Category Archives: Game Industry News

Game Industry News, Game News

Riot Games Ending 2XKO Development in December — Servers Stay On

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Riot Games has announced that it will end active development on free-to-play tag-team fighting game 2XKO at the end of 2026. Servers will remain online after December, and the game will continue to be free to download and play on PS5, Xbox Series, and PC — but no new champions, content, or patches will follow the final update.

What Riot Said About Ending 2XKO Development

In its official statement, Riot said it had been monitoring 2XKO’s trajectory closely across 2026 and found a “clear, consistent picture”: player numbers were not sufficient to sustain continued development. “We haven’t seen enough players stick with the game to get to a path toward sustainability,” the studio wrote, adding that 2XKO “costs us substantially more to operate than it brings in, and engagement has stayed relatively flat despite our larger updates.”

2XKO launched in Early Access on PC on October 7, 2025, followed by its full release across PS5, Xbox Series, and PC on January 20, 2026. The game positioned itself as a more accessible entry point for fighting games, featuring tag-team play and League of Legends characters with free-to-play pricing.

Lux fighting in 2XKO gameplay
Image courtesy of Riot Games

Final Content Before Development Ends

The remaining roadmap before December includes two more champions — Lux and Samira, both from League of Legends — alongside feature improvements. A final bug fix patch is planned for December. After that, servers stay on to support online play; offline play is unaffected throughout.

Lux and Samira: New Champion Reveals – Evo 2026 | 2XKO — via 2XKO on YouTube

Refunds and Free Unlocks for Players

Riot is taking clear steps to look after existing players. All champions will be unlocked for free, and most cosmetic items will be bundled. Players who spent money in 2XKO on or before August 20, 2026 will receive a full refund; any content already owned is theirs to keep. Avatar and player profile items will become unlockable via Credits. These changes roll out in patch 1.3.1 in September. A full FAQ on the transition is available on the Riot support site.

2XKO EVO 2026 champion reveal featuring Lux
Image courtesy of Riot Games

What It Means for Singapore’s Fighting Game Community

2XKO had genuine traction in Singapore’s FGC. Local tournament organisers added it to weekly lineups after launch, and the game featured at EVO 2026 this year — as we covered in our Singapore FGC EVO preview. The game’s free-to-play model did bring new players into the genre locally, even if it ultimately wasn’t enough to sustain the studio’s investment.

For Singapore players who bought cosmetics or spent on the game, the September patch 1.3.1 is the key update to watch — that’s when refunds and champion unlocks come through. Players who want to keep competing can still do so; the online servers staying on indefinitely means ranked and casual play continue normally for now. Riot will give advance notice if that ever changes.

It’s a disappointing end for a game that showed promise for the FGC, but the studio’s transparency here — full refunds, free unlocks, servers kept live — is handled better than many similar wind-downs. More gaming news on GameTrader.SG.

Game Industry News, Game News

Capcom Platinum Titles Update: Wilds 11.8M, Requiem 8M, PRAGMATA Debuts

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Monster Hunter Wilds has crossed 11.8 million units sold, Resident Evil Requiem hit 8 million in its first reported quarter, and Capcom’s brand-new IP PRAGMATA debuted at 2.5 million on the publisher’s platinum titles list — all according to sales data from Capcom’s Q1 FY3/2027 financial results, covering the three months ended 30 June 2026.

Those results also showed net sales of 70.4 billion yen (up 54.7% year on year) and operating profit of 41.1 billion yen (up 66.9% YoY) — the best Q1 in Capcom’s history. The company credited “all-new IP PRAGMATA” and continued strength in catalogue titles as the twin engines of that growth.

PRAGMATA: New IP, Instant Platinum Debut

PRAGMATA gameplay — Hugh and Diana explore a lunar facility
Image courtesy of Capcom

Released on 17 April 2026 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, and 24 April on Nintendo Switch 2, PRAGMATA is Capcom’s first major all-original IP in years — a sci-fi action-adventure following spacesuit-clad protagonist Hugh and android companion Diana through a moon base overtaken by rogue AI. The game sold 1 million units in its first 48 hours, 2 million within 16 days, and cleared 2.5 million by end of June, earning it immediate entry on the platinum list.

