Pokemon Winds and Waves won't be out until 2027, but it looks like a few Poke-leaks are already surfacing. The Switch 2 exclusive is the next mainline entry in the series, and like previous games before it, it'll introduce a whole new region populated with unique Pokemon. Just how many new Pokemon will there be? According to one report, we could be looking at hundreds of new critters to collect.

Traditionally, each new mainline Pokemon game introduces around 100 new Pokemon--Generations 6-9 were the exception here--and we've already seen the starter Pokemon for Generation 10--Browt, Pombon, and Gecqua. According to the usually reliable Centro Leaks, Pokemon Winds and Waves will have around 300 new Pokemon and forms in the game, and that's an important distinction. If the trio of starter Pokemon follows the usual pattern of having two evolutionary forms, then that's nine Pokemon right off the Zubat. Throw in brand-new pocket monsters--including challenging Legendary Pokemon--and the number climbs even further.

https://twitter.com/CentroLeaks/status/2074524693269266509

But as mentioned above, this number also includes Pokemon forms. That's a broad term, but usually, it includes regional variants of existing Pokemon, transformed versions based on a game-exclusive gimmick like the Gigantimax gameplay mechanic, and new evolutions for older Pokemon. Combine all that, and it's not unfeasible for Pokemon Wind and Waves to reach that reported number of 300 new Pokemon. "An important note is that the only aspect we've been able to verify that multiple sources have heard independently is about the number of 300 new Pokemon placeholders," Centro Leaks added.

Currently, the record for new additions to a Pokemon game belongs to Pokemon Black and White, which saw 156 new Pokemon added to the franchise. Other rumors circulating around Pokemon Winds and Waves claim that MMOs will inspire the game and will have a deep focus on communication. Post-launch DLC for the game is also said to be in development already, and one of the new battle gimmicks is reportedly based around the concept of weather, with Pokemon like Arcanine, Pikachu, and Kecleon getting special forms based on the conditions around them.

In case you missed the initial reveal for it, you can check out an orchestral behind-the-scenes video for Pokemon Winds and Waves' first reveal trailer.

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It's nesting season for ducks in Poland, and one mallard mom chose CD Projekt Red's office in Warsaw to lay its eggs, the studio recently shared. For anyone scared that this story does not have a happy ending, fear not. It's safe to read on.

The Polish developer said the duck laid eight eggs at an open-air part of the impressive-looking modern office. The momma duck "cared for them attentively throughout the nesting period," and CD Projekt Red staff gave her plenty of room to sit on the eggs in peace as she waited for them to hatch.

https://twitter.com/CDPROJEKTRED/status/2074811707763880017

They hatched in June, as you can see in the adorable photos shared by CD Projekt Red. The entire family was relocated to one of Warsaw's parks in cooperation with Warsaw's Municipal Guard Eco Patrol.

In their new home outside the CD Projekt campus, they can "continue their journey in a more natural setting," the developer said.

But why did the mother duck choose to lay her eggs there in the first place? Only she knows, but the office has a nice rooftop space with plenty of greenery; in fact, the office has the "largest green wall in Poland," featuring 40,000 plants.

CD Projekt Red's new office space in Warsaw was nominated for an architecture award this year, and while it did not win the top prize, it did win the "residents' award."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEEdC9j9TEA

CD Projekt also has offices in the Polish cities Krakow and Wroclaw, along with international outfits in Vancouver and Boston.

The Witcher 4 is one of multiple upcoming projects at CD Projekt. The studio is also making Cyberpunk 2, a game made in partnership with Saudi Arabia, a Witcher 1 remake, and a multiplayer Witcher game.

Nintendo has announced that it will shut down Mario Kart Tour on September 29, ending its seven-year run on mobile devices. Originally launching in September 2019, Mario Kart Tour was one of several games released for mobile devices as Nintendo made a push into that space. Most of those games have since been shut down, but Mario Kart Tour proved to be a lucrative spin-off of the main series, employing controversial gacha game mechanics to keep players invested the racer.

