Would Microsoft secretly be happier if people stopped buying the Xbox entirely? Would you risk breaking a $2,000 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold to chase a high score? And why was League of Legends unplayable for so many people over the weekend? You’ve stumbled onto another edition of Morning Checkpoint, Kotaku‘s daily roundup of gaming news and culture.
Welcome to the first full week of 2026, where I am obsessed with the idea that the first act in Cyberpunk 2077 might have been even longer. Creative director Igor Sarzyński explains why that would have been a terrible idea. “It’s like saying we should spend more time on Tatooine with farmer Luke before he got involved with all this Jedi stuff.” RIP Jackie.
Not selling Xboxes must be intentional at this point
Sales of Xbox consoles were down 39% in the UK during 2025, making it comfortably the worst year on record for Xbox consoles. With the return of favourite Xbox franchises in 2026, might things improve this year?
— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) January 2, 2026
The Game Business‘ Chris Dring reports that 2025 was “comfortably the worst year on record for Xbox” console sales in the UK. They were down nearly 40 percent from the year prior, which was already far from stellar. I’m not sure how to square Microsoft’s seemingly complete abdication of hardware sales less than five years into the current generation with its promise to continue making consoles in the future.
League of Legends was completely unplayable yesterday and the reason is very stupid
According to YouTuber Vandiril, Riot Games forgot to renew the client security certificate for the hit MOBA game. There was a workaround, however. All players had to do to get back into the game was reset their system clock. Maybe it was just the Nexus’ way of telling fans it was time to take a break.
Finally, a Flappy Bird made just for folding phones
Phone companies: We’ve tested our hinge mechanism for 200,000 folds, so that should cover 5 years of use
Users: https://t.co/jRzjFWB2Hk
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) January 3, 2026
Foldy Bird requires you to physically fold your super-expensive phone over and over again to keep the bird flying through the familiar Super Mario Bros.-style environment. How neat! I still don’t want one.
Sega co-founder David Rosen has passed away
Rosen was integral to the company’s amusement game operation, including the push into coin-operated arcade games like Periscope and Monaco GP, RePlay Magazine reports.
Resident Evil 4 Remake originally began with a cut chapter starring Ashley
That’s according to modder Michael “Thekempy” Kemp who combed the game’s files and restored the lost content. “It would have started with Ashley in the woods at night,” Thekempy explained in a recent video (via Eurogamer). “She stumbles upon Los Illuminados in the middle of performing a ritual sacrifice.”
Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn books could become a video game
The prolific fantasy author said multiple AAA game companies have expressed interest in his latest “State of Sanderson” video (via PCGamesN). “I’m trying to do things differently this time, in order to retain control of my videogame rights,” he told fans. “I already have interest from some major players in the videogame industry, who I like a lot. So, if you are a decision-maker at a triple-A studio or a major independent, and you’ve always wanted to make a Mistborn or Stormlight game, you would want to contact my reps now.” If someone bites, maybe we’ll see the actual game by 2032.
ICYMI:
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