HIKKY announced the VketReal 2026 Summer Akihabara walking event, featuring a record 29 participating stores and projects, roughly double the previous event. The collaboration, called Town-wide JOIN Operation!, includes restaurants, karaoke, body care, live houses, and shisha bars offering limited menus, novelties, and benefits. A stamp rally is also planned.
Seven Net Shopping is holding a lottery sale for Pokemon TCG 30th Anniversary products. The expansion pack '30th CELEBRATION' and the '30th CELEBRATION Premium Deck Set Espeon & Umbreon' are eligible. Entry requires having ordered and received a product of 1 yen or more on Seven Net Shopping between June 1, 2025 and June 14, 2026. The expansion pack includes the new rarity 'FUR' Mew ex and Mewtwo ex, plus 30 holo Pikachu cards by 30 illustrators. The deck set includes Espeon ex and Umbreon ex decks with full art cards.
Niantic's GO Fest 2026 Global runs July 11-12, featuring Mega Mewtwo X on Saturday and Mega Mewtwo Y on Sunday in Super Mega Raids. Players can earn up to 18 free Raid Passes over the weekend. Mewtwo caught during the event has Mega Level 1 unlocked. Super Mega Raids require Mega Evolved Pokémon to break shields and need large groups.
BANPRESTO is releasing Monitor Top Figures of the new angels Polyester and Polyurethane from the sequel series New PANTY & STOCKING with GARTERBELT. The crane game prizes stand about 12 cm tall and include a logo base. They are scheduled to arrive at Japanese arcades from July 14, 2026.
Dengeki Hobby Web published the top 10 best-selling plastic model kits on Amazon Japan's Hobby category as of July 9, 2026. Bandai Spirits' 30MS Komiya Kaho from The Idolmaster Shiny Colors took first place, followed by the Sachi Plamo VERT File Type-S file set. Blokees' Star Wars Mandalorian & Grogu kit ranked third. Several Gunpla kits also appeared in the top 10.
An IGN report cited by Game Spark reveals that over 50 staff have been laid off at Bethesda Game Studios, including veteran developers who worked on The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind onward. Current and former employees say the cuts threaten The Elder Scrolls 6, with replacement workers, onboarding delays, and staff from The Elder Scrolls Online being pulled in to fill gaps. A 27-year veteran, Christiane Meister, has also left.
Sony Interactive Entertainment published the June 2026 PS Store download rankings on July 9. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth leads the PS5 category, followed by Adventurer Elliot's Millennium Story and EA Sports FC 26. On PS4, Powerful Pro Baseball 2026-2027 takes first, with Dragon Quest XI S and Monster Hunter: World in second and third. Beat Saber tops PS VR2, and eFootball leads free-to-play.
Game Spark tested the Alienware 34 280Hz QD-OLED gaming monitor (AW3426DW) with Forza Horizon 6, Overwatch, League of Legends, and Starfield. The ultra-wide curved display delivers high immersion, especially for racing games. An e-sports mode limits screen size for competitive play. The monitor is priced at 130,980 yen.
The text-only RPG Saga & Seeker, which uses generative AI for free-text input, released version 1.2.0 on July 9. The update adds Branch Generation, Session Restore, Character Reordering, and Folder Creation. Branch Generation lets players redo input at any story point to create new routes. The game is 20% off during the Steam Summer Sale until July 10. A Character & Scenario Recruitment Campaign is also running.
Wildlands Interactive and Ultimate Games S.A. will hold a weekend-only playtest for their blacksmith sim Sword & Shield Simulator starting July 10 on Steam. The test includes a rebuilt forging system, modular shield crafting, mining, lockpicking, stealth, and new locations.
Sega announced a livestream for Sakatsuku 2026 on July 14 at 20:00 JST. The broadcast will reveal the Ver2.1 update contents and half-anniversary information. Producer Katsuya Hisai, director Masatsune Funakoshi, and MC Neontetra Seika will appear, along with a video message from PV actress Yuka Kageyama.
Fighting game player GO1 developed heatstroke at the Esports World Cup 2026 after an air conditioning failure on a shuttle bus caused the interior temperature to reach 39 degrees Celsius. He has recovered enough to eat and walk but still feels fatigued and is in discussions with event management about his participation. He thanked fellow players who assisted him on site.
Streamer k4sen's offline event The k4sen Con 2026 has added Junichi Kato, Moko, Oniya, and Yuyuta to its lineup. The four will appear in the stage content Real Buckshot Roulette on DAY1, August 8. Kato was previously scheduled for the same project in 2024 but withdrew before the event.
