[PATREON UNLOCK] Update Patch - April 2026

Update Patch News Roundup (06/04/26)

New month, new author, new Update Patch to roll out! Autumn supposedly started a week ago here in the Southern Hemisphere, but the unabating heat doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo. It is under my terribly overworked ceiling fan that I give you the biggest happenings in the games industry for this first week of April:

Shift Up Integrates Shinji Mikami’s Unbound 

Shift Up, the Korean studio behind Goddess of Victory: Nikke and Stellar Blade, put out a press release announcing it had completed the acquisition of Unbound, a team formed in 2022 and helmed by Shinji Mikami, a key figure in the development of several Resident Evil series games between 1996 and 2005.

Unbound’s new parent company also plans to handle publishing for all of its future titles, of which at least one is currently in development. Per VGC, as of March 9th, Mikami’s new team had around 50 employees, though it aims to expand to 150. Job listings indicate that its as-of-yet unrevealed project will be available for PC, PS5, and Xbox. 

Prior to the founding of the studio, Mikami founded Tango Gameworks, where he was the executive producer for The Evil Within 2, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and Hi-Fi Rush. Since his departure, Tango, formerly owned by Bethesda, was dismantled by Microsoft and found new life under Krafton, another Korean company, publisher of inZOI and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

Take-Two Reshuffles AI Department

Following the much-celebrated shuttering of slop merchant OpenAI’s Sora, Kotaku has reported that Take-Two, owner of studios like Rockstar Games and 2K, let the head of its AI team go, a mere two months after CEO Strauss Zelnick claimed the company is “actively embracing” generative AI. 

“It’s truly disappointing that I have to share with you that my time with T2 – and that of my team – has come to an end,” Luke Dicken wrote on LinkedIn on April 2nd. Dicken has seemingly been laid off alongside all of his staff, who worked with AI applications such as machine learning and procedural content in games.

Take-Two’s track record with generative AI in particular has been muddled: after his public endorsement of the technology, Zelnick went on The Gaming Show to call the idea of a large-language model creating anything like the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI “laughable” and defend the role of human creativity in the process of game development. 

Octopath Traveler Tabletop RPG To Be Published In English

JRPG sickos rejoice: according to Game Informer, Square Enix is bringing a tabletop RPG of Octopath Traveler to the English-speaking market, through renowned publisher Dark Horse. The 328-page rulebook is set to be released in the United States on October 6th, 2026, for $59.99; no other regional rollouts have been announced at this time. 

This system uses 2d6 and contemplates the continent of Orsterra, present in the first Octopath Traveler game and its prequel, Octopath Traveler 0, itself a console-facing adaptation of the mobile game Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent. Players can follow the timeline of the games with fully original characters or use presets based on the existing cast.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Makes $122.1M Worldwide In Two Days

Deadline reports that The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, made $122.1 million in cinemas worldwide within two days of its release, on April 1st. This amount beats out its predecessor’s revenue during the same period by 1.1%, and already covers the reported $110 million budget. Illumination expects it to make around $375 million within the first five days.

Reviews for the movie, which stars Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Brie Larson, Benny Safdie, and Donald Glover, have mostly been mixed: at the time of writing, it sits at 41% from critics and 90% from the public on Rotten Tomatoes. 

One particularly noteworthy review, sitting somewhere between adorable nepotism and hard-hitting critique from the target audience, comes from Jessica Cogswell’s four-year-old son at GameSpot. The highly qualified reviewer claims that it was “better than the first movie”, and that he liked seeing “so many guys from [Super] Mario Odyssey”.

Disney May Be Considering An Epic Games Acquisition

Because all the games industry needs right now is more mergers and acquisitions, journalists Matt Belloni and Alex Heath claimed on the podcast The Town with Matt Belloni that Disney is currently mulling over an Epic Games buyout. 

This news comes right after both companies have sustained devastating blows: the former has just pulled out of its billion-dollar agreement with OpenAI over Sora, leading to its aforementioned demise, and the latter recently laid off 1,000 employees, including Mike Prinke, a terminal brain cancer patient who lost his insurance. 

