July is over and Starfield is only a month away. You’ve been warned.

Let’s pace through some of the biggest gaming news of the week.

• Call of Duty 2023 (all but officially confirmed to be Modern Warfare 3) will be revealed in an upcoming Warzone limited-time event. The exact timing is yet-to-be-announced, but Season 5 begins on August 2nd. They noted of the event: “Join the ranks of Shadow Company to take on Konni forces and secure the chemical weapon threat before it’s too late.”

• The Mortal Kombat 1 beta will be available August 18-21 for those who pre-order the game, as was officially announced by Ed Boon, series creator and director.

• Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon — from the famed Souls/Elden Ring developer FromSoftware — got an extensive 13-minute extended gameplay feature. Be sure to check it out below if you’re interested in the mech battler, which releases August 25, 2023 on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.

• At Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest, Square Enix unveiled a trailer and details for its new MMO expansion, Dawntrail. It’s aimed to ship sometime in Summer 2024.

  • Final Fantasy 14 is also finally coming to Xbox. It’s planned for Spring 2024 for Xbox Series X and S. They announced 4K is also planned for the Series X.

  • A graphical makeover is also coming to FF14 alongside Dawntrail. Yoshi-P, the game’s director, promised higher-resolution textures and shadows, as well as a “screen-wide aesthetic appeal.”

• Speaking with IGN at Comic-Con, Ubisoft said Star Wars Outlaws will not be too big. “…too big is a game that people don't manage to play, enjoy, and finish.”

• Ubisoft confirmed to IGN that Immortals Fenyx Rising 2 was shelved to make room for other projects. “As part of our global strategy, we are redirecting and reallocating some creative teams and resources within the Quebec studio to other unannounced projects,” read the statement issued from Ubisoft.

• The Diablo-esque action-RPG, Path of Exile 2, was confirmed as a full-blown sequel. This, after, years ago when it was announced as an expansion to the first game. Director Jonathan Rogers said, “Path of Exile 2's scope has continued to grow and grow. It's far more than just an expansion with a new campaign, it's entirely new monsters, skills, mechanics, classes, everything you would expect from the next generation of action RPGs. Not to even mention revamps of most of the Path of Exile 1 league content. This thing is freaking huge.”

• Tencent is in the process of buying Dying Light developer, Techland. “Teaming up with Tencent will allow us to move full speed ahead with the execution of the vision for our games," CEO Marchewka said in a blog post.

Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail Teaser Trailer

Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon - 13-Minute Gameplay Preview

Mortal Kombat 1 - Official Keepers of Time Trailer

Path of Exile 2 Gameplay Walkthrough

Starfield Animated Shorts

Bethesda and Xbox released a series of sweet, animated shorts which focus on three major cities. If you want to raise your hype meter, here’s your rabbit hole to go down: