Quick Hits

• PokémonXP is delivering a news avalanche from San Francisco: Pokémon TCG Pocket gets dual-type cards this October starting with Mega Mewtwo X ex, Aardman's stop-motion series Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch'd & Pichu got its first trailer, and The Pokémon Company announced a global streaming deal with Disney+.
• Activision served a cease and desist to notorious Call of Duty cheat maker Elocarry — at his house, on camera — with the warning "we will find you." Elocarry's cheats have since been taken down.
• Gamescom suffered at least two apparent thefts: indie dev Ryan Laley (Mimic) had multiple laptops stolen from his booth overnight, prompting CD Projekt Red to offer help as the industry rallies around him.
• Donkey Kong 64 is finally natively playable on PC thanks to a fan team that proudly notes "no generative AI [was] used at any point in the process."
• Fable's director says he feels "great" about the delay to February 2027, which everyone — including GameSpot — reads as dodging GTA 6's "chaotic window."

Pokémon & Nintendo

It's a massive weekend for Pokémon fans, and if you're not in San Francisco, Kotaku's reporter is right there with you — suffering "FOMO" over an event that's "off to an incredible start," including a Pokémon 8-Bit Big Band concert at Worlds and XP. The headlines out of the show:

• Pokémon TCG Pocket adds dual-type cards in October 2026, a first for the mobile game, with Mega Mewtwo X ex leading the charge — a genuinely exciting mechanical shakeup for the card battler.
• Aardman's stop-motion series gets its first trailer. Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch'd & Pichu, set in the Galar region, comes from the Wallace & Gromit studio — and Kotaku says it looks delightful. It arrives next year.
• Pokémon is going global on Disney+, a streaming deal that includes the Aardman series and the original animation.
• LEGO is teasing five new Smart Play Pokémon sets for 2027, announced during a Smart Play demo on PokémonXP's second day.
• The event isn't without friction: roughly 50,000 people are attending, and The Pokémon Company International acknowledged disappointment over its lottery system, long lines, and limited workshop access. Meanwhile, Kotaku reports fans are battling "Scalper Alley" for exclusive merch.

On the Nintendo side: M2's Toaplan Arcade Garage: Flying Fire Shark hit Western eShops on August 29, bundling two seminal shark-themed shmups that Nintendo Life calls essential. With Elden Ring's arrival putting The Lands Between on a Nintendo platform for the first time, Nintendo Life has updated its best open-world games on Switch 1 & 2 guide. And Dragon Ball Gekishin Squadra, the free-to-play MOBA, announced a major "overhaul" ahead of its September anniversary — "not a decision made lightly," says Bandai Namco.

Fortnite

Disney and Epic raised eyebrows with a collaboration that locks a Fortnite skin behind riding the Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run at Disneyland. GameSpot argues it's "totally fine" — an opinion piece, but an interesting counter to the backlash. If you were planning a park trip anyway, it's a bonus.

Call of Duty

The biggest anti-cheat story in ages: Activision served legal papers to infamous cheat maker Elocarry at his home — and filmed the entire thing, with PC Gamer reporting the message loud and clear: "we will find you." Destructoid notes it's the latest flex in the never-ending war against cheaters, and Elocarry's Call of Duty cheats are now offline.

Indie Games

The Gamescom theft story has a silver lining: after Ryan Laley's tearful message about stolen laptops (he's the creator of the forthcoming Mimic), CD Projekt Red publicly offered help as the industry shows its support.

Also in indie news: Valve branded Future? No Thanks! — a PEGI 12-rated open-world adventure about a cranky old boomer — as adults-only on Steam, a move its developer calls "humiliating and surreal"; he's now appealing to top German regulators.

Two games worth your wishlist: 4 Penny Coffins, a Jack the Ripper-meets-Among-Us social deduction game where up to 8 players hunt a hidden murderer through 19th-century London — with a dash of Psychonauts weirdness. And Hillthorn, a spooky mountain-mystery card game from Fool Moon and Finnegan Motors with what Rock Paper Shotgun calls an excellent demo.

Steam & PC

Donkey Kong 64 is finally natively playable on PC, courtesy of a programmer team that boasts "no generative AI was used at any point" — a flex we can all appreciate. Meanwhile, Valve assured hungry Deadlock players it will notify them — "or order a ton of pizza" — when the next big update is ready. And for a nostalgia trip, PC Gamer waxes lyrical about the joy of the MegaPak that Steam-spoiled gamers will never know.

Gaming Roundup

• Fable's delay to February 2027 was about avoiding a "chaotic window" — everyone knows that means GTA 6 — and director Ralph Fulton says he feels "great" about the timing.
• Speaking of GTA 6: Rockstar says it has to "be careful" about what it satirizes because "very specific political issues or memes will date fast."
• State of Decay 3 is in good shape despite the Xbox upheaval, per IGN's gamescom 2026 hands-on — reassuring news given Undead Labs is changing ownership amid the "Xbox reset."
• Xbox kept at least one big promise in its most tumultuous year: Game Pass Ultimate delivering 75+ day-one releases after the October 2025 price hike.
• Star Wars Zero Company "actually pushes the genre forward," says GameSpot's review of the XCOM-like tactics game.
• In sadder news: Star Wars effects legend Phil Tippett (director of Mad God) shuttered his studio following Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and is now selling over 40 years of movie magic.