In the wake of Gamescom and ahead of a busy autumn for the video game industry, Nintendo did something unique for its latest showcase. It was a combination of the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase and Indie World formats. First, an Indie World showcase gave us a look at some of the games from independent developers that are heading to Nintendo Switch soon, like Neva and Pizza Tower. Then, the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase highlighted some upcoming titles from bigger third-party developers.
It was a particularly great Partner Showcase for fans of remasters and ports, as it featured announcements like Tetris Forever, Capcom Fighting Collection 2, Suikoden 1 & 2 HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars, Castlevania Dominus Collection, and more. You should stay in the loop on what was announced if you’re a big Nintendo Switch fan. To help, we’ve rounded up every announcement made during these Nintendo showcases.
To kick off the Indie World portion of the show, we learned about several different collaborations that hit poker roguelike Balatro will be getting in a new update. This includes crossovers with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Vampire Survivors, Dave the Diver, and Among Us that add some new themed card art. These collaborations are all coming as part of Friends of Jimbo, a free update that hits Balatro today.
PowerWash Simulator has already crossed over with franchises like Tomb Raider and SpongeBob SquarePants, but its next DLC might be its weirdest yet. That’s because the next DLC pack will add levels based on DreamWorks’ Shrek franchise to the game. So far, Shrek’s Swamp and the Dragon’s Lair are confirmed levels for players to clean, but the Shrek Special Pack will include three additional levels too. PowerWash Simulator — Shrek Special Pack will be released sometime this fall.
Digital Eclipse, the company know for excellent game collections like Atari 50 and Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story, revealed Tetris Forever to kick off the Partner Showcase. A celebration of the series’ 40th anniversary, Tetris Forever will feature several different versions and spinoffs of the iconic puzzle game. That includes its 1989 Famicom version, Tetris 2 + BomBliss, Tetris Battle Gaiden, Hatris, Super Bombliss, Super Bombliss DX, Super Tetris 2 – BomBliss, and Super Tetris 3. It will also have an interactive museum element and a new game called Tetris Time Warp, which swaps between different versions of Tetris as you play. Tetris Forever will be released later this year.
A new SpongeBob SquarePants licensed game was revealed during the Partner Showcase, but this one focuses on Patrick Star. Aptly titled SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game, it’s described as a “physics-based sandbox adventure” where players explore and destroy stuff around Bikini Bottom. Published by Outright Games, we won’t have to wait long for this one. SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game launches on October 4.
It’s a good time to be a fan of classic Capcom fighting games. The company showed up big at this Partner Showcase, revealing Capcom Fighting Collection 2. This collection of games will feature Capcom vs. SNK: Millenium Fight 2000 Pro, Capcom vs. SNK 2, Project Justice, Capcom Fighting Evolution, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Plasma Sword, Power Stone, and Power Stone 2. Fans have wanted rereleases of many of these games for years, so it’s great that they will finally get them in 2025. Plus, we learned that the Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics will finally be released on September 12, with a physical release following on November 22.
Marvelous USA revealed a new Rune Factory game at this Partner Showcase. It’s called Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, and it takes place in a world where runes have disappeared and caused the world to be corrupted. Players are an Earth Dancer who channels spiritual powers through dancing as they restore the world by exploring, running a farm, building villages, falling in love, and more. It also has flashier, faster-paced combat than previous Rune Factory titles. Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma will be released on Nintendo Switch sometime in Spring 2025.
A surprising Nintendo Switch port was announced to close out this Indie World and Partner Showcase combo. We learned that Sega and RGG Studio will bring Yakuza Kiwami to Nintendo Switch. If you’re unfamiliar with Yakuza Kiwami, it’s a remake of the first game in what’s now a long-running series about the Japanese criminal underworld. It’s a fantastic franchise, and Yakuza Kiwami is a great starting point. We won’t have to wait long to check it out either, as Yakuza Kiwami launches for Nintendo Switch on October 24.
The Call of Duty franchise has held a special place in my heart ever since I played my first Black Ops game back in 2010. That game's campaign was something else, with twists and turns that culminated in a mind-blowing finale. We can all admit that compared to those older campaigns, the recent CODs have been lackluster at best, and a complete and utter disappointment at worst. The reboot of Modern Warfare did give me some hope, as the first two installments were actually quite good, but the third game left such a bad taste in my mouth that I wasn’t exactly expecting much from Modern Warfare 4.
After recently finishing the campaign, I can say that this installment is nothing like the recent releases and instead feels closer to the franchise’s roots. For the first time in a long while, the campaign comes across as well-crafted rather than rushed to hit a release date. It arrives three years after MW3, and you can see exactly where all that time went. It seems the studio finally made listening to player feedback a priority.
Epic Games has just announced the 2026 Epic AI MegaJam, which is looking to see how much game development can be squeezed into a very short window. This is running from November 12 through November 15.
Participants can work alone or in teams of up to five people, build in Unreal Engine or Unreal Editor for Fortnite, and bring along “as many AI agents as you want.” Epic explicitly encourages coding agents, AI-generated assets, audio tools, writing tools, and other AI systems. The official event page literally says "Vibe your way to $50k.”
It’s turning into a pretty good time to be a Monster Hunter fan who plays on a phone. Capcom has confirmed that Monster Hunter Outlanders will launch on Android and iOS on October 29, giving the series a new mobile-first game just as Monster Hunter Rise is also preparing to make the jump to smartphones through Netflix.
Outlanders is being developed by Tencent subsidiary TiMi Studio Group under license and supervision from Capcom. Unlike Rise, which appears to be the full console and PC game adapted for mobile, Outlanders is a free-to-play survival hunting game made specifically for phones.