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Stephen Totilo's March 31, 2026 Game File newsletter announces a brief spring-break hiatus, with regular editions resuming the week of April 6, while rounding up game impressions, industry headlines, upcoming releases, and a podcast appearance. He says April will be devoted to clearing a backlog of interviews dating to late 2025, which should yield pieces on a "5D" game, an oddly misdelivered piece of mail at a studio, and the global game development talent pool.

On the play side, he found the joke title A Game About Digging A Hole enjoyable but shallow, with an endgame triggered at 100 meters. His daughter quickly finished the Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream demo, which caps players at three Miis and loops promotional content once two shops unlock. The full Nintendo game launches April 16.

The industry news centers on continued instability. Eidos Montreal cut 124 roles as studio head David Anfossi departed, Polyarc made layoffs after failing to secure funding, and Wanderstop developer Ivy Road closed. Brenda Romero described the current climate as "crashier" than the 1980s crash. Epic's Tim Sweeney apologized for the handling of a laid-off programmer with terminal cancer and pledged to fix the insurance situation. Krafton shut down PUBG Blindspot 53 days after early access launch, following Highguard's removal after 45 days, suggesting 2026 launches get very little time to prove themselves. Nexon told investors it will place "fewer bets" with "more conviction," acknowledged it will miss its 2027 earnings target, and plans to build on Arc Raiders' success in the West. Executive chairman Patrick Soderlund outlined strict acquisition filters covering game portfolio fit, community longevity, leadership retention, and margins.

The week-ahead calendar lists People of Note and Starfield's PlayStation 5 port on April 7, and ChainStaff and Pokémon Champions on April 8. Totilo also promotes his Naavik Gaming Podcast interview about his move from Axios to the reader-supported Game File, and he warns readers to be skeptical of April Fools' Day news.