Critics gave it strong marks: an 87% average on OpenCritic, with the Switch 2 version scoring 93% from early reviewers. On Steam, 97% of nearly 15,000 user reviews are positive. Singapore players on PS5, PC and Switch 2 can still pick it up at major game retailers and electronics chains locally, or digitally via PlayStation Store, Steam and Nintendo eShop.

PRAGMATA | Launch Trailer — via Official Capcom Europe on YouTube
PRAGMATA — combat and exploration on the lunar surface
Image courtesy of Capcom

Resident Evil Requiem: 8 Million in One Quarter

Resident Evil Requiem — Grace Ashcroft and Leon S. Kennedy face the outbreak
Image courtesy of Capcom

Resident Evil Requiem launched in February 2026 and has already clocked 8 million units through to the end of June — the strongest opening quarter of any mainline entry in the series’ 30-year history. On Steam, the game peaked at 344,000 concurrent players at launch (the highest concurrent count ever for any Resident Evil title) and holds an “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating from nearly 48,000 reviews. The game stars FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft alongside series veteran Leon S. Kennedy and is available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Switch 2. For Singapore survival-horror fans who have not yet played it, the digital and physical versions are widely available locally.

Monster Hunter: World Still the King, Wilds Closing In

Monster Hunter Wilds — hunters face a massive creature in a ruined landscape
Image courtesy of Capcom

Monster Hunter: World remains Capcom’s all-time bestseller at 22.4 million units (30.4 million combined with Iceborne expansion). Monster Hunter Wilds — the February 2025 follow-up that stormed onto every platform including Switch 2 — added 400,000 units this quarter for a lifetime total of 11.8 million, steady momentum even 18 months post-launch. Monster Hunter Rise sits at 19.3 million, with the Sunbreak expansion at 11.9 million. Singapore has historically been a strong Monster Hunter market, with local hunts and community sessions common at gaming cafes and college campuses.

The Remake Surge: RE4 +2.4M in One Quarter

The Resident Evil remakes posted their biggest single-quarter growth in years. Resident Evil 4 Remake surged by 2.4 million to reach 16.0 million lifetime — the sharpest jump among all platinum titles this period, boosted partly by a steep platform sale that temporarily dropped the price to around US$10 and brought in a fresh wave of buyers. Singapore fans who have been holding off on the RE4 Remake might want to watch their preferred storefront for the next discount window.

Resident Evil 2 Remake climbed 1.4 million to 19.7 million, while Resident Evil 3 Remake gained 1.2 million to hit 14.5 million. Devil May Cry 5 added 1.1 million for a lifetime total of 12.3 million, and Street Fighter 6 grew by 500,000 to 7.2 million. Capcom’s full updated platinum titles list is on the company’s official investor-relations page.

For more game industry coverage, check our Game Industry News archive.

Game Industry News, News

The Tenth Mosaic: Persona, NieR, Danganronpa Creators All in Tokyo This September

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Imagine sitting in a room where the full Persona 3/4/5 creative team is on stage together for the first time since Persona 5, while across the hall Yoko Taro is discussing NieR with his longtime composer, and later that afternoon Fumito Ueda — the reclusive creator of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus — is in conversation with Eric Chahi, the Frenchman who made Another World. That is not a fantasy: it is what is happening at The Tenth Mosaic in Tokyo this September.

The two-day gaming culture festival takes place on 22–23 September 2026 at the Institut français de Tokyo (Institut franco-japonais de Tokyo), 15 Ichigaya Funagawaramachi, Shinjuku. Both days fall on Japanese national holidays, making them ideal for SG gamers already planning a September Japan trip. The event celebrates video games as “le dixième art” — the tenth art — and was just announced this week via Famitsu (Japanese).

What Is The Tenth Mosaic?

The Tenth Mosaic is billed as a celebration of game culture — not a trade show, not a consumer expo, but a curated arts-and-ideas festival in the spirit of a European cultural institution. Think TED talks crossed with a game-music concert crossed with a living museum, for about ¥2,000 a day (roughly S$19) as a base entry. Individual talk sessions require a separate ¥3,000 ticket (~S$28) due to limited capacity of 100 seats each.

The lineup is, frankly, remarkable.