"We sincerely thank the many players who have loved and supported the game since service began so long ago," Nintendo wrote in an update. "Thank you for playing Mario Kart Tour."

With its shutdown looming, Nintendo has now suspended the sale of the premium Ruby in-game currency, and subscription perks will be made freely available to players in the remaining months of Mario Kart Tour. Once the servers are turned off, Mario Kart Tour will be unplayable as Nintendo has no plans to offer an offline version of the game. In comparison, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp's final update made the game playable offline after its online service ended. 

This leaves only a handful of mobile Nintendo games still in service, as Pikmin Bloom--which is run by Pokemon Go developer Niantic--Super Mario Run, and Fire Emblem Heroes still remain active. While it's the end of the road for Mario Kart on mobile, the main series is still in action. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is still Nintendo's best-selling game of all time, and last year saw the release of Mario Kart World, currently the best-selling Switch 2 game with 14.7 million sales as of March 31, 2026.

Following a drought of content after it launched alongside the Switch 2 last year, it looks like fans can hop back into their karts to burn some rubber as two Knockout Tour routes were recently added.

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With Final Fantasy VII Revelation set to complete the remake trilogy soon, fans have been eagerly revisiting FFVII's various releases and spinoffs in anticipation, speculating about what the future might hold for the finale. Unfortunately, one of those spinoffs, the live-service game Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis, now has a Doom timer attached to it--meaning you'll need to play it as quickly as possible before it shutters if you want to see what it has to offer.

Released on December 2023, Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis is a free-to-play downloadable title for mobile and PC. The game recreates the events of Final Fantasy VII--as well as spinoffs like Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus, and the feature-phone exclusive Before Crisis--while giving new spins on established story beats, serving as a sort of alternative remake. It also features an all-new story about a group of SOLDIERs with a young Sephiroth. Many of the original staff, including original writer Katsushige Nojima and creative director Tetsuya Nomura, were also heavily involved in Ever Crisis's creation, lending it more clout as more than just a generic mobile spinoff.

While the game is free to download, it used the popular gacha system as its means of monetization, with players being able to spend money to buy in-game crystals to use to draw random gear. We say that in the past tense, because Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis has been confirmed to be shuttering on October 6th, giving players around 3 more months to enjoy the game before it goes offline. All real money transactions have been suspended as a result of the impending shutdown.

In a Producer's Letter published alongside the shutdown notice, Shoichi Ishikawa details the reasons for the shutdown. "While we recognize that many people are playing EVER CRISIS, it has become difficult to find a balance between production costs and the demand for character weapons and gear," he writes.
"At the same time, delivering satisfying equipment visuals remains a priority for us as it’s something players see the characters wearing, and we understand how passionate the community and fans are about the FINAL FANTASY VII characters.
Ultimately, however, striking an ideal balance between visual quality and development costs, while also maintaining gameplay balance that encouraged greater party diversity, presented ongoing challenges."

The shutdown comes at a rather awkward time, as a characters introduced in Ever Crisis, like Glenn Lodbrok, have crossed over into the remake games, and Ever Crisis's shutdown means that players won't have an easy way to dig deeper into their lore once it's offline. We can only hope that Square-Enix might take inspiration from the recent Final Fantasy Resonance and find some alternative way to bring Ever Crisis's unique stories to players in the future

To kick off July, Sony made the surprising announcement that it plans to end support of physical discs for PlayStation games at the beginning of 2028. In the week since that news, Sony kept quiet on social media. Now, Sony has attempted to start a new conversation with gamers, but it's not going well so far.