Disney and Epic already have a storied partnership, as Unreal Engine has been used for special effects in several of the House of Mouse’s productions, including The Mandalorian, and Fortnite already has skin collections for some Disney characters, such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Pixar’s Incredibles. In 2024, Disney announced a $1.5 billion investment for an equity stake in Epic. While the privately owned and highly profitable Epic, on its end, is reducing headcount by almost a quarter, which is the exact kind of corporate behaviour that one could see a company trying to slim down for acquisition making.

PlayStation Plus Monthly Games For April Revealed

The next round of free games for PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers (which also includes all higher tiers), running from April 7th to May 4th, has been announced by Sony. 

This time around, they are Souls-like adventure RPG Lords of the Fallen — specifically, the 2023 reboot —, anime raid battler Sword Art Online: Fractured Daydream, and Tomb Raider I-II-III Remastered, an expanded collection of Lara Croft’s original game trilogy.

March’s selection, which featured the golf simulator PGA Tour 2K25, RPG Monster Hunter Rise, cozy game Slime Rancher 2, and MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road Collection, can be redeemed until April 6th. 

Beta Testing For Petit Planet, HoYoverse’s Cozy Game, Begins Late April

HoYoverse, the Chinese studio that owns a large slice of the gacha market by means of Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, is gearing up for its next endeavour — Petit Planet, a free-to-play, cross-platform cozy game focused on nurturing a planet along the Starsea. The first public beta, “Stardrift Test”, begins on April 21st for PC, iOS, and Android, and has no announced end date.

Petit Planet takes cues from the Animal Crossing franchise in that it allows players to freely explore and customize their digital patch of land, all the while forming connections with both the fictional characters around the planet and real-life friends. It is speculated that this game will, much like other HoYoverse successes, feature a gacha system, presumably for obtaining characters, furniture, and/or other collectibles.

Butterfly Soup Writer Has A New Game On The Horizon

To close us out, have you heard the good news about Brianna Lei? The acclaimed writer of the Butterfly Soup duology and Pom Gets Wi-Fi is coming out with a new game! Her studio Psychic Kiss has pre-launched the Kickstarter campaign for The Crane Rider’s Tale, to begin in earnest on April 28th. 

Set against a backdrop inspired by Chinese folktales, the story is a murder mystery following Mourn-No-More, a crane rider who takes passengers around town. Its cited major inspirations are the works of Japanese sci-fi cult darling Kotaro Uchikoshi, particularly the Zero Escape and AI: The Somnium Files series. 

Update Patch News Roundup (12/04/26)

Welcome to the second Update Patch of April! As I recover from minor surgery, the weather has finally caught up with the season — which is nice, since I’m not supposed to be in hot environments right now. This news roundup is more dedicated to game announcements than the previous one. I hope you hear about something new from it!

The Triple-i Initiative Showcase Happened

The indie-facing crowd started the week by eating real good: the 2026 edition of The Triple-i Initiative Showcase, a 2-hour-long presentation of independent games across countries and platforms (split between 45 minutes of trailers and over an hour of deep dives), happened on April 9th and showed off 40 games, between world premieres, DLC announcements and further information on known upcoming titles.

Highlights include Prove You’re Human, a new game by 1000xRESIST studio sunset visitor 斜陽過客 that pictures a battle of wits against a sentient AI; Neverway, a Brazilian horror life sim with action RPG segments; Crop, a fellow horror/farming game combo backed by Frostpunk devs 11bit studios; Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions, a multiplayer spin-off of 2024 space open world Astroneer that’s gearing up for a beta this month; and an Undertale music pack for Rift of the NecroDancer with seven iconic boss themes (yes, including Megalovania).

The full 2026 announcement list can be found on the project’s official website, as well as records of its two previous editions.

Rhythm Heaven Groove Finally Has A Release Date

After 11 years without a mainline game in the franchise (and 15 years without an all-new one), Rhythm Heaven Groove, first announced on the March 2025 Nintendo Direct, has a confirmed release date at last: on July 6, 2026, the doors of Heaven will open once more, this time on Nintendo Switch. No dedicated Nintendo Switch 2 edition has been confirmed yet.

