More than 30 games arrive on Xbox from October 12-16, including Planet Zoo 2, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse and Toy Story: Retro Roundup!. Xbox Game Pass adds six new titles, led by Battlefield 6 and the new action-RPG Valor Mortis.
Nintendo of America president Devon Pritchard said she has "nothing to announce" when asked about GTA 6 coming to Switch 2, adding that it would be a conversation for Take-Two and Rockstar. Former Rockstar open-world designer Jérémy Hartvick questioned whether a port makes sense, saying he isn't sure the audience for GTA 6 is the audience for Nintendo Switch. Neither Nintendo nor Rockstar has suggested a port is being considered, though some insiders claim exploratory conversations have taken place.
Aspyr has brought Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition to Switch 2, sold separately or bundled with its sequel as the Middle-earth: Shadow Bundle. The Game of the Year version includes all previously available DLC, including the Bright Lord campaign, but the game remains locked to 30fps and a max resolution of 1080p in both handheld and docked modes. The Nemesis system still stands out, giving procedurally generated Orc and Uruk-hai Captains unique names, appearances and rivalries that make each playthrough feel different.
Silent Hill, Gravity Rush director's Bokeh Game Studio is reportedly casting for a new horror game
Arc Raiders executive producer Aleksander Grøndal said splitting the game into PvE and PvP modes is "possible", since the community is already divided along those lines. Embark will run a limited PvE test from 13th to 20th October that toggles opt-in PvE matchmaking where players cannot damage each other, with solos, duos and trios matched into the same sessions and Night Raids and the upcoming Frigate excluded. An Embark blog post said the game was originally conceived seven years ago as a raid-based PvE co-op game with looting, and player data shows 37 percent friendly co-op players, 34 percent pure PvP players and 27 percent who move between both, while 51 percent of surveyed players expressed interest in a dedicated PvE option.
Bokeh Game Studio, founded by Keiichiro Toyama, the director of the original Silent Hill and creator of Siren and Gravity Rush, is reportedly casting motion capture performers for an untitled new horror project, according to MP1st. The casting sheet lists characters including River, Dean, Lyra, Hazel, Becca, Dena, and Emma, plus an eight-year-old girl, with mature themes such as drug use, trafficking, violence, abuse, grief, and sex work, and several characters tied to creature transformation. Bokeh's debut, Slitterhead, launched in 2024.
The author played part of Sonic Racing CrossWorlds Season 2 at TGS2026. The Evangelion crossover adds Rei Ayanami and Asuka as racers, Unit-00, Unit-01 and Unit-02 as speed-type cars, and a new Third New Tokyo City track where Unit-01 appears and Ramiel fires beams at players. The Godzilla crossover turns Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah into cars and adds an Escape from Godzilla track based on a Sonic Adventure city route, where Godzilla's destruction and atomic breath affect the race. The demo also includes Bayonetta, Aigis from Persona 3 Reload, a McLaren collaboration car and Super Shadow.
Arc Raiders could eventually be split into PvE and PvP, says executive producer
Push Square rounds up the 30+ games launching on PS5 from 12th to 18th October, including Castlevania: Belmont's Curse on 15th October and Planet Zoo 2 on 13th October. Other highlights include Valor Mortis, The Witch's Bakery, Ratatan, Tales of Eternia: Remastered, and two Toy Story re-releases.
Silent Hill producer Motoi Okamoto says Konami is already thinking about "second and third waves" of new Silent Hill games after the successful release of its first wave. He said the company is currently looking at "a number of projects" but cannot share specifics, adding that "one remake is not enough." Silent Hill: Townfall is out now.
Metro Redux's Next-Gen Update arrives this month as franchise passes 50 million sales. https://bit.ly/4i0iDlx
On September 28, China beat Malaysia 4-0 in the Honor of Kings final at the Nagoya Asian Games, defending the gold medal it also won at the Hangzhou Asian Games, with player Yinuo becoming the league's first and only double gold medalist. On October 8, Tencent TiMi's Delta Force announced its China server daily active users surpassed 58 million as the game marked its second anniversary. NetEase also unveiled its extreme sports competitive shooter Extreme Battlefield, with its first test set to begin on October 15.