The Creator Talks

Persona 30th Anniversary — the Full Team Together

Persona 5 Royal
Image courtesy of Atlus

This is the session Persona fans will clear their September calendars for. Katsura Hashino (director of Persona 3, 4 and 5), Shigenori Soejima (the series’ art director) and Shoji Meguro (composer of Persona 3’s “Burn My Dread,” P4’s “Reach Out to the Truth,” and P5’s “Life Will Change”) are appearing together to mark 30 years of the franchise. They rarely appear together outside Japan. With Persona 6 now confirmed as an Xbox exclusive, expect candid reflection on the series’ evolution and where it goes next.

Yoko Taro and Keisuke Okabe on NieR and Ender Lilies

NieR Replicant
Image courtesy of Square Enix

Yoko Taro and his regular composer Keisuke Okabe take the stage to discuss the interconnected universes of NieR, ENDER LILIES and ENDER MAGNOLIA. Yoko Taro rarely travels, so his appearance alone makes this an event worth flying to Tokyo for. Expect the mask, expect the misdirection, and if his past public appearances are any guide, expect something unexpectedly moving buried inside an apparently chaotic conversation.

The Horror Game Legends Panel

Four genre-defining horror game creators share a single stage: Frédérick Raynal (Alone in the Dark, 1992), Keiichiro Toyama (Silent Hill, 1999; Gravity Rush), Makoto Shibata (Fatal Frame series) and Hifumi Kono (Clock Tower, 1995). For fans of psychological horror in games, this is a once-in-a-generation gathering. Singapore gamers who grew up terrified by the original Silent Hill or Fatal Frame on PS2 will find this especially resonant.

Kazutaka Kodaka and Masafumi Takada on Danganronpa

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Image courtesy of Spike Chunsoft

Kazutaka Kodaka (creator of Danganronpa and The Hundred Line) and Masafumi Takada (the series’ distinctive composer) discuss the world they built and what comes next. With The Hundred Line — Last Defense Academy having recently launched, there is plenty of fresh material to dig into.

Eric Chahi × Fumito Ueda

This might be the most quietly astonishing session of the two days. Eric Chahi, creator of Another World (1991), and Fumito Ueda, creator of ICO, Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian, are two of the most influential minimalists in game history. Both are reclusive. Both shaped the medium’s sense of loneliness and wonder. Hearing them in conversation — apparently for the first time publicly — is not something that happens at a typical gaming convention.

Tetsuya Mizuguchi Masterclass: Rez Turns 25

2026 marks 25 years since Rez arrived on Dreamcast and PlayStation 2, defying every genre expectation and inventing what Tetsuya Mizuguchi called “synesthesia gaming.” Mizuguchi leads a masterclass exploring the game’s origins, its VR evolution in Rez Infinite, and his ongoing experiments with sound, light and motion. If you have ever played Rez in VR — or want to understand why it still matters — this session is unmissable.

Rez Infinite PC Launch Trailer — via Enhance Experience on YouTube

Music, Live Drawing, and More

Beyond the talks, the base ¥2,000 entry covers a live game music concert featuring legendary composers Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage, Actraiser, Etrian Odyssey) and Saori Kobayashi (Panzer Dragoon series), performing works including the complete Rez and Enemy Zero soundtracks. There is also a live illustration session by Katsuya Terada spanning both days, an Indie Legacy Showcase curated by former Sony PlayStation Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida, and special exhibitions covering gaming hardware history and an Enemy Zero 30th anniversary tribute.

Tickets and Getting There

Tickets are on sale now at thetenthmosaic.peatix.com. Entry is ¥2,000 per day (~S$19) for the exhibitions, concerts, indie area and live drawing. Individual talk sessions are ¥3,000 each (~S$28) with capacity capped at 100 per session — they are expected to sell out fast given the lineup. The Institut français de Tokyo is in Shinjuku, well-served by train.

September 22–23 falls during Japan’s autumn holiday cluster, so SG travellers who pair this with a week in Tokyo are not going out of their way. Budget Singapore Airlines and Scoot both fly direct to Tokyo Narita. For Singapore fans of Persona, NieR, Danganronpa, ICO, or any of the franchises represented here, The Tenth Mosaic is probably the most remarkable gathering of game creators that money can buy — and the price is genuinely low.