Nintendo added five titles to its Game Boy Advance Nintendo Classics and Game Boy Nintendo Classics libraries on July 8, 2026. The Game Boy Advance Nintendo Classics, available to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers, received two games: the 2005 puzzle compilation "Dr. Mario & Panel de Pon" and the 2002 action-command RPG "Tomato Adventure." "Tomato Adventure" was developed by AlphaDream, the studio later known for the "Mario & Luigi RPG" series. The Game Boy Nintendo Classics, available to standard Nintendo Switch Online subscribers, received three titles: the 1994 platformer "Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land," the 1991 action-shooter "Fortress of Fury" by City Connection, and the 1992 RPG "Selection II: Dark Seal" by KEMCO. The additions span multiple genres and publishers, with Nintendo, City Connection, and KEMCO each contributing titles.
Running With Scissors released a new trailer for 'Flesh & Wire', a horror FPS tied to the 'POSTAL' series. The game follows college student Angel and her cat Solomon through a nightmare of violence and revenge. It is set for a 2027 release on PC and PS5.
Takara Tomy announced two new sets for the Transformers MPG toy line: MPG-24 Eject & Amhorn, releasing in late February 2027, and MPG-25 Blaster & Steeljaw, releasing in late March 2027. Both sets include fully transformable figures and accessories based on the classic anime series.
Good Smile Company announced six new Brickroid figures from the Rebuild of Evangelion films, including Evangelion Unit-01 Awakened Ver., Unit-00, Unit-02 Beast Mode Second Stage, Mark.06, the Fourth Angel, and the Tenth Angel. A Building A + Base Set also joins the lineup. The Evangelion figures release in December 2026, and the building set in November 2026.
Publisher indie.io and developer Neurona Games released Esports Manager 2026 on Steam on July 7. The game is an esports team management simulation set in a tactical FPS similar to Counter-Strike. Players act as a team manager, handling training, scouting, sponsorships, merchandise, and legal matters. The game includes over 325 real esports teams and more than 1,900 real players, with stats based on actual performances. In matches, players watch AI-controlled action from a top-down view and can give equipment instructions like full buy or eco. The game quickly attracted players, reaching a peak concurrent count of around 5,000. As of July 7, 80% of 240 Steam user reviews are positive, earning a 'Very Positive' rating. Some players have criticized the AI behavior during matches, with reports of illogical actions. The developer announced a functional improvement patch for the next day. The game is priced at 2,300 yen, with a 20% launch discount to 1,840 yen until July 21. The store page does not list Japanese language support.
A hands-on test of GeForce NOW's Ultimate plan shows it can run Forza Horizon 6 on a browser or Windows app with an average latency of 12ms, making the game feel indistinguishable from local play. The service uses an RTX 5080-equivalent GPU and requires no local storage, even for the 150GB title. Forza Horizon 6, set in Japan, has a Metacritic score of 90 and over 10 million players in its first month.
Developer MUC Games released the physics puzzle game Project: Ojisan on Steam on July 7. Players stack old men in various poses on a rooftop, aiming to reach a target height. The game costs 184 yen during a launch sale. It was created by the developer of Slot & Dungeons during a period of mental recovery.
Independent developer ammaarreshi has ported the 2003 real-time strategy game Command & Conquer Generals Zero Hour to run natively on Apple Silicon Macs, iPhones, and iPads. The port uses the original engine compiled for ARM64, with touch controls and rendering via DXVK, Vulkan, MoltenVK, and Metal. The developer used Claude Code (Claude Fable model) for engineering work and debugging, and released the port as open source for free, though users must provide their own game assets.
Chinese manufacturer HEMOXIAN announced a new plastic kit series called RUSTED BRIER. The first release, Lande Koskinen & RTP-10A Fengren High-Speed Variable Fighter, is a large set combining a 1/12 scale beautiful girl figure and a transformable mecha. It is scheduled for October 2026 at 9,680 yen, distributed by Kotobukiya.
GKIDS announced during its Anime Expo panel on Sunday several home video releases, including a 4K UHD Collector's Edition for Look Back on September 8, a 4K UHD Collector's Edition for the 4K remaster of Angel's Egg on September 22, and a Blu-ray Disc release for Hideaki Anno's live-action film Love & Pop on October 6.
Digital manga publisher Omoi announced four new manga licenses during its Anime Expo panel on Saturday, including the sequel to its hit series Natsume & Natsume. The company also revealed partnerships with Red String Manga and Square Enix Manga to add their titles to Omoi Premium, expanding its catalog with dozens of series.
