Pokémon show's first poster gives A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms vibes
🎮 Multi-platformNews
🎮 Pokémon🎮 Pokemon#Pokémon#Pokemon Sword and Shield

Pokémon show's first poster gives A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms vibes

Polygon RSS FeedTomas Franzese2 min read(2 months ago)

Overview & Key Takeaways

Aardman's and The Pokémon Company's Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu takes place in Pokémon Sword and Shield's Galar region

On the first day of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Aardman and The Pokémon Company updated us on Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu and shared the first poster for the stop-motion animated series.

Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu was first announced in 2024 and got its first teaser in 2025. At the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, attendees were shown footage from the pilot. Aardman and The Pokémon Company also confirmed that the show will be set in Galar, the region where Pokémon Sword and Shield take place and where Sirfetch’d first appeared. That's fitting, considering Galar is based on the United Kingdom and Aardman is a British animation studio. That Britishness also comes across in the first poster:

Pokemon_Tales_The_Misadventures_of_Sirfetch’d_Pichu_Key_Art_2x3_EN (1) Image: Aardman/The Pokemon Company

The pairing of Sirfetch'd and Pichu on the poster even reminds me of promotional materials for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, although this show will be much more kid-friendly than that Game of Thrones spin-off.

Aardman chief creative director Sarah Cox stated in a press release that the show will embrace "comedic storytelling that celebrates the quirks, eccentricities and charms of our heroes as they explore Galar on a delightfully offbeat quest." Considering Sirfetch'd is about to walk off a cliff in that poster, that description seems about right.

An official synopsis in that press release offers a little more insight into the plot. Sirfetch'd and Pichu are apparently working together to protect Pokémon in the wilds of the Galar region. "Their missions rarely go as planned, but their noble deeds forge their friendship as they step bravely into the unknown," the synopsis teases. "Peril, alliances and rivalries, extraordinary Pokémon, and endless laughs await them."

Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu will be released sometime in 2027. As a big fan of Pokémon and Aardman's other stop-motion animated work, I can't wait to watch it, even if we don't yet know which streaming service it will air on.

Share:

More in Multi-platform

Michael B. Jordan’s Near-Perfect Action Trilogy Is About to Leave Netflix🎮 Multi-platform

Michael B. Jordan’s Near-Perfect Action Trilogy Is About to Leave Netflix

Creed, Creed II, and Creed III are all about to leave Netflix. Catch the Michael B. Jordan movies, featuring Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa

🎮 s Near-Perfect Action Trilogy
PolygonNewsabout 5 hours ago
It’s A Good Week If You Like Games That Let You Play As An Animal🎮 PlayStation, Xbox, Multi-platform