Circana analyst Mat Piscatella warned that the US console hardware market faces its most severe crisis since the industry crash of the early 1980s. Through August this year, US Xbox hardware sales fell 33% year over year and PlayStation sales fell 25%, the latter hitting their lowest point since 2013. Rising prices are the main cause, with the average US price of a new Xbox at $529, up 26%, and a new PlayStation at $597, up 20%, both record highs.
GTA 6's 18+ age rating indicates that Lucia and Jason can use drugs "directly from their inventory" and "at any time." Eurogamer reported on the rating details and included a link to the source.
Eurogamer's regular What We've Been Playing column returns with editors Dom and Bertie sharing their current games. Dom is back in Gears of War: E-Day on Xbox Series X, praising the Horde Siege mode's open-ended maps and cross-squad interplay as "pure video game popcorn movie stuff." Bertie is stretching out The Blood of Dawnwalker on PS5, reloading a save to explore more of the world and making a deal with the vampire Xanthe before Brencis' coronation.
SNK announced that Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves will crossover with the Tekken series, with Reina joining as the sixth DLC character of Season 3 in December. Season 3 is built around the concept of characters burdened by revenge and adds seven DLC characters in total, with Mikey and Draken arriving together in October's fourth drop and Raoh in November. Reina, who debuted in Tekken 8, will see her fighting style merged with the REV system of Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.
Grand Theft Auto 6 may be the first GTA to have full-on "sex scenes", Hot Coffee not included. https://bit.ly/4hCwgG6
SNK announced that Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves will crossover with the Tekken series, with Tekken 8's Reina coming to all platforms this December. She joins the Season 3 DLC roster alongside Rick Strowd, Duck King and Kim Kaphwan (available now), Manjiro Sano and Ken Ryuguji (October 2026) and Laocorn (November 2026). Season Pass 3 costs $19.99, and a Switch 2 demo arrives on 22nd October 2026.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Year One Edition (PS5/XSX/Switch/Switch 2E) up for preorder on Amazon ($59.99) https://amzn.to/3TOEzqw
YouTube channel ElAnalistaDeBits has released a side-by-side graphics comparison of Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen on Switch 2 and PS5. The Switch 2 version runs at an upscaled 1080p in handheld and 1440p docked, hovering around 40fps, with frame generation toggled on delivering the equivalent of 60fps. The game arrived on Switch 2 this week with the Dark Arisen expansion, and a free character creator is available on the eShop.
Ace Combat 8 has sold over 1 million copies worldwide, making it the fastest-selling mainline entry in the series. It has 16,000 Steam reviews with an 81% positive rate and a peak of 52,000 concurrent players. The article notes that its retro close-range dogfighting, which downplays stealth, electronic warfare, and beyond-visual-range combat, drew criticism from Chinese players over outdated design, PC performance, and Simplified Chinese localization.
G-Cores Industry has revealed the visuals for its "G-Cores Industry × Phantom Blade Zero" collaboration display space, set at booth A09 during the Beijing stop of the Fusion Carnival. The space will offer early offline launch of the full collab apparel line and display actual props used in game development, including protagonist "Soul's" signature blade, a mask, and the lion head of lion dance boss "Blaze." The Beijing Fusion Carnival runs October 24-25 at Shougang International Convention Center Hall 1, with online sales starting October 29 alongside the game's launch.
DK Challenge completion notifications are starting to go out now (click profile icon to verify) https://my.nintendo.com/
"We felt that fans were getting a bit desensitised to the violence" Gears of War: E-Day devs made a "big investment" in gore, and weirdly, it works. https://bit.ly/4hK4lo5
BAFTA-winning studio Sumo Digital announced that Spider Spy: Agent 8 will launch on February 11, 2027. Players control Agent 8, a tiny robotic spider built by British intelligence agency S.A.F.E, sneaking through a retro-futuristic 1970s spy world with tools such as a cutting torch and web grapple to stop the villainous S.I.N. The game features wall-and-ceiling crawling, environmental puzzles, and collectibles that reward replaying levels.
Wizards of the Coast announced Marvel's Darkhold Destiny, Magic: The Gathering's first 2027 Universes Beyond set, at New York Comic Con. The set pits Doctor Strange, Thor, Ghost Rider and others against cosmic villains like Hela and Dormammu, and includes normal and Collector boosters plus four pre-constructed commander decks themed around Marvel heroes and villains, including the Midnight Sons. It introduces the Vengeance mechanic and brings back the Arcane spell subtype, and launches April 9 in big-box retailers and local game stores.
