A Mario Kart Veteran Retires: ‘The People Who Shaped An Era Are Leaving Nintendo’

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We’re about to enter the Ship of Theseus phase of Nintendo. The winter gaming showcase season is about to begin. And is there any way to prevent Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks at launch? It’s another edition of Morning Checkpoint, Kotaku‘s daily roundup of gaming news, rumors, and culture. We’re one step closer to lopping off the “Morning” part since it keeps arriving so late. But hey, it’s a snow day in the Mid-Atlantic. Despite the winter wonderland outside, my kids decided to get obsessed with Kingdoms: Two Crowns this weekend. Now instead of building a snowman themselves, they keep looking around for poor villagers who they can pay to do so instead.

More Nintendo veterans are leaving

紺野さんの退職が話題になり始めた‥
時代を作った人たちが任天堂から離れていく‥。 https://t.co/5YMnx5w5vv

— 今村孝矢 / Takaya Imamura (@ima_1966) January 24, 2026

Hideki Konno, who’s been at the Mario maker for decades and worked on games ranging from Sim City for the SNES to Mario Kart 8, left the company last summer. Game*Spark reports that the developer actually signaled the news at the time with an update to his Facebook page status but fans have only been noticing this month. “Talk of Konno-san’s resignation is starting to buzz…” wrote another ex-Nintendo veteran, Takaya Imamura, on X. “The people who shaped an era are leaving Nintendo one by one…”

Ubisoft is looking to cut 200 more jobs from its Paris headquarters

The move was announced internally today and impacts people across marketing, admin, design, and more from the publisher’s head office, which among other things has in the past helped guide game design decisions. “At this stage, this remains a proposal, and no decision will be final until a collective agreement is reached with employee representatives and validated by French authorities,” the company said in a statement. “The proposal applies exclusively to Ubisoft International employees under French contracts and has no impact on other French entities or Ubisoft teams worldwide.”

The next Nintendo Direct is dedicated to Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream

Join us on Jan 29 at 6am PT for the #TomodachiLife: Living the Dream Direct! The presentation will last roughly 20 minutes and provide more info on the upcoming Nintendo Switch game. #NintendoDirect

Watch here: https://t.co/COS9STbtoB pic.twitter.com/ZdsEQpHTFD

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) January 26, 2026

The life sim, arriving more than a decade after the 3DS game, could be the last big exclusive to land on the OG Switch. Nintendo will dive deeper into the quirky release planned for the first half of 2026 in a 20-minute livestream on January 29 at 9:00 a.m. ET.

Blizzard said hold my beer and just announced four February showcases

A “series of developer-led spotlights” will have announcements for what’s coming ahead in 2026. There’s World of Warcraft – State of Azeroth on January 29 at 12:00 p.m. ET, Overwatch Spotlight on February 4 at 1:00 p.m. ET, Hearthstone Spotlight on February 9 at 12:30 p.m. ET, and Diablo 30th Anniversary Spotlight on February 11 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Also maybe a PS5 State of Play

That one’s not official but it comes straight from the mouth of leak whisperer NateTheHate.

An insider claims Grand Theft Auto 6 might launch without a physical version to avoid leaks

VGC reports that Graczdari, of Polish site PPE.pl, is “hearing more and more that the physical version won’t be released simultaneously with the digital version to prevent leaks.” This person has previously leaked details on the physical version of Oblivion Remastered, so it’s possible there’s something to this rumor. And seeing as how every game that does have a physical release these days does appear to end up leaking early, I wouldn’t put it past Rockstar to try a different approach.

At the same time, GTA 6 is the one game that will bring random people in off the street asking for a physical copy, so I’m skeptical that combating leaks, which won’t hurt the game’s hype in the slightest, is enough of a reason to potentially endanger those sales.