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Ports

Switch 2 Reportedly Getting Starfield In 2026 As The Ports Start Flowing

by admin August 21, 2025

Cyberpunk 2077 might not be the only massive sci-fi RPG on Switch 2 for long. Could Starfield get ported as well? Why is Dead Space‘s old Creative Director all-in on AI? And How did an AI replica of a real content creator make its way onto the official First Descendent TikTok channel? Welcome to the latest edition of Morning Checkpoint, Kotaku‘s brief daily roundup of gaming culture and news, where we’re doing a bunch of clean-up from the first day of Gamescom 2025.

Starfield will reportedly come to Switch 2 in 2026

Podcaster NateTheHate, who’s quickly developed a reputation for accurate leaks around upcoming Nintendo announcements, now claims Bethesda’s open-world sci-fi RPG is coming to the company’s handheld hybrid next year. “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle won’t be the only Bethesda game coming to Nintendo Switch 2 in 2026,” he posted on X yesterday. “See that planet? You can go there. Aside from landing on PS5…Starfield is planned for release on Nintendo Switch 2 in 2026.” FromSoftware’s The Duskbloods has also been confirmed for Switch 2 in 2026, and Nintendo has yet to reveal any of its expected slate for the console’s second year. Starfield is reportedly coming to PS5 next year as well, seemingly closer to whenever the second expansion launches.

The First Descendent blames TikTok for AI slop video

Nexon’s free-to-play loot shooter, also known as “Gooner Destiny,” accidentally shared an AI-generated ad on TikTok that ripped off another content creator. The publisher now says a TikTok marketing program automatically solicited the ad and linked it to The First Descendants’ account with no controls to verify copyright infringement or other content concerns. Sounds bad! “We will also be committed to continuously being more transparent and responsible to regain the trust of our community and creators,” the company writes. “Once again, we deeply apologize for the disappointment and inconvenience this incident has caused.”

Final Fantasy 14 could be coming to Switch 2

Director Naoki Yoshida told VGC at Gamescom that Square Enix is in talks with Nintendo about porting the hit MMORPG over. “The discussions have been positive, so I do hope that players will look forward to hopefully good news in the future,” he said. It sounds like Final Fantasy 16 isn’t out of the question either. Yoshida added, “For me, it’s just my aim to provide Final Fantasy 14 and 16 to as many players as possible, and I hope that as many players as possible will be able to enjoy those two games.”

The director of Callisto Protocol is going all-in on AI

Glen Schofield told The Game Industry “AI is going to be fantastic.” He said he’s holding seminars about how AI can make creatives more efficient and thinks the technology will be an inevitable part of game development in 5-10 years, but he’s not sure exactly how it will all shake out. “Is it going to be an engine?” he said. “Right now, it’s a whole bunch of things that just kind of suck it in… and into what? It’s going to have to settle down a bit before we actually use it.” Schofield also claimed Callisto Protocol sold over 5 million copies, but regretted not delaying it. He said AAA games are not dead and is looking for someone to pay him to make another.

High on Life 2 gets a release date

The sci-fi comedy shooter will arrive on PC and console, including on Game Pass, on February 13, 2026. Ralph Ineson, best known as Cid in FF16 and more recently Galactus in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, will be voicing the newest gun in the game.

Triangle Strategy shadow-drops on Xbox and PS5

The HD-2D homage to games like Final Fantasy Tactics was previously a Switch exclusive on console. Square Enix’s port is now on Xbox with a starting discount of 30 percent off.

Stalker 2 comes to PS5 in November

The survival horror shooter makes the jump on November 20 as more former Xbox console exclusives get ported and help round-out Sony’s previously anemic 2025 release slate.

The biggest lines at Gamescom are for Silksong

THIS IS THE LINE OF HOLLOW KNIGHT SILKSONG ON PRESS DAY AT 9AM. #Gamescom pic.twitter.com/lNz1q62AZ5

— Daan K. 🔜 Gamescom 2025 (@NintenDaan) August 20, 2025

The Hollow Knight sequel is getting a special announcement on August 21—a release date, hopefully?—but in the meantime, attendees at Gamescom are making the Silksong demos at the Nintendo and Xbox booths the highlights of the show so far. Nintendo Life already went hands-on and confirmed the Metroidvania Soulslike supports 120Hz refresh on Switch 2 in TV mode.

