Ahead of the Nintendo Partner Direct Showcase today, developer Skunkape Games (the team founded by former Telltale employees who revived the Sam & Max series) has announced the return of Poker Night at the Inventory.
This poker title featuring an all-star cast of video game characters was originally developed by Telltale Games and released on Steam in 2010. The new version has been “lovingly remastered” and will be reopening its doors for Switch and multiple other platforms on 5th March 2026.
Overwatch 2 is officially ditching the “2” from its name. It’s all just Overwatch now as the game enters a “new, story-driven era” with a year-long narrative, 10 new heroes, and a major overhaul.
Announced today at the Overwatch Spotlight, Blizzard revealed its first year-long storyline, entitled “The Reign of Talon”. As it sounds, the plot is going to focus on the antagonistic faction Talon as it takes over around the world, while Overwatch continues to fight back. In-game events, hero trailers, animated comics, short stories, and map updates will tell a story across six seasons rolled out throughout the entire year, beginning with the launch of five new heroes on February 10 as Season 1 begins. On the Talon side, new heroes will include Domina (tank), Emre (damage), and Mizuki (support), and on Overwatch we’ll get Anran (damage) and Jetpack Cat (support). More heroes will join in the future, with a new hero added in each of Season 2-6 to come. A new story arc is planned to begin with another Season 1 in 2027.
Other updates include a new Meta Event called Conquest, where players choose to align with either Overwatch or Talon over five weeks to compete for rewards including lootboxes, skins, and titles. We’ll also be seeing a major UI and UX overhaul with a new hero lobby and a promise of faster navigation. And we’re also getting a Hello Kitty-themed in-game event from February 10-23.
Amid all of this, Blizzard is officially dropping the “2” from Overwatch 2, and referring to it going forward just as Overwatch. As a press release explains: “Overwatch is more than just a digit: it’s a living universe that keeps growing, keeps surprising, and keeps bringing players together from around the world. This year marks a huge turning point in how the development team envisions the future of Overwatch, so we are officially dropping ‘2’ and moving forward as ‘Overwatch’.”
The newly-dubbed “Overwatch” will also be getting an upgraded Nintendo Switch 2 edition in the spring (both the original Overwatch and Overwatch 2 are currently available on Nintendo Switch, and thus Switch 2, but do not have dedicated Switch 2 upgraded versions).
Big changes are coming to Overwatch 2very soon, with a brand new season dropping on 10th February. But the biggest change comes in the form of a new name.
Announced today during the Overwatch 2026 spotlight, the game’s director Aaron Keller announced that Overwatch 2 is ditching the number, meaning it’ll simply be known as Overwatch now.
Overwatch narrative lead Miranda Moyer tells us more about The Reign of Talon: the first complete, year-long story arc for Overwatch.
The new narrative launches with immediate global conflict as Talon challenges Overwatch, and will introduce 10 new heroes, each woven directly into the unfolding story.
Get ready for an Overwatch story that keeps you at the edge of your seat, with non-stop action, evolving characters, and plot twists.
Today, Blizzard’s Overwatch Spotlight announced the start of an exciting new story‑driven era for Overwatch, highlighted by a year-long narrative arc called The Reign of Talon, all‑new UI/UX design, and much more. Be sure to check out the full video for all of the details. As an extra treat, we’re joined by Lead Narrative Designer Miranda Moyer to dive deeper into what this new story‑driven chapter means for Overwatch.
For the first time in Overwatch’s history, we’re telling a complete story.
I don’t say that lightly. Over the past decade, Overwatch’s narrative has been about possibility – introductions, hints, and setups. We’ve met heroes, discovered conflicts, and learned just enough to know there was something bigger happening beyond the edges of the screen. But this year, we’re doing something we’ve never done before: telling a story with a clear beginning, middle… and yes, an end.
That means things move. When something happens in the world of Overwatch now, it doesn’t sit untouched. Objectives are set, and met. You’ll see outcomes unfold across seasons. We’re finally seeing payoff for parts of the Overwatch world that you’ve maybe wondered about for years. This evolving story will be brought to life through a variety of mediums – including Hero Trailers, motion comics, and more – so you can experience each chapter in unique ways. All these pieces will be available on our dedicated narrative viewer, organized in chapters that guide you through the year’s epic narrative.
