Quick Hits

• Saudi Arabia's gaming giant loses its leader. Brian Ward has stepped down as CEO of state-owned Savvy Games Group after five years and a mountain of acquisitions — a portfolio whose investments include the developer of Pokémon Go (Eurogamer, Kotaku).
• Goodwill Geralt. CDPR says charging current owners for The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - Remastered was "never a question we asked ourselves" — and the devs say it should run just fine on Steam Deck, too (Nintendo Life, PC Gamer).
• Pokémon Go turns the page. September kicks off the new Twilight Trails season with fresh raid bosses, spotlight hours, Pokémon debuts, a host of returning Megas, and a Mega finale (GameSpot).
• Microsoft wants your Modern Warfare 4 pre-order. A surprise promo offers $5 in credit for buying Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on Xbox platforms instead of competitors', while Game Pass's first September wave adds seven games — including a day-one arrival (Eurogamer, GameSpot).
• Mortal Shell 2's redemption arc is underway. The first major update landed Saturday, a little over a week after launch, and improves the game "in almost every way" (Eurogamer).

Pokémon & Nintendo

The industry story of the day: Eurogamer reports Ward oversaw $38 billion of investment across gaming companies — including the Pokémon Go developer — during his tenure, and Kotaku frames his exit as five years and "a mountain of acquisitions." A leadership shift worth watching for anyone curious where that war chest points next.

On to the fun stuff: GameSpot has the full Pokémon Go September rundown for Twilight Trails — new raid bosses, spotlight hours, Pokémon debuts, and a Mega-capped finale to the season. Speaking of Megas, IGN reports fans are convinced the newly revealed TCG movie Pokémon: Wild Card hid a brand-new Mega Evolution in plain sight, one of many announcements from the 2026 Pokémon World Championships weekend.

In pure Nintendo-fan fashion, Nintendo Life reports the community is convinced Ubisoft revealed the date of the next Nintendo Direct — a beloved parlor game even in a year this stacked. And that stack is real: Nintendo Life's September–October Switch 2 guide says "berfest" opens with a brand-new Onimusha, with wallet- and Micro SD Express-testing releases to follow.

The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - Remastered was already a Gamescom ONL stunner for Switch 2, and CDPR's message to current owners — free-ish goodwill, because charging them was "never a question we asked ourselves" — makes it sweeter. Less sweet: Nintendo Life's Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Complete Edition review calls it a promising Soulslike in a compromised port, a step back after Lies of P and Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition thrived on the console.

Finally, r/pokemon is doing the lord's work: one creator has made 305 Pokémon using only PowerPoint (and takes requests), a print-shop employee wrapped their Switch 2 in a one-of-a-kind Gastrodon skin, and there's charming Tyrantrum, Cherrim, and Latias fan art making the rounds.

Fortnite

Fornitemares hasn't officially been revealed yet, but it's already bleeding into the real world: GameSpot reports the spooky event has crossed over into Universal's Horror Nights — "a spooky dream come true." In-game, the clock is ticking on Epic's reveal, with haunting new skins, bosses, and weapons promised to carry Fortnite through spooky season.

Call of Duty

Microsoft has kicked off a pre-order push "seemingly out of nowhere," per Eurogamer: $5 in credit if you pre-order Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on Xbox or Xbox on PC rather than a competitor's platform. Elsewhere, GameSpot rounds out the first September Game Pass wave — seven games strong, modest but boosted by a day-one launch.

Indie Games

Double Fine are all in on Brutal Legend 2 — you just need to hand them $100 million via their game jam Kickstarter, Rock Paper Shotgun reports. RPS notes it was probably a safe bet the sequel would never happen under Microsoft's ownership, so consider this the door creaking open. RPS also spoke with the Hellraiser devs, who call the adult-game crackdown "ridiculous for our art form" but believe they'll survive thanks to that Clive Barker association — all amid pressure from Australia's Collective Shout on Mastercard, PayPal, Visa, and Paysafe to pull services from Steam and itch.io.

Steam & PC

Mortal Shell 2's first major update is the patch of the week: Eurogamer says Cold Symmetry seemingly chased down as many points of criticism as possible, and the result dramatically improves the game in almost every way. In Valve land, PC Gamer reports the Steam Frame won't get Half-Life 3 — instead a six-year-old game looks likely to be the key launch offering — and that Linux dodged the age-verification apocalypse, though SteamOS "isn't in the clear yet." Meanwhile, wishlisting Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen could win you a Steam Deck OLED, and GameSpot uses the occasion to lovingly relive the 2024 original's glorious monster-climbing chaos.

Gaming Roundup

Resident Evil 2 director Hideki Kamiya says Capcom has "no awareness" of how scary Resident Evil is — while admitting "I've never been a fan of horror" (Nintendo Life). The man directed one of the greatest survival horror games of all time and could barely stand to look at it. Legend behavior.