Gaming News — 2026-06-09#

Top Story#

The legendary classic The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is officially getting a remake for the Nintendo Switch 2 later this year. Announced during the June 2026 Nintendo Direct, the brief teaser showcased a modernized, realistic art style that has immediately set the internet ablaze.

News & Reviews#

Kingdom Hearts 4 Gameplay Gets Surprise Reveal at June 2026 Nintendo Direct · IGN Square Enix shocked fans at the Nintendo Direct with our first look at moment-to-moment combat in Kingdom Hearts 4 since its initial 2022 reveal. Sora is returning to battle Heartless in the realistic city of Quadratum, and the highly-anticipated action RPG will launch simultaneously on Switch 2, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. This is massive news for patient fans, even though we still don’t have a firm release window.

Final Fantasy Resonance Revealed, A New HD-2D Turn-Based RPG Coming This Year · IGN Square Enix is bringing us a brand-new HD-2D turn-based RPG adapted from the mobile game Brave Exvius, launching on October 22. Final Fantasy Resonance ditches the gacha microtransactions for a premium 30-40 hour console experience, featuring classic airships, chocobos, and an innovative “Visions” system that lets you equip iconic legacy characters like Cloud and Terra. It’s a brilliant move to preserve mobile narratives while giving classic JRPG fans exactly what they crave.

Xbox Is Unable to Meet Demand for New Consoles, Rethinking Approach to Project Helix · IGN The AI boom and hardware component shortages are severely limiting Xbox’s ability to produce new consoles, forcing Microsoft to rethink its approach to its next-generation hardware, Project Helix. Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ball admitted the company is evaluating how to make the upcoming console affordable and flexible during an industry crisis that could last over two years. It’s a bumpy road ahead for the platform, especially since Game Pass recently bled millions of subscribers following significant price hikes.

Destiny 2 Hits Highest Player Count in Two Years Following Final Update’s Release, Shatters Marathon’s All-Time Peak · IGN Destiny 2 just dropped its final content update, and the community has flooded the servers to give it a proper sendoff, peaking at 167,000 concurrent players on Steam. Fans intentionally rallied to crash the servers and completely eclipse the player count of Bungie’s newer title, Marathon, in a coordinated protest to show Sony that the franchise deserves to live on. With Bungie facing severe layoffs and shifting its focus, a true Destiny 3 sadly remains a distant pipe dream.

The Wolf Among Us 2: The First Preview · IGN After multiple studio closures and re-announcements, The Wolf Among Us 2 was finally shown behind closed doors, now running cleanly on Unreal Engine 5. The highly anticipated sequel picks up six months after the original game, casting Bigby Wolf as the hunted rather than the hunter as he tracks a mysterious serial killer. Best of all, developer Trick Studios confirmed the narrative adventure will be released all at once as a complete 8-12 hour experience instead of dropping episodically.

NBA The Run Review · IGN NBA The Run successfully captures the vibrant energy of 3v3 streetball, boasting a deep roster of 30+ NBA stars with highly accurate signature jump shots. The unpredictable match roulette and wonderfully recreated global courts keep the fast-paced Knockout Squads mode feeling fresh initially. However, without a steady drip of new content, the arcade-style gameplay inevitably becomes exhausting and repetitive after you’ve secured a few championships.

Free Games & Deals#

It’s a stellar week for hardware and physical game deals, starting with Tales of Graces f Remastered for the PS5, which is currently down to a steal at just $16.99 at both Amazon and Best Buy. On the hardware front, the gorgeous PlayStation 5 Marathon Edition DualSense Controller is steeply discounted to $54.05 on Newegg’s official AliExpress storefront during Sony’s Days of Play sale. PC gamers looking for a massive rig upgrade can also score the 2026 Alienware 16X Aurora RTX 5070 Ti gaming laptop featuring a stunning OLED display for $2,629.99—a massive $750 discount.

Also Worth Knowing#

• Deltarune Chapter 5 Release Date Revealed as Toby Fox Offers Promising Update for the Future · IGN: Toby Fox confirmed that Deltarune Chapter 5 will launch on June 24, 2026, and noted that Chapter 6 development is moving surprisingly fast.
• Xbox Says Gears of War: E-Day PS5 Port Was Not Pulled ‘Last-Minute’ After Art With PS5 Logo Leaks · IGN: Microsoft shot down rumors of a scrapped PS5 port for Gears of War: E-Day after an official podcast accidentally displayed PlayStation logos, confirming it remains an Xbox and PC exclusive.
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 Ports Have Apparently Leaked · IGN: PlayStation backend listings suggest that the original Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 might be getting shadow-dropped to PS4 and PS5 very soon.
• Xenoblade Genesis Revealed for Nintendo Switch 2 With 2027 Release Window · IGN: The next chapter in Monolith Soft’s RPG series, Xenoblade Genesis, was unveiled for the Switch 2 with a whimsical new fantasy setting and a 2027 release window.
• ArenaNet Boss Says MMOs Have ‘Stagnated’ and Guild Wars 3 Will Offer the Genre Something Genuinely New · IGN: Guild Wars 3 developer ArenaNet is explicitly rejecting subscription fees and modern paid battle passes in an effort to truly respect players’ time.