At the center of this year’s Overwatch narrative is a global conflict that’s impossible to ignore. Vendetta has seized control of Talon, overthrowing Doomfist and rejecting the clandestine nature in which he operated. Where Talon once skulked in the shadows, Vendetta believes in acting loudly, decisively, and without restraint. Her goal is explicit: she wants the world, and she believes Overwatch is the only force standing in her way. Because of that, we’re not winding up to conflict: we’re starting with it. Talon strikes early, attempting to remove Overwatch from the equation.
What’s fresh about the way we’re telling this story is how deeply our heroes are embedded in it. Every new character plays a direct role in the narrative. Those new faces are also a great vehicle to continue the stories of established ones. We’re touching so many parts of the world of Overwatch, and the more stories we develop, the more opportunities we’ll have to progress the journeys of heroes both new and longstanding.
One of the biggest highlights for Overwatch this year is the introduction of 10 new heroes. In Season 1, which begins February 10, you’ll meet five of them at once: each with their own narrative thread which helps set the tone for what’s to come.
Domina operates on the edges of Talon’s chaos, not publicly aligned with Vendetta (for fear of unsavory headlines), but more than willing to profit from the destruction she causes.
Emre is caught in a far more dangerous position, coerced into cooperation under the threat of catastrophic loss.
Mizuki finds himself torn between old obligations and the people who have become his family.
Anran enters the fight on Overwatch’s side, driven and connected to the story in deeply personal ways.
And then there’s Jetpack Cat, a long-running meme turned mobile support. She’s worth keeping an eye on, both for the future of her curious tale (tail?), as well as to make sure she isn’t knocking anything off counters.
This year’s narrative is about convergence—threads coming together, tensions peaking, and long-running questions colliding in ways that matter. Both established and new heroes will see movement in their stories, evolving amid this conflict. For Overwatch, this is the most ambitious narrative we’ve taken on. Each piece builds on the last, pushing characters and conflicts forward.
Join us on this new journey, and jump into Season 1 on February 10 and see it unfold for yourself.
Overwatch® is an always-on and ever-evolving free-to-play, team-based hero shooter game set in an optimistic future, where every match is the ultimate 5v5 or 6v6 battlefield brawl featuring new heroes and maps, different ways to play, and unique cosmetics! Lead the charge, ambush your enemies, or aid your allies as one of Overwatch®’s 40+ distinct heroes. Team up with friends, take them into battle across 25+ futuristic maps inspired by real-world locations, and master multiple unique game modes.
Overwatch® – Season 20: Vendetta
Give the Gift of Vengeance
Embrace the season in a flurry of festivity with a new DPS Hero, Winter Wonderland modes, holiday event, merry Mythics, and more!
Season 20 carves a cold path with Vendetta, the ruthless new melee DPS villain fueled by ambition and revenge. But it’s not all frosty edges—celebrate the holidays in the return of Winter Wonderland! Make some merry Mischief & Magic on a whimsical new wintery map, with a midway mode twist where the props fight back in Mischief & Magic Wonderland. Earn Winter Tokens through the Winter Wonderland event to unlock festive holiday skins for Tracer, Junkrat, and Torbjörn, then step into Stadium for a fresh map with new Heroes, updates, and prizes. Top it all off with Mythic Divine Desperado Cassidy and Orisa’s Mythic Capsule Cannon packing a cascade of cheer, plus more frosty skins as you jingle all the way through Battle Pass tiers. ‘Tis the season to deck your enemies’ halls, claim your vengeance, and unwrap your rewards!
Overwatch 2, or I guess as I should call it now, Overwatch, is about to get a massive overhaul as it enters the year-long storyline entitled The Reign of Talon. With the big update coming on February 10, players will get five new heroes (with five more coming over the rest of the season), a number of quality of life updates, new in-game events, and later this spring, an upgrade option for Nintendo Switch 2 players specifically.
Announced during today’s Overwatch Spotlight 2026, it was revealed that a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Overwatch 2 is finally on its way later this spring. We didn’t get any real details as to what the release was going to entail as of yet. Overwatch 2 is already on the Nintendo Switch and thus playable on Switch 2, but it’s just the regular edition, and a Switch 2 would presumably have some upgrades attached. We’ll have to wait until Season 2 sometime this spring to find out.