It’s A Good Week If You Like Games That Let You Play As An Animal

After Gamescom Opening Night Live(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gamescom-opening-night-live-2026-all-the-biggest-announcements-games-and-trailers/) and the Future Games Show, we can't help noticing that there are multiple titles coming up that let players either assume control of an animal or play anthropomorphic characters who resemble human/animal hybrids. To keep track of these upcoming titles, we ran down a full list of animal-centric games below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuYhh4zSTlA Amphibian Developer: Jarcorp Interactive Systems: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch Release Date: 2028 Amphibian(https://www.gamespot.com/games/amphibian/) is a retro RPG that casts players as humanoid frogs on a quest to save their world. As seen in the trailer below, the game apparently commits to its froggy bit by recording all of the dialogue as ribbit sounds. However, the English translations appear on-screen. https://youtu.be/0rMcYmfuwTY Bye Bye Bonnie Developer: Brainwash Gang and Raw Fury Systems: PC Release Date: TBD Bye Bye Bonnie is also a four-player co-op adventure at a decidedly smaller scale. These creatures are minuscule compared to the world around them. Even their ship is small, although it's large enough that the characters have to jump up and down on the controls to guide it through the obstacles ahead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Illo-K0Jsvo Haunted Paws Developer: LazyFlock Systems: PC, Switch, Switch 2 Release Date: TBD Haunted Paws is a "cozy co-op horror" adventure that puts players in control of two puppies that have to rescue their owner from a haunted mansion. These dogs are more conventional than Amphibian's frogs, but they still find ways to drive cars and play video games while staying one paw ahead of some malicious ghosts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7K6kahO2Ak Gravhounds Developer: Octopus Panic Systems: PC, Xbox Series X|S Release Date: November 2 Conversely, Gravhounds(https://www.gamespot.com/games/gravhounds/) leans even harder into anthropomorphic canine heroes with very human-like dogs who have been sent across the galaxy to colonize a planet. It's unclear how these dogs were bred into humanoid beings, but they share a desire to earn a trip back home. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6-POrGg-yI DNA Nemesis Developer: Catalisol Limited and Aeternum Game Studios Systems: PC Release Date: December 2026 The third-person shooter DNA Nemesis appears to have some thematic overlap with Gravhounds. In this game, the player characters appear to be humans with animal traits genetically engineered into their bodies. Some of them even have animal heads, which may give them an advantage in combat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12vIaNtmaZ8 Zoopunk Developer: TiGames Systems: PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 Release Date: TBD Zoopunk also seems to go over similar territory, but with more polish than DNA Nemesis. In this game, anthropomorphic animals wage a war against deadly machines in a futuristic world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJUjs3YC90 Stray Dog: Nobody Cares Developer: Parry Frames Studio. Systems: PC Release Date: TBD The fantasy adventure Stay Dog: Nobody Cares was announced before Gamescom, but it also continues the trend of animal titles that are coming down the line. In this case, players step into the paws of a sword-wielding dog on a quest.

🎮 Control
GameSpotNewsabout 6 hours ago
Portal-Like Shooter Splitgate Died Once, And It’s Dying Again … Kind Of🎮 Multi-platform

Portal-Like Shooter Splitgate Died Once, And It’s Dying Again … Kind Of

Some games just aren't long for this world, and that’s exactly the case with the Portal-like and Halo-like shooter Splitgate: Arena Reloaded(Arena Reloaded), which is getting put on a form of life support starting in early September. Developer 1047 Games took to X on August 26(https://x.com/1047Games/status/2092654331841724551) to announce the news. In a lengthy statement, the team shared that active development for Splitgate: Arena Reloaded is ending, effective immediately. At the same time, the team's other game, the 6v6 Titanfall-like movement shooter Empulse(https://www.gamespot.com/games/empulse/), will also no longer receive any more updates. https://twitter.com/1047Games/status/2092654331841724551 "The reality is that neither game is generating enough revenue to support the ongoing cost of dedicated servers," 1047 Games said. "We have continued covering the costs because we wanted to give both games every opportunity to grow, but we have reached the point where that is no longer sustainable. We have loved working on these games, playing them, and building them with this community, and we wish we could continue supporting them." Despite development ending for both games, 1047 Games said that neither one will simply get shut down. Instead, both Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded have been "reworked to support peer-to-peer play." So, starting September 3, the dedicated servers will go offline, and both games will be playable for the foreseeable future through a P2P server-hosting browser. This means that you'll only be able to find matches when other people are online and hosting games instead of relying on servers to find games for you. This is exactly what happened with the first Splitgate(https://www.gamespot.com/games/splitgate/) in August 2025. Released in 2019, the dedicated servers went offline on August 29, 2025, and entered a similar peer-to-peer multiplayer environment. It's a bit of a bummer, actually. Originally released as Splitgate 2 before re-entering a beta form in June 2025 and returning as Splitgate: Arena Reloaded in December 2025, the game was giving Portal(https://www.gamespot.com/games/portal/)-like mechanics, Halo(https://www.gamespot.com/?gamefranchise=halo)-esque shooting, and Quake(https://www.gamespot.com/games/quake/)-like movement in a very fast-paced environment. As a sequel to Splitgate, it also expanded what the original did by adding a 60-player battle royale mode and a map creator called the Lab. Unfortunately, now, Splitgate: Arena Reloaded will get nothing new to make it exciting and fresh again. On the other hand, Empulse will receive one final update sometime soon that adds a new map, along with a cross-regional price cut. After this, what you see is what you get.

🎮 Halo
GameSpotNewsabout 8 hours ago