Gaming

Anno 117: Pax Romana is a relaxing city building experience

It’s challenging but engrossing.

Published

October 27, 2025

Luigi Leonardo

Growing up, city builders were my guilty pleasure. It’s fun to build a sprawling empire and to tear it all down again with an assortment of artificial disasters. Over time, the art of city builders was lost to more battle-oriented strategy games. Today, Ubisoft is keeping the genre alive through the Anno series. The upcoming Anno 117: Pax Romana will now take players to second-century Rome to build their own Roman city.

Though the game won’t be out for quite some time, Ubisoft gave us a sneak peek of its full build, and it’s just what you’d expect from the historical city builder.

A time of peace

As the name says, this is Pax Romana. Despite being set during the Roman period, you won’t find yourself fighting in the Punic Wars or fighting off armies of barbarians. It’s a relatively laidback experience.

The preview had us going through an entire ecosystem of Roman goods from simple woodcutter’s huts to enormous fields of lavender. The ecosystem even has garum, the Roman version of patis.

A lot of times, the plethora of buildable products don’t do much, other than satisfying the wants of different social classes. It does, however, make the game feel more immersive. It also adds long-term complexity because you’ll need to balance out all your citizen’s different needs.

The economic balancing is relaxing because there’s not much pressure to build a huge army. That said, conflicts can still be resolved with force. However, in the limited time offered by the preview, amassing a huge force was not a primary focus.

Building your way into a conspiracy

Like all games of the genre, Anno 117 has a serviceable storyline. To be fair, it’s not a story I’d lose sleep over. But it’s enough to push the narrative along and help you learn the ropes.

At the beginning, you can pick between two characters: Marcia and Marcus. Though both characters have slightly different stories, they still end in the same place with a powerful figure getting murdered.

In terms of gameplay, furthering the story isn’t the most compelling. A good chunk of the preview involves sending your flagship to another island to pick something up. Essentially, it’s a series of fetch quests.

I’m not sure how else a strategy game like this can add variety to the narrative, so this might be asking too much. At the very least, it’s a decent story to keep you playing.

Learning the ropes

As a tutorial, the story works to introduce the complex system. However, it isn’t as direct as I’d want it to be. There are times when the game wants me to build a certain item but doesn’t tell me how. For the first few hours, your experience is likely just about getting used to the interface. Rather than offering all the buildings you can have in categories, the interface organizes them according to their social class. So, all the plebian buildings are found in only one menu. It takes a while to get used to this.

Additionally, when you want to build a more advanced building, the interface does show a tree that details which smaller buildings you’ll need first. One small issue I had is the lack of a clear means to easily track which of the prerequisites are already present in your city.

Getting past the mire into paradise

That said, getting into a rhythm is easy. Because it doesn’t spoon-feed players on what to do, there is an enduring allure in discovering what else you can do to improve your city.

If you had a past playing with city builders, Anno 117 can reignite that feeling. To be fair, the game does not reinvent the genre. This is a very similar game to what came before. But if you’re looking for a decent builder set in an era that doesn’t usually get a lot of love, Anno 117: Pax Romana might be the game for you.

Gaming

Valve unveils price of the Steam Frame

The VR headset starts at US$ 1,059.

Published

September 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

The trifecta is complete. Almost a year after announcing their new hardware, Valve has finally unveiled the price tag of the Steam Frame, complementing the Steam Machine and Steam Controller revealed a few months ago.

Whereas the Steam Machine is a console of its own, the Steam Frame is a traditional VR headset with a pair of controllers for both hands. Unfortunately, despite being in a different segment, the headset is not immune to the rising prices of technology. The Steam Frame will start at US$ 1,059 for a 256GB model and can go up to US$ 1,299 for the 1TB model. On the plus side, each box will come Half-Life: Alyx packaged along with the headset.

Here’s a more detailed rundown of what you’re getting. The Steam Frame will ship with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, paired with 16GB of RAM. Each eye comes with a 2160 x 2160 LCD screen, putting out images at up t0 a 144Hz experimental refresh rate. As mentioned above, the headset will start with 256GB of storage but can go up to 2TB. It will come packaged with SteamOS 3 and a rechargeable 21.6Wh battery.

This might be a hard buy for some. The industry currently has more affordable options, for one. Also, virtual reality isn’t the most thriving segment of gaming today.

If you’re still decided on buying one, however, Valve is using its lottery system. Interested customers can sign up from now until September 17. The company will then randomize the purchasing order. Those who draw the first ones in the lottery can get a purchase email as soon as September 18. Meanwhile, anyone who registers after September 17 will automatically be put at the back of the queue.

Gaming

BlizzCon 2026 announces World of Warcraft: Forever and Diablo V

StarCraft, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and more also get news

Published

September 14, 2026

GadgetMatch

Blizzard Entertainment kicked off BlizzCon 2026 with a packed Opening Ceremony featuring new games, major expansions, updates, and other announcements across its biggest franchises.

Blizzard Entertainment President Johanna Faries opened the event at the Anaheim Convention Center, celebrating the community behind the company’s games and the teams that bring its worlds to life.

