2026 Starting Fast
New Game+ Showcase drops January 9
G’day Gamers,
Someone on Reddit calculated that if you bought every game in your backlog at full price, you’d have spent enough to put a deposit on a house. Happy New Year.
Also, with the release of new games quieter this time of year, make sure you dive headfirst into your backlogs.
Let’s get into it.
January Showcases
January has two gaming showcases locked in for the first three weeks of the year.
The first is a new event called the New Game+ Showcase on January 8th, which is January 9th at 8am AEDT for us.
It’s creator-led, featuring 45 games across indie and AAA, and the whole thing is self-funded with no paid placements or sponsors.
Jake Lucky, Luke Stephens, and a few others are behind it, and they’re planning it as a recurring series rather than a one-off. One game already confirmed is Distant Shore: Bretagne, described as “sandbox Portal with magnets.”
Then later in the month Xbox Developer Direct returns, likely around January 22nd based on previous years. Matt Booty has been saying they have more to show than they can fit into one event, and Playground Games is confirmed to be part of it.
My Top 10 Games of 2025
With 2025 wrapping up, I’ve been reflecting on the year that was. And despite all the layoffs, AI drama, and GTA 6 getting delayed, it was actually a pretty incredible twelve months for games.
I put together my Top 10 Games of 2025, featuring some obvious picks, some deep cuts, and yes, one game I bought a whole console for. Check it out
In Case You Missed It…
Rainbow Six Siege gets hacked — Hackers breached Ubisoft’s backend, gifted every player ~$13.3 million in credits, unlocked all cosmetics, and hijacked the ban feed to mock leadership. Servers still offline. Read more
EA shareholders greenlight $55B Saudi buyout — The vote wasn’t close: 201M for, 1.9M against. Largest leveraged buyout in Wall Street history. Read more
GTA Tokyo almost happened — Ex-Rockstar dev Obbe Vermeij revealed a Japanese studio was lined up to build it. Read more
Halo 2 and 3 remakes reportedly in the works — Reliable leaker Rebs Gaming claims full campaign remakes are planned after Campaign Evolved. Read more
007 First Light pushed back two months — IO Interactive’s Bond game moves from March to May 27, 2026. Read more
Ark 2 delayed until 2028 — Eight years after its reveal, Vin Diesel’s dino game is still years away. Read more
Stardew Valley drops Switch 2 Edition — Free upgrade, 8-player online, 4-player local co-op. Read more
Sleeping Dogs movie finds its director — Timo Tjahjanto (Nobody 2) will direct the adaptation starring Simu Liu. Read more
Yami Yugi joins Dragon Ball FighterZ — A modder built Yami Yugi with Dark Magician and an Exodia instant-win. 11 Year-old me is losing his mind rn. Read more
Did You Know?
A custom-made demo of SimCity 2000 is exhibited in the New York Museum of Modern Art.
If you liked this week’s issue, make sure to share it with a friend!
Till Next Time,
Desmond