Game Industry News, News

Palworld Online: Singapore’s Garena Brings the Pal-Catching Survival Game to Mobile

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Pocket Pair’s runaway hit Palworld is coming to mobile — and the company behind the smartphone adaptation is none other than Garena Online Private Limited, the Singapore-headquartered gaming and digital services giant. The announcement landed on 3 August 2026, with Garena confirming it has obtained a licence from Pocket Pair to develop and publish Palworld Online for smartphones worldwide.

Palworld Online mobile game official announcement key visual
Image courtesy of Garena / Pocket Pair

What Is Palworld Online?

Palworld Online is a mobile-optimised reimagining of the PC survival-crafting phenomenon that sold millions of copies in early access before its 1.0 full release in July 2026. The original formula — open-world exploration, creature capture and training (the “Pals”), base-building, and combat with a darkly comic twist — is being rebuilt from the ground up for touchscreens, with Garena specifically noting they have prioritised maintaining “depth, freedom, and scale” rather than stripping the game down for mobile.

Key features confirmed for Palworld Online:

  • Open-world exploration and full Pal capture/training system
  • Online multiplayer with both cooperative and PvP combat
  • Shared base building with other players
  • Touch-optimised controls designed for mobile play
  • Original storylines exclusive to this mobile version, not in the PC game
Palworld Online mobile gameplay preview screenshot
Image courtesy of Garena / Pocket Pair

The Singapore Connection

For Singapore gamers, this has an extra layer of local pride. Garena — a subsidiary of Sea Group, which is listed on the NYSE and headquartered in Singapore — is one of Southeast Asia’s biggest gaming publishers, known for localising and operating titles like Free Fire across the region. Bringing Palworld’s massive global fanbase to mobile is arguably Garena’s highest-profile mobile gaming project in years.

Garena’s president stated the aim is to deliver “a new experience where players connect and adventure together” while preserving what made the PC original so compelling. The Singapore office will be handling publishing across Southeast Asia, making this a rare case of a local company at the front of a global gaming rollout.

Palworld original PC game screenshot showing open-world gameplay
The original Palworld PC game — Image courtesy of Pocket Pair

Release Date and Availability

Garena has confirmed Palworld Online is targeting a 2026 release but has not announced a specific date. Given the announcement dropped today, a pre-registration or closed beta announcement is likely to follow in the coming weeks — watch Garena’s official social channels and the @PalworldOnline YouTube channel for updates.

No pricing model has been confirmed for Palworld Online, though Garena’s typical mobile releases in SEA are free-to-play with in-app purchases. Singapore players should have straightforward access at launch given Garena’s local publishing role.

Stay tuned to GameTrader’s Game Industry News for more on Palworld Online as release details emerge.

Game Industry News, News

Shiny Snom Debuts in Pokémon GO Summer Marathon: Arctic Embers (Aug 4–10)

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Trainers in Singapore, mark Tuesday in your calendar: Shiny Snom is finally arriving in Pokémon GO, and it’s bringing a whole week of fire-and-ice themed spawns with it. The Summer Marathon: Arctic Embers event runs from 4 August (10:00 a.m.) to 10 August (8:00 p.m.) local time and is the next chapter of the 2026 Summer Marathon series.

Pokémon GO Summer Marathon Arctic Embers event banner
Image courtesy of Pokémon GO

Shiny Snom: Pokémon GO World Debut

This is the headline. Shiny Snom has never been available anywhere in Pokémon GO until now. The tiny Ice/Bug Pokémon from Galar’s Circhester Bay becomes available in its shiny form for the very first time during Arctic Embers — and its shiny is a gorgeous pale gold rather than its usual icy blue.

Snom is also hatching from 5 km eggs throughout the event alongside Sneasel, Darumaka, Galarian Darumaka, and Sizzlipede, all with shiny variants possible. If you’re hunting Shiny Snom, eggs are your most reliable route given the random wild encounter rates.

