Duration: 07:12

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

0:10 Sony State of Play Announcements

1:21 Even More State of Play

2:42 Valve Antitrust Lawsuit Update

4:08 QUICK BITS INTRO

4:17 Factorio Concludes Development

4:46 Helldivers 2 Updates

5:20 RuneScape Spinoff is Heading to Consoles

5:54 Marathon Server Issues

6:30 John Blanche Passes Away

NEWS SOURCES:

MAINS

WOLVERINE’S FROM THE STATE OF PLAY

Sony State of Play

https://www.playstation.com/en-ca/state-of-play/ 

https://www.eurogamer.net/everything-announced-sonys-playstation-state-of-play-june-2026 

God of War Laufey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLMX2w3cwuE&rco=1 

https://blog.playstation.com/2026/06/02/first-look-at-god-of-war-laufey/ 

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/god-of-war/new-god-of-war-game-starring-kratos-wife-faye-announced-with-20-minutes-of-footage/ 

Fight through the afterlife of the gods quote

https://lmg.gg/JuVL2 

How to pronounce Laufey

https://www.ign.com/videos/god-of-war-laufey-1-name-4-pronunciations

It’s Deborah Ann Woll from Disney’s Daredevil

https://collider.com/playstation-new-god-of-war-game-fae-spin-off-deborah-ann-woll/  

Gelatinous cube!

https://kotaku.com/new-god-of-war-talking-cube-phranque-laufey-faye-2000701723 

Cube is played by a beloved nepo baby:

https://lmg.gg/MouAr 

Marvel’s Wolverine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiBo_NgYI5Q&rco=1 

“Unapologetically violent”

https://www.ign.com/articles/marvels-wolverine-the-big-interview-with-insomniac-on-sonys-unapologetically-violent-ps5-exclusive 

“Trailer Reveals Jean Grey Team-Up”

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/wolverine-gameplay-trailer-reveals-jean-grey-team-up-and-more-marvel-characters/ 

Apparently it’s got North Vancouver in it

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/wolverine-playstation-north-vancouver-sulphur-pile#google_vignette 

MOST IMPORTANTLY, we get a hairy Wolverine

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/will-insomniac-s-hairy-wolverine-unseat-leon-kennedy-as-2026-s-biggest-gaming-hottie/ar-AA24MZ5e 

https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA24MpOc.img?w=768&h=416&m=6&x=434&y=6&s=248&d=248 

The one above all

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/One_Above_All_(Multiverse) 

I’VE GOT A LOT ON MY PLATE OF PLAY

Lists and lists of games!

https://blog.playstation.com/2026/06/02/state-of-play-june-2026-all-announcements-trailers/ 

https://www.eurogamer.net/everything-announced-sonys-playstation-state-of-play-june-2026 

https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/940913/playstation-state-of-play-june-2026-news-trailers 

Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wEjbSYNUM8 

It’s a remake:

https://gameinformer.com/the-game-awards-2025/2025/12/11/tomb-raider-legacy-of-atlantis-is-a-remake-of-the-first-game-in-the 

apparently GenAI was used in development 

https://kotaku.com/uh-oh-genai-was-used-in-the-development-of-the-beautiful-new-tomb-raider-remake-2000701988

Onimusha: Way of the Sword out September 25 on PS5, demo released June 2nd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNq35HHUtNc&rco=1 

https://blog.playstation.com/2026/06/02/onimusha-way-of-the-sword-out-september-25-on-ps5-demo-out-today/

The ending was not that great.’ Ubisoft reveals why it's remaking Rayman's most recent game instead of an older one

https://www.polygon.com/rayman-legends-retold-interview/ 

New Stuntman Game Coming With Real Movies Including Fast And Furious And Back To The Future

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7NZpeAmdxk 

https://kotaku.com/new-stuntman-game-coming-with-real-movies-including-fast-and-furious-and-back-to-the-future-2000701686

For the Riley Murdocks of the world, we got a new trailer and release date for Control Resonant!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAzxTMaA6j4&rco=1 

https://www.engadget.com/2186215/control-resonant-will-bend-your-reality-on-september-24-2026/ 

Control Resonant Early Access Is Exclusive To PS5

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2026/06/control-resonant-early-access-is-exclusive-to-ps5-but-at-least-we-get-play-anywhere-on-xbox 

Big games cluster release dates in September to avoid clashing with GTA 6 release in November 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/s/ZUjrREOIt6 

https://www.polygon.com/september-2026-new-video-games/ 

PARITY POOPER

Valve is spending its fifth year in court fighting US and UK antitrust suits over accusations that it uses Steam's massive monopoly to bully the PC gaming market and protect its 30% platform cut. 

https://www.techspot.com/news/112616-gabe-newell-steam-doesnt-pressure-developers-pricing-emails.html 

The suits focus on Valve's "Platform Most Favored Nation" clause, which stops devs and publishers from selling their games cheaper or offering better features on competing stores. 

https://lmg.gg/UX5wq 

Uncovered emails show Valve employees threatening to pull Rainbow Six Siege after Ubisoft launched a cheaper Uplay starter pack, plus one employee's email to Warner Bros over Shadow of War pre-order discounts. 

https://lmg.gg/HsQTn 

Valve and Newell deny the rule exists, despite another email where one employee jokes about getting the policy tattooed on his back “like it’s the Declaration of Independence."

https://lmg.gg/BRgbr  

Gabe Newell told lawyers customers have “enormous choice” between Steam, Epic, Xbox, and buying direct.

 https://lmg.gg/x54CW 

A take Timothy Sweeney of course saw as a perfect opportunity to dunk on Gabe, because what else is new, get a room you two.

https://x.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/2061828182945259566 

QUICK BITS

BITTERSWEET SPAGHETTI

Factorio, the chemically addictive factory sim, is getting its last major gameplay update after a decade. https://www.gamesradar.com/games/simulation/10-years-after-launch-steam-icon-factorio-gets-its-last-major-update-as-devs-reveal-plan-to-conclude-the-active-gameplay-development/  

 Wube Software says patch 2.1 brings some quality-of-life tweaks but the team is planning to "conclude active gameplay development," shifting to long-term support and a few unnamed new projects. 

https://lmg.gg/6Cn1e 

The factory will, at last, stop growing, your ruined sleep schedule may take a bit longer to recover.

https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comments/1tr14zd/friday_facts_440_21_plan/  

GALACTIC WAR GETS REAL

Arrowhead is overhauling Helldivers 2's progression, and the game director's pitch is refreshingly honest, 

https://www.ign.com/articles/helldivers-2-dev-confirms-roguelite-systems-called-planet-warfronts-as-part-of-big-changes-coming-to-the-game  

admitting that for players it’s never really been clear whether the community's actions changed the Galactic War or whether it was "all just smoke and mirrors." 

https://lmg.gg/prtGC  

In the steam blog director Mikael Eriksson outlined this month’s addition of the Galactic War Campaigns, the "next evolution" of Major Orders that run one to three weeks and will guarantee at least one reward. 

https://lmg.gg/nG2d4 

Plus an anticipated roguelite mode called Planet Warfronts to come shortly after.  

https://lmg.gg/ct1tl 

CONSOLES REALLY RUNED A GOOD THING

RuneScape: Dragonwilds Launches on Consoles Later in 2026 – the first time the RuneScape IP has made the jump from PC to consoles in its 25-year history

https://www.polygon.com/runescape-dragonwilds-console-game-ps5/ 

https://www.ign.com/articles/runescape-dragonwilds-launches-on-consoles-later-in-2026-sony-picks-up-spinoff-for-ps-plus 

https://gameinformer.com/state-of-play/2026/06/02/runescape-dragonwilds-the-open-world-survival-game-will-launch-on-ps5-as-a 

Falador Massacre

https://runescape.fandom.com/wiki/Falador_Massacre 

RUNNING ON EMPTY

Marathon's big comeback hit a familiar Bungie speed bump as server issues kneecapped the extraction shooter's second-season launch and free play week.

https://kotaku.com/server-issues-plague-marathons-big-comeback-moment-2000701778  

Probably the worst timing as players just came off of seeing the marathon ad in Sony’s state of play, and turned what was meant to be a strong first impression for newcomers into error screens. 

https://x.com/MarathonDevTeam/status/2061974808976609524  

Bungie has since apologized and started handing out free loot to make amends. 

https://x.com/MarathonDevTeam/status/2061913169375920220  

ONLY IN DEATH DOES DUTY END

John Blanche, the Legendary Illustrator Who Defined the Look of Warhammer 40,000, Has Died

https://www.wargamer.com/warhammer-40k/john-blanche-obituary 

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/legendary-warhammer-artist-john-blanche-has-died/ 

https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/956mm03t/john-blanche/ 

Duration: 06:48

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

0:09 Witcher 3 Expansion

1:23 Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4

2:36 Bungie Shifts Focus

3:38 QUICK BITS INTRO

3:45 Star Citizen Funding Crosses $1 Billion

4:10 No Man’s Sky Update

4:55 Dragon Quest Announcements

5:29 Unreal Engine 6 Teaser

6:00 Forza Horizon 6’s New Villain

NEWS SOURCES:

MAINS

THE WITCH IS BACK

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is getting a new expansion titled Songs of the Past, launching in 2027 on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and Playstation 5. Which is shocking, because the last time I played Witcher 3, I was still holding onto the naive hope that my 980 Ti would last forever.

https://www.engadget.com/2181898/new-witcher-3-expansion-songs-of-the-past/ 

https://x.com/thewitcher/status/2059560461872373812?s=20 

The expansion is co-developed with Fools Theory, a studio that helped on Baldur’s Gate 3 and is handling the Witcher 1 remake - so at least we know the people making it actually like RPGs.

https://foolstheory.com/about-us/ 

CD Project Red is explicitly calling this a "proper expansion," not a DLC, and promising a "major" release with "lots of hours of gameplay" with more TBA by late summer.

https://x.com/veryfishysushi/status/2059562125580738743

To prepare for the expansion, CDPR have updated the minimum PC requirements for The Witcher 3. Windows 11 is now mandatory, HDDs are no longer supported, and DirectX 12 is your only option.

https://support.cdprojektred.com/en/witcher-3/pc/sp-technical/issue/2973/upcoming-changes-to-minimum-requirements-for-the-witcher-3-wild-hunt 

You do have the ability to revert the game to an earlier version, but reverting the game also reverts your social life back to 2015, which honestly, might be the best feature they’ve added.

https://support.cdprojektred.com/en/witcher-3/pc/sp-technical/issue/2339/i-want-to-revert-to-an-earlier-version-of-the-game 

HA! YOU SAID DOODY!

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Revealed With DMZ

https://www.ign.com/articles/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-4-revealed-with-dmz-release-date-and-nintendo-switch-2-version-confirmed 

Release date:

https://lmg.gg/0FmxY 

Reveal trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLbst85USN8 

Some changes are coming

https://kotaku.com/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-4-is-making-some-exciting-changes-to-the-formula-but-it-might-not-be-enough-2000699884 

It’s in Korea this time

https://lmg.gg/3ZsbH 

There’s changes to movement coming

https://lmg.gg/4oxk2 

Bodycam style camera

https://lmg.gg/k8Tn4 

Modern Warfare 4 will be the Switch 2's first Call of Duty

https://www.polygon.com/call-of-duty-switch-2-modern-warfare-4-release-date/ 

https://www.engadget.com/2183023/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-4-is-official-and-its-coming-to-switch-2/ 

Last one was on Wii U

https://lmg.gg/ecOso 

Jackson Pollock

https://cdn.britannica.com/24/38524-050-C90B3D2A/Jackson-Pollock-painting-studio-Long-Island-New-1950.jpg 

MARATHON, TH-THON, THON, THON

Bungie Kept Most Destiny 2 Devs in the Dark About Sunsetting While Moving Resources to Marathon

https://www.techpowerup.com/349334/bungie-kept-most-destiny-2-devs-in-the-dark-about-sunsetting-while-moving-resources-to-marathon 

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/most-of-bungies-staff-were-reportedly-unaware-of-the-decision-to-end-active-development-on-destiny-2-until-it-went-public 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2026/05/23/more-details-about-the-end-of-destiny-2-from-inside-bungie/ 

Left certain, in-the-know teams feeling isolated

https://lmg.gg/idmHw 

Forbes actually sort of reported on this more than a month ago

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2026/04/22/more-bungie-devs-are-working-on-marathon-than-destiny-2-now/ 

Destiny 3 petition grows after Bungie ends Destiny 2

https://www.eurogamer.net/destiny-3-online-petition 

https://www.change.org/p/petition-sony-to-develop-destiny-3 

Destiny 2 Fans Plan Mass Protest to 'Crash the Servers' and Beat Marathon's All-Time Player Record

https://www.ign.com/articles/destiny-2-fans-plan-mass-protest-to-crash-the-servers-and-beat-marathons-all-time-player-record 

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/destiny/destiny-2-devs-confident-the-servers-wont-crash-for-its-final-update-though-the-players-planning-a-huge-rally-to-say-goodbye-to-the-mmo-might-have-other-plans/ 

Bungie is trying to save Marathon's dwindling player count with a free-to-play trial

https://www.techradar.com/gaming/with-destiny-2-dead-bungie-is-trying-to-save-marathons-dwindling-player-count-with-a-free-to-play-trial 

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/marathon-is-going-free-to-play-but-not-for-long/ 

QUICK BITS

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND-BUDGET

Star Citizen has officially crossed $1 billion in funding, proving that if you sell people a dream for long enough, you can spend nine years in early access and still have a more loyal fanbase than most fully released games.

https://www.engadget.com/2180552/star-citizen-has-raised-1-billion-remains-in-early-access-after-nine-years/  

Which is exactly what CEO Chris Roberts told Variety, traditional publishers simply lack the "time and patience" to let a development cycle outlast a couple of US presidencies.

https://lmg.gg/adreamstarcitizen  

To be fair, space is really big and game development is hard. To be less fair, for a billion they could’ve built a real space program, https://payloadspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/All-rocket-development-1-1896x1187.png 

WE GOT DEATH STAR! WE GOT DEATH STAR! 

No Man's Sky now has its own Death Star with a laser so big it can 'destroy space station sized objects'

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/no-mans-sky-now-has-its-own-death-star-with-a-laser-so-big-it-can-destroy-space-station-sized-objects/ 

https://blog.playstation.com/2026/05/27/no-mans-sky-the-swarm-update-launches-today/ 

https://www.nomanssky.com/swarm-update/ 

Trailer + Death Star lookin’ thing

https://youtu.be/2NomizORoqU?si=bUlDPlH4cB2YX6fS&t=64 

IS JCVD IN THIS QUEST?

Two Major Announcements Revealed At Dragon Quest's 40th Anniversary Showcase (DQ12)

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2026/05/two-major-announcements-revealed-at-dragon-quests-40th-anniversary-showcase  

Restarted development:

https://lmg.gg/idmHw 

https://press.na.square-enix.com/DRAGON-QUEST-XII-BEYOND-DREAMS-REVEALED-AS-DRAGON-QUEST-CELEBRATES-ITS 

https://bleedingcool.com/games/dragon-quest-xii-beyond-dreams-announced-on-40th-anniversary/ 

Dragon Quest XII footage

https://youtu.be/QsYz_CVdowA?si=pKv7GAXH1YEV5Qf7&t=271 

DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Withered World - Announcement Trailer 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1bxybh9Dy 

UNREAL EXPECTATIONS

Epic Games revealed Unreal Engine 6 to a standing ovation at the Rocket League Championship Series in Paris. 

https://gameinformer.com/2026/05/26/epic-reveals-unreal-engine-6-with-rocket-league-teaser

Sure, the soccer-with-cars demo looks incredible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ifIN2VWrmU 

But considering plenty of devs still swear by Unreal Engine 4 because UE5 is a bloated, heavy mess built more for film production than actual games - UE6 should have a better tagline.

https://www.reddit.com/r/unrealengine/comments/1sml1sa/still_on_ue4_in_2026_whats_keeping_you_there/ 

BOWIE KNIFE99 STRIKES AGAIN

Forza Horizon 6 launched May 19th, and already has its own boogeyman named Bowie Knife 99. 

https://www.ign.com/articles/forza-horizon-6-has-its-own-boogeyman-and-players-are-terrified 

A Drivatar - an AI ghost built from a real player's driving habits, who has gone viral for relentlessly ramming opponents at the worst possible moments. 

https://x.com/PatrickMaka/status/2058617274735665255 

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fbowie-knife-99-is-the-herobrine-of-forza-horizon-6-v0-7hblsl5qbf3h1.png%3Fauto%3Dwebp%26s%3D7245d305d09f11f936309a3f458f740cc8901d18  

The memes spread so far, even having the official XBOX UK account tweeting "Happy Bank Holiday Monday to everyone except bowie knife99." 

https://x.com/xboxuk/status/2058841122500219058

The real bowie knife99 is probably a 47 year old divorced accountant named Derek and for that, ….

https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/1tmiwoo/whats_going_on_with_bowie_knife_99/

Duration: 06:09

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

0:12 Fortnite Returns to the App Store

1:22 PS Plus Price Increase

2:26 Warhammer Showcase

3:28 QUICK BITS INTRO

3:31 Warhorse Confirms New Games

3:52 Steam’s New Tag System

4:15 Xbox Player Voice Introduction

4:45 Subnautica 2’s Restrictive EULA

5:20 Pokopia Player Recreates Kanto

NEWS SOURCES:

MAINS

ULTIMATE COMEBACK ROYALE

Fortnite is officially back on the iOS App Store worldwide,

https://www.ign.com/articles/fortnite-is-back-on-the-app-store-across-the-world 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fortnite/id6483539426 

ending a five-year legal trench war that kicked off in 2020 when Apple yeeted the game off the platform over a direct-payment system Epic snuck in to bypass Apple's cut.

https://mashable.com/article/apple-removes-epic-games-fortnite-from-app-store  

Epic says it's back because it expects U.S. courts to force Apple's App Store fees into the daylight, and that once they do, "governments around the world will not allow Apple junk fees to stand."

https://lmg.gg/junkfees  

CEO Tim Sweeney also took to Twitter with a statement accusing Apple of "fragmenting iOS features and fees by territory" and "intentionally delaying the pursuit of justice" - 

https://x.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/2056683552222171643?s=20  

which would land harder if it wasn't a reply to a Fortnite tweet announcing a new Yeddy skin and parodying Apple's iconic iPod ads. 

https://x.com/Fortnite/status/2056682428190867946 

Fortnite is still NOT back in Australia, where Epic says it "can't return under an illegal payment arrangement with Apple"

https://lmg.gg/follow-up-quote  

PS PLUS, WALLET MINUS

Sony Announces PlayStation Plus Price Increases 'Due to Ongoing Market Conditions'

https://www.ign.com/articles/sony-announces-playstation-plus-price-increases-due-to-ongoing-market-conditions 

Sony’s tweet about it

https://x.com/PlayStation/status/2056404450793938989

“Ongoing Market Conditions” highlighted

https://lmg.gg/MT2sC 

It raises prices for all tiers of PlayStation Plus, not just Essential

https://www.polygon.com/playstation-plus-price-hike-may-2026-extra-premium-annual-cost/ 

Quoted

https://lmg.gg/TPh63 

PS5 is getting Steam Charts-style weekly player counts

https://www.destructoid.com/sony-adds-player-counts-to-playstation-5/ 

https://www.tweaktown.com/news/111627/ps5-is-getting-steam-charts-style-weekly-player-counts-giving-console-gamers-what-pc-players-have-had-for-years/index.html 

Timestamped original YouTube video 

https://youtu.be/Jp7IG85_gKA?si=UbZpue22IWHQ_zX-&t=97 

FOR THE EMPEROR

Warhammer Skulls concluded their 10th anniversary event with a mountain of announcements big enough to bury a Dreadnought underneath. 

https://www.ign.com/articles/warhammer-skulls-2026-live-updates-reveals  

The sci-fi strategy series Dawn of War IV finally got a September 17th release date, plus a post-launch roadmap including Crusade Mode plus a post-launch roadmap including paid story DLC. Because Games Workshop’s business model is charging you hundreds of dollars for more chunks of plastic, and they sure as hell aren’t going to change just cause it’s now digital.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYdXNpXnyus   

By far the biggest shock came when a Helldivers 2 crossover was announced releasing sometime this year, giving players access to unlockable grimdark armor and weapons.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOaB_8-ziwE

Mechanicus II also casually dropped during the stream and if you aren't familiar, this is the tactical game about red-robed tech-priests who worship cybernetics and are famously more attracted to household toasters than actual human flesh.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2532480/Warhammer_40000_Mechanicus_II/ 

QUICK BITS

YOU HAVE MY SWORD

Warhorse confirms new Kingdom Come and Lord of the Rings games

https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/warhorse-confirms-new-kingdom-come-and-lord-of-the-rings-games-3366335/ 

Tweet about it

https://x.com/WarhorseStudios/status/2057008469920624696 

Confirms rumours

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/the-rumours-were-true-kingdom-come-2-studio-is-working-on-an-rpg-set-in-tolkiens-middle-earth/ 

TAG, YOU’RE IT

Valve overhauls tag system on Steam to improve game discoverability

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/valve-overhauls-tag-system-on-steam-to-improve-game-discoverability 

Valve’s update

https://steamcommunity.com/games/593110/announcements/detail/673994309884707519 

Kills some tags, but adds new ones too

https://ca.pcmag.com/pc-games/15795/valve-overhauls-steam-tags-kills-off-dozens-but-adds-new-categories-too 

FAN-TASTIC

Xbox player voice

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/05/18/introducing-xbox-player-voice/ 

https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/forum/fcafaf3d-8949-f111-bec7-0022482aa91b 

XBOX fans are calling for the return of exclusives, and they want free online multiplayer

https://www.theverge.com/games/933328/xbox-fan-feedback-exclusives-backward-compatibility-online-multiplayer 

The top 20 "Xbox Player Voice" trending feedback items

https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/the-top-20-xbox-player-voice-trending-feedback-items-you-voted-for 

SUBNAH’T GONNA READ ALL’AT

BELOW THE FINE PRINT

Subnautica 2's End User Licensing Agreement is so restrictive PC Gamer says writing about it violates the terms.