In the message seen below, Sony touts the FlexStrike wireless fight stick. Under normal circumstances, this product could have been positively received on its own terms. Unfortunately for the team behind controller, their announcement has been met by lingering anger and resentment from fans over the decision to kill physical discs.

https://twitter.com/PlayStation/status/2074478664805212593

Some of the responses are a little too profane to share here. There may be support for Sony, but if so, it's been largely buried on social media. Most of the messages have been angry, satirical, or both.

https://twitter.com/jchip/status/2074479131077624268 https://twitter.com/balefulspook/status/2074480356460249307 https://twitter.com/Septic_Sauce/status/2074499339062243733 https://twitter.com/haffs_abu/status/2074481096142553558 https://twitter.com/algorusty/status/2074484273671815509 https://twitter.com/SeptimoCieloPod/status/2074488491451244857

Companies like iam8bit and GameFly have already shared their disappointment in Sony's move away from physical discs. Alinea Analytics analyst Rhys Elliott has suggested that Sony made this decision to exert greater control over pricing and distribution. Eliminating physical discs effectively kills the used games market and makes Sony's online store the only outlet that can sell its titles outside of code-in-a-box games like Grand Theft Auto 6.

There are also concerns that Sony's experiments with dynamic pricing will charge some players more than others while keeping prices artificially high. To further underscore the lack of permanence in the digital marketplace, Sony has also shared its plans to close the Play Station 3 and Vita online stores.

The latest Arc Raiders update is out now, and alongside the opening of the Expedition 4 window and an upcoming crossover event with Embark's first-person shooter The Finals, the extraction game is getting a matchmaking overhaul that fulfills one of players' biggest wishlist items.

Starting today, Arc Raiders offers separate matchmaking buckets for solo, duo, and trio queues. This means that players who may prefer to express different playstyles depending on their team size can now find lobbies that suit their needs.

Arc Raiders' "aggression-based matchmaking" has been a story surrounding the game since it debuted last October, with players debating how it should work and, initially, whether it truly existed at all. We've since learned that your affinity for PvP does, in fact, influence which other players you're matched with when you hop into a round, but today's changes let players wear different proverbial hats for different occasions. 

It's a particularly welcome addition for someone like me. I love to play Arc Raiders as a PvE-only medic, running around the map, chasing down flares of other raiders in a tough spot, and ensuring they escape safely. It took me 120 gameplay hours before I even killed another player, and only because that ne'er-do-well left me with no other choice. 

My preference to consider only the ARC robots as enemies has made it hard for me to play with my much more bloodthirsty brother. He's gotten me into trouble before, where his itchy trigger finger would ultimately kick me out of my utopian solo queues. But this change means I can return fire in duos with him without sacrificing my beloved solo rounds where we defib each other and essentially end rounds with a chorus of Kumbaya. Now, "us versus them" lives alongside "we're all in this together."

Along with this much-requested change, Embark's two live-service games are hosting another crossover event. Starting on July 9 and running until the 30th, players can hop into The Finals and complete specific challenges to unlock Azimuth outfit and Archeologist backpack bundle for use in Arc Raiders for free. You can see that new skin below and decide whether it's worth your time. 

Arc Raiders Azimuth outfit

For what it's worth, The Finals is a slick, destruction-based shooter that feels a bit like Battlefield reimagined in an arcadey context. Like Arc Raiders, it would be better if it didn't rely on generative AI, though. 

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Ask players what their favorite mode is in EA's revitalized College Football series, and most will tell you it's Dynasty or Road To Glory, which give players control of an entire school football program or a created player, respectively. Unlike Ultimate Team, EA's long-standing pay-to-win mode seen in all of its sports games, these modes have largely been untouched by microtransactions. But College Football 27 has crossed a line, according to many players who have voiced their frustrations online.

Dynasty and Road To Glory now each allow you to pay to instantly improve your coach or athlete, rather than improve them over time through play. To hit the coach level cap of 100, players would need to spend 12,000 points, which equates to $100 if bought in bulk. The early-access Ultimate Edition of the game includes 4,600 points, meaning even the most expensive version of CFB 27 seems designed to ask players to fork over more money or else trudge through a remarkable grind, as one player on Twitter explained. You can see that breakdown below.

https://twitter.com/SatStudiosGG/status/2074290001978769615

Infusing modes like these with optional microtransactions isn't unheard of. It's an annual pain point in my NBA 2K reviews and regularly annoys that community, too. Even Madden has begun letting players pay to upgrade their "Superstar," but CFB 27 takes this a step further by significantly changing the series' customizable XP settings. In the last two College Football games, players could adjust XP sliders for their coach or player to level up faster. This was a welcome touch, since some players don't want to play the mode for many seasons. Some players get their fill after just one or a few seasons, but still want to experience the full coach progression arc in that span.