Snom official Pokémon artwork
Image courtesy of The Pokémon Company

Wild Spawns: Fire and Ice Rotation

True to the “Arctic Embers” name, the event splits its wild spawn pool between fire and ice types, with a clever alternating daily mechanic:

  • Throughout the event: Vulpix, Alolan Vulpix, Growlithe, Swinub, and Snorunt appear in the wild
  • Even-numbered days (4, 6, 8, 10): Ponyta and Snover join the spawn pool
  • Odd-numbered days (5, 7, 9): Slugma and Vanillite take the stage instead

Boosted shiny odds are in play for Ponyta, Slugma, Snover, and Vanillite on their respective rotation days — so plan your grind days accordingly.

Free Timed Research + No. 10 Jersey Avatar

Two freebies this week. First, completing the free Timed Research grants 16,800 XP and an encounter with a marathon-visor-wearing Pikachu — a clean event variant worth adding to your collection. Second, a No. 10 Jersey avatar item is available free in the in-game shop for the duration of the event, no purchases required.

Pokémon GO No. 10 Jersey free avatar item
Image courtesy of Pokémon GO

GO Pass Bonuses

The August GO Pass (which runs until 8 September) is active during Arctic Embers and layers on extra bonuses based on your pass rank:

  • Rank 10+ (Free GO Pass): 2× XP for PokéStop spins
  • Rank 10+ (Deluxe GO Pass): 3× XP for PokéStop spins
  • Rank 20+ (Free GO Pass): Half egg hatch distance
  • Rank 20+ (Deluxe GO Pass): Quarter egg hatch distance — making those Snom eggs much easier to crack open

The Deluxe GO Pass runs at US$4.99 or US$6.99 (with an advance rank unlock). The August pass’s featured Legendary is Latias, which appears as a GO Pass encounter reward throughout the month. Check the in-app store for local SGD pricing.

The full event details are live on the official Pokémon GO news page. For more Pokémon GO events, community days, and Singapore gaming news, check our Game Industry News section.

Game Industry News

EA Goes Private — The $55B Saudi Takeover Closes 4 August

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The company behind EA Sports FC, Apex Legends, The Sims, and Battlefield is about to become privately owned. On 4 August 2026, Electronic Arts officially delists from the NASDAQ and passes into the hands of a Saudi Arabia-led consortium — ending its 35-year run as a publicly traded company in the largest leveraged buyout in gaming history.

The $55 Billion Deal in Plain Numbers

Electronic Arts franchise portfolio showing EA Sports FC, The Sims, Apex Legends and more
Image courtesy of Electronic Arts

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) takes a 93.4% stake in EA. Private equity firm Silver Lake holds 5.5%, and Affinity Partners accounts for the remaining 1.1%. The deal is valued at $55 billion — $210 per share, a 25% premium — and was confirmed as having all regulatory approvals in hand as of 30 July 2026, clearing the path for the 4 August close.

The acquisition required approximately $20 billion in debt financing, rated junk-level by credit agencies. That means EA’s new owners are betting the company’s ongoing cash flows — from live-service games, subscriptions, and game sales — will service enormous annual interest obligations. It is the largest leveraged buyout in history, surpassing previous records outside the gaming industry.

Electronic Arts red branding logo
Image courtesy of Electronic Arts

Your Games Are Not Changing — For Now

EA has been direct on continuity: CEO Andrew Wilson remains in post, company headquarters stay in Redwood City, California, and all live-service franchises continue under existing roadmaps. EA Sports FC seasons, Apex Legends ranked queues, and Battlefield updates are unaffected by the ownership transition.

What changes is transparency. As a private company, EA is no longer required to publish quarterly earnings, disclose studio headcounts, or report publicly on the health of individual franchises. For Singapore players who follow Apex Legends’ competitive scene across SEA — which has produced strong regional talent — or who track progress on Battlefield 6, that publicly available channel of information is now gone unless EA chooses to share it voluntarily.

The Saudis Just Bought EA, And The Debt Is "Junk" — via Bellular News on YouTube

The Debt Load and Studio Pressure

Private equity buyouts financed with junk-rated debt carry a well-documented pattern: pressure to cut costs, consolidate studios, and expand monetisation to meet debt servicing obligations. BioWare — once a studio of over 400 employees and the creative force behind Mass Effect and Dragon Age — now operates with fewer than 100 staff. Whether the new private ownership accelerates similar consolidation at other EA studios is now harder to assess, because those decisions will no longer surface in public filings.