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/subnautica-2s-eula-is-so-severe-that-even-this-news-story-breaks-it/ 

There's a clause against harming the game's reputation,

https://lmg.gg/harmreputation  

and worse, it explicitly states that you don't own the game - you're just licensing it, and Krafton can revoke access at any time, for any reason.

https://subnautica.com/en/policy/tos#3  

Shoutout to redditor on the stopKillingGameswho subreddit who scoured the whole agreement to catalogue the batpoop insane stuff in it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/StopKillingGames/comments/1tetdbc/has_anyone_actually_read_the_subnautica_2_eula/?rdt=51651  

A LIL’ PIECE OF POKÉ PARADISE

Months of work later, one Pokémon Pokopia player's recreation of the original Kanto region is almost complete

https://www.eurogamer.net/pokemon-pokopia-kanto-build 

https://kotaku.com/someone-finally-built-kanto-pokemon-pokopia-2000697413 

Progress reports

1 month ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/Pokopia/comments/1sq4g83/kanto_wip_update/

4 days ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/Pokopia/comments/1tg8ow1/kanto_build_nearly_finished/ 

Duration: 07:41

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

0:12 GTA 6 Pre-Order Date Leaked

1:32 Forza Horizon 6 Leak

2:59 Crimson Desert Success

4:25 QUICK BITS INTRO

4:30 Overwatch and Fortnite Collaboration

4:58 eBay Rejects GameStop’s Takeover Bid

5:39 Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Treasure Hunt

6:14 Dead Space 4 Isn’t Happening

6:53 Steam Controller Easter Egg

NEWS SOURCES:

MAINS

CHAT - IS THIS REAL? 

GTA 6 pre-orders are reportedly going live next Monday, with a leaked Best Buy affiliate marketing email detailing that the campaign will run from May 18 through May 21. https://gamerant.com/gta-6-pre-order-date-leak/

https://insider-gaming.com/gta-6-pre-order-date-has-allegedly-leaked-via-best-buy/ 

Streamer Frogboyx1Gaming was streaming when he received an email and quickly broke the news on stream, holding up his phone to prove he wasn't just making things up for engagement, 

https://www.reddit.com/r/GTA6/comments/1tcm7vc/youtube_channel_frogboyx1gaming_showing_his/

He then shared screenshots of it on twitter.

https://x.com/Frogboyx1Gaming/status/2054749929919422489/photo/1 

Insider Gaming independently verified the email after two more affiliates forwarded the same Impact-routed email - Impact being the marketplace Best Buy uses to wrangle creators. https://lmg.gg/Insidergamingverifiedtheemails 

The email also showed a 5% commission for creators who shilled the pre-order links to the November 19 release,

https://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/ak3ak31a49a221/grand-theft-auto-vi-is-now-set-to-launch-november-19-2026 

Take-Two Interactive's chief executive, Strauss Zelnick told a Variety reporter at the Interactive Innovation Convention in Vegas that GTA 6 marketing is ramping up "soon.” The company's earnings call has also been coincidentally delayed to May 21, the date the preorder campaign ends.

https://lmg.gg/Zelnicksaysmarketingeffortssoon

It’s Pronounced “FORT-ZA”

Pirates are already playing Forza Horizon 6 days before its launch

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/05/pirates-are-already-playing-forza-horizon-6-days-before-its-launch/ 

https://mezha.ua/en/news/playground-games-leaked-forza-horizon-6-before-release-311143/ 

https://x.com/WeArePlayground/status/2053895284930105772 

https://x.com/SteamDB/status/2053929811240730877 

https://en.gamegpu.com/news/igry/razrabotchiki-forza-horizon-6-otritsayut-svyaz-utechki-igry-s-predvaritelnoj-zagruzkoj

https://www.ign.com/articles/forza-horizon-6-dev-bans-pirate-who-leaked-gameplay-footage-until-the-year-10000-but-faces-uphill-battle-plugging-the-leak 

https://opencritic.com/game/19996/forza-horizon-6

CRIMSON OASIS

Crimson Desert should probably be called Emerald Oasis, because studio Pearl Abyss just dropped a Q1 earnings report that quintupled their revenue to roughly $220 million USD. That's a 420% year-over-year jump driven almost entirely by Crimson Desert's March launch, selling five million copies in under a month. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/crimson-desert-increases-pearl-abyss-q1-earnings-more-than-fivefold-to-2206m

The game had a rocky start - early reviewers called it kinda mid, and it launched to a stream of bugs and zero support for Intel GPUs. 

https://www.polygon.com/crimson-desert-impressions-early-hours/ 

https://www.reddit.com/r/IntelArc/comments/1s0itdf/intel_says_crimson_desert_devs_ignored_offers_of/ 

Despite being a Korean studio, over 80% of sales came from North America and Europe. 

https://lmg.gg/cdhighlight 

But not every game is printing money and Pearl Abyss recently sold CCP Games, the Icelandic studio behind Eve Online back to its CEO for $120 million. That's almost half the $225 million they paid in 2018, so they're essentially cutting losses to focus on their new gold mine .https://lmg.gg/paymentquoteCCPPearl 

And unlike the $20 million CCP paid using their own space-sim's crypto tokens, https://www.gamesindustry.biz/pearl-abyss-sells-ccp-back-to-its-ceo-for-less-than-half-what-it-paid-plus-20-million-in-crypto

QUICK BITS

Enter the FortWatch

Several Overwatch heroes are about to hit Fortnite

https://www.engadget.com/2172080/several-overwatch-heroes-are-about-to-hit-fortnite/ 

https://gamerant.com/fortnite-overwatch-crossover-release-date/ 

https://gameranx.com/updates/id/562691/article/overwatch-is-officially-answering-the-call-in-fortnite/

https://gamerant.com/fortnite-overwatch-weapons-pulse-pistols-caduceus-staff-tracer-mercy-items-how-to-get/

EBID DENIED

eBay has publicly rejected GameStop's $56 billion buyout bid, a shock to no one who saw the interview where GameStop's CEO Ryan Cohen - couldn't answer how a company four times smaller would actually pull this off. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/ebay-rejects-gamestops-audacious-56-billion-takeover-bid-2026-05-12/ 

eBay Chairman Paul Pressler said the offer is "neither credible nor attractive," 

 https://lmg.gg/Ebayquote 

and just last night Cohen went on Piers Morgan to say “eBay is run by a bunch of losers!”

https://www.reddit.com/r/GME/comments/1tcgrxk/gamestop_ceo_ebay_is_run_by_a_bunch_of_losers/ 

Which makes sense as GameStop is a company roughly four times smaller then ebay

https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/gkvlkkrjwpb/Screenshot%202026-05-04%20083657.png  

Treat Me Like a Pirate

AC unveils real life treasure hunt worth half a million usd , marketing for Black Flag Resynced

https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/news/ignt.60277/embark-on-a-thrilling-treasure-hunt-and-take-your-shot-at-winning-500-000

https://goldandcrystal.eu/en

]https://gamerant.com/ac-black-flag-resynced-treasure-hunt/

Sorry Isaac

Dead Space 4 likely won't happen

https://wccftech.com/dead-space-4-wont-happen-says-writer-the-numbers-arent-there/

https://frvr.com/blog/dead-space-4-likely-wont-happen/

https://www.ign.com/articles/ea-rejected-recent-dead-space-4-pitch-original-creators-say

AHHHHHHH!!!

Yes, Valve's new Steam Controller screams if you drop it from a great enough height

https://www.eurogamer.net/valve-steam-controller-scream 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw5Luf_7F8c

Duration: 06:59

Timestamps:

0:00 Star Fox 64 Remake

1:28 2026 Video Game Hall of Fame Inductees

2:38 GameStop Seeks More Money to Buy eBay

3:59 QUICK BITS INTRO

4:08 Sony Settles PlayStation Store Lawsuit

4:42 RUSE Returns to Steam

5:09 Civilization 7 Updates

5:38 Epic Games vs Apple Continues

6:16 Kids Use Minecraft to Fix NYC

NEWS SOURCES:

MAINS

NINTENDO LOVES THEIR REMAKES

Star Fox is landing in the Switch 2 next month and while it’s technically another remake of Star Fox 64, considering the decade-long drought, I’ll buy it - but I won't be happy about it. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/star-fox-buying-guide/1100-6539831/

Besides getting a complete graphical makeover to fit “modern standards,” 

https://x.com/NintendoAmerica/status/2052180361187115496 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh4FtjCck8Y

the game offers a new feature letting the Gamechat use Switch 2’s camera to track your face and map it onto Fox, Falco, or Slippy in real-time during voice chat. https://ca.pcmag.com/nintendo-games/15508/in-gamechat-new-star-fox-for-switch-2-can-replace-your-face-with-8-characters 

https://sm.pcmag.com/t/pcmag_ca/photo/a/a-selectio/a-selection-of-characters-you-can-use-as-your-avatar_mcy1.960.jpg 

If going "Full Slippy" feels like a HR violation, you can opt for AR filters that give you Fox’s ears or Falco’s beak, but I'm not sure that makes it much better. https://x.com/Andy_VGC/status/2052154426010263600/photo/1 

Beyond the digital taxidermy, fans are clowning on the game because it's yet another Star Fox 64 remake - apparently the barrel roll demands eternal refreshment.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fans-cant-stop-clowning-on-the-latest-star-fox-reveal/1100-6539829/ 

Pre-orders are live with the digital version costing $50 dollars. 

https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/star-fox-switch-2/?srsltid=AfmBOopAVIWJEplN0EjrzoxgfX8kYaxa-PQgN-8ouCKp2QJGvl8Xf_Pr 

Good luck explaining to your therapist why your best friend’s face is now a high-fidelity frog but hey. 

https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/star-fox-switch-2/?srsltid=AfmBOopAVIWJEplN0EjrzoxgfX8kYaxa-PQgN-8ouCKp2QJGvl8Xf_Pr 

At least the memes are top-tier.

https://x.com/kristanovva/status/2052187838393827626  https://x.com/jack_luddy/status/2052152065439187082  https://x.com/lolo_aburto/status/2052166135324254375 

WE DIDN’T KNOW THIS WAS A THING EITHER

The 2026 inductees into the Strong Museum’s Video game hall of fame have been announced - https://nintendoeverything.com/2026-world-video-game-hall-of-fame-winners-announced/ 

This year’s additions are Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA International Soccer, and Silent Hill

https://www.polygon.com/video-game-hall-of-fame-inductees-2026-strong-museum-play/ 

Angry birds creative officer Ben Mattes told variety that the angry birds team is deeply honored by the recognition saying that “Characters, emotion and story are what keeps our fans coming back to our games year after year.” - https://variety.com/2026/gaming/news/angry-birds-world-video-game-hall-of-fame-1236739560/ 

These games beat out legends like frogger Glaga, Ruineskape, Skyrim and megaman - https://www.engadget.com/2164266/angry-birds-and-fifa-international-soccer-join-the-world-video-game-hall-of-fame/ 

This year’s inductees join 49 other games in the hall of fame, including Classics like Doom, the Genre Defining MMOrpg World of Warcraft , and Tamagotchi for some reason - https://www.museumofplay.org/exhibits/world-video-game-hall-of-fame/inducted-games/ 

GAME RECOGNIZE GAME…STOP

Gamestop CEO is potentially raiding the Game Informer Vault to fund or hype his eBay acquisition - https://kotaku.com/gamestop-ebay-ryan-cohen-auction-game-informer-ban-2000693746 

For context Gamestop CEO and guy who’s trying to sell you MDMA at a skrillex concert, made an entirely unsolicited 56 billion dollar bid to try and buy ebay - https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/company-news/2026/05/04/gamestop-makes-bold-us56b-play-for-ebay-ready-to-go-hostile/ 

It’s been going badly for Cohen as he exposed on CNBC that he has no clue how he’s going to pay for it where he’s going to - stunning the newscaster into silence - https://kotaku.com/gamestop-ceo-ryan-cohen-cnbc-interview-ebay-stocks-2000693270 

Which leads us to the game informer vault fire sale - https://80.lv/articles/gamestop-ceo-is-reportedly-selling-stuff-from-game-informer-vault-on-ebay-to-pay-for-ebay 

For those of you that don’t know Game informer was a magazine that was a video game magazine that began in 1991, at first a six-page booklet handed out free in every FuncoLand (now GameStop).Back in 2000, Barnes & Noble bought Funcoland and merged it with Babbage's to form GameStop. Vault has some cool historical or rare gaming memorabilia/games

https://replay.fandom.com/wiki/Game_Informer 

Bloomberg reports his ebay account was suspended while he was trying to sell these thing in order to fund the ebay aquisition - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-06/gamestop-s-cohen-says-he-s-selling-on-ebay-to-help-fund-takeover  

https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/gamestop-ceo-ryan-cohen-banned-115859538.html

QUICK BITS

STORE CREDIT

Sony reportedly agreed to a $7.85 million US settlement after a class-action lawsuit accused them of monopolizing the PlayStation Store by killing off third-party digital game codes back in 2019.

https://www.engadget.com/2163227/sony-will-soon-settle-playstation-store-class-action-lawsuit/ 

If you bought any of the eligible digital titles 

https://psndigitalgamessettlement.com/media/qeefysnv/0219-06-2026-02-26-exhibit-e-list-of-eligible-games-and-plan-of-allocation.pdf

between April 2019 and December 2023, you might see a slice of that payout. 

Court Document: https://psndigitalgamessettlement.com/media/f2sbfoy2/0190-2024-12-13-second-amended-consolidated-complaint.pdf 

No claim form is required and once settled eligible users will be automatically credited to their PSN wallet after the final court hearing on October 15th.

https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/open-lawsuit-settlements/7-85m-sony-playstation-store-class-action-settlement/#:~:text=No,to%20receive%20settlement%20benefits 

OUI BACK 

RUSE the cult-hit Real Time Strategy game is coming back to Steam after years spent in licensing limbo, 

https://www.polygon.com/ubisoft-ruse-rts-pc-game-steam-release/ 

all because Ubisoft technically owned the game 

https://lmg.gg/rusedevsteamresponse 

When fans found out Ubisoft officially decommissioned the multiplayer servers back in 2024, fans were noticeably rallying to bring it back.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/21970/discussions/0/4139438760461168253/     

Unfortunately due to the licensing issue the OG devs had to fight and wait it out until getting an opportunity to re-release the game - which they have officially done and even added some extra content.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/21970/RUSE/  

ACT YOUR AGE

2K's CEO has admitted Civilization 7's most controversial mechanic, the new “Ages system” that abruptly swapped your civ partway through a game, “was a bridge too far.” https://kotaku.com/ceo-admits-civilization-7-was-a-bridge-too-far-as-it-ditches-its-most-controversial-mechanic-in-new-fundamentally-game-changing-update-over-one-year-later-2000693964 

Over a year after Civ 7’s launch, the team is now re-adding the mechanic where players can play as one civ across history in what they're calling a "fundamentally game-changing update" over a year after launch.

https://lmg.gg/civ7readdinplayingasoneciv 

https://assets.2k.com/1a6ngf98576c/32iC4OXq6ksIPTpjQ9NgT4/91a156e12eb046a94341f2ea3bfc38af/IMG_0835.jpg 

EPIC BATTLE

US Supreme court sides with Epic in the Apple vs Epic lawsuit over ios fees - 

https://kotaku.com/epic-games-apple-lawsuit-supreme-court-refuses-appeal-2000693934     

Apple tried to delay the supreme court decision on monday - https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5862947-apple-asks-supreme-court-to-pause-contempt-finding-in-epic-games-case/ 

But the supreme court said apple’s tactics were anticomptitive and kicked it back to the california district court - https://www.reuters.com/world/us-supreme-court-declines-pause-order-holding-apple-contempt-epic-games-lawsuit-2026-05-06/?taid=69fb52cf083ff2000107782a 

BLOCK BY BLOCK/CONCRETE JUNGLE MINECRAFT TOMAAATOO

Polygon dropped a documentary called Battle of the Boroughs: The Kids Who Build New York City in Minecraft, 

https://www.polygon.com/battle-of-the-boroughs-full-documentary-minecraft/

covering a NYC public school tournament where teams build Minecraft solutions to real problems like food access, climate change, and city infrastructure,

https://education.minecraft.net/en-us/blog/battle-of-the-boroughs-nyc 

https://youtu.be/nLsQjV35y_U?si=j5_1r1505VFejqHK documentary

Duration: 07:18

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

0:15 Sony Clears Up DRM Confusion

1:33 S&box Launch Reception

2:43 Super ZSNES Emulator

3:57 QUICK BITS INTRO

4:02 Subnautica 2 Confirmed Release Date

4:41 Assassin’s Creed 1 Remake

5:13 Blizzard’s Former President Speaks on Latest Patch

5:54 Resident Evil Movie

6:28 A Game About Your Unplayed Games

NEWS SOURCES:

MAINS

LICENSE TO CHILL

SONY has finally cleared up a week of panic over a mysterious 30-day timer that started appearing on PlayStation digital game purchases.

https://www.eurogamer.net/sony-comment-playstation-30-day-drm 

Twitter post from Lance Mcdonald: https://x.com/manfightdragon/status/2047928888907669530

Sony AI chatbot confirms: https://bsky.app/profile/doesitplay.org/post/3mkjxhz4jhd2f  

Then Spawn Wave discovered the CMOS issue: https://youtu.be/dR_MPkTlrN8?t=388 

Cue the pitchforks: https://www.vgchartz.com/article/467661/playstation-reportedly-adds-30-day-drm-check-to-all-newly-purchased-digital-ps5-and-ps4-games/ 

https://www.techradar.com/gaming/playstation/please-be-fake-playstation-fans-panic-as-sony-seemingly-introduces-ridiculous-new-30-day-license-check-on-digital-games 

Andshrew stress tested this on the resetera forums: https://www.resetera.com/threads/sonys-digital-drm-issue-up-one-time-online-check-is-required-per-sie-spokesperson.1501771/page-7#post-154305715 

Sony has now broken their silence to confirm exactly that, leaving out the 14 day thing:

https://www.gamefile.news/p/sony-30-day-playstation-check-in-explained 

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/playstation-users-report-new-online-license-checks-for-digital-games/1100-6539651/

Statement: https://lmg.gg/y5Qfx 

WE LOVE FIXING THINGS

Garry's Mod successor s&box stumbled onto Steam Tuesday with nearly a million dollars in launch sales, a 44% review rating, and one absolute banger of a tech anecdote https://www.pcgamer.com/games/s-and-box-makes-nearly-usd1-million-on-launch-day-and-yes-there-are-problems-but-thats-okay-we-love-it-when-things-break-because-then-we-get-to-fix-them/

- Facepunch accidentally DDOS'd their own backend. 

https://lmg.gg/sandboxddos  

Studio boss Garry Newman says it all went "pretty much exactly as expected." 

The most negative steam reviews and the three pain points Newman addressed revolve around AI slop, performance issues, and Sandbox not being Garrys mod - that last one being technically correct, since it's the sequel. 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/590830/sbox/ 

In the post launch update, Newman clarified they won't ban AI-assisted games but won't push AI either, as many people are using AI coding tools to learn how to program. Newman said the huge majority of games are created by smart, dedicated humans and it's a bit of an injustice that it's simply swatted away as AI slop. 

https://lmg.gg/Newman-update-on-AI 

On performance, dev Matt admits GMod's 20-year-old engine "will hit 300fps on a toaster" and s&box isn't there yet, but promises "this is the worst the performance will ever be." 

https://sbox.game/news/post-release 

As for the road ahead, Garry says development challenges are "what we're here for." Or as he put it: "we love it when things break because then we get to fix them."

https://sbox.game/news/post-release#:~:text=do%2E-,We,%F0%9F%92%AA%F0%9F%8F%BC 

SNES OF DÉJÀ VU

“Super ZSNES” is a stab at a modern SNES emulator from the original developers

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/super-zsnes-is-a-stab-at-a-modern-snes-emulator-from-the-original-developers/

https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/the-sequel-to-the-iconic-emulator-zsnes-is-called-super-zsnes-of-course-135203417.html

https://www.notebookcheck.net/From-the-ashes-ZSNES-developers-announce-new-Super-Nintendo-emulator-Super-ZSNES.1283467.0.html 

Modern Vintage Gamer showed it off in a video: https://youtu.be/r5twUkvYFpA?t=117 

Image of the iconic menu brought back to life: https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/v2/t:0,l:0,cw:2410,ch:1355,q:80,w:2410/AUdJJ78VxansuANcrRPZNj.jpg 

Chips like the superFX are not supported yet, so Star Fox fans will have to keep waiting

https://www.zsnes.com/

QUICK BITS

FEAR THE SEAS

Subnautica 2 finally has a release date - May 14,

https://www.polygon.com/subnautica-2-release-date-steam-early-access-pc-xbox/ 

following months of messy legal drama between developer Unknown Worlds and publisher Krafton. You know that whole situation involving chatgpt advice leading to a CEO firing, a court-ordered reinstatement, and a conveniently almost-unpaid $250 million bonus. 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/18/subnautica-2-publisher-krafton-ceo-reinstated-ai-chatgpt-failed-bid-avoid-paying-bonus 

The lead designer also says Subnautica 2's new apex predator has given him brand new phobias - after the original game cured his fear of the ocean. 

