Quick Hits

• Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4: Override is going all-in on gaming crossovers — Mega Man, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Jazz Jackrabbit, Sora, Persona, a gun-toting Sonic, and, most surprisingly, a Roblox collaboration just months after Epic boss Tim Sweeney called Roblox a force that could "grow and eat gaming."
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's beta kicks off its first leg Friday and, for the first time ever in a Call of Duty beta, includes a playable campaign mission.
• Digital Foundry's tech review of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered on Switch 2 details "frustrating performance" — hitches galore in Bethesda and Virtuos' port.
• Indie dev Ternox says Sony is blocking a PS5 release of STONKS-9800 and delisting its entire back catalog — a startling claim out of the indie space.
• Woot's Summer of Gaming Sale (through August 24) has a promo code dropping Switch 2, PS5, and Xbox games to all-time low prices — worth a browse before it expires.

Pokémon & Nintendo

Nintendo Life's latest talking point argues that Pokopia 2 "feels inevitable" but questions whether we actually need a sequel — the writer calls Pokémon Pokopia a lock for their personal top five games of 2026, jokingly floating "Pikatwo" as the follow-up. Elsewhere on Switch 2, Eurogamer sings the praises of Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave's mouse controls, admitting it's become their favorite way to play after Pokopia first convinced them the console's mouse mode wasn't just a gimmick.

On the rougher side, Digital Foundry's breakdown of Oblivion Remastered on Switch 2 catalogs persistent hitches — temper expectations if you're planning a handheld Cyrodiil trip. Deal hunters should note IGN's report on Woot's promo-code price drops before August 24 rolls around.

Community corner: r/pokemon is overflowing with charm today — adorable Dolliv fan art, Pikachus that may (or may not) be legendaries in disguise, matching Rockruff and Espurr OCs, and one player's quest to hand-embroider every favorite evolution line. Plus a genuinely wholesome "finally beat Omega Ruby" post, and a cautionary tale of a FireRed/LeafGreen Ditto shrugging off ~25 ultra balls at full HP.

Fortnite

Chapter 7 Season 4: Override might be the most crossover-dense season yet. VGC reports the season is officially themed around video game characters, with Sora, Crash, Spyro, Mega Man, Persona, and more revealed — Kotaku confirms the Gaming Legends trailer adds Mega Man, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, and Jazz Jackrabbit, and yes, this time it's Sonic who gets the gun. The wildest wrinkle: Eurogamer spotted a Roblox collaboration incoming, a genuinely wild turn given Sweeney's "grow and eat gaming" comments about the rival platform. Meanwhile, IGN's preview of Star Wars: Smuggler's Gambit highlights a nifty trick — it connects to your MyDisney account and links directly to the Smuggler's Run ride at Disney parks, letting you keep working with Hondo Ohnaka long after you've left Disneyland.

Call of Duty

The Modern Warfare 4 beta is breaking format: Eurogamer reports the first leg begins Friday and, in a franchise first, includes a campaign mission alongside the usual multiplayer offerings — details dropped via the official Call of Duty X account. In "what could have been" news, Eurogamer also relays a report that Sledgehammer Games built a Halo multiplayer prototype that Xbox considered before it was canned. An Activision studio Halo — let that alternate timeline marinate.

Indie Games

The STONKS-9800 situation is the story to watch: developer Ternox claims Sony is not only blocking the stock market game's PS5 release but delisting all of its previous titles — no resolution yet, but a sobering precedent for small devs. In happier news, Kotaku reports that Knytt, the foundational freeware metroidvania, has been remade for its 20th anniversary with a port to modern hardware — a lovely gift for exploration-game faithfuls.

Steam & PC

Rock Paper Shotgun's week-in-PC-games roundup spans survival horror in a waterlogged city, kaiju chaos in a destructible city, and an isometric insurgency simulator with old-school GTA vibes — a final calm before September, which RPS calls the "hell month" where everyone but Rockstar ships their biggest games. PC Gamer's Steam Week in Review spotlights the 32 games brave (foolish?) enough to launch on GTA 6 day. Also on Steam: Saber Interactive finally added an AI disclaimer to Rideshare Stimulator's page amid the ongoing row between CEO Matthew Karch and former writer Stella Sacco. GameSpot flags Starfield at its lowest price ever, Halloween: The Game secured a New Zealand digital release after initially being swept up in Australia's classification refusal, and IGN updated its best handheld gaming PCs guide — the Steam Deck now has serious competition.

Gaming Roundup

• Kotaku reports a rare two-player Computer Space unit — often regarded as the first commercially distributed arcade machine — is up for auction from Shiny Entertainment founder David Perry's personal collection. Museum-grade hardware.
• A report claims Halo: Campaign Evolved outsourced the "majority" of its development, following earlier accusations of mismanagement and a troubled studio culture, with Destructoid warning it may only get worse from here.
• GameSpot says Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is scratching the fighting-game itch so well it's making the wait for Injustice 3 bearable.
• IGN makes the case that the Dungeon Crawler Carl TV series could make or break the future of LitRPG adaptations.
• Nintendo Life's August Mailbox digs into Zelda-themed Switch 2s, kiddy consoles, and fans' best "take my money, Nintendo" pitches — and yes, we'd all take a Zelda Switch 2.