Pokémon & Nintendo — new reveals, game updates, Nintendo Direct news, Switch content, Pokémon announcements

A gorgeous new Pokémon Character Guide is on the way — the Deluxe Edition runs $60 while the Collector's Edition sits at $200, both releasing August 30 and available for preorder at Amazon now. Thirty years of Pokémon history, covered in style.

Kotaku published a thoughtful piece on how Pokémon Champions has reinvigorated competitive VGC for at least one longtime trainer, despite the game's rough edges. It's a refreshingly honest take on a title that's clearly doing something right for the competitive scene.

Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream just got a Version 1.0.2 update with full patch notes, smoothing out island life. Meanwhile, Japanese charts show the game has overtaken Pokopia as the best-selling 2026 release in Japan following a blockbuster Golden Week.

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is reportedly running on Unreal Engine, according to back-of-box details spotted ahead of next week's Switch 2 exclusive launch. Unreal-powered Yoshi is not something I had on my bingo card, and I'm genuinely intrigued.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie digital, 4K, and Blu-ray release dates have been confirmed — and they're arriving very soon. If you missed it in theaters, your living room is about to get a serious glow-up.

Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone is standing firm against AI in game development, saying "you're offloading creativity to an algorithm" and that his goal has always been to express himself creatively. A resounding stance from one of indie gaming's most respected voices.

Sektori is being hailed as the potential new king of twin-stick shooters in its Switch 2 review, dethroning the long-reigning Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2. Bold claim. I need to get my hands on this immediately.

Order of the Sinking Star, the next puzzle game from Braid and The Witness creator Jonathan Blow, is officially coming to Switch 2. If you've ever been humbled by Blow's design genius, this is one to watch.

Moss and Moss: Book II, two of the finest VR games ever made, are ditching the headset requirement and launching on Switch 1 and Switch 2 this summer as a bundled package. If you missed these adorable puzzle-platformers, this is your chance.

IO Interactive addressed the controversy around 007 First Light's younger James Bond, saying "a little controversy is a good thing" and noting this Bond hasn't seen death the way an older version has. I'm cautiously optimistic.

The Yoshi NES and Game Boy soundtracks have been added to Nintendo Music this week, following last week's Star Fox drop.

Fortnite — season updates, collabs, new skins, map changes, competitive scene

Fortnite just made a massive change to fall damage: in non-ranked modes, you now take damage from big falls but can no longer die from them. Players are split on whether this is a smart safety net or a step too far toward casual territory.

The Overwatch crossover has officially arrived, bringing D.Va, Genji, and other iconic heroes into the battle royale. PC Gamer notes that Overwatch's once-prestigious character designs have finally been "bitten by the collab slop curse" — but honestly, the skins look fantastic in Fortnite's engine.

Zero Build mode is receiving changes that make it feel like "a whole new mode and not just a BR variant," according to Destructoid. As someone who can't build a ramp without panicking, I am here for this evolution.

Arc Raiders — beta news, updates, community highlights, Embark Studios announcements

ARC Raiders developer Embark Studios announced that monthly content updates are ending, with major add-ons now coming only twice a year — the next one not arriving until October. Players are understandably furious at the dramatically slowed cadence. Going from monthly drops to a five-month wait is a tough pill for a live-service game.

Indie Games — notable releases, hidden gems, devlogs, Steam Next Fest picks

Subnautica 2 has exploded out of the gate, selling 2 million copies in just 12 hours and hitting a staggering 467,000 concurrent players on Steam. Early access launches don't get much bigger than this.

Already, Unknown Worlds says the first update will add a sprint button because players are building bases so massive they need to move faster through them. That's the kind of problem every survival crafting game wishes it had.

Kotaku's 12-hour early access impressions suggest Subnautica 2 is a decent start but "needs to relax and quiet down" and trust the player more. Fair feedback for a game that clearly has massive ambition.

Steam & PC — top charts, big sales, Steam Deck compatibility, major PC releases

Forza Horizon 6 is impressively lightweight enough to run on just about any PC, though its new ray tracing modes can slam on the brakes hard. The game supports DLSS 4, FSR 4, and ultrawide displays out of the gate.

Even better, Forza Horizon 6 is already Steam Deck Verified, making it a surprisingly viable portable racing experience — assuming you can find the storage space to park it.

AMD is bringing FSR 4.1, the AI-powered upscaling tech behind PSSR 2, to older GPUs including RDNA 3 cards and even the Steam Machine. Extending next-gen upscaling to legacy hardware is a huge win for PC gamers not ready to upgrade.

Gaming Roundup — other notable news, trailers, industry moves

The Talos Principle 3 has been announced as the "final chapter" in Croteam's philosophical puzzle series, promising more gorgeous laser puzzles and existential questions. Sign me up immediately.

Subnautica 2's early access launch is being called the "biggest in the series with the most amount of content yet", with developer Unknown Worlds promising substantial day-one depth. The survival genre has a new heavyweight.

Former Star Wars: The Old Republic director James Ohlen opened up about his BioWare exit after EA killed a planned New Republic reboot, offering a candid look at what could have been for the storied MMO.