#Live service

Blizzard gifts Diablo 4 players a Resplendent Spark to apologise for Season 15 issues

Blizzard has apologised to Diablo 4 players for Season 15 launch issues by gifting them a Resplendent Spark, one of the game's rarest crafting materials, via the in-game Horadric Post mailing system. The season was initially delayed by several hours due to log-in errors and server issues, and gameplay mechanics such as The Tree of Whispers also failed to display rewards. All outstanding problems have since been addressed in patches and hotfixes.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 changes double XP tokens to count down in-match

Activision announced that double XP tokens in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 will only count down while players are in a match, not in real time, and that existing tokens earned in previous Call of Duty titles or Warzone will also work in the game. Previously, activating a token started the countdown immediately, so time spent building a loadout or waiting for friends was consumed. Modern Warfare 4 launches 23rd October on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch 2.

Bandai Namco to End Synduality: Echo of Ada Service in 2027, With an Offline PvE Mode Planned

Bandai Namco announced this week that it will shut down the online servers for Synduality: Echo of Ada in 2027, just two years after the 2025 release. The PvPvE mecha game peaked at barely over 3,000 concurrent players on Steam, and the publisher has promised an offline PvE mode so players can keep exploring and fighting CPU opponents. Online operations will continue until May 2027, and all digital currency will be removed from sale starting December 17 of this year.

I perished in the flesh pipes of Darktide's Depths of the Damned update, and you will too

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide has released the Depths of the Damned update, whose centerpiece is a new mission called Spillway set in Tertium's water treatment facility; the author calls it the biggest addition since the Skitarii arrived. Having played it once, the author says it still alternates fierce wave combat with quieter traversal but runs longer than Rolling Steel and No Man's Land, includes a graffiti memory puzzle, and can throw a traitor Captain at you. The update also adds two new weapons, the Thugshot and the Cruncher, which the author finds hard-hitting but slow.

Mario Kart Tour has officially shut down, estimated to have earned Nintendo around $270 million

Nintendo's mobile game Mario Kart Tour officially shut down at 22:59 PT on September 29, with players no longer able to log into its servers. Launched in September 2019, it ended with 267 playable characters, 340 karts, 238 gliders and 546 courses. Estimates from AppMagic cited by Mobilegamer.biz put downloads at over 276 million and lifetime revenue at around $268.5 million, with monthly revenue falling from roughly $5-6 million in most of 2020 and 2021 to about $650,000 when Nintendo announced the closure in July 2026.

Huge Deadlock Update Sends Valve's MOBA Hero Shooter Up the Steam Charts With a New Peak of Over 220,000 Concurrent Players

Valve released a large update for its in-development MOBA hero shooter Deadlock, reworking the map and adding six new heroes, new mobs, objectives, an updated HUD, healthbars and Shop, plus engine code moved to the latest version of Source 2. Deadlock peaked at over 220,000 concurrent players overnight, breaking its own record and making it the sixth most-played game on Steam last night. The game remains in early development with access limited to friend invites from Valve's playtesters, and there is still no release date or beta window.

Diablo 4 Director Promises the Game Will Still Receive Support Well After Diablo 5 Launches

Diablo 4 director Brent Gibson responded to fan concerns about the game's lifespan after Diablo 5 was revealed at Blizzcon 2026, saying Diablo 4 will continue to receive support well after Diablo 5's release. He said the Amazon class is coming in the first half of 2027 and that seasons will continue as long as the community keeps showing up, citing ongoing support for Diablo 2 and Diablo 3. Diablo 5 director Joe Shely said Diablo 4 remains fully supported by its team and announced the game is coming to Switch 2.

Xbox's disc-to-digital rollout opens to all users

After testing with Insiders, Xbox opened its disc-to-digital program to all Xbox users on September 29, letting most Xbox Series X and Xbox One physical discs claim a digital license. A Kotaku test with Injustice 2 showed a new Claim digital license option in the game's app menu, and playing the game also claims the license automatically. Xbox 360 and original Xbox games are not supported, some publishers have not joined, and a fan-made list suggests at least 1400 games are compatible; the author advises keeping the discs even after digitizing.

WoW: Forever Players Are Up In Arms Over Streamer Not Being Banned For Illegal Gold

World of Warcraft: Forever players are protesting after a popular streamer was not banned for accepting large sums of gold from strangers ahead of a $100,000 beta dueling tournament on October 17. WoW Classic streamer Ziqo was seen accepting 380 gold from a level one character and 175 gold from another level one character named El Delivery. Blizzard community manager Kaivax said in a September 28 forum post that the company will increasingly take action against RMT gold buyers, without naming Ziqo.

