Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. Gamescom is fast approaching, but there are still lots of new games you can check out before the tidal wave of announcements from that event next week. We'll take a peek at some games that are a little further out as well. Before we dive in, let's take a look at some news from the last few days. Ternox Games says PlayStation is blocking a PS5 version of its stock market game, STONKS-9800, which debuted on Steam in early access in 2023.

Look Up Mashable Selects Mashable Voices Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Say More Safety Net Creator Hub Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Switch Off Trending Now In My Bag All Series Sony's back-to-school sale: Save up to $200 on headphones, earbuds, speakers, and gaming gear Soumya is a deals writer who covers consumer tech, shopping deals, and the products people use every day. With experience writing about everything from AI tools and software to smartphones and home gadgets, she enjoys breaking down product research into clear, useful recommendations. When she's not tracking deals, she's usually comparing products, digging through reviews, and figuring out what actually makes a purchase worth it. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.

Mashable Selects Look Up Mashable Voices Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Say More Safety Net Creator Hub Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Switch Off Trending Now In My Bag All Series Sony's noise-canceling headphones are back on sale at Amazon -- grab them for under $100 Soumya is a deals writer who covers consumer tech, shopping deals, and the products people use every day. With experience writing about everything from AI tools and software to smartphones and home gadgets, she enjoys breaking down product research into clear, useful recommendations. When she's not tracking deals, she's usually comparing products, digging through reviews, and figuring out what actually makes a purchase worth it. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.

Creator Hub Versus Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Say More Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Mashable Selects Switch Off Trending Now Safety Net In My Bag VidCon with Mashable All Series If you're looking for peace and quiet, we've got you. Bethany Allard is a Los Angeles-based shopping reporter at Mashable covering beauty tech, dating, sex and relationships, and headphones. That basically means she puts her hair through a lot, scrolls through a lot of dating apps, and rotates through a lot of different headphones. In addition to testing out and rounding up the best products, she also covers deals for Mashable, paying an especially obsessive amount of attention to Apple deals and prices. That knowledge comes in handy when she's covering shopping holidays like Prime Day and Black Friday, which she's now done for three years at Mashable. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission. Whether you work from home, spend a lot of time on airplanes, or simply want to turn down the volume of the outside world, noise-cancelling headphones are a worthwhile investment. The best noise-cancelling earbuds cost almost as much. With that in mind, our headphones and audio experts put the top models at every price point to the test. These are the tech, tools, and products -- from laptops to e-readers, from earbuds to robovacs, and more -- that Mashable ranks best in class.

Mashable Selects Look Up Say More Versus Creator Hub Switch Off Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Trending Now Safety Net In My Bag VidCon with Mashable Back to School All Series Hint: It helped me make peace with not having Olivia Rodrigo tickets. Bethany Allard is a Los Angeles-based shopping reporter at Mashable covering beauty tech, dating, sex and relationships, and headphones. That basically means she puts her hair through a lot, scrolls through a lot of dating apps, and rotates through a lot of different headphones. In addition to testing out and rounding up the best products, she also covers deals for Mashable, paying an especially obsessive amount of attention to Apple deals and prices. That knowledge comes in handy when she's covering shopping holidays like Prime Day and Black Friday, which she's now done for three years at Mashable.

Look Up Say More Versus Creator Hub Switch Off Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Trending Now Safety Net In My Bag VidCon with Mashable Back to School Furtastic All Series From budget to premium options, here are our favorite headphones and earbuds. Bethany Allard is a Los Angeles-based shopping reporter at Mashable covering beauty tech, dating, sex and relationships, and headphones. That basically means she puts her hair through a lot, scrolls through a lot of dating apps, and rotates through a lot of different headphones. In addition to testing out and rounding up the best products, she also covers deals for Mashable, paying an especially obsessive amount of attention to Apple deals and prices. That knowledge comes in handy when she's covering shopping holidays like Prime Day and Black Friday, which she's now done for three years at Mashable. Samantha Mangino, is an e-reader expert. She's tested all the Kindle and Kobo e-readers, diving into the buzziest models. Her love of reading extends beyond the e-reader beat, covering books and authors, too. In the tech space, she covers tablets, smart rings, and headphones. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission. In 2026, a pair of headphones or earbuds is pretty much non-optional.

PlayStation Network (PSN) is going through an outage that's affecting all of Sony's video game services, according to the PlayStation Service Status page. Players may be unable to access their PlayStation account or use the PlayStation Store, and the outage has had at least one real world impact by delaying the EA Sports FC 26 championship at the Esports World Cup. Sony's status page notes that "all services are experiencing issues," including account management features, game streaming, the PlayStation Store and even PlayStation Direct, Sony's website for selling PlayStation hardware. The issues also extend to older platforms the company is still maintaining in one way or another, like the PS Vita, PS4 and PS3. Engadget has asked Sony to comment on the outage and the work it's doing to fix it.

The death of physical media is getting closer--and we may miss it when it's gone. When I was 16, I did something I'm embarrassed to admit: I waited in a long line to buy a video game called Assassin's Creed III . Over the past few days, though, that experience has become ever so slightly tinged with nostalgia. Last week, Sony announced that, starting in 2028, new PlayStation games will be available only as digital downloads rather than physical discs. Will kids ever get to embarrass themselves like this again?

Xbox and Nintendo have also been pushing consumers towards digital games. Sony has announced that PlayStation is going all digital, with physical game disc production being discontinued starting January 2028. After this date, you'll only be able to purchase new games digitally on the PlayStation Store and in retailers. Sony says its decision is a response to shifting trends in consumer preference, with digital sales significantly outweighing physical. Last year, physical game distribution accounted for just three percent of PlayStation's revenue, and the fact that the PS5 Pro launched in 2024 without a disc drive was a pretty good indication of Sony's future direction.

Sony is halting sales of its Aibo robotic dog in Japan, ending an era for the interactive pet that became an instant hit and developed its own personality. Sony is halting sales of its Aibo robotic puppy in Japan, the company has said, eight years after the latest model of its interactive android pet became an instant hit. The Thursday announcement marks the end of an era for loyal fans of the high-tech toy, which develops its own personality and can perform tricks like waving and mimicking its owner. It was also a big comeback for Sony's robot dog. The first iteration of Aibo came out in 1999, followed by numerous models over the years -- from angular metallic-silver bots to more cuddly round-faced versions -- with more than 150,000 units sold. But by 2006, Sony, facing a tough business environment, pulled the plug on Aibo, seen as something of a frivolous luxury.