Steam Next Fest has wrapped up--for now--and out of the thousands of game demos that were available to try, Bungie's Marathon rose to the top of the list. According to Steam, it gathered the data and listed the games below by the number of unique players during Next Fest. While that metric does technically work, it does raise an eyebrow around the definition of a demo during Next Fest.

Bungie had labeled this preview of Marathon as a "Server Slam" test that was open to everyone for several days and was primarily designed to stress-test the game's online functionality while providing feedback to the studio. Does that count as a demo, let alone a Next Fest demo? That's debatable, given the origins of Next Fest, which sprang to life in 2019 as part of a week-long Steam Game Festival that was held in conjunction with The Game Awards.

The event originally promised a selection of time-limited game demos for upcoming games, with it eventually transforming into Steam Next Fest a few years later. The first Next Fest of the year has been criticized for being flooded with far too many demos, with users on the Steam Forums calling out developers for diluting the event with AI slop that drowns out legitimate efforts from other studios and publishers. To make things even more complicated, many of the Next Fest demos went live several days before the event kicked off--in an effort to gain some visibility--while other studios submitted older demos for Next Fest that had been active for several months already.

If you visited the internet in the past two weeks, you probably know about Punch the monkey, the adorable little guy who was abandoned by his mother and shoved by his zoomates, turning to a stuffed animal from IKEA for love and attention. He later found friends in his enclosure at the Ichikawa City Zoo, but the story isn't over yet. A video game based on Punch the monkey has now arrived.

Zoo Fighter, as it's called, is a free web game made by former Fortnite developer Marcus Brown, who developed the game under the name Richie Branson.

In the game, you play as Punch and tap the screen on mobile, or click your mouse on desktop, to swat away bullies. Knock out 100 and Punch gets to go to a sanctuary, instead of a zoo. And that's the point of the video game. "This game is a love letter to all animals doing a bid at the zoo. Animal sanctuaries are often better for primates than zoos because they put the animals' well-being first instead of public display," reads a line from the game's description.

Everyone loves a good shadowdrop, and Nintendo revealed not just one, but three of them in today's Indie World presentation. The biggest of the trio--and saved for last--was Blue Prince, which was one of GameSpot's 10 best games of 2025. The critically acclaimed puzzle game will be available later today on Switch 2, even featuring mouse controls on the system.

Joining Blue Prince on Switch 2 today are Rotwood and Minishoot Adventures. The former comes from Mark of the Ninja and Don't Starve developer Klei Entertainment. In fact, Rotwood is a console exclusive on Switch 2, previously being in Steam Early Access since 2024. The co-op brawler sees you battling enemies across seven different environments with weapons like a hammer and bow. Intriguingly, Rotwood was planned to release on Netflix at one time.

Meanwhile, Minishoot Adventures is the only title arriving on Switch 2 and the original Switch. One of GameSpot's favorite PC games from 2024, the twin-stick shooter sees players fighting through dungeons and rescuing cute friends. Minishoot Adventures basically marries together Geometry Wars with The Legend of Zelda to create a captivating experience.

A new Pokemon generation is on the horizon, now that Pokemon Winds and Waves has officially been revealed. The next mainline game--once again developed by Game Freak--will introduce the tenth generation of Pokemon, and while exact details are being kept under wraps for now, the reveal trailer showed off plenty of details. We've been busy connecting the poke-dots ahead of the game's release next year, and here's everything we know so far about Pokemon Winds and Waves.

• When will Pokemon Winds and Waves be released?
• Pokemon Winds and Waves platform

Nintendo has penciled in a 2027 release window for Pokemon Winds and Waves, which means that this new mainline entry will be skipping the 30th anniversary of the Pokemon franchise. Big Pokemon games typically launch in the second half of the year, but if you need something Poke-flavored to play right now, Pokemon Pokopia might be the surprise hit spin-off game to check out.

The new Pokemon game will be waving goodbye to the last-gen Switch console, as Nintendo has confirmed that Pokemon Winds and Waves will be released exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2. While the news might be disappointing to anyone who isn't ready to upgrade to the Switch 2 yet, the shift to Nintendo's new hardware might be for the best given the rough presentation of previous mainline games on the older console, with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet in particular looking sub-par when compared to other open-world games on the system.