Rogue Roundup for July 17, 2026
It's been a bit of a quiet week for Rogue, with a couple of writers out and the wildfire smoke filling the skies. We still have some pieces for you to peruse this week, including news from TennoCon and a look at the Secret Sauce Showcase from Offbrand Games, which has some surprisingly solid deals and interesting demos to check out.
It's been an absolutely brutal time in the games industry, and the last couple of weeks have somehow been even worse. With Sony dropping physical discs, the continued controversies around the Grand Theft Auto 6 launch, and the Xbox layoffs, it's tempting to relent in the face of sustained, unrelenting cruelty for the sake of profit. Jeff manages to both lay out the reality of the situation and make a compelling counter-argument in favor of hope.
TennoCon 2026 was a wild event, showing off big fall updates for both of Digital Extreme's live service games. In Warframe, we learned about the Tau System, and got a look at a bizarre, post-human noir city drenched in neon lights, drowned in black rain, and dominated by a mysterious figure with hints of a dark past.
Soulframe is a much more fantasy-oriented game, with lush forests and giant wolves to raise and eventually ride. Players got a look at a new fishing system, wolf mounts, and a new edgy pact that draws on the power of the old gods.
Helldivers 2's Galactic War continues, with players being tasked with hunting down an Automaton weapon capable of destroying planets. It'll make for an exciting campaign, considering the fact that Super Earth already has its own planet cracker in the Star of Peace aboard the Democracy Space Station. Don't worry – I'm sure nothing will go wrong with this subplot in the greater Galactic War.
The closer we get to Grand Theft Auto 6, the more uncertain GTA Online fans become about the future of the live service game. This week, Rockstar released an art heist at the Kortz Center, and despite fan expectations that this would be a swan song, it looks as though they'll keep releasing updates for GTA Online – which currently brings in billions of income through a subscription and Shark Card microtransactions.
There's no shortage of roguelite deckbuilders out there, but Fogpiercer is interesting because, well, it takes place on board a train, so there are all sorts of positional shenanigans that you can get into. Add in a variety of train cards, each with its own properties and weapons, and Ryan found that Fogpiercer makes for a fun – if punishing – ride.
Offbrand Games hosted their second annual Secret Sauce Showcase, which was packed full of trailers for upcoming indie games. The Showcase also has an event running through Steam, with some good deals on highly recommended indie games, and a plethora of demos for upcoming titles. We sifted through the deals and demos and found the best picks in both categories.
After two years of early access, Ryan is finally forced to admit: Palworld is good. It may hew a little too close to Nintendo's collection of cuddly pocket creatures
As always, we're grateful for your support in putting these pieces together and covering an increasingly tumultuous industry. Stay safe, stay cool, and take care of each other.