This will be welcome news for Switch players, as there have long been complaints that Overwatch 2 on the Nintendo Switch offers no meaningful technical improvements over the original Overwatch. A Switch 2 edition could also potentially introduce mouse controls, which might be desirable for those wanting something closer to a PC experience.
Overwatch 2 will now be known as just Overwatch going forward, as was also announced during today’s Overwatch Spotlight, as the game undergoes a major overhaul headed into a year-long narrative of events, hero trailers, stories, comics, map updates, and more telling the story of a Talon takeover. Ten new heroes are planned for release over the next year, with a new story arc planned to start in 2027 when this one has concluded.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
David Jaumandreu and I are supposed to be having our interview about his upcoming game, Denshattack, in a studio built out to look like a train. And we will, eventually, as you’ll see from the video above. But before we shoot the video version, we chat for my written piece in a very different setting: a dungeon.
Jaumandreu is sitting on an inexplicable throne, like you’d find in a king’s palace, while I sit atop a different sort of throne: an actual toilet. There are fake shackles against the stone walls around us, and bars on the window. Behind us, through a sliding door, is the train studio we’ll be using in 30 minutes.
I don’t have a clever way to transition Jaumandreu and my dungeon adventure into something about Denshattack!, or even trains. But Jaumandreu is effusive about the silly setting we’re in. He has every reason to be happy right now: he’s in his favorite place in the world, after all.
No, I don’t mean the dungeon. I’m talking about Japan.
Jaumandreu has traveled halfway around the world to promote his upcoming game: Denshattack!, which he describes as “Tony Hawk with Japanese trains.” He’s leading its development as the studio director of Undercoders, which was founded in 2005 in Barcelona. It began as a mobile development studio and eventually transitioned to DSi development and later to console with games like Conga Master and Treasures of the Aegean. The core team is just 12 people, even a whopping 20 years after its founding, though Jaumandreu says they do work with external developers on things such as music and animation when support is needed.
So what’s a Barcelonan studio doing making a game that’s hyperspecifically focused on Japanese trains? Put simply, Jaumandreu loves Japan, and he loves the train system there. That’s the long and short of it.
“I came [to Japan] in ’98 for the first time,” he tells me, speaking from the throne. “I came just for tourism. My father used to travel a lot for work, so I had the opportunity to follow him on one of his trips here, and it captivated me so much that I just wanted to come back again and again and again.”
Jaumandreu was 16 on that first trip – he’s a few decades older now, and has been back to Japan almost yearly since that first trip.
“There’s so much to like,” he continues. “When I came here, it was obviously because I was a kid. I loved Dragon Ball, I loved video games, you know? And back then, Japan was the biggest force in making video games. Nintendo, PlayStation, whatever. But I came through this fascination, and then got fascinated by the country itself. Its history, it’s super interesting, its culture. Whenever you get to know it more, there are more layers of interesting stuff to get. The cinema is fantastic, the food is incredible. Pop culture. No, it’s a mix of a lot of things, and whenever you get deeper into the country, you find more interesting stuff. So of course the first time I got here was Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. Then you start exploring more the rural side, and that’s what it started to get to me.”
Of course, Jaumandreu especially loves Japan’s train system. He rode the subway on his first visit, the Yamanote line that runs in a circle through Tokyo’s biggest areas. At the time, trains in Japan didn’t have any English voices on the intercom or English words on the signs, so all he had to go on was his guidebook for navigation. “It felt like a big adventure.” Especially, he says, compared to trains in Barcelona, which were good but not nearly as advanced technologically. “To put it in perspective, back when I came here, the difference was it was like looking 20 years in the future, and now we’ve kind of reached that point, I guess.”
Then, Jaumandreu got to ride the Shinkansen, the bullet train, and he was blown away. “It’s incredibly fast and silent at the same time, so it feels super calm, and you’re going so fast. It feels, I don’t know, discontextualized. The incredible speed that you’re going, and it doesn’t move or shake or whatever. It’s a super smooth ride. It’s super comfortable.”
It was out of this love that Denshattack! Was born. One day, Jaumandreu says, he was playing with a little toy train he had, and the ideas began to flow.
