Gamers, grab your energy drinks and your bingo cards—this week was a banger. Not only did the pre-Game Awards hype reach fever pitch (with more leaks than a Bethesda QA session), but the news cycle was jam-packed with industry shakeups, juicy reveals, and the kind of drama that makes you glad you’re not PR for a AAA studio. Let’s break it down, snark and all.

**Game Awards 2025: Leaks, Legends, and Lara Croft’s Big Return**
The biggest story in gaming is, of course, The Game Awards. Geoff Keighley’s glitzy hype-fest is upon us, and the internet has been busier than a Soulslike subreddit during patch notes. We’ve already had half the show leak early: Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis is officially real (sorry Geoff, you can’t outpace ResetEra). Legacy of Atlantis looks to be a remake of the OG Tomb Raider, merging classic Lara Croft with her modern reboot self. Screenshots and box art hit social media hours before anyone could say “World Premiere.”

007: First Light also had its own “oops” moment when Lenny Kravitz was outed as a Bond villain. Yes, you read that right: Kravitz is playing Bawma, a crocodile-pit-happy black market kingpin. If he doesn’t sing the theme song, it’s a missed opportunity. Meanwhile, Divinity fans are losing their minds over a Mojave desert statue and a fresh trademark, basically confirming Larian’s next project is a new Divinity game—not Divinity: Original Sin 3, mind you, but something big and demonic. Expect more officially-official reveals tonight, but let’s be honest: the leaks have already won.

**Bethesda: Skyrim Forever… But At What Cost?**
Speaking of leaks and legends, Bethesda shadowdropped Skyrim on Nintendo Switch 2 this week. Let’s check the meme clock: Skyrim is now available on more platforms than Mario, Doom, and Solitaire combined. But fans are calling the port a “disaster.” Performance is janky, input lag is real, and the game eats up 53GB of space—way bigger than it should be. Even Todd Howard is laughing about it, saying, “It’s a bit of a joke at this point how often we release Skyrim, but it’s a great game.” At this rate, Skyrim will outlive the cockroaches.

But wait, there’s more! A live-action trailer for Skyrim on Switch 2 might have teased the Elder Scrolls 6 release year (2027? Or are we just reading too much into a skill check?). Meanwhile, Todd Howard says Fallout is now Bethesda’s most active franchise. That’s right: while Elder Scrolls 6 is still marinating in the oven, Fallout is getting all the attention, with Fallout 5 still a distant glimmer.

**Union Busting, Legal Drama, and Rockstar’s PR Dumpster Fire**
Rockstar’s firing of 31 GTA 6 developers over alleged union-busting has reached the UK’s Prime Minister, who called the situation “deeply concerning” and promised a ministerial investigation. Rockstar says the firings were due to leaks about “specific game features” in Discord, not union activity. The IWGB union isn’t buying it. The story’s got more twists than a GTA heist, and with legal claims incoming, it’s not going away anytime soon.

**Pokémon: Remote Trading Arrives (and Card Thieves Strike Again)**
After nearly a decade, Pokémon Go finally lets you trade remotely, but only after you grind up to “Forever Friends” status. Fans are thrilled—unless you’re a regional completionist, in which case, RIP your bragging rights. Meanwhile, Pokémon TCG heists are still a thing: thieves in California made off with $100,000 worth of cards in less than three minutes. Somewhere, Team Rocket is taking notes.

**Monster Hunter Wilds, Battlefield 6, and Other Patch Panic**
Monster Hunter Wilds is promising major PC performance fixes after a bumpy launch, while Battlefield 6’s Winter Offensive update introduced more bugs than it fixed, breaking menus, stuttering gameplay, and confusing the fanbase to the point that BF Studios had to issue a public apology and lay out an emergency roadmap. It’s been a week for “unexpected behavior”—and that’s just the devs.

**Other Headlines You Shouldn’t Miss:**
- Riot’s Riftbound TCG is blowing up, with a new set (Spiritforged) on the horizon and players struggling to find product in stores. Move over, Magic—the League crowd is here for cardboard glory.
- Arrowhead casually revealed Helldivers 2 is prototyping a roguelite mode. Coop chaos, coming soon (maybe).
- Lords of the Fallen 2.5 update shadowdropped hours before the sequel’s Game Awards showing. Veteran mode, fresh boss behaviors—git gud or get out.
- Creative Assembly basically confirmed a Warhammer 40,000 Total War at TGA, thanks to a sneaky file name in a dev video. Subtlety? Never heard of her.
- Jim Ward—voice of Captain Qwark and gaming legend—passed away. RIP to a true icon.

**And Finally… Fortnite Adds Kim Kardashian Skins.**
No, you’re not dreaming. Kim K joins the Icon Series alongside Snoop Dogg and Ariana Grande. If you ever wanted to see Kim Kardashian floss on Master Chief, this is your moment. The metaverse is now complete.

That’s it for this week, folks. By the time you read this, The Game Awards will have dropped another payload of world premieres, celebrity cameos, and memes for the ages. But remember: no matter what gets announced, Skyrim will get another port, and Lara Croft will always find a new tomb to raid.

Stay snarky, stay passionate—PixelPulse out.