But tied to these new pay-to-level options in Dynasty and Road To Glory is the glaring absence of these options. Players can no longer tweak settings to level up "faster" or "fastest"; the speediest option is now the default in both modes, while slower options still exist in Dynasty. 

You'd have to be pretty naive to think these changes happening together are a coincidence. It seems in order to drive more in-game purchases, EA has slowed progression in CFB's most beloved modes, and players are responding as you'd expect.

On Twitter, a popular CFB streamer is mobilizing players to boycott the in-game pay-to-level options using the hashtag #CFBPlayDontPay. At the time of writing this article, the hashtag is trending at #8 on the website. Meanwhile, on Reddit, some players are promising to skip the game because this new in-game-purchase scheme has rubbed them the wrong way. 

GameSpot has reached out to EA for comment, and I'll update this article if or when the company responds. With the game not even officially out yet--the basic version launches on Thursday--it seems likely the team will address the noise soon.

A new report sheds more light on the situation at Xbox that led to the big news this week that Microsoft was cutting 3,200 jobs at the gaming company, divesting from studios, and making other cutbacks to "reset" the business.

Bloomberg reported that Microsoft spent "nearly $80 billion" in the past 10 years on deals to help revitalize Xbox and realize its dream for Xbox Game Pass, but those plans did not pan out the way Microsoft envisioned.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said this week that the big bets made under previous leadership--including Game Pass, acquiring studios, and putting its games on rival platforms--"did not grow at the pace we expected." Sharma said these efforts drove "meaningful value," but that wasn't enough with the growth piece.

To that end, Microsoft said in a filing from the Microsoft-Activision acquisition proceedings that it was aiming to have 77 million Game Pass subscribers by the end of fiscal year 2026. That was on June 30. What was the number of subscribers? 30 million, a source told Bloomberg, following reporting by The Wall Street Journal of the same number.

That's 4 million fewer subscribers than Microsoft itself reported in 2024.

"Growing concerned"

According to Bloomberg's sources, Xbox employees "had been growing concerned" that Game Pass subscriber numbers had peaked.

Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball revealed in June this year that "millions" of people canceled their Game Pass subscriptions after the 50% price hike was announced in October 2025. Sharma brought the price down to $23/month, but that was still higher than it was a year ago ($20/month), and it's not actually the discount you think it is.

So what happened with Game Pass? One theory is that the Netflix model of paying one price to access a huge library of content didn't work in the context of gaming due to documented player behavior. Data from Circana shows that the majority of US gamers buy a maximum of two games per year. The suggestion here is that consumption patterns are very different between Netflix and Game Pass. To be sure, Microsoft never billed Game Pass as the "Netflix of games." Strauss Zelnick, the head of Take-Two, pointed out the difference between linear and interactive consumption in comments he made in 2021.

“Consumers who are involved with interactive entertainment have different consumption patterns than those involved with linear entertainment. Linear entertainment consumers consume something like 150 hours of programming a month. That’s probably well over 100 different titles. In the case of interactive entertainment, consumers are consuming something like 45 hours a month, and that may be one, two, three, four titles. But it’s certainly not 100 titles. So from a consumer point of view, it’s not clear that a subscription model really makes sense, for the bulk of consumers,” he said.

Zelnick said it makes no sense to release new games directly into a subscription service like Game Pass.

"Outside of the enthusiast core, few cared"

Circana analyst Mat Piscatella weighed in on the Game Pass situation, writing that Game Pass "failed" because Fortnite and other so-called "black hole games" taking up so much time, money, and attention. Beyond that, Piscatella observed that Game Pass was not appealing enough to the mass market audience.