AnimEigo announced during its Anime Expo panel on Friday that it has licensed five titles for Blu-ray Disc release: Sakon the Ventriloquist, Moshidora, AD Police Files, House of Five Leaves, and Baby & I. The releases span standard-definition Blu-ray, HD, and UHD formats, with most getting their first English-language home video release.
Game Spark interviewed Parodie Games, the two-person team behind the casino idle game Slots & Diapers, released June 3 for PC/Mac/Linux. The developers discussed the game's humor, its critical take on gambling addiction, and the viral GIF of elderly slot machine players that inspired it. They also revealed their next title, Scalpers' Spoils.
Algo Artis announced that three of its members-Mitsuru Matsuo, Kengo Kajiwara, and Hiroaki Kitahara-have been selected as finalists for the Heuristic division of the AtCoder World Tour Finals 2026, to be held July 7-8. Only 12 finalists are chosen worldwide. The event also includes a Human vs. AI Exhibition Match against an OpenAI agent, with a special award for a player who defeats the AI and wins the tournament.
Developer Raccoon Sanitation Dept. announced Racc & Roll on July 3, a PC game where players use a metal detector to find buried treasures on an island. The game supports online co-op, lets players decorate a secret base, and features over 500 treasure types. It is the team's first Steam release.
Four KAMITSUBAKI STUDIO affiliated artists-RIM, KOKO, KAKYOIN, and HINAGESHI-participated in the U.S. charity event VTuber Summer Slam 2026, raising 1 million yen in donations through special streams. The funds go to Gamers Outreach to provide gaming experiences to hospitalized children.
Koei Tecmo released the first DLC pack for Dead or Alive 6 Last Round on July 2, 2026. The Marie Rose Knight of Roses Set includes four exclusive color-variant costumes priced at 3,300 yen for the set or 1,320 yen each. A July roadmap promises three more weekly costume packs for Kasumi, NiCO, and Tamaki.
Aniplex revealed a new visual and announced that the 'Wazamonogatari: Karen Ogre' episode of the MONOGATARI Series: OFF & MONSTER Season anime will debut in winter 2026. Akiyuki Simbo returns as chief director, Midori Yoshizawa directs at SHAFT. The episode continues the franchise's Off & Monster Season, which began streaming in July 2024 on ABEMA and Crunchyroll.
Capcom announced the Yasmine Arrives! Fighting Pass for Street Fighter 6, including new ex colors, illustrations, and a Pirate Ship Higemaru mini-game. The DLC character Yasmine joins the roster on August 3 as part of the Year 4 Character Pass, which also adds Arjun, Bosch, and Final Fantasy VII's Tifa.
Leaker KeplerL2 reports that the PlayStation 6's bill of materials has risen to around $960 as of June 2026, driven by a RAM shortage tied to AI demand. Sony president Hideaki Nishino told investors the company will not absorb cost increases, prioritizing profitability over expanding the user base. The expected retail price may approach $1,000.
Sanrio announced the results of its 2026 Character Ranking on Sunday. Pompompurin took first place for the second consecutive year with over 7.1 million votes, followed by Cinnamoroll and Pochacco. Over 70.6 million votes were cast. The ranking also included regional results and new categories.
MSY's brand GRAPHT is releasing new collaboration items for Street Fighter 6's third anniversary, including a sticker set and trading can badges featuring newly drawn art by illustrator Kangu of all 30 playable characters. Pre-orders start July 2 on the GRAPHT official EC site, and the items will also be sold at pop-up stores in Tokyo, Osaka, and Sendai.
Meta Heroes Co., Ltd. will host a free online "Hirosami Webinar" on multiple dates before The Hero Summit 2026, an event organized by its group company Hero Egg Inc. The webinar introduces the summit's concept of combining social issue solving, entertainment, and hero narratives to create a goal stage for children. It targets companies, organizations, educators, and potential sponsors interested in participation methods such as sponsorship, exhibition, speaking, and support.
Immeta Studios and PlayWay announced the prologue version of Life & Shadow: Celestial Call, a game blending cosmic horror with life simulation, will release July 10 on PC via Steam. The prologue offers 1.5 hours of gameplay set in a mountain observatory where players manage daily tasks and uncover dark secrets at night.
The Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association appointed Kis-My-Ft2 member Toshihiro Miyata as the official supporter for Tokyo Game Show 2026. Miyata, known as a gaming enthusiast and co-founder of the YouTube channel Houkago GAMING LIFE, will help promote the event's 30th anniversary. TGS2026 runs September 17-21 at Makuhari Messe.