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/subnautica-2s-lead-game-designer-says-it-helped-cure-his-sea-terror-only-for-its-new-apex-ocean-predator-to-give-him-all-new-phobias-this-is-going-to-make-many-people-sad-and-scared/ 

LEAK OF FAITH

Leaks suggest Assassin's Creed 1 Remake To Follow Black Flag Resynced

https://www.techpowerup.com/348541/assassins-creed-1-remake-to-follow-black-flag-resynced 

https://www.tweaktown.com/news/111311/ubisoft-may-be-going-back-to-damascus-with-an-assassins-creed-1-remake-following-black-flag-resynced/index.html

https://www.psu.com/news/assassins-creed-1-is-reportedly-the-series-next-remake/ 

Twitter post: https://x.com/xj0nathan/status/2048349984790085668 

Tom Henderson on the insider gaming podcast at 46:43

https://youtu.be/Mh1fFIfNaZM?t=2783 

PROP AND CIRCUMSTANCE

Blizzard's former president says 'WoW has to reset' over disastrous patch, and I really wouldn't go that far

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/blizzards-former-president-says-wow-has-to-reset-over-disastrous-patch-and-i-really-wouldnt-go-that-far/ 

https://kotaku.com/world-of-warcraft-midnight-patch-buggy-mess-prop-hunt-2000689787

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/world-of-warcrafts-latest-patch-is-one-giant-list-of-bugs-and-issues-and-players-are-fed-up/1100-6539563/ 

Decor Duels AFK penalty reddit posts: https://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comments/1ss50o8/if_youre_too_good_at_hiding_in_decor_duel_you_get/

https://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comments/1sspcm0/youre_punished_for_doing_well_in_the_decor_duel/ 

Official statement: https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24265942/a-message-regarding-the-1205-launch 

Twitter post: https://x.com/Qwik/status/2047646822059954267 

Evil Done Right

Resident Evil just dropped its trailer, with director Zach Cregger co-writing alongside Shay Hatten for Sony’s latest take on the hit Resident Evil franchise.

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/resident-evil-trailer-weapons-zach-cregger-1236701046/ 

In an interview, Zach Cregger said he wants it to feel like the games, you know? like being “pitted against a world that is hellbent on annihilating you” rather than just retelling the same story.

https://www.polygon.com/zach-cregger-resident-evil-2-interview/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CI%20wanted,said 

And over at Constantin Film, producer Oliver Berben also aims to stay true to the games, but still make it feel totally different from past adaptations.  

https://deadline.com/2026/02/oliver-berben-constantin-film-resident-evil-berlin-efm-1236718667/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWith,different%2E%E2%80%9D,- 

Cregger also wrote in an email that anytime he hears about a project based on a game he loves, he kinda instinctively crosses his arms and is like “please don’t mess this up for me.” So we got a man on the inside who is gonna treat us right!

https://lmg.gg/creggerquote 

BUYERS REMORSE THE GAME

And Game Quest:Backlog Battler turns your Steam library into a literal combat arena, where games you bought but barely played attack you.

https://www.polygon.com/steam-backlog-game-quest-pc-wishlist/ 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3356660/Game_Quest_The_Backlog_Battler/ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYijsW5p4F8

Duration: 08:11

Timestamps:

0:00 not cool man, not cool

0:20 Nintendo Sued by Players

1:37 Xbox Game Pass Changes

2:54 Pragmata Launches With Some Issues

4:16 QUICK BITS INTRO

4:23 Stop Killing Games Celebrates a Big Win

5:01 Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced

5:57 PlayStation Online Age Verification

6:37 Easier GameCube and Wii Emulation on Switch

7:11 Pickmos Removed from Steam

NEWS SOURCES:

MAINS

IT'S-A ME, LITIGIO

Nintendo sued by players who say they should get any tariff refunds received by the US government

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/nintendo-sued-by-players-who-say-they-should-get-any-tariff-refunds-received-by-the-us-government/ 

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/lawsuit-nintendo-is-getting-tariff-refunds-its-customers-should-get-them-instead/ 

For Context, Nintendo sued the feds last month:

https://globalnews.ca/news/11719608/nintendo-donald-trump-tariffs-refund-lawsuit/ 

https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendo-fans-demand-tariff-refunds-returned-to-customers 

Lawsuit: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wawd.361585/gov.uscourts.wawd.361585.1.0.pdf 

https://www.gamefile.news/p/gamers-sue-nintendo-over-tariff-refunds 

Gamefile asked in March if they would hand the money back to the customers

https://lmg.gg/6a9Kj 

PASS THE SAVINGS, HOLD THE DUTY

The speculation was correct, game pass is now cheaper but no longer has cod at launch

https://www.eurogamer.net/xbox-drops-game-pass-prices-call-of-duty-exits-day-one  

https://hothardware.com/news/xbox-game-pass-cheaper-no-more-day-1-access-call-of-duty 

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/04/21/xbox-game-pass-update/

Comes after Sharma said it was too expensive

https://www.nme.com/news/gaming-news/xbox-game-pass-is-too-expensive-says-new-xbox-chief-3940199 

Speculation that cutting CoD was just the start

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-game-pass-could-lose-other-day-one-new-releases-beyond-call-of-duty-expert-says/1100-6539552/ 

Microsoft brings Xbox back, scraps Microsoft Gaming

https://www.theverge.com/report/917485/microsoft-return-of-xbox-no-more-microsoft-gaming 

Xbox needs to be our identity quote

https://lmg.gg/z9GaE 

MOON STRANDING SELLS MILLIONS

Capcom’s sci-fi action title Pragmata just casually sold a million copies in 48 hours, surviving three delays over four long years of development. 

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/pragmata-has-sold-over-1-million-copies-in-just-2-days-after-3-delays-dragged-out-development-by-4-years/

The game follows investigator Hugh and android Diana through a rogue AI-infested lunar base searching for a way back to earth. *joke about death stranding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzBtbtOghV0 

sitting at an 86 on Metacritic and earning "Overwhelmingly Positive" reviews on Steam.

https://www.metacritic.com/game/pragmata/ 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3357650/PRAGMATA/ 

But if you're playing on Linux or a Steam Deck, you're in for a bad time thanks to our old friend, Denuvo. The anti-tamper DRM is aggressively locking out legitimate buyers. The system is treating every Proton version switch, launch option change, or graphics setting tweak as a different PC, and locking players out.

https://lmg.gg/quotepragmatadenuvo 

The ironic part is that pirates were playing a fully cracked version days before the official launch. So, once again, Denuvo is doing a fantastic job of exclusively punishing the people who actually paid for the game.

https://www.dsogaming.com/news/crackers-have-bypassed-pragmatas-denuvo-before-release/ 

So if you're playing on Linux, you might want to hold off on adjusting your settings too much, or you could find yourself locked out of the game you just bought.

QUICK BITS

CREW LIVES ON

The Stop Killing Games movement is celebrating a big win as The Crew 2 gets expanded offline mode support, letting players keep racing even after Ubisoft inevitably shuts down the servers.

https://www.eurogamer.net/stop-killing-games-celebrates-crew-2-offline-support 

The update adds smoother switching between online and offline modes and custom "livery support" meaning players can now create and save their custom car designs while playing offline, which wasn't possible before this update. 

https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/game/the-crew/the-crew-2/news-updates/7uxZ1NPu40uRsJeL4v4tj4/the-crew-2-hybrid-mode-update 

Movement founder Ross Scott mentioned in a video on Twitter that "they inadvertently saved two games," as The Crew Motorfest is also due to receive an offline mode.

https://x.com/StopKilingGames/status/2047142025816948865 

The movement has been pushing for laws requiring publishers to leave games in a playable state after shutdown. Their European petition hit over 1.3 million signatures and was presented to the EU Parliament, with a formal response due by July 27th.

BLACK FLAG REBOOTY

Assassin's Creed Black Flag is getting the full remake treatment, and honestly? It looks absolutely gorgeous.

https://www.ign.com/articles/assassins-creed-black-flag-resynced-has-major-changes 

https://news.ubisoft.com/en-us/article/7nIJkXCvPoBb6J8tvPlHku/tune-in-to-assassins-creed-black-flag-resynced-showcase-on-april-23 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhQ3yQjUgAc 

The original modern-day segments? Gone. Ubisoft's focusing on Edward's journey instead, though there will be some new "modern-day rifts" that explore his internal struggles.

https://gamerant.com/assassins-creed-black-flag-resynced-no-playable-modern-day/ 

VERIFY OR CHATN’T

PlayStation has sent out an email to account users in the UK and Ireland with a simple request - VERIFY YOUR AGE, OR DIE. https://insider-gaming.com/playstation-to-require-age-verification-for-certain-online-features/

Well you won't die, but without verification you will lose messaging, voice chat, and user-generated content beginning June 2026. https://insider-gaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/PlayStation-mail.png

PlayStation's FAQ was recently updated requiring age verification beginning June 2026 for UK adult accounts. 

https://lmg.gg/faqplaystation

You have a few options: upload ID, let third-party verification platform Yoti scan your face, or verify via mobile contract - because nothing says "gaming" like biometric surveillance.

https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/edda77d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/6000x4000+0+0/resize/1200x800!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Faa%2Fa6%2F44b46854417ab363d7c5bcfbac06%2Fla-ca-peter-thiel-058.JPG 

As I age gracefully into my older age perhaps I share the mentality of one Reddit user who said "Don't have to verify and now people can't contact me. It's all upside." So true Daver7692, so true. 

https://lmg.gg/boomergoodtake 

PLAY IT YOUR WII

GameCube and Wii emulation on Switch just got easier with Tico https://www.androidauthority.com/nintendo-switch-tico-play-gamecube-wii-emulation-3659487/ 

https://www.shanethegamer.com/esports-news/gamecube-wii-switch-tico-dolphin-emulation/

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/SwitchPirates/comments/1sr8eve/tico_alpha_070_gamecube_and_wii_now_running_on/

Twitter post: https://x.com/danticoverse/status/2046387484980883719 

https://github.com/ticohq/tico/releases/tag/0.7.0 

PICKED OFF STEAM

Pokémon & Zelda Rip-Off 'Pickmos' formerly known as Pickmon Removed From Steam As Publisher Intervenes

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2026/04/pokemon-and-zelda-rip-off-pickmos-removed-from-steam-as-publisher-intervenes

Twitter post: https://x.com/PickMon_EN/status/2044732047709868392 

They want it to have a “controversy free experience” https://x.com/PickMon_EN/status/2044747691159433562 

Duration: 05:54

Timestamps:

0:00 archaeologyLinked let's go

0:11 Xbox Game Pass 'too expensive'

1:11 Stop Killing Games backs California bill

2:11 Ashes of Creation ledger leak

3:16 QUICK BITS INTRO

3:24 Windrose: the spirit of AC: Black Flag

4:00 Blizzard shuts down Turtle WoW

4:31 Bloodborne movie ft. Jacksepticeye

5:06 Tomodachi Life obsession

NEWS SOURCES:

MAINS

TRY THE OPPOSITE

Apr 13 - Xbox Game Pass ‘has become too expensive,’ says Microsoft’s new gaming chief in leaked memo. Microsoft is getting ready to address Game Pass pricing concerns.

https://www.theverge.com/tech/911182/microsoft-xbox-game-pass-too-expensive-leaked-memo 

https://hothardware.com/news/xbox-boss-says-game-pass-too-expensive-microsoft-memo

https://www.gadgetreview.com/xbox-boss-admits-game-pass-has-become-too-expensive 

Too expensive for players quote: https://lmg.gg/juT3r

It got more expensive in October $16.99 → $19.99 → $29.99

https://mashable.com/article/oct-1-xbox-game-pass-price-hike 

Maybe one of the reasons they could lower the price is that reportedly Call of Duty 2026 Might Not Launch on Xbox Game Pass day one

https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/mustafa-mahmoud/future-call-of-duty-games-might-not-launch-day-one-on-xbox-game-pass/ 

1:49:50 on the xbox 2 podcast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiuqOKvlHbc&t=6590s 

Apr 14 - Xbox Is Reportedly Considering a Return To Exclusive Games: “There Are Very, Very Big Discussions Internally,” Insider Says

https://wccftech.com/xbox-considering-return-exclusives/

https://mynintendonews.com/2026/04/14/windows-centrals-jez-corden-says-xbox-discussing-internally-whether-to-return-to-exclusives/ 

WARDED FROM SHUTDOWNS

Stop Killing Games has endorsed California's recently amended Protect Our Games Act https://www.techspot.com/news/112055-stop-killing-games-backs-california-bill-supporting-clearer.html

The bill was introduced earlier this year by California Assembly member Chris Ward, and has since been amended.

https://lmg.gg/Protectourgamesact 

The newly amended bill would force publishers of "server-connected" games released after January 1, 2027 to either patch titles losing online-only functionality so they remain playable offline after support ends, OR cough up full refunds.It also requires publishers to warn players 60 days before servers go offline, both in-game and on their website, with clear notice of which features get disabled, any security risks, and what's needed to keep the game running offline long-term. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1921#:~:text=60,distributing 

This doesn’t apply to subscription services, free-to-play games that never required a purchase, and one-time downloads designed to run fully offline from day one. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1921#:~:text=%281%29%C2%A0Any,consideration 

Moritz Katzner, the Stop Killing Games EU lead, wrote that the bill is already drawing heat from major U.S. gaming industry lobbying groups, ‘which likely means we’re on the right track.’”

https://lmg.gg/moritzkatzner 

GOTTA GET THAT DASHPASS BRO

Ashes of Creation's Alleged Expense Ledger Leaks, they deny it all but its pretty goofy

https://massivelyop.com/2026/04/11/ashes-of-creations-alleged-expense-ledger-has-been-leaked-to-ruin-your-weekend/ 

https://www.mmorpg.com/news/alleged-ashes-of-creation-financial-ledger-leaked-claiming-misappropriation-of-studio-funds-sharif-responds-2000137792

From this kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1791529601/ashes-of-creation-new-mmorpg-by-intrepid-studios 

Comes from Youtuber NefasQS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8xSWtwUl1o 

List of expenses: (Editor go to the general ledger for screenshots, show these quickly as the host lists them)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ivYAjjAInMyW3bthU2sulGrVysZoXh6QtzhFhChkGqU/edit?gid=336740725#gid=336740725

• Line 5511 Doordash
• Line 4553 for the 10 chili’s trips
• Line 10023 for private chef inc
• Line 8002 for the oil company
• Line 7633 Fortnite (draw the eye to R&D)

The company wasn't super impressed and slapped back with a statement

https://www.mmorpg.com/news/alleged-ashes-of-creation-financial-ledger-leaked-claiming-misappropriation-of-studio-funds-sharif-responds-2000137792?amp=true 

The companies response: https://www.reddit.com/r/AshesofCreation/comments/1rm0y1m/public_statement_and_update_regarding_intrepid/ 

QUICK BITS

BLACK FLAG FANS REJOICE

Ahoy, landlubbers, open-world pirate survival game Windrose just launched into Steam Early Access and players are absolutely eating it up. 

https://www.eurogamer.net/windrose-early-access-steam-positive-reviews 

People love this game and are saying it “scratches that black flag itch in the best way”

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/open-world/open-world-pirate-survival-game-windrose-launches-to-69-000-steam-players-and-88-percent-positive-reviews-scratches-that-black-flag-itch-in-the-best-way/ 

The early access game is currently sitting on steam with over 3,000 reviews and is very positive.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/3041230/reviews/ 

• Editor: first the top of the steam page, then the bottom reviews section

Momentum's only building, the game's now up to a 109,000 concurrent player base.  

https://steamdb.info/app/3041230/charts/ 

You can hunt treasure, fight naval battles, build a house, engage in combat, and - most importantly - farm. How else is a man of the sea supposed to stave off scurvy??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEUNq2eHrNI video of gameplay

• 00:11 find treasure
• 00:12 kill birds
• 00:23 navigate pirate naval warfare
• 00:34 build a house
• 00:42 engage in combat
• 00:58 farm, I LOVE FARMING

BLIZZARD CRACKS THE SHELL (if too long: SHELLED BY THE LAW)

Blizzard has won a permanent court order against Turtle WoW, forcing the server to shut down.

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/blizzard-wins-injunction-against-vanilla-world-of-warcraft-private-server/

Turtle WoW's custom Mysteries of Azeroth expansion built new content on top of Vanilla WoW, staying in the Warcraft III era instead of jumping forward to Burning Crusade.

https://turtlecraft.gg/ 

One player stating IP should be respected, but “turtle wow is giving us what Blizzard won’t”, Basically the Classic Plus experience Blizzard has never officially delivered on.

https://lmg.gg/redditcommentmakesgoodpoint 

Court documents lay out the full scope, Turtle WoW must "immediately and permanently cease and desist" from developing, programming, operating, updating, supporting, distributing, or marketing the server.

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71235075/56/1/blizzard-entertainment-inc-v-turtle-wow/ 

• Editor: Highlight not working but “shall immediately and permanently cease and desist from any of the following: developing, programming, coding, operating, updating, supporting, maintaining, distributing, marketing,”

YHARNAM-WOOD

Sony just announced at CinemaCon that an R-rated animated Bloodborne movie is in the works, finally giving FromSoftware's eldritch horror nightmare a worthy adaptation. https://variety.com/2026/film/news/bloodborne-video-game-r-rated-animated-movie-adaptation-sony-cinemacon-1236720936/

Sanford Panitch, president of Sony Pictures, promised the adaptation will be "very true" to the roots and Miyazaki's vision of Bloodborne, fingers crossed. 

https://lmg.gg/sanfordpromises 

On top of the announcement it was revealed famous youTuber jacksepticeye is co-producing it https://youtu.be/nRgyggAsta4?t=99 

• Editor: timestamp 1:39, less important since I just want to show the title and his channel, maybe if you can get a screenshot of the video pre-clicking to get the thumbnail.

So Markiplier made Iron Lung, and Jacksepticeye is working on Bloodborne? I told you screaming at video games was a valid career path, MOM!

THAT Mii BETTER PASS THE GAS

Apr 14 - Nintendo Was "Obsessed" With Getting Mii Farts To Sound Correct For Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-was-obsessed-with-getting-mii-farts-to-sound-correct-for-tomodachi-life-living-the-dream/1100-6539386/

https://kotaku.com/tomodachi-life-fart-miis-nintendo-switch-2000687513

https://www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/ask-the-developer-vol-21-tomodachi-life-living-the-dream-part-1/ 

Fart quote: https://lmg.gg/EilRS 

Its apparently an optional feature: https://lmg.gg/dj7L4 

This clip from the trailer kinda looks like they are waiting in line for a bathroom at 1:33

https://youtu.be/PNQxknspka4?t=93 

Duration: 08:29

Timestamps:

0:00 Blinx and you'll miss it

0:14 Valve building 'SteamGPT'

1:30 Pokemon Champions' rock-type launch

3:13 Samson also has rough launch

4:36 QUICK BITS INTRO

4:44 Forza Horizon 6 previews

5:32 No Man's Sky Xeno Arena

6:10 Pokemon Go champion disqualified

6:54 Mass Effect TV show too gamer-ey

7:26 Kerbal Space Program player count

NEWS SOURCES:

MAINS

TRUST ISSUES, NOW AUTOMATED

Valve has been building an internal AI tool called SteamGPT, designed to automate support tickets, summarize accounts, and feed signals into CS2's anti-cheat, and we only know about it because of a new leak. https://www.pcworld.com/article/3110609/valve-is-quietly-building-its-own-ai-tool-called-steamgpt.html 

Dataminer GabeFollower found references buried in a Steam client update and the protobuf files he surfaced show 

https://x.com/gabefollower/status/2041616788178256245 

it's way more than a chatbot name somebody thought was funny. https://lmg.gg/Githubfilesteamgptsummary 

• Editor: highlight the three SteamGPT files in the GitHub folder

The system has three moving parts. Each designed to handle internal processes. Like autohandling support tickets using account context, summarizing account details, 

https://lmg.gg/steamgptthreethings

and providing player evaluations for CS2’s Trust Factor (“Trust score” taking a page out of Xi Jinping’s Social Credit system)

https://pickem-mongolia.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Trust-Factor-CS2-Guide-1.webp

• Editor: img of trust factor rankings 

What blows my mind about SteamGPTSummary - is it can instantly build a full dossier on your account the second the function is called…which is either super efficient or mildly terrifying, depending on how cursed your Steam hours look. https://github.com/SteamTracking/Protobufs/blob/master/webui/service_steamgptsummary.proto 

We're talking location history, alt accounts, fraud signals, VAC bans, recent playtime, and whether your email is flagged as high-risk, all assembled possibly before a human has even read your ticket.

https://github.com/SteamTracking/Protobufs/blob/master/webui/service_steamgptsummary.proto 

• Editor: slow scroll through CSteamGPT_Summary, flash each field as host names it: existing_accounts, high_fraud_email, vacbans, playtime_forever, countries

So next time Steam Support seems weirdly well-informed about your account, that's not a human doing their homework. That's Valve's AI doing it before the ticket's even been read.

https://x.com/gabefollower/status/2041616788178256245/photo/1 

• Editor: Funny gaben image from the twitter post, fullscreen or over the shoulder for ending joke.

