News Roundup - March 2026
The Latest News in the Industry
Welcome to the first-ever News Roundup, a new monthly series that brings together the latest news from the industry's big players and my impressions. I also plan to add recommendations of articles/podcasts I’ve listened to, but I had to delay the start of that to next month, as February was a crazy month for me. I had to deal with a family coming over, two (yes, two) really bad colds, and my niece's birth. I will have recommendations ready next time, I promise.
Nintendo
Nintendo’s been busy making several announcements throughout the month. First, we had a Partner Direct, which, to my surprise, a lot of people were down on, but I personally came away liking it. I think Nintendo showed enough third parties, including some that would’ve been impossible on the original Switch, to showcase that the Switch 2 can play third-party heavy hitters tolerably. The best case is Resident Evil: Requiem, which looks pretty darn good on the Switch 2. You’re not going to get the best graphics you can buy with the Switch 2, but as I’ve been telling people, this system is much more capable than what you may think. One announcement that did perk up my ears was the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered coming to the system, as I think that game would work perfectly on a handheld for me. I have to see what the performance ends up, however.
On the Pokémon side, they had their annual Pokémon Presents, and it had A LOT of content. It was as if the Pokémon Company just wanted to rapid-fire an update on every aspect they could of the franchise, as we begin the 30th anniversary celebrations. Part of that was the announcement trailer of the tenth generation, Pokémon Winds and Waves. The game still doesn’t push the graphics or art style to the level I know they could reach, but even then, it’s still a noticeable improvement over the previous games. My history with Pokémon is more around the cards rather than the games, but I will be picking this one up when it releases next year. Also, yes, I’m team Pombon. Speaking of games, we got digital store drops for the re-release of Pokémon: FireRed and LeafGreen Versions on the Switch 2. The two mainline Pokémon games I played were the original Blue and Silver Versions, so this will be a new experience. I do plan to pick up LeafGreen Version before the year ends, and I’m pumped because it’ll give that nostalgia rush from the Poke-fever days of my childhood, but since I never played these, it should still feel somewhat new.
We round out Nintendo news with the hype surrounding another Pokémon game, Pokémon Pokopia. To my surprise, this game’s reviews scream Animal Crossing success. I see it taking off with the same crowd that loves cozy games and may even be in the running for nominations from several awards by the end of the year. Mario Day is coming up, and we’ll see if Nintendo reveals anything regarding a new Mario title. I do think we will get something big or a traditional Direct before the month is done.
Sony
Sony had several weeks of news, but it was mostly negative. First, they announced the closure of remaster and remake wonder makers, Bluepoint Games. This was a shocking announcement because it felt like that studio was safe. Instead, it was closed, and now we have many questions about how this happened. From the reporting I’ve seen, it sounds like the studio was having trouble pitching the right game, but I don’t see how that excuses closing such a talented place. This led to the reveal that, apparently, a Bloodborne PS5 remake was pitched, but that it was From Software who said no. Obviously, this hurts, but God only knows how many cancelled projects don’t come to light that we would feel pain knowing they were almost a thing.
Bloomberg and others, with Jason Schreier leading the way, reported that Sony would be backing away from PC game development for their single-player-focused games. The division I saw on the socials when this was announced was wider than I expected. Many gamers who want a focus on exclusives and platforms were happy, but many who prefer a more platform-agnostic future saw this as a step back. I’ll probably write an article soon on my full thoughts, but for now, I can say that I get it. I’m more in the platform-agnostic side of things, but I do understand why Sony is doing this. With the rise of PC gaming and a company that probably realized the PS5 had an identity problem that it would have to shake off for the PS6 launch, Sony had to start seeing Steam and other PC stores as new competitors. Either way, I do think PC gamers are allowed and should be frustrated by this. It’s not like Sony did a great job with experimenting with PC, releasing games in an extremely inconsistent manner. Either way, this is the new direction, and it’s time to see what happens with it.
Sony’s releases are pretty high, and we know the release for one of their tentpole titles. Marathon finally got players involved in their Server Slam, and while many are pointing out things they don’t like, it doesn’t sound like this will be a failure - at least yet. The Wolverine is coming this September, and I’m both hyped and not hyped for the game. On the one hand, I think it’s going to be fun, and I expect Insomniac to deliver a solid story with some heart for Logan and his side characters. On the other hand, I hope this doesn’t get too chore-like feeling, and I hope it’s not a massive open-world game. Either way, we got a date, and that’s all we can ask for.
Microsoft
One of the big three with the biggest news came from Microsoft and its Xbox ecosystem. In a move no one expected, Phil Spencer retired, and Sarah Bond announced her resignation. They announced Asha Sharma as the new Head of Xbox, an outsider who came from Microsoft's AI division. Asha will now join Nintendo of America’s Devon Pritchard as one of the most powerful women in video games. So wasn’t Sarah being groomed as the future? We still have a ways to go before we really get the reporting and news on what happened, but my money is on this being a mixture of a boring, typical corporate decision and potentially a rush as we begin the slow transition to a new console generation. I’m not a fan of some articles that are trying to paint Sarah as the fall guy (or fall girl) when you consider Phil Spencer was still her boss. No matter how you feel about Phil and Sarah’s departure, however, we have a new era at Xbox. Asha seems to be trying to understand the video game industry, as she’s admitted she doesn't play games. I said before, and I‘ll say it again, I’m going to wait and see how she does and give her time to work things out, because Xbox can definitely be in a better position than it is today.
And then there was Project Helix. This is the newly announced codename for the next-generation Xbox console. I think it’s weird they announced it on an X post, but I think it’s because they want to openly talk about it with developers now and start getting them on board. Asha’s statement for Project Helix sounds like we are still looking at a TV console-gaming PC hybrid for the living room. That all being said, I wouldn’t get too excited, as I don’t think we’ll actually see this box and console until next year.
Other
Ubisoft released a bunch of Assassin's Creed information, including confirmation of the existence of Black Flag. My experience with this series isn’t the best. I’ve seen some Let’s Play videos here and there, and then played a good chunk of Origins. I would like to play this remake if I could because I’ve heard nothing but great things about it.
We also got Square Enix confirming Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for Switch 2 and Xbox Series consoles. It’s coming much earlier than I thought it would, which I think means FF7 Remake Part 3 is closer than we imagined, as in 2027 close.
The first Game of the Year contender came out as Resident Evil: Requiem took over the world. I’m currently playing it and loving it so far. The game has high praise and user scores, and I expect it to be an early favorite for nomination at Geoff Keighley’s event. It’s also sold 5 million copies and counting in just five days. It’s the first event of the year for the industry and gamers.
Lastly, Highguard, the infamous last game shown at The Game Awards, announced layoffs after launching and then finished it off with the game shutting down for later this month. I think this game was given an unfair shake from the get-go, and I do think Geoff did a disservice by putting it last at the show. That being said, I think this would probably be how this would’ve gone down, even without the unnecessary hype from Geoff. Geoff came away loving this game and wanted to promote it hard, but in the day of live service gambles, it was always going to be a surefire miss. Companies and developers really need to have a talk with themselves on the state of the industry and find ways to combat it. The giant investments into black hole games need to slow down, or we are going to see more of these situations.