“I was, you know, finger skating with a train. Like you’re bored. And I was doing this and that. I was like, ‘Whoa, this is cool. We could make a game out of this.’ I started thinking about it and giving a lot of thought to how that would translate into gameplay. And I used to skate, and I’m big fan of the Tony Hawk games especially, and it was like, ‘How would you do this? How would you control this?’ So yeah, I brought a train piece to work, started showing the team some moves, and then I presented to the rest of the team and they told me, ‘They’re shit.’ ‘Are you crazy?’ And then [my coworker] who is super fast in Unreal, I think he spent couple of days with that and he came out and said, ‘There’s definitely a game here. It’s super fun.’”
Denshattack! has been in development now for three years. It’s visually inspired by Jet Set Radio, Hi-Fi Rush, and Persona, and set to music by Sonic Mania’s Tee Lopes. In it, you control a train as if you were controlling a skateboard, where the landscape, cities, and other landmarks become a skate park. Jaumandreu describes gameplay in two parts: there’s a “flow state” gameplay where you’re focused on getting from point A to B, doing tricks and avoiding derailing as you go. And then there are missions where you’ll race rivals, try to get a high score from doing tricks, or even fight bosses like giant mechs. And Denshattack! combines all this with a Shonen anime story about found family, rebellion, and making friends with your rivals.
As we wrap up our interview and prepare to move out of the dungeon and into the train studio to record, I ask Jaumandreu one last, critical question. What’s his favorite ekiben, or train bento box?
He starts to say his favorite is the ones that self-heat when you pull a little tab out. But then he brings up an even more apropos answer: he likes the kid’s meals, because they come in a box shaped like a train.
Denshattack! is planned for release in spring 2026 for PC, Xbox Series (including on Game Pass), and PlayStation.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Yapyap stands apart from other “friendslop” horror extraction games by giving you plenty of firepower to begin with. Airpower, anyway. You and up to four mates are the boggle-eyed, flap-jawed minions of an enormous, moon-masked wizard. You’ve been summoned to wreak havoc on a rival wizard’s procedurally generated tower. Over the course of three nights per round, you must smash as many fixtures as you can to fill up your quota of Chaos – tapestries, crates, paintings, statues, anything that isn’t nailed down. For this purpose, you are handed a range of magical artefacts.
Some of the artefacts have to be bought with gold, but there’s a tree in the game’s lobby area that grows wands of wind magic, pluckable for free. Wind magic is the Ringo Starr of the four elements, IMO, but the default wands are fun, especially given that you have unlimited mana. There’s a basic ‘Force Push’ style wind spell, used to blow the helmets off zombie knights, a levitation spell to enhance your parkour, and a summonable tornado that will happily engulf the caster.
Nintendo is gearing up for its next Switch 2 release of the year in Mario Tennis Fever, which will serve up tons of multiplayer fun and expensive adventure mode on 12th February 2026.
So, it’s no surprise we’ve got a brand new commercial to prepare us for some time on the courts with our friends and family. But it’s also reminding us of days long gone by, when Wiimotes were in every household and playing a few rounds of golf or bowling with your mum or grandma was a once a week affair rather than just a holiday thing.
Safer Internet Day 2026: Xbox Transparency Report and Tools to Play with Confidence
Bringing the joy of gaming to everyone means protecting the people who play, and that responsibility has been core to Xbox since the beginning. We know that gaming just might be the most fulfilling, socially connected, and powerful form of entertainment today, and it’s crucial we continue protecting the shared moments and experiences that come from playing games together.
As we mark Xbox’s 25th anniversary this year, our commitment remains unchanged. In 2022, we made a promise to stay transparent about the work we do to protect our community and moderate content on our platform by regularly publishing our Xbox Transparency Reports. This year, ahead of Safer Internet Day, we’re sharing more than ever about how we’re innovating protections and providing players, parents, and caregivers with a variety of tools and resources so they can feel confident that Xbox continues to be a place for positive play, for the next 25 years and beyond.
Today, we’re highlighting how we’re continuing to shape the industry standard for safe gameplay experiences, our newly published Xbox Transparency Report, an upcoming Minecraft world teaching digital citizenship and safety skills, and our ongoing work to implement Age Verification.