GOTTA CATCH ALL 187 OF 'EM

April 8 - Pokémon Champions launches to mixed reception, as performance woes and competitive changes turn some away

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2026/04/feels-like-a-fleshed-out-beta-fans-are-unhappy-with-pokemon-champions-at-launch 

https://www.eurogamer.net/pokemon-champions-reception-performance-woes-competitive-changes

Its missing alot of stuff

https://gamefragger.com/nintendo/pokemon-champions-faces-early-criticism-over-limited-pokdex-performance-issues-and-cut-items-a28205 

List of example items: https://lmg.gg/fJ2oj 

https://nintendoeverything.com/pokemon-champions-is-off-to-a-rough-start-heres-why/

An error can occur when transferring Pokemon from Pokemon Home.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/pokemon-champions-bug-has-made-some-players-lose-access-to-their-precious-monsters/1100-6539280/ 

They have issued an apology and said fixes are incoming (Editor translate to English, show the headline then draw the eye to the bug list): https://news.pokemon-home.com/ja/page/758.html   

It will be taken offline for 2 hours to address the bugs https://lmg.gg/sFM0T 

One of the bugs made Gallade able to be female, and the internet crowned her as a trans icon

https://kotaku.com/pokemon-champions-trans-gallade-female-male-gardevoir-2000685803 

Twitter post: https://x.com/justivenhere/status/2041713037892317460 

It will be taken offline for 2 hours to address the bugs https://lmg.gg/sFM0T 

JUST CAUSE FOR A REFUND

The creator of Just Cause released Samson yesterday, and it’s already landed at Mixed on Steam and the third-worst score of 2026 on Metacritic. https://www.ign.com/articles/we-released-a-game-with-flaws-for-a-number-of-reasons-samson-dev-promises-improvements-amid-mixed-reception

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3634520/Samson/ 

One reviewer mentioned playing it as a “frustrating, hollow, and unpleasant experience” as he encountered mission breaking bugs.

https://lmg.gg/samsongamerrantreview 

Another reviewer pointed out to the games “overly simplistic and repetitive gameplay”

https://www.metacritic.com/publication/4pde/ 

• Editor: 4P.DE Samson's review

https://www.metacritic.com/game/samson/ 

Another steam review cited the map as being the size of a basketball court and the game as a whole as unfinished and extremely repetitive.

https://steamcommunity.com/id/cyb0rg_slay3r/recommended/3634520 

 Creative director Christofer Sundberg posted a letter to Steam acknowledging the flaws, calling the game-breaking bugs and performance issues “unacceptable” but 

https://lmg.gg/numberofreasonsSamson

• Editor: highlight not working “Early impressions are mixed and many of you are experiencing game-breaking bugs and performance issues. That’s unacceptable and we are listening to everyone’s feedback and are hard at work to deliver the game we spent years of our lives developing.”

had "released a game with flaws for a number of reasons.” WHAT ARE THOSE REASONS?

https://lmg.gg/numberofreasonsSamson

• Editor: Highlight not working “released a game with flaws for a number of reasons” quote highlight ty

A patch drops Friday, April 10th, and is targeting performance, crashes, and mission progression issues. The bones might be there, but right now you're better off waiting for the sale than funding the surgery. https://steamcommunity.com/app/3634520/discussions/0/800092562772785651/?snr=1_2108_9__2107 

• Editor: Just scroll through the patch page slowly zooming in

QUICKBITS

FORZA HORIZON: TOKYO DRIFT

April 8 - Forza Horizon 6 dropped the first 6 minutes of gameplay and gave out pre release copies to reviewers. People seemed hyped although it's likely these are paid promotions 

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/04/08/forza-horizon-6-preview-japan-collectibles-seamless-races-open-world-design/ 

https://www.autoblog.com/reviews/forza-horizon-6-honest-review

Gameplay trailer: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1qlPZMfmiU 

4:05 pretty visuals: https://youtu.be/H1qlPZMfmiU?t=245 

Even the Sim guys are alright with it

https://www.overtake.gg/news/we-played-forza-horizon-6-finally-good-on-a-wheel.4362/ 

2:55 AE86 drifting into a car show clip for initial D joke

https://youtu.be/H1qlPZMfmiU?t=175 

I CHOOSE YOU, GASEOUS BLOB

April 8 - No Man’s Sky now has Pokémon-style creature battles (this is funny because of the Pokemon patent getting denied)

https://www.nomanssky.com/xeno-arena-update/ (Editor scroll down to the headline)

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/no-mans-skys-latest-update-is-an-entire-new-pokemon-style-creature-collection-and-battle-system-thats-an-entire-multiplayer-game-all-of-its-own/ 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0pzvZ-8yIs 

• 0:28: collect breed and genetically modify your eggs https://youtu.be/I0pzvZ-8yIs?t=28 
• 0:36 battle clip: https://youtu.be/I0pzvZ-8yIs?t=36 

They admit its inspired by Pokemon and Palworld: https://lmg.gg/ivPEu 

USPTO denied Nintendo’s patent on battling: https://gamesfray.com/u-s-patent-examiner-rejects-nintendos-summon-subcharacter-and-let-it-fight-in-1-of-2-modes-patent-as-obvious-non-final-ruling/ 

UNSPORTSMANLIKE?

Pokémon GO Orlando Regional champion Firestar73 was stripped of his first place finish for "unsportsmanlike conduct" - and yes, competitive Pokémon GO is apparently a thing people fly internationally for. https://www.dexerto.com/pokemon/pokemon-go-champion-stripped-of-title-for-celebrating-his-win-3347073/

Look at this lil ol celebration. 

https://x.com/ItsAXN/status/2040924406827086032

• Editor: play clip from 0:03 to end, he pumps his fist and shakes his opponent's hand

Even The official Play Pokémon Tournament Rules Handbook, yes that also seemingly exists, doesn't actually define what counts as unsportsmanlike. It just says players must display "the spirit of the game."  https://www.pokemon.com/static-assets/content-assets/cms2/pdf/play-pokemon/rules/play-pokemon-tournament-rules-handbook-en.pdf

• Editor: handbook page 42, section 7.1 'Philosophy' highlight the vague language

#JusticeForFirestar is trending, and honestly, if you travel the world to be the best Pokémon GO player on earth, the least they can do is let you feel good about it for more than five seconds.

REWRITE EFFECT

April 4 - Mass Effect TV show ordered to rewrite scripts and make them "more appealing to non-gamers"

https://www.ign.com/articles/mass-effect-prime-video-series-amazon-tv-boss-reportedly-requested-rewrites-to-make-it-more-appealing-to-non-gamers 

Original source: https://theankler.com/p/why-is-peter-friedlander-taking-so 

https://www.eurogamer.net/mass-effect-tv-show-ordered-to-rewrite-scripts-and-make-them-more-appealing-to-non-gamers

https://cosmicbook.news/mass-effect-tv-show-rewrite-non-gamers-amazon 

Pricey genre drama quote: https://lmg.gg/kqbT6 

TO THE MOON!

Kerbal Space Program just hit its highest live player count on Steam in over a decade, which is impressive for a game that's been out since 2015. 

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/kerbal-space-program-rockets-to-its-highest-concurrent-player-count-on-steam-in-more-than-10-years/

It seems the Artemis 2 launch has reminded us of how cool space was again, as KSP hit 12,434 concurrent players shortly after.

https://lmg.gg/quoteartemisksp 

Even more impressive considering KSP 2, its sequel, launched, imploded, and got abandoned by the publisher in the span of about two years. 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/954850/Kerbal_Space_Program_2/ 

But unlike KSP 2, Artemis 2 thankfully did not implode and we will never abandon our space homies renewing our collective spirit and hope for the future. Perhaps what we all needed to be reminded of was the good and depths we can achieve as people when we come together. I bet you wont find anyone who hates it - well actually I spoke to soon…..

https://www.reddit.com/r/insanepeoplefacebook/comments/1sd17lr/antinasa_artemis_is_evil/#lightbox 

• Editor: Reddit post second image American Heritage center shit talking artemis 2 as evil based on bible teachings lmao

Duration: 07:26

Timestamps:

0:00 I dono, smells fine to me

0:13 Denuvo broken by hypervisor

1:39 Garry Newman's S&box, Valve deal

3:03 Nintendo Pokemon patent rejected

4:20 QUICK BITS INTRO

4:26 Ubisoft sued over taking The Crew offline

5:24 MindsEye DLC will have sabotage evidence

6:12 Eidos Montreal layoffs, studio head gone

6:54 Pokopia, IKEA collab

NEWS SOURCES:

MAINS

DENUV-OH NO

Denuvo is now able to be bypassed via an exploit. So yay pirates, but also holy crap this is dangerous to install

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3104672/cracking-denuvo-games-in-windows-just-got-easier-and-insanely-dangerous.html 

https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/pc-gaming/denuvo-has-been-broken-company-promises-countermeasures-against-new-drm-bypasses-zero-day-game-releases-become-norm-as-security-concerns-mount-over-hypervisor-based-bypass 

Denuvo crackwatch (Editor show latest posts): https://www.reddit.com/r/CrackWatch/new/ 

Resident Evil Requiem: https://i.imgur.com/Cqpt0sJ.png 

Crimson Desert: https://i.imgur.com/YfALV3i.png 

Why its dangerous: https://lmg.gg/549i5 

https://torrentfreak.com/game-pirates-beat-denuvo-with-hypervisor-bypasses-irdeto-promises-countermeasure/ 

Company response: https://lmg.gg/FeKyY 

Capcom Just Cannot Stop Deliberately Breaking Its Games With DRM

https://kotaku.com/capcom-resident-evil-trilogy-enigma-drm-steam-2000684223  

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/original-resident-evil-trilogy-with-gogs-fresh-coat-of-paint-is-finally-on-steam-but-you-will-have-to-put-up-with-enigma-drm

INDIE BOOM INCOMING?

Garry's Mod creator Garry Newman has officially partnered with Valve on a deal that lets games made in S&box, his upcoming sandbox successor, be sold on Steam without royalties. https://www.gamesradar.com/games/simulation/garrys-mod-creator-partners-with-valve-in-deal-that-ensures-games-made-in-his-sandbox-gems-new-successor-can-be-sold-royalty-free-on-steam-its-just-waiting-for-us-now/

The deal means anyone can export a game from S&box's built-in editor and sell it as a standalone title on Steam without paying Facepunch, the studio behind S&box, a single cent. https://sbox.game/news/update-26-03-25  

• Editor: Cant get highlight to work but in the "Standalone" section 
• "We signed the new license with Valve this week, allowing us to allow people to export games from s&box's editor and ship them as standalone games on Steam without paying us anything."

S&box itself launches on Steam on April 28. Newman says the move is about paying it forward and lowering the barrier to entry for indie developers, giving them the same kind of chance he was given. 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/590830/sbox/   

He credits Valve for kickstarting his career. In an interview with PC Gamer, he said: "the thing that we've appreciated, what I learned from Rust and Garry's Mod, is that Valve gave me a chance."

https://lmg.gg/NewmanCreditsValve  

• Editor: Quote

The best part is that it's already happening. Games are already being built in S&box. 

 https://sbox.game/games 

One example is My Summer Cottage by Small Fish, an esoteric exploration game that's notably already listed on Steam.

 https://store.steampowered.com/app/3115420/My_Summer_Cottage/ 

UBRE, a developer from Small Fish, also interviewed Kenney, 

https://smallfi.sh/blog/kenney_interview  

a beloved indie game asset creator who has contributed over 40,000 free assets to the game dev community over the past 14 years. While the interview is from 2024, even he was excited about the platform's potential.

https://kenney.nl/   

He said: "I only recently learned that people can publish their games outside of the S&box platform, to me that's a game changer!" 

https://lmg.gg/KenneyonSandbox  

• Editor: Quote

As layoffs continue to hit AAA studios while indie games keep gaining momentum, it’s starting to feel like the era of massive budget gaming might be fading, making room for games that might not cost a lot to make, but games that ____

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1082430/Before_Your_Eyes/ 

• EDITOR: record screen and play the first trailer on this page from 0:13 - 0:35 - we might not use the whole thing but I want that much available
• In the screen recording, have the game art on the right visible
• Slowly fade the video in as host says the last line in the story
• Vibe is “staring into space feeling feelings”

POKÉ-PATENT, REVOKE THEM ALL 

The US Patent Office just revoked Nintendo's controversial Pokémon battling patent, though the decision isn't final. https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2026/04/nintendos-summon-character-to-fight-patent-rejected-by-us-patent-office  

Back in September 2025, the USPTO granted Nintendo US patent 12,403,397, which described a system for summoning sub-characters into battle, 

https://archive.org/details/12403397/page/n21/mode/2up   

essentially the core Pokémon loop. 

https://archive.org/details/12403397/page/n9/mode/2up 

It was approved with almost zero pushback, drawing outcry from players and legal experts alike notably Videogame patent lawyer Kirk Sigmon called the approval "an embarrassing failure of the US patent system." https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/an-embarrassing-failure-of-the-us-patent-system-videogame-ip-lawyer-says-nintendos-latest-patents-on-pokemon-mechanics-should-not-have-happened-full-stop/ 

Well at least not as embarrassing as patenting this device

https://patents.google.com/patent/US6293874B1/en 

• Editor: Show this when host is reacting to weird patent image

https://www.brandon-valorisation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/US6293874_Appareil-pour-donner-des-coups-de-pieds-aux-fesses-de-lutilisateur_Brandon-Valorisation-conseils-en-innovation-Paris-France.png 

The USPTO now seems to agree. Last week, it rejected all 26 of the patent's claims in a nonfinal decision, effectively declaring its intent to revoke the patent. https://api.unifiedpatents.com/reexam/90020162/MN60O2K1X158X88  

• Editor: page 5 status of claims rejected screengrab

What made the reexamination notable is that it was ordered by USPTO Director John A. Squires on his own initiative, the first time since 2012 a director has personally intervened without another company requesting it. 

https://lmg.gg/DirectorJohnUSPTOQuote  

The rejection was based on four pieces of prior art, patents from Konami, Bandai Namco, and even two of Nintendo's own earlier filings. The examiner didn't even need to look at actual games to reach that conclusion.

https://lmg.gg/PCGAMERPREEXISTINGPATENT  

Nintendo has two months to respond, and can still appeal to the Federal Circuit, so this isn't over yet. 

QUICK BITS

CREW CONTROL

Mar 31 - French consumer group sues Ubisoft over shutdown of online game 'The Crew'

https://www.reuters.com/technology/french-consumer-group-sues-ubisoft-over-shutdown-online-game-the-crew-2026-03-31/ 

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/french-consumer-group-sues-ubisoft-over-shutdown-of-the-crew

https://www.techspot.com/news/111916-french-consumer-group-sues-ubisoft-over-crew-server.html 

Blog post about the lawsuit: Editor translate page to english

https://www.quechoisir.org/action-ufc-que-choisir-jeux-video-l-ufc-que-choisir-assigne-ubisoft-en-justice-suite-a-la-fermeture-du-jeu-the-crew-n175318/ 

Ubisoft tried to get this thrown out before by maintaining that customers only purchase “limited access”

https://www.scribd.com/document/848030901/The-Crew-lawsuit-Ubisoft-response-via-Polygon 

TRIAL BY DLC

April 1 - MindsEye studio head confirms plans to share evidence the game was sabotaged… in DLC

• Note for writer (don’t have to include, but just to reduce potential confusion): Current CEO of Build a Rocket Boy is Mark Gerhard, who filled in after founder Leslie Benzies stepped down (temporarily?) in early 2026

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/mindseye-is-adding-a-new-mission-which-will-share-some-of-the-evidence-of-alleged-studio-sabotage-ceo-says/ 

in February, Gerhard told Insider Gaming about plan to ‘use names’ of saboteurs in DLC content

https://insider-gaming.com/mindseye-ceo-alleges-1-million-sabotaging-its-game/ 

• Quote https://lmg.gg/7oE6i 

This week, told Gamesbeat the mission is called ‘Blacklist’ and confirmed plans to ‘share evidence’

https://gamesbeat.com/why-build-a-rocket-boy-moved-to-self-publishing-for-mindseye-mark-gerhard-interview/ 

• Quote https://lmg.gg/WavWT 

https://www.metacritic.com/game/mindseye/ 

DEUS AXED

Mar 31 - Eidos-Montréal announces 124 job cuts; studio head David Anfossi departs after 19 years at developer

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/eidos-montreal-announces-124-job-cuts-studio-head-david-anfossi-departs-after-19-years-at-developer 

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/eidos-montreal-announces-mass-layoffs-for-the-third-year-in-a-row-as-studio-head-leaves/ 

Eidos Montreal Cancels 7+ Year In-Development Title That Cost Hundreds of Millions

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Report-Eidos-Montreal-cancels-100-million-game-in-development-for-7-years.1263060.0.html 

https://insider-gaming.com/eidos-montreal-wildlands-cancellation/ 

It burned through 4 different game engines:

https://lmg.gg/Ryr4F 

POKÉ-KÖTTBULLAR

Mar 31 - Pokémon Pokopia is getting an IKEA collaboration inspired by Pikachu and Snorlax

• Apparently not an April Fools’ Day joke

https://www.eurogamer.net/pokemon-pokopia-announces-ikea-collaboration-with-new-items

https://www.polygon.com/pokemon-pokopia-ikea-collaboration/ 

https://www.ikea.com/jp/ja/campaigns/20th-anniversary-pokemon-pub72465cf0/  

Product Images: https://www.ikea.com/ext/ingkadam/m/3ee5f3a7a90863ee/original/JP-0011639.jpg?f=xl 

Weird poster:

https://www.ikea.com/ext/ingkadam/m/1a4f1dc7a9575def/original/JP-0011640.jpg?f=xl

Duration: 09:41

Timestamps:

0:00 I HAVE THE POWER!!!

0:15 Epic Games, Fortnite layoffs

2:16 Pokemon Champions major changes

4:05 Switch 2 physical/digital game prices

5:35 QUICK BITS INTRO

5:50 Minecraft World theme park

6:27 Crimson Desert sells $3M copies

7:17 EverQuest Legends

7:48 Post-Game Depression is real

8:28 Colbert writes a Lord of the Rings movie

NEWS SOURCES:

MAINS

EPIC-LY SAD LAYOFFS 

Epic Games has fired over 1,000 employees as Fortnite engagement continues to trend down. 

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/epic-games-lays-off-over-1000-employees-following-downturn-in-fortnite-engagement 

Fruit Love Island joke https://www.dexerto.com/tiktok/fruit-love-island-is-the-internets-new-obsession-as-ai-videos-get-millions-of-views-3339289/ 

CEO Tim Sweeney released a public memo outlining the decision based on the company's need to make major budget cuts to keep the company funded and in a “more stable place.” The memo outlines that this layoff is part of a larger cost savings initiative to save more than $500 million of identified cost savings.

https://shorturl.at/jGpoQ 

• Editor: Screen shot of highlight and top of page “The downturn in Fortnite engagement that started in 2025 means we're spending significantly more than we're making, and we have to make major cuts to keep the company funded. “

Many devs took to x to share their feelings on the decision that they were not made aware of until the memo. 

https://x.com/GeorgeSokol/status/2036457941990346995 

https://x.com/TheStevieT/status/2036465646561571164 

Evan Kinney, one of the engineers who has worked at the company since 2017 expressed his genuine confusion given only last week he was debugging Fortnite’s new rivalry system while recovering from pneumonia.

https://x.com/evankinney/status/2036452221089391036

The layoff’s included fundamental staff like Vitaliy Naymushin, the artist Who Designed Jonesy, The Face Of The Game.

https://fortnite.fandom.com/wiki/Jonesy_The_First 

• Editor Jonesy bio and image

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7442257122463125504/?originTrackingId=mb2oTxfv6L8UYgh3kBTreg%3D%3D 

Users on reddit have reacted and shared their thoughts on Epic’s jump to turning Fortnite into a “platform” similar to Roblox as part of the reason for this downturn. Another blamed the failure on Epic’s inability “ to support the massive upkeep they built up since it became a megahit nearly a decade ago.”  https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/s/u8v7ITRJFA 

• Editor: Screenshot the top two comment “iceburg77779 and atahutahatena” they are the top 2 comments

These layoffs follow a recent hike in Fortnite V-Bucks prices, pointing to things not being entirely stable at Epic.

https://shorturl.at/JkABn 

A user on X highlighted how absurd the Peak Scout skin pricing is, once 2.2× the cost of the game the skin is based on, now pushing nearly 3× after the V-Bucks increase.

https://x.com/cuzl_2/status/2035513578858356894 

Amidst these layoffs Fortnite is also phasing out certain game modes like Rocket racing next week and the ballistic & festival stage on April 16th.

https://x.com/FortniteStatus/status/2036451164347109440 

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says 'employers will see a stream of resumes of once-in-a-lifetime quality' after the company laid off more than 1,000 people

https://x.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/2036622504353992902 

BACK TO THE STADIUM

Mar 24th - Pokemon Champions April 8 Release Date And New Gameplay Details Revealed

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/pokemon-champions-april-6-release-date-and-new-gameplay-details-revealed/1100-6538977/ 

https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-news/pokemon-champions-releases-on-nintendo-switch-and-nintendo-switch-2-on-april-8-2026

Launch trailer(1:59 shows a battle starting):https://youtu.be/pOfW-qdsvpU?t=119 

Compilation of attacks at 4:37: https://youtu.be/pOfW-qdsvpU?t=277  

Pokémon Champions' removal of IVs led to a "heated discussion" with one of the franchise's original devs | GoNintendo https://gonintendo.com/contents/59275-pokemon-champions-removal-of-ivs-led-to-a-heated-discussion-with-one-of-the 

Quote: https://lmg.gg/UfrXF 

Chansey image (show this beside the host when he mentions Chansey): https://img.game8.co/3396375/2c9693e5e217712a497c87471cafd1cf.png/show 

Pokemon Champions Is Planned To Be Supported "Basically Forever"

https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-champions-supported-basically-forever/ 

Even if that means adding 10,000 Pokemon quote

https://lmg.gg/9koW4 

Pricing: https://lmg.gg/VuYxm 

Pokemon world championships transition: https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-news/play-pokemon-competitions-transition-to-pokemon-champions-on-april-and-may-2026 

Pokemon stadium cover art: https://gaming-cdn.com/images/news/articles/953/cover/pokemon-stadium-is-coming-to-nintendo-switch-on-april-12th-cover642bdf4b88079.jpg 

PAY TO PLAY

Beginning in May Nintendo will implement Price Changes For First-Party Switch 2 Games, Depending On Whether They're Physical Or Digital

https://www.thegamer.com/nintendo-switch-2-first-party-game-price-change/ 

https://shorturl.at/gy20H 

The announcement felt initially like an excuse to raise costs of Physical purchases as users on reddit expressed concern.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nintendo/comments/1s3gr1k/about_nintendo_switch_2_game_pricing/

• Editor: Reddit comments screenshot top threads

But thankfully Nintendo clarified that the price of physical games isn’t going up, expressing that Digital versions of Nintendo published games exclusive to Nintendo Switch 2 will have an MSRP that is lower than their physical counterparts. Noting that “Retail partners set their own prices for physical and digital games, and pricing for each title may vary.

https://rb.gy/4501cv 

This announcement was made around the same time as a Bloomberg report on Nintendo's plan to cut Switch 2 production by 33%, a drop from 6 to 4 million units.  

https://shorturl.at/oeWHZ

Memory shortages making buying sd card storage harder for consumers, general inflation issues surrounding the price of oil, and the Gta 6 typhoon according to Amir Anvarzadeh, Japan equity strategist at Asymmetric Advisors.

https://shorturl.at/q1kQs 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-24/nintendo-cuts-switch-2-output-by-over-30-on-weak-holiday-sales 

QUICK BITS

THE KIDS YEARN FOR THE MINES

Mar 23rd - Mojang partners with Merlin Entertainments for the world's first Minecraft theme park, Minecraft World

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/mojang-partners-with-merlin-entertainments-for-the-worlds-first-minecraft-theme-park-minecraft-world 

https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/a/holly-riordan/minecraft-theme-park

https://www.merlinentertainments.biz/newsroom/news-releases/2026/minecraft-chessington/

Renderings of the park: https://www.merlinentertainments.biz/media/8333/mc-world-entrance-sketch-a.jpg

https://www.merlinentertainments.biz/media/8331/handout_minecraft-world_5.jpg 

Because what kid doesnt dream of being chased into a fiery abyss by a giant demon esque villager

https://www.merlinentertainments.biz/media/8332/handout_minecraft-world_1.png 

CRIMSON OASIS

Despite initial fears from mixed reviewer scores on launch, Crimson Desert has sold 3 million copies in less than a week, up from 2 million in the first 24 hours alone.

https://wccftech.com/crimson-desert-sold-3-million-units/ 

Steam reviews have since climbed from Mixed to Very Positive

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3321460/Crimson_Desert/

• Editor: Screenshot right above the Customer reviews for crimson desert and click the graph to show how sentiment has changed. March 20th for instance was mixed but it got better.

after Pearl Abyss pushed out rapid patches addressing controls, boss difficulty, and camp storage.

https://wccftech.com/crimson-desert-patch-adds-storage-howling-hill-camp/ 

There was also the Intel Arc situation, at launch the game flat out didn't work on Intel GPUs, and the devs initially told Arc owners to just get a refund.

https://videocardz.com/newz/crimson-desert-officially-does-not-support-intel-arc-graphics-cards-developer-tells-buyers-to-seek-refunds 

Intel publicly clapped back saying they'd reached out "many times" with hardware, drivers, and engineering resources. 

