When will Nintendo spill the beans on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (2026)? Will we really get that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake in 2028? And why is Square Enix nuking its Final Fantasy XIV mobile spinoff before it’s even been released to most of the world? That’s right! Morning Checkpoint, Kotaku‘s roundup of news, rumors, and gaming culture, is back after an extended (and unannounced) summer break. At least we finally know where the explosive diarrhea is coming from.
This is your edition for July 17, 2026, coming to you from the thick cloud of Canadian forest fire exhaust that’s currently blanketing the Northeast. It’s been another banner week for vandalizing tech. Won’t someone think of the Meta Ray-Bans?
I missed a few days after heading to Los Angeles for Summer Game Fest back in June and then enjoyed the break from daily roundups so much that I just quietly stopped writing them altogether for…six weeks now? My plan now is to move Morning Checkpoint to a weekly post instead of a daily one. The format will likely also evolve to compensate for the shift in cadence. If you have thoughts for what you think would be most useful or interesting to you, the readers, you can share your feedback in the comments or email me at [email protected].
For now, let’s get to the good stuff.
Dubious Ocarina of Time pre-order and price rumors swirl as fans beg for a Nintendo Direct
Overnight, someone claimed to have captured a brief glimpse of a pre-order date for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake in a Google search result for the GameStop page. It was shared on the Zelda subreddit and quickly made the rounds. The screengrab included “08/04/2026 PRE-ORDER” in the SEO fields. While it seemed like bullshit or pure hopium, it certainly wouldn’t be shocking if Nintendo did do a broader reveal of the game around that time.
Prior to this, fans were also picking over an apparent placeholder listing on the PlayAsia store that included a price of $60. There’s no evidence to suggest it was anything other than the physical game retailer taking a stab in the dark at what the Ocarina of Time remake might cost once Nintendo makes that information official.
Fans wouldn’t normally pay close attention to store listings or pre-order dates, but the lack of any real information about the new version of the game has left room for imaginations to run wild. Will it be a true re-imagining of an N64 classic, or an HD coat of paint like the recent Star Fox remake? Anything less than a physical version price tag of $80 would suggest the latter.
A Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake by 2028?
Earlier this week, Epic Games Store general manager Steve Allison joined Saber Interactive as chief business officer, where he quickly made news with a comment mentioning the MIA KOTOR remake. “My job isn’t to squeeze money from sabers products through tactics like that,” he wrote in response to a Space Marine 2 fan on reddit who was worried about aggressive monetization.
Allison continued, “We are preparing to do more self publishing and I’m here to organize the group in preparation of the lineup forming for 2028 (like when I came to telltale in 2010, also no mtx company) that includes space marine, wick, hopefully kotor remake and a few unannounced titles. As a company saber has never pursued mtx it’s not how we do our products.”
Saber previously confirmed the game was still in development but has yet to provide any further updates since taking over the troubled project several years ago. The company tried to downplay expectations for a reveal any time soon. “Steve was responding to a player primarily asking about plans for microtransactions in future titles, and he was speaking broadly, not officially, about the future slate of Saber games, which he’s incredibly excited about,” a Saber spokesperson told IGN.
Square Enix pulls the plug on Final Fantasy XIV Mobile before it’s even released
The game, which is already out in China, is ending prematurely. “Due to adjustments in business operations and changes in the market environment, Tencent and Square Enix have, through amicable negotiation, decided to terminate the licensing agreement for FINAL FANTASY XIV MOBILE (Chinese Edition),” the publisher announced on Friday. This means the global version isn’t coming out at all.
“To everyone who has been looking forward to the global version, we also offer our sincere apologies for being unable to meet your expectations,” Square Enix wrote. The mobile port was first announced by MMO director Naoki Yoshida only two years ago.
Top Gun brings a 20-year-old mode back in Battlefield 6
Season 4 arrives in the multiplayer shooter on July 21 with naval warfare and a massive new map called Tsuru Reef. However, according to a new roadmap, a second phase of content arriving on August 18 will bring back an old Battlefield map called Wake Island, with aircraft carrier spawns and beach assaults. This will go live in the game alongside a Top Gun crossover event called Top Gun: Carrier Strike.
It’s modeled after the Carrier Assault mode from Battlefield 4, which was in turn based on Battlefield 2142‘s Titan mode from 2006. Players had to sink the opposing team’s aircraft carrier by completing match objectives. According to the developers, the mode has been modernized for Battlefield 6.
Dead Space director and Call of Duty veteran Glen Schofield is retiring
The longtime video game industry creative had been shopping around a new horror game but doesn’t appear to have gotten any funding. “This is an amazing industry with so many talented people,” he said in a video on LinkedIn this week. “And I know times are tough right now, but man, the future ahead is really, really bright. And I wish you all, the next generation of game makers, the best of luck. Explore, experiment, enjoy. And don’t forget that the most important thing is the idea.”
Despite estimated sales of around 5 to 7 million copies, Schofield’s last game, the space horror action-adventure The Callisto Protocol, reportedly underperformed for publisher Krafton. The studio that made it, Striking Distance, was hit with heavy layoffs but remains “operational,” whatever that means.
