Pokémon & Nintendo

The trickiest event of the summer is here, as the Pokémon Pokopia 'Zorua Hide-and-Sneak' event runs through July 2026, offering massive rewards if you can master just one good run. Over in the physical space, the Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolution – Pitch Black expansion dropped on July 17, 2026, bringing a delightfully spooky, Dark-type twist to your summer deck-building. In absolutely wild community news, scalpers are already auctioning off the ultra-rare "Times Square Mewtwo" from Pokémon Go's invite-only 10th-anniversary raid for up to $10,000 on eBay! Meanwhile, Nintendo just dropped the best-selling eShop games for the first half of 2026 in Japan, with Pokémon and Mario Kart predictably dominating the charts across both Switch 1 and Switch 2.

On the hardware and software front, The Mermaid's Mask on Switch 2 is earning rave reviews as a stylish, "all killer, no filler" mystery adventure. JRPG fans, rejoice: Tales of Eternia Remastered is officially bringing its classic action-RPG combat to the Switch and Switch 2 this October. Finally, a fascinating behind-the-scenes drop revealed that Nintendo guarded the The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom E3 reveal so intensely that fewer than 10 people in the entire company knew about it ahead of time!

Call of Duty

Lock and load, because the upcoming Call of Duty cinematic universe is officially staying grounded—the highly anticipated movie adaptation will be set squarely in the Modern Warfare universe! The film is slated for a theatrical release on June 30, 2028. In a brilliantly bizarre turn of community news, a new ASMR-style website was launched that lets you fall asleep to the nostalgic, chaotic cacophony of vintage Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops voice chat lobbies. It's the ultimate trip down memory lane for anyone who misses the raw, unfiltered energy of Xbox Live circa 2010.

Steam & PC

Grab your survival gear, because Palworld is absolutely dominating the Steam charts once again, clocking an astonishing nearly one million concurrent players this weekend! In hardware news, Valve is making bold moves with their upcoming "Steam Machine," stating they won't be pursuing traditional console exclusives because they see the "whole PC catalog as our launch exclusive." However, Valve engineers are also sounding the alarm on a worsening memory crisis in the tech industry that could make PC building and hardware pricing incredibly grim for consumers. On the storefront side, Steam's latest weekly review included a massive projection: over half of all new games on the platform will likely feature an AI-content disclosure by the 2027-2028 release window.

Gaming Roundup

Rumors are swirling behind closed doors, as reports suggest that studio chiefs at Xbox’s first-party studios apparently aren't thrilled with the Game Pass model, despite its massive popularity with players. For deal hunters, massive weekend sales are live across PC and console, including great discounts on the DJI Mini 4K drone, Metal Gear Solid: Delta, and Mortal Kombat 4K Limited Edition. Over in Hollywood crossovers, Marvel just dropped a cryptic Avengers: Doomsday teaser hinting that the Fantastic Four are facing a desperate ticking clock.