In the wake of the news that EA has closed down BioWare and ended development on Mass Effect 5, Archetype Entertainment—co-founded by former BioWare devs Chad Robertson, James Ohlen, and Drew Karpyshyn—has given players a brand-new look at its upcoming title, a very Mass-Effecty sci-fi RPG called Exodus.

Specifically, Archetype has revealed a visual rework of its male player-character model. When GameSpot previewed Exodus in late August, the male version of protagonist Jun Aslan could be seen sporting a five-o'-clock shadow and very different bone structure. Now, he has a whole new face. In a new video uploaded to Archetype's YouTube channel today, Archetype general manager Chad Robertson showed off male-Jun's new look, which he explained is a result of player feedback. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InxJpKrYQAE

"We've seen your conversations and feedback over the last few months around our male Jun character model," Robertson said. "We've been listening, and we take that feedback seriously. We've continued to refine Jun as we've worked on him and the rest of the game."

Archetype hasn't yet revealed Jun's female character model, but the devs say her reveal is on the way.

"Is FemJun on your mind?" a new post on the official Exodus website asks. "Ours too! And we’re happy to say yes, she’s coming... soon™. We’ve got something special cooking for her reveal, and we think it’ll be worth the wait."

Exodus launches on April 7, 2027 and is available to wishlist now on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, Steam, and the Epic Games Store.

GTA 6's marketing push is ramping up substantially, and that includes with TV commercials. Eagled-eyes fans have discovered that the new GTA 6 TV spots actually contain some extended sequences, but just barely.

For starters, a 30-second TV spot cuts out the steamy shower scenes with Jason and Lucia from the launch trailer. While the shower scenes are gone in this edit, the new TV spot has a slightly longer shots of an airplane sequence and another with Jason and Lucia standing next to their car.

Jason playfully nudges Lucia, and in the TV spot, she nearly topples to the ground. The Xbox logo was also removed, presumably due to Rockstar's reported promotional deal with Sony. You can check out the comparison below (via IGN).

https://twitter.com/GTAVI_Countdown/status/2112897438885245268

A 90-second version, meanwhile, includes the shower scenes, along with the slightly longer sequences seen in the 30-second version. If you saw these TV spots recently, you might not have even noticed any of these changes, but GTA 6 fan accounts are extremely dedicated and never miss anything.

https://twitter.com/mnm345x/status/2113001090245664971

GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and, yes, Xbox Series X|S, even though the TV ads for the game don't tell you that. Rockstar's marketing push for the game also includes real-life Burger Shot and Cluckin' Bell restaurants where you can buy GTA-branded food.

In other GTA 6 news, it was recently reported that preorders are pacing significantly ahead of any other big AAA game of the past five years. Obviously that's no surprise, given GTA 6 is expected to be the biggest game release ever, and it could generate $2 billion before it even launches.

Publisher Electronic Arts recently slashed 400 roles across its company, which resulted in the shuttering of legendary RPG studio BioWare. But also impacted by the layoffs was Skate developer Full Circle, and now I'm growing increasingly worried about the future of a franchise I waited so long to make a comeback.

Part of EA's latest round of layoffs on October 21 included cutting an unspecified number of staffers to create a "very clear roadmap" that leads to a "healthier and more sustainable business." Then, as VGC noted on the same day, "many" of the developers at Full Circle are gone. This includes artists Brendan Vermeltfoort and Will Granda, seasonal creative director John Epler, and senior designers Adam Martinazzi and David Milne--all of whom posted the unfortunate news on LinkedIn.

It's always a bummer when talented developers lose their jobs at the hands of corporate greed, but this one stings for me personally. As a big Skate girlie, I was so stoked for the franchise to make a comeback, and even more stoked to get my hands on the game in September 2025.

It's had its stumbles, to be sure. Season 2 was light on new content. Season 3 introduced a new map ... that was locked behind a paywall. Season 4 gave us an empty stadium ... that was also locked behind a paywall. But despite bailing on every trick, you could see Full Circle getting closer to landing at each attempt. Season 5, which kicked off on September 8, hasn't been the best, but it has been a solid step in the right direction, and even came with a massive park reminiscent of Skate 3's Super Ultra Mega Park.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UAi4AW5KOE

Along the way, there have been new tricks, new attempts at progression (that oftentimes drew the ire of the player base), a smattering of new gear, and a plethora of bug fixes to make each season a bit smoother than the last (though there were inevitably bugs with each new content drop). It was evident that Full Circle, which is composed of developers who worked on the entire Skate franchise, wanted to make the best Skate game possible after the series went dormant for 15 years. The team just needs time to cook. After all, Skate was never a live-service franchise, and I don't think it ever needed to be one.

This is what has me worried about the game's future. While EA seems to be committed to keeping Skate online (for now), the team has to be much smaller now--especially after Full Circle suffered layoffs in February. Game development is already hard, and I imagine running a live-service is even harder. Doing that with fewer staff sounds even more challenging.

While we don't know the exact number of layoffs at Full Circle, I just want Skate to succeed. I've waited over a decade for the franchise to make a comeback, and I'm having a hard time watching it suffer because profits matter more than the people who make the product. There's genuine good in the game, and the team was finally hitting its stride. I just hope that EA gives Full Circle the time--and resources--it needs to realize its vision.

World of Warcraft: Forever players may have searched its beta with a fine-toothed comb, but Blizzard said there are still plenty of secrets waiting to be found come launch and beyond.

In a new WoW: Forever Podcast dedicated to the end of the beta, Blizzard made clear it's keeping many of the game's surprises close to its chest. Senior game designer Josh Greenfield said Blizzard had disabled some items and secrets for the beta. He gave an example of a new torch item that was originally turned off for the beta's first week, but later enabled to test out Forever's new lighting and fog tech. He said players can expect more of those types of surprises.

"There's definitely some secrets and stuff that we had turned off," Greenfield said when asked about still to be discovered secrets in the level 1-30 zones. "There's going to be things to discover that we didn't surface, suffice to say that."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOlxa3xvNq4

Forever's beta had a maximum level of 30, meaning there is still a huge chunk of the game, including new zones, quests, dungeons, and raids, players haven't fully explored yet. When asked about items like a newly discovered sword in the beta that could potentially enable new playstyles, like a melee-focused "Battle Mage", Greenfield opted not to elaborate further.

"It's hard to talk about secret stuff," Greenfield said. "It's secret, right? We want people to find it. There's some really, really, really cool, and really, really, really well-buried stuff out there that's probably going to take people a long time to find. If we tip our hats to it too much, it's just going to take the fun away." 

Unlike in past WoW releases, most of the items on Forever's beta were hidden from dataminers using a new system that hides an item's name and stats until it's discovered by the community. At the start of the beta, over 12,500 items were kept hidden. As a result, players don't know what items drop from dungeon bosses or what some of the best quest rewards are. The game is still a mystery, something Greenfield said is cool to experience "organically" for those who know WoW Classic like the back of their hand.

Blizzard did give some more concrete teases towards the end of the podcast. Lead encounter designer Michael Nuthals said Blizzard is already laying the groundwork for Forever's future, and as such players may find examples of places that could be future dungeons already in the game.

"There might be some homes, some manors, out there that folks have found that might be something interesting in the future," Nuthals said, seemingly referencing the new Manor Mistmantle in the game's Duskwood zone. "You might have seen some instance portals hiding in some inconspicuous spots. There are some things coming in the future and we're really excited to share those as we get there."

A roadmap released during BlizzCon 2026 shows Blizzard is planning to release new dungeons and raids for Forever next year. 

WoW: Forever launches November 4. In other Forever news, Blizzard announced a new server ruleset that will make PvP players happy. As for where Forever will take players in the future, Blizzard said in an interview with GameSpot that while the team is committed to staying on Azeroth, it's open to exploring places players may have already seen before in other WoW expansions. Meanwhile, a leaked survey revealed 11 new classes that could potentially come to Blizzard's old-school MMO.

After hearing the disappointing news that EA has shuttered BioWare, putting an end to two of my favorite RPG franchises—Mass Effect and Dragon Age—I have been, like so many other players, feeling pretty bummed out. But I consoled myself with the fact that, given the environment at BioWare in recent years, the now-canceled Mass Effect 5 probably wouldn't be that good anyway.

Like many players, I enjoyed the Mass Effect trilogy, but felt that Mass Effect: Andromeda fell short. Similarly, BioWare's other recent titles—Anthem and Dragon Age: The Veilguard—struggled with messy development cycles marked by frequent changes in direction, mixed messages from higher-ups at EA, constant staff turnover, and other issues that ultimately led to an underwhelming gaming experience. After playing Veilguard, which felt nothing like the Dragon Age games I had grown to love, my hopes weren't too high for Mass Effect 5. The news of its cancellation (and BioWare's subsequent shutdown) was a huge bummer, though I'd rather Mass Effect go out on a relatively high note than see it get the Veilguard treatment. But then I saw the trailer.

Uploaded to Reddit earlier today, the trailer has not been verified as real by BioWare, but it doesn't appear to bear any hallmarks of generative AI, and a short message before the trailer begins implies it was planned to debut at a later date—perhaps N7 Day, or The Game Awards.

"The following is in-engine footage from our small team," reads the text displayed before the trailer begins. "It uses our pre-production assets."

What follows is one of the most exciting game trailers I've seen in years. We learn the name of the game—Mass Effect: Universe—and meet the male version of its protagonist (though given the history of the franchise, it's likely players would have been able to play as whatever gender they prefer).

This nameless protagonist is in a bar, flirting heavily with an Asari. After some additional romantic banter, our protagonist explains that he and his crew "put out fires." Something in the Asari's eyes changes after she hears this. She leans forward, whispering to the protagonist that he should be careful, as she happens to prefer starting fires. It seems this Asari was planning to double-cross our protagonist in some way, but as soon as she's admitted her villainous intentions, the protagonist's crew (all lurking undercover nearby) reveal themselves one by one. A fight breaks out, and we catch a glimpse of the protagonist's combat abilities, interspersed with brief clips from other parts of the game, including a romance scene. The protagonist fights off Krogan and Turian enemies, blasting them with anti-gravity fields and gunfire alike. The trailer ends with a black screen that reads, "Coming soon."

Mass Effect: Universe's protagonist sizes up a mysterious Asari.

On paper, this trailer might sound similar to the first real look we got at Dragon Age: The Veilguard, a trailer that also ended in a bar fight. But there's one massive difference between these two trailers: tone. Where Veilguard's bar fight trailer introduced a controversial new art style to the franchise and featured loads of quippy, goofy, MCU-style dialogue, Mass Effect: Universe's bar fight trailer feels dangerous, intriguing, and sexy. It feels like Mass Effect; it draws you in and instantly makes you want to learn more.

And that is, perhaps, the most heartbreaking part of all of this: We will almost certainly never learn more about this game, as EA has unceremoniously slit the throat of the studio that created it. EA also may prefer not to sell the Mass Effect IP off to another company, as it has a rather storied history of saying, "No, we're not making this game, but nobody else is allowed to make it, either."

While it's impossible to determine the quality of a game solely from one trailer, and there's no telling what kind of shape Mass Effect: Universe might have launched in, one thing is very clear: The Mass Effect: Universe team was working hard to right the ship after Mass Effect: Andromeda's tepid reception, and based on what can be seen in the trailer, they were doing a damn good job of it. The fact that they weren't given the opportunity to finish their work is devastating, both for the developers themselves, and the many players who were eagerly waiting to dive back into a franchise they love dearly.

At least we've still got the Mass Effect TV show to look forward to, I guess.

People online are going wild thinking that Valve may have accidentally revealed the existence of a new Half-Life game after a developer mentioned a project referred to as "HLX."

Speaking at the Game Sound Con event, Valve sound designer Mike Morasky was discussing how Valve's games utilize high dynamic range (HDR) audio systems. He specifically called out how upcoming Valve game Deadlock has its own version of HDR and so does a project called HLX.

Another Valve developer sitting next to Morasky says to him immediately after, "Nice work," seemingly in reference to how Morasky might have spoken out of turn here by mentioning HLX. You can also see the other Valve developer saying to Morasky, "Good job, you only said HLX once."

https://twitter.com/gabefollower/status/2113342715756978245

Morasky is a Valve veteran, having worked on the sound and music for games like Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead, Portal 2, Half-Life: Alyx, and Counter-Strike 2. Outside of games, he worked on visual effects for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movies and The Matrix trilogy. He was a member of the band Steel Pole Bath Tab.

A while back, a datamining effort found references to something called HLX, and some think it's a new Half-Life game, or possibly the fabled Half-Life 3. For what it's worth, it's become something of an annual tradition for people to get excited about the smallest possible evidence of a new Half-Life, only to be disappointed when nothing gets announced.

The Half-Life franchise has a dedicated fanbase and the franchise has major cache, so it wouldn't be surprising to see Valve return to the series again after 2020's VR game Half-Life: Alyx. That was GameSpot's Game of the Year that year.

Multiple new reports claim that the budget for Gears of War: E-Day was $500 million. Both Kotaku and Chris Dring of The Game Business reported today, with Kotaku's report saying the number does not include marketing costs.

Jez Corden of Windows Central added that the $500 million figure is not wrong, but his own sources aren't able to say definitively if that number covers the game's budget alone, or the game's budget plus additional costs related to running the development studio, The Coalition.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Bn4cMZamNA4

Whatever the case, the consensus seems to be that E-Day was an expensive game to produce, and the game's early sales results do not seem very impressive. The game reportedly sold 230,000 copies across Xbox and PC, but that doesn't tell the whole story since the game is included with Xbox Game Pass. Further data shows that the game reached nearly 2 million people out of the gate, and that number is sure to grow over time.

Game Pass is a juggernaut for Microsoft and Xbox, with its recurring revenue from subscriptions generating almost $5 billion annually based on the latest data. A $500 million development budget for E-Day would represent 10% of that annual revenue from Game Pass.

Industry expert Mike Futter reacted to Kotaku's report about E-Day's $500 million budget, saying, "Exclusivity on console games simply does not make sense right now," even if the development budget was half of that.

E-Day was expected to release on PS5, and Microsoft's own presentational materials showed that, but the game was not released on Sony's console. According to reports, Microsoft canceled a PS5 edition at the last minute, with others saying E-Day was being sent out to die on purpose.

GameSpot has contacted Xbox seeking comment about E-Day's reported budget.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has said one of her ambitions is to bring back exclusives, following the previous leadership under Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond embracing multiplatform releases.

E-Day is a prequel to the Gears series, telling the story of Emergence Day. The game got generally solid review scores, including a 7/10 here at GameSpot.

No new Gears of War games have been confirmed, but developers at The Coalition have said the foundation is in place now to make an E-Day sequel faster. Beyond any possible new games, Netflix is producing a Gears of War movie and TV series.

It's a grim week for developers and fans, with EA announcing that it is shutting down Mass Effect and Dragon Age studio BioWare. EA said that after deciding not to pursue development on a new Mass Effect, it would shut down the studio as part of company-wide restructuring plans that will result in roughly 400 employees being let go. But should EA sit on the IP that BioWare was responsible for and let it gather dust? Former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah has suggested they could go up for sale as it works off some of its $55 billion debt.

"Remember BioWare, 100% owned by EA," Darrah said on his YouTube channel. “EA owns all the IP. They own Dragon Age, they own Mass Effect, they own Jade Empire. That doesn’t change the situation. Now, here’s nobody working on a game, or games, within the EA organization, and chances are there never will be, which might make them more likely to sell off those IP. But it might also make them more likely to just try to forget that they ever existed and bury them in the vault. I think we still are going to have to wait a little bit before we see if EA has any interest in selling off some of its dormant IP. Right now, they seem to be in cost-control mode. They might start into a revenue-generation mode where selling IP might be more desirable."

https://youtu.be/2T8KlKPa2Y0

Earlier this year, former Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider also spoke about the franchise and said he believed it was dead after the poor commercial performance of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. BioWare's last game failed to meet EA's expectations, and mass layoffs at BioWare eventually left only a core team to focus on the next Mass Effect game. While EA doesn't have anyone internally to work on a game based on a BioWare IP, that doesn't mean it can't look outward to find a studio to handle work on a new Mass Effect or Jade Empire--if it chooses to.

For example, Konami has successfully resurrected its Silent Hill series in recent years, teaming up with developers like Bloober Team, Screen Burn, and NeoBards Entertainment to produce several critically acclaimed games in the IP. Following the success of Bit Reactor's Star Wars Zero Company and Fuse Games’ Star Wars: Galactic Racer, Lucasfilm Games says it wants to be more flexible in choosing who it partners with, and fans can expect some surprises in the future.

Beyond the sad news about BioWare, EA also announced that work on the new Sims game has been paused, the team behind the new Skate game is being downsized, and a "social-first open-world” football game is in development.

World of Warcraft: Forever players are getting a fourth server "ruleset" option for launch: role-playing-player vs. player, or RP-PvP for short.

Blizzard announced the news on social media, stating the server would be open for name reservations starting on October 27. It joins three other rulesets for players to choose from, with options for PvE, PvP, and roleplaying. Yet another server ruleset, Hardcore (aka permadeath), is set to be added before Spring 2027.

The addition of a RP-PvP server is good news for the game's community, who have been vocal about wanting to see it added as an option. RP-PvP servers have been included in past versions of WoW Classic and WoW. 

https://twitter.com/Warcraft/status/2113291795576537230?s=20

Having another PvP server option has taken on new importance given Blizzard's server approach for Forever. Rather than multiple different servers for each ruleset, Blizzard instead opted for what is essentially one massive server for each. That means prior to now there was only one PvP server, and unsurprisingly, it's that server where much of the game's streamer population and their audiences will be playing. One of those streamers is the controversial Asmongold, whose Alliance guild, Olympus, currently numbers over 74,000 players on Forever's beta.

Many WoW Classic players would rather avoid streamer drama and Asmongold's army disrupting their experience, but didn't have anywhere else to go if they were committed to playing on a PvP server. Now, with a RP-PvP server, those players have somewhere to go, albeit with some extra RP-focused rules to contend with.

Blizzard originally seemed hesitant to introduce a RP-PvP server. Just last week, Blizzard said it had no plans to introduce one. 

"Whenever it comes to RP-PVP, people really remember fondly stuff like Grobbulus in 2019, but unfortunately, the reality is every other RP-PVP realm we've done since then has followed a different trajectory…," senior game designer Josh Greenfield said in a PvP-focused episode of the WoW: Forever podcast. "It's one of those things where we'd want to make a decision based on hopes and what we want; we have to make decisions based on what has actually played out and actual player behavior." 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzaMA5fZ1tE

He went on to state the game's RP community is "pretty small" compared to its normal and PvP communities, and that for Blizzard's new "realmless" ruleset system to work, it needs a "critical mass" of players to encourage social interactions and for the server to have a strong economy.

"Taking that already tight-knit community and splitting it again is something we have to carefully consider in this new world," he said. 

GameSpot reached out to Blizzard for comment on what changed its mind and why it decided to add another server option, but has not yet heard back as of publication. 

WoW: Forever launches on November 4. Even with less than two weeks before launch, Blizzard continues to deliver new information about the third version of its popular MMO. It recently revealed players can expect to see the return of a questing tradition in the game's new Riverglades zone and made big changes to Forever's racial abilities. In an interview with GameSpot, Blizzard teased how it's approaching Forever's endgame and its future.

There's nothing worse than running around a Call of Duty map, clicking heads and feeling awesome, then getting your head blown off out of nowhere, watching the killcam, and seeing that it was a camper. Apparently, that camper could've been Manchester City striker Erling Haaland because he's been a camper his whole life.

In an October 21 video on his YouTube channel, the Norwegian soccer superstar was 1-v-1-ing English rapper Harrison "Aitch" Armstrong in Modern Warfare 4. Very early in the video, Aitch asks how Haaland tends to play CoD games. Haaland came through with some honesty.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy3Ore5MT3o&t=38s

"You know what, and this is a bit embarrassing to say, but I've been a camper my whole life," Haaland told Aitch. "I'm that guy that you hate. [I'll] probably get some hate now, but it is what it is."

Well, you know what, Haaland? You are the guy that I hate, and I'm not sorry about it.

Camping has always been a controversial tactic in CoD games. The idea that someone would sit in a corner, often with a high-powered sniper like the DSR 50 in CoD: Black Ops or the M40A3 in CoD4: Modern Warfare, and pick targets off one by one always seemed counterintuitive to the fast-paced nature of CoD games. Sure, it provides better accuracy, but camping eliminates the skill involved with gunplay and instead produces boring matches as campers wait around for enemies to shoot.

Modern Warfare 4 doesn't officially launch until October 23, and the official subreddit is already full of people decrying campers. That's not everyone's experience, of course, but it appears that, since the beta, CoD players are running into lobbies filled with campers--and honestly, I'd be so pissed.

Anyway, I won't spoil how Aitch and Haaland's match goes, but it is an entertaining watch. There's plenty of screaming, camping, and screen peeking, so it's certainly worth the watch--if only for Haaland and his hot buzz cut.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 lands on Nintendo Switch 2, PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on October 23. However, it's been out since October 16 if you preordered the Standard or Vault Editions.

Ahead of its first anniversary, Dispatch developer AdHoc has revealed a big (and free) update for the deluxe edition of the superhero workplace-dramedy. Available now on all platforms where the deluxe edition is available, two new behind-the-scenes modes are being added to Dispatch. Dispatch is also getting a mobile release for Android and iOS, a live concert in Los Angeles, and more.

The first one, Commentary, adds over 16 hours of cast and crew commentary across two tracks. Different choices made in the game will unlock different commentary, and the cast commentary track features Aaron Paul, Laura Bailey, Erin Yvette, and more of the cast. Storyboard will give players the ability to experience the entire game through the original storyboard animatics. This mode will show how the game was developed, with a closer look at how AdHoc developed the scenes, performances, and visual storytelling behind Dispatch. You can even double up on modes and enable the commentary tracks over Storyboard mode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siM80qE5Y8E

"Dispatch was only possible because of folks who believed in it enough to show up and do their best work. In our industry, it's often really hard to showcase those people and how the development process actually works, but fortunately our game is very weird and specific and affords us some unique opportunities," said Nick Herman, Co-Creative Director on Dispatch and COO of AdHoc Studio, in a press release. "So for the fans who made Dispatch a part of their lives, we wanted to give them more ways to experience the world they love, whether that’s playing alongside the cast and crew, experiencing the entire game in its original storyboards, or hanging out together IRL at the wildest version of a Dispatch concert our finance team would sign off on." 

The mobile edition of Dispatch will be available starting December 9, and AdHoc says it has been rebuilt for touch and vertical play. The first four episodes will be available for free at launch, and the full edition of the game will cost $20. Beyond that, AdHoc will also release new anniversary merchandise alongside the upcoming vinyl soundtrack, the digital comics are getting a physical edition release, and a new hardcover book from Lost in Cult, Dispatch: Design Works collection, will explore the making of Dispatch.

To cap things off, a Dispatch concert will be held for one night only, on December 3 at Avalon Hollywood in Los Angeles. One of last year’s biggest hit games--Dispatch follows Robert Robertson III, formerly the superhero Mecha Man. With his suit trashed and funds low, Robertson takes on a new job at the Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN) as a dispatcher, directing the superhuman resources at his disposal to fight crime and save the day. 

As rumored, it appears that actor Jack Lowden, who played Lawrence of Arabia in EA's Battlefield 1, is a finalist to play James Bond.

According to Deadline, "final auditions" for the role will take place over the next week, and the process will include screen tests. At least four actors are coming in to test, the report said, including Lowden, Callum Turner (Masters of the Air), and Josh O'Connor (Disclosure Day). The fourth remains a mystery, but The Insneider said it could be Jacob Elordi. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Elordi is not testing, and neither is Jack O'Connell from Sinners.

Many expect the casting process for James Bond to do finalized relatively soon, with an official announcement coming before the end of the year.

In May this year, Bond movie production company Amazon MGM Studios said the search for the next James Bond actor was underway and that the film studio would not comment on the casting process.

Lowden is Scottish, and he would become just the second Scottish person to play James Bond, following Sean Connery. The character James Bond from the Ian Fleming book series is also Scottish.

Fans have been waiting a long time for the next James Bond movie, as the latest entry, No Time To Die, was released in 2021. However, it was expected to release much sooner, but had three delays due in part to COVID.

Daniel Craig played James Bond in five 007 films, and wrapped up his run with No Time To Die. Amazon MGM Studios bought the franchise and reportedly paid a lot of money to take back creative control from the longtime series stewards Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson.

The new James Bond movie will be directed by Denis Villeneuve, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker known for the Dune franchise. He’s also directed the movies Prisoners, Sicario, Blade Runner 2049, and Arrival.

It's been a minute since we've heard anything about Askiisoft's samurai platformer Katana Zero, but the developer has re-re-reconfirmed that, yes, the DLC is still on the way--and it's big. Like, so big Askiisoft is basically calling it a sequel.

In a Bluesky post on October 22, Justin Stander of Askiisoft announced that the Katana Zero DLC has grown even bigger than when we last heard--which was in March 2021. It's apparently now "the size of a full sequel" and comes with a soundtrack of over 30 new songs. There's no release date or anything else outside of this confirmation, but at least it's still coming.

https://bsky.app/profile/askiisoft.bsky.social/post/3myhvlfbbv22b

This is wonderful news for any fan of the 2019 side-scrolling samurai platformer, though a release date would be better. It's starting to feel like Team Cherry's Hollow Knight: Silksong, what with how often Askiisoft confirms the DLC is coming but doesn't say exactly when. After all, the last time we heard about the project was in April 2025, when Askiisoft said it's "still coming" and "still free." This is no shade, of course. I'd just like to play the DLC already.

Katana Zero launched in April 2019. A neo-noir action-platformer, you play sword-wielding amnesiac assassin Subject Zero as you converse with a psychiatrist in between deflecting bullets and slashing bodies. It's an interesting amalgam of political intrigue, side-scrolling hack-and-slash gameplay, time-bending mechanics, and nightmare sequences that tells a compelling story about identity and suppression. GameSpot gave it an 8/10 in our Katana Zero review, calling it "bloody and brutal [with] a heartfelt tale that you shouldn’t overlook lightly."

The DLC was announced one week after the game's release, so it's been in development for seven years now. Askiisoft said in its October 22 Bluesky post that "more updates" will come, so hopefully we all get to take our clown masks off sometime in the near future.

Street Fighter movie director Kitao Sakurai has shared new insights into the recently released video game movie, including how he intentionally wanted it to go for a "gonzo" style of over-the-top action and silliness as opposed to being gritty and grounded.

"There’s a silliness to it, and there’s an absurdity to the world and the characters and how they interact. [Producer] Cale Boyter at Legendary really held the torch for this vision of Street Fighter that had a gonzo energy to it. I also love comedy and craziness and energy," he told The Hollywood Reporter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6sbm1OaJb8

Also in the interview, Sakurai discussed how his work on The Eric Andre Show informed his filmmaking sensibilities for Street Fighter. He said he learned from that show that not every minute needs to be hilarious, but "every minute needs to be interesting."

"So there can be elements that are so ridiculous they might not track narratively or make sense conceptually, but because they’re part of an overall energy and feeling, they fit. So I kept that in mind when I was developing this film," he said.

Also in the interview, Sakurai talked about how Street Fighter's original movie directors, the Philippou brothers, ended up appearing in cameo roles. He said he personally invited them to appear in the movie as two people ... fighting in the street.

Sakurai said he wanted the Australian brothers to be in the movie as a means to communicate how, "There's no bad blood. We're all part of the same family."

"There was no animosity, and it’s all love,” Sakurai said.

The Street Fighter movie hit theaters on October 16, and it's made more than $55 million worldwide so far, and that's not so great. The movie stars Noah Centineo as Ken, Callina Liang as Chun-Li, Andrew Koji as Ryu, Jason Momoa as Blanka, Cody Rhodes as Guile, Roman Reigns as Akuma, and David Dastmalchian as M. Bison.

Resident Evil director Zach Cregger has responded to the success of his video game movie, and while he doesn't want to say “I told you so” to his haters, he's happy with the response, both critically and commercially.

“I don’t know if I feel vindicated,” he told A Shot. “I’m gratified. I’m gratified that people responded to it.”

The Resident Evil movie has earned $363 million globally, making it the highest-grossing Resident Evil movie of all time and the highest-rated. It's also the No. 9 highest-grossing video game movie ever.

Prior to Resident Evil's release, Cregger said he was "naive" to think gamers would embrace his vision for the movie. People wanted to see a direct adaptation of one of the Resident Evil stories, featuring familiar plotlines and characters, but Cregger's movie didn't do any of that.

In the new interview, Cregger said the "problem with the internet" is that it's generally anonymous and people who dig their heels in and never apologize or change their mind. So instead, Cregger said he's no longer going to interact with those people and just make the stuff he wants.

“The only real way, I feel like, to do anything with it is to just not engage with it and just move on with your life," he said.

The backlash to the Resident Evil movie in some circles is part of what makes Cregger excited about his new movie, The Flood, which is an entirely original sci-fi film that stars Jennifer Lawrence.

“I’m just feeling very grateful that my next movie is an original movie and it can be judged entirely on the merits of the movie and not what people think it should or should not do," he said.

Cregger has said he's done with franchise movies overall. Why? He said it’s because he wants to “write whatever I want to write,” rather than adhere to a specific franchise’s history and lore.

“I don’t want to write something where I have to make sure I’m tagging different data points to satisfy X. I just want to satisfy me,” he said.

So why did he do Resident Evil in the first place? Cregger said the “only reason” that Resident Evil made sense for him was because he’s a big fan of the games and he came up with what he believed is an original idea for it.

Something else that might have convinced Cregger to sign on to write and direct Resident Evil was the money–he was reported to have been paid $20 million.

Rockstar's marketing efforts for GTA 6 are ramping up, and this now includes burgers and fried chicken that you can buy in real life.

Rockstar's partnership with Miami's Kaseya Center expanded this week with the introduction of the restaurants "Burger Shot" and "Cluckin' Bell" at Heat games. These are based on their in-game counterparts, which themselves are parodies of Burger King and KFC.

According to people who were at the game, the Burger Shot burgers are not custom items that Rockstar created but instead are the same Skinny Louie burgers that the Kaseya Center previously offered, just wrapped in GTA 6 branding. The workers have Burger Shot shirts and hats, too, to help play things up further.

What does a GTA 6 burger cost? The cheapest combo that people can buy includes a cheeseburger with fries and a drink for $28.50 before tax. This scales up to $31 for an applewood bacon burger combo. This is expensive, but it's not out of line with how much it costs to eat food at a sporting event today.

https://twitter.com/OfficialJoelF/status/2113046248160625007

The Kaseya Center also added a Cluckin' Bell restaurant that sells fried chicken. The prices for the food here are no doubt similarly expensive.

For now, it appears Burger Shot and Cluckin' Bell's IRL locations will be limited to the Kaseya Center.

https://twitter.com/GTASixInfo/status/2113072811275415635

Beyond the restaurant takeovers, the Kaseya Center now has advertisements on its elevators referencing in-game elements of GTA 6, including the radio station Vice City FM and the TV show Macca & Friends.

https://twitter.com/gtasix_/status/2113178474047578181

Before this, Rockstar airlifted the Vice City logo onto the top of the Kaseya Center. The partnership continues in November with a big event at an NBA Heat game on November 18 where the team will wear themed jerseys and play on a court inspired by GTA 6. The game then releases the next day, November 19, for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

September saw a surge in video game spending, but Xbox had a bleak month. New Circana data show Xbox Series hardware fell 27% year-over-year to an all-time September low, beating the previous record low set a year ago.

How did Sony and Nintendo compare? PlayStation 5 sales grew 22% in units and 43% in dollar sales, while Nintendo saw Switch 2 sales fall by 12% year-on-year. Sony dominated the market last month, though PS5 consoles cost more today than a year ago, and last month also saw reports of PS5 Pro stock selling out quickly, presumably ahead of the November launch of Grand Theft Auto 6. As for the Switch 2, it started its run in June 2025 with strong launch sales, but that momentum has begun to slow down. It's still outpacing the original Switch console by a comfortable margin, and it's Nintendo's fastest-selling system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FatSqS3VYY&t=19s

So what's going on with Xbox? There are various factors to take into consideration, all of which point to strategies that have emphasized that an Xbox isn't necessary for playing first-party Xbox games. Microsoft's multiplatform strategy, cloud gaming focus, and a move away from a console-under-the-TV model--remember the "This Is An Xbox" advertising?--created a downward trajectory for Xbox console sales. It's a steep decline, but one that Xbox is looking to reverse as it continues to overhaul its business by once again focusing on console exclusives, quietly sweeping the This Is An Xbox campaign under the rug, extending the life of the Series X|S consoles with new upgrades, and preparing for the expensive Project Helix hardware.

It's the clearest example yet of how different strategies can result in different outcomes. While several of Sony's decisions--including the decision to go all-digital in 2028--haven't been popular, it has largely stayed on brand with how it markets the PS5. The GTA 6 effect is also a powerful factor, as it has been promoting the game heavily ahead of its November 19 launch. On the other hand, the decision to reimagine Xbox as a brand split across multiple devices has naturally led to a decline in console sales, but Microsoft is attempting to reverse course and recapture its glory days under new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma--even if that "reset" means sweeping layoffs.

In related news, you can see how Marvel's Wolverine did surprisingly well last month, and which game broke Resident Evil Requiem's grip on the US market.

While EA has closed BioWare and canceled the next Mass Effect game, the TV show based on the sci-fi series remains in development, according to a source speaking to IGN. The source said all the key creative people attached to the project for Prime Video remain signed on.

This would seemingly include BioWare project director and executive producer, Mike Gamble, who was part of the layoffs at BioWare.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/muP7jLuXSiY

The Mass Effect show was first revealed back in 2021, so it’s been in the works for a long time already. The last we heard--which was back in 2025--was that Doug Jung (Star Trek Beyond) was the Mass Effect show's showrunner and that Fast & Furious 9 writer Daniel Casey was on board as a writer for it.

Prime Video is heavily invested in gaming, as it's also home to the upcoming Tomb Raider and God of War shows. The platform also hosts the popular Fallout TV show, which is coming back for a third season.

The closure of BioWare and cancellation of the next Mass Effect game came after EA went private via a sale to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. Affinity Partners and Silver Lake were also part of the investor consortium.

EA had said it was looking for $700 million in cost savings to help service the massive debt from the sale, with many fearing layoffs and studio closures. In addition to BioWare shutting down, EA said it was conducting wider layoffs across the company and stopping development on other projects, like a new The Sims game.

Resident Evil Requiem emerged as one of 2026's first big hits when it launched earlier this year, quickly setting new records for Capcom's survival-horror-action series. In the US, it has been the year's best-selling game, but it was always going to face some stiff competition toward the end of 2026. NBA 2K27 has usurped Resident Evil Requiem's position, having made short work of Capcom's best-seller.

"Eight of the top ten best-selling games of September were new releases," Circana's Mat Piscatella wrote. "However, it was NBA 2K27 that ranked second in the month as it surpassed Resident Evil: Requiem to become the best-selling game of 2026 year-to-date. Eight of the top ten best-selling games of September were new releases."

While Marvel's Wolverine was September's best-selling game, NBA 2K27 has clinched the bigger victory overall. It's not surprising to see it doing well, as 2K's NBA series regularly ranks in the top five best-selling games in the US every year, alongside other annual sports franchises like Madden NFL. Call of Duty has also typically been the best-selling game in the US for several years, but recently titles like Hogwarts Legacy (2023) and Battlefield 6 (2025) have knocked it down from first place. Competition will be especially tight this year, with analysts predicting that Grand Theft Auto 6 will take the top spot in 2026 when it launches in November.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfnBVG7YNXg

As for Resident Evil Requiem, Capcom still has plenty of reasons to smile. The fastest-selling game in the franchise's history, it reached a sales milestone of 5 million copies in its first five days, and within two weeks, that number grew to six million. In terms of dollar sales, Requiem is one of the top five best-selling Resident Evil games in the US. It's also the best-selling physical game on PS5 for 2026, with Alinea Analytics recently estimating that 1.3 million discs have been sold to date.

Top 10 Best-Selling Games Ranked on Physical & Full Game Digital Dollar Sales RankTitleLast Month1NBA 2K2732Resident Evil: Requiem13007 First Light24MLB: The Show 2645Crimson Desert56Call of Duty: Black Ops II67Forza Horizon 678Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream89Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight910Pokemon: Pokopia10

Despite mixed reviews and lukewarm player reception, Marvel's Wolverine has done surprisingly well on the sales chart and set a new record for Sony. New data shared by Circana shows Marvel’s Wolverine debuted as September's best-selling game, delivering the highest launch-month dollar sales for a Sony-published game since February 2024’s Helldivers 2. PlayStation 5 hardware dollar sales also increased by 43%, resulting in Sony achieving its highest hardware dollar share in a month since May 2025--no doubt thanks to a PS5 costing more today than it did last year.

"Marvel’s Wolverine was the best-selling game of September in full game dollar sales, debuting as 2026’s 11th best-selling game overall, Circana's Mat Piscatella wrote, adding that out of the top ten best-selling games of September in the US, eight of those games were new releases. Marvel's Wolverine had plenty of competition last month in the form of Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, The Blood of Dawnwalker, and Onimusha: Way of the Sword, but it still managed to take the top spot in that category--not too bad for a game that was only available on a single platform in a crowded month.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nGnaG7kVIA&t=2s&pp=0gcJCSwMAYcqIYzv

Piscatella had previously spoken about how Marvel's Wolverine had broken a live-service stranglehold on the PlayStation charts, ranking seventh on Circana's Top 10 Titles by weekly active users in the US. Sony hasn't commented on the game's overall sales performance yet, but estimates suggest Marvel’s Wolverine has sold 1.9 million units as of September 18, with physical sales accounting for 799,000 units. That's a solid number, but not enough to help it break into the top 10 best-selling games of 2026 in the US, according to Circana.

NBA 2K26 is currently the top seller in the US, pushing Resident Evil Requiem to second place, with other games like 007 First Light, MLB: The Show 26, and Pokemon: Pokopia filling the remaining spots. GameSpot's Marvel's Wolverine review scored the game an 8/10, with editor-at-large Tamoor Hussain describing it as a "fun but forgettable" experience.

Top 10 Best-Selling Games Ranked on Physical & Full Game Digital Dollar Sales RankTitleLast Month1NBA 2K2732Resident Evil: Requiem13007 First Light24MLB: The Show 2645Crimson Desert56Call of Duty: Black Ops II67Forza Horizon 678Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream89LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight910Pokemon: Pokopia10