ICYMI:

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August 21, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Acer Swift 14 AI review: give it up for the ports

by admin June 20, 2025

The Acer Swift 14 is all over AI the place. It has powerful chip options, exceptional battery life, and loads of ports for such a portable laptop. The keyboard and trackpad are solid, which is not always a given at any price. But the screen and webcam are mediocre, and the speakers are outright terrible.

Battery life, performance, and ports are important, and it makes sense to prioritize those, even if it means cutting costs elsewhere. Those are the kinds of tough tradeoffs that budget laptops have to make.

Unfortunately, the Swift 14 AI is not a budget laptop.

$1070

The Good

Lots of ports for a thin-and-light
Very good battery life and standby
Solid keyboard and trackpad
Good performance from Intel Lunar Lake

The Bad

Atrocious speakers
Bad-to-okay webcam, depending on the lighting
Build quality, design, and IPS display are pretty mid
Annoying bloatware and pop-ups you need to quell

Screen: C
Webcam: D
Mic: C
Keyboard: C
Touchpad: B
Port selection: A
Speakers: F
Number of ugly stickers to remove: 4

Our review configuration of the Swift 14 AI comes with a Core Ultra 7 Series 2 258V (Lunar Lake) processor, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD at an MSRP of $1,299.99. There are numerous Swift 14 variants, including a $1,199.99 AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 config (which I also tested) and a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus / Elite model with a better screen. Acer also makes a 16-inch Intel version with an OLED screen, and it’s actually $50 cheaper than the 14 but with less RAM.

At 2.95 pounds and 0.63-inches thick, the Swift 14 AI isn’t the thinnest or lightest around, but it has four USB ports — two USB-A 3.2 and two USB4 — plus a 3.5mm audio jack and HDMI 2.1. I’m used to thin-and-light laptops in this price range having just a couple USB-C ports, maybe a USB-A or proprietary charging port, and an audio jack. Having all this I/O on a laptop of this size is a treat when you need it.

The Intel version of the Swift 14 AI (left) comes in a dark blue, while the AMD (right) gets a standard silver.

The other big treats, in both the Intel Lunar Lake and AMD Ryzen AI models, are the performance and battery life. Both are great for everyday productivity tasks like running many Chrome tabs, Google Docs editing, lengthy video calls, and frequent use of messaging apps like Slack and Signal. The Intel model is an impressive battery sipper, lasting from sunup to well past sundown under lighter workloads. In our battery rundown test, it lasted nearly 17 hours — matching the 15-inch Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition and beaten only by Arm-based Snapdragon laptops like the new Surface Laptop 13-inch and last year’s HP OmniBook X.

The AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 version, which is nearly identical to the Intel Lunar Lake except for a different hinge design and color, sacrifices a bit of battery life for the sake of better multi-core and graphics performance. But it can still last through an extra long day of average use and then some, and it still got 15 hours in our battery rundown test.

System

Acer Swift 14 AI / Intel Core Ultra 7 258V 8C / 32GB / 1TB

Acer Swift 14 AI / AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 10C / 32GB / 1TB

Microsoft Surface Laptop 13.8-inch / Snapdragon X Plus 10C / 16GB / 512GB

MacBook Air 13-inch M4 / 10C / 10C / 16GB / 512GB

Geekbench 6 CPU Single2609284724463775Geekbench 6 CPU Multi10690145801319014899Geekbench 6 GPU (OpenCL)2898434638Not tested30701Cinebench 2024 Single118112108171Cinebench 2024 Multi596897808736PugetBench for Photoshop65986651560010163Sustained SSD reads (MB/s)5200.836391.163663.12910.04Sustained SSD writes (MB/s)4662.055588.752478.442115.57

The keyboard and trackpad aren’t showstoppers, but they’re solid. The keyboard feels a little thin, but it has decently sized keycaps with just enough tactile feedback to not feel mushy. The mechanical trackpad is a decent size, clicks easily, and is surprisingly quiet. It has a design in its top-right corner reminiscent of some kind of neural pathway. It glows when the neural processing unit (NPU) is being used, to indicate that it’s “thinking,” but it sometimes lights up unexpectedly during everyday tasks, too.