The announcement came with a new minigame showcase. Named Slice N Dice Kitchen, it appears to have received a complete style overhaul since its soft reveal on the original trailer, now less “modern anime”-esque and more aligned with the style of the franchise. It is unknown if the first version will still appear at some point in the final game. 

Rhythm Heaven Megamix, the previous title in the series, was long thought to be the last entry due to J-rock star and longtime producer Tsunku’s laryngeal cancer treatment requiring the removal of his vocal cords. Tsunku will return for Groove in his usual producer role, though no longer providing vocals for the original Japanese audio as he used to.

007 First Light Switch 2 Version Delayed

Switch 2 gamers looking forward to 007 First Light, Hitman developer IO Interactive’s take on James Bond, are going to have to wait a little more than other platforms. The company released a statement on its social media announcing that the release date on the platform has been moved to “later this summer”. No further reasoning was provided.

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (via Steam and Epic Games Store) still retain the previously announced — and also postponed from its initial release window of March — date of May 27th, 2026. 

For PS5 owners, IO Interactive and Sony are also releasing a limited-edition DualSense controller themed to the game. The recommended price stands at $84.99 USD / ¥12,480 (including tax) / €84.99 / £74.99.

Recent Overwatch Hero Gets Fan-Requested Facelift 

The Anran saga of Overwatch is finally over: in a video published on the game’s social media accounts, director Aaron Keller has unveiled a new look for one of the five heroes that marked Overwatch 2’s rebrand to… just Overwatch again, complete with a reboot to a second (third?) Season 1. 

Anran in particular, a fire-wielding Flanker DPS, was controversial for having a 3D model that did not match her appearances in other official media, such as comics and animations, and made her a part of what some considered “same-face syndrome” among the game’s female characters. 

The new design gives Anran sharper eyes and eyebrows, a more confident stance, and overall attempts to match her looks more closely to her younger brother, water-based Survivor support hero Wuyang. 

The changes will be rolled out on Season 2, starting on April 14th, which will also include the new hero Sierra, a Recon DPS who hails from the US and is Pharah’s coworker at Helix Security. 

Pokémon Champions Launches To Outcry, Dev Apology

Is it ever a Pokémon launch if the fans aren’t unhappy? This time around, however, freemium competitive-facing game Pokémon Champions’ arrival has hit so wrong with the public that, a mere day after its Switch release, the team at The Pokémon Company and ILCA (a developer that’s already controversial with fans for its handling of the Generation IV remakes) had to rush to apologise for the rough launch, says Kotaku.  

The full statement, published only in Japanese and partially translated by fansite Serebii, addresses several bugs, including a description that undersells the damage of the move Leech Seed, a couple of botched implementations of the Mega Evolution mechanic, and some misassigned Pokémon genders, including a female Gallade (especially amusing given the inclusion of a loosely trans-coded original character elsewhere).

This, however, does not begin to scratch the surface of the fandom grievances. The initial wave features only 186 Pokémon, all fully-evolved with the exception of Pikachu (some of which should be able to attain Mega Evolution, but cannot at present); several par-for-the-course competitive items are absent; Pokémon transferred from Pokémon Home are being lost in limbo; and, most damning of all, the customisation options are a far cry from the recent mainline games, really letting the freemium nature show. It might be better to stick to good ol’ Showdown.

Epic Reportedly Developing Disney Extraction Shooter

Following last week’s report of a possible Disney-Epic merger, the Fortnite and Unreal Engine maker seems to be gearing up for a project with the House of Mouse. According to Bloomberg, this decision comes after an internal realisation, after the layoff of 1,000 employees, that recent Fortnite content has flopped; in some cases, it sparked real fandom anger, such as the release of skins based on “Italian brainrot” characters from AI-generated videos.

Epic’s new hope of resurgence is said to lie in a series of Disney-licensed games now in development. The first one of three, say four current and former workers at the studio, is to be an extraction shooter, following the likes of Arc Raiders and Marathon, where Disney characters fight enemies and other player for limited loot spread across a map. 

