Most weeks in the gaming world tend to float by with one or two really major pieces of news, but this week was special; for the first time in many years, a brand new console was announced.
That’s right: Nintendo finally announced the Switch 2 in full this week, including how much it would cost and what games would be available for it on day one.
We will, of course, get to that, but we don’t want Nintendo to completely hog the limelight, so let’s take a look at some of the things that have been happening in the gaming world this week!
Monster Hunter Wilds has sold 10 million copies
Capcom’s latest Monster Hunter game continues to go from strength to strength; this week, the company announced that its Monster Hunter Wilds has sold 10 million copies to date.
Given that the game has only been available for around a month, that’s a pretty impressive number, and it continues to solidify Wilds’ lead as the best-selling Monster Hunter game, as well as Capcom’s highest-performing game in general.
It’s likely that Monster Hunter Wilds will continue to go from strength to strength; we wouldn’t be surprised if the game manages to hit 20 million by summer.
RuneScape: Dragonwilds brings survival-crafters to the world of RuneScape
RuneScape, one of the world’s longest-running MMOs, is getting a survival-crafting spinoff in the form of RuneScape: Dragonwilds, developer Jagex announced this week.
Dragonwilds takes you to the land of Ashenfall, which takes place on the planet of Gielinor, just like the rest of RuneScape (and, indeed, its more retro cousin Old School RuneScape).
The game looks like exactly what you’d expect from a survival-focused spinoff of RuneScape, and you’ll be able to get your hands on it on PC in spring.
April Fools’ Day wreaks havoc on the gaming world
Lest we forget, this week also gave rise to April Fools’ Day, and there were plenty of pranksters lining up to deliver jokes that ranged from the obvious to the more subtle.
Dave the Diver Remastered, for instance, was Mintrocket’s promise to remake the original game with more realistic graphics, while PowerWash Simulator introduced “quin-wielding” (i.e. wielding five cleaning tools at once).
As news writers, we’re usually not the biggest fans of April Fools’ Day, but we’ll readily admit to being curmudgeons, and this year had some pretty solid jokes in store for the faithful.
Nintendo Switch 2 officially unveiled
Well, we can’t really put it off any longer, can we? The Nintendo Switch 2 was announced this week, and it’ll cost you around £400 in the UK, with that number jumping to about £430 for a bundle with a game.
Mario Kart World is the system’s biggest launch title, but in the first few months of its release, we’ll also see Donkey Kong’s first 3D platformer for many years, as well as lots of ports and remasters from other studios.
The console will come with a 1080p screen, a dock that supports 4K resolution, and support for up to 120fps in certain games, and remastered versions of original Switch games like Breath of the Wild are coming as well.
Additionally, the long-awaited GameCube library is finally coming to the Switch 2 via Switch Online, with a number of GameCube games available to Expansion Pack members at launch and more on the way afterwards.
FromSoftware announces The Duskbloods for Switch 2
Hidetaka Miyazaki’s legendary action RPG studio FromSoftware was one of the companies lining up to give the Switch 2 its much-needed exclusives; the developer’s latest game, The Duskbloods, will be one such title.
Much like Elden Ring Nightreign, The Duskbloods will also be a multiplayer-focused title, although this one has a strange mishmash setting that Miyazaki says comes from a sort of collapse caused by an apocalyptic event.
What we saw in the trailer was characters clashing with each other and with monsters in a setting inspired by everything from Victoriana to sci-fi, so this one promises to be unique, if nothing else.
It’s worth noting that Miyazaki himself has said that The Duskbloods and Nightreign don’t mean the company is moving away from single-player games, so you’ll still get your Elden Rings and your Sekiros, don’t worry.
A US trade group strikes out at Trump’s tariffs
If you’ve been keeping up with the news outside the gaming industry, then you’ll likely have seen the sweeping tariffs introduced by US president Donald Trump this week.
Major US industry body the ESA has struck out at the tariffs, claiming that they will have “a real and detrimental impact” on the gaming industry as a whole.
Given that much of the industry’s manufacturing base is in some of the countries that will be hardest-hit by the tariffs, it’s hard to disagree with the ESA’s assessment on this one.
Sims competitor inZoi hits a million sales
Late March saw the release of Sims-style game inZoi, and Krafton announced this week that the game has already managed to surpass a million sales.
Krafton says the number “feels unreal” and that players’ feedback and support has shaped the game “in ways [Krafton] never could have imagined”.
Much like Monster Hunter Wilds, it’s likely that this figure will increase exponentially in the coming weeks as more folks discover inZoi, and the game is still in Early Access, so it’s early days yet (quite literally!).
Switch 2 pre-orders get delayed because of tariffs
Pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 were due to go live on April 9th, but in the US, they were delayed late this week owing to the aforementioned tariffs imposed by Donald Trump.
Nintendo said the delays were due to the company assessing the potential impact of the tariffs, as well as “evolving market conditions”, which suggests that a price increase in the US could be imminent.
Given that the price of the console seems to be one of the major sticking points for many, we can’t imagine that a further price increase would prove particularly popular.
