Something Magical is Happening🔮

Welcome back to Gamer Dad Energy! A newsletter where we cover gaming news, tips, and nostalgia for busy gamers.

Summer is officially upon us, and things are heating up! Sales are in full swing, and there’s plenty happening across the gaming world.

In this issue, we’re talking RAM prices hitting the legal spotlight, a classic Star Wars game, fresh gaming stories worth knowing, and another round of trivia to test your gamer brain.

So grab something cold, find five minutes, and let’s get into it.

Steam Summer Sale, what a glorious time to be alive! Even though I have many ways to access discounted PC games, I love it when Steam launches its yearly sales! They are always packed with great discounts on games that can clog my backlog for years to come!

Here is my list of games you should check out for the Steam Summer Sale 2026!

Jedi Survivor: $13.99 - for a triple-A game, this is a great buy, and the story is engaging as well! If you're a Star Wars fan, this is a great time to pick up this game if you haven’t played it yet.

Far Cry 4: $2.99 - One of my favorite Far Cry games, and it is only 3 dollars. With Far Cry, you know exactly what you're going to get, and honestly, I am totally ok with that. Good guns, pretty visuals, and decent quests. Nothing more and nothing less.

Gray Zone Warfare: $26.79 - This is an early access game that is definitely worth your time. If you played the early Ghost Recon games, and I am talking about like the first and second games, where they were super slow and tactical. This will remind you of that experience of belly crawling, so you don’t get your head blown off. They still haven’t launched the full game officially yet, and there are some bugs you run into, but for what it is. It’s a great pick-up now. Normally, $40 if you like tactical shooters. This game is for you!

Sniper Elite 5: $9.99 - This is an older game, but last year I got into the Sniper Elite series through Game Pass, and I have been missing out! You can play these games either solo or in Co-op! The natural stealth gameplay is something I have been missing since the good Splinter Cell games!

Shadow of War: $4.99 - When this game dropped back in the day, I played it for like 30 hours. It was great! A sequel to the great Shadow of Mordor game about The Lord of the Rings, and they brought some very innovative systems to the gaming industry! But like most things, I got distracted and didn’t finish the game. Last year, I beat it on my ROG Ally X, and it was still a banger! Go kill some Orcs!

_-MadHad

Three of the biggest names in memory chips, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, are facing a new class-action lawsuit in the U.S. over alleged RAM price fixing.

The lawsuit claims the companies worked together to limit the supply of DRAM, the type of memory used in PCs, laptops, game consoles, and other electronics we all use daily. It also claims the big three shifted their focus more toward high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which is in high demand for AI data centers, while cutting back on older DDR3 and DDR4 production.

This actually is not the first time RAM makers have been in trouble. Back in the early 2000s, the U.S. Department of Justice investigated DRAM price fixing that took place from 1998 to 2002. Samsung pleaded guilty and paid a $300 million fine. Hynix and other companies also faced major penalties.

To be clear, the new lawsuit is still just allegations. Nothing has been proven in court yet. But with PC hardware prices already feeling rough, this is definitely a story worth watching.

_-BensZ28

On Monday, the CEO of Xbox, Asha Sharma, announced major layoffs via a post on X (Twitter.)

In a message sent to employees, Xbox CEO Asha announced a major restructuring that will reduce the Xbox team by about 3,200 employees throughout FY27. Around 1,600 roles are being cut right away, while four studios will leave Xbox and move to new management.

That is a tough sentence to write, because behind every number are real people. Developers, artists, designers, engineers, and support teams helped build the games and services millions of players enjoy. The announcement made clear that these layoffs are not a reflection of the talent or effort of the people affected. At the end of the day, Xbox is a business and layoffs often happen when shareholder value isn’t increasing.

Xbox is admitting something many gamers have felt for a while: the business needs a reset.

Over the last several years, Xbox aggressively bought studios and expanded its gaming portfolio. On paper, that sounded exciting. More studios should mean more games, more variety, and more reasons to jump into the Xbox ecosystem. But in practice, it often felt like there was no clear direction. Xbox scooped up talented teams, but many players were left wondering what the larger plan actually was.

According to the announcement, Xbox’s margins are far lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses. The company also entered this console generation with a smaller install base and higher costs. Big bets like Game Pass, multi-platform releases, and a larger content portfolio created value, but they did not grow fast enough to offset other problems.

Now, Xbox is trying to simplify.