Gears of War: E-Day is missing iconic features like chainsaw duels and meat shields, but The Coalition says we shouldn't worry - they're "not gone from the franchise". https://bit.ly/4dQCUYl
SEGA has released a new trailer and screenshots for Crazy Taxi: World Tour showcasing the game's Brazil map. Producer Kenji Kanno said the contrast between Brazil's dense streetscapes and modern city life heavily inspired the team. The game is due out for PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, and PC via Steam and Microsoft Store in 2027.
"NIIIIICE." -us, about Gears of War: E-Day
This week on The Game Informer Show, Giant Bomb's Will Crosby joins to discuss the recent launch of Gears of War: E-Day, with the hosts agreeing that returning to the past is good for the series. Later, Eric shares his review impressions of Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, and Charles talks about his progress in Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave.
Monster Hunter Wilds (Steam) is $25.49 on Humble (discount at checkout). As low as $20.39 for Choice members https://buff.ly/CUureND #ad
IGN played a linear slice of Final Fantasy VII Revelation's first chapter at New York Comic Con, running from the North Crater entrance to a boss fight against Jenova Deathmourner. Materia can now be leveled with consumable fragments that add AP, and Rebirth's Item Transmuter returns with auto-loot enabled by default instead of unlocked by beating the campaign. The demo party was Cloud, Cid, and Vincent, and while Cid's rhythmic attacks stood out, the overall difficulty felt low ahead of the April launch.
Stage Fright is the next co-op adventure from Overcooked maker Ghost Town Games, published by Hello Games, and co-director Oliver De-Vine says "Overcooked broke you apart and Stage Fright is there to put you back together." Two players guide a pair of kids through a Luigi's Mansion-style adventure of puzzles, threats, and mystery, relying only on verbal communication with no inventory management. The game supports both local and online splitscreen co-op, with the developers aiming to make online play feel as close to sitting on the couch together as possible.
Sega announced Year Two updates and DLC for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, with Year Two officially starting on November 3. The updates include a 1v1 Duel Mode, a Grand Master Plate with a seventh Super Slot, 15 new gadgets, and free characters Bayonetta, McLaren Racing, and Aigis. Season Pass Two costs $29.99 and includes six DLC packs themed around Godzilla, EVANGELION, Virtual Sanrio Puroland, SEGALAND, Midgar, and Persona. The Standard Edition price drops permanently from $69.99 to $39.99, and the Digital Deluxe Edition from $89.99 to $59.99.
DK Challenge Reward Update: "Eligible participants will receive a My Nintendo notification confirming that they qualify for the physical 39-card set and custom card case."
The 2026 multiplayer shooters Arc Raiders and Marathon both use a loop of venturing from a safe hub into hostile areas, shooting enemies, grabbing loot, and returning to safety. These hits owe a debt to Outriders, a maligned 2021 loot-shooter published by Square Enix.
Director Kitao Sakurai confirmed he is already writing a sequel to his upcoming Street Fighter film, continuing Ryu and Ken's adventures after the second World Warrior Tournament, but whether it gets made depends on how the first movie performs. The film releases in theaters on October 16, 2026, and will include animated sequences exploring Ryu and Ken's backstory with Gouken and Akuma. Sagat has not appeared in any trailers or marketing, and no casting has been announced for him.
Konami producer Motoi Okamoto said the company is planning "second and third waves" of new Silent Hill games, with several projects currently under consideration but no details to share. The first wave included the Silent Hill 2 remake, Silent Hill f, and last month's Silent Hill: Townfall, which received generally favorable reviews and an 8/10 from IGN. Okamoto also said he once struggled to convince higher-ups to make more games after Silent Hills failed to materialize.
A Polygon editor calls Bungie's extraction shooter Marathon the scariest game he has played in a long time, largely because dying means losing all the gear you brought in and looted. Playing solo as Rook turns the experience into straight survival horror, and this week streamer Shroud called the game "a little too sweaty" while Ninja rage quit on launch day.
Penny's Big Breakaway (Steam) is $10.80 on Gamersgate w/ code W64 https://buff.ly/jwUAe6Q #ad