Maxis, the studio behind The Sims, took the notable step of publicly reaffirming its commitment to inclusive content values in the wake of the buyout announcement. It was a sign that at least some teams within EA are alert to how the conversation around their publisher is shifting.

EA Sports FC and Apex Legends: The Singapore Angle

EA Sports FC 24 gameplay screenshot showing a Real Madrid player in action
Image courtesy of Electronic Arts

EA Sports FC is comfortably one of the most-played console games in Singapore — the successor to FIFA carries the same Ultimate Team structure, the same FUT economy, and the same seasonal content releases that Singapore players have built clubs and friendships around for over a decade. Any future changes to regional pricing, FUT token monetisation, or server infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region will now be announced at EA’s own discretion, with no earnings call or investor disclosure to cross-reference them against.

Apex Legends gameplay screenshot featuring Legend characters in action
Image courtesy of Electronic Arts / Respawn Entertainment

Apex Legends has a competitive presence across Southeast Asia. The SEA competitive calendar and server infrastructure have no announced changes as of today. But the shift to private ownership means that if decisions affecting regional players are made, there is no mandatory public channel through which to learn about them.

What to Watch

  • Battlefield 6: still in development; will be the first major EA title greenlit entirely under the private ownership structure.
  • EA Sports FC: any changes to Ultimate Team economy, regional pricing, or seasonal content will be at EA’s discretion. Monitor the official EA website and EA Sports social channels.
  • The Sims: Maxis has publicly signalled its values. Whether those translate to continued creative direction under new ownership is worth watching.
  • Apex Legends SEA: no announced server or competitive calendar changes. Current season continues normally.

For more gaming industry coverage relevant to Singapore players, follow our Game Industry News section.

Game Industry News, Guides

Pokémon GO August Community Day: Catch Shiny Nickit on 16 August

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Pokémon GO trainers in Singapore, mark 16 August on your calendar. Nickit — the sly, Dark-type Fox Pokémon from the Galar region — is headlining the August 2026 Community Day, and its Shiny form is making its global debut. The event window is Sunday, 16 August from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM SGT, with several bonuses extending all the way to 9:00 PM.

Nickit Community Day reveal — via Pokémon GO on YouTube

Meet Nickit — the Galar Fox Who Sneaks Into Your Pokédex

Nickit is a Dark-type Pokémon introduced in Pokémon Sword and Shield (Generation 8), designed around a sly, sneaking fox that pilfers food and moves without a sound. In Pokémon GO, it evolves into Thievul using 50 Candy. Neither Nickit nor Thievul has had a Shiny variant available in GO until now.

Nickit and Thievul — the evolution line in Pokémon GO
Image courtesy of Niantic / Pokémon GO

Community Day Bonuses: August 16 at a Glance

During the core event window (2:00 PM – 5:00 PM SGT), you get the following stacked bonuses:

  • 3× Catch Stardust — the biggest draw; make the most of every throw
  • 2× Catch Candy — builds your Nickit Candy fast for evolutions and power-ups
  • 2× Candy XL chance (for Trainers Level 31 and above)
  • 3-hour Incense duration
  • 5 Photobomb Encounters during snapshots

The extended bonus window continues from 2:00 PM to 9:00 PM SGT. During this extended period, Lure Modules last one hour and still attract Nickit with increased Shiny odds; you can also make up to 2 Special Trades (one extra beyond the usual daily limit) with 50% less trade Stardust. Field Research tasks are also available — spin PokéStops to earn encounters with Nickit that may appear with a Special Background.

Shiny Nickit Debuts — Here’s What to Expect

Shiny Nickit swaps its burnt-orange coat for a desaturated grey-silver tone, giving it an even stealthier look. Shiny Thievul follows with a cool blue-accented slate palette. Shiny odds during Community Day run at the boosted rate of approximately 1 in 20 (5%), so most trainers should encounter at least a handful over the three-hour window with some active playing.