"The problem with Game Pass wasn't the service itself but rather the goal of selling subs and services, as Microsoft was aiming for across its business at the time," he said. Call of Duty launched on Game Pass and did not significantly boost subs, and had little impact on hardware. And that was that."

$1 billion annually on third-party game deals

Also in the Bloomberg piece, it was reported that former Xbox president Sarah Bond was the leader of Xbox's Game Pass strategy. The report said Microsoft was spending $1 billion annually for third-party game deals to help convince people to sign up for Game Pass. Other efforts to expand Game Pass, like offering it to the massive PC player userbase and streaming markets, failed to catch on as well.

Regarding the $80 billion in spending in the past decade, this came from Microsoft's blockbuster acquisitions of Activision Blizzard ($75.4 billion) and ZeniMax ($7.5 billion), as well as the purchases of developers like Ninja Theory, Obsidian, and Double Fine. The idea, spearheaded by former Xbox executive Phil Spencer, was to ramp up the studio base to create more games that Game Pass members could play as part of their membership fee.

What's next for Game Pass?

But people inside and outside of Xbox questioned the economic realities of this approach. Sources speaking to Bloomberg said some Xbox staffers feared that putting popular, expensive-to-make games into Game Pass at launch "could devalue them and cannibalize individual, higher-priced copies."

While there were some success stories of developers seeing a lift in full-game sales after coming to Game Pass, that wasn't always true. Black Ops 6, the first new Call of Duty game to launch into Game Pass, reportedly missed out on $300 million in sales due to its inclusion on Game Pass. Piscatella pushed back against this number, saying it is "piracy math."

"That anyone that played via Game Pass was a lost sale--which isn't true--just as every pirated copy is not a lost sale and does not take into account sub revs. But whatever, minor quibble," he said.

Black Ops 7 launched into Game Pass in 2025, but this year's game, Modern Warfare 4, will be "windowed" for about a year. If people want to play it at launch, they have to buy it outright before it comes to Game Pass during the next holiday season.

Divesting studios

In terms of Microsoft saying goodbye to five development studios, Sharma said it is "neither possible nor desirable to own every great independent studio." She added that Microsoft has come to realize that, "We are not the best home for every type of studio." To make her point, she said that in a typical year, Microsoft lost 64 cents for every dollar it invested. Going forward, Microsoft has pledged that its spending on games will not decrease, but the company will instead re-focus and shift its spending to higher-priority areas with the highest likelihood of capturing a positive return on investment.

Double Fine and Compulsion Games are regaining their independence, while Ninja Theory and Undead Labs have been sold to unnamed buyers. Arkane Lyon, meanwhile, has entered into "consultation," pursuant to local labor laws in France, and this process will decide the fate of the studio and its new game, Marvel's Blade.

Microsoft laid off 1,600 Xbox employees this week, with another 1,600 people set to lose their jobs in the next year. The cuts were part of a wider pullback at Microsoft, which includes 4,800 total layoffs, amounting to about 2.1% of Microsoft's total global workforce.

Hitman and 007: First Light developer IO Interactive has confirmed that it is closing its Istanbul office, laying off staff in the process as part of cuts that the studio said were "necessary" to help the company stay afloat in the future.

IO said it made these cuts after Xbox dropped out of funding Project Fantasy, the company's mysterious upcoming RPG. IO has now "regained full ownership of the project and our IP" related to Project Fantasy, and IO will now fund it independently. However, this meant that IO had to pull back in other areas, including efforts for "external projects and potential mobile game derivatives."

"We had to find a new balance for the long-term future of the studio, focused on the success of our main internal core titles," IO said. "This has meant making changes as well as proposed changes across our studios: the closure of our Istanbul studio and starting a process to part ways with colleagues who have been a meaningful part of what makes IOI what it is."