Boot up the Swift 14 AI for the first time and you’re met with two of its most readily apparent flaws: a mediocre screen and egregious bloatware. The 14-inch 1920 x 1200 / 60Hz display can reach a bright 400 nits, but it looks a bit low contrast and lacks visual punch. Your eyes may adjust to it, but as soon as you spot a better screen on something like a Surface Laptop or MacBook Air you’re reminded of the Swift’s shortcomings.

1/4The Swift pair aren’t particularly thin or sleek, but their designs are inoffensive.

The bloatware isn’t too hard to stamp out, but it’s a bit more invasive than other laptops. You may have wanted Dropbox anyway, but I doubt you want it pestering you with subscription offers as soon as you set up your computer. Then there’s the taskbar shortcut to Booking.com and the pop-ups for Google Play Games and free-to-play dreck. Bloatware is one way to subsidize the price of a laptop and keep the price down, but I’m not sure the Swift 14 AI is cheap enough to justify it. But at least it’s easy to uninstall.

Unfortunately, you can’t uninstall the speakers or the webcam. The two-speaker setup is a crime against music. You’re better off cranking the volume on your phone. Zoom and Google Meet calls are somehow always too loud or too quiet — I had to keep changing the volume during meetings to accommodate different people’s voices. And the webcam is only a little better. I’ve seen it render an okay image in bright lighting, but once you’re in even slightly lower lighting then it falls apart. Acer’s built-in software offers image enhancement, but it just boosts contrast and oversharpens, making everything look crunchy.

1/8Right-side ports on the Intel: USB-A and a 3.5mm combo audio jack.

You can certainly get a worse laptop for more money. But for around the same price, you can get the same or similar processor with a nicer screen, better speakers, and equivalent battery life in Lenovo’s Yoga Slim 7i (it’s just a touch larger, with a worse trackpad). Or you can spend a little more and get an Asus Zenbook S 14 with an excellent OLED screen and slightly better specs (though one less USB-A port). And if you can work with macOS or Windows on Arm and put up with fewer ports, then the 13-inch MacBook Air M4 or 13-inch Surface Laptop are far better all-around packages for less.

Part of me still really likes the Swift 14 AI. Performance and battery life are top notch, the port selection is great for a thin-and-light, and almost everything else is at least decent. If you can get it well below its $1,300 MSRP — say, around $1,000 — the mediocre screen and awful speakers are more forgivable. And it seems to go on sale fairly often. Just don’t forget your headphones.

$900

The Good

Lots of ports for a thin-and-light
Good battery life and standby
Solid keyboard and trackpad
AMD Strix Point chip has a little more graphics prowess than Intel offering

The Bad

Atrocious speakers
Bad-to-okay webcam, depending on the lighting
Build quality, design, and IPS display are pretty mid
Annoying bloatware and pop-ups
Hinge design isn’t quite as sleek as Intel version

2024 Acer Swift 14 AI (as reviewed)

Display: 14-inch (1920 x 1200) 60Hz IPS touchscreen
CPU (Intel): Intel Core Ultra 7 258V
CPU (AMD): AMD Ryzen AI 9 365
RAM: 32GB LPDDR5X
Storage: 1TB
Webcam: 2560 x 1440
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
Ports (Intel): 2x USB-A 3.2, 2x Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1, 3.5mm combo audio jack
Ports (AMD): 2x USB-A 3.2, 2x USB4, HDMI 2.1, 3.5mm combo audio jack
Weight: 2.95 pounds
Dimensions (Intel): 12.3 x 8.71 x 0.63 (thickest point) inches
Dimensions (AMD): 12.32 x 8.74 x 0.7 (thickest point) inches
Battery (Intel): 65Wh
Battery (AMD): 75Wh
Price (Intel): $1,299.99
Price (AMD): $1,199.99

Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

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June 20, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Same-date PC ports of PS5 games remain unlikely, as Sony talk up “thoughtful” multiplatform approach despite Xbox comparisons

by admin June 13, 2025

PlayStation’s bigwigs are content to stick with their current approach to multiplatform releases for now, making it unlikely we’re going to see a sudden switch to day-and-date PC ports of Sony’s big single-player games anytime soon.