Early playtests of both the proposed shooter and the two other games, details for which were not disclosed, received middling reviews that worried about the projects’ creativity relative to their inspirations. Further developments remain to be seen.

Double Dragon Creator Yoshihisa Kishimoto Dead At 64

Yoshihisa Kishimoto, the creator of beat’em ups Double Dragon and Kunio-kun (also known in the West as Renegade), passed away on April 2nd at 64 years old, his son Ryūbō confirmed on the 6th through X, formerly known as Twitter. The cause of death was not disclosed.

Kishimoto’s love of the beat’em up genre was cemented during his teenage years, when he would often get into fights as a way to lash out at the world. Another influential factor was Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon, a movie he adored; both things composed his initial pitch of Kunio-kun to Technos, says a Polygon profile published in 2021. 

In addition to his most well-known titles, he also worked as a director for two WWF games, as a producer on the Japan-exclusive Cowboy Bebop game for the PlayStation 2, and as a creative consultant on River City Ransom: Underground. His last job was in 2017, back with the Double Dragon series, as the director of Double Dragon IV.

Doki Doki Literature Club Removed From Google Play Store

Finally, yet another chapter in the struggle against game censorship unveils itself: developer Team Salvato and publisher Serenity Forge have issued a statement claiming that Google has removed popular horror visual novel Doki Doki Literature Club from its Play Store, thus rendering the game’s Android port unavailable. 

The reasoning provided by the company was that the 9-year-old software violated the platform’s Terms of Service due to containing sensitive themes, such as depression, suicide, and child abuse. The ban has struck users as hypocritical due to the permanence of apps such as X, recently in hot water for allowing its AI Grok to generate sexually charged images of underage girls, on the storefront.

Other platforms for which Doki Doki Literature Club and its extended edition were published — that is, PC (via Steam), iOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch — have not been affected by the decision. 

Update Patch News Roundup (20/04/26)

Welcome back to Update Patch! This week has been an onslaught of work for me, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. To do a spot of self-promo, I was featured on the latest issue of Deleted Saves, where I talk about Nier: Automata, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, and their takes on war. If that’s not your thing, you can also read about wanting Yakuza to move on from Kiryu, or an unintended path full of existential horror in the cozy Legend of the River King — it’s pretty stacked this month, if I do say so myself! 

Anyway, enjoy your serving of news! 

So Many Dang Games Released This Week

At the slight danger of overstating things, the past week has been one of the biggest for new game releases in 2026 so far. 

In the AAA sphere, Capcom rocked the floor with Pragmata (we have a review out too!), a sci-fi action adventure already recognised as one of the greats in the “Glad Dad” genre; it’s like the Sad Dad phenomenon from God of War and The Last of Us et al., except he’s happy to be raising a child he didn’t ask for. Nintendo followed by unleashing its long-awaited life sim/dollhouse titan Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream as one of the likely last Switch 1 exclusives (I had to actively pry myself out of my island, which is full of my favourite fictional characters, in order to write this very newsletter).

Indie games have not been far behind: 1930s-inspired boomer shooter Mouse: P.I. for Hire launched to praise from outlets such as Game Informer and Eurogamer (and, on the other hand, a controversial lukewarm review from IGN), while Dosa Divas, a cooking-based RPG from the studio that brought you Thirsty Suitors, got plenty of nuanced critique going on at places the likes of The A.V. Club, Kotaku, and us here at startmenu. 

Bloodborne Animated Film Produced By Jacksepticeye In The Works

This was that piece of Bloodborne news all the fans wanted, right? Well, it’s what you’re getting for now: Variety reports that the FromSoftware RPG will receive an R-rated animated movie “that the studio says will embrace the carnage that made the game so popular”, as claimed by Sony during CinemaCon 2026. This joint is to be produced by Seán “Jacksepticeye” McLoughlin, an equally popular streamer known for his love of the title. 