Nickit and Shiny Nickit in Pokémon GO
Image courtesy of Niantic / Pokémon GO

Icy Wind Thievul — The Exclusive Community Day Move

Evolve Nickit into Thievul during the event or within four hours after the core window ends (i.e. by 9:00 PM SGT on 16 August) to get a Thievul that knows Icy Wind, an Ice-type Charged Attack. Thievul isn’t currently a top-tier raider, but Ice coverage adds meaningful flexibility in the GO Battle League — useful against Dragon, Flying, and Ground-type opponents. At minimum, save a high-IV Nickit for evolving on the day so you have an Icy Wind Thievul in the bank.

Thievul and Shiny Thievul in Pokémon GO
Image courtesy of Niantic / Pokémon GO

Special Research, Tickets and Shop Extras

A paid Community Day Special Research story is available for US$1.99 (check the in-app shop for SGD pricing). Rewards include extra encounters with Special Background Nickit, a Premium Battle Pass, and Rare Candy XL. Tickets are giftable to any Trainer on your Great Friends list or higher, making it easy to share ahead of the event. A Community Day Ultra Box at the same price tier bundles Ultra Balls with the event ticket.

Singapore trainers looking for a solid Sunday afternoon session should plan around Nickit-dense areas — parks with multiple PokéStops like East Coast Park, Gardens by the Bay, or any MRT-adjacent neighbourhood with dense Stops are reliable picks for racking up those 3× Stardust catches. Good luck out there, trainers.

Full event details on the official Pokémon GO website. See more Pokémon GO news on GameTrader.

Game Industry News, Singapore Gaming Scene

Sony Pushes Ahead on PS5 Disc Cutoff Despite 352K Backlash

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Sony’s decision to end physical PS5 game disc production from January 2028 is not up for debate — and the company’s CFO made that unmistakably clear this week. As we covered when the announcement landed in early July, the countdown for physical game buyers has already begun. Now Sony has doubled down: the pushback has not moved the needle, financially or strategically.

What Sony’s CFO Said at the Q1 FY2026 Earnings Briefing

PS5 Digital Edition — the disc-free direction PlayStation is heading
Image courtesy of Sony Interactive Entertainment

At Sony Group Corporation’s Q1 FY2026 earnings call, CFO Lin Tao addressed the community reaction head-on. Her message: the plan is moving forward regardless. “We put in a lot of thought and time, and we cautiously considered this, and we came to this conclusion, and we’re going to cautiously move this forward,” as reported by Siliconera. She acknowledged hearing the community: “We have received various opinions and people have strong views, and we understand that the community has put forth those views to us.” Acknowledging views and acting on them, however, are different things.

Asked whether the backlash is actually hurting Sony’s bottom line, the CFO was blunt: “At this point in time, we are not seeing any impact on our business,” as relayed by Push Square. The explanation is the same one that drove the decision in the first place — the majority of PlayStation content sales are already digital, so removing the disc changes little in revenue terms.

The Backlash Has Been Real — Just Not Financially Felt

That does not mean the community has been quiet. A Change.org petition titled “Don’t Kill the Disc: Tell Sony to Keep Physical PlayStation Games” had collected over 352,940 signatures by 31 July 2026. On social media, there has been talk of PS Plus subscription cancellations and purchase boycotts. PlayStation players are also organising a platform-wide “blackout” from 23 to 30 August — a coordinated week where participants commit to stopping all PlayStation spending. Sony is watching, but it is not blinking. The company is forecasting a record-breaking fiscal year and has assessed the protest’s financial impact as negligible.

Physical Boxes Will Still Exist — Without a Disc Inside

There is one partial concession for physical collectors. The CFO confirmed that physical game boxes will continue to be sold in North America, housing a digital download code rather than a disc — following the model already used by titles like GTA 6. Whether that code-in-box approach extends to Singapore and Southeast Asia has not been confirmed. For local buyers, that means the possibility of a future where no physical option of any kind — disc or otherwise — is available locally. Sony has yet to address this question for the Asia market.

What Singapore Physical Game Buyers Should Know

January 2028 is roughly 18 months away. New physical PS5 game discs continue to be produced through to that date, and local game retailers will keep stocking them in the meantime. The preowned market will continue beyond 2028 as well — disc-based PS5 games will circulate through second-hand channels long after Sony stops pressing new ones.

