April is flying by, and this week is shaping up to be a standout for PS5 players and anyone who loves offbeat indie games. And we do love our indie games.
Here’s a quick look at the biggest news and releases that caught our attention this week:
The Big Headlines
- Starfield on PS5: Starfield finally landed on PlayStation 5 this Tuesday, ending its long run as an exclusive. The launch comes with the Terran Armada expansion, which dropped for all platforms at the same time.
- Pokémon Champions Arrival: Pokémon Champions just launched for both the original Switch and the new Switch 2. It’s the first big Pokémon game to connect both generations in such a direct way.
- Housemarque’s “Saros” Details: New gameplay emerged for Housemarque’s upcoming PS5 exclusive, Saros (due April 30). Described as a spiritual successor to Returnal, it stars Rahul Kohli (Midnight Mass, iZombie) and features a world that physically shifts whenever you die on Carcosa.
- No Man’s Sky Xeno Arena Update: Hello Games just rolled out a huge free update that lets you capture and battle creatures across the galaxy, taking a page from Pokémon’s playbook.
Major Releases This Week
If you’re after something new to play, here are the standout releases from the past few days:
| April 7 | Starfield | PS5 (New Port) | Sci-Fi RPG |
| April 7 | People of Note | PC, PS5, XSX, NS2 | Life Sim/RPG |
| April 8 | Pokémon Champions | Switch, Switch 2 | Creature Collector |
| April 8 | The Occultist | PC, PS5, XSX | Narrative Horror |
| April 8 | ChainStaff | All Platforms | Action Platformer |
| April 10 | Tiny Bookshop | PS5, NS2 | Wholesome Sim |
Industry & Tech News
- China Takes the Lead: China has now edged out the U.S. as the world’s biggest gaming market, grabbing a 24.2% share according to a new white paper.
- Tariff Turmoil: Hardware suppliers are still seeing price swings after the Supreme Court’s recent decision on the Liberation Day tariffs, but console prices in the Philippines haven’t budged yet.
- Lucas Pope & AI: Lucas Pope, the mind behind Papers, Please and Return of the Obra Dinn, is making news for keeping his next project under wraps. He says he’s worried about how AI scrapers are impacting indie devs.
Coming Up Next Week: Watch for Hades II and the moody 2.5D cyberpunk platformer Replaced, both dropping April 14.