The company plans to reset its content portfolio, reduce management layers, cut vendor spending, and make decisions faster. Some studios, including Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions, will become independent again while keeping their IP and catalogs. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs are expected to move under new ownership with funding to continue work on Senua and State of Decay 3. Xbox also said none of its publicly announced first-party games are being cancelled as part of these changes.

Mojang and King will now report directly to the CEO, which makes sense given the massive reach of Minecraft and mobile gaming.

This is a hard moment, but it may also be a necessary one. Gaming as a whole is going through tough times, and Xbox is not immune. Costs are rising, competition is fierce, and players have more choices than ever.

The hopeful part is that Xbox still has legendary franchises, major studios, and a huge global audience. A more focused Xbox could be a stronger Xbox. The challenge now is proving that this reset leads to better games, clearer strategy, and a future players can actually get excited about.

_-BensZ28

I love gaming, but between work, kids, and life, I rarely get more than 30–45 minutes at night. Over the last year, I’ve tested a ton of games to see which ones actually fit into a busy adult schedule.

Here are the ones that consistently work:

• Hades – Fast runs, no wasted time, super satisfying.
• Vampire Survivors – Pure dopamine in 15–20 minutes.
• Brotato – Same vibe, even quicker.
• Dead Cells – Pick-up-and-play perfection. (My Top Pick!)
• Slay the Spire – One run before bed is peak dad gaming.
• Helldivers 2 – Surprisingly great for short sessions with friends.
• Dave the Diver – Chill, funny, and easy to pause.
• Rogue Legacy 2 – Perfect progression loop for a limited time.
• Into the Breach – Turn-based strategy that respects your schedule.
• SteamWorld Dig 2 – Relaxing and bite-sized.

I’m always looking for more games that don’t require a 2-hour commitment.

_-MadHad

Gaming is supposed to be fun. Or at least that’s what I believe.

There are countless video games for us gamers to choose from, and with that, there are likely numerous games that will appeal to the vastly different tastes of just about any gamer. Some gamers prefer story-driven epics, some like to side-scroll their way through levels filled with obstacles and hidden treasure, while others love the thrill of competing against other real-life humans.

Whatever makes you happy and you think is fun is GREAT! However, with social media, famous Twitch streamers, and competitive gaming tournaments, it can feel as if you don’t have one competitive game in your regular rotation, you’re just a ‘casual’ or not a true gamer.

And that’s just complete malarky! I will admit that I’ve spent a significant amount of my gaming life playing competitive shooters. A buddy and I used to literally run the table with Rainbow 6: Vegas and Rainbow 6: Vegas 2. (Seriously, we were annoyingly good.) I’ve also sunk countless hours into the Battlefield franchise (Bad Company 1 & 2 are the GOATs, yeah, I said it) and prior to this most recent COD, I’ve pew-pew’d away many evenings with buddies in Battle Royals, although with not too many W’s to my name.

A little while ago, I reached a point where I really wasn’t enjoying the constant stress and the feeling that I needed to ‘perform well’ for my teammates. The fun was gone. I spent many nights at my PC looking through my Steam library at all the games I had, and I couldn’t find the desire to load anything up. And one night, I decided to make a change.

As I sat at my computer, I thought about some of my favorite times gaming. I thought back to playing The Legend of Zelda with my sister watching, or my repeated run-throughs of the Quest for Glory games. (FYI, the Quest for Glory series is on sale on Steam for $6.49!) I even thought back to my early gaming days of playing Dragon Warrior 1, 2, and 3 on the NES. (Yes, I’m that old…)

And as I thought about those good memories and how much fun I had, I realized that there wasn’t any pressure to play those games. Sure, I struggled at certain points and had to ‘get gud,’ but I wasn’t trying to meet anyone’s expectations. I played and leveled up at my own pace, and by the end of the game, I was pretty freaking good and didn’t have a care in the world!

And I think that’s the point. There’s so much stress in our lives with work, kids, etc., that the last thing I need is more stress from getting pawned by some 13-year-old sweat who has never paid a mortgage, had to lay someone off, or stayed up all night with their sick kid.

I’m definitely still a fan of FPS and competitive games, but I’ve learned to know when to take a step back and focus on what makes gaming fun: an escape from the stress of daily life.

_-BensZ28

A. Quake

B. Doom

C. Half-Life

D. Unreal Tournament

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Catch the Live Stream on Twitch here: Backwards Compatibility

Answer: A. Quake

Fun fact: Quake helped push PC gaming toward the mouse-and-keyboard setup we still use today. Before that, plenty of players were still using arrow keys or other weird custom layouts.