Money Monday Aug. 10th

Money Monday – August 10, 2026

Welcome back to another Money Monday. This week's got a stacked release calendar, a massive GTA 6 announcement, Sony doubling down on killing physical media, and a brand-new Marvel fighter already drowning in its own corporate bullshit. Let's get into it.

🎮 New Releases This Week (Aug 10–17)

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered – Aug 11 (Switch 2)

The full remaster hits Switch 2 this week with all DLC included — Shivering Isles, Knights of the Nine, the works. Physical cartridge confirmed. If you missed this one back in 2006 or you want to close shut the jaws of Oblivion on the go, here's your shot. Read PohnDip's Oblivion review to see why this game defined an entire generation of open-world RPGs.

Grounded 2 (Game Preview) – Aug 11 (Xbox, PC, Cloud)

Obsidian's backyard survival sequel hits Game Pass Premium day one. Early access with the "Into the Abyss" update. If you liked the first one, you know what you're getting — shrunk down, fighting bugs, building bases out of grass clippings.

Phantom Blade Zero – Pre-Orders Open Aug 11 (PS5, PC)

S-GAME officially confirmed Phantom Blade Zero has gone gold ahead of its October 29 launch. Pre-orders open this week alongside an 11-minute story trailer. This one's been turning heads since its first gameplay reveal — fast, stylish, Chinese wuxia action. Keep your eyes on it.

Helldivers 2 x Warhammer 40,000 – Aug 12 (PS5, PC)

The crossover nobody expected but everybody wants. Legendary Warbond drops August 12 bringing Warhammer 40K cosmetics and gear into Helldivers 2. For the Emperor, I guess.

Hell Let Loose: Vietnam – Aug 13 (PS5, Xbox, PC)

50v50 mil-sim set in Vietnam with full crossplay on day one between PC, PS5, and Xbox. Delayed from June to August so the devs could deliver a "stronger launch experience." Six maps at launch — dense jungles, rice fields, rivers, beaches. Helicopters are in. 17 battle roles. If you're into tactical shooters that don't hold your hand, this is your game this week. If you've never tried the original, read my Hell Let Loose review — it's the dad-tier shooter that rewards patience over reflexes.

Gears of War: E-Day Open Beta – Aug 13–17 (Xbox, PC)

FREE for everyone. No pre-order, no Game Pass required. The Coalition is opening the doors wide for the open beta weekend — Horde Siege (co-op PvE) and 4v4 Versus mode. Rewards carry to the full game at launch (October 6): hit level 20 for the Blast Damage Mags character skin, plus the Crush the Bug weapon skin set, banner, emblem, and "First in the Fight" title. If you've been sleeping on Gears, this is a zero-risk way to see what E-Day is about.

EA Sports Madden NFL 27 – Aug 13 (Switch 2, PS5, Xbox, PC)

Full launch. The 10-hour trial has been live on Game Pass since Aug 6. It's Madden. You already know if you're buying it or not.

Duskfade – Aug 13 (Switch 2, PS5, Xbox, PC)

3D action platformer with Jak & Daxter energy — jumping, gliding, sliding, swinging through dynamic levels with fast-paced combat mixed in. Could be a sleeper hit.

Also on Game Pass This Week:

• Bounty Star (Aug 11) – Premium

• Date Everything! (Aug 11) – Ultimate/Premium/PC

• Ball x Pit (Aug 12) – Premium

• Cricket 26 (Aug 13) – Ultimate/Premium/PC

• Mio: Memories in Orbit (Aug 13) – Premium

• Sandustry (Aug 13, PC only) – Ultimate/PC

Leaving Game Pass Aug 15:

• Menace

• Atlas Fallen

• Aliens: Fireteam Elite

• Firewatch

If you haven't finished any of these, you've got five days. Firewatch is a 3-hour game — no excuses.

🆓 Free / Subscription Highlights

PS Plus Extra: Ghost Recon Wildlands is now in the catalog with its brand-new free 4K/60fps update. Ubisoft dropped this as part of the Ghost Recon 25th Anniversary celebration last week, alongside a free story mission and the confirmation that a new mainline Ghost Recon is in development. If you're subbed to Extra, it costs you nothing to check it out.

🔥 The Big Story: GTA 6 Extended Look – Aug 27 on Netflix

This is the one. The third trailer — and almost certainly the first real gameplay reveal — for Grand Theft Auto VI premieres exclusively on Netflix at 3 PM ET on August 27. YouTube gets it six hours later at 9 PM ET. This is going to break the internet and I'm not exaggerating.

Here's everything we know heading into the reveal:

• Release date: November 19, 2026 — PS5 and Xbox Series X|S only. No PC at launch. Rockstar hasn't announced a PC version at all, following their usual pattern of making you wait a year or two.

• Price: $79.99 Standard / $99.99 Ultimate Edition.

• Setting: Vice City and the State of Leonida — Rockstar's fictional Florida. Dual protagonists Lucia and Jason. Named locations include Leonida Keys, Port Gellhorn, Ambrosia, Grassrivers, and Mount Kalaga National Park. Map estimated at 2x+ the size of GTA V.

• Pre-orders: The strongest pre-order campaign ever recorded according to analysts. $260 million globally in the first week alone. Projections put launch-week sales between $3.3 and $5.2 BILLION — that's 37 to 51 million copies in seven days. For context, GTA V made $1 billion in three days back in 2013. GTA 6 is tracking to obliterate that.

• No disc: "Physical" copies are a download code in a box. No actual disc exists. This dropped alongside Sony's announcement that they're killing disc manufacturing entirely in January 2028. The gaming industry is sprinting toward all-digital whether you like it or not.