Closing the Istanbul office and laying off staff were "hard, but necessary decisions" made to "retain the long-term future of IO..." The developer said its structure as a fully independent AAA developer and publisher is a rarity in the modern gaming landscape. Making the cuts also gives Project Fantasy "the best possible foundation to succeed under our own passion and direction."

In June, IO signaled that layoffs were coming due to Xbox pulling out of Project Fantasy, but this was the first confirmation of the details and the specifics regarding the closure of the Istanbul office.

In addition to Project Fantasy, many want to see IO make a sequel to 007: First Light after the game's critical and commercial success, but it remains to be seen if that will happen.

Microsoft stopped funding Project Fantasy as part of its renewed focus on the games and franchises it believes will make the most money. Microsoft said it is not reducing its overall investment in games, but what's changing is where the company is investing. Clearly, games like Project Fantasy, along with the next game from the creator of Assassin's Creed are not part of that vision. Xbox was also going to fund the next game from Naughty Dog veteran Bruce Straley before backing out.

For more, check out the story below:

• Xbox Layoffs, Studio Changes, And Spin-Offs: Everything Announced In Big Shakeup

Microsoft recently announced sweeping layoffs affecting 4,800 people, including 3,200 at Xbox alone. This is happening as part of a "reset" of Xbox, and this includes changes to the company's various subsidiaries, including Bethesda.

Bethesda boss Jill Braff said the cuts at Xbox "reflect the realities of our industry and business." She said Bethesda has a responsibility to ensure it is "operating from a more stable foundation." In addition to layoffs across the organization--Betheda's id Software, ZeniMax Online Studios, and Obsidian teams were hit particularly hard--Braff said Bethesda needs to rethink how it works and what franchises it focuses on.

"To be successful in the future, we need to change course,” Braff said in a memo to staff obtained by IGN. “We must strengthen our business, return to sustainable growth, and ensure we can continue investing in our franchises and our players. I know that doesn't make a day like today any easier.”

A fifth mainline Fallout game is among the upcoming projects at Bethesda.

Braff did not get into specifics, but said Bethesda will now shift "from a planning model primarily centered on what's next for each independent studio to one that focuses on our strongest franchises and determining the content roadmap that best serves our players and Bethesda as a whole.”

Braff went on to say that Bethesda's teams will now focus on "the opportunities with the greatest potential."

One of those projects is no doubt The Elder Scrolls 6, which is the next project from Bethesda Game Studios. The Fallout franchise is also particularly popular, with fans eager for Fallout 5. In June, a report said Microsoft was looking to increase its investment in some of Xbox's biggest franchises. The report singled out The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Halo, and said the aim was to speed up development on these projects.

Microsoft's dramatic cuts to Xbox are the result of "catastrophic mismanagement" by Microsoft leadership as it chase the AI trend, some are saying.

Exactly a month ago, State of Decay 3 re-emerged at the Xbox Games Showcase with a new gameplay trailer promising a 2027 release window--plus the game's inclusion on Xbox Game Pass. But the open-world survival game might not arrive on Microsoft's subscription service after all. 

Game File reports the company acquiring developer Undead Labs is under no requirement to put State of Decay 3 on Xbox Game Pass. The deal between Microsoft and the unknown purchaser doesn't contain "any Xbox-controlling terms," like being on the subscription service. That would take back what was stated when State of Decay 3 resurfaced last month, as the game was announced for PS5 and Game Pass. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoLOzgHvKxQ

Yesterday, Xbox released details about Undead Labs and Hellblade developer Ninja Theory being sold off to mysterious buyers. Game File notes we might learn about the company acquiring Undead Labs later this summer. Meanwhile, there are massive layoffs at Xbox, and Double Fine as well as Compulsion Games have once again gone back to independent studios. There were also job cuts at Id Software and ZeniMax Online Studios. 

State of Decay 3 is set to feature shared worlds for up to four players, with a larger map than what was experienced in State of Decay 2. You can also sign up for alpha playtests on the State of Decay 3 website. 

The Best Xbox Game Pass Games In 2026 View Images