走到两周年的《三角洲行动》，把“叙事”打造成了新王牌

Arc Raiders exec says success resulted in burnout: 'We were constantly overshooting our capacity'

Arc Raiders executive producer Aleksander Grøndal told Game Developer at Gamescom that Embark Studios has struggled to balance serving over 16 million players with its own workforce, which he says is "super tired." He said the studio confirmed around four months ago that it would drop monthly updates to ease pressure on the team, and that constant overshooting of capacity plus maintenance work forced content plans to be cut. Grøndal also described taking five months of sick leave from burnout during his 15 years at EA.

World of Warcraft: Forever beta popularity grows as Blizzard raises server cap again

World of Warcraft executive producer Holly Longdale said on her personal X account that the team had to raise the population cap for the World of Warcraft: Forever beta again over the weekend. Long-time World of Warcraft: Classic developer Josh Greenfield previously called the beta's numbers the craziest he has seen in 17 years at Blizzard. Access to the beta requires the $59.99 Skyborne Epic pack, and the game launches fully on 4th November with a monthly subscription instead.

Two Xbox Games Are Shutting Down Their Servers Across October and November 2026

Two Xbox games are set to shut down their servers across October and November 2026, according to a Pure Xbox roundup. Rocket Racing, playable inside Fortnite, goes offline on October 1, 2026 for all Xbox consoles, while Call of Duty: Warzone shuts down only on Xbox One and PS4 when Season 1 of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 begins in late October or early November, with the date still to be determined. The piece also notes that Sociable Soccer 25 servers close on September 28 and the Xbox 360 version of Toy Story 3 is delisted on September 29.

Gears of War: E-Day Guide: Release Date, Release Times, Early Access and Game Pass Details on Xbox and PC

Gears of War: E-Day launches on Xbox Series X|S and PC on October 6th, with early access starting October 1st for buyers of the Premium Edition, Premium Upgrade Edition or Collector's Edition, both at 3pm UTC. The standard edition joins PC Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate on day one, but not Game Pass Essential, Premium or the new Starter tier, with Premium members expected to get it in October 2027. The game is expected to be around 100GB with pre-install beginning September 29th, supports Xbox Play Anywhere, and will not come to Xbox One, PS5 or Switch 2.

Arc Raiders announces PvE matchmaking test running 13th to 20th October

Embark Studios announced a PvE matchmaking test for Arc Raiders running from 13th to 20th October, letting players choose between the friendlier PvE version and the regular version. Executive producer Aleksander Grøndal said around 37 percent of raiders are friendly co-op players, 34 percent are PvP-focused and the remaining 27 percent are a mix. The test supports solo, duos and trios, omits PvP-designed map conditions such as night raids and hidden bunkers, and lowers loot value in PvE matchmaking; Grøndal said it does not mean a permanent PvE mode will be added.

World of Warcraft: Forever has recaptured the original MMO's magic, something I thought was impossible

Bungie outlines Marathon roadmap to grow the game beyond extraction

Bungie announced short- and long-term plans for Marathon in a blog post, saying it wants to keep the extraction mode while adding more approachable experiences with different levels of intensity and commitment. October's Nightfall refresh brings a regular and a free permanent NuCaloric rewards pass, recurring sponsored kit queues, and larger access windows for the end-game Cryo Archive. December pushes the PvE mode Symbiosis, adds an experimental Team Deathmatch mode, a new shell, a reworked Perimeter map with new zones, a new PvE pinnacle encounter and a fungal aesthetic, while next March is set to add interconnected permanent PvE, PvP and PvEvP experiences, a new onboarding experience, a more focused questline and narrative, a new zone and a new alien enemy.

Arc Raiders is testing a PvE mode from October 13th to 20th

Embark Studios will trial a PvE mode in Arc Raiders from October 13th to 20th, letting players toggle into a version where players cannot damage each other. The studio says a large and growing group comes for the co-op and the ARC, and shared data showing pure PvP players have held steady at 34% since launch while mixed players have shrunk. The mode also lowers loot value, omits some special events, and makes ARC enemies slightly more aggressive to preserve tension.

Jason Schreier details Bungie's canceled project Payback

Jason Schreier has shared details about Payback, a canceled Bungie project that was envisioned as the future of Destiny. It was planned as a sandbox game featuring characters from the Destiny universe, with a focus on world exploration and puzzle-solving.

Bungie outlines Marathon's future with PvE, a social hub, and a shift beyond extraction

Bungie said in a new blog post that Marathon will be "growing beyond extraction," keeping its PvEvP experience while adding more ways to play. The upcoming Symbiosis update will bring the long-promised PvE mode and an experimental Team Deathmatch PvP mode, alongside a new shell named Bishop. Perimeter will get a fungus-driven visual overhaul with new routes, and a new zone plus a CyAc-sponsored social hub with a firing range are slated for March.