Shaping the Standard for Safer Play
At Xbox, safety starts with understanding how people play. Since launching the Xbox 360 in 2005, which helped set the bar for online gaming, Xbox has shaped how safety, privacy, and security are built into gaming experiences across the video game industry. Over the past two decades, this approach has evolved to meet the needs of players where they play. It is guided by five core pillars shaped by player and parent feedback, the constantly evolving nature of online harms, and the ways safety by default can help create safer, more welcoming communities from the start:
Age Verification in the UK and beyond: Introduced in the UK and expanding to more regions later this year, age verification on Xbox helps ensure children only have access to age-appropriate content and are limited in how they can interact with others on our platform. Read more about our approach to Age Verification here, and stay tuned for information about Age Verification expanding to more regions later this year.
Child and Teen Accounts: Specialized accounts on Xbox that consider the different needs of children and teens help ensure age-appropriate access for young players, giving them a tailored and protected experience. To set up a child or teen account, visit: Xbox Child Account
Tools to Support Digital Parenting: Through tools like the Xbox Family Settings app, detailed settings that give families control over their gaming experiences can be managed directly from a mobile device, with features like Ask A Parent, which prompts children to request approval for activities and empower parents to make real-time decisions. Download the Xbox Family Settings app or learn more about Game Ratings, how to manage online and privacy settings, get familiar with the Minecraft Parents Guide, and more on the Xbox Family Hub.
Continued AI Innovation Supported by Human Expertise: Constant innovation of automated AI tools combined with human moderators help us detect, review, proactively block and address harmful online behavior more accurately and efficiently than ever. AI quickly and proactively spots potential issues, supported by human reviewers who add context, focus on nuance, and remain central to applying judgment to complex situations.
Commitment to Transparency: As the first in the video game industry to commit to regular transparency reporting, Xbox continues to ensure our community knows how safety is maintained and issues are handled.
New 2026 Xbox Transparency Report Shows Continued AI Innovation & Reduction in Spam
Our sixth Xbox Transparency Report shares insights into the work we do behind the scenes to protect all players from disruptive behavior and support experiences that are fun, positive, safe, and age appropriate. Key takeaways, which span Xbox safety efforts in 2025, include:
Responsibly advancing our AI approach to safety. We expanded the scope of our proactive AI moderation solutions to include 11 additional harmful topics that matter to players, allowing us to identify harmful content more effectively so our human moderators can focus on combatting the most nuanced and complex harms.
An adaptive response to spam. In 2025, our proactive moderation efforts to prevent unsolicited content from ever reaching players resulted in a 90% drop in spam message complaints compared to 2024, and an overall 23% drop in complaints for messages from non-friends.
Improved Player Reporting for More Frictionless Play. Our constant efforts to improve safety processes reach across all of our teams at Xbox. Developer Turn 10 recently expanded reporting capabilities around user generated content in Forza Horizon 5, allowing players to more efficiently file a report for cheating and unsportsmanlike conduct without ever needing to leave their game. Our teams at Turn 10 and across Xbox are excited to continue exploring improved functionality like this for future projects.
You can read more about our efforts to protect players in the full Xbox Transparency Report here.
Practicing Safer Online Decisions with Minecraft Education
On Safer Internet Day next week, Minecraft will launch CyberSafe:Bad Connection?, the fifth installment in the CyberSafe series for Minecraft Bedrock and Minecraft Education. This new world will help young players build online safety and digital citizenship skills through scenario-driven gameplay. Players will explore ways to recognize risks and red flags, learn how to report suspicious activity, and build confidence to keep themselves and their community safe. Bad Connection? builds on the legacy of the CyberSafe series, which has reached more than 80 million downloads since 2022, equipping players with the skills, practice, and confidence to navigate online spaces.
Bad Connection? will be available for free in the Minecraft Marketplace and Minecraft Education on February 10, along with free, downloadable materials for parents and educators to support critical, ongoing conversations about online safety. We also recently shared more about the Minecraft Safety Council, which brings together industry experts to help guide safer multiplayer experiences for the Minecraft community. Meet the council and learn more here.
Our Ongoing Commitment to Safety Today and for the Next 25 Years
Every gaming community is unique and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to keeping players safe. Whether it’s Call of Duty’s ongoing studies on player trust and positive play, new insights from the tenth annual Global Online Safety Survey publishing on the Microsoft On the Issues blog on February 10, or our recent update to our Online Safety Principles developed with Nintendo and Sony Interactive Entertainment, our teams are constantly working to help players enjoy fun, positive, and inclusive experiences.
Our work in player safety at Xbox is ongoing. For more information on Microsoft privacy, safety, and responsible gaming, explore these resources:
