Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 has officially announced a new multiplayer mode called Collateral, inspired by Counter-Strike. The mode adds an economy system on top of the familiar Search and Destroy formula, letting players buy gear with money earned during the match so that every death and purchase can have consequences.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered has been out for over 24 hours, and players are split over its updated graphics. Some praise the improved ray tracing and overhauled lighting for a brighter, crisper look, while others say the remaster loses the original's dark fantasy vibe, with one Steam review calling it "like a Disney game." The debate is further muddied by HDR effects and differences across platforms and PC specs.
PS Plus subscribers can claim six free Spider-Man: Brand New Day PSN avatars starting 6th October via the Sony Pictures Core app, including Tom Holland's Spider-Man and Zendaya's MJ. Non-members must purchase the digital version of the film to get them. The movie broke domestic box office records earlier this year and is nearing $2.5 billion internationally.
Three more games have been revealed or reconfirmed for Xbox Game Pass within the past 24 hours. Football Manager 27 arrives November 10 with day-one Game Pass, while A Game About Digging a Hole Together is an expanded multiplayer version of the existing hit with no exact date yet. Grave Seasons has been reannounced for March 9, 2027, and has long been pencilled in as a Game Pass title.
Rockstar's vice president of art for lighting and rendering, Owen Shepherd, told Game Informer that the studio re-engineered GTA 6's weather system to make it more localized and persistent, adding hurricanes, rainbows and cumulonimbus clouds. He said new fully dynamic cloudscapes roll across the map, covering everything from clear Miami winter skies to lightning-filled summer and autumn afternoons. GTA 6 launches on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on 19 November, and the world includes over 170 animal species, 60 bird types and more than 30 land mammals, with underwater scuba-diving returning.
A PC preorder of Star Wars: Galactic Racer is $44.99 on Newegg with the code "STARWARS," $15 off ahead of its October 6 release. The Gears of War: E-Day Limited Edition Xbox Wireless Controller is $6 off at Amazon and Walmart, and Walmart has a 25" TCL G64 Series FHD 300Hz monitor for $149.
About a week after Silent Hill: Townfall's release, developer Screen Burn released a patch addressing some early technical frustrations with the horror game. A fix is also in the works for one of the game's most frustrating parts, with The Weight finally set to get nerfed.
Capcom veteran Jun Takeuchi says the company already has a plan for when its Resident Evil remake series catches up with the era of the numbered titles, and has been gradually preparing for it since around Resident Evil Village. He called Resident Evil 7 a turning point for the series, noting that elements like the Umbrella and Spencer names and the return of Raccoon City in Requiem are seeding a future "crossover." A remake of Code Veronica is slated for next year.
Kotaku's John Walker argues that Xbox's cloud gaming push is shrinking. Owners of 2020 Samsung Smart TVs were told the XBOX app will lose support on November 3, while Game Pass's most expensive tier is cutting cloud streaming from unlimited to 15 hours a week with per-hour surcharges. Separately, New York Times sources say the rumored Xbox cloud controller was a real project seemingly shelved after the Activision acquisition, though an Xbox spokesperson says it is still in development.
Final Fantasy 11, Square Enix's first massively multiplayer Final Fantasy game, has received a long-awaited change to its free trial that makes it easier to play than ever. The game is over two decades old but is still alive and well.
The Street Fighter movie's version of Guile's iconic theme keeps the original composition while adding a guitar solo and cinematic tweaks, with the score produced by Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson of Cobra Kai. The full soundtrack features 39 tracks and launches October 16, the same day the film releases, with WWE's Cody Rhodes playing Guile.
Publisher Joystick Ventures and developer Summitsphere announced that ANTONBLAST will launch for PS5 and PS4 in mid-October. The side-scrolling action platformer first launched for PC via Steam on December 3, 2024, followed by Switch on December 13, 2024. Players take on the role of Dynamite Anton or his coworker Annie to destroy bizarre worlds and reclaim his Spirits from Satan.
Alinea Analytics' Rhys Elliot has argued that Gears of War: E-Day shouldn't have been cancelled on PS5, citing "soft" Steam pre-orders. He said the game has amassed just 120k pre-orders on Steam, low for a big-budget AAA production, and noted the port was reportedly already in the works. He also stressed the game's online multiplayer focus requires a large crossplay audience.
Diablo 5 game director Joe Shely said on Twitter that while the game will keep some DEX (moment-to-moment execution) mechanics, it will on balance be an INT/STR game built around planning and investment. The community responded skeptically, with top Reddit comments saying Blizzard has made such promises before and will likely reverse course after launch. Diablo 5 is still a couple of years away.