Tim Schafer on Double Fine's Xbox split: "I assume someone is being greedy somewhere"

Double Fine founder Tim Schafer told the BBC that the studio split with Xbox because Microsoft is moving toward "fewer, larger IPs," while Double Fine wanted to keep making many small ones. He said he remains pro Game Pass and has no regrets about the Xbox partnership, but called the industry's four-year downturn baffling and said "I assume someone is being greedy somewhere."

Quake Champions drops free-to-play and removes its Microsoft Store version eight years after launch

id Software's free-to-play shooter Quake Champions is becoming a paid product eight years after its original release, priced at £8.99/$9.99 with content from 30 seasons and all Champions unlocked. The Microsoft Store version is being removed, leaving it only on Steam, and id Software confirmed no additional content updates are planned. Patch 1.31 removes battle passes, the in-game store, paid currencies, loot boxes, login rewards and all microtransactions, with refunds for recent Platinum purchases and a free Steam copy for previous players who link accounts by 7th October.

After id layoffs, Quake Champions drops free-to-play and becomes a £9 game on Steam

After nearly a decade as a free-to-play game, Quake Champions is dropping battle passes, loot boxes, premium currencies and its store to become a £9 premium release on Steam. Players who tried it through past free events are upgraded to the full version automatically, and premium currency bought in the past two months will be refunded. The change follows more than 100 layoffs at id Software amid Microsoft's 3,200 cuts, and the team says no additional content updates are planned at this time.

Don't expect regular Destiny 2 updates to return, despite the surprise "unvaulting" of game additions

After announcing the end of Destiny 2 development and laying off almost the entire team, Bungie said earlier this week it is working on "unvaulting" campaigns, raids and destinations that were previously removed, and these will be free for everyone. According to a Forbes report by Paul Tassi citing sources inside Bungie, the live service seasons and seasonal events that ran alongside that content will not return, and no more patches are planned during the unvaulting except for major bug fixes. Tassi could not say when the unvaulting will arrive, guessing "sometime next year," and confirmed it does not mean Bungie is returning to regular Destiny 2 development.

Aion 2 Steam test peaks at 73,000 concurrent players as monetization and art debates carry into global launch

Aion 2's global Steam PC stress test, which began on September 17, reached 73,000 concurrent players on SteamDB, with the full release set for October 5. The article recounts the backlash from its earlier Korea and Taiwan launch over stat-boosting items in loot boxes and core features locked behind paid memberships, and notes that NCsoft adjusted or removed some disputed items during the test. It also covers overseas discussion of differing male and female character outfits and NCsoft's broader push to move beyond traditional MMOs.

EA Sports FC 27 hands-on: The Grounds football open world and UT Collection

EA Sports FC 27 launches on September 25, with Ultimate Edition owners getting in a week early, and a hands-on look focuses on the new football open-world mode The Grounds and the UT Collection. The Grounds supports up to 100 players in one shared space, where players create an avatar and take part in 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3 street matches, skill challenges and NPC quests while leveling up. In Ultimate Team, the new Collection lets players sort player cards and rate sets to earn Hall of Fame players, while corner and SBC changes remain largely incremental.

Bungie says it is not done with Destiny, pledging to bring back vaulted Destiny 2 content while saying Marathon needs to evolve

Bungie's new leadership said in a blog post that Destiny is foundational to the studio's future and that previously vaulted Destiny 2 campaigns, destinations and raids will be added back into the game, while acknowledging it cannot change the decision it made. They also said Marathon did not reach as many players as hoped and needs to evolve, so seasonal updates are being dropped in favour of a resurgence starting with a December PvE update. The studio said it has simplified priorities, reduced competing initiatives and moved decisions closer to development teams.

Bungie says it is not done with Destiny, will restore archived Destiny 2 content to rebuild player trust

Three months after Destiny 2's final update, Bungie announced plans to restore previously vaulted campaigns, raids and destinations to rebuild player trust. Studio head Poria Torkan and Marathon general manager Josh Deane said in a blog post that Destiny is foundational to Bungie's future, acknowledging that ending Destiny 2 development led to 292 layoffs and lost trust. Deane said the restoration is not as simple as restoring old files, since changes made since Beyond Light require updates to lighting, encounters, combatants and other underlying systems. Bungie also updated its Marathon roadmap, saying the game did not reach as many players as hoped but was never intended to replace Destiny.

World of Warcraft fans are torn over whether Forever's Skyborne starting zone fits Classic WoW's tone

World of Warcraft: Forever's beta has players debating whether the new Skyborne race's starting zone fits the tone of Classic WoW. The questline has players confront an elemental lord before level 15, while such foes only appeared at level 60 in Molten Core during Classic. Blizzard described Forever's approach at BlizzCon as "found photographs," and the full game releases on 4th November.

Bungie announces plans to restore vaulted Destiny 2 content and substantially rework Marathon

Bungie announced in a developer video and blog post that it plans to restore Destiny 2 content archived in the game's digital Vault, making vaulted campaigns, destinations, and raids available to all players again. The studio said years of updates mean the content needs reworks such as updated lighting, combat encounters, and combatants, and it will share progress in the coming months. Bungie also said Marathon did not reach as many players as hoped and will be expanded into a deeper survival experience, with more details due later this week and content still planned for the October Nightfall Refresh and December Symbiosis updates.

Bungie says it is 'not done with Destiny' as it lays out the studio's future

Bungie studio head Poria Torkan and Marathon general manager Josh Deane published a blog post saying Destiny is foundational to Bungie's future and that the studio will return to developing the series, starting by unvaulting years of archived Destiny 2 content. In an accompanying video they acknowledged lost trust and lost colleagues, and said Marathon did not reach as many players as hoped and needs to evolve. Bungie had previously said active development on Destiny 2 would end in June 2026 and laid off almost 300 employees.

Activision cites data claiming cheating in games is an $8.5bn industry; 69% of online multiplayer studios call cheating a "significant or very significant problem"

Activision's Team Ricochet, which runs Call of Duty's anti-cheat efforts, cited data claiming cheating in games is an $8.5 billion industry. An Anybrain-commissioned survey of 250 US and UK developers found 69% of studios consider cheating a "significant or very significant problem," with over half reporting measurable drops in player retention or revenue loss. 76% of respondents have implemented anti-cheat measures, and 88% plan to increase anti-cheat investment over the next 12 months.

Chuapp Talk: "Your Time Is Running Out"

EA Sports FC 26 has reached the end of its lifecycle, with Ultimate Team no longer running new events and its web and app versions shut down. Playing only the web-based pack-opening mode, the author earned 4.16845 million coins over the year, about 350,000 a month, enough to buy each season's 500,000-coin paid pass without extra spending. Ultimate Team data resets every year, pushing players to FC 27, while FC 26 still costs at least $69.99.

After miHoYo Shuts Down AI Companion BSide: Olivia Lin, Players Try to Revive Lin Li Themselves

miHoYo launched the AI companion product BSide: Olivia Lin on Steam on July 13, 2026, and announced on August 11 that it would shut down at the end of August, only 29 days after launch. After the shutdown, a player named Ying Rushi started a group to collect letters and organize Lin Li's persona and reply rules, aiming to recreate her with prompts in common AI tools. Two days after the online version went offline, he released a GitHub open-source project that restores Lin Li's local letter service.

Survey: over 40% of US users cancelling Xbox Game Pass, PS Plus and Switch Online cite rising costs

Circana survey data shows that over 40% of US users cancelling Xbox Game Pass Essential, PS Plus Essential and Nintendo Switch Online cite cost as a primary driver. Analyst Mat Piscatella stressed the figure reflects why existing cancellers leave, not how many people are cancelling. Among recent Nintendo Switch Online cancellers, 50% said they liked the service but couldn't justify the cost within their budget, up from 40% earlier in the year, while the same figure for Xbox Game Pass Essential and PS Plus Essential rose from 37% in Q1 to 40% now.

Blizzard has announced World of Warcraft Forever launches on November 4.

Newzoo: Most established live-service and evergreen titles were flat or down year over year in H1 2026

Newzoo data shows most established live-service and evergreen titles were flat or declined year over year in H1 2026, with growth limited to titles including World of Warcraft, Diablo 4, Overwatch, Roblox and select Tencent international releases. The firm forecasts 3% console player growth this year, up from 0.5% in 2025, driven by Grand Theft Auto 6 and PlayStation. Tencent led Q1 2026's top 10 public games companies with $10.8 billion in revenue, up 11.9%, as the group totaled $37.4 billion, up 6.7%.

An interesting stat that these time limits will only "impact 4% of Game Pass subscribers."

Petit Planet preview: HoYoverse's first foray into family-friendly games is very careful to colour within the lines

Petit Planet, HoYoverse's first family-friendly social sim, has launched its second beta test and is being compared closely to Animal Crossing. It swaps the usual desert island for a desert planet in space, but the preview finds few new ideas and no confirmed release window. The beta also flags content made with generative AI, with NPC real-time dialogue likened to the 20-year-old indie game Façade.

The Best Xbox Game Pass Games In 2026

GameSpot rounds up the best games currently available on Xbox Game Pass, spanning big AAA titles, day-one releases, and overlooked gems like 2025's Blue Prince. Game Pass Ultimate's monthly price dropped to $23 after rising to $30 in late 2025, but new Call of Duty games will no longer be included at launch and will only arrive about a year after release. Game Pass Essential costs $10 a month with 50+ games and online multiplayer, Premium costs $15 with 200 playable games, and PC Game Pass costs $14.