Announcements, release dates, updates: news from studios and publishers, traced back to the source.
On 22 September, Microsoft handed development of the next Halo to Activision and cut a further 268 jobs across its Xbox studios. The series is thus moving into its third home in twenty-five years; the archivist has had to start a fresh index card.
Open the featureOn 9 September, Nintendo presented the sequel to Metroid Dread: a hunt on an alien moon, built around the theme of “eat or be eaten”. Samus, clearly, has no intention of ending up on the menu.
On 9 September, Nintendo announced Kirby and the World Beyond, a 3D adventure in which Kirby freely explores vast environments, expected in spring 2027 exclusively on Switch 2. It will be the series’ second major 3D entry, in the year of its 35th anniversary: a respectable age for a pink ball that still swallows everything in its path.
Level-5 has set 10 December 2026 as the release date for Professor Layton and the New World of Steam, on Switch 2 and Switch but also on PlayStation 5 and PC. The first main entry in the series in more than ten years, announced in 2023 and then delayed, it has taken three years to find its date: a puzzle in patience, even for a true gentleman.
A free update to Star Fox on Switch 2 will, from 30 September in France (29 September in North America), let up to four players battle it out on a single console and add three arenas, while Star Fox Adventures joined Nintendo’s GameCube catalogue on Nintendo Classics on 9 September. Battle Mode, until now playable online only, is therefore coming back to the living room, for anyone who would rather see the face of the friend they have just shot down.
