A couple of PSAs
Hey, readers; I’m starting this week’s issue with a few gaming PSAs that may be of interest.
First, Pokémon players should note that the Pokémon Bank service for Nintendo 3DS is going offline on February 27, 2027. That means that starting on that date, you can no longer store your Pokémon from Gen 6 (X/Y, Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby) and Gen 7 (Sun/Moon) in online cloud storage, and you won’t be able to transfer them onto the Pokémon Home cloud storage on Nintendo Switch and mobile. If you have any old ‘mons going all the way back from the GBA days you want to get onto your modern games, you have until February.
And speaking of Pokémon, Krispy Kreme is doing a limited-time promotion with Pokémon-themed doughnuts, but don’t expect them to be easy to get!
Meanwhile, the award-winning South of Midnight from Compulsion Games now appears to be self-published on Steam, meaning that publishing rights have presumably been fully transferred from Microsoft and Xbox to the studio itself. That’s good news for anyone who was looking to play this title, which is heavily inspired by Deep South folklore, but didn’t want to pay Microsoft for it (and there are plenty of good reasons to not). This change in publisher doesn’t appear to be reflected in the listings for the PlayStation 5 or Switch 2 versions yet, however.
Finally, some developers fired from Grand Theft Auto studio Rockstar Games are urging people not to boycott GTA 6, but to instead support the unionized workers who were let go from the studio in their legal battle against Rockstar.
Onto our usual news digest, along with the return of our interactive feature!
This issue will fill you in on:
Asha Sharma tries Elder Scrolls amid worker protest
Do you think she noticed the giant rat outside Bethesda HQ?
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma visited Bethesda Game Studios, later teasing on social media that she had hands-on time with Bethesda’s elusive sixth Elder Scrolls game. Sharma referred to the game as “The Elder Scrolls VI: ********”—seemingly confirming that the unrevealed subtitle has eight letters. Fans are already speculating on the game’s title.
Sharma also added about the game: “The scale and grandeur are incredible. The story is even greater.” I mean, I sure hope they are, for how long it’s been taking.
Meanwhile, the Bethesda Game Studios Union (OneBGS) and others from the Communication Workers of America (CWA) union protested outside of Bethesda’s HQ to coincide with Sharma’s visit. The union members set up a giant inflatable rat, known to various union organizations as Scabby. Flags were also placed outside the office building, each representing a game worker laid off by Microsoft. Sharma, Microsoft, and Bethesda did not issue any statements or responses to the display.
Rallies from OneBGS and CWA continued across the U.S. and Canada this week.
Kingdom Hearts 4 has a Coco world and a late 2027 release window
Image source: Square Enix press center
Disney’s “billion dollar franchise” is having a moment
Kingdom Hearts fans are used to absurdly long waits for crumbs of information, but new trailers and other tidbits coming from Disney’s D23 expo felt like a feast. Disney mentioned Kingdom Hearts when discussing the corporation’s “billion-dollar franchises” in gaming, later showing off trailers for the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 4 and holding a deep dive panel about the series.
A brief trailer revealed that the beloved Pixar film Coco will be featured as a world in Kingdom Hearts 4—Disney followed it up the next day with an extended trailer, which showed off some gameplay with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. The trailers also confirmed that Square Enix will release Kingdom Hearts 4 sometime in late 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC.
The panel itself was a special affair, with Kingdom Hearts creator Tetsuya Nomura making a surprise appearance, and Sora and Riku voice actors Haley Joel Osment and David Gallagher staging a live reading of the final scene from Kingdom Hearts 2.
Can we trust that “late 2027” window? Will KH4 get delayed?
With how so many big games get premature announcements and eventual delays, and as Kingdom Hearts 3 infamously took a long time to release, it was easy for cynical fans and observers to predict that KH4 wouldn’t make it in 2027. But the lead creatives of the game want to assure everyone that they’re committed to a release for next year.
Nomura (via an interpreter) directly addressed talk from fans that a delay would happen, saying: “I want to set the record straight: That is not happening.” KH4 co-director Tai Yasue backed up this claim, declaring: “I can confidently say and promise that it will launch in 2027.” He added: "Schedule-wise, the development is very smooth. It's not like an 80%, 90%—it's a 100% thing. We'll be there in 2027 for sure.”
Should Square Enix make good on those promises, it’ll be good news for PlayStation 5 owners who want a physical copy of Kingdom Hearts 4, as Sony is phasing out disc support for all titles released in 2028 and afterward. We’re cutting it a little close, perhaps.
What other Kingdom Hearts news is there?
There’s a Kingdom Hearts animated series in the works for Disney Channel and Disney+, though there aren’t any other concrete details about it besides a piece of artwork that came with the announcement.
Tangential to all of the D23 news, Fortnite’s next season is starting this week, and it’ll feature characters from numerous video game franchises, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man, and yes, Kingdom Hearts. If you’ve ever wanted to see Sora wield an assault rifle, Fortnite is the place to go.
Replay: What else happened?
An image from Duskfade. Image source: PlayStation Blog
Other news hits
Actress Hayden Panettiere suddenly passed away at the age of 36. Best known for starring in the TV shows Heroes and Nashville, Panettiere’s video game work included voicing Kairi in Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 and playing Sam in Until Dawn.