NASEF JAPAN announced the 4th All-Japan High School eSports Championship at a press conference on June 30. The tournament will keep the same five games as last year but adds a new individual division for Street Fighter 6, split into two leagues by player rank. A Tournament Executive Committee including teacher advisors will now oversee rules and policies.
HIDIVE announced on June 30 that it will exclusively stream the dark fantasy anime adaptation of Kumo Kagyu's light novel series BLADE & BASTARD as part of its 2027 simulcast lineup. The series will be available to subscribers in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and other select markets. The announcement included the release of an English-subtitled teaser trailer. The anime is directed by Tomoki Kobayashi, with series composition by Naruhisa Arakawa, character designs by Rina Iwamoto, and music by Hayato Matsuo. Animation production is handled by studio xingfu. The voice cast includes Makoto Furukawa as Iarumas, Tomori Kusunoki as Garbage, Daiki Yamashita as Raraja, Saori Hayami as Ainikki, and Shion Wakayama as Berkanan. The story follows Iarumas, a man resurrected from death with no memories, who retrieves bodies from a dungeon and eventually partners with a young swordswoman named Garbage. The light novel series, illustrated by so-bin, began in December 2022 and has six volumes. A manga adaptation launched in June 2023 and has eight volumes. HIDIVE president John Ledford said the company is thrilled to add the series to its 2027 slate. Fans at Anime Expo 2026 can attend panels and a voice actor Q&A on July 4.
Beneath the Tangles' Reader's Corner column covers new volumes of The Fake Alchemist, The Remarried Empress, Vagabond Definitive Edition, Insomniacs After School, Blade & Bastard, Girl Crush, and Lycoris Recoil. The review highlights Vagabond Definitive Edition Vol. 5 as a standout, praising its artwork and storytelling.
The music and art festival NIGHT HIKE 2026 in Makuhari has released its key visual and first wave of performers, with around 50 artists announced from a total of over 100 acts across two days. The event takes place October 31 and November 1 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, featuring a cross-genre lineup including PinocchioP, Kanzaki Iori, DUSTCELL, and VTuber groups like KMNZ. Advance early bird tickets are on sale now.
Panache Digital Games released a new video on June 30 explaining the world and protagonist of '1666: Amsterdam'. The action-adventure game, set in 17th-century Amsterdam, follows Noah Brooklyn, a woman from the Zaindaris tribe who uses magic to hunt demons hiding among civilians. A demo is available on PC.
Good Smile Company announced Pop Up Parade figures of angel brothers Polyester and Polyurethane from the new Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt anime. The figures stand about 140mm tall and are scheduled for release in January 2027. A set containing both brothers is also available for pre-order.
BMSG has unveiled the key visual for its fifth annual festival, BMSG FES'26, set for October 10-12 in Odaiba, Tokyo. The event expands to three days for the first time. The visual carries the concept "THE FUTURE IS YOURS." Performing artists include SKY-HI, BE:FIRST, MAZZEL, and Ayumu Imazu. Ticket advance reservations open July 1.
Forza Horizon 6, set in Japan, features an original map connecting famous locations like Mount Haruna, Hakone Nanamagari, Shibuya Scramble Crossing, and Daikoku PA. The game offers both upbeat festival energy and calm mid-speed mountain drives, with detailed recreations of Japanese scenery and road culture.
MUC GAMES announced that the deck-building slot roguelite Slot & Dungeons will leave early access on July 28. The game, which has been in early access on Steam since October 2025, will receive its largest update to date on the same day, adding a fourth character, a new stage, an endless mode, and difficulty level 9.
The text-only RPG Saga & Seeker, where players chat with AI-controlled characters to forge stories, opened the Ink Store on its official portal site on June 29. The store lets players purchase in-game points directly, bypassing Steam, and offers slightly more bonus points than Steam purchases. The game is also 20% off during the Steam Summer Sale until July 10.
The largest-ever BL real event, Boys Love Tokyo 2026, ran June 27-28 at Ikebukuro Sunshine City. It featured nine experiential exhibitions, a BL Shrine with fortune slips and votive tablets, 81 newly drawn character panels, a kink chart diagnosis, a pop-up cafe, merchandise sales, and stages with authors and voice actors.
Koei Tecmo announced on June 29 that the Dead or Alive 6 series has exceeded 1 million cumulative sales worldwide, combining packaged shipments and download sales. The milestone comes alongside the June 25 release of Dead or Alive 6 Last Round, a new version adding Photo Mode, five DLC characters, and new costumes, plus a free-to-play version.