It’s a giant week for updates. Splatoon 3, Kirby Air Riders, and Helldivers 2 all have new content material coming. Sadly, none of these patches embrace bodily buying and selling playing cards with vitality drink inside. It’s one other version of Morning Checkpoint, Kotaku‘s daily roundup of gaming news, rumors, and culture. Meet Spout, the newest AI robot getting “snatched up” by Disney and others because it can dance and clean up toys. I can’t anticipate it to visit Philly.
Avenue Fighter 6 will get drinkable buying and selling playing cards
＼UHA味覚糖×近畿大学 共同開発／
「カード型」ノンカフェ濃縮エナジー補給【ENERGY ARTS】STREET FIGHTER 6コラボ🔥
⚔️勝負の一瞬を新たな“切り札”と共に🎮Makuake開始まで
⚡️あと1️⃣日‼️
詳細👉https://t.co/AOiTrM5cMy#エナジーアーツ #UHA味覚糖 #ストリートファイター6 #スト6 #Makuake pic.twitter.com/auxpadSggN
— UHA味覚糖【公式】 (@UMikakuto) January 22, 2026
New vitality drink buying and selling playing cards will let Ryu, Chun-Li, and others restore your real-life HP with candy flavors and unusual chemical substances. They had been crowdfunded and goal aggressive esports gamers. They’re solely accessible in Japan (for now) and performance as loot bins so that you gained’t know which one you’re getting till you open the packaging. That manner you may gather all of them and bestow them to your nice grandkids as proof of our twenty first century decadence. Lastly, a neater technique to devour vitality drinks!
“When playing games, taking an exam, in a meeting, or driving a car—in situations that require concentration, many people face the challenge of refueling, which equates to a break in concentration. ENERGY ARTS addresses this issue by thoroughly pursuing the goal of ‘an effortless way to replenish energy,’” the announcement claims. “Simply pick it up, snap it open with one hand, and suck it up. The series of actions of ‘opening, holding, drinking, putting it away’ has been eliminated as much as possible. Energy charging is completed in just 0.5 seconds, achieving a ‘transparent’ UX (user experience) that makes the act of refueling unconscious.”
Kirby Air Riders will get one other huge replace
Ver. 1.3.0 adds assist for GameShare, a brand new Grand Prix recreation mode, and a bunch of different tweaks, together with some character balancing and a bunch of bug fixes. Director Masahiro Sakurai stated the purpose is to get the Change 2 unique to a strong place after which leave it be.
A refresh of Splatoon 3 is coming this month as properly
A free 11.0.0 update goes reside on January 29. It provides a brand new Movement Aura state that spreads additional ink for a short while after gamers get a kill streak. It additionally brings modifications to hit detection, opponent well being bar notifications, and a brand new Stealth Soar gear means to forestall the enemy crew from seeing the place gamers land.
Helldivers 2‘s new Warbond hints on the return of Cyborgs
They had been an enemy faction again within the first recreation. There are additionally a bunch of latest weapons coming February 3 together with a Trident shotgun, grenade machine gun, and a breaching hammer that blows issues up.
The Cease Killing Video games motion hits a brand new milestone
The marketing campaign to encourage recreation makers to discover extra choices for retaining video games alive after launch has surpassed the 1 million verified signatures wanted to set off a regulatory response within the European Union. “The Commission has until 27 July 2026 to present its official reply, outlining the actions it intends to take, if any,” a press launch announced this week. “The Commission will meet the organizers to discuss the initiative in detail in the coming weeks. A public hearing will then be organized by the European Parliament.”
The Dynasty Warriors 3 remaster is indefinitely delayed
The PS2 basic gained’t return on March 19 as previously planned. Writer Koei Tecmo says it wants extra time to “improve the quality” of the sport.
The Change 2 might be a JRPG powerhouse
Leaker NateTheHate claimed on his newest podcast that Closing Fantasy XVI, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and Metaphor: Refantazio are all slated to get Change 2 ports. If the console can run it, I’m positive firms will put their video games there. And to date at the very least, the Change 2 is looking very capable.
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