• Japan code expiry: Download codes in Japan expire 170 days after printing due to the Payment Services Act. Deadline: May 8, 2027. Here's the kicker though — GTA barely moves units in Japan anyway. GTA V on PS4 sold roughly 213,000 copies there. That's less than 3% of global sales. For context, Splatoon Raiders just did 500,000 in ONE WEEK in Japan. The entire GTA franchise is a rounding error in that market. So the expiring codes are a bad look, but they're affecting approximately nobody.

• Region-locked PS5 codes: PS5 download codes are region-locked in multiple territories. Xbox codes are not. Another L for PlayStation's digital-only push.

• Delay rumors: Former Rockstar dev Mike York publicly speculated a possible slip to May 2027 — but immediately clarified he has no inside information. Rockstar hasn't budged from November 19. Given the pre-order numbers, they have every financial incentive to ship on time.

• GTA Online map tease: Players found a framed painting in The Kortz Center Heist update that appears to show the Leonida map when rotated and mirrored. Rockstar hasn't commented. Community is losing its mind over it.

📱 Social Media Buzz

Sony Slaps "Death of Discs" Warning Sticker on PS5 Boxes

New PS5 units are now shipping with a sticker on the retail box that reads:

"IMPORTANT NOTICE: Starting in January 2028, new PlayStation game releases will be available for purchase on PlayStation Store and through retailers exclusively in digital format. Game discs released before January 2028 will continue to be compatible with this console."

Sony acknowledged the backlash during their Q1 2026 earnings call but confirmed they're moving forward regardless. Their CFO's argument? PS5 is still more affordable than a gaming PC, and the disc controversy won't hurt business. Meanwhile, there are now six active antitrust proceedings against Sony over this move, and legal experts are pointing out that the warning sticker actually undermines Sony's own defense in those cases. Fans are organizing a PlayStation boycott for August. The audacity of slapping a death notice on a product you're still selling at full price is almost impressive.

💥 Fail of the Week

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls — Review Bombed on Day One

Arc System Works' Marvel tag fighter launched August 6 on PS5 and PC, and within 24 hours it was sitting at "Mixed" on Steam with over half of ~1,500 reviews negative. The game itself? Reportedly gorgeous and fun as hell — a worthy successor to the Marvel vs. Capcom legacy. DayOne called it "super fun, very accessible, and utterly gorgeous." The actual fighting game underneath is great.

So what went wrong? Sony's fingerprints are all over this disaster:

• Mandatory PSN account required on PC just to play

• Sony's SDK running in the background causing performance issues

• Blocked in 130+ countries because PSN doesn't operate there

• No Linux/SteamOS support despite the Steam Deck crowd being a massive fighting game audience

• No review copies sent to critics before launch — always a red flag

A great game buried under corporate bullshit. Classic Sony. If you're on PS5 you'll probably have a blast. If you're on PC, good luck navigating the minefield they built around it.

Honorable Mention: Beast of Reincarnation

Game Freak's first non-Pokémon action RPG launched to a Metacritic 73. Combat is praised as excellent — Vice gave it 9.5/10, GamesRadar 9/10 — but the story is dull, the open world feels empty, the camera is rough, and the text is too damn small. At $59.99, it's a tough sell when the world feels like a budget AA game wearing expensive graphics. Game Freak already announced they're "actively incorporating user feedback" with patches for story pacing and text size coming. Not a disaster, but not the breakout they were hoping for either. We've got two takes on this one — read my Beast of Reincarnation review and PohnDip's Beast of Reincarnation review for the full picture.

🎬 Streamer Drama

Nmplol vs. Zoil — The Self-Gifting Scandal

British streamer Zoil got caught anonymously gifting 20 subs to his OWN Twitch channel on July 30 to kickstart a Hype Train. A clip went viral. When confronted at Ludwig's Streamer Games 2026, Zoil doubled down without a shred of remorse: "Bro, I ain't apologizing for that... I was trying to start a Hype Train. It is what it is."

Nmplol (Nick Polom) called him out publicly and the whole thing devolved into an ugly back-and-forth. Zoil's defense is basically "I don't care" — which, respect the honesty I guess — but gaming your own sub count to trigger community spending is scummy no matter how you spin it. You're manipulating your audience's FOMO to line your own pockets. That ain't hustle, that's grift.

🃏 Card Game & TCG News

• Magic: The Gathering – The Hobbit — Prereleases kicked off August 7. Full set release is August 14. This is the next Universes Beyond set following up the massive Lord of the Rings crossover. If LOTR was any indication, expect chase cards to be expensive and supply to move fast. Hit your local game store this week for prerelease events if you haven't already.

📅 Coming Later This Month (Mark Your Calendar)

• Aug 18: Egging On (Game Pass)

• Aug 27: Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 — MGS4 on PC for the FIRST TIME EVER alongside Peace Walker HD. Eighteen years of PlayStation exclusivity, finally over.

• Aug 27: Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy — Game Pass day one

• Aug 27: Star Wars Zero Company (PS5, Xbox, PC)

• Aug 27: GTA 6 Extended Look — Netflix premiere at 3 PM ET

• Aug 28: Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition (Switch 2) — FromSoftware's masterpiece hits portable. If you've never ventured into the Lands Between, read my Elden Ring review for an honest newcomer's take.

August 27 is going to be one of the biggest days in gaming this year. GTA 6 gameplay, MGS4 on PC, Star Wars, and Plague Tale all on the same day. Clear your schedule.

That's your Money Monday. Go save some cash, play some betas, and get ready — because the back half of August is about to hit like a freight train. See you next week.