IGN compiled a portion of the widespread tributes pouring in from former co-stars and fans.
After the trailer for a game called Rideshare Stimulator was released, narrative designer Stella Sacco claimed on social media that she was the writer for the game before being fired by publisher Saber Interactive and replaced with ChatGPT “midway through development.”
Saber’s CEO released a flippant response, opening with: “Stella who? I had to ask Claude because I have never spoken to her or seen her.” He later apologized for his remarks.
The PlayStation 5 hit game Ghost of Yotei is getting a full expansion, featuring a new story called Echoes of Sekigahara and even a roguelike mode called Most Wanted. It’s out on October 1 and comes with a "Complete Edition” of the game, but you can get the expansion for $15 if you already own the base game.
Netflix has shut down two game studios, including Oxenfree developer Night School Studio. Founded in 2014, Night School was acquired by Netflix in 2021 as the streaming company looked to expand its gaming offerings. The studio released Oxenfree 2 in 2023 and had just launched an interactive horror game called Unhinged, which stars Zoe Kravitz and Sadie Sink.
Roblox has long been a concern for parents, legislators, and really anyone paying attention to the platform due to child safety and monetization practices. A number of U.S. states have targeted Roblox for such reasons with class-action lawsuits, but Roblox is now under investigation by the U.S. Senate.
Weeks before the planned “extended look” for Grand Theft Auto 6, apparent footage of the game, along with the game’s map, seems to have been leaked by a group called “Cyberleek.”
The group, which states it is “fighting for gamers’ rights” (lol), has a website with a list of demands (or “commandments” (also lol)) aimed toward major game companies, but it’s shadily prompting people to support a crypto meme coin.
Rockstar Games has been issuing takedown notices for uploads of this footage, which seems to imply that the leaks are legit.
Big new game releases include…
Like clockwork, EA’s annual football franchise is back with Madden NFL 27 (Switch 2, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S). The biggest addition this year is the Persona Engine, which has nothing to do with the RPG series of the same name, but rather a feature that gives players in Franchise Mode their own distinct personalities.
Designed as a tribute to PS2-era action games, Duskfade (Switch 2, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S) lovingly throws back to titles including Jak & Daxter and Kingdom Hearts with its platforming, real-time combat, and imaginative setting. Critics certainly found flaws in the game, but admitted that it was quite charming.
If you don’t have a Switch 2 to enjoy the new Star Fox game, then Wild Blue Skies (PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S) might scratch the itch. This indie game with anthropomorphic characters piloting spacecraft very obviously pays homage to Nintendo’s flight combat series, though critics might think the game is too close to the source of inspiration.
Fill Me In On Early Access
The phrase “Early Access” is increasingly becoming meaningless
(Every week, I’ll address a question or curiosity about gaming from readers! Submit your inquiries through this Google Form and read my explainer in a future newsletter!)
A self-described “anonymous gamer without honor” wrote in this week with a question that most people who have played a modern video game have likely asked at some point:
A lot of games are available early access and/or get lots of patches after launch. How do I tell when a game is "done"? And am I missing out on anything by waiting for 1.0 (or later)?
It’s a difficult question to answer, because so many game makers have been using the term “early access” for whatever purpose suits them.
Very generally, the term “early access” is used by developers who release and sell a build of their game that isn’t necessarily “complete.” A release like this could be labeled as a beta version, which was famously the case for Minecraft—it released as a public beta in 2009 before a final 1.0 release in 2011. But these days, the early access label is thrown around more often.
Take Fortnite, probably the biggest example of an “early access” game. Fortnite’s initial PvE mode, now known as “Save the World” mode, released in the summer of 2017 in an early access form, but it was a game you could buy and play for several years afterward, until its “full release” in 2020. The same went for its more popular battle royale mode, which was in early access during the same years-long period. But even while in early access, Fortnite Battle Royale was a full game that you could play, with a shop and entire seasons of content.
What makes the early access designation more ridiculous is that these types of online games still go through constant updates and evolution in the months and years following the 1.0 release—so when is a live-service game like Fortnite truly “complete?”
More interesting cases are single-player-focused games that go into early access. Baldur’s Gate 3 and the two Hades games are prolific examples where being in early access benefited developers. Baldur’s Gate 3 released in early access in 2020, and it consisted of an unfinished version of the game’s first act, which was riddled with technical issues. But the revenue made from selling in early access helped to support the studio, and as we know, the game was highly acclaimed when it officially released in 2023.
The short answer to the question is keeping up with communications from the developers of that particular game, usually on the game’s Steam community hub (here’s what the Subnautica 2 one looks like, for example), official website, or social media pages. You’ll know that the game is “done” in the developers’ eyes when they finally put out some sort of “1.0.0” update, and all you’d be missing out on is the opportunity to try the game out early, and perhaps provide feedback that could impact the game’s “final” release.
The most you have to lose is wasting your time if the game simply isn’t there yet—maybe you might get a negative impression of the game that could impact whether you play the final release or not, or you can be one of the first players to get in on something that blows up later.
Thanks for joining us for a heavy news week. Just to issue a correction for last week’s issue, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls has you form a team of four characters, not two—I must have conflated Marvel Tokon with Riot Games’ 2XKO. Apologies for the error, but know that you can build even more complex team compositions in that game!
May your heart be your guiding key,
Chris Compendio