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/intel-suggests-it-was-snubbed-by-crimson-desert-dev-after-reaching-out-many-times-about-arc-gpus-company-says-it-provided-early-hardware-drivers-and-engineering-resources-to-studio 

After the backlash Pearl Abyss reversed course and is now working on Arc compatibility, and while unoptimized, Crimson Desert now launches on Intel Arc.

https://videocardz.com/newz/crimson-desert-now-launches-on-intel-arc-pearl-abyss-changes-course 

ALL THINGS TURN TO FROG

Mar 24th - Daybreak Games Announces EverQuest Legends, A Solo-Friendly Collaboration With Indie Studio Game Jawn

https://www.daybreakgames.com/press/daybreak/article/dbg-eql-announce

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/everquest-legends-announcement/ 

https://gameinformer.com/2026/03/24/everquest-legends-reimagines-the-classic-game-with-modernized-features-and-more-solo 

They are doing a closed beta: https://www.everquestlegends.com/home 

Launch trailer at 0:12: https://youtu.be/GAiNA03bMA8?t=12 

Now you can relive your fantasy of being a seafaring frog. Because Everquest.

GAMES ARE FOR HAPPINESS

Mar 24th - New Scientific Study Concludes 'Post-Game Depression' Is Real, and It's RPGs That Have the Biggest Effect on Us

https://www.ign.com/articles/new-scientific-study-concludes-post-game-depression-is-real-and-its-rpgs-that-have-the-biggest-effect-on-us 

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20260319/Study-explores-post-game-depression-and-emotional-impact-on-players.aspx

RPG’s are the most susceptible: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20260319/Study-explores-post-game-depression-and-emotional-impact-on-players.aspx#:~:text=Our%20research%20shows,is%20over%2C

But I have no idea what they are talking about. There's nothing emotionally damaging in video games at all!

Fade these clips over the host while he says he has no idea, like a Vietnam flashback. They should be opaque: 

(2:29) https://youtu.be/AXZngNmIwlA?t=149 

Nope nothing at all!:(1:17) https://youtu.be/BDhazVqxFs4?t=77 

(3:51)https://youtu.be/mU2N2lM9igU?t=231 

THE LATE SHOW WITH FRODO BAGGINS

Mar 24th - New LotR movie announced written by… Stephen Colbert

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/lord-of-the-rings-movie-stephen-colbert-warner-bros-1236698684/

https://deadline.com/2026/03/stephen-colbert-lord-of-the-rings-1236764923/ 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c33ldp22833o 

Announcement video at 0:51: https://youtu.be/HMHh4L2626A?t=51 

He says it'll stay faithful to both the books and the movies: https://lmg.gg/eZJS0 

The hunt for gollum is coming out, are they trying to speedrun the destruction of the franchise? 

https://cinemadailyus.com/news/the-hunt-for-gollum-is-reported-to-be-the-starts-of-a-new-lord-of-the-rings-trilogy/ 

Duration: 09:20

Timestamps:

0:00 look dates are confusing

0:16 Crimson Desert launch

1:44 Subnautica studio CEO to return, early access

3:20 Starfield Free Lanes Update

5:15 QUICK BITS INTRO

5:26 Switch 2 Handheld Mode Boost

6:01 CS2 reloading update

6:56 Death Stranding 2 PC leak, launch

7:31 Piece by Piece Double Bundle

8:07 Sparkling Water helps Gamers!?

NEWS SOURCES:

MAINS

PEARL JAMMED

Pearl Abyss shares crashed 30% after Crimson Desert landed a 78 on Metacritic, investors priced in a score in the mid-to-high 80s. 78 while favourable was not good enough.

https://www.ign.com/articleqs/apparently-not-good-enough-for-investors-crimson-desert-publisher-stock-price-plunges-nearly-30-amid-78-metacritic-score 

Pearl Abyss built its name on Black Desert Online, an MMO.  

Dead or Alive Beach D&D pics

https://s1.pearlcdn.com/SEA/Upload/Community/ac21f54aad120211106082210538.png 

https://s1.pearlcdn.com/NAEU/Upload/Community/5fc03527dac20231010194232281.jpg 

https://www.naeu.playblackdesert.com/en-US/Forum/ForumTopic/Detail?_topicNo=41562&_opinionNo=165709 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/582660/Black_Desert/ 

Reviewers praised the visuals and combat but flagged a shallow story, clunky controls, and an overwhelming pile of systems: Souls-like combat, BotW-Style exploration, mining, crafting, base building, dragon riding, fishing, mecha piloting. 

https://shorturl.at/PpkQJ 

It’s got a jetpack https://youtu.be/VWIw_f8e9Pg?t=67 

• 1:07 jetpack

Critics said the game tries to do everything but doesn't master anything. The “Jack of all trades” approach spooked investors who needed a clean hit.

https://shorturl.at/MQc3C 

Today: It's launch day, reviews are early, the score could move, and the game is already topping sales charts, currently ranked first in steam global top sellers.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3321460/Crimson_Desert/ 

https://steamdb.info/stats/globaltopsellers/ 

Player reception is the real test, maybe it will be good! 

https://www.metacritic.com/game/crimson-desert/ 

KRAFT-ING A FORTUNE

Mar 18th - Subnautica 2 publisher’s CEO used ChatGPT in failed bid to avoid paying US$250m bonus to own studio head, court hears

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/18/subnautica-2-publisher-krafton-ceo-reinstated-ai-chatgpt-failed-bid-avoid-paying-bonus 

https://kotaku.com/subnautica-2-ted-gill-unknown-worlds-lawsuit-krafton-2000679131

Pushover quote: https://lmg.gg/vnw7t 

https://fortune.com/2026/03/17/krafton-subnautica-chatgpt-delaware-court-ruling-ceo-reinstated/ 

https://www.404media.co/ceo-ignores-lawyers-asks-chatgpt-how-to-void-250-million-contract-loses-terribly-in-court/ 

PDF page 3 (document page 2) please highlight the second paragraph starting with “To remedy these breaches”

https://courts.delaware.gov/Opinions/Download.aspx?id=392880 

Krafton doesn’t like it: https://lmg.gg/jmHsV 

But they have agreed to allow the game to finally launch in Early Access in May

https://www.ign.com/articles/subnautica-2-will-finally-enter-early-access-in-may-following-year-of-delays-and-legal-drama 

LANE OF THE FREE

Bethesda’s biggest free update for Starfield will release on April 7th and a new story DLC (Terran Armada, $10). The free update is called “Free Lanes” and it touches almost every system in the game.

https://www.polygon.com/starfield-free-lanes-update-preview-version-20/ 

After launching in Sept 2023 to mixed reception, many people thought Starfield was Gorgeous but hollow, space travel was basically a loading screen simulator. Fans have been waiting for a No Man’s Sky-style redemption arc.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1716740/Starfield/ 

What's New: https://bethesda.net/en/game/starfield/article/7IxZSKYwYm1oDr57rXDx4C/starfield-free-lanes-terran-armada 

Gameplay demo https://youtu.be/bwVXiPtJOaQ

• 00:35 - 00:40 - ‘Cruise mode’ lets you get up, walk around, talk to crew while flying between systems 
• 01:05 - 01:13 - Space encounters, random events pop up while cruising (asteroid fields, wreckage etc) Steer towards or let autopilot take you.

X-tech , new resource for customizing weapons, gear , and ships. https://youtu.be/F3wEnQI82XQ  

• 00:27-00:30 - customizing weapons with X-tech

Moon Jumper,  new land vehicle with so much jump boost it basically be flying

https://images.ctfassets.net/rporu91m20dc/3DwDh5LZdIw9Zw1BstBgih/4875e0ced5f495ee82d73e4237f3d742/Free-Lanes-Screenshot---Moon-Jumper-_1_.jpg 

NG+ Improvements, you can bring items with you into NG+ via a Quantum entanglement device. Upgrade Starborn abilities without restarting.

https://shorturl.at/qPo8Q 

Outposts pets (a milliewhale) , shared storage across outposts, collectible action figures that give buffs like Fallout bobbleheads, recruitable NPC Muria

https://images.ctfassets.net/rporu91m20dc/22nUKdvu8o4oop43iuNVfY/b45f6c4047ddd73e8f62d022f884fa56/Free-Lanes-Screenshot---Milliewhale-_2_.jpg 

Long awaited PS5 port launches same day 

https://blog.playstation.com/2026/03/17/starfield-is-coming-to-playstation-5-on-april-7/ 

QUICK BITS

DOCKED HUNT

Mar 17th - Switch 2’s new “Handheld Mode Boost” can run original Switch games at 1080p

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/03/nintendo-switch-2-update-adds-one-possible-fix-for-blurry-og-switch-games/ 

https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/switch-2-software-update-adds-handheld-mode-boost-for-your-old-games-165451808.html

https://www.theverge.com/games/895919/nintendo-switch-2-handheld-boost-mode-update 

It forces the game to run in TV mode with somewhat varying results, sometimes it thinks that the joycons are actually a pro controller and disables touch control.

https://lmg.gg/emJhY

CLICK…NO BULLETS

Valve dropped a “Guns, Guides, and Games” update for CS2 that completely overhauls how reloading works. When you reload now, you dump the entire magazine, any leftover bullets are gone. No more topping off after firing 2 rounds. Most weapons get 3 reserve mags. 

https://steamcommunity.com/games/CSGO/announcements/detail/532126482488623354 

Community Malding. People are mad because reloading has worked the same way for over 25+ years. This changes core muscle memory for millions of players overnight.

Players say nobody asked for this. CS isn't a military simulation, people don't play it for realistic ammo management.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/730/eventcomments/801216566149595260?snr=2_groupannouncements_detail_ 

• Editor: Just show some of the top comments criticizing the decision

Some analysts and players think its smart, adds tactical depth and punishes mindless reload spam, raising skill ceiling. 

https://shorturl.at/zBFpJ 

Valve says they want it to be a real decision not a free habit. 

https://shorturl.at/aJZsA 

DELIVERY CAME EARLY

Mar 18th - Pre-Release Version of Death Stranding 2 on PC Leaks Online, Seemingly via Steam

• It releases TODAY

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/steam-build-of-death-stranding-2-leaks-two-days-ahead-of-launch/ 

https://www.ign.com/articles/pre-release-version-of-death-stranding-2-on-pc-leaks-online-seemingly-via-steam 

https://twistedvoxel.com/death-stranding-2-pc-port-leaked-pirated-ahead-of-release/ 

Death Stranding 2 PC launch trailer (Delivery Simulator joke at 1:00)  https://youtu.be/tIkVRGVjG_Q?t=60 

THE PIECES FIT 

Mar 13th - Two games accidentally launched with the same name so the devs teamed up

https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/two-games-accidentally-launched-with-the-same-name-so-the-devs-teamed-up-3334792/ 

https://www.polygon.com/steam-games-piece-by-piece-bundle/

Fox Baking cookies(0:23): https://www.reddit.com/r/CozyGamers/comments/1rr1wze/we_just_released_piece_by_piece_can_a_fox_run_a/ 

Guy in Puzzle hell (0:05): https://youtu.be/QyJcnPlZxfI?t=5 

Steam Pages (Editor please screenshot and draw the eye to the bundle with both games): https://store.steampowered.com/app/3179050/Piece_by_Piece/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3249380/Piece_by_Piece/ 

CARBONATED CLUTCH

Sparkling Water Is Better for Gaming Than Still Water, According to Science (Kind Of)

https://www.sciencealert.com/a-simple-drink-choice-helps-gamers-stay-focused-for-hours-study-finds  

University of Tsukuba study: 14 gamers played virtual soccer for 3 hours, once with sparkling water, once with still. 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451958826000175  

The Sparkling water group stayed sharper, reported less fatigue, enjoyed it more, and even committed fewer in-game fouls. Researchers say carbonation may stimulate throat receptors (TRP channels) that keep the prefrontal cortex engaged.

https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S2451958826000175-ga1_lrg.jpg  

"Compared to plain water, sparkling water significantly attenuated increases in subjective fatigue, enhanced enjoyment, and preserved executive function, along with preventing pupil constriction," 

https://shorturl.at/qvLML   

https://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/en/research-news/20260220140000.html#:~:text=This%20research%20was%20supported%20by%20a%20contract%20research%20grant%20by%20Asahi%20Soft%20Drinks%20Co%2E%2C%20Ltd%2E%2C 

• Funded by big seltzer

Duration: 09:21

Timestamps:

0:00 it ain't chores when you're a samurai

0:15 Pickmon shamelessly copies Pokemon, Palworld

2:04 Valve responds to NY State loot box lawsuit

3:44 Sony tests dynamic pricing on the Playstation Store

5:19 QUICK BITS INTRO

5:25 Microsoft GDC Keynote

6:12 Fallout 3 Remaster leak

6:51 Star Wars: First Assault playable on PC

7:31 Jeff Kaplan reveals why he left Blizzard

8:24 Wikipedia is now a gacha game

NEWS SOURCES:

MAINS

POOR MAN’S PICK-ME

‘Pickmon’ puts Pokemon knockoff Palworld to shame by knocking off Pokemon EVEN HARDER. Developer PocketGame (a totally original name compared to Palworld’s Pocket Pair, has created a shameless Frankenstein of stolen aesthetics.

https://tinyurl.com/2e9h94y5 

• Editor: Flash the PC Gamer headline and the highlighted “Checkmate, Nintendo” quote.

The blatant plagiarism goes way beyond a sleep-paralysis Pikachu. 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4358270/Pickmon/ 

Cover art featuring obvious ripoffs of Charizard, Lucario, others

But it doesn’t even stop at Pokemon, The trailer immediately opens with Breath of the Wild Link hang-gliding 

• 0:00, link jumping off and hang gliding 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK2hEntK-bQ 

• 0:39 literally just Pikachu with a tuft of hair

Interestingly, that alt-Charizard on the cover appears to be based NOT on the original Charizard, but on THIS feathered Pal clearly based off Charizard’s model, which Pickmon recolored to look more like Charizard again!! This is crazy

https://x.com/SaddestOtaku/status/2030982576458895471 

They knock off some of Palworld’s more original monsters too, along with their sensibility that creatures with super-powers isn’t enough - they need guns, too

• 1:10, pokemon pulls out gatling gun, elephant thing slams down 

And Roadhog from Overwatch because why not!

• 1:30, … Roadhog - maybe slow down shot

Despite all that, they thought they’d use cards instead of Poke-balls - y’know, to be safe

• 0:52, capturing bear thing into a card

Pocket pair vs pocket game goes crazy, Aptly titled Palslop 

https://tinyurl.com/yc3ybpbz 

RARE LEGAL PULL

Mar 11th - Valve Addresses New York Loot Box Lawsuit: "We Refuse To Do That.” In a public response statement,  defense, Valve argued their cosmetic crates are functionally identical to buying physical blind boxes like Pokémon cards, Labubus, MTG , and other physical collectibles. 

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/valve-addresses-new-york-loot-box-lawsuit-we-refuse-to-do-that/1100-6538725/#:~:text=Valve%20says,money%2E%22 

• Editor: Headline and quote

The NYAG demanded Valve disable player-to-player item trading and implement global age tracking. Valve refused, calling transferability a fundamental consumer right, but indicated compliance if New York passes a forcing law.

https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/6300-A6C4-519D-A3F5#:~:text=We%20respect%20New,in%20game%20design. 

• Editor: Quote

Meanwhile across the pond, Europe is attacking manipulative gaming tactics with major changes to its rating system.

https://www.eurogamer.net/pegi-video-game-age-rating-changes-europe 

• Editor: Headline

https://tinyurl.com/4ehxmdwr  

• Editor: Quote
• PEGI now links age ratings to in-game monetization and engagement features. Paid random items default to PEGI 16, while NFTs and unrestricted online chat result in PEGI 18. Games using manipulative FOMO mechanics (e.g., time-limited purchases, punishing broken login streaks) are raised to a minimum PEGI 12.

https://shorturl.a`t/Btkuj  

• Editor:  quote. 
• A game's PEGI rating can drop to 7 if it includes default in-game controls to disable spending. Bosmans noted these systems are currently rare, but the change aims to encourage their development.

PAY LESS IF YOU PLAY LESS

Sony is testing dynamic pricing in the PlayStation Store, at least in the UK

https://psprices.com/news/sony-ab-testing-prices/ 

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/sony-is-reportedly-running-a-dynamic-ab-pricing-experiment-on-playstation-store 

https://www.techradar.com/gaming/sony-is-reportedly-testing-dynamic-pricing-on-its-playstation-storefront-that-changes-the-price-tag-of-over-190-games 

Chart: https://psprices.com/news/sony-ab-testing-prices/#:~:text=Sony%20is%20testing%20pricing%20on%20its%20own%20games 

Although they found it was tested in the states too. US pricing table with the discounts:

https://lmg.gg/ifCFl 

Wasn’t a small pool of games: https://lmg.gg/8flXa 

Helldivers 2 quote: https://lmg.gg/RZFus 

So if I play nothing except for Uncharted and literally only Uncharted on my PS5, does that mean that I can get Uncharted 2 for FREE??? (this is for the ending joke)

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fvnuyx3lwrao31.jpg 

QUICK BITS

RETURN OF THE KING

Mar 11th - Microsoft's GDC 2026 Keynote

https://www.ign.com/articles/microsofts-gdc-2026-keynote-live-report-building-for-the-future-with-xbox 

Order of magnitude quote: https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/03/11/project-helix-building-next-generation-of-xbox/#:~:text=It%20delivers%20an%20order%20of,efficiency%2C%20scale%2C%20and%20visual%20ambition. 

We got a look at some of the features for the new Project Helix console https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:gchnxhvicqmurphv5jkh5uhk/post/3mgsfktotws2g 

Developers will be seeing its early alpha in 2027: https://lmg.gg/n9R2c 

Mar 11th - Microsoft's Xbox Backwards Compatibility Program is coming back this year — "we’re committed to keeping games from four generations of Xbox playable"

https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/rejoice-microsofts-xbox-backwards-compatibility-program-is-coming-back-this-year 

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2026/03/xbox-says-backwards-compatibility-program-will-be-revived-for-25th-anniversary 

Mar 12th - Xbox removing all traces of “This is an Xbox” marketing campaign 

https://insider-gaming.com/this-is-an-xbox-marketing-campaign-removed-microsoft/ 

https://www.thegamer.com/microsoft-removing-this-is-an-xbox-marketing/ 

NUKA RELEASE-A

Mar 10th - McFarlane Toys has accidentally confirmed a Fallout 3 Remaster with a store page

https://gamerant.com/fallout-3-remaster-leaks-mcfarlane-toys/ 

https://www.tweaktown.com/news/110404/fallout-3-remastered-mentioned-in-mcfarlane-toys-product-list/index.html 

https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/fallout-3-remastered-mightve-just-leaked-and-mcfarlane-toys-accidentally-spilled-the-nuka-cola 

It was found in a new set of toy listings on Brodepot and called “ELITE EDITION 7IN – FALLOUT 3 REMASTERED – #13 T-45B NUKA COLA.”

https://x.com/Mr_Rebs_/status/2031347254338978035 

Oblivion shadow drop: https://www.indy100.com/gaming/oblivion-remastered-release-date-elder-scrolls-iv-xbox-ps5-pc-bethesda  

CALL OF DUTY IN SPACE

Mar 11th - 13 Years After It Was Cancelled, Star Wars: Battlefront III Prequel Is Playable On PC

https://kotaku.com/star-wars-first-assault-battlefront-3-prequel-beta-revived-download-pc-instal-xbox-360-2000678058 

https://games.gg/news/star-wars-first-assault-pc-beta-restored/

Its was put together by a community of dedicated fans who just really wanted to play the game

https://www.eurogamer.net/star-wars-first-assault-gameplay-appears-online-as-fan-effort-tries-to-restore-cancelled-lucasarts-game 

The revived game needs a modded version of the Xenia emulator to run, so its not really the most straight forward thing in the world to install, but definitely cool to see

(1:28 and 22:59 for best gameplay clips)https://youtu.be/EKN_oGkEpmA?t=88 

1,000 DEV ULTIMATUM

Mar 12th - Former Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan revealed he left Blizzard after the CFO gave him an impossible financial ultimatum to meet Overwatch League revenue goals or 1,000 developers, including Kaplan, a longtime key Blizzard figure since vanilla World of Warcraft, would lose their jobs.

https://www.ign.com/articles/that-was-the-biggest-f-you-moment-i-had-in-my-career-jeff-kaplan-former-boss-of-the-overwatch-team-finally-reveals-why-he-left-blizzard#:~:text=%22Where,teams%2E%E2%80%9D

• Editor: Flash the IGN headline and then the highlighted “selling the Brooklyn Bridge” quote

https://www.eurogamer.net/former-overwatch-lead-claims-he-was-given-a-horrid-ultimatum-meet-revenue-goals-or-1000-developers-would-lose-jobs 

• Editor:  Headline top of page.

