Since it’s launch last year, Pokémon Go has been something of a phenomenon. Part of the popularity comes from the sense of community the game has created. As a reward for players catching 3 billion Pokémon during a recent event, the legendary Ho-Oh will be available to catch for a short amount of time.
Last week, Pokémon Go developer Niantic challenged players to take part in the Global Catch Challenge. The company challenged trainers around the world to collectively catch billions of Pokémon. Reaching certain milestones unlocked different tiers of prizes, which included more Pokémon springing up around the globe, rare Pokémon, and more.
In response to trainers collecting 3 billion Pokémon, the highest prize tier, Niantic has brought Ho-Oh to Pokémon Go. For the next two weeks, until December 12, this Johto region legendary is appearing in raid battles at various gyms around the world. “We issued a challenge — and you answered the call,” said Niantic on the official Pokémon Go website.
Previous legendary Pokémon, including Lugia, Entei, and Mewtwo, were first released on a much more limited basis. This past summer, Niantic first released legendary Pokémon during a Pokémon Go festival in Chicago. The event went so poorly that some players proposed a lawsuit. Things have since improved, and Ho-Oh’s worldwide release should make it much easier to find by comparison.
Before going out to catch Ho-Oh, remember to pay attention to the surroundings. A new study, titled Death by Pokémon Go, has shown that the game is partially responsible for an increase in traffic accidents and traffic-related deaths. It’s important to look up from the phone and to put the game down while driving to local gyms and Pokéstops.
For those losing interest in Pokémon Go, Niantic has also announced that it has acquired the rights to produce a game set in the Harry Potter universe. Wizards Unite will follow the same basic structure as Pokémon Go, in that players will need to explore real-world neighborhoods and cities in order to learn and cast spells. discover mysterious artifacts, and encounter legendary beasts and characters. Further gameplay specifics have yet to be revealed.
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.