Jacksepticeye is yet another let’s-player with one foot in the cinema world: his longtime friend Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach recently had his directorial debut with an adaptation of David Szymanski’s Iron Lung, a horror game set in a submarine exploring the seas of an alien moon. The movie was well-received by audiences, but got mixed reviews from critics, as reflected in its respective 87% and 61% scores on Rotten Tomatoes.

Other game movies being produced under the stewardship of Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions include a Helldivers adaptation with Jason Momoa, as well as Wes Ball’s highly anticipated The Legend of Zelda movie, which recently concluded filming and has a projected release window of 2027. The good news is that when you think about it, the early PS4 title will be right at home in the 24fps format of film.

Also, A Call Of Duty Movie Is Coming Out

When it rains, it pours: also at CinemaCon 2026, Paramount and Activision teased an as-yet-untitled Call of Duty movie, as reported on IGN. This film, co-written by franchise head Peter Berg and screenwriter Taylor Sheridan, is set to come out on June 30th, 2028; the only images shown during the announcement were game footage set to “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes.

It is currently unknown what angle this production will pursue. Backdrop alternatives are as many as there are titles in the series: World War 2, the Cold War, the Iraq War (oh boy), made-up wars, near-future wars, far-future wars, zombie fiction… the list goes on.

On the game franchise, our very own EIC Lex Luddy penned a review for the recent Black Ops 7 on Restart.run that deemed it “soulless and mercenary”, a work that “makes you question what we as an industry are even doing anymore.” Glowing praise. 

BAFTAs Pull Game Trailer For “Sensitive Topics”, Except The Game Is A Memoir On Child Sexual Abuse

The founder of Silver Script Studios and industry veteran Alyx Jones took to her LinkedIn page on April 17th to denounce the BAFTA Game Awards for pulling a trailer for her upcoming game The Quiet Things on the grounds of its content. The narrative adventure, which lasts approximately 6-8 hours, is an autobiographical work that reckons with the sexual abuse Jones suffered during her childhood.

According to the post, the withheld trailer, made in two weeks, had already undergone a revision requested by the gaming branch of the nearly 80-year-old British award organisation in order to remove imagery considered violent. It was ultimately rejected for an alleged lack of time to include content warnings for audiences; Jones’ offer to make immediate changes was reportedly ignored.

The Quiet Things will be available on PC via Steam and itch.io on June 4th, 2026, fully voiced by a renowned cast including Emily Burnett (Metaphor: Refantazio), Anthony Howell (Final Fantasy XIV), and Dave Jones (Baldur’s Gate 3). A free demo is already out on both platforms.

Ludum Dare To Officially End October 2028

After 20 consecutive years helping uphold the indie scene, the final Ludum Dare, a traditional game jam, will happen in October 2028. The decision was shared by co-founder Mike Kasprzak on the event’s official website, who selected the date so that it could be concluded on its 64th edition, due to the number’s personal significance. 

Kasprzak plans for an “encore” in April 2029 in order to honour the tradition of holding Ludum Dare in April, but claims that “after that, [it] will return ‘as needed’”. While spiritual successors are encouraged, the name Ludum Dare is not to be used by third parties: “I need you to make us obsolete”. 

Prior to this announcement, all events of Ludum Dare 2025 were also cancelled for personal reasons. Some high-profile indie games that were initially made as part of one of its jams include Hollow Knight, Inscryption, Friday Night Funkin’, and The Republia Times, a precursor to Papers, Please.

Imagine Dragons Frontman’s Studio Releases 5v5 Multiplayer Shooter Last Flag

I hope you’re a believer, because it’s time for Dan Reynolds to make warriors out of his audience. The Imagine Dragons leading man and founder of studio Night Street Games (along with his brother and manager Mac) bet his life on the release of his first game, Last Flag, on April 14th — yet its reputation is already hardly on top of the world.

Following an interview with Jason Schreier on Bloomberg and a misleadingly titled article on Kotaku, the game, a 5v5 shooter following the rules of capture the flag, ended up labeled as part of the already radioactive live-service genre, despite not sharing its bones at all: it’s a $15 one-time purchase whose only DLC is a supporter pack with extra cosmetics and a soundtrack. 