Pokémon Pokopia has revealed its first Halloween-themed event, "Pumpkaboo's Sweet Surprises," running from 5am on October 17 until November 1 based on the Switch 2 system clock. Players start the event by talking to Pumpkaboo outside finished Town Centers, trading pumpkin candy for spooky items, and need Zorua's Camouflage ability from the Bleak Beach area. New items can be used to build a habitat for Pumpkaboo's evolution, Gourgeist, and both Pokémon will remain after the event ends.
IGN examined the 12 new GTA 6 screenshots Rockstar provided to Game Informer and tied them to the magazine's cover story, which revealed over 20 new details. The images point to dynamic weather, 170 animal species, and character details such as localized weight gain and sunburn, along with the First Chapter biker gang and The Thirsty Wolf bar. The author notes that whether these screenshot hints reflect real gameplay will only be clear once players get their hands on GTA 6.
A modder named M0jso has cancelled a planned Switch port of Grand Theft Auto 5 in late September. This followed Rockstar Games' announcement that modifying its games to run on unofficial platforms violates its rules and could lead to a ban or account termination, which M0jso publicly mocked on X.
In Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, Renown is one of two stats needed to recruit new team members, with some characters requiring level 10 Renown, and each Flame Lord's campaign builds Renown separately. Completing main story battles is the biggest source of Renown, with arena battles granting at least around 500 points, and each of the four Flame Lords has their own exclusive Renown-gaining method, such as Cai's Kindness Quests.
Blizzard revealed Diablo 5 at this year's BlizzCon and discussed gameplay design changes based on feedback from Diablo 4, chiefly the return of procedurally generated dungeons and worlds. The article argues Diablo 4's single pre-established open-world map left players repeating the same content, while the series' earlier random dungeons and maps were a key ingredient. The game is expected in 2029.
Sony has officially revealed the PlayStation Plus monthly games lineup for October 2026, featuring three titles: F1 25 (PS5), Hunt: Showdown 1896 (PS5), and Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2 (PS4, PS5). F1 25 is Codemasters' latest Formula 1 racer, which IGN scored 8/10, while Hunt: Showdown 1896 is Crytek's extraction shooter whose PS5 version includes a battle royale mode. Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2 supports local and online co-op.
Supermassive Games announced on X that online co-op for Directive 8020 will arrive this October, with no set date yet. The space horror game is the latest entry in the studio's choice-focused horror series, and its Movie Night mode supports up to 5 players making decisions for the cast, but it launched without an online option, so co-op required playing in person. The game was delayed from October 2025 to May 2026, and the studio held layoffs in July of last year and again in August, the latter affecting roughly 75 employees.
PlayStation revealed October's PS Plus monthly games on September 30, available to all subscribers across all tiers and able to be added permanently starting October 6. The lineup is F1 25 and Hunt: Showdown 1896 on PS5, plus Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2 on PS4 and PS5, with only Hunt: Showdown 1896 offering spooky-adjacent vibes. The games can be claimed for free until November 2, while September's Sniper Elite: Resistance, MLB The Show 26, Wobbly Life, and Chained Echoes must be grabbed by October 5.
PlayStation Plus members can claim October 2026's three free games from October 6 through November 2. The lineup is F1 25 and Hunt: Showdown 1896 on PS5, plus Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2 on PS5 and PS4. Subscribers can also claim Halloween-themed in-game item bundles for games including Call of Duty: Warzone and Overwatch throughout the month.
Sony has revealed the October Essential free games for PlayStation Plus subscribers: F1 25, Hunt: Showdown 1896, and Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2. Subscribers can start downloading the games on Oct. 6.
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have announced a new Switch 2 physical release of Pokémon Legends: Z-A launching on 29th October, bundling the base game and its Mega Dimension expansion on a single cart with no additional downloads required. Buyers also get a serial code for 100 Ultra Balls, and the game card can be played on Switch 1 hardware without Switch 2 features.
Publisher Joystick Ventures and developer Summitsphere announced that ANTONBLAST will launch for PS5 and PS4 on October 1 in Australia and New Zealand, with a worldwide release to follow in mid-October. The side-scrolling action platformer first launched for PC via Steam on December 3, 2024, and for Switch on December 13, 2024. Players take on the role of Dynamite Anton or his coworker Annie to destroy bizarre worlds and steal Spirits back from Satan.
PlayStation has revealed the three games coming to all PS Plus tiers in October: F1 25 for PS5, Hunt: Showdown 1896 for PS5, and Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2 for PS4 and PS5. They can be claimed from Tuesday, October 6 until Monday, November 2, and remain playable as long as members stay subscribed. Members have until Monday, October 5 to claim Sniper Elite: Resistance, MLB The Show 26, Wobbly Life, and Chained Echoes.
