Quick Hits

• Pokémon's traditional battles might not be permanent. Game Freak suggests Pokémon Champions was built partly to preserve the classic rules — freeing future mainline games to change how battles work — and Reddit is already running with "the series may abandon its classic battle system moving forward" (VGC, r/Nintendo).
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's first beta weekend performed well — just not Modern Warfare 2 well. Eurogamer's Steam numbers show a healthy turnout, and Infinity Ward has already deployed the beta's first patch: new map, new mode, toned-down footstep audio, and weapon-lethality tweaks.
• Switch 2 buyers, heads up: the retail version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on Switch 2 is apparently just a code-in-a-box, per retailer VGP (via Nintendo Life).
• How to Fish is Steam's out-of-nowhere hit of the week, selling 1 million copies in just two days for debut studio Dazed Games.
• The GTA 6 leaks keep coming: alleged leaker 'CyberLeek' posted two more gameplay videos even as Take-Two subpoenas Microsoft and Discord for identifying information (IGN).

Pokémon & Nintendo

• The big one: VGC reports Game Freak suggests Pokémon Champions was made in part to preserve classic battle rules — implying future mainline Pokémon games could experiment with (or move past) the familiar turn-based formula. Whether that reads as evolution or heresy, it's the loudest design signal from Game Freak in years, and the fan debate is fully underway.
• In scalper-era miracle news, IGN reports the Pokémon TCG's Mega Zygarde ex Premium Collection is in stock at Target for its $44.99 MSRP (part of the less popular Mega Evolution line), and Elite Trainer Boxes are "surprisingly easy" to grab on Amazon right now.
• FromSoftware is wading into one of multiplayer gaming's most divisive arguments: Hidetaka Miyazaki tells Eurogamer the Switch 2 exclusive The Duskbloods will use skill-based matchmaking to protect newcomers from the game's best players.
• Shift Up offered our best look yet at Stellar Blade: Complete Edition on Switch 2 ahead of its release later this year — the trailer is age-restricted, so you know it's doing something right.
• Post-Xbox, Double Fine is independent again: Tim Schafer's studio returned to Kickstarter to announce a new game jam, and confirms it owns the publishing rights to "all" of its games (Nintendo Life).
• Weekend deals worth a click, per IGN: LEGO Animal Crossing sets, Nintendo Switch 2 hardware, Nioh 3, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Resident Evil Requiem, and Civilization VII.

Call of Duty

• Infinity Ward's first proper Modern Warfare 4 beta update is live, adding a new map and mode while addressing day-one feedback on footstep audio, weapon lethality, and more (Eurogamer, PC Gamer).
• The numbers check: Eurogamer's Steam data puts weekend one of the beta in "good" territory — just not Modern Warfare 2's heights — with Activision yet to publish official figures.
• Kotaku reports some testers are lukewarm on the beta, citing maps, spawn issues, and an overall "lack of razzle dazzle," with some fans worrying Infinity Ward's adjustments are over-corrections in a more crowded military-shooter market than ever.
• Hot take of the day from Destructoid: no game's "anti-cheat measures" should require you to update your entire BIOS.

Arc Raiders

• Planning note, Raiders: Embark Studios confirmed to Eurogamer that Arc Raiders' fifth Expedition — opening next month — will be the last until early 2027, pausing the Expedition cycle while changes are made. If you've got extraction goals, September is your window.

Indie Games

• How to Fish, the co-op fishing debut from Dazed Games, launched August 20 and has already sold 1 million copies in two days — the latest Steam frontpage sensation, per Eurogamer.
• PC Gamer says Gunstoppable delivers the same "head-empty unbridled joy" as Ultrakill — and it doesn't hurt that Ultrakill's Gabriel is voiced in it too. Wait, reverse that: the voice actor is in it. Either way, wishlist it.
• Bittersweet: Neverway, the gorgeous hazy pixel-art horror farming sim from one of the artists behind Celeste and Fez's composer, has slipped to 2027 — but Rock Paper Shotgun has a peek at the NPCs you'll be able to smooch while you wait.
• GameSpot's latest video proves you can game on a $150 "potato PC" — modern indies, older classics, and even emulation, if you're a savvy shopper.

Steam & PC

• The Epic Games Store relaunch has a skeptic problem: a Newzoo analyst tells Eurogamer the long-promised overhaul — a faster, redesigned storefront with tailored recommendations — may be "too little, too late," and separately tells PC Gamer, "I don't see how they can recover at this point."
• PC Gamer's Steam Week in Review chronicles how even a touch of AI is enough to trigger backlash now, with a promising new indie falling afoul of "slop skeptics."
• Games Workshop's famously anti-AI stance has gone audible: an IGN writer was caught off guard when the narrator of a Warhammer 40,000 audiobook read out a warning against training AI on the novel itself.
• One year on, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter's mistake-filled localization is finally being fixed with a surprise "legacy patch," ending a months-long fan debate (Kotaku).