Kaplan dropped all this lore on Lex Friedman's Podcast

https://x.com/lexfridman/status/2031848752353309152

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/the-biggest-fk-you-moment-in-my-career-former-overwatch-director-jeff-kaplan-reveals-why-he-left-blizzard/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CAnd,you%E2%80%99%2E 

• Editor: Highlighted quote about the CFO threatening to lay of 1,000 people.

 while promoting his new indie studio’s game, The Legend of California  

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2550530/The_Legend_of_California/ 

Jeff kaplan, former director of overwatch says yadyyadayada kaplan said this in interviews to promote his new game, insert game here, and then California joke.

WIKIGATCHA WAS INEVITABLE

Mar 7th - Someone turned Wikipedia into a gacha game https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/please-send-help-we-cant-stop-opening-packs-in-wikigacha-a-browser-based-card-game-where-you-collect-wikipedia-articles-like-list-of-red-hot-chili-peppers-band-members-or-bariatric-surgery/ 

https://dev.ua/en/news/wikigacha-1772803160

https://gigazine.net/gsc_news/en/20260308-wiki-gacha/ 

The game: (editor please show the starting page, and then screenshot a opened pack)

https://wikigacha.com/ 

I challenge anyone in the audience to beat my ultra rare 1561 Celestial Phenomenon Over Nuremberg deck. You will never beat me!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1561_celestial_phenomenon_over_Nuremberg 

Duration: 08:13

Timestamps:

0:00 i love video james. a big Jamer

0:11 Xbox 'Project Helix' plays PC games

1:45 PlayStation single-player games skip PC

3:01 RE: Requiem, Pokopia launches

4:24 QUICK BITS INTRO

4:33 AC: Resynced, AC: Unity patch

5:09 Marathon, Slay the Spire 2 launches

6:16 Highguard shutting down

6:49 FF11 locks down another server

7:26 GameDate !

NEWS SOURCES:

MAINS

GOT PC GAMES INSIDE MY DNA

New Xbox CEO announces "Project Helix", code-name for next-gen Xbox console, will "play your Xbox and PC games" 

https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/xbox-ceo-confirms-next-gen-project-helix-console-will-play-pc-games-204654357.html 

https://x.com/asha_shar/status/2029645713962156149

Official Xbox tweet https://x.com/Xbox/status/2029646886408515623 

2024: Phil Spencer said he wants third-party game stores like EGS, Itch.io on Xbox 

https://www.polygon.com/24108670/xbox-epic-games-store-phil-spencer-interview/ 

The lines have already been blurred for some time, thanks to the Xbox Play Anywhere program 

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/xbox-play-anywhere 

PCs, including handhelds, can play many Xbox games 

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/handhelds/rog-xbox-ally 

Launch next year? AMD CEO Lisa Su: “Development of Microsoft's next-gen Xbox featuring an AMD semi-custom SoC is progressing well to support a launch in 2027”

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/amd-reveals-next-gen-xbox-could-launch-in-2027-ceo-says-semi-custom-soc-ready-to-support-launch-in-2027 

NO PORT IN THIS STORM

Sony Pulls Back From PlayStation Games on PC which is a 180 from their 2022 target of having half their games available on PC and mobile: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/03/sony-wont-bring-any-more-single-player-playstation-games-to-pc/

Original source - Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-04/sony-pulls-back-from-playstation-games-on-pc 

• Quote: https://archive.md/uhm2i#selection-1663.0-1679.38 

The reason for the strategic shift is likely due to many factors, including ports not netting significant revenue for playstation https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/sorry-first-party-playstation-games-arent-coming-to-pc-anymore-152128980.html 

• Quote about several reasons for the shift

Which admittedly could have been because of the inconsistency in the application and the intermittent requirement for Playstation account sign in.

• Quote The company was inconsistent  

But the real reason is likely the next xbox is going to be a windows PC: https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/the-next-xbox-is-a-pc-with-all-of-windows-strengths-will-it-come-with-its-weaknesses-too 

And the idea of having playstation games playable on Xbox didn’t sit well with Sony: https://www.ign.com/articles/sony-has-reportedly-returned-to-console-exclusivity-in-part-because-some-within-playstation-are-worried-that-releasing-games-on-pc-may-hurt-sales-of-ps5-and-even-ps6 

• Quote:Meanwhile, Bloomberg suggested the prospect 

HORRIFICALLY POPULAR

Mar 2 - Resident Evil: Requiem hits 334,214 concurrent players over launch weekend, breaking franchise record

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/resident-evil-requiem-hits-334214-concurrent-players-over-launch-weekend-breaking-franchise-record 

https://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/news/html/e260304.html 

Steam chart(Editor please draw the eye to the all time peak 5 days ago)

https://steamdb.info/app/3764200/charts/ 

Resident Evil Requiem Physical Editions Are Sold Out Across Major US Retailers

https://twistedvoxel.com/resident-evil-requiem-physical-editions-sold-out-across-major-retailers/ 

People are having nightmares about the spiders from resident evil requiem - https://www.ign.com/articles/it-fing-sucks-and-in-a-way-is-a-compliment-resident-evil-requiem-is-proving-tough-for-fans-with-arachnophobia-though-the-inevitable-thomas-the-tank-engine-mod-is-here-to-help 

Also arguably a horror game is the new pokemon game, 

Mar 3 - ‘Pokopia’ is the best-reviewed ‘Pokémon’ game of all time

• Launches March 5th

https://www.techradar.com/gaming/pokemon-pokopia-is-the-highest-rated-pokemon-game-since-x-y-on-metacritic-and-its-not-even-out-on-nintendo-switch-2-yet 

https://www.nme.com/news/gaming-news/pokopia-best-reviewed-pokemon-game-of-all-time-3932497 

Clip of Ditto turning into a human: https://youtu.be/-zpr21HzJ9Q?t=14

Gameplay Clip: https://youtu.be/-zpr21HzJ9Q?t=98 

It also features this poor Pikachu:

https://x.com/Dexerto/status/2029567636976148632?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet  

QUICK BITS

IT’S NOT A SPRINT, IT’S A…

Marathon Server Slam stirs Steam with nearly 150,000 concurrent players day one

https://www.eurogamer.net/marathon-server-slam-steam-players-concurrent  

Reviews were somewhat mixed with this guy from forbes hating it: https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2026/02/27/i-am-not-loving-the-marathon-server-slam-so-far/ 

• Quote of this guy saying he thinks it’s a time waster: https://archive.md/oLECM#selection-4769.0-4769.212 

And this guy from ign loving it: https://www.ign.com/articles/marathon-review   

Marathon promises to avoid stressful FOMO-inducing battle passes, and that there's "no pay for power" microtransactions

https://www.eurogamer.net/marathon-avoid-stressful-fomo-inducing-battle-passes-no-pay-for-power-microtransactions 

It’s still struggling to keep up with the sequel to a beloved indie game that launched IN EARLY ACCESS at the exact same time

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/03/slay-the-spire-2-is-out-now-in-early-access/ 

• Steam page showing spire leading ahead of marathon: https://store.steampowered.com/charts/topselling/CA 

WE SHIVERED THEIR TIMBERS

Mar 4 - Ubisoft Finally Confirms Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced https://www.player.one/ubisoft-confirms-assassins-creed-black-flag-resyncedremake-game-coming-soon-162354

https://overclock3d.net/news/software/ubisoft-officially-confirms-assassins-creed-black-flag-resynced/

Statement from Ubisoft: https://lmg.gg/jdJyS 

Patch for AC Unity for 60FPS too, it's kinda weird. The game is super old

https://gameinformer.com/2026/03/04/assassins-creed-unity-60-fps-patch-hits-playstation-5-and-xbox-tomorrow

Launch trailer clip: https://youtu.be/RxF6fonBDUA?t=21 

OUT LIKE A WILDLIGHT

Developer Wildlight Entertainment says that, even though Highguard reached 2 million players, the game will be shut down permanently on March 12th.

http://theverge.com/games/880206/highguard-shut-down 

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/fps/with-1-week-to-live-highguard-is-going-out-kicking-with-a-final-update-adding-a-new-character-speedy-account-progression-and-more-as-devs-thank-everyone-who-has-played-the-fps/ 

Twitter post: https://x.com/PlayHighguard/status/2028923492125819287 

Steam chart: https://steamdb.info/app/4128260/charts/#max 

https://kotaku.com/highguard-final-update-shutdown-concord-toxic-2000675964 

• They are still releasing that content patch though for people to enjoy the update for a whole week!

ODIN UP THE LINE

Mar 4 -  Final Fantasy 11 locks down yet another server as overpopulation continues to hit Final Fantasy 14's predecessor, over two decades after its original launch (Oh no, my steak was too juicy and my lobster was too buttery)

https://www.eurogamer.net/final-fantasy-11-locks-down-another-server-due-to-overpopulation 

https://automaton-media.com/en/news/final-fantasy-11-is-closing-off-yet-another-major-server-to-new-players-due-to-overpopulation/ 

They keep fucking up their other games, so people just keep coming back to this one

https://frvr.com/blog/final-fantasy-11-closes-off-its-third-server-to-new-players-as-the-ageing-mmo-struggles-with-overpopulation/ 

Official statement: http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/40148/detail.html 

TINDER 4 GAMERS

[Grayson]

Mar 4 - Youtuber named Batty made a website to revive dead multiplayer games and to schedule play dates called GameDate

https://massivelyop.com/2026/03/02/gamedate-is-a-site-for-finding-groups-to-play-older-or-underpopulated-games-together/ 

https://www.gamedate.org/

It even has a message board, along with a pretty cool retro vibe https://gamedate.org/discuss 

Announcement video: https://youtu.be/SFBCNnOhYgs?t=21 

Duration: 10:27

Timestamps:

0:00 hooked on a feeling

0:13 New York sues Valve over loot boxes

2:10 Stop Killing Games EU update

4:18 'Update' to original FF7 breaks game

5:56 QUICK BITS INTRO

6:06 Phil Spencer exit 'was not planned'

7:11 Ubisoft has a plan

7:59 Overwatch Rush

8:39 Marathon will insta-perma-ban cheaters

9:28 Hideki Kamiya on RE: Requiem spoilers

NEWS SOURCES:

Mains 

SKIN IN THE GAME

https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2026/attorney-general-james-sues-game-developer-promoting-illegal-gambling-through

-Valve is once again getting sued, this time by The state of New York and Attorney General Letitia

-The lawsuit targets third-party skin gambling sites that use valve’s steam API to facilitate real-money wagers on games like counter-strike.

https://lmg.gg/vm0Zb QUOTE

 The AG's own press release actually references the widespread legalization and mainstream presence of these markets, noting: "Earlier this month, Attorney General James warned New Yorkers of the risks posed by sports betting and prediction markets ahead of the Super Bowl."

Skin gambling isn’t new, the ecosystem has been operating in plain sight for years

https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/new-york-sues-valve-for-letting-children-and-adults-illegally-gamble-with-loot-boxes/ 

• Why is this taking so long for governments to decide what they think about this
• It's not a new thing
• Prediction markets exist

4 billion CS skins market https://swap.gg/blog/cs-reclaimed-4-billion 

Back in 2016 The Washington State Gambling Commission (WSGC) ordered Valve to take action on third party unlicensed betting websites using skins

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37573818 

Valve also successfully beat or rather the US federal court dismissed most of the claims against valve as it relied on the claim that the plaintiffs were deceived by valve despite never having used steam. 

https://www.pcgamer.com/final-claim-in-csgo-skin-gambling-lawsuit-dismissed-because-plaintiffs-never-actually-used-steam/#:~:text=Valve%20responds%20as%20indie%20horror,wagering%20skins%20on%20gambling%20sites. 

COME TOGETHER, OVER GAMES

Stop Killing Games press conference

https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1re2mjg/stop_killing_games_press_conference/ 

-eu one is called stop destroying video games

Stop Killing Games campaign offer update on latest EU meeting in livestream from parliament, while emphasising bipartisan MEP support

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/stop-killing-games-campaign-offer-update-on-latest-eu-meeting-in-livestream-from-parliament-while-emphasising-bipartisan-mep-support 

Editor Note (On Screen Text):  

General Summary Quote: "We will be able in the parliament to give out amendments... that would also ensure that in terms of gaming... what you bought is not being stolen away from you by the companies." - Markéta Gregorová (Member of the European Parliament)

https://youtu.be/WaACIq0ar44?t=651 

On EULAs: "You can't sign a contract on anything you want and expect it to be legal. If the terms are against the law, you can't override law with a contract." - Alberto Hidalgo Cerezo, PHD Universidad CEU San Pablo (00:31:59)  https://youtu.be/WaACIq0ar44?t=1923 

On Liability: "If the service provider stops providing the service, then he's no longer responsible for the service." -  Martin Bartrick Attorney at Law specializing in IP and Digital Child Services(safety privacy etc) (00:35:39) https://youtu.be/WaACIq0ar44?t=2157 

State of the EU Commission and Global Strategy: " We have support from TMO, from the SND (the social democrats), from the right of parliament... from the pirate parties. So the support is huge. We have support on national governments and just to understand what is deciding in the end is so-called Trilogue it's when parliament commission and council meet to discuss laws and make a decision and the commission can't win against both of them so we are making sure that happens " 00:59:38   https://youtu.be/WaACIq0ar44?t=3576 

Global Backup: "We're working on law in the United States at this moment... We already know in specific states that that will happen." (01:00:11) https://youtu.be/WaACIq0ar44?t=361

THEY FORGOT THE MATERIA

Feb 25th - Fans Call New Steam Version Of Final Fantasy VII A Disaster: ‘Avoid It At All Costs’ (it's a nightmare, just play the OG OG with mods if you want 16x9 and higher resolution textures. They DELISTED THE ORIGINAL)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3837340/FINAL_FANTASY_VII/ 

https://kotaku.com/final-fantasy-7-steam-pc-new-version-release-bugs-problems-blurry-2000673604 

https://www.eurogamer.net/final-fantasy-7-new-steam-version-met-with-mostly-negative-reviews 

• The game launched without any files, it was 0kb https://x.com/Zizoplays1/status/2026409178873336235?s=20 
• This person got the game files, but no EXE
• https://x.com/TheReunionVII/status/2026371974113427503 

It’s not like the game already had an active modding community who already fixed the game once before. They are even offering to help fix the game

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/final-fantasy/square-enix-hire-us-im-not-joking-says-team-of-final-fantasy-modders-who-gave-final-fantasy-7-new-voice-acting-and-audio-because-we-must-fix-the-jrpgs-busted-new-pc-version/ 

Twitter post from Tsunamods: https://x.com/tsunamods/status/2026393480755286329

They somehow made it look worse then the unmodded original

https://x.com/tsunamods/status/2026383578502689144 

The patch notes: “Fixed the speed of certain scenes, including battles”

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3837340/view/498347586726395914?l=english 

• The game launched without any files, it was 0kb https://x.com/Zizoplays1/status/2026409178873336235?s=20 
• The launcher registers inputs AFTER THE GAME IS LAUNCHED
• Somehow, they made the resolution settings work worse then the 2013 port
• It increased the port from 15 to 30FPS, but that broke all the animations and cutscenes to just run faster… HOW DO YOU FUCK UP EVERY CUT SCENE (atleast this is patched)
• I didn’t think things through when I tried to romance Barret, but damn, at least I got some brotherly bonding time(1:33) https://youtu.be/D30JDkDHWZk?t=93 

Quick Bits

EXCLUSIVE CONFUSION

Feb 22 - Reliable Insider Says Last Week's Big Xbox CEO Shakeup Wasn't Phil Spencer's Idea

https://www.thegamer.com/xbox-phil-spencer-kinda-funny-games-claim/ 

https://shorturl.at/orwFC 

https://www.youtube.com/live/BUWkigmw3ns?t=2632s 

• 43:58 - [no audio, but turn on captions] Quote from the video spoken by Greg Miller on Phil Spencer’s firing  “I’ve been passed something that again reiterates to me, i’m not going to read it, this was not planned”

Xbox fans hope for a comeback of exclusive games after cryptic comment from the new boss

https://www.gamereactor.eu/xbox-fans-hope-for-a-comeback-of-exclusive-games-after-cryptic-comment-from-the-new-boss-1679133/

The tweet: https://x.com/asha_shar/status/2025253764136141169 

But I dono, maybe she confused ‘exclusive’ games with ‘first party games? Because in an interview with Windows Central’s Jez Corden… https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/exclusive-talking-to-new-xbox-ceo-asha-sharma-and-cco-matt-booty

Matt Booty talks about how important ‘first-party’ games are to them - comment seems to be about negating the idea that Xbox is ‘just’ a publisher. They’re saying their structure is more cohesive than that

• Quote https://lmg.gg/9W4eu 

Tom Warren thought this was important, and he’s wicked smaht https://x.com/tomwarren/status/2026457764499775578 

BACK TO THE ANIMUS

Feb 20 - Ubisoft CEO admits the company spun up "too many projects" which are now widely canceled in the fallout from bad bets during Covid

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/ubisoft-ceo-admits-the-company-spun-up-too-many-projects-which-are-now-widely-canceled-in-the-fallout-from-bad-bets-during-covid/

Original source: 

https://variety.com/2026/gaming/news/ubisoft-ceo-interview-yves-guillemot-layoffs-creative-house-1236667500/ 

Ubisoft confirms a lot of new Far Cry and Assassin's Creed games are in development along with a new Splinter Cell game, because that'll help

https://www.eurogamer.net/ubisoft-confirms-a-lot-of-new-far-cry-and-assassins-creed-games-are-in-development 

https://www.ign.com/articles/ubisoft-insists-mia-splinter-cell-remake-still-in-development-despite-fresh-layoffs 

Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and Origins director says it's "wonderful to be back after all these years" as he returns to "lead the creative direction of the franchise" , this comes after Clint Hocking left

https://news.ubisoft.com/en-ca/article/3cKfpuehIapKJglmjn3EdM/new-leadership-team-set-to-shape-the-next-era-of-assassins-creed 

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/assassins-creed-hexe-director-clint-hocking-has-left-ubisoft-as-part-of-franchise-upheaval/ 

OVERWATCH 2 - 2

Feb 24 - Blizzard finally revealed its long-rumored Overwatch mobile game

https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/article/24244645/development-update-overwatch-rush

https://www.engadget.com/gaming/blizzard-finally-revealed-its-long-rumored-overwatch-mobile-game-162938590.html 

Top down hero shooter: https://www.shanethegamer.com/esports-news/overwatch-rush-mobile-spin-off/ 

Gameplay (1:18, 3:03 for best action): https://youtu.be/2p0oqXD3voI?t=78 

BUNGIE HAS THE WEAPON

Feb 23 - Marathon cheaters will be permabanned immediately, claims Bungie

https://www.polygon.com/marathon-cheaters-permaban-bungie/ 

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/bungie-pledges-to-permanently-ban-marathon-cheaters/1100-6538363/ 

Bungie's official article: https://lmg.gg/VJ9I9

“You want to know it's a level playing field” https://youtu.be/7ScRKFm56Vk?t=10 

KILL EM’ ALL

Feb 23 - Hideki Kamiya says players who spoil Resident Evil Requiem deserve to ‘die a thousand deaths’

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/hideki-kamiya-says-resident-evil-requiem-leakers-deserve-to-die-a-thousand-deaths/ 

https://www.psu.com/news/resident-evil-requiem-leakers-blasted-by-hideki-kamiya-you-deserve-to-die-a-thousand-deaths/ 

Twitter post where he says it (Please translate to english): https://x.com/HidekiKamiya_X/status/2025040184614728119 

This comes just after the Official Resident Evil twitter post said that leaked gameplay was obtained over illegal means. So yeah, kill them all! (Post needs translated, i have put the translated image below)

https://x.com/BIO_OFFICIAL/status/2024787173917249896 

Translated graphic: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HBmAbzTWEAA1x8C?format=jpg&name=large 

Akuma “Die 1000 Deaths” from Street Fighter (2:03): https://youtu.be/7VhOmMDSkB0?t=123 

Duration: 09:16

Timestamps:

0:00 i literally don't get it

0:15 Nintendo DMCA's emulator GitHub pages

2:06 Highguard is NOT dead!

4:05 Alt:V GTA mod platform shutdown

5:23 QUICK BITS INTRO

5:31 Unreal Tournament 2004 free, new patch

6:14 Zillow for Warcraft

6:52 Mewgenics sold over a million copies

7:41 Starfield's next update is more of the same

8:28 Did NOT see this Becoming

NEWS SOURCES:

MAINS

MARIO KART FOR ALL

Feb 16th - Nintendo strikes more emulators with DMCA takedown notices

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/nintendo-strikes-more-emulators-with-dmca-takedown-notices

https://kotaku.com/switch-emulator-eden-nintendo-legal-takedown-2000669430 

Message from Github's team: https://lmg.gg/DIiR9 

Eden is the last survivor, seemingly. Worth noting that this is a fork of Yuzu and these dudes aren’t phased at all

https://www.reddit.com/r/EmulationOnAndroid/comments/1r32zz6/comment/o51du26/  

Eden is still up:

https://github.com/eden-emulator/Releases/releases

Eden’s fighting back actuallyr: https://wccftech.com/nintendo-once-again-brings-dmca-hammer-down-switch-emulators/#:~:text=they%27re%20fighting%20the%20takedown%20notice%20with%20a%20proper%20argument%20that%20Eden%27s%20repository%20does%20not%20infringe%20any%20laws%20or%20GitHub%27s%20hosting%20policies. 