OneXPlayer will showcase its full lineup of Windows portable gaming hardware at the 2026 Fusion Game Carnival Beijing, with free hands-on demos of all models at Booth B05 in Hall 3 and engineers on site. The booth will also host a Black Myth: Wukong themed challenge, with custom merchandise available for visitors who complete a booth check-in. The event runs October 24-25 at the Shougang International Convention Center, with single-day tickets priced at 139 yuan (discounted 129 yuan) via Bilibili Member Purchase.
Developer Something We Made and co-publisher popagenda announced that TOEM 2, the sequel to TOEM: A Photography Adventure, is now available on PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, priced at 78 yuan on Steam with a limited 15% launch discount. The game adds new camera accessories for puzzle-solving, stamp collecting and region unlocking, with no time limits. A bundle with the first game offers a 52% discount.
Xbox's disc-to-digital program is now live for all Xbox owners after being rolled out to Xbox Insiders. Inserting an eligible Xbox Series X or Xbox One disc grants a digital license tied to that disc, while the original disc still works normally. A support page states that losing, selling, giving away, or no longer possessing a qualifying disc may limit or revoke access to the associated digital license.
Section 9 Interactive, a small studio founded by three former Tarsier Studios members, announced that its sci-fi action adventure End of Abyss launches October 1 on Xbox Series X|S. Players take the role of young combat technician Cel, descending into an abandoned underground facility to upgrade gear, use a Scanner to explore branching paths, and fight monsters. The team said the game began as a top-down shooter prototype and shifted toward a slower action horror metroidvania focused on exploration and tension, with enemies prototyped in Unreal before their designs were finalized.
Why this: The studio explains how its top-down shooter prototype became an action horror metroidvania, showing how a small team settled on its art and enemy design.
PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for October are F1 25, Hunt: Showdown 1896, and Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2, all available to PS Plus members from Tuesday, October 6 until Monday, November 2. F1 25 is the official game of the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship and adds a new multiplayer mode in F1 World, while Hunt: Showdown 1896 is an extraction shooter playable solo or with up to two teammates. Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2 comes to PS5 and PS4 with four-player online co-op and two-player local split screen.
Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls limits Deadpool's meta humor to an encyclopedic knowledge of fighting games and their culture. His moveset, voice lines, win screens, and character select portrait borrow from Street Fighter, Tekken, Mortal Kombat, Guilty Gear, and more, with some Fourth Wall Attacks only available while he recovers from damage. Takehito Koyasu, DIO's voice actor, voices him in Japanese.
Section 9 Interactive's debut End of Abyss applies metroidvania structure to a twin-stick horror adventure, casting players as combat technician Cel in a gargantuan labyrinthian facility. Its atmosphere is the most captivating part, but exploration and combat slowly descend into a slog, and the roughly 10-hour campaign's plot only gains momentum in its back third. Boss fights feel rote compared to the moment-to-moment combat.
GameSpot rounds up 11 new horror games launching in October, alongside a look back at horror games from earlier this year. Those earlier highlights include Capcom's Resident Evil Requiem, Reanimal from the team behind the first two Little Nightmares games, the Fatal Frame 2 remake, John Carpenter's Toxic Commando, and No More Room In Hell 2.
IGN breaks down the ending of Marvel's Wolverine, noting that the game gives Logan his adamantium skeleton via Apocalypse and turns him and Jean Grey into immortal lovers spanning centuries. Essex, better known as Mister Sinister, uses the Helix Device to awaken dormant mutants and unleash Sentinels before Wolverine kills him, though a final blast of Helix energy reactivates the Shinigami within Logan. A post-credits scene shows Apocalypse recruiting Sabretooth as his new Horseman of War, setting up a sequel.
Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is a side-scrolling Metroidvania from Evil Empire, the studio behind Dead Cells post-launch content, starring vampire hunter Rose Belmont. Defeated bosses are sealed into Rose's Tarot Cards so their skills can be used against enemies. A pre-order discount is available before the game is even available.
The Pokémon Company confirmed a physical Nintendo Switch 2 version of Pokémon Legends: Z-A with the Mega Dimension DLC bundled in, launching on cartridge this October 29. The cartridge can also be played on Switch, and Mega Dimension lets players explore Lumiose City through portals created by Hoopa, temporarily control Pokémon above level 100, and encounter more Mega Evolutions including Darkrai, Magearna and Baxcalibur. Buyers also get a gift of 100 Ultra Balls.