It’s only natural that a shooter in a currently oversaturated market, known for dropping support to servers at the drop of a hat and seeing massive layoffs no matter how successful a game is, would draw out the demons in popular imagination. Despite the Reynolds’ best efforts, it seems like everybody wants to be its enemy. 

I’ll stop dropping Imagine Dragons song names now. This segment is over. Sorry.

Lana Del Rey To Sing 007 First Light’s Theme Song

Speaking well-known singers and games (and following up last week’s 007 news), indie pop legend Lana Del Rey is the performer chosen for the 007 First Light theme song, also to be named “First Light”. This had been rumoured since October 2025, when a register of the track was found on the website for ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers). The full song was made available on the singer’s YouTube page.

This brings the Bond theme tradition to gaming once more, as had already happened in 2004 with Mya, in James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, and 2010 with Joss Stone, in James Bond 007: Blood Stone. Previously, artists such as Adele, Gladys Knight, and Billie Eilish have also sung heavy, atmospheric pop songs for James Bond films. 

Del Rey, whose real name is Elizabeth Grant, once offered up the song “24” for the 2015 movie Spectre, but was passed in favour of Sam Smith’s “Writing’s On The Wall”. “24” was released as part of the artist’s third full-length release, Honeymoon.

Grant is hardly the only high-profile musician involved in First Light, which will also see rock singer and guitarist Lenny Kravitz playing the villain Bawma. As an actor, Kravitz is most known for his role as stylist Cinna in the Hunger Games movie franchise.

Update Patch News Roundup (27/04/26)

Welcome to the final Update Patch of April! It has been an honour to conduct these, and now finally comes the time to pass the baton. This has been a wild month for my career: just this week, I was in Rio to interview Yoshitaka Amano! Thank you to Lex for the opportunity — now let’s unpack this week’s news!

Note: While this week has seen plenty of Microsoft-related news, I have chosen to omit these stories from this Update Patch in support of the BDS Movement, which asks for a boycott of the gaming division of Microsoft due to the company’s involvement in aiding the Palestinian genocide. For more information, please visit No Games For Genocide’s website.

Nagoshi Studio’s YouTube Account Has Been Wiped, Which Could Mean Nothing, But Like…

Following Bloomberg’s report on Nagoshi Studio losing funding from NetEase in May, the team’s YouTube account has had most of its branding stripped, and all of its videos have been marked as unlisted (here is an example). Prior to this, it was fully off the air for several hours on April 24th, as noted by GameSpot. It is currently unknown what this means for the future of the company.

Led by Toshihiro Nagoshi of Yakuza series fame, Nagoshi Studio previously announced Gang of Dragon at The Game Awards 2025, a third-person action game starring popular South Korean actor Ma Dong-seok (AKA Don Lee) and seen by many as a spiritual successor of the founder’s tenure with the Dragon of Dojima and co., which ended when he left Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio in 2021.

Gang of Dragon was revealed at a particularly dicey moment for the Yakuza brand: the remake of the third entry Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties, announced in late 2025 and released in early 2026, was the subject of several controversies both pre and post-release, ranging from the casting of known sex pest Teruyuki Kagawa to a general poor reception of the game itself by both the public and critics (yours truly included). 

Nagoshi Studio will only be able to walk away with the Gang of Dragon IP and all assets produced under NetEase if it can cover the corresponding costs. Nagoshi himself has been looking for new sponsors, still with no success.

Elden Ring Movie Set For Release March 2028

If you thought last week’s onslaught of video game movie announcements was all for the month, think again: we finally got some more news on that Elden Ring film being made by A24. Deadline reports that it already has a release date of March 3rd, 2028. 

The movie, written and directed by Alex Garland (Ex Machina, 28 Days Later) and co-produced by George R. R. Martin (who also helped build the original game’s world), is to star Kit Connor, of Heartstopper fame, and Ben Whishaw, known for playing Paddington Bear in the 2014 film and its sequels.

Garland, revealed as the project’s director in May 2025, has claimed to IGN that he has beaten Elden Ring six times — and, at the time of the interview, was working on a seventh full playthrough. He seems to struggle with Malenia just like the rest of us, though.