The only thing targeted was Eden’s GitHub releases page, according to the DMCA notice.

Explanation from Nintendo on how they protect copyright (editor it is highlighted in Yellow in the document below, please show that section)

Nintendo DMCA notice

Dolphin adds support for emulating GameCube-based ‘Triforce’ system used for arcade titles

https://www.howtogeek.com/dolphin-just-went-beyond-wii-and-gamecube-emulation/  

https://www.timeextension.com/news/2026/02/gamecube-and-wii-emulator-dolphin-adds-support-for-triforce-arcade-platform-from-namco-nintendo-and-sega 

Blog post: https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2026/02/16/rise-of-the-triforce/ 

What is the Triforce System: https://segaretro.org/Triforce

Now you can play this long forgotten Mario Kart game

https://wiki.dolphin-emu.org/index.php?title=Mario_Kart_Arcade_GP_2  

Image of an old Mario Kart Arcade game

https://dolphin-emu.org/m/user/blog/triforce/mkagpcab_thumb.avif 

DOWNGUARD BUT NOT OUTGUARD

Highguard has announced that dispute the myriad of issues they’re dealing with they intend to keep releasing content. - https://www.polygon.com/highguard-update-amid-shutdown-rumors/ 

Concerns about the game’s future were sparked by website going down - https://kotaku.com/highguard-website-down-shutting-down-servers-free-to-play-shooter-steam-playercount-2000669734 

• OS: WEBSITE DOWN: https://playhighguard.com/ - note the website is back up but the kotaku article above has a screenshot of it being down
• Devs responded on discord: X post showing screenshots 
• Also sparked by the fact that it’s down to below a thousand players from it’s peak of 97k https://steamdb.info/app/4128260/charts/ 
• Screenshot: Down 98 percent on highguard.png

They say the website issue is just a mistake and thay they’ve gort new content coming soon: https://respawnindex.com/highguard-isnt-dead-it-seems-as-devs-confirm-new-content-is-coming/ 

• Quote
• Alternate website: https://www.pcguide.com/news/highguards-website-may-still-be-down-but-a-purely-content-focused-patch-is-coming-later-this-week/ 
• Alternate website: https://www.gosugamers.net/entertainment/news/78011-highguard-devs-confirm-the-game-isn-t-shutting-down-updates-still-on-the-way 
• Original Source: X post with the updates: https://x.com/PlayHighguard/status/2024305432991535353 
• Owlbear! https://lmg.gg/W5TIB 

Old staff are releasing concept art t  though which is weird because they say it’s never coming out: https://wccftech.com/ex-highguard-staff-share-concept-art-and-videos-of-unreleased-in-engine-characters/ 

• Original Source: https://www.resetera.com/threads/concept-art-and-videos-of-completed-highguard-characters-and-wip-map-posted-online-by-ex-staffers.1439296/ 

How are they funding this new content? Tencent!: https://www.ign.com/articles/tencent-was-quietly-backing-highguard-studio-according-to-report 

• Original source: https://www.gamefile.news/p/tencent-highguard-wildlight-entertainment  

ONE LAST JOB

Rockstar kills mod platform that was a competitor to theirs https://www.gamesradar.com/games/grand-theft-auto/after-9-years-of-work-team-behind-gta-5-multiplayer-mod-that-rivalled-rockstar-owned-fivem-says-take-two-is-shutting-the-project-down-thank-you-for-being-part-of-this-journey/ 

https://www.gamefront.com/games/gamingtoday/article/take-two-pulls-the-plug-on-alt-v-after-nine-years-right-when-rockstar-launches-its-official-mod-marketplace 

Sanctioned Mod marketplace:

https://marketplace.cfx.re/ 

GTA Online Mod alt:V Multiplayer Shut Down By Take-Two

https://rockstarintel.com/gta-online-mod-altv-multiplayer-shut-down-by-take-two/ 

Screenshot of the Discord message: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HAuaYmQXYAElUbn?format=jpg&name=large 

FiveM is the only authorized platform for GTA V multiplayer modding, and Take-Two requested them to shut down alt:v to align with their PLA

https://www.gamefront.com/games/gamingtoday/article/take-two-pulls-the-plug-on-alt-v-after-nine-years-right-when-rockstar-launches-its-official-mod-marketplace 

This is only a month after the Bully Online mod was taken down abruptly one month after launch

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/01/online-mod-for-rockstars-classic-bully-is-abruptly-taken-down-after-one-month/ 

QUICK BITS

THE OG IS BACK

Feb 17th - Classic shooter Unreal Tournament 2004 is now free as fans revive and release it with Epic's blessing

https://www.eurogamer.net/unreal-tournament-2004-is-now-free-as-fans-revive-and-release-it-with-epics-blessing 

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/unreal-tournament-2004-is-now-available-for-free-thanks-to-its-fan-community-and-theyve-even-updated-the-game-for-modern-pcs-this-is-the-first-public-patch-for-unreal-tournament-2004-in-over-20-years/ 

Gameplay: https://youtu.be/8mhIWEeBSmo?t=16 

Epic Games links to it on their website https://www.epicgames.com/unrealtournament 

Download

https://www.oldunreal.com/downloads/ut2004/full-game-installers/ 

HOME IS WHERE THE HEARTH IS

Feb 17th - Zillow launches Zillow for Warcraft, a new way to explore World of Warcraft homes

https://www.zillow.com/news/zillow-launches-zillow-for-warcraft-a-new-way-to-explore-world-of-warcraft-homes/ 

• In partnership with blizzard it seems: https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/article/24250389/discover-dream-homes-with-zillow-for-warcraft 
• Original Source: Actual Site https://zillowforwarcraft.com/ 
• Editor please scroll through one of the listings and get a screen recording: https://zillowforwarcraft.com/#/homedetails/alliance-2 
• This is the quote for the spikes line

It’s part of a co-branded marketing campaign that will feature in game houses from azeroth and while you can’t buy the homes you CAN unlock a zillow inspired doormat which feels like the most true to life thing zillow could have done here: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/zillow-links-with-world-of-warcraft-to-showcase-in-game-homes/812446/ 

• This youtube real estate video shows two scuzzy realtors trying to sell you garbage so that’s accurate at least: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkRBrrx_yls&t=50s 
• Insert obvious joke about Gen Z and Millennial home ownership here
• Check  out this listing where the agent is trying to grift you quote link

Well, that’s awesome that we can’t even escape from the cost of living crisis in azeroth

NO MOM, IT’S MEWGENICS WITH AN M

Headline Article: https://news.instant-gaming.com/en/articles/18009-mewgenics-has-sold-over-a-million-copies-now 

• Original Source Tyler’s Tweet https://x.com/TylerGlaiel/status/2023832732049268892
• And his followup tweet with stats https://x.com/TylerGlaiel/status/2023842236186956069 

Is it the rogulike with the most concurrants? Not sure but this is pretty greaT  https://www.gamereactor.eu/mewgenics-continues-its-meteoric-rise-overtakes-hades-ii-on-steam-1676343/ 

Feb 18th - Mewgenics sells 1 million copies in just 1 week, far more than its creators expected

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/mewgenics-sells-1-million-copies-in-just-1-week-far-more-than-its-creators-expected-we-both-got-a-bit-blindsided-by-this/ 

• Not sure how surprising this is considering one of the devs (Edmund McMillen) previously worked on Super Meat Boy (2010), The Binding of Isaac (2011), and The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (2014). All super successful indie titles.
• Steam Charts: https://steamdb.info/app/686060/charts/ 

I LIKED HIS OLD STUFF BETTER

Starfield‘s Next Big Update Isn’t A 2.0 Reboot, It’s For People Who Already Love The Game

https://kotaku.com/starfields-next-big-update-isnt-a-2-0-reboot-its-for-people-who-already-love-the-game-2000670749 

It’s not gonna connect with you, you fegdef wont like it - https://www.ign.com/articles/starfields-next-update-is-not-starfield-20-bethesda-boss-confirms-if-it-didnt-connect-with-you-right-away-or-you-found-it-boring-i-dont-think-this-is-going-to-change-that 

I’m gonna grab quotes out of this one: https://insider-gaming.com/todd-howard-starfield-2-shut-down-and-promises-more-news/ 

GOTTA GET WAYYYY UP IN THERE

This game lets you be a sperm https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/newly-announced-action-game-become-lets-you-play-as-a-sentient-sperm-trying-to-reach-the-egg-and-yes-i-am-just-writing-about-it-because-of-the-name/ 

Best name ever:

https://metro.co.uk/2026/02/16/play-a-sperm-this-new-indie-game-best-name-ever-26935127/ 

Become steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3710850/Become/ 

Gameplay Trailer: This gets out of hand pretty quickly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQB-xvMbD6U 

THE SOCK LEVEL IS CONFIRMED

https://youtu.be/XQB-xvMbD6U?t=45 

Duration: 10:43

Timestamps:

0:00 Can you think in all the colors of the mind?

0:09 Starcraft: Ghost in development?

1:44 Highguard / 2XKO layoffs

3:53 Sony State of Play Feb. 2026

6:43 QUICK BITS INTRO

6:49 Clair Obscur devs knighted in France

7:26 Remedy gets a new CEO, everything's fine

8:25 SpaceMolt

9:17 Steam adds 1.0 release day option

9:51 GTA 6 for free, if you have a baby. in Norway

NEWS SOURCES:

MAINS

STORM’S A BREWIN

Feb 9th - Blizzard reportedly partnering with Arc Raiders owner Nexon to revive StarCraft as a shooter

https://www.eurogamer.net/blizzard-reportedly-partnering-with-nexon-to-revive-starcraft 

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/blizzard-reportedly-taps-arc-raiders-owner-nexon-for-second-starcraft-shooter/ 

Starcraft Ghosts logo https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starcraft/images/0/0d/SC-G_Logo1.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20080508203154 

StarCraft Ghost gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIWBlvD0R6g 

i still dream about being Sam Fisher in a space ship

Editor, for the Sam Fisher in space joke please take an image of Sam Fisher, stick him on a random space ship, and have him fly by in the void background

Sam Fisher:https://static.wikitide.net/deathbattlewiki/6/6c/Portrait.samfisher.png 

Original source https://www.dnews.co.kr/uhtml/view.jsp?idxno=202601301526154230994 

• EDITOR: translate

Nexon bad https://steamcommunity.com/app/2074920/discussions/0/4408543304942284183/ 

Nexon bad again https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1mkutgq/nexonowned_game_studio_enters_indefinite_strike/ 

They even have StarCraft modder Choi Jun-ho as the project lead

https://lmg.gg/565G7

Jason Schrier comment (jschrier - comment #11)

https://www.resetera.com/threads/nexon-to-reimagine-starcraft-as-a-shooter-secret-project-underway.1429834/#post-151098748 

In other news:

Feb. 10th - Blizzard agrees to change new Overwatch hero's face after the community, and Anran's voice actor, speak out

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/blizzard-agrees-to-redesign-overwatch-hero-s-appearance-after-backlash

Its a real problem with the games female cast, apparently, everyone just looks like Kiriko

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/fps/blizzard-yields-new-overwatch-hero-anran-will-be-redesigned-after-players-complained-about-everyone-looking-like-kiriko-we-agree-she-can-be-even-better/ 

They are really doing a good job avoiding a Sonic Movie situation: https://www.gamespot.com/a/uploads/scale_super/171/1712892/3603281-2.jpg 

Kiriko and the new character: https://liquipedia.net/commons/images/6/6f/Kiriko_concept.png 

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/rX4zg68VEd3Gorcy5qmML-650-80.jpg.webp 

DO NOT GO SOFTLY INTO THAT WILDLIGHT

Feb 11th - Highguard dev hit with mass layoffs as "most of the team at Wildlight" is let go https://www.gamesradar.com/games/fps/highguard-dev-hit-with-mass-layoffs-as-most-of-the-team-at-wildlight-is-let-go/ 

• Original Source: X post from Wildlight announcing layoffs: https://x.com/WildlightEnt/status/2021745168387596450
• Original Source: Alex Garner Linkedin Post: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7427480816940892161/ 

The team worked to respond to user feedback and quickly patch issues with the game: https://kotaku.com/highguards-surprise-5v5-mode-is-sticking-around-but-its-not-enough-2000665423 

• Quote From egadget about the studio’s responsiveness to player feedback: Link

The studio had a large release schedule and the studio head told polygod that it doesn’t matter how many people play highguard, they were planning on releasing a year of content

• Highlight link
• Original Post on X for the 7 episode content release: https://x.com/PlayHighguard/status/2015852784461979814 

And y'know, they aren’t the only ones - 

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/riot-games-lays-off-roughly-80-employees-from-2xko-team  

Feb 9th - Riot Games lays off roughly 80 employees from 2XKO team

• Original Source: Announcement from riot games layoffs: https://www.riotgames.com/en/news/an-update-on-2xko
• PC Gamer article: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fighting/riot-lays-off-2xko-developers-less-than-three-weeks-after-release-overall-momentum-hasnt-reached-the-level-needed-to-support-a-team-of-this-size/ 
• Quote of them saying they’re cutting 80 roles

Raises the question if the free to play model still work: https://www.polygon.com/free-to-play-model-highguard-2xko-layoffs/ 

SONY STATE OF PLAY

Feb 12th - Sony’s State of Play is airing TODAY at 2 PM PT. We might want to add something from this to a main.

https://x.com/Sony/status/2020917173074509828

https://blog.playstation.com/2026/02/09/state-of-play-returns-this-thursday-february-12/

• Ghost of Yotei: Legends (multiplayer mode)
• Timestamp of title card: https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=10ZP2vqeDiwBDmZ-&t=325 
• Timestamp of cool cut scene: https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=C1WaKVYIYsxHyvAL&t=265 
• Timestamp of gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=E0r6azrE5lgw9KDC&t=307 
• Death Stran ding [PC] launches March 19th
• Timestamp: https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=B8nBkFd9IXm5fq3n&t=335 
• 4:Loop - 4-player co-op roguelike shooter
• Timestamp of titlecard: https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=2PhF5R4fMCVZxksi&t=583 
• Timestamp of gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=BtIymh_gSw8T0mXj&t=533 
• Dead or Alive 6, not beach volleyball so we don’t care
• Timestamp of titlecard: https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=LK8AHq_hhqWQ_992&t=1051 
• Timestamp of gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=RmwjSJPrrys0k2Ry&t=1005 
• Control Resonant gameplay 
• Timestamp: https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=YEFxMLqs7k5ytQSJ&t=1144 
• Control Resonang titlecard: https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=rzHAAalF8M3B9n3o&t=1308 
• Krafton has a new game, you are the battle chicken… Project Windless KFC Kratos
• Timesamp of cool chicken: https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=LvahhdZjSu2C2A33&t=1820 
• Timestamp of titlecard: https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=HYH0lZcGTMFazkeb&t=1922 
• Timestamp of gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=Po3nqM-W2Rt7dNqH&t=1835 
• 007 First Light new trailer
• Timestamp of him talkin to ladies: https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=jO7bPJ2C8p5eYXbj&t=2036 
• METAL GEAR, OCTOPUS EDITION… Darwins Paradox
• Timestamp for old snake: https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=AqBNlmKzrAqo3-xe&t=2236 
• Timestamp of titlecard if you want (optional): https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=0hBUBqUjkJAH9SKl&t=2349 
• Timestamp: Octopus Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=eicCC5Vw074J3VdQ&t=2497 
• Timestamp of octopus titlecard if you want: https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=-K5ie89_kT3geznz&t=2548 
• Timestamp: https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=BxsBCXWxuun8tvHF&t=3154 
• God of War Sons of Sparta 2D flash game out today
• Timestamp: https://www.youtube.com/live/P0e5YEXtZu0?si=Q33jeHAcOPAWGiLQ&t=4018 

 QUICK BITS

THAT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!

Feb 9th - French government awards knighthoods to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 devs

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/french-government-awards-clair-obscur-expedition-33-devs-with-knighthood 

Significant contribution to the arts:

https://www.screenhub.com.au/news/games/clair-obscur-knighthood-france-2692865/ 

Linkedin statement: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7425479716297539584/ 

The game is so artful, that someone at Iraqi customs thought an Expedition 33 boxed set was an ancient relic… They actually confiscated the art book to verify https://www.polygon.com/expedition-33-art-book-monolith-set-customs-ancient-artifact/ 

https://videocardz.com/newz/iraqi-customs-reportedly-detain-clair-obscur-expedition-33-art-book-as-possibly-ancient 

Reddit post: https://lmg.gg/q3WHc 

Monolith set product page shows what it looks like at the top: https://www.expedition33.com/monolith-set 

Photo of the declaration: https://lmg.gg/7yPKW 

DON’T PLAY WITH MY HEART

(Riley adding this because he's so scared for Remedy)

Remedy Announces New CEO - https://wccftech.com/remedy-new-ceo-control-resonant-most-ambitious-game/ 

• Original Source: Press Release from Remedy - https://investors.remedygames.com/releases-and-events/announcements-and-releases/?publicationId=c86bbf74-7d56-4b1e-bc4d-56f406fc8258 
• He seems to have solid chops having served as the EA studio head and Exec producer of battlefield heroes: http://ign.com/articles/remedy-finds-new-ceo-in-former-ea-exec-jean-charles-gaudechon 
• Highlight from that article: Link

People seem unenthused based on his career history though: https://www.polygon.com/remedy-entertainment-new-ceo-fans-reactions/#:~:text=He%20also%20spent,could%20look%20like. 

Remedy Creative Director indicates that he understands the studio’s creative identity: https://x.com/SamLakeRMD/status/2020929412972282195?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2020929412972282195%7Ctwgr%5E846676fbebc8154d0035e665e8cd54234181cc1d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.polygon.com%2Fremedy-entertainment-new-ceo-fans-reactions%2F 

SP-AI-CE INVADERS

Feb 9th - No humans allowed: This new space-based MMO is designed exclusively for AI agents

• Probably an elaborate crypto rugpull or something. But there are jokes here about the AI not just taking our jobs but also our gaming time. Other joke potential about AI in its edgy teen phase where it just sits in its room all day playing video games

https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/02/after-moltbook-ai-agents-can-now-hang-out-in-their-own-space-faring-mmo/ 

• Original Source: Game site: https://www.spacemolt.com/ 
• Original Source Creator’s blog: https://blog.langworth.com/spacemolt 
• Game Forum - theoretically AI populated https://www.spacemolt.com/forum 
• Moltbook original Source: Website: https://www.moltbook.com/ 

Given that moltbook ended up being mostly humans trying to crypto scam: https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/02/06/1132448/moltbook-was-peak-ai-theater/ 

• Quote
• With one investigator discovering that there was an 88:1 ratio of humans to agents: quote: 

IT’S A DATE!

Feb 8th - Steam now lets developers display the exact date of when their game leaves Early Access

https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/steam-now-lets-developers-display-the-exact-date-of-when-their-game-leaves-early-access-190413701.html?src=rss 

https://www.techpowerup.com/346146/steam-adds-new-ui-to-inform-players-when-early-access-games-will-launch 

“1.0 Release date” blog post:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/group/4145017/view/500597484211404992?l=english 

It is made so that release dates will show up on the Steam Personal Calendar feature from October of last year https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/593110/view/507342099205587494 

Now you might actually be able to tell when a game is going to be released… maybe: https://www.pcgamer.com/software/platforms/steam-now-lets-early-access-devs-show-a-1-0-release-date-then-says-eh-maybe-leave-it-blank-just-because-this-feature-exists-does-not-mean-you-should-or-must-use-it/ 

GOTTA MAKE LAZLOW PROUD

Feb 12th - GTA 6 being given away for free in Norway if you have a baby on launch day

https://metro.co.uk/2026/02/12/gta-6-given-away-free-norway-a-baby-launch-day-26852932/ 

https://www.dexerto.com/gta/this-store-is-giving-away-gta-6-for-free-if-you-have-a-baby-on-release-day-3317986/ 

Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUngTvzDXsD/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=c18ec33c-93c3-4a64-8232-565229531490 

They are even providing 15 minutes for you to get ready, with sexy music and a nice romantic fireplace video to turn up the heat (Editor please show the norwegian text fading in at 0:02)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l253Exb8cok 

Image of the sign from Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fsydnfgclzvig1.jpeg 

Editor: Swapped these 2 around

Duration: 10:04

Timestamps:

0:00 im sorry they made me

00:14 Valve delays Steam Machine, Frame, Controller

1:59 Overwatch 2 now just 'Overwatch'

3:36 Ashes of Creation debacle

5:50 QUICK BITS INTRO

6:05 Tim Sweeney supports Valve lawsuit

7:08 Apex Legends donezo on Switch 1

7:51 MindsEye wants another chance

8:35 Pokemon Wind & Wave leaks

9:18 Sony patents AI game character podcasts

NEWS SOURCES:

MAINS

UNDER PRESSURE

Feb 4th - Valve’s Steam Machine has been delayed, and the RAM crisis will impact pricing

https://www.theverge.com/games/874196/valve-steam-machine-frame-controller-delay-pricing-memory-crisis 

• Newsweek (this is an alternate source in case you don’t want to use the vergE OR if you just need a different source, just FYI): https://www.newsweek.com/entertainment/video-games/steam-machine-release-date-announcement-delayed-due-to-memory-shortages-11471466 
• Original Source: FAQ from Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/news/group/45479024/view/625565405086220583?l=english 
• Valve had suggested to Q1 2026 to digital foundry in November: https://archive.md/TUG3M#selection-615.0-617.211 
• Moving from Q1 to Q2
• How much will it cost though?
• Still no word on that but back in november they told toms hardware  the market was being pretty weird: https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/console-gaming/valve-brings-back-steam-machine-and-steam-controller-hands-on-with-valves-new-amd-based-living-room-gaming-hardware
• Specific Link to the weird line: https://archive.md/RD4Kf#selection-6521.0-6521.63 
• AMD’s leaky Earnings call on Tuesday also said that it will still release in early 2026: https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/02/03/amd-amd-q4-2025-earnings-call-transcript/ 
• IGN Article: https://www.ign.com/articles/amd-says-valve-is-on-track-to-ship-steam-machine-early-this-year-but-we-still-dont-know-the-price 
• Link for the 70% Stat quote: https://www.ign.com/articles/amd-says-valve-is-on-track-to-ship-steam-machine-early-this-year-but-we-still-dont-know-the-price#:~:text=The%20conversation%20began%20with%20software%20engineer%20Pierre%2DLoup%20Griffais%20confirming%20that%20Steam%20Machine%20is%20more%20powerful%20than%2070%25%20of%20gaming%20PCs%20that%20Valve%20registers%20on%20its%20hardware%20survey 
• Link to Quote in the OS for the earnings call: https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/02/03/amd-amd-q4-2025-earnings-call-transcript/#:~:text=We%20also%20introduced,early%20this%20year.

