's platform version of the title reached 30,095 people. For comparison, the previous record was 19,618 people. It is worth noting that gamers received the expansion well, as it has 75% positive ratings on Steam based on 1,200 reviews.