Gaming

Hackers claim responsibility for Pokémon Go global outage

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Update: Servers are back up and everything is good with the world. We’ve updated the rest of the story.

Following its official launch in 26 additional European countries Pokémon Go servers went down for about 16 hours on Saturday. Shortly after the outage, a group of hackers claimed responsibility for the event.

All systems were back online by 12:21am (ET) according to the Pokemon Go official Twitter account.

Below is the sequence of events as it happened.

Early Saturday morning in the US, users globally including our US based Editor reported of the server outage.

He sent us this screenshot.

pokemon-go-failed-login

The outage was also confirmed by @PogoServer the unofficial Twitter account which monitors Pokémon Go status.

A few hours later the official Pokemon Go Twitter account acknowledged the issue saying they were working on it.

A hacking group called PoodleCorp claimed responsibility for the crash, saying they brought down servers with a denial of service attack (DDOS attack). They also promised to wreak more havoc on the servers at a later date.

It was initially believed that the game’s European rollout took its toll on servers as it similarly did when it launched in Australia and New Zealand last week.

Following its initial rollout to UK, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain this week, the game was officially released throughout most of Europe on July 16th. The announcement was made via the official Pokémon Go Facebook Page.

[fb_pe url=”https://www.facebook.com/PokemonGO/posts/929474290532463″ bottom=”30″]

Since its release, Pokémon Go has now more daily active users that Twitter and is currently the most downloaded app on both the iOS App Store and Google Play. But roll-out has been slowly mainly due to server issues like this one.

Looks like Asia will have to wait a while longer.

[irp posts=”10698″ name=”Pokémon Generation 2 is out”]

 

Gaming

How to change your Nintendo eShop region

Hint: You can’t find it on your Switch.

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With Nintendo finally opening the eShop and Nintendo Switch Online in the Philippines, you might be wondering how you can switch your account’s region to the right country. After all, before today, you might have set your shop to the neighboring Singapore or other countries that aren’t named the Philippines. If you’re in the same boat, here’s a quick how-to, so you can enjoy paying for services in Philippine peso.

First, you need to log into your Nintendo Account. Take note: you can do this only through their website via a browser, so don’t fiddle around with your Switch or Switch 2 just yet.

Upon logging in, you’ll be redirected immediately to your profile’s information, including your country or region of residence. Just click Edit and select your desired country in the drop-down menu.

Nintendo will then present you a few notices regarding changing your region. The important bit is that you can’t carry over your account balance to the next region. So, if you have a hefty sum tucked away in your current region, it might be wise to spend it before switching. Likewise, your credit card might not work if it was issued from the current region.

Once you agree to the terms, everything’s set!

All you need to do is access the eShop on your console and sign in again. Afterwards, the corresponding services should be in your currency of choice.

For a list of detailed changes and prices, check out our coverage here.

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Gaming

ICYMI: PKL 2026 belongs to BOOM Esports

Crowning the present and the future

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Another Esports calendar in the Philippines wrapped up nicely this past weekend, only from the other side of the MMORPGs. At the Samsung Hall in SM Aura last November 9, the fourth installment of the Honor of Kings official Philippine league came to its exciting conclusion as four teams entered with rich prizes up for grabs. Here’s what went down on the final day of the Philippines Kings League Fall 2026:

Early in the afternoon, the third split of the Kings Campus Series crowned a new champion hailing all the way down from Cebu. In a thriller of a five-game series, the University of Cebu Webmasters took down the University of Sto. Tomas Teletigers Helios, 3-2, and took home the grand prize of Php 140,000. From start to finish, both teams exchanged heart-stopping plays and showed excellent flashes of teamwork that brought the series to a decider. 

In the evening, the culmination of the PKL for 2026 took place with the Fall 2026 Grand Finals between the reigning champions in BOOM Esports against JGames Esports. Last November 8, JGames earned a place in their first ever Grand Finals after besting TNT Tropang Alab in a full best-of-seven series. However, even with all the momentum coming from their run in the Lower Bracket, JGames would only settle for 2nd as Boom Esports dominated the matchup, 4-1 and became the first back-to-back champions of the PKL.

The night capped off with a showcase of the three Philippine representatives to the Honor of Kings International Championships in Jakarta this December.

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Gaming

GTA VI pre-loading now available on PS5, Xbox

Get ready for Leonida

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Players who digitally pre-ordered Grand Theft Auto VI can now pre-load the game ahead of its launch.

Rockstar Games confirmed that pre-loading is available to all digital pre-order customers. Those who purchased the code-in-box version can also begin downloading once they receive and activate their codes.

The announcement also reveals new performance details for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

GTA VI targets 30fps on consoles

Rockstar says Grand Theft Auto VI was built from the ground up for the current generation of consoles.

The game targets 30 frames per second on both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

According to Rockstar, this approach allows the game to maintain the visual fidelity and density of Leonida’s environments.

The developer says it is pushing both platforms to their limits to bring the game’s expansive world to life.

PS5 Pro gets exclusive visual enhancements

PlayStation 5 Pro players can expect additional graphical improvements.

These include enhanced image clarity through PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) and ray-traced shadows exclusive to the PS5 Pro.

The PS5 version also features integrated DualSense haptic feedback, with adjustable settings for accessibility.

Rockstar is also highlighting improved spatial audio through Tempest 3D Audio and faster loading times on PlayStation consoles.

Cloud gaming and Remote Play support

Grand Theft Auto VI will also be playable through Xbox Cloud Gaming on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.

The cloud version will use Xbox Series S graphics settings. However, performance may vary depending on internet speeds and other streaming conditions.

The game will also support Remote Play on both PlayStation and Xbox.

Alongside the announcement, Rockstar released a new video featuring “Blood in Your Eyes” by Tove Lo, taken from Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album.

Players can visit the official GTA VI website for more information.

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