SlayPtation have been bringing their studios’ multiplayer and live-service games to PC at release for a while now, it making sense with the likes of Helldivers 2 and, er, Concord, to try and ensure the maximum potential player base possible right out of the gate. On the other hand, for single player stuff like God of War Ragnarok and Ghost of Tsushima they’ve been content to wait a year to bring over to the other video game boxes.

Based on what PlayStation’s studio business group boss Hermen Hulst said at a Sony corporate meeting today, the console makers are happy to zig where their rivals at Xbox are zagging, and keep big single-player exclusives as exclusives for that year, in order to try and keep player stock in the PS5 as high as possible.

“Particularly on the single-player side, our tentpole titles, they’re such a differentiator,” the exec re-iterated (thanks, VGC), “The point of differentiation, I should say, for the PlayStation console, is that they will showcase the performance and the quality of the hardware. So we want to ensure that players get the best experience from these titles. We’re very thoughtful about how and if and how we bring these titles to other platforms.”

Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hideaki Nishino toed the same line, emphasising when asked about Xbox’s approach that PlayStation will stay alert and listen to players to “ensure that we serve them appropriately”, which is the most corporate guy combo of words I’ve read this week.

The bit about listening to players is interesting given the negative reputation PlayStation’s earned itself with the communities of games like Helldivers 2 due to its handling of mandatory PSN account linking and its effect on PC gamers in regions where PSN doesn’t operate.

But, you can see the logic in keeping on keeping on for the console makers, even if it means time twiddling thumbs for us folks with our big computers.

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June 13, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

One Of The Switch’s Worst Ports Is Hugely Improved On Switch 2

by admin June 5, 2025

Image: Nintendo / WB Games / DC / Kotaku

The original Switch version of open-world superhero game Batman: Arkham Knight is a giant technical mess, featuring massive performance problems that make it borderline unplayable in many sections. But on Switch 2, things are much better, with some caveats.

The Week In Games: Killing Your Heroes, And More New Releases

In 2023, the Batman Arkham trilogy was ported to Switch. This package includes 2015’s Arkham Knight, a game that was developed exclusively for PS4 and Xbox One consoles. It was a large, hyper-realistic open world with vehicle sections and a ton of detail. That’s the sort of game the Switch always struggles with and Arkham Knight was no exception, infamously running like garbage on Nintendo’s console.

Arkham Knight was supposed to run at 30 FPS, but most of the time it hovered around 20 FPS or less. This problem became much worse when driving the Batmobile through Gotham, where the game could dip as low as 15 FPS and turn into a slideshow. It was bad. But now, on Switch 2, Arkham Knight is much more playable.

As reported by Digital Foundry, Arkham Knight on Switch 2 runs mostly at a locked 30FPS on the new device. That’s great, as it means the game is now much more playable. Even during Batmobile sections, the game holds mostly steady and is much more enjoyable thanthe OG port. However, the site did mention that during these driving sections there are still some wonky animation issues that make it look a bit off.

DF also reported a crash, something the YouTube channel SwitchUp reported too. It should also be noted that the game is still running at a low resolution with muddy textures, so it might look a bit ugly upscaled on a big TV.

Still, it’s great to see that an old and crappy Switch port infamous for running poorly is now doing much better on Switch 2 without any performance patch from the developers. The more powerful Switch 2 hardware and the way the console handles backward compatibility have made it possible for the device to brute force some better performance out of older games, even if the devs don’t officially patch the game.

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June 5, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

You should forget about Cities Skyline 2’s Bridges & Ports expansions for a while, because it’s been delayed again

by admin May 28, 2025

I think there might be a chance, just ever so slightly, that the development of Cities Skylines 2 has been a bit difficult. The game launched back in October of 2023 and has suffered from performance issues, rushed DLC, and a delay to its first expansion Bridges and Ports. This expansion was meant to come soon after the Beach Properties DLC, but that obviously didn’t happen, catching a delay to sometime in the second quarter of 2025 specifically to continue improving upon the base game. Except the expansion has been delayed once again.

Over on a forum post, developer Colossal Order shared an update explaining why the DLC has caught another delay. “After reviewing the content ourselves and sharing it with our early access group, we’ve received consistent feedback: the bridges are super exciting, and the port works well, but there are aspects of the expansion that are not as polished as they could be.”