The longer-term concern for Singapore gamers is what a disc-free library means for ownership: no reselling, lending, or buying used physical games going forward. Sony’s view is that this reflects where most players already are. Also approaching: the PS3 and Vita PlayStation Stores close worldwide in July 2027, trimming the accessible PlayStation back-catalogue further. The trajectory is one-way. For Singapore gamers who prefer physical, the next 18 months are the window to buy what you want on disc. Stay up to date with our Game Industry News coverage for any further developments.

Game Industry News, News

PSN Down 24 July — Sony Silent During 4-Hour Outage

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Singapore PS5 players ran into a wall on Friday evening — and Sony didn’t say a word about it. PlayStation Network went down globally on 24 July 2026, locking players out of online multiplayer, the PS Store, cloud saves, and even digital games they own, for well over four hours. As of the early hours of 25 July, services are slowly returning but a full “all clear” has not been issued.

What the PSN Down July 24 Outage Knocked Out

This wasn’t a minor hiccup. Multiple PSN services went dark simultaneously, including:

  • PS Store on both console and browser
  • Online multiplayer and game sessions
  • Friends lists and social features
  • Cloud saves and trophy syncing
  • Digital game licence verification — meaning some players were briefly locked out of titles they’ve fully purchased
  • PS Plus access checks
  • Game downloads

Offline play on physical discs and locally-saved digital installs continued to work for most users, but the scope of the disruption was wide. For Singapore players who have built out a digital library over the past year, the licence-verification lockout was the sharpest sting.

PS5 console and DualSense wireless controller
Image courtesy of Sony Interactive Entertainment

Sony’s Response: A Status Page That Lied, Then Silence

What made the outage particularly frustrating wasn’t just the downtime — it was how Sony handled it. PlayStation’s own status page initially displayed that “all services are up and running.” It wasn’t. Players flooding Reddit, X, and Discord were well aware of the outage long before Sony’s dashboard caught up.

Eventually the status page updated to acknowledge that “all services are experiencing issues” and that the company was “working to resolve things as soon as possible.” That was the extent of the communication. As of the latest reporting throughout Friday night, Sony had posted nothing on X or any other social channel — no ETA, no explanation, no apology. Players were left to rely on third-party outage trackers and each other.

This kind of silence is becoming a pattern, and it sits badly against an increasingly digital-only landscape where players have fewer fallback options when the servers are unreachable.

The AWS Connection — and What Sony Still Hasn’t Said

Multiple outlets, including Push Square and The Gamer, linked the PSN disruption to a connectivity issue in Amazon Web Services’ US-WEST-2 region — the data centre region that hosts core PSN infrastructure. AWS acknowledged and resolved their side of the issue at approximately 5:35 AM SGT on 25 July. PSN services began a slow, uneven crawl back online after that, with some areas recovering faster than others.

Sony has not officially confirmed AWS as the root cause, nor issued any timeline or post-mortem. Theories circulating on social media about hacker involvement remain unverified and should be treated as speculation until Sony speaks.

Is PSN Back Online for Singapore Players?

Partially. As of time of writing, PSN is sputtering back to life but has not issued a clean all-clear. Trophy syncing, cloud saves, and PS Store access for some users remain degraded. If you’re still seeing issues, check status.playstation.com for the live picture — and don’t be surprised if it’s behind reality.

The Bigger Picture: Going All-Digital Has a Price

PlayStation Play Has No Limits brand campaign
Image courtesy of Sony Interactive Entertainment

Sony announced on 1 July 2026 that physical PlayStation game discs would end with new releases from January 2028. That announcement drew significant backlash from collectors, resellers, and players who prefer to own — rather than licence — what they pay for. This outage lands squarely on that wound.

When PSN goes down and digital licence verification fails, players who bought their games digitally lose access to them entirely. Disc owners didn’t have that problem on Friday night. As Singapore gamers navigate a gaming landscape increasingly tilted toward digital, incidents like this serve as a sharp reminder of the infrastructure dependency that comes with it.

Sony owes its players a proper explanation. A post-mortem with a root-cause analysis and a plan to prevent recurrence would go a long way — but given Friday night’s communication blackout, don’t hold your breath.

For more on how the gaming landscape is shifting, check out our game industry news.