OVERWATCH: FIRST BLOOD

Feb 4th - Overwatch 2 is just Overwatch now. Blizzard drops the 2 for the 10th anniversary.

https://www.polygon.com/overwatch-2-name-change-blizzard/ 

Engadget: https://www.engadget.com/gaming/overwatch-will-drop-the-2-as-jetpack-cat-and-four-other-heroes-arrive-on-february-10-184500327.html?src=rss

IGN: https://www.ign.com/articles/overwatch-2-is-ditching-the-2-amid-launch-of-new-story-driven-era-with-10-new-heroes 

Game informer: https://gameinformer.com/preview/2026/02/04/overwatch-2-is-just-overwatch-again-and-five-new-heroes-arrive-next-week 

Reddit Rumors: https://www.reddit.com/r/Competitiveoverwatch/comments/1qro4n1/overwatch_2_invasion_bundle_renamed_to_overwatch/ 

Blog post: https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/article/24246206/overwatch-spotlight-the-reign-of-talon-begins 

Historical Context - 2023 PvE Mode cancellation

https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/19/23730369/overwatch-2-pve-hero-mode-cancellation

ASHES TO ASHES

Feb 1st - MMORPG Ashes of Creation Suddenly Implodes 52 Days After Steam Early Access Launch

https://wccftech.com/mmorpg-ashes-of-creation-suddenly-implodes/

• MMO AND Kira TV put the pieces together: https://www.mmorpg.com/news/ashes-of-creation-turmoil-continues-as-sharif-responds-over-the-weekend-urging-patience-2000137182 
• Timeline of how it fell apart: https://www.mmorpg.com/news/ashes-of-creations-former-comms-director-releases-statement-giving-brief-timeline-of-intrepids-shut-down-2000137195 
• OS: KiraTV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0ewbHYWL7s 
• Sharif’s discord messages claiming it was the board: https://wccftech.com/mmorpg-ashes-of-creation-suddenly-implodes/#:~:text=I%20can%20make,by%20the%20situation 
• The board is him and his husband tho: https://www.reddit.com/r/AshesofCreation/comments/1qsm3r2/the_board_composed_of_me_and_my_husband/ 

People are not receiving final paychecks: https://www.pcgamesn.com/ashes-of-creation/layoffs-final-paychecks-margaret-krohn 

• Margaret Krohn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/margaretkrohn_i-waited-until-today-to-share-this-because-activity-7424559850921279489-9q_T

Steam has quietly withdrawn it from sale: https://www.ign.com/articles/steam-quietly-withdraws-under-fire-mmo-ashes-of-creation-from-sale-as-fans-wonder-whos-left-to-maintain-the-servers 

Players are trying to get refunds. https://www.ign.com/articles/ashes-of-creation-crisis-continues-as-devs-are-reportedly-denied-final-paycheck-and-disgruntled-players-ask-valve-for-steam-refunds 

• Margret Krohn’s twitter post: https://x.com/MargaretKrohn/status/2018794224276377819 
• Warn Act: https://www.reddit.com/r/AshesofCreation/comments/1qvqe3n/warn_info_updated/ 

Evidently there will be a development update for the game accompanying a twitch livestream on Feb 13: https://gameinformer.com/2026/02/02/report-ashes-of-creation-developer-intrepid-studios-shuts-down-weeks-after-the-mmos#:~:text=Intrepid%20Studios%20hasn%27t,will%20actually%20happen 

Original Ashes of Creation Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1791529601/ashes-of-creation-new-mmorpg-by-intrepid-studios 

• The thing about them refunding if it doesn’t launch: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1791529601/ashes-of-creation-new-mmorpg-by-intrepid-studios#:~:text=*%20And%20finally%2C%20in%20the%20case%20that%20Ashes%20of%20Creation%20does%20NOT%20launch%2C%20we%20promise%20to%20refund%20all%20backers%20in%20full. 
• This is the line where the amount they made gets estimated: https://wccftech.com/mmorpg-ashes-of-creation-suddenly-implodes/#:~:text=This%20means%20the%20game%20earned%20between%20%2411%20and%20%2416%20million%20on%20Steam%2C%20although%20with%20Valve%27s%2030%25%20cut%2C%20the%20money%20that%20actually%20went%20to%20Intrepid%20ranges%20between%20%247.7%20and%20%2411.2%20million. 

QUICK BITS

SWEENEY’S A MEANEY

Jan 30th - Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney voices support for $900 million Steam lawsuit: 'Valve is the only major store still holding onto the payments tie and 30% junk fee'

https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/epic-games-boss-tim-sweeney-voices-support-for-usd900-million-steam-lawsuit-valve-is-the-only-major-store-still-holding-onto-the-payments-tie-and-30-percent-junk-fee/ 

Windows Central: https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/pc-gaming/epic-ceo-tim-sweeney-takes-aim-at-one-of-valves-steam-policies-as-that-massive-uk-lawsuit-looms 

Games Radar: https://www.gamesradar.com/games/epic-games-ceo-tim-sweeney-supports-the-usd900-million-lawsuit-against-valve-arguing-steam-is-the-only-major-store-still-holding-onto-payment-ties-and-30-percent-junk-fee/ 

Twitter posts (Editor, please note that the top replies from Tim are all relevant for the story): https://x.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/2017028895875195171 

SWITCHING THE DROPSHIP 

Feb 1st - Apex Legends won't be playable on Nintendo Switch after its next season

• NOTE: Just the original Switch. Still playable on Switch 2

https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/apex-legends-wont-be-playable-on-nintendo-switch-after-its-next-season-214153353.html 

Game Spot: 

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/apex-legends-for-switch-shutting-down-this-year-but-switch-2-edition-lives-on/1100-6537809/ 

Blog Post: https://www.ea.com/en/games/apex-legends/apex-legends/news/update-on-nintendo-switch-support 

Fragment image from Apex Legends (Editor can we get a Nintendo switch crashing into this image like a meteor): https://apexlegends.wiki.gg/images/thumb/S17_monument_1.jpg/1920px-S17_monument_1.jpg?74c7f6 

THEY FORGOT ABOUT THE ROCKET

Feb 5th - MindsEye Reboot Attempt:

https://www.polygon.com/mindseye-update-7-patch-notes/ 

Mp1st: https://mp1st.com/news/mindseyes-major-update-1-017-brand-reset 

Mindseye plans to rebuild but not sure if they will get past these epstein allegations, prospects dont look great

Thankfully, since the new update, they hit a whopping 37 player 24 hour peak

https://steamdb.info/app/3265250/charts/ 

Feb 2nd - MindsEye CEO Threatens YouTuber With Legal Action Following Epstein Video (cease and desist demand in a Discord message) https://kotaku.com/mindseye-ceo-threatens-youtuber-after-epstein-video-2000665097 

The Gamer:

https://www.thegamer.com/epstein-files-mindseye-cease-and-desist/ 

GOTTA LEAK ‘EM ALL

Feb 5th - Pokemon Wind and Wave Gen 10 Leak Reveals Entire Region, Gyms, and More 

https://gamerant.com/pokemon-generation-10-leaks-wind-wave-region-gyms/ 

Vice: https://www.vice.com/en/article/pokemon-gen-10-map-allegedly-leaked-and-its-enormous/ 

Twitter post: https://x.com/CentroLeaks/status/2019263474929451487 

Alleged Heightmap of the region loaded into blender: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HAXdbZIXcAEjZ2F?format=jpg&name=medium 

Worth taking this all with a grain of salt, but Pokemon day is right around the corner so we might find out soon

THIS COULD BE A PODCAST

Sony tries to patent using LLM to create individualized podcasts for players

• VGC Noticed the patent initially: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/sony-patents-ai-generated-podcasts-voiced-by-characters-from-its-games/ 
• Actual Patent: https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=US471594142 
• IGN Report: https://www.ign.com/articles/sony-patents-system-to-generate-ai-podcasts-in-the-voices-of-your-favorite-playstation-characters 
• “some examples, if the gaming platform wants to highlight specific games for players to experiment with, the podcast can suggest different games to different players based on a cluster to which the relevant player is assigned," the patent's paperwork explains. "These game recommendations can also be provided in the generative AI podcasts, in game-specific character voices no less. Recommendations may be prioritized and jump out a little more to the listener to get the listener to note the recommendation. Prioritization may be based on where the recommendation is placed in the podcast (e.g., the first one mentioned) and the length of the audio for the recommendation compared to the length of audio for other aspects of the podcast”
• Link to that quote: https://www.ign.com/articles/sony-patents-system-to-generate-ai-podcasts-in-the-voices-of-your-favorite-playstation-characters#:~:text=%22In%20some%20examples,of%20the%20podcast.%22 
• So it’s used for Ads and generic notifications
• Also it makes fun of you? Like the podcasters are talking about the player
• Specific link to the line about it making fun of you: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/sony-patents-ai-generated-podcasts-voiced-by-characters-from-its-games/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIn%20certain%20instances%2C%20the%20audio%20may%20include%20a%20joke%20at%20the%20video%20game%20player%E2%80%99s%20expense%2C%E2%80%9D%20it%20adds. 
• Which isn’t at all what podcasts are

Duration: 10:30

Timestamps:

0:00 guys i was just getting milk chill

0:15 Ubisoft cancels games, wants layoffs

1:53 Highguard launch

4:10 Marathon launches next month

5:50 QUICK BITS INTRO

6:03 UK lawsuit against Valve can proceed

6:53 Xbox launches on PS5 to be 'consistent'

7:48 EA's FC 'The Grounds' open-world

8:23 Dispatch censored on Switch

9:12 Capcom tried to make Leon Kennedy hot

NEWS SOURCES:

MAINS

SACRE BLEU!!

26 - Ubisoft proposes to cut 18% of workforce at France headquarters as part of ‘major reset’ plan (SACRE BLEU!!)

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/ubisoft-proposes-to-cut-18-of-workforce-at-france-headquarters-as-part-of-major-reset-plan/

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ubisoft-launches-voluntary-redundancy-process-to-cut-200-jobs-from-paris-head-office 

Restructuring plan image: https://assetsio.gnwcdn.com/info1_gi.png?width=690&height=388&fit=crop&quality=85&format=jpg&auto=webp 

After cancelling six games https://www.ign.com/articles/ubisoft-cancels-6-projects-including-prince-of-persia-sands-of-time-remake-closes-2-studios-and-confirms-further-layoffs-in-major-company-restructure  

https://www.theguardian.com/games/2026/jan/22/ubisoft-cancels-projects-and-announces-restructure-in-fight-to-stay-competitive 

Jan 28th Ubisoft update: French Ubisoft workers vote to strike

https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ubisoft-173241918.html?src=rss 

Union Statement https://bsky.app/profile/stjv.fr/post/3mdiakqixmj2m 

• Thrust of the story is that UBISOFT is disintegrating 

Watch Dogs Franchise Reported “Dead” Following Ubisoft Restructuring, Tim Henderson says the whole franchise is dead

https://www.enduins.com/news/watch-dogs-franchise-reported-dead-following-ubisoft-restructuring 

https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/ubisoft-reportedly-kills-watch-dogs-franchise-as-insider-says-ip-is-completely-dead-3309238/ 

Clip from Insider gaming: https://youtu.be/8rRejJWM3jg?t=3548 

26 - Prince of Persia remake actress spent 3 years working on the game, filmed marketing two months ago, and wasn’t informed of its cancellation

https://frvr.com/blog/news/prince-of-persia-remake-actress-spent-3-years-working-on-the-game-filmed-marketing-two-months-ago-wasnt-informed-of-its-cancellation/ 

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/its-just-as-if-it-never-existed-following-ubisofts-prince-of-persia-remake-cancellation-actor-discusses-losing-three-years-worth-of-work 

Video address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY0hv4QFIak 

• Quick! Someone grab the dagger of time so we can go back and email this actresses agent

Other Sources:

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/22/ubisoft-shares-plummet-after-assassins-creed-maker-cancels-six-games.html

CAUGHT OFF GUARD

• Former devs from well-known shooter franchises (Apex, Titanfall, CoD) formed independent studio, thought they could hit lightning in a bottle twice 
• Geoff Keighley offered to promote game at Game Awards INSTEAD of shadow drop
• Left a gap between TGA and game launch
• Game flopped

26 - Highguard launches to negative reviews on Steam

https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/s/AsMRNDu6Ob

A shitload of people are playing this game and the DO NOT LIKE IT

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/fps/hours-after-launch-highguard-has-mostly-negative-reviews-and-a-peak-of-97-000-players-on-steam/ 

• Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4128260/Highguard/#app_reviews_hash 

Game developers are listening to users and attempting to fix

• Post about patch: https://x.com/PlayHighguard/status/2016708434008429021 
• Another post about the patch: https://x.com/PlayHighguard/status/2016710064002998521?s=20 

BUT Highguard's Steam rating goes from 'Mostly Negative' to 'Mostly Positive' when filtering reviews left by people with over 3 hours of playtime: https://www.gamesradar.com/games/fps/highguards-steam-rating-goes-from-mostly-negative-to-mostly-positive-when-filtering-reviews-left-by-people-with-over-3-hours-of-playtime/ 

So if you’re explicitly filtering for people who like the game then it seems like people like the game.

Geoff liked the game and wanted to help with the game awards but it backfired: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/ultimately-we-could-have-made-a-different-trailer-highguard-ceo-responds-to-that-poorly-received-game-awards-reveal/ 

• Alt: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/highguard-was-planned-as-a-shadow-drop-but-geoff-keighley-had-another-idea/1100-6537655/ 

They had originally planned to shadowdrop the game but they couldn’t pass up the offer to get placement at the Game Awards. And they didn’t really highlight the gameplay with it. And they explained the silence after the game awards as wanting to just focus of shipping the game and hoping that the game spoke for itself 

https://kotaku.com/highguard-game-awards-trailer-rust-hero-shooter-interview-2000663137

28- Highguard Store Page Removes Mention Of Apex Legends And Titanfall

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/highguard-store-page-removes-mention-of-apex-legends-and-titanfall/1100-6537736/ 

RUN IT BACK

Marathon launches March 5, a week from today

https://www.bungie.net/7/en/News/Article/marathon-releases-march-5-2026-new-trailer-and-more 

Announced in 2023 https://blog.playstation.com/2023/05/24/bungie-unveils-marathon/ 

Resurrection of Bungie’s older shooter series, a precursor to Halo https://gamesbeat.com/bungie-and-playstation-resurrect-marathon/ 

Then Bungie was gutted by parent company Sony https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/destiny-creators-bungie-lay-off-220-people-and-form-new-studio-within-sony-to-stave-off-financial-ruin

The alpha was disappointing - people didn’t want another extraction shooter 

https://youtu.be/jFzR8bN13FA?t=18 

• 0:18 - gameplay 

https://gamerant.com/marathon-alpha-players-request-delay/

So Bungie followed gamers’ advice to delay it https://www.eurogamer.net/bungies-marathon-reboot-delayed-indefinitely-in-response-to-passionate-fan-feedback 

Art theft issue, was eventually ‘resolved’ 

https://x.com/4nt1r34l/status/1923067988871147605 

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/the-marathon-art-theft-debacle-has-been-resolved-to-my-satisfaction-according-to-the-artist-bungie-stole-from/ 

And game director was replaced https://www.vice.com/en/article/marathon-gets-a-new-creative-director-three-months-before-release-and-players-are-panicking/ 

But since that time, another extraction shooter has launched and become super popular: ARC Raiders https://youtu.be/IpeJjQDXNAE?t=71 

• 1:11 - gameplay

And now, there’s a chance that ARC has whetted players’ appetite for an extraction shooter that’s more focused on PvP than PvE https://www.shacknews.com/article/147515/marathons-delay-has-been-good-actually 

Even if the game is a flop when it launches next week, it was all worth it just for the STUNNING art direction and trailers https://youtu.be/fvbEnWLRo1s?t=43 

• 0:43 to 0:48
• 1:14 to 1:19
• 5:48 to 5:55 

https://youtu.be/1_tFPT5X2hs?t=37 (0:37)

Thanks to former Art Director Joseph Cross https://www.instagram.com/joseph.a.cross/?hl=en 

And emmy-winning animation wizard Alberto Mielgo, who defined the whole look for the Spider-Verse movies http://www.albertomielgo.com/spiderverse 

It will go out aura farming

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2026/01/27/if-marathon-fails-at-least-it-will-go-out-aura-farming/ 

QUICKBITS 

LEGAL HOT WATER

Valve Corporation will face a £656m lawsuit in the UK over alleged unfair prices on its global online store, Steam, following a tribunal ruling that the case could continue.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/s/whvhGshM1F

Legal action over 'unfair' Steam game store prices given go ahead

• Better source https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2g1md0l23o
• Original Source - Tribunal Ruling allowing the suit to move forward: https://www.catribunal.org.uk/judgments/16407724-vicki-shotbolt-class-representative-limited-v-valve-corporation-judgment-cpo 

Report on original Lawsuit:https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpwwyj6v24xo 

• Valve is being accused of rigging the market and taking advantage of UK gamers by shutting out competition in the PC gaming market. According to the claim, Valve "forces" game publishers to sign up to so-called price parity obligations, preventing titles being sold at cheaper prices on rival platforms, enabling Steam to charge an "excessive commission of up to 30%" forcing consumers pay too much for purchasing PC games and add-on content.

TAKE THE BAG

26 - Xbox aims to be "more consistent" with launching first-party titles on PlayStation 5

Playstation universe: https://www.psu.com/news/microsoft-aims-to-be-more-consistent-with-its-ps5-release-schedule-says-xbox-game-studios-chief/ 

Tech Radar: https://www.techradar.com/gaming/the-head-of-xbox-game-studios-says-were-going-to-try-and-be-more-consistent-with-its-ps5-game-release-strategy 

Polygon: https://www.polygon.com/xbox-clears-up-its-stance-on-ps5-versions-on-day-one-up-to-a-point/ 

• Cool that Xbox’s promise to its users is the same thing I promise my girlfriend every 6 months or so
• We need you to show up more consistently, it can't just be grand gestures every year when you realize you forgot my birthday

OPEN WORLD GAMING, REAL WORLD PROBLEMS

27- EA Trademarks ‘FC The Grounds’ For New Open-World Mode

https://insider-gaming.com/ea-trademarks-fc-the-grounds-for-new-open-world-mode/ 

Gam3s: https://gam3s.gg/news/ea-fc27-the-grounds-rumor/ 

https://www.gamingbible.com/news/ea-fc-27-open-world-netflix-free-fifa-651635-20260129 

Twitter post: https://x.com/gamer_matheusx/status/2015964505176441211 

Image of WWE 2k “The Island”: https://assets.2k.com/1a6ngf98576c/6h1Ron1tJyEUsz8BsNJGeG/08372648e3d43ef1b28a9cef3b252545/UpdatedScreenforIM.png 

• You can play as Kyle Walker
• Your mistress is GOING TO TELL YOUR WIFE UNLESS YOU BUY HER A FERRARI
• EA SPORTS, ITS IN THE GAME, AND ALSO THE REST OF THE WORLD, WHICH INCLUDES THE GAME

INVISI-PROBLEMS

28 - Despite all the hentai games, Nintendo won't allow episodic superhero hit Dispatch on Switch uncensored

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/adventure/despite-all-the-hentai-games-nintendo-wont-allow-episodic-superhero-hit-dispatch-on-switch-uncensored/ 

"The core narrative and gameplay experience remains identical" 

https://www.eurogamer.net/dispatch-switch-switch-2-censored-adhoc-comment 

Nintendo Wire: https://nintendowire.com/news/2026/01/29/dispatchs-belated-switch-1-and-2-ports-will-feature-censorship-for-explicit-scenes/ 

Conker urinal matt photo: https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/conker/images/6/64/ConkerUrinalMat.png/revision/latest?cb=20231027225133 

RESIDENT HOTTIE

Female Capcom Staff Had A Mission To Make Leon Kennedy As Hot As Possible (and he looks like a dickhead) - https://thegameslayer.com/news/female-capcom-staff-leon-kennedy-hot/ 

• . Leon’s sporting a new “hot uncle” or “ikeoji” look 
• Original source on the interview with Koshi Nakanishi: https://automaton-media.com/en/news/resident-evil-requiems-leon-kennedy-became-a-hot-uncle-thanks-to-hawk-eyed-female-capcom-staff-who-reviewed-even-the-finest-wrinkles-on-his-neck-director/ 
• Alternate source if needed: https://gamerant.com/resident-evil-requiem-leon-kennedy-gameplay-story-evolution/ 

Leon has many fans among Capcom employees,” Nakanishi said, “and women in particular were pretty strict when reviewing his design. They would point out and comment on even the finest details like the wrinkles on his neck.”

• Pukes

Quotes:

• “rather than the visual aspects, he was getting a lot more opinions on how to build Leon’s personality,”
• “eon would definitely not act like that in this kind of situation. So, there were more opinions about what he’s like on the inside compared to his looks, “
• Joke: You just don’t know him like I do!

OLD Reddit post where people going nuts over this old guy: https://old.reddit.com/r/residentevil/comments/1dk0iux/leon_kennedy_is_so_hot_its_making_me_insane/ 

Other jokes

• Looks like a weekend dad
• Looks like the kind of guy who “forgets” to bring his wallet to dinner “oh can you get this babe”
• It’s just funny that a group of female developers were told to come up with the hottest guy ever and the guy they came up with is the 42 year old version of the guy who fucked my prom date
• Looks like the kind of guy who has dreads in all his college pics