What You Missed This Week in Video Games

“Game On” is The Fly’s weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.

NEW RELEASES: Among this week’s notable new releases is Nintendo’s (NTDOY) “Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero — The Teal Musk,” a new downloadable expansion for 2022 title “Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.” The expansion releases September 13 exclusively for the Switch. Also out this week is Ubisoft’s (UBSFY) racing sim “The Crew Motorfest,” which releases on September 14 for PlayStation 5 (SONY), PS4, PC, Xbox One (MSFT), and Xbox Series X/S.

XBOX MASTERCARD: Microsoft announced the no annual fee Xbox Mastercard (MA) in partnership with Barclays US Consumer Bank (BCS), a cobranded credit card issuer in the United States. With the Xbox Mastercard credit card, players can earn card points with everyday purchases to redeem on games and add-ons at xbox.com. The Xbox Mastercard will be available exclusively to Xbox Insiders in the 50 United States beginning on September 21, with availability to all Xbox players in the 50 United States coming in 2024.

‘STARFIELD’: Microsoft’s latest Xbox console exclusive “Starfield” exceeded 1M concurrent players on its September 6 launch day on PC and Xbox Series X/S. “Thanks to all the players who helped us reach this great milestone and congrats to the @BethesdaStudios,” said Xbox boss Phil Spencer in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Meanwhile, Microsoft said on its offical X account Friday that “Starfield” had already surpassed 6M players in its first week, making it the biggest Bethesda-developed game launch of all time. Additionally, “Starfield” reached the top of the U.K.’s weekly boxed sales charts, Gamesindustry.biz’s Christopher Dring (ATVI) “Diablo IV,” which was a major digital sales hit, Dring noted.

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NEW NINTENDO SYSTEM: During Gamescom last week, Nintendo demoed the currently unannounced Switch 2 console to developers behind closed doors, Eurogamer’s Tom Phillips reported. The Japanese game giant showed partners tech demos showcasing how well the system is meant to run, including an enhanced version of Switch launch title “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,” the author said.

OTHER STORIES TO WATCH:

• Roblox (RBLX) will soon be accessible on Meta Quest (META) and PlayStation (read more)
• Embracer (THQQF) is weighing the potential sale of “Borderlands” maker Gearbox, Reuters reports (read more)
• Investic upgraded Tencent (TCEHY) to Hold from Sell (read more)
• Nintendo will stop making new content for “Mario Kart Tour,” Gamesindustry.biz says (read more)
• Electronic Arts (EA) said “Madden NFL 24” set a single-week franchise record for digital units sold (read more)
• EA CEO Andrew Wilson has teased new projects from “Apex Legends” studio Respawn, VGC reports (read more)