Pokémon & Nintendo

• Pokémon Champions is officially dropping on mobile tomorrow! Following its earlier launch on Nintendo Switch 2 consoles this year, the iOS and Android release for Pokémon Champions is less than 24 hours away. Get your teams ready to battle on the go!
• The latest Nintendo Direct was an absolute behemoth. New reports confirm that this summer's Nintendo Direct was the most-watched gaming showcase of the season, easily beating out Sony, Microsoft, and Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest.
• A hacking group is claiming a massive Nintendo data breach. A group known as ShadowByt3$ alleges they have stolen 859MB of Nintendo employee data and are currently holding it for a staggering $2 million ransom.
• Get ready to break out your old GameCube controllers! The Retro Fighters Battle Dock for the Nintendo Switch 2 is here, letting you experience titles like F-Zero GX and SoulCalibur II with that authentic 2001 notch feel.
• The original Pokémon theme song singer is fighting back against card scam allegations. Jason Paige, accused of ripping off kids for a valuable Gengar card at a recent trading card show, just released an AI-generated diss track complete with a "Gengar Dance" music video to deny the claims.
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth takes a massive tumble in the UK charts. After debuting at number two last week, the highly anticipated RPG has fallen off a cliff, allowing FC 26 to comfortably return to the top spot in a very uneventful week for physical game sales.
• The N64 is turning 30! With the 30th anniversary of the revolutionary Nintendo 64 approaching on June 23, 2026, outlets are asking fans to share their most treasured memories of the console.

Call of Duty

• Treyarch is losing its long-time studio head. Mark Gordon, who has been with the studio since 2005 and served as its head since 2016, is officially stepping down. This is a massive leadership shift for the developer behind some of the most beloved entries in the Call of Duty franchise.

Indie Games

• Steam Next Fest is impossibly massive this year. Valve has packed so many demos into the current iteration of Steam Next Fest that it would literally take you 90 straight days of playing 24/7 to try each one for just 30 minutes. It is an absolute goldmine for hidden gems, but horribly overwhelming!
• Filtering through Steam Next Fest is getting depressingly difficult. A recent deep dive using an AI-blocking extension revealed that the festival has been heavily flooded with games containing AI-generated content. It's a grim reality of the modern PC gaming landscape, making it harder to find genuine passion projects.
• Need a starting point for your Next Fest deep dive? Do not let the flood of AI slop keep you away from the incredible indie scene. There are already fantastic hand-curated lists highlighting 7 essential demos you should download immediately to give your GPU a proper workout.

Steam & PC

• A terrifying new horror sim is rising from the depths. Former GTFO developers have announced Mole, a claustrophobic horror simulator where you control a massive drilling vessel rife with bloody religious symbolism.
• The cult classic FPS SiN is officially back from the dead. Nightdive Studios has resurrected their remaster, SiN Reloaded, with a brand-new gameplay trailer and a playable Steam demo. This is a huge surprise, as the project was put on indefinite hold three years ago.
• Steam's concurrent player charts are being completely gamed. A bot-filled marketplace title is reportedly sitting as the second most-played game on Steam right now, exploiting the platform's charts despite being an absolute nuisance that can actually get your account banned.
• Valve's SteamOS is expanding to rival handhelds. A new gameplay test showcases the MSI Claw running SteamOS smoothly, heavily implying that official support for non-Valve handheld gaming PCs is coming very soon.

Gaming Roundup

• Xbox is reportedly eyeing massive studio shutdowns. According to a new report, a "reset" initiated by the new CEO could see Compulsion Games—the developer behind South of Midnight, We Happy Few, and Contrast—being shut down entirely.
• The DC Universe continues to expand in bizarre ways on HBO. James Gunn has clarified that the upcoming Jimmy Olsen HBO TV series will actually be "both a Jimmy Olsen AND a Gorilla Grodd show," teasing some serious primate chaos.
• HBO's Harry Potter series has finally cast its Peeves the Poltergeist. Peter Serafinowicz will be stepping into the role, finally bringing the iconic book character to the screen after he was infamously cut entirely from the original films.
• The director of the breakout horror hit Obsession wants to make a video game movie. Curry Barker, whose film just made over $220 million against a tiny budget, is fielding offers from across the industry and is totally up for adapting a spooky gaming IP.
• Massive sales are hitting before Amazon Prime Day 2026 even begins. Target has preemptively launched a massive LEGO sale, while Amazon is already discounting all of Matt Dinniman's wildly popular Dungeon Crawler Carl books ahead of the big event.
• Need a cheap rig for your Steam Deck alternatives? The Tiny Firebat A6 Ryzen 7 7735HS Mini PC is currently available on AliExpress as a complete Windows 11 system for under $300. It is roughly the size of a Mac Mini and a fantastic steal for budget PC gamers!