World of Warcraft: Forever and Diablo V

The biggest announcement was World of Warcraft: Forever, a new World of Warcraft experience launching November 5 AEDT, with its beta beginning September 18 AEST. The new experience will feature three zones, more than 1,000 quests, nine dungeons, two raids, and a new Skyborne race.

Blizzard also officially announced Diablo V, marking the next era of the franchise. The game is set to launch in North America in Spring 2029, with Sanctuary having fallen and Diablo having won.

StarCraft is also returning with a new story-driven, open-world shooter. The game is currently planned for a Spring 2030 release in North America.

Beyond games, Blizzard revealed that an animated series set in the Diablo universe is in development with Netflix. The company says this is only the beginning of its plans to expand its universes beyond gaming.

For Warcraft III Reforged, the new Forsaken Kingdom campaign is available today. It marks the Warcraft RTS series’ first new storyline in more than 23 years and explores the fall of Lordaeron and the origins of the Undercity. The accompanying 3.0 update also brings graphical improvements and a revamped World Editor.

Heroes of the Storm is adding Xal’atath as its newest Hero. She arrives in the Nexus on September 29 AEST, with her PTR release scheduled for September 15 AEST.

Existing games updates

Meanwhile, Diablo IV is preparing for its next major content drop. Season of Hell’s Legacy begins September 16 AEST and celebrates the franchise’s 30-year history with the return of the Prime Evils and Deckard Cain, alongside themed rewards and gear.

The legendary Amazon class will also arrive in the first half of 2027 as part of Diablo IV’s first class pack. The Diablo IV: Age of Hatred Collection is additionally coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on September 16 AEST with cross-platform play and cross-progression.

For World of Warcraft, Blizzard teased the next major update for Midnight. Eclipse (12.2) will see Xal’atath move closer to her goal of claiming Azeroth’s Worldsoul. Blizzard also offered another look at The Last Titan, the next expansion in the Worldsoul Saga and a major culmination of more than two decades of Warcraft storytelling. More information is coming early next year.

Overwatch is getting a major update with Season 5. The season introduces new Support Hero Doctrine, reworks for Sombra and Roadhog, and the new Watchpoint: Grimsvötn map. It will also conclude The Reign of Talon, Overwatch’s first year-long narrative arc.

LE SSERAFIM & YOASABI

BlizzCon also featured performances from YOASOBI and LE SSERAFIM. YOASOBI will perform during the first-ever esports halftime show at BlizzCon, while LE SSERAFIM will return to the Main Stage to close the weekend. A new LE SSERAFIM in-game collaboration is available now, with another Overwatch Spotlight scheduled for February 2027.

Finally, Hearthstone is getting its first new class in more than six years. The Monk arrives in 2027, while the upcoming Reign of the Black Empire expansion takes players back to the earliest age of Azeroth. It introduces the Assemble keyword, which combines two cards into a new one. Battlegrounds is also adding Aberrations as a new minion type.

BlizzCon 2026 is now underway, with Blizzard promising more announcements and details throughout the weekend.

Gaming

Just Dance: Decades of Hits to launch on October 13

All-new Just Dance experience that brings every generation together

Published

September 12, 2026

GadgetMatch

Just Dance: Decades of Hits will launch on modern consoles on October 13, Ubisoft has announced.

This will offer fans of the franchise a new experience across eras of music. The game will be available on PlayStation5 , Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch on the launch date.

Nintendo Switch 2 users, meanwhile, will be able to enjoy the title by November 10, 2026.

Just Dance: Decades of Hits brings together every generation to one dance floor with 25 iconic songs across six different decades:

Mamma Mia by ABBA
Uptown Girl by Billy Joel
It’s Tricky by Run-DMC
No Scrubs by TLC
Wannabe by Spice Girls
Bye Bye Bye by *NSYNC
Feel Good Inc. by Gorillaz
Turn Down for What by DJ Snake and Lil Jon
Danza Kuduro by Don Omar feat. Lucenzo
Manchild by Sabrina Carpenter
NUEVAYoL by Bad Bunny
And more!

Bringing every generation together

Songs, visuals, and an all-new Adventure Mode are all designed to immerse players in the spirit that made each decade unforgettable.

From the funky ’70s disco floors and the electrifying ’80s rock scene to the glossy 2000s pop and beyond, travel through time and share the joy of rediscovering iconic moments with friends and family.

In Adventure Mode, follow Lyra, Dr. Gigavolt’s daughter, in a playful journey through time to rescue her father.

Explore the decades through six themed worlds, enjoy fun mini activities, and unlock exclusive rewards.

For unpredictable, chaotic fun where the rules change every round, players can jump into Party Mode. Or they can get moving with the Workout Mode, which tracks calories burned with each dance.

Up to six players can dance locally in the game, with no extra accessories needed.

In addition those who own Just Dance: Decades of Hits as well as Just Dance 2023-2026 editions will be able access all their songs in one place on the same console without having to switch games or separate menus.

This also includes songs from purchased Music Packs and songs available through an active Just Dance+ subscription.