Will we ever get a new Chrono Trigger game? Will Netflix ever deliver one of its many promised video game movies? Will we ever get a new Trails RPG on Xbox? It’s your Morning Checkpoint for April 17, 2026, where today I’m embracing a shorter runtime than Christopher Nolan’s reportedly three-hour-long Odyssey movie.
Whatever else you do today, make sure it includes reading (or at least bookmarking) this mammoth investigation into Knicks owner Jim Dolan’s Madison Square Garden surveillance state, including how some of this summer’s World Cup stadiums will be cataloging every human face that enters them.
Chrono Trigger goes plastic
📢彩色原型初公開📢
クロノ・トリガー FORM-ISM クロノ
クロノ・トリガー FORM-ISM マール本日より池袋PARCOで開催中の #スクエニPOPUP 会場にて、フィギュアの彩色原型を初公開✨
5/10(日)まで展示予定ですので、ご来場の際はぜひお見逃しなく🔎… pic.twitter.com/wU61ZdbAGN— SQUARE ENIX Official Goods (@SQEX_MD_GOODS) April 17, 2026
Square Enix revealed prototypes for upcoming FORM-ISM statues of both Chrono and Marle. They will seemingly be for sale at the Ikebukuro PARCO store in Japan, with hopes of being able to pre-order them abroad at some point in the future. The RPG publisher has been significantly ramping up its merchandise operation in recent years, so maybe this is just another low-stakes collaboration aimed at millennial nostalgia.
Or. OR. It might be laying the groundwork for a long-rumored, highly anticipated remake of one of the best games ever made. I wrote previously that Chrono Trigger doesn’t really need a remake, but I’ll definitely play the hell out of one. Following ongoing slip-ups by Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii, an HD-2D remake in the style of this year’s Dragon Quest VII Reimagined feels increasingly possible.
The DRAM surge hits another handheld maker
AYN just announced on Discord that it’s changing specs and raising some prices. “We are now facing a difficult situation with UFS storage,” the statement reads. “Due to supply shortages and significant cost increases, IFS 4.0 is no longer available at a sustainable level. As a result, Thor and Odin 3 will transition to UFS 3.1 moving forward.” The Thor Max model, featuring 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, has jumped from $450 to $550.
Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter gets a release date
The sequel to last year’s exceptional remake of the first Trails in the Sky game will arrive on September 17 for PS5, Switch, Switch 2, and PC. No Xbox version has been mentioned, as fans on that platform wait for a day that might never come.
Will the new Street Fighter movie do the funniest thing possible?
If Chun Li gets parried by Ken I am legit leaving for sure https://t.co/OOTzAve2HU
— Justin Wong (@JWonggg) April 17, 2026
Fortnite‘s original PVE mode is exploding again
Save the World, the version of Fortnite that Epic spent years building and that flopped at launch, was recently made free in the battle royale’s latest update. The mode has shot up the charts as a result, becoming Fortnite‘s second most popular mode and posting an all-time concurrent player count record of over 100,000.
Did you forget there’s a Gears of War movie?
“Gears of War, I think, is going to happen,” Deadpool 2 director David Leitch recently told Collider. “We have a great draft that’s in progress that’s in really great shape. The studio’s more determined than ever to make it. Netflix is 100% behind it.”
Final Fantasy 14 director outlines the game’s next big update
Patch 7.5 is called Trail to the Heavens and brings job updates, a new dungeon, and fresh PVP content for players to keep busy with while waiting for the MMORPG’s next major expansion. It’s out April 28, with Patch 7.55, which will wrap up the new story threads, slated for September. Director and producer Naoki Yoshida previewed the new content in a live letter to fans that included a fresh Kefka Ultimate teaser.
