Clair Obscur: Expedition 33‘s European concert is selling out in record time. Megabonk is back in the running for The Game Awards. Also RIP to the fish that did what many players couldn’t. It’s the latest edition of Morning Checkpoint, Kotaku‘s daily roundup of gaming news and culture. Rockstar Games cofounder Dan Houser likened AI hype to “Mad Cow disease.” Every game store should add that as a disclaimer: this game was made using generative AI tools. It might slop-ify your brain as a result. Play at your own peril.
The goldfish beat Malenia but couldn’t overcome a systemic bacterial infection
Tortellini, the viral goldfish that played Elden Ring and other games using a motion censor in its fish tank, has died at the age of three (via Dexerto). The pet’s owner, YouTuber Pointcrow, said the goldfish had spent weeks battling an infection, and things took a turn for the worse over Thanksgiving week.
Unfortunately, my goldfish Tortellini has passed away.
He’s been unwell for the past couple weeks fighting a systemic bacterial infection, and took a turn for the worse last night. I’m doing my best as a goldfish keeper, but fancies are incredibly fragile, and it seems that… pic.twitter.com/2ovsZItz8v
— eric pointcrow (@PointCrow) November 27, 2025
“Not only was he one of the only goldfish to play video games, he defeated some of the hardest bosses in Elden Ring–Malenia and Consort Radahn to name a few. He was a big spender, notably buying an Oil Cooler Inlet Pipe for a Nissan Altima and TWO designer bags,” he wrote in a tribute posted last week. “He was there to make us all laugh and bewilder us on how a small fish could do so much. He’s lived a god damn good life. I miss him so much. I’m sure he’s swimming in the great tank in the sky right now as happy as he can be.”
Someone finally escaped from Escape from Tarkov
A streamer who goes by Tigz has spent years playing the extraction shooter in Early Access, but was finally able to complete its last mission now that the game recently went 1.0 (via Insider Gaming). Unlocking the ending required a harrowing playthrough of the new map Terminal, but Tigz reportedly only got the second-worst ending out of four. While he’s the first player to officially “beat” the game, someone else out there still has the chance to be the first to unlock Tarkov‘s best ending.
Megabonk still has a shot at winning The Game Awards
While the game’s creator took the unprecedented step of removing Megabonk‘s nomination for best debut indie game since he said he’d shipped other things in the past, it’s back in the player’s choice category. It’ll have to pass successive rounds of voting to make it into the finals. “I withdrew my other nomination due to Megabonk not fitting the category, but with this new nomination, we’re more back than ever. go vote pls,” Vedinad wrote on X this week.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 concert tickets are gaming’s hottest new collectibles
Within a minute they’re all gone for London! Please add more dates! pic.twitter.com/eTUmWNIRwU
— Totally Not A Walrus (@TotallyNoWalrus) December 2, 2025
Tickets went on sale for the A Painted Symphony tour earlier today and are already nearly sold out everywhere (via The Gamer). Only a few locations, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, and Strasbourg, still have tickets available. Fans said seats for the concert in the biggest cities like London evaporated immediately. I guess players are into video game concerts after all, but only ones with great music.
Ball X Pit is getting a bunch of free DLC
2025’s hit indie dopamine machine will be giving fans more balls and more pits in early 2026. Publisher Devolver Digital revealed the game has now sold over 1 million copies and has a post-release roadmap. An update titled Regal arrives in January, one called Shadow arrives in April, and one called Natrulaist arrives in July. They’ll all be free and add new balls, evolutions, buildings, characters, “AND MORE.” I guess the arcade roguelike is going to steal a good portion of my game time next year as well.
The architect of the PS5 is in love with Pikmin
Mark Cerny revealed the Nintendo exclusive was one of his favorite games in a recent interview on Simon Parkin’s My Perfect Console (via NintendoLife). “I had this thing where I tended to play smaller, lighter games for about 10 years, so I don’t know, Portal or Plants vs Zombies or Flower or Katamari Damacy,” the Marble Madness creator said. “Pikmin I just pick out of that list because I thought it was such an emotionally involving story. Poor Captain Olimar, he crash lands and he’s got 30 days to reassemble his ship or he’ll run out of oxygen and die and he’s sending letters home every day.”
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