Final Fantasy XIV Free Trial Now To Include Shadowbringers Expansion

Have you played the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, which includes a free trial up to level 70 etc., etc.? Well, if you’ve been looking to get in on it, now’s a good time: alongside its fellow expansions A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, and Stormblood, Shadowbringers will also be covered by said free trial in the future, producer Naoki “YoshiP” Yoshida announced at the Final Fantasy XIV North American Fan Fest on April 24th.

First released in 2019, Shadowbringers sees the Warrior of Light forced to become the Warrior of Darkness in order to save an alternate dimension — and their own, in turn. The expansion was received with rapturous praise across the board, boasting a 90 on Metacritic from both critics and players.

This was, of course, hardly the only piece of news announced for FFXIV at the Fan Fest: other highlights include a major expansion named Evercold coming January 2027, an upcoming Neon Genesis Evangelion collab, a Nintendo Switch 2 edition (with a separate subscription and license, but no Nintendo Switch Online requirement), and the end of support for PlayStation 4 to come 2027 due to file size limitations.

Astarion From Baldur’s Gate 3 Is Getting His Own Prequel Novel

Publishing company Penguin Random House has announced the upcoming release of several Baldur’s Gate 3 books, per Polygon. Out of these, the most exciting announcement in the eyes of the fandom was Baldur’s Gate 3: Astarion, a prequel novel all about the beloved high elf/vampire.

The novel, to be released September 29th and receive an audiobook version narrated by Astarion’s voice actor Neil Newbon, will follow the character’s backstory as the thrall of Cazador Szarr, an abusive vampire lord whom Astarion seeks to murder by the time of Baldur’s Gate 3. The game’s senior writer, Stephen Rooney, was consulted for the novel in order to maintain lore consistency.

Other books announced by Penguin Random House were Baldur’s Gate 3: The Necromancy of Thay, a notebook that faithfully recreates the eponymous in-game item set for a July 21st release; The Official Baldur’s Gate 3 Coloring Book, with 40 illustrations of characters and settings, to come out August 11th; and A Feast For a Tenday: The Official Baldur's Gate 3 Cookbook, which shall include 65 recipes inspired by the game world, arriving November 3rd. 

Annapurna Interactive To Release Five Nintendo Switch 2 Editions Of Older Games

Indie game publisher Annapurna Interactive has announced five Nintendo Switch 2 editions from their back catalogue to come in 2026, per Engadget. Two of them, 2019’s musical arcade game Sayonara Wild Hearts and 2024’s mystery puzzler Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (both by cult Swedish studio Simogo), launched alongside the announcement; Switch 2 owners who own these games can get the upgrade for free. 

The new edition of Sayonara Wild Hearts will also include the Remix Arcade mode, also present in its PS5 reissue, which allows players to try for high scores in sped-up versions of stages. 

Next up for the Switch 2 is the kitty-centred action-adventure Stray, which is said to receive a number of visual updates as well as mouse controls on May 28th. The other two games coming to the platform are to a T, Keita Takahashi’s newest narrative/small open world romp featuring an eternally T-posing teenager (June 11th), and Wanderstop, Davey Wreden’s study on cozy games and burnout (June 23rd).

Splatoon Raiders Comes Out July 23rd

Speaking of Nintendo, there’s finally been word of Splatoon Raiders, the first-ever spinoff to the popular ink-shooting franchise. It has a scheduled release date of July 23rd, 2026, and is to be a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive. A trailer was also divulged. 

Splatoon Raiders is a single-player action game that follows Deep Cut, the idol/thief trio from Splatoon 3, and their new mechanic — that is, the player. The team fights off Salmonids, the enemies from the Salmon Run side mode of the mainline Splatoon series, in a new location by the name of Spirhalite Islands, where they seek treasure.

Alongside the game, Nintendo will be launching a trio of amiibo figures of the members of Deep Cut — Shiver, Frye, and Big Man — in their in-game attire. No further details on amiibo functionality were shared.