Quick Hits

• The Game Pass rumor that won't die: Microsoft is responding to a leak claiming a massive 2027 Xbox Game Pass overhaul — reportedly including dropping new titles from the service at launch — telling IGN it hasn't "finalized" any changes and has nothing "to announce today."
• Fire Emblem week is here: Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave hits Switch 2 tomorrow, September 17 — with news that it supports just "a single save file."
• Alyx goes standalone: Rock Paper Shotgun reports Valve considered building a brand-new VR game for the Steam Frame before taking on the "ludicrous" task of getting Half-Life: Alyx running standalone on the headset.
• Marathon slows down: Bungie's next major Marathon update slips from September 22 to December's "Symbiosis" update, which brings permanent PvE as the studio ditches its "strict seasonal schedule."
• "Sanctuary" supremacy: A Kingdom Hearts Fortnite trailer cut to Hikaru Utada's iconic track has Kotaku declaring that whoever put it together "knows ball."

Pokémon & Nintendo

• Aniimo, the new free-to-play creature-catcher in the Palworld and Pokémon mold, has arrived, and GameSpot is already breaking down the big early choice between starters Helion and Lunara.
• Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave launches September 17 on Switch 2. Nintendo Life reports the hero roster was almost even bigger than it already looks, and Nintendo has explained the single-save-file limitation: separate saves would create "complications."
• Blizzard's Diablo 30th anniversary celebrations are off to a bumpy start — Diablo IV: Age of Hatred Collection lands on Switch 2 this week alongside the new season but has suffered teething issues ("We appreciate your patience," says Blizzard). Meanwhile, per Nintendo Life, no further Diablo IV expansions are planned ahead of Diablo V's newly announced 2029 release, though support will continue for a "very long time."
• Koei Tecmo has locked in a March 2027 Switch 2 release date for Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember, following Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty's arrival on the platform.
• Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds opens its "Year Two" with a free character drop: the Umbra Witch herself, Bayonetta, plus a Year Two showcase on the way.
• Hopes for an Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem remaster are flickering again after new comments from Nightdive Studios' studio head — the remaster specialists have long been vocal about wanting to tackle it.
• Dark Horse's The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom art book has slipped from next month to 2027.
• Community corner: r/pokemon is glowing today — a Ho-Oh stained glass catching real sunlight, an Espeon channeling her inner Lannister, and an early spooky-season headless horseman Pokémon.

Fortnite

• Kotaku is fully swooning over the new Kingdom Hearts Fortnite trailer, admitting it's "not immune to propaganda, especially if it comes wrapped in Hikaru Utada's 'Sanctuary'" — yes, that Kingdom Hearts 2 classic.

Call of Duty

• In the CoD-adjacent FPS lane: Bulkhead's Wardogs has sold 2 million units, and the studio's CEO is staying remarkably blunt about it — "We're not transparent and we're not honest," and "Don't buy us if you want to play Call of Duty" (via VGC).

Indie Games

• Dredge, the Lovecraftian fishing adventure, has never been cheaper — GameSpot flags an all-time low that's an easy hook for anyone who hasn't reeled this one in yet.
• Steam mistakenly tagged Wadjet Eye Games' vampire RPG Nighthawks as pornography, then reversed the rating — and PC Gamer reports the chaos came with a silver lining: wishlists "basically doubled overnight." Founder Dave Gilbert calls the ordeal a "net positive" overall but says, "I hope to never have to go through anything like this ever again."

Steam & PC

• Valve considered making a new VR game for the Steam Frame before committing to the "ludicrous" task of getting Half-Life: Alyx running standalone — continuing its hardware-launch tradition that gave the Steam Deck its own companion release.
• The Steam Frame is arriving later and more expensive than expected (£889 / $1,059 pre-order registration), but Eurogamer reports Valve maintains its Steam Deck 2 plans are unaffected by the ongoing component crisis.
• The European Commission's proposed EU Kids Act could force online games to enact stricter age verification under new rules governing accounts for under-15s.
• Falcom's Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter is here, and PC Gamer's verdict on the follow-up to last year's best JRPG remake: it "did not disappoint" — and it happens to contain one of the creepiest JRPG monsters the outlet has ever encountered.

Gaming Roundup

• More Game Pass fallout: on top of the 2027 shakeup rumor, GameSpot reports eight more games are leaving the service soon — the second wave this month after 10 removals earlier in September.
• A new PS5 firmware update (version 26.06-14.00.00) is out now, and per GameSpot it's genuinely more than stability fixes: it includes a new tweak for PS5 Pro and voice chat updates.
• Total War: Shogun 2's Complete Edition adds 50 minor factions at the cost of breaking your mods — but players who stay on the old version will get legacy DLC for free.
• Saber Interactive chief creative officer Tim Willits doesn't believe the generative AI controversy around Rideshare is damaging the studio's reputation, in a new Rock Paper Shotgun interview.