Gaming News — 2026-04-09#

Top Story#

Bungie’s ambitious extraction shooter Marathon is reportedly carrying a massive development budget of over $200 million, and while concurrent player counts have steadily dwindled since launch, it isn’t facing an imminent Concord-style shutdown. The punishing gameplay loop and incredibly steep learning curve might be turning away casual audiences, putting intense pressure on Bungie to figure out how to drive sales and boost user engagement for Sony moving forward.

News & Reviews#

Pokémon Champions Suffers From Brutal Switch 2 Launch Bugs · IGN The newly launched free-to-play battle game Pokémon Champions is facing severe technical woes, including a bizarre bug that leaves docked Switch 2 players stuck at a halved 1080p resolution unless they manually undock and re-dock their console every time they boot the game. Developer ILCA has officially apologized and listed several bugs slated for fixes, though the frustrating docking issue wasn’t explicitly mentioned in their initial list. For a title billed as the future of Pokémon competitive battling, fans complain it currently feels like an unfinished beta test.

Metal Gear Solid Movie Finds Its Directors · IGN After lingering in development hell since 2012, the live-action Metal Gear Solid film has finally tapped Final Destination Bloodlines filmmakers Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein to direct the adaptation. The Columbia Pictures project will be produced by Avi and Ari Arad, the father-son team who also worked on the recent Borderlands and Uncharted movies.

Samson Devs Promise Fixes For Their ‘Mixed’ Crime Caper · IGN Liquid Swords’ Samson launched to a rocky “Mixed” reception on Steam, earning the unenviable title of the third-lowest-rated game of the year thanks to broken car chases, input delays, and poor optimization. The creative director released a patch addressing crashes and progression bugs, assuring players the studio is committed to the game’s future. Despite being glitchy, our review noted that Samson’s unique, rogue-lite approach to debt management and palpable consequences make it a fascinating, high-stakes alternative to traditional GTA clones.

Rhythm Heaven Groove Proves Huge Switch 2 Leak · IGN Nintendo announced that Rhythm Heaven Groove will hit both the Switch and Switch 2 on July 2, breaking the musical franchise’s decade-long hiatus. The $39.99 release date notably validates a massive leak that also pointed toward upcoming Switch 2 releases for Pikmin 4, Xenoblade 2, and a holiday port of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Borderlands Mobile Stealth Launches as a Free-to-Play Test · IGN Zynga and NaturalMotion have quietly dropped a brand-new Borderlands Mobile game onto the App Store without much fanfare. The free-to-play looter shooter is currently part of a limited-time test available only to iOS users in the US, allowing vault hunters to blast bandits and skags on the go with fully optimized mobile controls.

Free Games & Deals#

This week on the Epic Games Store, you can claim the chaotic brawler Prop Sumo entirely for free until April 16. If you’re looking for thousands of hours of looter-shooter content, Humble Bundle is offering a massive Destiny 2 Expansions Bundle for just $28, packing in almost all the latest DLC including The Final Shape and Lightfall. Finally, Switch 2 owners should jump on Amazon’s deal for the incredible RPG Persona 3 Reload, which just hit an all-time low price of $30—a massive 50% discount.

Also Worth Knowing#

Categories: Tech
Tags: Nintendo Switch 2, Video Game Movies, Free Games, Live Service Games
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