This, they say, left them with “a difficult choice: delay the release once again to add more depth, or release it as-is, knowing players may feel it falls short.” Colossal also said they think Bridges and Ports is enjoyable as is, but to “bring it to the level you deserve, we need more time.” Now, it’s expected to launch sometime in the fourth quarter of this year.

Ironically, a free update is coming on June 11th that was meant to coincide with the expansion that includes a couple of new bridges, three leisure piers, and three quays. It’s something! To be fair to Colossal, delaying it probably is the better decision, I could quite easily see another botched DLC sinking that city builder shaped ship.

I think there was some famous guy who had a plumber for a son that once said something like “a delayed Bridges and Ports expansion is eventually good, but a rushed Bridges and Ports expansion is forever bad.” Might be paraphrasing.

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May 28, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Skylines II delays Bridges & Ports DLC to Q4

by admin May 27, 2025

The saga of Cities: Skylines II has involved a lot of frustration, and the years-long ride still doesn’t appear to be over. The latest news from the developer is yet another delay, this time for the planned Bridges & Ports DLC. Colossal Order will release a small free update to the game on June 11 as planned, but the full expansion is now being pushed back to some time in Q4.

A post from the team on publisher Paradox Interactive’s forum explained that the delay was based on early access feedback that the DLC still needs more polish. “That left us with a difficult choice: delay the release once again to add more depth, or release it as-is, knowing players may feel it falls short,” the update states. “We believe the current content is enjoyable, but we’re not blind to what’s missing, and to bring it to the level you deserve, we need more time.”

The last players heard from Colossal Order was also a delay, in that instance for the console port of the city-builder. The studio said the version wouldn’t be available before summer 2025, but a more specific date hasn’t been shared yet. Cities: Skylines II has had a challenging life cycle for both the players and the developers, so it’s particular tough to hear that the game is still struggling.

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May 27, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

This Anker 6-in-1 Charging Station with 6 Ports Is 45% Off on Amazon, Now Practically Free

by admin May 27, 2025

Anyone who employs more than one device will be familiar with the hassle of carrying a tangle of cables and chargers, especially when traveling or entering the workplace: It’s all too easy to end up with a heavy bag full of different adapters, each with its own plug and cord.

Fortunately, businesses like Anker have come to our rescue to simplify our charging routine with contemporary solutions that banish mess and simplify charging your devices. You do not need to lug around several chargers anymore but just a single charging station that does the job.

Right now, you can get an Anker 6-in-1 charging station (combining AC outlets, USB-C, and USB-A) on Amazon for a very low price of just $59 which is a huge 45% discount off its regular price of $109. This is a new low on this model, so it’s the perfect time to bring your charging gear to the next level.

See at Amazon

Charge up to 6 Devices Simultaneously

Anker Prime 6-in-1 charging station has two AC ports, two USB-C ports, and two USB-A ports to charge up to six devices simultaneously, and it is ideal for anyone looking to charge a laptop, phone, tablet and other devices at the same time. The USB ports offer a wide input voltage range (100-240V, 50/60Hz) which makes you can put it almost anywhere in the world without the worry of compatibility problems. This is an ideal product for frequent travelers who do not need the hassle of carrying multiple international adapters.

What we really love about this charging station is its 140W high-speed charging capability which is powered by the latest GaN technology. This allows the station to deliver rapid and efficient charging for all of your devices even when several are connected at the same time. For example, you can fully charge a MacBook Pro 16″ in one hour and fifteen minutes which is an absolute blessing for anyone who works from their laptop or does creative work.

This station features Anker’s new stacked form factor with a pop-up outlet that maintains an extremely thin profile of 0.7 inches. It will easily fit within a backpack, laptop bag or even a large purse and be carried anywhere without added bulk and weight. The included five-foot detachable extension cord provides convenience in placement, whether you’re at a hotel room, airport lounge, or crowded office.

Anker prioritizes device protection and safety and so does this charging station. It includes a smart display that has real-time data monitoring so you can always know how much power is being supplied to your devices. Anker ActiveShield 2.0 technology performs up to three million daily checks to ensure safety and safeguards your devices from overcharging, overheating, and other hazards.

With all the more gadgets to depend on in today’s world, this Anker charging station is an efficient way to keep them all powered up. With its record-low Amazon price, which it hit during Memorial Day sales, now is the ideal time to streamline your charging routine.

See at Amazon

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May 27, 2025 0 comments